kendall's 6th birthday

i can't believe how much this girl grew up this last year. she is more responsible, but definitely still our little lady of leisure. she's so fun to be around and can make friends with anyone. she always keeps us laughing and is just such a little character. we just love you keni kate!

the weather didn't cooperate like we hoped

My dearest sweet Keni!

You are so passionate, and full of life! You have such a wonderful imagination and a joy and passion for life. I love the way that your mind works, and the way that you say things. I love how sweet and kind and loving you can be, and love it when you want to cuddle. You're such a unique and special little girl, there's just no one like You.

You have brought a wonderful joy and happiness into our home from day 1. I look at you and the faces that you make and the things that you do, and I just can't help but always smile. You're growing up so fast and learning so much. You're so creative and make such wonderful creations. It never ceases to amaze me the things that you come up with and the things that you envision. 

You have such wonderful sisters and they love you so much even though I know you don't always get along and get frustrated with each other at times, they just love you so much and they always will!

Right now you absolutely love mermaids, and I love watching you swim around in the pool with your mermaid tail. It puts the biggest smile on your face and it was one of my favorite stories that the little girl at the hotel in St George the other day went to the window and saw you swimming in the pool with that tail, and said to her mom, "look mom there's a mermaid!" I also love that you're really not afraid of anything. You're not shy and are just happy to make friends and to jump in and have a good time. You want to have fun!

Kendall, I can't even tell you how much I love you! I also hope you know how lucky you are to have such a wonderful and amazing mother! She loves you even more than I do, if that's even possible. she works so hard to do all that she can to help you to love you support you and make you happy.she is The Rock in our family and I hope that you always look to her example for love and kindness, patience, and hard work! I hope you'll always pay attention to her face and her testimony. she's a wonderful and amazing woman and I hope that you'll strive during your life to be like her and to be yourself. 

I watched you open your presents just now, finishing this letter I started yesterday morning, and I loved watching you. You were so excited! You've been asking us for days about what presents your Mom got you. 

Be kind and happy Kendall. If you always choose to do those two things, you'll also make our Father in heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ happy and proud of you. And your Mom and me happy and proud of you. 

Kendall, I know that Jesus Christ lives, that he lived, died and lives again! He is our Savior and Redeemer. He is God's Son. He loves you more than you'll ever know and He always will. Always!!! You'll make mistakes along the way throughout your life Kendall. But as long as you remember or Savior Jesus Christ, everything will be able to be fixed, always. And everything work torn out ok.

I love you so very much sweetheart. I wish I could hold your and squeeze you as little girl forever. I came believe your already a big 6 year old and going into 1st grade. I'm proud of you and hope you'll always know that, even though you we both know I easily make many mistakes too. Please forgive me, be patient with me, and trust me that I do love you.

Happy Birthday Kit Kat!

Love,

Daddy

tech trek!

brooklyn says that tech trek is one of her favorite nights of the whole year...so of course, she had kendall super hyped and so excited to participate this year. they both had such a blast! adi had fun with mom and dad cheering them on and eating lots and lots of cotton candy...

the girls ran the entire time and were starving afterwards. it was so fun to hear them chat about it at bedtime and look forward to next year!

keni's 5th birthday!

because keni's birthday landed on a sunday (father's day), she got to celebrate all weekend. her number one request for almost a year was to have a cousin sleepover at grandma's. my sisters were nice and let it happen and paid for it the next day with tired grouchy kids. but keni really thought it was the best thing ever!

saturday all she wanted to do was swim. so swim we did!

for dinner she chose, yep you guessed it, pizza pie cafe. she always eats pasta, a slice of cheese pizza, and then ends with the oreo pizza. she got the free dessert for her birthday as well but she was already too full to even eat it!

sunday morning she got to wake up nice and early for her birthday because we have 9am church. lucky girl! she is not a morning person, but she was more than happy to get up early to celebrate!

after church we headed back up to my parents' for father's day dinner. she got to play with cousins and be with so many who love her on her special day. when we got home later that night she got to pick a movie to start before bed and then happily went to bed so happy that it was her birthday.

keni kate, you are such a fun easy child! you mostly love being home and i'm good with that. your heart grows more tender with every year that passes and i just love you for that. you make people feel important when you talk to them and you really do want to always make good choices, and you're quick to say sorry if you don't. we love you so much and can't wait to see what this year 5 brings!

Dear Kit Kat,

I’ve smiled so much since you were born Keni Kate! :) You brought a special personality and sense of humor to our home from the moment you were born and ever since you’ve been old enough to talk, you’ve said the funniest things. You’re definitely our little class clown. 

