McKartny's 2nd Bday

Little Miss McKartny turned 2 back in the beginning of September. Kurt was gone on her actual birthday so we celebrated that weekend with friends & a bbq, unfortunately we got rained out and had to move everything into the garage BUT McKartny had a good time & that's all that matters!
She's our little singer! I don't remember Kylan singing/remembering songs as well as her at this age but she does so well with all the words & is actually in tune alof of the time!

I guess we've started a tradition in our family; we took Kylan to get her ears pierced on her 2nd bday & McKartny has been asking for earrings like Mommy & Kylan so we took her to get hers done on her 2nd bday as well!

Birthday & Anniversary

I recently celebrated my 26th birthday and got the best present ever, Kurt got home from Oklahoma the day before!!! We had lunch together at Cozumel and spent the rest of the day with the girls enjoying having Dad home!

Then a week later we celebrated our 6th anniversay by going to the Bodies Exhibit in downtown and having dinner at Benihana without the kids!!!

Our gift to eachother for our anniversay, well more for me than Kurt, was going to see Phantom of the Opera. I have wanted to see this play since I was 9 years old and I was in absolute heaven!!! I got chills when the music started and the chandelier was raised in the beginning!! Kurt couldn't understand alot of what they were saying/singing but he still enjoyed it he said. I LOOOOVVEEEDDD IT!!!

Amish Country

Yesterday we made the trip down south to Amish Country. It was an eye opener for me and I really enjoyed it and Kurt even said he was a little skeptical on the drive there but ended up having alot of fun!

Oh how I wish we could have a huge farm with tons of animals just for Kylan, every horse or cow that she saw she had to get as close as possible

I saw this store and HAD to go in, it was Christmas all year long! One of the coolest stores I've been in, you couldn't help but smile when you walked in, and Kylan at this point was getting a little tired of walking around but when she saw the Christmas trees she took off running and loved it as much as me!

At the Guggisberg Cheese Factory, riding the deer :)
Yee Haw!

At Herschbergers Farm & Bakery, there was a free petting zoo, and once again Kylan had to be pryed away from the animals and cried when we left :( McKartny on the other hand was a chicken liver and wouldn't touch anything

This is Big Ben, one of the tallest Belgian draft horses in the World, he was enormous, I wanted to ride him :)

Along with the petting zoo we visited several bakeries & stores with beautiful furniture and woodworking and sampled lots of cheese at Heinis Cheese Chalet and I almost talked Kurt into getting me a beagle puppy at the pet store, yeah right, I've got a lot more butt kissin' to do! We all loved it down there and hope we get to visit again before graduation in May!!!

Cuyahoga County Fair

We ventured out to the Cuyahoga County Fair a few weeks ago, Kylan was adament about seeing the horses and cows, and she was not disappointed, although she was quite upset when we couldn't bring home a "baby calf and baby pony." I kept telling her someday!

This horse loved, me everytime I walked by it stuck it's head out and tried to nudge me, and I watched, it didn't to it to anyone else! Man, I miss being around horses, wished I would've taken advantage of having them when I had the chance. Lesson learned I guess

Took a rideo on the carousel and ate some yummy food, although it didn't compare to the Cassia County Fair's maple bars and our Stake's hamburgers!

We sat and watched the pigs for awhile, they were really funny, I felt really bad for the Moms, those little piglets were squealing at her and pushing her around trying to eat, then she would lay down in a position where they couldn't eat and one little baby came and squealed right in her face until she got up, it was hilarious!

Squires Castle

Kurt's rotation this month has been awesome! Lots of time off, so on this particular day we went to see Squires Castle. It was built by a very wealthy man back in the late 1800's early 1900's and was to be his gatekeepers home while his 'mansion' was being built but it never was and this 'castle' still remains.

This was Kurt's favorite room, the hunting library, where all their hunting tropies were displayed

We brought a picnic lunch and just sat out on the lawn in front of the castle and enjoyed the beautiful weather, it was a really good relaxing day spent together!

New York Trip

In July the girls & I took a little trip over to New York to visit our friends Angie & Marshall Gwynn, he actually just started his residency program there! We had an awesome time, there house is prime location with a beautiful lake across the road, out in the country, no neighbors, it was heaven!

Kylan helped Marshall, we so she thinks, catch a wild rabbit and put it in this cage, she was obsessed! When we left she cried because she was worried it would miss her, unfortunately it got scared to death, literally.

We went to a really neat Discovery Center that had lots of fun things for the girls to explore, it was even fun for me!

It amazes me everytime the girls do something that they've seen me do over and over but I never realize they know how to do it, i.e. grocery shopping!

Outside the center there were all these cute little cottages/houses just kiddie size, they even had Goldilocks & the 3 bears cabin, very clever

We headed over to Palmyra on Friday and saw the sites and the Hill Cumorah pageant that night, unfortunately my camera isn't the best at night pictures but this was my favorite part, when Christ came to visit the people in the Americas, it was amazing how they portrayed it. Unfortunately alot of my time was spent wrestling with the kids but it was still a very neat experience. Thanks Angie!

McArthurs happened to be there the same night as well which was nice cuz it gave the girls something to do while waiting for the pageant to start! Lately the girls are obsessed with babies, McKartny mauled Jerzi the whole night.

The Hill Cumorah in the background

Palmyra Temple from the Smith Farm

In the Sacred Grove, all I have to say is AMAZING!

Again The Sacred Grove, and behind us is what remains of a rock fence that is believed to have been there since the Smiths!

Summertime

While Kurt was in Oklahoma for July the girls and I tried to do as much as possible to keep ourselves busy. We spent alot of time at the pool and playing outside the sprinkler and even spent a weekend in New York!

I remember jumpin on the trampoline with the sprinkler underneath all the time when I was little so we tried it out with the girls and they had a blast, and yes they are drinking the water :)

Cousin It, or Kurt thinks she looks like the girl from the movie "The Ring"

I think she likes these shoes more than I do!

Kylan had swim lessons everyday for 2 weeks, she had so much fun and at the end her teacher, Ms. Kim, told me that in 6 years of teaching swim lessons Kylan was her favorite student! She is very comfortable in the water and learns really fast