Campbell Says

" Megan's gunna be a grandfawder and I'm gunna be a mommy." Megan tried to explain to him that that was not possible but he was very insistent.

In the back seat- "We're going SUPERfast! Are we winning mommy? Are we winning the race?"

Standing on the back of the couch (big no no) with one arm reaching up the sky, "To the Rescue!"

What I love about Our Kentucky Home

It occurred to me the other day that many of my Utah friends probably think that Louisville is a little town in rolling hills Kentucky full of white fences, fields, farms, and horses everywhere.

That's what we thought before we came here.

So, I thought it would be fun to tell you a few things about Louisville... our home.

Louisville has a population of 1,244,696 in the metropolitan area. To give you an idea of how big that is Salt Lake City has a population of almost 200,000 so just times SLC by 6... it is a really big city. Louisville lies on the banks of the Ohio River and the skyline is absolutely beautiful at night as the city lights reflect over the river and huge bridges. It takes my breath away every time we drive over the bridge into downtown at night.

Of course Louisville is famous for The Kentucky Derby and Derby is a big deal around here. The whole city really comes alive during the Derby.

And if you go to Derby you MUST wear a great hat. Here is Megan's Derby hat.

We live about 15 miles from downtown in a beautiful area.

We do have a lot of horses in Kentucky but one thing Trev and I think is cool is in Louisville the horse fences are usually painted black not white.

We have grown to love the black horse fenced fields.

The beautiful Louisville Temple is only 3 miles from our home.
It is not uncommon to run into this guy at Costco or the elementary school or of course at church. He has a son out here.

Fall in Louisville is absolutely GORGEOUS. You don't have to drive up to the mountains to get spectacular views. Kentucky is thick with trees and I took the above photo when I was just running some errands one day. That is a typical road out here (very skinny with trees up to the edge of the road).

The freeways (especially I71) are so pretty. That's right, I said the FREEWAY is pretty. There are rock walls with water trickling down them and moss growing on them. There are huge trees lining the sides of the freeway and green grass (don't need sprinkling systems out here because of the humidity) that grows up to the roads and covers everything.

When we came here from Utah it was the first thing I noticed.

This is our house (before we added the new room above the garage).

We just love living here. It is home.

First Snow

Louisville got its first snow last week. It lasted about an hour. ;)

Gingerbread

We've had lots of fun with gingerbread this Christmas season.
We went to one friends home and made this fun gingerbread house.

And then we got some gingerbread men to decorate as a family from another great friend.

Thanks friends!

Found Davis like this

Davis loves to wrap things (coats, towels, etc.) around his head and neck.

I found him like this the other day...

Davis turns 1

December 2nd 2008

December 2nd 2009

Wow, I can't believe our little man is 1 year old! Poor Davis was sick on his birthday so although he enjoyed his cake it was kind of a yucky day for him.

Davis is walking all over the house and follows me everywhere. He says "Mama" and "Dada" and he points and claps and waves and giggles. Davis doesn't play with toys instead he loves cellphones, camers, remote controls, and carries my old stethoscope around his neck (sound like anyone you know?). He is such a fun little guy and he is so happy and content.

I took him in for his one year and here are his stats:

24lbs 14 oz. (70%) and 30and 3/4 inches (50%)

Happy Birthday Davis!!!

Healthy and Happy Photos

Between the 6 of us we have been sick for a full month and are so happy to be healthy and out of the house again!!!

It's been a long time since I have taken individual photos of each of the kiddos so here are a few I took this weekend.

I can't believe how much they are growing. These kids are my life and they bring me so much joy!

Hallie 8years old

Meg 6 years old

Davis 11 months (he'll be 1 year in 2 weeks!)

Campbell 2 years old

Davis walks

Davis took his first few steps earlier in October but on October 31st something "clicked" and he started walking all over the place!

He loves to follow me around the house now. It's so cute... I'll walk into room and then turn around to see the little man concentrating on ever step and going as fast as he can to keep up with me.

P.S. He still doesn't know how to crawl!

October 2009

October was a CRAZY month!!!!!!!! Seriously, too much in one month that's for sure!

We flew my MIL, Kaye in the same day Melissa flew out. A few days later Trevor, Davis and I headed for Boise, ID and then down to Utah while Kaye stayed in Kentucky with Hallie, Meg, and Campbell.

We had a great time hanging out with Holly and Steve and Gary and Marlene... we have missed these families dearly here in Louisville.

I got to spend one afternoon driving around the city (and nearby cities, and towns, and local communities... we got a little lost;0) with Holly and Marlene. They are like an old married couple together fighting over the map and telling each other which way to turn. I was in the back laughing my head off.
Then we headed over to get some "Trailer Park cuisine". This restaurant was seriously awesome. Holly describes it well here and there is even a picture of me there (in case you don't believe that I was really there, wink, wink).
(We didn't take a good camera so sorry about the lack of pictures.)

After a few days in Boise we toured Idaho Falls and then headed down to Utah to say hi to some of our family before we headed back to Kentucky.
Kaye took good care of our kiddos and we were so happy to be with them again.

A few days later we packed our bags and headed for Florida!

We stayed at a great resort 5 miles from Disney World.

It was so comfortable with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a full kitchen, and even a washer/dryer.


We spent one cool afternoon at the beach collecting seashells and just enjoying the wind in our hair and the smell of the salty sea. :)

Campbell didn't love the wet sand on his hands.

Megan collected at least a hundred shells.

Then we were off to Disney World and the Magic Kingdom

The kids were in Heaven. You should have seen Campbell's face when he saw Mickey Mouse for the first time... he was mesmerised.

Unfortunately little Davis Mack was super sick by the end of our 1st Day in Disney World so we spent the next day recovering at the pool and then Trevor took the other kids to the Animal Kingdom without Davis and I. He took a bunch of videos but not many pictures to share of that day.

Kaye flew back to Utah from Florida and we headed up to Gainsville to visit some friends who are doing residency there. Brad and Camille took us to a nature preserve nearby in hopes of spotting some alligators in the wild.

We weren't sure if we'd see any so when we walked up to the pond/swamp and immediately saw this guy I was so excited that we actually got to see one!

I thought that was it but we walked a little farther...

and we saw this:

and then we walked a little farther and there we saw at least 7 more.

and then another

and another

We saw around 20 alligators in all. It was so fun!

We stayed up late that night catching up on the last few years of residency with Brad and Camille. We are so grateful for their friendship and hope to live closer to them someday (no Brad, we are not moving to Florida anytime soon, lol).

We made it home safe and sound after a 8 day vacation we won't soon forget.

Both of the boys were sick by the time we got home and eventually Campbell developed pneumonia, poor kid. He is still recovering from that.

Other news in October... I chopped my hair off... so there you go.

Halloween was so laid back at our house this year because the month was just so busy. I hardly decorated anything and the kids picked costumes from stuff we already had.

Megan was a cowgirl (again), Campbell was an elephant, Davis was a monkey, and Hallie was a cross country runner.:)

Our neighborhood comes alive on Halloween. Everyone is handing out candy in their driveways visiting with everyone and there are kids EVERYWHERE. There is even a pretty darn good "spook alley" one house sets up every year.

It's all seriously SO FUN!

Farewell Crazy October of '09, thanks for the memories!