Santa

Here is Kenzie's first visit with Santa Clause. She had fallen asleep on the way over and wasn't so sure about it all!! But she still looked cute!

Our cute Kenzie

Lately, kenzie has been up to the typical 2 year old crap! She loves to tell us "No", she wants to do everything herself, throws herself on the floor in a tamper tantrum, loves saying "stinky daddy" even when she is the one that smells, every animal she has gives other toys a ride, rufuses to use the tiolet but will take dolly to use it, if she eats something she doesn't like it gets spit right out, ect.

On the other hand she is a great helper putting laundry away, loves to see all the animals at Bass Pro or wherever we are at, loves to be chased and tickled, is a total daddy's girl, acts like little miss mommy to her doll and dogs, tells garrett that the people on Rocky are "not nice" (because they are hitting), when we walked into the temple visitors center and she saw the Christus she looked in awe and said "wow", and the only part of a prayer she can say is "amen".

Despite the battles and sticking firm in rules, she is such a great joy in my life and I am so blessed to be a mom. Here are some great pictures I took today...

For all you salad lovers..

I made this great salad tonight and man it was good. So here is the recipe (there are 3 recipes to this salad so sorry)...

Island Pork Tenderloin Salad

Tenderlion:

16oz pork tenderlion
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. olive oil
1/4 c. brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp. finely chopped fresh garlic
1 1/2 tsp. tabasco sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. stir together salt, pepper, cumin, cinnamon. Coat pork with this rub
3. Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat and brown pork, turning about 4 mintues
4. Stir together brown sugar, garlic, and tabasco and pat on top of pork. Place in pan and cook for 20 minutes.

Cumin Vinaigrette (this is a very small recipe, if feeding more than 2, make sure to double or triple recipe)

2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 1/2 tsp. orange juice
1 1/2 tsp. dijion mustard
1/2 tsp. cumin powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. olive oil

Whisk together and refridgerate ( I made mine the night before and let it refridgerate)

Island Pork tenderloin salad

3/4 orange peeled and cut
1 1/2 c. fresh spinach
3/4 red bell pepper cut into strips
2 tbsp. golden raisins
1 1/2 c. napa cabbage, shredded (I used iceberg)

Put salad together and top off with slices of pork and then drizzle dressing over top!!

This is a bit spicy!

Enjoy!!

Rub a dub dub

kenzie and daddy had too much fun with the foam tonight in the tub!! I am not sure who had more fun, kenzie or daddy?

Smoked Ribs anyone??

My dad finally got him a "hands free" smoking machine!! This Bradley Smoker is all automatic, you put the meat in, set the timer, fill the tower with wood briquettes, and let it go. It was great! It will automatically put in a new briquette to burn and will shut off once the time is up! We had a great feast of ribs and brisket. For the first round it was good, but have time to prefect it before the holidays!! Good job Dad!!

Halloween

Our cute cowgirl heading out to fill her princess bag of candy!! It was a rough start of the night, but she had fun taking candy out of people's bowl, whether they handed her some or not!

Welcome to phoenix Yoda! Dad did a great job playing the part, but scared Kenzie!

Kenzie at Dance

So our cute cousin Morgan invited kenzie to "bring a friend" day at her dance studio. Kenzie was constantly going all over the place and not standing where she was supposed to. The dance teacher was really patient with her and she had a great time.

High Heels

As I am folding laundry Kenzie has decided that she needs to be wearing my high heels. Daddy is in so much trouble if a 2 year old has a shoe fetish!

Saturday-O- Fun

First we dressed up Kenzie and took her to the Bass Pro Halloween. It was kind of a let down, but she had fun painting a pumpkin, seeing the "fishies", and playing a fews games.

Then, my parents came over and saw us. Kenzie loves to see "Bampa" as she calls him! She enjoyed seeing my mom too, who has been gone for 6 weeks.

Then we went to the ward trunk-r-treat and fall festival! We saw so many people we had never seen before, but it was really fun to see my primary kids all dressed up and some of the parents were decked out too! Good thing my parents were there to help pass out the glow bracelets! There was a whole bunch of kids- who knew we would go through 150!!

Here is Kenzie in her cute cowgirl costume. She looked really cute and has become quite attached to her new boots!

Heres the Fam!!

A new syrup for breakfast foods

Try this great syrup recipe with waffles, pancackes, or french toast! It is AMAZINGLY good!

Buttermilk Syrup
1 1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. butter or margarine
2 Tbsp. corn syrup
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda

Combine all ingredients except the vanilla and bring to a boil. Let gently boil for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla immediately. Serve warm!

***USE a large saucepan, because the syrup rises up and will spill all over your stove top and burner. Trust me, I know!!!

