"New" house

A couple weeks ago Ryan was watching the show called "Kitchen Nightmares".  It is a TV series about a chef going into restaurants that should be doing well, but are doing HORRIBLE, and he fixes these "nightmares" using good menus and good business plans. It's very interesting.  Well, then we started thinking about what we would do in our house to make it "simpler", "run better", be more "successful".  And the weekend turned into a "home makeover". :)

We went through a bunch of stuff and got rid of a lot of it.  Then we moved our entertainment center into Kyler's room as a storage shelf, moved the bigger TV and the recliner out into the living room, the computer desk into the main room and therefore Kyler now has a room to himself (and a little storage space.) :)  It was not easy to move it all...but it was SO worth it and our lives feel more full and simple in just the past month now because of those changes.

We couldn't have done it without help though.  Ryan is a wonderful husband who had to take apart and put together large pieces of furniture.  Zac is the wonderful brother in law who helped with the big pieces of furniture.  My brother Brandon came over to play with the kids, the Ipod, and be the "go-fer" boy.  Kesley and krista were the wonderful aunts who helped entertain the kids.  :)  We couldn't have done it without you all!

And to celebrate--a Panda feast! :)

We were all exhausted by the end of the day--but I love my little apartment that much more now! :)

Fun times!

Daddy and Kyler--enjoying the recliner in the front room after a long hard day of work! (Kyler hardly ever falls asleep in our arms like this!!) 

Changing Diapers

So, I have 2 kids in diapers.  Our budget suffers every month because of diapers.  We have boxes and boxes of them all over our house currently because Costco had a good deal.  You'd think Ryan and I are experts at changing diapers.  Well..I had a tough experience with a diaper today that we haven't had before.

Kamryn very stinky.
Laid her down to change her.
Got the diaper off and she threw the biggest and wiggliest fit on earth (and she is STRONG)
You do the math... I don't think I need to add too much detail here. ;)
10 minutes later (and no mess on my carpet) we are done changing the diaper and she is taking a nap. (unwillingly of course!)

What a stinker. Have to write this one down for her to hear later when SHE is the one changing diapers! ;) ha

Multiple Posts

Okay...whew!  Just wrote about 5 new posts!  (I haven't blogged for almost a month now!  oops!) :) 

Don't miss out!  Some fun pictures to see for sure!

AND...I have one more exciting post to catch up on -- our unexpected trip to Disneyland! :)  (But it is so late tonight I'll have to do it later!)

Good night!

This is why I love Disney!

So, a while back, Ryan and I bought Kamryn a set of Beauty and the Beast Figurines.  It was a set of 7 that came with:
Beast
Belle (in her Yellow dress)
Belle (in her blue dress)
Gaston
Lumiere and Cogsworth
Mrs. Potts and Chip
And Phillipe (the horse)

When we bought them, Kamryn LOVED the movie "Beauty and the Beast" and she played with the characters all of the time.  We took them to church a few times.  Then one day I noticed the Beast was missing.  Kamryn also noticed and kept asking for "Beast".  I have looked EVERYWHERE but he is nowhere to be found.  I figure we lost him at church somehow--probably another family picked him up with their toys on accident.  So now Kamryn has been playing with the characters but she uses Gaston to dance with Belle and kiss Belle etc.  (seems very wrong, doesn't it?!)

For a while now, Ryan and I kept talking about writing Disney to see if they would send us a new Beast figurine.  Ryan was positive they would do it.  I was a little skeptical since it comes in a set and kids always lose toys!  Can you imagine if every family who lost a toy wrote in for a replacement?  That would be crazy!  But I wanted to try and see because what is the harm in that?! (and then Kamryn would be happy too!) :)

So, Ryan and I sat down one night and wrote the Disney store something like this:

"Hi! My name is Kamryn.  I am 2 years old.  My mommy and daddy bought me the Beauty and the Beast 7 piece figurine playset because I love Beauty and the Beast.  I watch the movie all of the time.  But now my Beast character is missing.  I'm sad.  Now Belle has to marry Gaston.  Will you please send me a new Beast character?

I live at ... (gave them our address).

Thank you,
Kamryn (age 2)"

And we sent it.

