Thursday, April 25, 2013

Easter 2013

We had such a fun Easter this year.  I love that Parker is getting big enough to get excited about holidays and that we can teach him about why we celebrate things.

On the Saturday before Easter we were able to go to one of Curtis' friend Brad's wedding.  It was a wonderful way to start off Easter being in the temple and remembering the reason that we celebrate Easter.  Then we went to the Falslev's house and had an Easter Egg hunt there.  



On Sunday we went to church and then we headed over to the Crockett's for another Easter Egg hunt and dinner.  We seriously have the best families ever.



Kyla and Parker in their new Easter clothes.


Family Pictures


 









Kyla and Parker

These 2 kids are the best of friends.  Parker LOVES to make sure Kyla is involved in everything he does-even if it means that she is a road bump on his track around the kitchen/living room.  Kyla is sitting up, starting to move all over, and getting close to crawling.  She is the happiest baby and loves to smile when you get her attention, she will give you a huge grin.  Parker is learning so many new things and it is fun to have conversations with him.  He can come up with the cutest things to say sometimes.  He keeps us laughing all the time.  He loves to be a "helper." Most of all, they remind us how blessed we are to be their parents.  I am so grateful for these 2 little kiddos!



The only person that Parker ever shares his blanket with is Kyla.


"I want to draw Shantel a picture to send on her mission!"



Where's Kyla?

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

PARIS!

The first 2 days that we were in Paris we went on one of those double decker buses that has the top wide open.  It was FREEZING!  But it was such a good way to see all the sights and see the city.  The 2nd day we went and bought hats, scarves, and gloves to help us stay warmer on our ride.
 That first day that we were there, I was seriously so amazed at how beautiful the whole city was.  After a couple days I realized that even though it was incredibly beautiful it was really confusing because most everything looks the same, so I couldn't tell one thing apart from another.  It's a good thing that they have a good metro and I had Curtis-the amazing map reader, otherwise I would have been lost the whole time we were there!
 The really neat thing about the bus tour was that it drove right by all the famous sights and so you got to see them up close in a fast way without having to worry about driving or how to get there yourself.

That second day we also went to Saint Chapelle.  It was AMAZING!  I couldn't believe the intricacy of all the beautiful stained glass windows.  AND the windows were pictures that told stories from the bible.  It was one of my very favorite places to visit.  

Our 3rd day in Paris was by far our favorite.  We were able to do a lot of things, but didn't seem to be in a rush either.  We went to the Louve first.  The whole Louve palace could be a museum all by itself-let alone all the art inside it.  
We also saw the Mona Lisa and I have to say that I was kind of disappointed at how small the picture was!  I couldn't even get close to it to get a good picture because of the hoards of people and it was tiny!  
Then we went to Notre Dame.  It was incredible!  Pictures just don't do most of these things justice.  

After we saw the inside we took a hike up to the top of the towers.  The view was incredible!  Paris is a beautiful city!

Then we decided to look at our map and see what was close to go and visit.  So we went to the Pantheon, Saint Sulpice, the Luxembourg Gardens, and Saint Germain.

One really cool thing about the Pantheon that I thought I took a picture of, but I didn't, was a long string that hung from the dome in the ceiling that kept track of time depending on the rotation of the earth.  It was pretty neat.  It is also amazing to think that these buildings have withstood so much time despite all the revolutions, wars, etc.

After that we went to the Arch de Triomphe.  It was an amazing view from there.  We hiked a ton of stairs this day...but it was all so worth it!  
The other thing that was amazing here was the traffic!  It was amazing that there were like 12 streets leading into a roundabout that go around the arch.  It was incredible just to watch traffic for a little while.  
After that we went out to the modern arch modeled after the Arch de Triomphe.  It was such a difference going into that part of the city.  Everything was SUPER modern, in contrast to the old part of Paris where all the touristy things are at.  

After we got done seeing the modern arch we went back near the Arch de Triomphe and were trying to find something to eat for dinner on the Champs de Elysees Avenue.  We ended up walking a long ways and deciding that we wanted a crepe for dinner.  It started POURING, but we had the best crepe that night!  It was ham and cheese--I don't know if it was because we were so hungry or if it was that it was the fact that the man made it right in front of us, but it was DELICIOUS.  It was by far the best crepe we had while we were there-and we had quite a few of them.  

The next day we went to Disneyland Paris.  We had a good time with some other people that went with us, but I did not get any pictures of anyone else that went with us.  I also thought it was awesome that I found a red barn in Paris.  

On day 5 we went out to see the Palace of Versailles.  It was incredible.  I think that even if you lived there you would still not be able to figure out where everything was.  The palace itself is HUGE, but the gardens are so much bigger!  They are so beautiful and well cared for too.  