Updates

These past few weeks seemed to have flown by!! I cannot believe that the semester is more than half way through! I have been playing volleyball once a week with some other girls and that has been a blast. I have realized how out of shape I am but it is a great way to have some competition and be having fun! my teammates are all really great and I just love it! Garrett has been super busy with his calling in the church. He is in with the Priests and helping with all the scouting and activities. He is doing such a great job but there is always something going...meetings, mutual, training, camp trips. he is totally in his element! The first week of October I had a fall break so kenzie and I headed up to Winslow and visited Garrett's family. We had a great time and kenzie enjoyed playing with her cousin Rhyan! While we were in Winslow garrett had a big camping trip with his boys. He had tons to do in preperation for it, but once they got there they had a great time! they shot guns, fished, ate lots of food, and had fun doing it. i have had the bug lately to decorate and bake!! Anyone else? It seem like fall gets me all in the mood to bake. Garrett and I made some paper mache decorations for the house and Kenzie loves them. We made a cat and painted him and Kenzie thinks that she needs to hold it and cover it with a blanket. Here she is with him...

Kenzie is saying more and more as well as her tantruming more and more. If she doesn't like wha we say she just lays on the floor...no matter where we are! So many times I have to pick her limp body up off of the floor while everyone watches!! We bought her some cute boots for her cowgirl costume for halloween and she has become quite attached to them. She just loves to wear them. Here she is getting ready to go on a wagon ride with her boots on...

i will post pictures of her on Halloween!! She is going to be adorable!

Something is wrong with this picture!!!

Prostate Check-up in the Wild!!

Garrett, you lucky dog...

Tonight after class Garrett walked out to go get his bike only to find that the bike was gone and is bike lock, left cut in half. He walked to his truck pretty bummed about his bike, that we had been putting some money into, had been stolen. So, he began his ride home and while crossing through Rural and University, he sees his bike next to the bus stop canopy. He furiously pulls the truck onto the sidewalk, throws the truck into park, and approached the man sitting next to his bike. (I am sure at this point he is going on adrenaline alone!! )The man denies that the bike was his and tried to walk off. Garrett called the cops, they showed up, and oddly enough the man got away. Turns out that since the man was not touching the bike, Garrett couldn't prove it was him who stole it. When Garrett got his bike back, he looked and the man that stole it had alreadybegan tearing things off of it to deface it. So, when all is said and done, at least Garrett got is bike back and now we get to invest in a much better bike lock to prevent further theft! What a blessing though. What are the odds that Garrett would find his bike that was stolen 20 minutes before he got out of class!

While in Charleston...

I hitched a ride with my sister and her new baby. Kenzie of course sat in the backseat with the baby and a few occassions the baby was really upset about being in her car seat and not being fed immediately. As Eve is screaming, i could hear cute little Mackenzie saying, "Baby, baby crying. Shh,Shh,Shh. " and of couse i heard her say " hey, hey baby, hey". She was so diligently trying to get the baby to stop crying. She is such a cute little girl. And it makes me laugh that she was saying hey to Eve, because that is what I will say when I pick her up and start to calm her down. Kenzie doesn't skip a beat. She picks up on everything that I do.




We needed a day of distraction while we were there and i wanted to take Kenzie to do something fun, so we headed out to Folly Beach one afternoon. Kenzie had such a blast chasing the seagulls, and of course scooping up sand and throwing it. She enjoyed being in the water and playing with her cousin Carson, who loved to follow her.

Here is Kenzie trying so hard to catch the birds!

I do think that she is looking more like me!?

Cousins just glued to the tube! They both were totally tired!!

So, my sister Kim, who doesn't have any kids got put with me and Kenzie to share a room. Thanks Kim for being so flexible and having fun with us. Despite kims ability to instantly get Kenzie hyper and all riled up, she is the best aunt ever. Kenzie loves her so much. She cried when kim would leave her! i love you kim!

Carlton Tabor Woodard December 17, 1927- September 11, 2008

Papa fought a good fight with cancer for 13 years and on September 11, 2008 his struggle here on the earth ended and he returned home where his family members were waiting for him. I have many special memories of my grandfather that I will cherish forever!

Kenzie and I flew out of Phoenix last saturday to attend his funeral back in Charleston, South Carolina. All of my siblings and of course my parents were all there to attend the funeral. I was able to visit with Nanny, and my heart just ached for her. I can't imagine the heartache she has right now. All I could do was to hold her hand and let her know I was there for her and tell her that I loved her. I am really glad that I brought Mackenzie with me. She definately helped to lighten things up and brought a smile to her great-grandmother's face.

We were able to have a family viewing before all the friends came, and it was so hard to see a loved one lying there. i am a cry baby anyways, but death is hard for me. Regardless of the plan of salvation and the assurity of me seeing him again one day, I hurt to know that he is gone, and to see who he left behind. The one thing that brings me peace and comfort is that his pain and struggle is over. He is happy and I know he is watching over us! After the viewing, the funeral started and then off to the cemetary. All of us granddaughters sang "I am a Child of God" before they lowered the casket.

