Priceful Memories

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Grandma's Trip to see Aiden & Kelsey

WARNING! PICTURE OVERLOAD!

My SIL had this warning on her blog and I thought I should adopt it as well.

Except it may get redundant.

I need an editor.

Cuddling with Mimi (grandma). I wasn't sure how she would take to my mom since she hadn't seen her in awhile. Well, no worries there. She cuddled right up and let my mom just hold her and take care of her when I was in the hospital. This pic is from the first day my mom got into town.

Quality Coloring Time

Kelsey was so excited to get kisses from Grandma

Bedtime Stories

While I was in the hospital, my mom took Kelsey to the beach almost every day. Here are her pictures with the friends she made (our friends too).

Thalwil, Switzerland

We took a walk to one of our favorite parks. This is a steep hill so my mom and I pushed the stroller together.

This is a common activity in my daily life. Chasing after Krazy Kelsey!

The View from the top - this is what should have been in the background behind my mom but was blown out. I only had the P&S with me.

I'm not sure he likes all this attention

Feeding the Swiss cows

Hitching a ride on front - my "double" stroller

Lenzburg Castle

Playing "kokoos" with Grammie in the little huts. This must have been where the commoners lived ;).

The road less traveled

The Castle Guards

There is a children's play place with some of the coolest dress up and play toys I've ever seen. Oh to be a child in Switzerland! There is a creative area where the kids can do crafts. Kelsey made a pink princess crown. Ta-da!

It really was like stepping back in time. I guess they have a "festival" on Saturdays where everyone dresses up and shows what life might have been like back in the day. The picture on the bottom right is of the dragon. Kelsey was curious, but mostly freaked out by it.

Cool bridge

One tired little princess

Bern, Switzerland

We stopped by the temple to show my mom and to snap a family photo. Once we got into the city of Bern, Kelsey wouldn't leave the crown in the car.

Princess ruling on her throne

A gust of wind blew the away

Many tears were shed

Until a nice lady made her day

One month later, she's STILL wearing it! Just yesterday she wore it to the beach. Imagine her in just swim bottoms, pink crocs and a pink princess crown - too cute. And she picked it.

Funny story here...

So we were walking to Einstein's old house and Tal turns to me and says, "okay, do you know where it is since you wanted to go to it?" He was literally standing where he is for this picture and I just busted up laughing. "Honey, you're standing right in front of it." I'm glad it was him, not me.

A close-up of my sweet babe

I set Aiden down in the stroller next to Kels for a minute and he stayed asleep. Kels loves being next to him.

Kelsey watching the clock chime and the little man go in a circle. It really wasn't all that exciting.

Rapperswil, Switzerland

Aiden, enjoying the view...

...of the back of his eyelids!

Everyone kept saying there was no way my mom could be my mom, that she must be my sister. Seriously, I heard it over and over this trip. My mom is such a babe.

Such a good little helper

These letters spell out Fuer Werk or "Fire Work" (my mom guessed it, she's so good at German). Here's Kelsey telling us what letters these are. Tal & Kels played hide and seek between letters. Too fun.

Rhinefalls, Switzerland

The hot grandma with her grandbabies. It was SO hot this day and we were melting.

We got someone to take a pic for us

Kels looking at all the fish and ducks in the water below

Zurich, Switzerland

Our favorite little pizza joint, Grottino 85. The pizza man makes your pizza right in front of you and you get to choose what goes on it. He made this one for Kelsey...and told my mom when to take the picture - like we need a picture of pizza dough! Then we forgot to get a pic of the final product, which leave you to imagine what it must have looked like.

Thalwil, Switzerland

Kelsey took this pic of my mom - she'll love this

Kels is wearing the dress my mom bought for her. It's a bit big right now which is perfect. I just wanted her to wear it for my mom. Isn't it cute!?

Saying goodbye to Mimi at the airport. I bawled my eyes out all the way home.

Thanks again, mom! I loved having you here and wish you could have stayed even longer. Thank you for taking your two weeks off for me.

How does a child ever repay their mother for all that they do from infancy through adulthood?

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Happy Swiss Day!

Besides Aubrey & Abram's Birthdays, the best thing to celebrate on August 1st is Switzerland's birthday. We went to our local Strandbad Burger in our Swiss red (NOT Utah red) to celebrate with our friends Heinz & Vreni (sp?). They're always at the Badi and Kelsey loves them. So do I. Frennie will hold Aiden while Heinz takes Kelsey in the water - it's great! They are Swiss and are great to practice my German with since they don't speak English. It was a fun family day in the sun (well, half of us stayed in the shade).

Hopp Schwiiz!

Our friends the Ruetz family gave us a baby present for Aiden - this outfit, size 6 months. Since Kelsey loves opening presents, I let her open it and she proceeded to put it on. She has some help of course, and I thought it looked so funny! I can't believe it semi fits her. I washed an dried it so I think it's back to a 6 month size. I think Kels looks like a little Swiss garden gnome.

Friday, August 07, 2009

Happy 50th Birthday, Dad!

