Hunter's first Primary Program

As most of you know, cameras are not allowed in the chapel so unfortunately I have no pictures. Hunter's first primary program was yesterday. He was so adorable. The girls in his class are nearly an entire head length taller than him. I kept hoping that maybe the girls were standing on a step but sadly, they weren't. Our boy is small but I love it. I just hope he'll have a really good growth spurt someday.

Hunter had 2 lines yesterday: "My name is Hunter and I am a child of God" He said it perfectly. His second line however "Our theme for April was I will follow the Prophet" was not exactly understandable. The only reason I know what he said was because the leaders had mailed me his lines to help him learn them. We went over them but like most Sunbeams he must have forgotten and said what he thought he heard the Primary President tell him. It was cute regardless. I was just proud that even though you had no clue what he said (in his second line) he still spoke loudly. I am shocked and amazed that Hunter is old enough to have his first primary program. Kids grow up way too fast. I still recall flying up to see Kelly's sister, Jodie and her family in Virginia. While we were their our oldest Nephew, Preston had his first primary program. Preston just turned 8 this year so that was 4 years ago. At the time Hunter was about 3 months old. I can't remember what Preston's lines were but I remember thinking he was so cute. I also remember him being a head taller than all of his classmates. He's going to be a tall boy, I just hope Hunter will be too.

Primary programs are always cute because of all the kids but when your own child or a child that you know is in it, it makes it even more fun. What makes the programs so adorable are the lines the children have but also the songs that they sing. Nothing is sweeter than children's voices. We couldn't hear Hunter but we could see that he was singing. It was a fun sacrament meeting. Great-Grandpa Kerr, Nani Susie, Grandpa Yaden and Callie all came out to see him.

Mylie Milestones

Last night when we put Mylie down for bed and went into our room Kora started screaming something about Mylie. A little scared I ran into their room only to find Mylie standing in her bed. Not such a bad thing when you look at this picture but this is after we lowered it. Mylie is finally pulling herself to the standing position which has meant lowering her crib from the infant laying level to the now more mobile baby level. What a sad yet happy moment. Even sadder still is the absolute lowest level which we will probably have to lower to in a few months. This means our little baby is growing up and way too fast if I may add.

Another milestone for our little Mylie also happened today when I looked down at her toothless grin and saw that her first little tooth has popped through her gums. She has been so good that I didn't even realize she was teething. No more toothless gummy grins for this baby girl. She's growing up!

Much Needed Vacation

This past week has been quite a busy one for us. We started the week like any other but on Tuesday night we left our home and headed to the Jolly Roger Hotel which is walking distance to Disneyland. When we arrived, not only did it look like we had the entire hotel to ourselves but it also looked like it was closed down and being renovated. Slightly panicked Kelly headed to the closest hotel which we later found out owned the Jolly Roger Hotel and thankfully had our reservation.
In the morning it was off to Disneyland. We picked a perfect week to go but boy was it HOT! As usual, Disney went all out and decorated for Halloween. Even the characters were dressed in Halloween costumes. At California Adventure Minnie Mouse was out and Kora got to take some pictures with her. She loved Minnie Mouse. She ran right up to her and gave her a huge hug.

Mylie wasn't fond of the rides. This picture doesn't really do any justice for the way Mylie reacted to ALL of the rides. Sadly, with each ride she started to freak out more and more. She would claw at us and try to crawl up Kelly or My shoulder, bury her head then look around panicked. Poor thing.

These are my bugs at the Bugs Life Show. Hunter appears to be all smiles in the picture but before this picture he was freaked out. At one point he said he was going home. Kelly told him we would see him later and he actually walked halfway out of the tunnel. Kelly had to chase after him. He hates bugs. He watched the show and did just fine, actually, so did Mylie. I think it was just the movement of the rides she didn't like.

After spending 2 days at Disneyland, which Kelly and I have concluded is perfect. Neither of us could handle much more than 2 days. We were able to ride everything we wanted on Wednesday with little wait but Thursday it seemed like the whole state of California decided to go to Disneyland. It was packed with extremely long lines. We stayed to watch the parade (which the kids loved) but made the mistake of trying to leave when it ended, everyone else had the same idea. I think next time we'll ride a few rides after the parade ends and then try to leave.

The second part of our vacation we drove down to San Diego and visited the Midway. The Midway is a retired aircraft carrier for those of you who don't know (I was one of them before this trip). It was a great visit. There wasn't much for the kids to do but the little there was (like pretending to pilot a plane) they enjoyed.

Here Hunter and Kora were manning the controls in the Engineering room. I have to say that I actually enjoyed the Midway a lot more than I thought I would. They had headsets that explained the different rooms of the aircraft carrier. We didn't get to see everything so I can't wait to go back and finish the tour.

After the Midway we headed to the home of some very old friends of mine, Derek and Lupita. Instead of Day Care I used to stay at their home from Junior High to High School until my Mom got off of work. They had become like second parents to me. The last time I saw them was 2 years ago at my brother, Jeremy's wedding. Since they moved down to San Diego more than 7 years ago I haven't seen or talked to them much. It was great to see them and catch up. Hopefully the next time I see them will be a lot sooner than 2 years.

The main reason we were going down to San Diego was to visit the Midway and to go to the Zoo. When Derek and Lupita found out we were going to the Zoo they gave us free passes. Derek and Lupita have season passes to the San Diego Zoo and I guess when you have a pass you are allotted free tickets you can give to friends and family to use throughout the year. Thank You Guys! We had a great time.

I loved all the animals but I think I loved the monkeys the best. The San Diego Zoo has tons of Monkeys all throughout the park. They are so smart. While we were watching the monkeys one of them walked up to the window then turned around and sat right in front of the glass.

Hunter's favorite animals were the Tigers and Lions.

Here is our little Diva, "No Pictures Mom". Kora's favorite animals were the Giraffes and Elephants.
Sadly, like all good times they end way too quickly. It's great to look back at our pictures remembering the fun times we had. We are so glad we were able to take this little vacation. These are memories we will always have. The older we get the more we realize how important it is to spend good quality time with our children and get to know them better. This has been a wonderful trip that we will always remember.

Love and Hate

Looking at this picture you would probably think that Hunter and Kora really love each other. Actually, you would be right. Kora adores her brother. She loves playing with him and is always trying to do what he's doing. If Hunter gets in trouble or gets hurt she is the first one to run up to him and give him a big hug and ask him if he's okay. Hunter does the exact same thing for her. It's really sweet when they are so lovey with each other. That brings me to the next part of my title...Hate. How can two people who adore each other and show such love and kindness be so mean to each other? Throughout the day I am constantly breaking up mini battles of she's not sharing, he hit me, endless tattling, calming crying and silencing screams. I told Kelly the other night that this is Karma getting back at us. I said I remember the endless battles with my brother and Kelly says he remembers the same with his siblings. It's an endless circle that we as parents now get to see the other side of the fence. I'm really not looking forward to the long car rides (post car seats) when they start complaining the other is touching them, won't leave them alone...yada yada yada. This was big with Jeremy and I. I can see Karma slapping me in the face with that one. Right now the car is the only place I never hear complaining. I enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, parenthood is great. The sweet moments like those in these pictures is pure bliss and actually, they aren't arguing all day long. As a parent you just wish that they could always be as sweet to each other.