Overall, the funeral went well and I know that my grandmother was pleased with all who came to pay their respects.

Salt Lake City

So we headed up to Utah over the labor day weekend to see my sister who had her baby, and to be there for the blessing. We had a great time seeing everyone, went up to Mill Creek where we hiked and ate dinner, had the blessing, went goofy golfing, and just had a great time visiting.

Here is Kenzie who was too busy pushing the baby stroller to notice the fire pit. So she tumbles right into the ashes face first. And no, we hadn't had a fire so she was ok. She is pretty entertaining sometimes!

Here we are along the creek while we were there to hike. It was so pretty! It reminded me a bit of Oak Creek Canyon. We head farther up the mountain and went on a hike, and it was so beautiful. As we got closer to the top you could see out over some of Utah. So, we we talked about going on a hike I was thinking any easy stroll, but once we got the the trail I quickly realized how out of shape that I was. it was straigh incline 99% of the way. Theres my sign!!

Here is all my family after the blessing of Evelynne Fellows. She is such a cutie and I was so glad to be up there with everyone.

On this trip Kenzie enjoyed being with her new cousin. Of course kenzie was so confused when the baby cried all the time, but she loved to hold her hand and give her kisses!

Hello Blue Eyes

kenzie got this dress from my mom for her birthday and she looks so cute in it!! Good choice mom and of course she looks adorable in it!! It makes her eyes look crystal blue!! Notice the frog arm at the bottom of the picture? She has some animal no matter where we go!!

Happy #2 Kenzie- Mom and Dad love you!

So for her special day we took her to Chucky Cheese to ride some fun kiddie rides and eat some pizza. Besides the fact that the pizza was gross and ridiculously expensive, she had a fun time on all the rides and games. Here are some of them!!

Kenzie was attempting to throw the ball, sometimes they didn't quite make it!! But she definately had her game face on!
She loved this ride! There were buttons that made a honk and a dog barking and music played, so needless to say, she spent the majority of her tokens on the doggie ride!
My parents came to celerate in her special day! We love having them come!

After the pizza place we headed back to our house for cake and presents. Garrett and I wanted to get her something really cool so we bought her a small powerwheels that we thought she would love. Well, it scared her more than anything so instead of the big gift, she loved the books, baby stroller, and play horses instead. She loved all of her great gifts! Thanks to everyone for your thoughtfulness!

Here is Kenzie opening her gifts!!

I was reading to Kenzie some of the Great books she got! FYI- Sandra Boynton has some of the cutest books and she makes each page rhyme. They are so fun to read with kids. Kenzie loves them! Some of her favorites are- Pajama time, The Going to Bed Book, Snuggle Puppy and Barnyard Dance! Go check them out from the library.

My new job

So, I changed schools this year for those who don't know, and I am LOVING It!! I work in Scottsdale teaching P.E only part-time. I love it cause I get to spend more time at home with Kenzie, but still get out and make some money! It was definately a positive change in my life!! Just thought you'd like to know!

Where have we been...

The question should be where haven't we been? This summer has been such a fun one! Garrett and I were both able to be home to enjoy Kenzie and the freedom to leave whenever we wanted to! Here is the break down of the last 3 weeks:

Stop #1: Camping in Payson- Here we met up with my parents as well as Garrett's parents, sister,and brother. We enjoyed the beautiful weather, trees, and visited a fish farm. Kenzie was in heaven as she had her cousin Rhyan, which she now calls "Ri", to play with the whole time. They took off a time or two on their own nature walk showing eachother rocks and sticks. They were really cute

Stop #2- Salt Lake City, UT- Here we stopped in for a night to visit my sister and her husband. We hung out, had "Weathersbys"(it is Leatherby but I thought and said weathersbyS) shakes, installed a cieling fan, and ate some good mexican food. It was an overnighter and then on the way to...

Stop #3: Idaho Falls, ID- We came up to visit our friends who moved here from Flagstaff. We got lost and circled Idaho Falls, which was super fun,but finally got there. We hung out and talked lots, went and saw the new Batman movie, and just visited. We drove up to St. Anthony where Kenzie got to ride a horse, which she LOVED! She freaked out when we took her off!! She is such an animal lover. There we also went bowling, rode quads, and made some killer tin foil dinners- I cannot divuldge the secret yet! We were out two days later on the way to...

Stop#4: Yellowstone National Park- Obviously we went to go see some of the cool sites. We saw some animals including a black bear, bison, elk and some birds. We were hoping for a moose but no luck. So we enjoyed the endless geysers and water falls. Definately a fun trip but heck, by this point I was just about tired of the car.

Then on the way home we hit each stop again saying goodbye to everyone. And now, back to the grind. I started my orientation for my new school. I think that it is going to be a good year!Garrett doesn't start school for another 2 weeks so he is home being with Kenzie. Hope all is well with everyone!