It's the most wonderful time of the year!

We had a nice Thanksgiving this year, it was a little more on the low key side, which is always nice every once in a while. We were able to enjoy some wonderful food and company with the Martins. There was so much good food and scrumptious dessert. We did miss not being with any family, but are very excited to see them all soon. For those who don't know, December is my most favorite month out of the whole year. I love Christmas time, Christmas music, Christmas decorations, Christmas trees, Christmas lights, the smell of fires burning in the fireplace, and waking up to a white Christmas, though in California you don't really get that, so I will enjoy it for one last year in Michigan, and of course it is the month when I was born so that may have a little bit to do with it being my favorite. People always think I wouldn't like having my birthday so close to Christmas, but I actually love it and wouldn't want it any other time.
We have been staying inside a little bit more this past week since Evelyn and I both have been able to enjoy being sick with colds and coughs, luckily we are on our way too feeling better. So the countdown begins till we leave for the holidays and till my birthday.
Till we leave - 13 days!
Till my birthday - 14 days!

Pudding and Christmas Spirit

This past week we have just been doing a lot of hanging out, going swimming at the YMCA, attending multiple baby showers and enjoying the moments we have together as a family. Evelyn loves chocolate pudding and she insisted in feeding herself so we let her have it with the spoon. She was in Heaven.



She just really can't get enough.
Friday night we attended the Silver Bells Parade Downtown. It is fun to hear the Christmas music and see all the lights and get in the mood for the holidays. Now we are just looking forward to the yummy food Thanksgiving has to bring next week.

Michigan vs Purdue

Kyle and I got to go to the "Big House" and see the Michigan vs. Purdue game. It was something we wanted to do before we left Michigan so we were looking forward to it.
There were so many people, over 108,000, to be exact. We could hardly fit on our seats but it was a fun experience.

Purdue's band has the largest drum in the world, it was cool to see it and it was really loud when they would play it.

It was fun to spend the day with each other, and it was a beautiful day to be outside. Michigan ended up losing but we weren't too disappointed since we were kind of cheering for Purdue. Thanks hun for a fun day together.

A Full and Fun Halloween!

So we had a very fun and full Halloween with lots of activities to keep us busy. This Halloween Evelyn was a very cute Cowgirl. With the costume she had a darling dress, cute chaps to wear, a pink cowgirl hat and some oh so cute pink boots to wear that I bought for her. Well as you can see in the following picture she wanted NOTHING to do with the chaps, hat or boots, I mean don't even bring them close to her or she will literally have a meltdown. But I have to say she looked cute anyway. Also forget about getting a cute posed, set up picture. This girl has no time for anybody so if she looks you better click that camera.


Wednesday we headed downtown for the Halloween activity #1. It was a lot of fun. Evelyn loved running around, seeing all the costumes and eating candy. She couldn't quite figure out this tall guy. The free pumpkin donuts and cider were also very delicious and worth eating.
Evelyn and daddy posing as firefighters.
Thursday was activities #2, 3 and 4. Thursday morning was Halloween themed playgroup. It was great to see all the little kids from the ward dressed up. We ate yummy treats, played a fun bingo game, listened to some Halloween stories and ran around in circles in the gym. We headed home for a long nap and then got dressed again and headed to the outdoor mall for some more fun and candy. Evelyn had a great time once again running around, dancing to the music playing and hanging with her friend Bauer. Later we painted one of our pumpkins and Evelyn sure had fun with the paintbrush.


Friday we took a little break from Halloween, but Kyle and I got to get away and go see Michael Jackson. It was awesome, Michael Jackson really is such a genius when it comes to music and performance. I highly recommend all to see it. Saturday night was the best and Halloween activity #5. We headed over to the Boardmans for a fun Halloween party. There was a lot of delicious food and awesome costumes by everyone. My personal favorites were the Boardmans dressed as the Berenstain Bears and the Martins as the Pillsbury dough boy and girl. We played fun games and enjoyed visiting with all our friends. It was a late night but great memories.

Evelyn found some sunglasses she just couldn't resist putting on.

This is the only pose I could get of Evelyn by the finished project of the painted pumpkin.
And here are the infamous boots I really wanted Evelyn to wear, but don't they just look horrifying I mean why would you not have a meltdown to put these things on. Guess they'll be heading back to the store.
Well it was a fun week and now we will just be trying to get off our sugar high for the next few days.

A Little Update

Well these past few weeks have been filled with some fun adventures. The end of September we all headed to Georgia to visit Kyle's family and enjoy some football. It was a quick trip and of course our luggage didn't show up till the next day, but we had fun visiting with each other and Evelyn was entertained by little Teddy, the dog. It was a bit rainy but Evelyn still had fun cheering her Grandpa K on as he coached his team. Since the weather has definitely begun to get colder Evelyn and I have found some fun activities to do inside. She absolutely loves going to the YMCA and going swimming, I know she really misses having a big backyard to play in and a pool to go in everyday, so she gets so excited when I tell her we are going swimming. She has also enjoyed going to the Tot Watch at the YMCA and making some new friends. I can't believe she is already 17 months today, time has really gone by and I am starting to miss my little baby and am quickly being introduce to my little toddler.

