Disneyland and Utah Trip

On my birthday last month, my sister, mom, and I decided to take our girls to Disneyland. It was perfect because Ashley and I got in for free since it was our birthday and our girls got in for free, so just "Nana" had to pay. It ended up being the hottest day of the week and was over 100 degrees by 10am, but we just stocked up on water and ice cream and made it through the day. Nana took the girls on Small World, the Teacups, and Dumbo. They loved it!

For being the daughters of twins, these two couldn't look anymore different:

Mackenna did have one small breakdown on Small World. But I totally get it...those little people are pretty scary!

A couple weeks later, on the spur of the moment, Steven, Mackenna, and I decided to take a road trip to Utah to be there for my grandparents' homecoming from their year of church service in Jerusalem. My mom drove up with us and was the best "Nanny" ever. (Her name changed from Nana to Nanny on this trip because she took care of Mackenna the entire time, it was like a vacation for Steven and me).

Our favorite stop along the way: Dairy Queen in Beaver

While we were up, between all the family events, I was able to go over to my friend Amelia's darling new house in Salt Lake and hang out with her and her little one. We even got a little shopping in! I had so much fun seeing them and wished they lived closer.

My one request for this trip was that we take Mackenna to BYU. Steven and I haven't been back there since graduation about 5 years ago! It was so weird to be back on that campus, this time with our daughter. I have so many wonderful memories of my college years and really miss those care-free times (which I thought, at the time, were so stressful)!

Steven wanted me to take lots of pictures of him and Mackenna so we could take the same pictures when we take her back up there for college in 16 years, haha!!

My grandma and cousin Nikki with Mackenna at the luncheon after church:
My grandparents built this amazing 2-story playhouse when I was a kid and it was so fun to see Mackenna love it as much as I did.
My brothers: Kevin on the left, Kirk on the right:

We had a great trip, got to see lots of family and friends we haven't seen in a long time, got to eat at Cafe Rio and Bajio, and got to spend lots of bonding time in the car. Welcome Home, Grandma and Papa!!

Mackenna's 21 Months Old

I can't believe my little munchkin is getting so close to her 2nd birthday. She is just the funniest thing ever and I wanted to share a few things she is doing right now:

-calls me "Brittney" (I thought that didn't come til the teenage years)!

-loves to cuddle in the mornings and when she wakes up from her nap

-is absolutely obsessed with the movie "Little Orphan Annie"

-sings "Tomorrow" and "Dumb Dog" all the time (from the aforementioned movie)

-can sing her own versions of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "I am a Child of God"

-says her prayers (meaning she kneels down, folds her arms, closes her eyes and says, "Heavenly Father...AMEN)!

-can swim all by herself with just her floaties on

-her new favorite thing to do is to go to the carwash. I have NO idea why, but she gets so excited everytime I pull up there

-her dad made up some weird songs and sang them to her, and now she closes her eyes and belts them out at the top of her lungs at the most random times. Next time you see her, ask her to sing the "Trash Can Song" and "Baby Cries." She even taught them to her cousin, Hailey.

-speaking of Hailey, she is of course still Mackenna's best friend and every time I ask her to get out a cup or plate when we eat, she gets two out and sets a place for Hailey too.

-instead of saying "another one," she says, "two one's."

-loves her tap shoes and once I put them on for dance class, they don't come off the rest of the day

-she can put on, and take off, her socks and shoes all by herself

-she calls forks and spoons her "corns." We don't really know why, but we're guessing at one point we told her to eat her corn (ya know, for dinner, using a fork or spoon) and she thought we called her fork a "corn." And the name has totally stuck, even the extended family now refers to utensils as "corns."

-she loves playing with makeup and calls it her "pretty pretty."

-she tells me "thank you Mama" all day long whenever I give her anything, tell her anything, or do anything for her.

I just love this age and although there are times throughout the day when she definitely tests my patience, I love that I get to stay home with her and help her grow and learn and make so many memories.