2 days later we got a reply:

"Dear Kamryn,

Thanks for the email and the chance to help!

At your earliest convenience, please send your full name, address,
telephone number and online order number so that we can move forward
with a resolution.  If you?d prefer, please call (800) 328-0368 with
this information and we will be happy to assist you.

We look forward to hearing from you again very soon!

Sincerely,

Stacey
The DisneyStore.com Team"

So, we replied with our name and address and told them we bought it in the store so we didn't have an order number.  Is there someone else we need to contact in that case?

Then we got this reply:
"

Dear Kamryn,

We are sorry that you lost the Beast figurine from your playset. We will be happy to send you a new Beast next week so that Belle will not have to marry Gaston. Thank you for your message and we hope you will enjoy playing with your full figurine set.

Sincerely,

Ashley"

I was so excited! :)  This is why I love Disney!  And I will never doubt again! haha

Then yesterday we got a knock at our door.

It was a package -- addressed to Kamryn!  Her first package at age 2! :) 

 What's inside?!

 When Kamryn saw it she said "Beast!" and grabbed it. 

 Then she said "Belle?"  Smart girl!

 So, we went into her room and found Belle!

 They kissed...

 They Danced...

It was a joyous reunion!

And that is why we love Disney!

We took a trip...

To St. George!

My cousin and her family moved down there recently and we decided to go visit them and get to know them better.  We have been dying to get together for a long time and now, when they move away from us, we decide to do it!  Isn't it funny how that is always the case?! :)  But anyway, it was a WONDERFUL couple of days and I was so sad to see it end so soon.  Kamryn got along great with their girls and Kyler was just so fun for their kids to see and play with!  I enjoyed getting to be better friends with my cousin and her husband.  It's always nice when you find out more you have in common with another couple than you thought you did! :) I hope to see them more and more and that Kamryn will become so comfortable at their house and their kids at ours!  (It's just too bad that we live so far away now)

I didn't get tons of pictures--but I got some!  :)  Enjoy!

One of the favorite activities of the weekend was jumping on the air mattress and the bed.  Silly girls.  Luckily nobody ever got hurt! :)

 Okay--now it's time to read.  We're tired!

 Isn't she just gorgeous?!

 Playing outside was also a big hit!  Little kids just HAVE to get outside--no matter how hot it is!

 I love this picture.  A large crow landed on the roof of the house while we were outside.  L wasn't so sure about it!  But she wasn't really scared either.  Cute girl.

 Or...when it gets too hot..running and chasing inside also works!

 Coloring.  Eating Popcorn.

 Kyler loved trying out this new little seat!

 Aren't these girls so pretty?!  I just adore them!

 Then there was Kamryn--my expert 2 year old who would not sit up by her cousins for a picture!  (I love her too but why does she have to pick these perfect times to be a stinker!) :)

 Kamryn was a little upset when I told her it was time to go.  So my cousin, being the wonderful person she is, went and found a little Beauty and the Beast book for Kamryn to take with her.  How thoughtful.  Kamryn loved it.

 Pretty girls, all ready for church! 

Thanks for a FABULOUS weekend!  It was so wonderful!   I hope we get to come again soon and stay even longer!  We love you guys and miss you already!

Kamryn Bakes a Cake

Kamryn's FAVORITE dessert these days is cake.  Anything that is made in a cake pan is "cake".  Brownies, cookie bars, cake, etc. 
Ryan and I watched one of those cake shows on TLC the other night and thought it would be fun to make a cake from scratch.  Naturally, when Kamryn saw the pan, she said "Cake! Cake! Cake!"  So, we had our first real baking experience.

Kamryn anxiously helped Ryan pour everything in.  She watched attentively at everything he was doing.  She even tried to taste a few ingredients plain. (Vanilla and flour...yuck!) :)  Then she patiently waited while it was cooking and wanted to constantly look through the oven window to see the cake.  Finally--it was done! :)

She could not wait long enough for us to let it cool and frost it!  She was so proud of it! :)  Although, she wasn't so excited when she tasted it--it was good but not really sweet like box mixes.  Oh well, she still enjoyed the process and still loves "cake"! :)

Ryan called it our "Brian Regan" cake!  All the sprinkles smushed onto one side of the cake! :) lol