On August 7th, my dad turned the big 5-0 (your welcome for sharing, dad). I wish I were there to celebrate with him, but since that wasn't possible, I thought I would share some things I love/miss about my dad.

He's a softie. He may act tough on the b-ball court, but he's got a sensitive side. I love how unconditionally caring he is for Jenna - and so many others.

He sings like James Taylor. Since I was a little girl, I have always loved to listen to him or sing with him (even though I'm terrible). Here's a glimpse of his James Taylor - only this video is horrible and he's nervous being on stage. It's from karaoke night on our cruise last summer.

He's dedicated to God. Most men dread the call to be bishop of their ward (congregation). My dad couldn't be happier that he's in a role where he can serve more full-time (still ONLY nights and weekends and there's no monetary compensation). He instilled in me a desire to be obedient to the commandments of God, rain or shine (he only wishes that were true during my high school years - honoring my father and mother). Here he is with his counselors.

He's funny. Or at least I think he is. It's the unavoidable Lang humor that comes out when you least and most expect it. Any play on words or puns? He's on it. Somehow, I can't seem to hold back a laugh or at least a smile. Here he is mid-joke. My grandma just rolls her eyes at him and my grandpa when they crack jokes.

He isn't easily offended. I'm glad I inherited this trait. Unless you deliberately mean to hurt him, you can't offend him. And even then, he's very forgiving...and forgetful.

He's not materialistic. He builds/remodels/works on gorgeous movie star mansions everyday and though he admires and enjoys nice things, he would be fine living in a small home. It just so happens that he finally built himself and his family a DREAM HOME, but that took some coaxing from my mom.

He has his 5-8 pairs of torn up blue jeans and maybe 20 or so t-shirts he wears to work and some sneakers. Then he has a few "going out" shirts and a nice pair of jeans, and then his church clothes. He only gets new clothes when my mom makes him, or for Christmas and such. Besides food, what do you buy yourself, dad? This is a picture of one of the few casual, non-work outfits.

He loves mint chip ice cream and when I was little, he would eat an ice cream milkshake everynight after dinner (and I would always mooch). Yum. So he's not eating a shake in this pic, but this is from Thanksgiving. He's going to love this one ;).

I'm your #1 fan, daddy's little girl, and always will be. Hope we have 50 more years of you. :)

I love you!

My parents also celebrated 28 years of marriage yesterday. Happy Anniversary! So glad you're still together after raising us kids. You two are quite the hot couple. Oh, and I'm sure that outfit my dad is wearing was mom's choosing - he doesn't ever wear shorts unless he's going swimming AND that shirt is a little tighter and cool-looking than the normal wardrobe. Looks good! Glad you guys got to do an early celebration in Arizona.

Kelsey Speaks

April 14: Advertising works, even for kids. Kels just came up to me with my iPhone and the app "Team Umizoomi" ready to purchase. I asked her how she knew about it and she said, "this mom put team umizoomi on for her kids and it teached her kids and he did it all by himself!" I've seen that commercial too, but never realized how much she soaked in! I'm a sucker, I downloaded it.

March 14:

We were having a new babysitter come and Kelsey wanted her to play a game but wasn't sure she'd know how. "What language does she speak?" I said, "English." Kels said, "Oh no!" I said, "Kelsey, did you know that YOU speak English?" She looked surprised, "I do!?"

October 17:

We had our carpet pad replaced today and the carpet guy was using a heavy duty iron that smelled like burning. Kelsey came in and said, "Mom, is that dinner I smell?" Thanks Kels, thanks. Says a lot about my cooking!

October 11:

So I'm on the phone and the Kelsey does soemthing that makes Aiden cry. I tell Kelsey, PLEASE make it better, say your sorry and make him stop crying. She starts singing, "Flower gleam and glow, let your power shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine..." I started cracking up. I think she's a little too obsessed with Tangled.

February 19:
Family prayer
"Thank you that Aiden is incredible and that he could watch Incredibles with me. And thank you that mommy can change things."

February 9:
Family prayer tonight by Kelsey: "Thank you that mommy could be a good listener (?), thank you that mommy can be so stretchable...in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." I laughed and asked her what stretchable meant. She said it meant that I can read Aiden books and change his diaper, put us to bed, play with us, and wiggle us and throw us, stuff like that. Does that mean she's grateful I can do mommy stuff?

January 5:
While at my mom's house in California, she said, "I want to stay at Mimi's forever!" I asked, what about your toys and our home in Utah?" She replied, "I like Mimi's toys downstairs." "But what about your friends back in Utah?" She replied, "they can get in the car and drive really, really far and come see me!" She has it all figured out.

January 4, 2011:
Tally read aloud a sign as we passed a church, "Jesus is making a list." She said, "No, Santa is making a list, and checking it twice."

December 20:
She was sad after I scolded her for taking her brother's food. I asked her why she was sad and she said, "My life hurts right now."
"With Christmas just a few days away?" I said. She perked right up.

