Kenli's Turns 2!

The last few weeks have been a bit busy and hectic. Unfortunately we seem to get sick as soon as we get better. So that has kept us inside for the most part. I was suppose to start in my new calling as 2nd counselor in the primary at church. I am responsible for teaching and conducting sharing time along with the president and 1st counselor. Unfortunately we have missed the last 2 weeks due to illness so I haven't been able to teach yet. Also, I was suppose to give a talk in our new ward, but missed that too. I was a bit nervous since I have never given a talk in front of a congregation as big as the one we are attending now. However, I'll be ready when they decide to reschedule me.

Last week we put an offer on a house in Parkersburg, WV, and it was excepted. We are in love with the new house, and are very excited about the move. It is more than twice the size house we are in now, so we are anxious for the extra, much needed space. However, the only down fall is that the seller can not move until May 15, which is almost 2 months longer than we expected. There is some good and bad that comes along with this. The good, is that Aleigha will be able to finish the school year at her current school. That was pretty important to me. Also good, we have decided to rent our house to the church to house missionaries. This is great for the aspect of a little bit of extra income as well as we know we will get paid from the church as opposed to just having anyone in here. The not so good about this, is that the missionaries need a place by March 1st, 2 1/2 months prior to our closing date. So we have decided to move into mom and dad's for that time. So grateful for such wonderful parents to open their doors and home to us when we need it. For the next month though, we will be busy packing our home up slowly and storing everything in our garage and storage buildings. Hoping everything else during the process goes nice and smooth.

And of course the most exciting thing that has happened, is Kenli turned 2 on the 24th!!! We had a birthday party for her on January 19th, the Saturday before her actual birthday. We had a really great turn out. Luckily it was a beautiful day with temperatures nearing 60. We were able to extend the party outdoors which definitely helped with the crowd. She had a Dora themed party and we had games and stations geared towards toddlers and young children. We had a little play house, play kitchen, ball pit, play dough table, sensory bins (rice, little toys, spoons, cups, etc), and craft paper on the wall for everyone to decorate with crayons and stickers, and of course several outdoor activities. She loved her ice cream cake, but was a bit leery about blowing out the candles. She loved opening her presents, and enjoys playing with them all. However, she's pretty insistent that all her gifts came for "Ho Ho Ho."

On Kenli's actual birthday, we took her out to eat at Gran Ranchero's for her birthday. I was so looking forward to them singing to her, putting the sombrero on her, and wiping ice cream on her. We had a video of this happening to Aleigha when she turned 2 and she loved it and ate up all the attention, I thought Kenli would too! Well....I should have known!!! As much as Kenli loved Santa she refused to sit on his lap....kind of like this :( She seemed to do okay at first. They took a big scoop of ice cream and started going towards her face....she opened up REALLY wide, and then they smeared it on her face instead. She was beyond devastated!!! I felt so bad. I tried feeding her the ice cream while they continued singing to her, but she wouldn't have it...she just spit it out. However, once they left, she sat and ate almost the whole bowl (with Aleigha's help) in peace....and quite happily I might add.

Enjoy the pictures and videos. This post is mostly of Kenli sense she was the birthday girl. The next few weeks should be a little more even.

 For the last few weeks, Katie and I have decided to teach a little preschool-homeschool to the kids. We have been learning a new letter each week.

 Birthday Girl!

 Enjoying some cake!

 Ready to BLOW out those candles!

 Present Time!

 I'm a big girl now!! 

 This little girl knows how to "work it" to get want she wants!

 Kenli loves to play and manipulate the doll house toys and other small toys.

 Happy Birthday to you!

Trying to get a bit of "Kenli" on video.