The other thing that was incredible to me about Versailles and the Louve was the incredible artwork that was on the really high ceilings.  All the artwork is so intricate and you can tell it would have taken forever to do.

The gardens at Versailles.  They were so incredible!  I wish that it had been a little warmer so that we would have walked around a little bit more.  As it was, we were freezing so we didn't explore the gardens very much.  

The last day that we were there we went to Sacre Coeur.  It was an incredible view and was beautiful inside.  We were going to hike to the top, but it was so hazy that we couldn't even see the Eiffel Tower, so we decided to save our money since we wouldn't be able to have that great of view anyway.

After that we went to the Eiffel Tower.  We had lunch on the 2nd floor, and got to enjoy the view for an hour or two. 



The last thing that we did in Paris was take a boat cruise.  It was super cold and it rained on us, but it was still really pretty.  It was so cool to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night!  The city looks beautiful at night and from the river.  Some of my pictures look like it was snowing, but it was just really raining.


After the Eiffel tower, I LOVED seeing Notre Dame lit up at night.  It was so beautiful!  The best part of the whole trip was being able to spend so much time with each other!





Thursday, February 7, 2013

Potty Training

I guess I get too excited when Parker goes to the bathroom because last night after he had gone potty he said, "Mom, you do like poo?!"
Yes. Yes, Parker I do.  When you go on the potty.

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Sister Shantel Falslev

My sister Shantel is now a missionary for our church.  She is going to do such a wonderful job!  Although all of her nieces and nephews will miss her while she is gone!  (If you want to follow her on her mission, her blog address is sisterfalslev.blogspot.com)She came up to stay for a night with us before she left and Parker loved that.  We kept telling Parker that Shantel was going on a mission and he kept saying, "No, I DO want my Shantel!"  We've been talking so much about missions because of Shantel leaving.  These are some of the conversations we've had with Parker about them.  
Me: Where is Shantel going on her mission?
Parker: To HUNGARY!
Me:  What is Shantel going to do on her mission?
Parker:  Teach people about Jesus.  And the scriptures.  And the prophet.
Me:  What else?
Parker: The temple, and ME!
Me: Where do you want to go on your mission?
Parker: To HUNGARY!


The night Shantel got set apart we went down a little early and went bowling with some of our family.  We all had a good time.  We will miss her so much while she is gone, but are so grateful for the sacrifices that she is making!  We know she will be an amazing missionary!


January 2013

I've decided that life is so fun with 2 little kids!  Especially when they are so cute!  Parker has started to say some really funny things...he just cracks us up sometimes!  
The other day he kept saying, "Silly Rabbit!  You're not a rabbit Parker!"  
Then when Curtis got home, I handed Kyla to him. Curtis said, "Come here sweetie pie."  
Parker then said, "Dad!  Kyla's not a pie!"  
Kyla is just growing so fast!  I can't believe that she is 4 months old...she's going to be a tough little girl!  Parker makes sure of that.  I will often find them in the living room, with Kyla laying on the floor on her back as happy as can be and Parker sitting on her stomach.  Most of the time he is a good helper though and doesn't sit on her.  He loves her so much!  

We also took Falslev family pictures before Shantel left on her mission.


December 2012

I love Christmas time.  It is one of the best times of the year for me.  Everyone is usually cheerful around that time of year, and there is always plenty of fun things to do.  We were able to go see lights with friends (although once again, I didn't get any pictures) and do a few other fun things to remember the true meaning of Christmas.  Here's just a few random pictures of the kids playing.  They are growing up too fast!

 For Christmas Eve this year, we were able to stay home with just our family.  We loved it!  We acted out the Christmas story-Parker loved holding the "staff," and putting Kyla in a "manger."  When we would ask Parker what Santa was going to bring him for Christmas, he would say, "A Bicycle!"  That was all he wanted.  On Christmas morning, it took him a while to come out and see what Santa had left, but he warmed right up to that "bicycle!"  Also, he is such a good brother!  After the bicycle, all he wanted to do was to "help Kyla" open presents.  Kyla was supposed to open all of them, and Parker wanted to help her open them.  Kids are truly what make Christmas!



November 2012

Thanksgiving with the Falslev Family.  What do you expect?  A whipped cream fight.  That sounds about right.  At least I wasn't the culprit for starting it this time.  Although I have to admit, it did look pretty fun.
 The rest of Thanksgiving was good.  We had a yummy dinner and got to spend time with family.  It was great!

The last week in November we went down to Salt Lake to the Aquarium.  Parker really liked all the animals and LOVED trying to "find Nemo."  Curtis and I also went to a Jazz game while Jeff and Adrienne watched the kids for us.  It was a fun game.