December 13:
Tal was going to bed early and we all jumped in bed to give him hugs and say goodnight. Kelsey said, "I like it when our whole family is in bed together. Dad, you're hot. But I like it hot. You're the hottest."

December 9:
I had made a big effort to go to the gym and literally had 30 minutes to work out and then be back before everyone came over for play group. I get Kelsey out of the car and walk around to get Aiden. Kelsey says, "Mom, you can't wear THOSE shoes to the gym!" I looked down and sure enough, I was wearing my Crocs. I'm so glad she saw it before I'd gotten Aiden out of his car seat, gotten the kids checked into day care, and stepped on the treadmill. 10 points for trying, right?

October 22:
"Mom, I don't wanna have a baby in my tummy. I don't want to have a baby doggy come out."

October 3:
"Mom, you shut up and I'll shut down." (playing around with the word shut up to get a reaction from me).

September 30:
"Aiden, you have pretty eyebrows."
August 15
While sitting in our master bathroom, Kelsey said, "You guys have two sinks."
Us: "Yes, we have two sinks, isn't that nice?"
K: "No, I don't like it, you need to take one out. I need more room to sit."
Tal: "When you get married, you can have one sink in your bathroom."
K: "When I marry Aiden?" (who she said she wanted to marry when we were talking about weddings the day before).
Tal: "You can't marry Aiden, he's your brother."
K: "I want to marry DADDY!"
Jess: "He's mine, darlin. Daddy is already married to mommy."
K: "My cousins?"
Us: (Laugh, gave up...we'll have this talk one day when she's ready) She is constantly playing with my bouquet of silk flowers in my room and saying, "I'm getting married mom." I guess she picked that up on her own...I don't think I've ever talked about the flowers with her!

August 11:
As I'm putting her to bed I said, "Kelsey, your little body is so tired because you didn't take a nap today and little bodies need naps."
"And sometimes big bodies do too?" she said.
After the gym today, we caught her doing her hand clasp thing. Tally said, "Don't do that, you're doing it so hard you're getting sweaty."
She replied, firmly, "Well I just back from the gym." (which is true, but she was at the play place at the gym)
May
(While shutting herself inside the kitchen pantry)
K: Alright Aiden, I'm going bye-bye to Lily's house, 2 seconds, and when I come back, I'm going to Zoe's house. Okay? Okay, see ya later.
(about 2 seconds later, she opens the door)
K: Oh, hi Zoe's house!
She has been cracking me up (mixed with a little worry) with her imagination. If you ask her what she did today, she'll say she played with her cousins. We don't play with cousins everyday, but she does, in her imaginary play. She'll tell Libby and Zoe to come downstairs to the playroom or come outside with her. Then I'll hear her telling one of them to go hide or that this doll is for them or that they are nice. She will also throw in Lily and Edie, and an occasional Colton, Carter or Spencer. But that's more rare. Maybe because she sees them the most? Or because they are boys.
She also loves to pretend she's mommy and I'm Kelsey. She'll ask me, "is your pee-pees coming, mommy?" (No, is yours?) She'll also say, "you want a treat Kelsey? Okay. " Or my favorite, "You go in time out mommy, no-no." When I ask what I did wrong she'll say it's because I hit Aiden. Shocking.
She is also such a good sister. When I was reading my friend Mary's blog today who just lost her baby girl and bawling, she came over and gave me a big hug and said, "it's okay mommy." Then, because I wasn't paying attention to the fact that Aiden had run out of Cheerios and was "asking" for more, she fed him her Cheerios. Then she came up to me and said, "mommy, Aiden wants more Cheerios." She's a great little mommy.
5/?- (while Tal is at work)
K: Mom, I want to tell dad I had fun at the doctor today - daddy, I had fun at the doctor today - oh you did - yeah, dr. M was really nice. Yeah? Yeah.
She has little conversations with herself as she imagines the conversation she had or will have. These crack me up. She does it all the time, I just need to remember to write them down.
5/29 -
K: Mom, don't let Swiper come swipe our new house, okay?
M: Okay, I will. I'll tell him, Swiper no swiping, okay?
K: Yeah!
She's on this kick where she says "everytime" or "everday" with almost every sentence. I guess she's learning how to tell time/days?
She also sings all the time, usually "I am a Child of God." How can I ever get mad at that sweet little thing?
February 1, 2010
J: "Kelsey, get up on the stool so we can wash your hands."
K: "Mommy, you need to pull my pants up first."
J: "Okay, sorry"
K: "You don't need to say sorry mami."
She's been saying sorry to EVERYTHING and so I think she's heard that a lot lately from me. It's funny to hear your own words come from the mouths of your little ones.
January 28, 2010
K: "I want to be baptized."
J: "You do? How old are you?"
K: "TWO! Aiden wants to be baptized too."
J: "You have to be 8 to be baptized."
K: "Oh, I EIGHT!"
A little boy was baptized last Sunday and she started noticing it more in her books about Jesus and we talked about it a few times this week. But the subject hadn't come up this day - she said it out of the blue.