One of my favorite family videos to this day is a short little clip of you waking up with a smile on your face and while you were stretching, telling me “I’m so happy!” The other day, as you were getting ready for your pre-school graduation, your Mom was reading a text from your teacher, Miss Michelle, reminding her not to put your hair up for the graduation program because you were going to be wearing “animal heads” for some of your songs. You had apparently been telling Mom every time she asked about the songs and dance’s you’d be performing that it was a secret and you wanted it to be a surprise, so you wouldn’t tell her about it all. Well, not thinking about any of that, Mom absent-mindedly asked you , “What animal head are you going to wear for your program?” With your classic sly Keni face and without hesitation, you simply replied “Nice try, Mom.” You’ve got a quick wit and are incredibly intelligent. I know you’ll be very successful at whatever you choose, as long as you’re willing to work hard. Your Mom smiles all the time as she tells me about things you say or do during the day and lovingly refers to you as a “lady of leisure.” You’re definitely one of a kind.

I can’t believe that you’re already big enough to start Kindergarten this year. I’m sure your Mom and I will both cry as we watch you head in for your first day, which will of course be in the afternoon because beside the fact that those were your Mom’s highest performing and favorite classes when she taught, we all know she’s not a morning person. ;) I can’t believe how smart you’ve become as you’ve worked all year at the Waterford Upstart program. When you’re focused, you really amaze us at what you can accomplish. We’re still working hard to teach you to clean up after yourself like your big sister Brooklyn. 

You’ve embraced the past 3 years as our little in the middle and we’ve loved watching you play with Adi and be such a big sister, ever looking up to Brooklyn and learning from her all the time. You’re so lucky to have 2 sisters and I’m fairly certain you’ve got another one on the way with Mom being pregnant and due in November. We’re so lucky and glad Heavenly Father sent you to our home to be a part of our family. We will always love you, even though I know we’re going to have at least a few gray directly related to raising you, but we already know it’s going to be absolutely worth every one of them! I know that Heavenly Father knows what He’s doing and loves you even more than I can imagine, which is a lot, because I love you more than You can imagine! I love your beautiful little face and the strength you’ve already developed in your athletic little body. I love your strong voice and fearless courage. You are going to be a great leader among your friends and peers and I challenge you to always stand up for what is right and what you know in your heart that you should day. Be patient with yourself when you make mistakes and love yourself like you should. You ARE Amazing! You are Beautiful! You should hold your head high with confidence. 

I can’t fully express my love for your nor do I know how to put into words how grateful I am for our Savior Jesus Christ. He lives Kendall. He lives right now, and he loves and serves all of us in different ways through different people everyday. I know that with all my heart. He works miracles at the hands of those around us and nothing happens by chance. If you commit to, you will ALWAYS be able to learn and grow from the experiences you’re blessed with, because He knows exactly how you feel and what you’re going through. Kendall, I know that Joseph Smith saw our Savior, Jesus Christ, and our Heavenly Father, in the sacred grove and that he translated the Book of Mormon by their power. You won’t be able to know this for yourself though unless you are willing to ask our Father in Heaven on your own, and He will make this truth known to you as plainly and clearly as He has to me, especially as you become familiar with it’s words and teaching, reading and studying it on your own. I’m so grateful for the Book of Mormon and the peace, understanding and comfort it has provided me throughout my life. Your mother and I love absolutely every piece of you and hope that you’ll look past our faults and weaknesses and remember the lessons to be learned from them, that no one is perfect and that there’s always a way back to the straight and narrow path. You can talk to us about anything and we’ll always be there for you, just like our Savior. Of everything to remember in this life Keni, I hope above all that you’ll remember this. Christ Lives, He Loves You, and if You Love Him and Others, you’ll come to know greater joy and happiness, not only in this life, but in the life to come, than you can even imagine. Strive for obedience, and repent every day! I’ve got a huge smile on my face just thinking about the next 50 years with you!!! :) You cute little thing!

With all my heart,

Dad

end of school fun!

we survived the end of school and all the madness that comes with it. i secretly love it, and this year, it really wasn't that bad. plus, my girls were excited about all of it so that made it even better! we started it all off with brooklyn and kendall's tumbling showcase. they had both sets of grandparents there and loved getting to do their performances for us after lots of practice. kendall was a little character "on stage" and had us laughing and smiling til our cheeks hurt during her whole performance. brooklyn practiced her little number at home for weeks and did such a good job!

the next day we went to kendall's family picnic for preschool. my girls loved playing (not eating) and kendall loved playing with her cute little buddy mason. we checked brooklyn out of school so that she could be there too.

day after that (see, crazy!), was kendall's cute preschool graduation. she wouldn't tell me anything about it beforehand, that it was a surprise. and surprised i was. she had a speaking part and knew every word. she knew all the songs and looked so cute and big up there on the stage. she lucked out with a huge fan club there to support her, including her uncle dev who surprised us all! i loved it!

i finished up my pta duties. i worked with so many great women and loved being a part of such a good group.

the last day of school snuck up on us and i brooklyn and i both said we couldn't believe it was here! i had been in arizona for the days leading up to the last day, so nana made sure she had a treat to pass out at school and new pajamas for pajama day. brooklyn was thrilled and so excited for the last day!

last day of 2nd grade.

after the flag ceremony to close the school year out, we raced home to run through the 'summer sign', put on new nightgowns, and eat play dough ice cream! these traditions, as you know, make my heart so happy!