Halloween

Now that it's over, I think I have to say I really enjoyed Halloween this year. The kids got just the right amount of candy, and I am proud to say that I didn't raid their buckets...not even for the Reeses Peanut Butter cups. Although there is still one left in Meagan's bucket, not that I was looking.

The kids of course had all kinds of ideas about what they wanted to be this year. Isaac decided early in September that he wanted to be Cosmo the Cougar. Thankfully we had the jersey and the hat. I added a tail and some "furry" (maybe fuzzy is a better word in this case) arms and legs. He had a great time, even though no one at school knew who he was. There was a boy in the ward dressed as Cosmo to for the ward Trunk-or-Treat, a couple of our BYU fan friends gave them an extra handful of candy. The mismatched socks were not intended to be part of the costume, just Isaac's added bonus.

Aaron wanted to be Woody. After a lot of tinkering, all I have to say is that I did my best. He didn't seem to care to much about any of it once he had the neckerchief on.

Miya dressed as a bear, making use of the coat I bought her last winter that she was never big enough to wear. As you can see from the picture she is now to big to wear it. :) She looked so cute with her little hood on. She never figured out that she had black makeup on her nose so she didn't bother to smear it all over everything.

Kip tried to convince Meagan early on to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She wasn't to interested until her best friend at school (who also moved here this year) told her that she was going to be Dorothy. She loved the costume, and I guess that is all that matters. I am not sure I will take on the big of a project for Halloween again.

I debated about what to say about these pictures, in the end I decided they pretty much speak for themseleves. Thanks for a good laugh Grandma and Grandpa.

Miya 8 months

I had to post these fun pictures I took of Miya (and Aaron) today. It is hard to believe she is almost 8 months old! She is so much fun!

Blooming

Today we had a gentleman come to the home to survey our goods for the move. He was an 80 year old man whose zest for life was rather contagious. When he found out we were moving to Kansas he asked me if I was excited about it. I gave a positive response. He said that he always tells people that if they think they will like it, they will. If they aren't sure, they'll never know. If they say they won't like it, they won't. It made me think of something my mom used to say...or I heard somewhere when I was growing up...bloom where you are planted.
I took this picture a few days ago in our back yard. Kip detests anything that grows in the cracks of the sidewalk, and goes after them with a grimace on his face and the weed killer in hand. I admired this little flower for it's simple beauty, but even more for it's determination to make the best of the situation it was given. I only hope I can do the same. I will miss all of my dear friends in Michigan. I find each day I am here the harder it is to leave. I am positive there is something more than a crack in the sidewalk for me to grow in. I leave feeling as though I have taken all the water and fertilizer and given little in return, I will take it with me...and pay it forward I suppose.

Noteworthy

It's been six months since I posted and life has been busy! I decided this couldn't wait another day.

Our noteworthy news is the addition of Miya Maryann Kimball to our family! She took us all by suprise when she can 5 weeks early, only 3 days after Christmas. She weighed 5lbs 7 oz and was 17 1/2 inches long.

It is hard to believe that she is four weeks old tommorow. We are loving holding her and getting to know her. The kids are very sweet with her and can't get enough time with her. My favorite comment from the kids that sort of sums it all up is something that Aaron said the other day. He woke up first thing in the morning and asked where Miya was. I told him she was on my bed. He climbed up next to her on the bed and said "I wuv her." He looked at her asleep there on the bed for a few minutes and then exclaimed "It wook wike she wuv me too!"

We finally did it!

Since we moved here we have been saying that we were going to get bikes for everyone and a bike rack, bike trailer etc. and we were going to go biking. We can now say we have accomplished that dream!! It took us a few years, but we now have two kids on two wheelers. Kip and I both recieved bikes for our birthdays, him this year and me last. ( thanks mom and dad K and Mom and Dad B) We have a bike trailer (thanks Kevin and Jill). For Father's day this year Kip got a bike rack for the back of the van. Sorry for all the boring details of how the goods were acquired, but it is so much a part of the story for us.

It was a happy day, even though it was only about 55 degrees and we were wearing jackets on the first of July. It's kinda funny when you think about the fact that we drove 30 miles so that we could ride our bikes for three. We had a great time though. Aaron fell asleep in the bike trailer and the other two didn't complain at all, even on some rather large hills. We are planning our next biking adventure!

One Thing Leads to Another

The picture you see is only the beginning of the end of the story. Kip got himself into some trouble over Christmas break. You see, he decided to fix a coat rack that had come partially off the wall. I happened to walk in when he was in the middle of his 10 minute project. I suggested that since he already had that off the wall we might as well paint the walls in the back entry of the house. They needed it badly and we both knew it. That quickly turned into "Well, we might as well paint the laundry room since we already have the paint out. It needs it just as bad and the room could really use some color."
After deciding on yellow for those two areas we decided we might as well paint the kitchen yellow like we had always wanted to. We had also always wanted to paint our very dated cabinets white. We knew it was a huge undertaking and had therefore never gotten past choosing a paint color. Now seemed like a good time, so we spent most of Christmas break and every free moment for the next month working mostly on the cabinets, sanding, priming, painting, sanding, painting and so on.
Okay, so I will give credit where it is due. My fabulous husband worked like crazy!! I did a little here or there (to make it look like I was being useful). I am not sure we would ever do cabinets again, but I have to say my kitchen is so light now! I love it! I should have included some before shots, but here are the afters. By the way, the laundry room was not available for pictures tonight :) Maybe another time when it's not laundry day. Do those days happen?