Evelyn is so full of energy that I am always trying to come up with some fun and new things for her to get it all out. She is the sweetest little girl and I love how she wants to wear her pink beaded necklace all the time. As you can see in this first picture she loves talking on the cell phone. Every time she finds a phone or when we are in the car she acts like she is having a full conversation with somebody. It cracks us up. Saturday since the sun was actually shinning we headed out to a nature center that was having a festival. Evelyn had a lot of fun running around, playing on the swing set they had, and listening to some live music they had playing.




Though I really do miss California and it's wonderful weather, I really do enjoy the falls here in Michigan and love seeing all the greenery with the beautiful colors. Nature is just so peaceful and refreshing, I had to take some pictures of the pretty colors at the nature center.

Weekly update

Now that we are all moved back into our home, I thought it would be fun to actually do some fun activities with Evelyn this past week. To start off I was able to find a running stroller for an awesome price on craigslist so eventhough that doesn't sound fun, Evelyn actually really loves going running with me, she will just talk and sing the whole way. We then headed over to Potter Park Zoo. It was actually really fun, I love animals and we had a fun time watching them all. It was kind of nice since it almost felt like we were the only ones there at the zoo, I guess on a Tuesday afternoon not too many people are out.
Here is one of the wolves at the zoo, after I took the picture he came right up to the fence and Evelyn started to do her barking noise. To her it was just another dog.
The monkeys were fun to watch, I think they always know when they are getting attention.
Evelyn liked the little farm animals since she is familiar with them from some of her books and videos, she had no problem sticking her fingers inside the gates.


Then there was my personal favorite, the lions. I love lions, they really are my favorite animal. When we went inside the building there was a tiger that would walk right up against the glass and Evelyn and the tiger would go face to face. She just kept repeating "kitty, kitty"
Later in the week Evelyn and I headed over to Jumpin Jax. She really had a good time there, well actually we both did, I love those blow up jumping toys. Evelyn especially loved the huge slide and would laugh as she went down all by herself. This was a great place for her to get out a lot of energy. We will be going back. Saturday we headed to the apple farm with the Martins to pick apples. Evelyn enjoyed getting the apples and having one just her size to eat. Well it was a fun week ending with some football watching with daddy.

Busy Week!

To start off we got a new car this week. We all really like it especially Evelyn, it's only a one-seater but it gets to where you need to go and has great gas mileage. It has sweet rims, can become a convertible if you want and even has a personalized license plate, it was a great deal! In other news this week has been really busy moving back into our home. Yesterday our home was a part of the Lansing Home Tour, we were one of the 8 homes in the tour, so we had only one week to unpack our 7 boxes, 3 suitcases and third bedroom where we stored all our stuff over the summer and at the same time Kyle started back at school. It was quite hectic and a bit tiring but we were really glad we did it, now our house is in tip top shape. The tour had a really great turn out, there were a lot of people coming through our home and it seemed we had good reviews which is always nice to hear. We are really glad to be back in our home it really is such a nice and comfortable place to be. Kyle is busy once again with school taking 15 units and being a part of Law Journal so we wish him luck and hope this semester goes well. Hopefully next week we will have some more fun and exciting news to share.
Oh and here's a picture of the new car!

End of Summer and Back to Michigan

Summer has come to an end and we are headed back to Michigan. We have had another fun summer with lots of fun trips and family activities. Evelyn will miss the fun rides in daddy's convertible.
Evelyn will also really miss going swimming almost everyday and enjoying the warm California sun.
Hope daddy hasn't got her hooked on diet coke too soon.
Our last weekend here we headed to my parents beach house in San Diego and had a lot of fun spending the days on the beach, walking on the boardwalk and just taking it easy.
Evelyn will also miss her cousins, she has had a lot of fun getting to spend so much time with them. The trampoline has been one of her favorite spots in the backyard, she loves to jump and does really well on it. It has also been a good way for her to get all her energy out, cause wow does she have a lot of that.
As we were packing I had Evelyn try this on to see if it fit, and she got really confused as to why she would need such a warm outfit, oh boy is she in for a surprise when she can't wear her swimming suit and shorts all day and discovers this little thing called snow!
This past week we celebrated Kyle's birthday, by eating his favorite chocolate pudding cake and going out for sushi. I am so thankful for my husband and all the things he does for his family, he has been working so hard this summer with an internship and a nightly job and still finds time to hang with me and Evelyn. I am so proud of you hun, hope you had a nice birthday and oh yes love you tons! Well next post will be from Michigan, see you then!

Growing Up Too Fast!

Our little girl is 15 months today and I really can't believe how big she is getting. It seems we came back to California this summer with a baby and now we are leaving with a big kid. She has been so much fun and she is so full of life. She definitely has a personality of her own and loves to do things just her way. She sure has loved being with her cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents this summer, we will miss all of them and the fun activities when we head back to Michigan in just a short few weeks. Mommy and Daddy love you so much Evelyn and can't wait to see what new joys and experiences you bring us in the next 15 months!






How could you not love a face like this!