a long Christmas overview

Christmas time is Casey's favorite time of year. The holiday spirit, the songs, and the season together make a wonderful time to celebrate. I asked Casey what one of his favorite Christmas past times was and he said it's the Webb family Christmas party. It's a party that he loved as a child and looks forward to every year. This year was no exception we had our usual cereal and gift exchange along with a wonderful meal, minute to win it games, family pictures, and wonderful people to see and be with. We celebrated Casey's dad turning 60 that same weekend. We also did the sibling / cousin gift exchange since this was the only time this month we'd all be together. Our gift challenge this year was to give a gift that started with the same letter as the recipients first name. Casey got a Calendar, carrot, and two clementines, I got mittens and a matching hat, Kendal got a hello Kitty coloring book. Casey and i received the Harry Potter movies, a griddle, and a nice first aid kit from Casey's parents.





Christmas found us at home in Logan. Since we have a bigger place this year Casey and i went out and got our first tree. Kendal loved talking to the figurines on the tree; especially Minnie Mouse, Santa, and baby Jesus. A couple of days before Christmas my family did our gift exchange. I got much needed kitchen towels and measuring cups, and Casey got the Mummy movie series. Christmas eve continued my little tradition of giving PJ's to Kendal. She looks so cute in them; unfortunately she also likes to zip herself out of them and then run around naked. Casey and i were not up to opening our Christmas before our 9 am church so we told Kendal she had to wait all morning until Grandma and Grandpa Loosle arrived for some brunch after church. Church was good, and a nice way to start off our Christmas the right way. As soon as my parents arrived Kendal didn't wait; she tore into her presents. Kendal would have opened all of our presents if we would've let her. She got a homemade Kitchen with play food, and dishes. She also got a Mickey Mouse bowling set, and some little Winnie the pooh figurines. Later that day we went over to my parents house for some presents and a Christmas dinner. My parents got Casey and i many things my favorite would have to be the matching aprons my mom made Kendal and I; and the dishes we got. (Casey and i never got dishes when we were married, so finally after more than five years of marriage we got our dishes. And they are Awesome!) Kendal got many things too including some kitchen stuff, and a snoopy and snoopy blanket.
We feel really spoiled this Christmas and are thankful for the family we have.






The day after Christmas we headed up to Idaho to spend some time with Casey's family, and to see our friends. We got to spend some time with Rhett, Aria, and their two girls, Jenae, and Brooke. We miss having them around and enjoyed spending time with them. Casey went Ice skating for the first time on the pond outside Aria's parents house. Kendal walked around a bit on the ice, and got pulled in the sled some. Unfortunately my camera was acting up so i only got a couple of sled pictures and nothing else from our adventure to Idaho. We enjoyed the rest of our time with Casey's parents, Cody, and a bit with Sarah, Terry, and Bryker.

I may not love the cold and snow that accompanies this time of year, however i do enjoy the Christmas season and had a wonderful month. I have my Loosle family party to look forward to tonight and New Years eve tomorrow.
So many wonderful traditions and memories to look back on!

and . . . . some pictures

Family Time

This past week we headed up to Idaho for our thanksgiving break. We were able to spend the majority of our holiday with Casey's parents his brother Cody, and his other brother Brett, our SIL Vanessa, and their two sweet kids David, and Rebecca. David and Kendal are reaching the age where they can finally talk to each other and scheme. We found Kendal letting David into the pantry quite a few times to sneak a snack. They had so much fun running around together and playing.
We had thanksgiving dinner with the extended Webb family. It was a great time with wonderful people and wonderful food. Kendal had a blast finding chalk, the water cooler, and a fish pond to play with. Black Friday came with no one a.m. wake up :) Mom D, Vanessa, Rebecca, Nicole, and i set out and did some casual shopping. I got a $2 movie, and a shirt for Kendal. Whoopee!
Saturday was quite a day. Mom D, Casey, Cody, and i took the task of watching five of the six grandchildren while the rest of the group went hunting for Christmas trees. It was a little crazy at moments with three babies that needed attention not to mention a crawling boy who was putting things in his mouth and an active Kendal. We had fun (i think we're doing a good job training Cody for being a Dad someday :)
We all spent the afternoon together and everyone was there for dinner. I think we all took a moment to look around and realize how big the Darrington family has grown. It was loads of fun, and i love spending time with the Darrington clan.

I also have to put in my gratitude for all that I'm blessed with this year. I have a great best friend/husband Casey, a superbalous daughter Kendal, and so so many family members that I'm so lucky to have in my life. I'm blessed to have the gospel in my life; it is my constant guide in life. I have had so many other little blessings this year it's hard to write them all down, but i feel so happy and blessed!

Fish pond at the Webb Thanksgiving




Cousins!

Snow much fun!!

Yesterday while we were being dumped on with snow Casey took the opportunity to take Kendal out and play. She spent a good deal of her time eating the snow, and the rest tromping through it and having a blast with her Daddy!

Kendal turns two!

Kendal turned two today! Kendal and i went down memory lane this morning. After some breakfast we watched home videos of Kendal when she was a newborn up to a few weeks ago playing in the leaves. We both had fun going down memory lane. Kendal would talk to the "baby Kendal" on the screen, and i would just reminisce about how long ago some of the videos seem.
We had some family over on Sunday to celebrate Kendal's birthday. Nothing big, just a dinner and Minnie Mouse cupcakes. Kendal had a blast opening presents (Christmas ought to be a lot of fun!). She got some fun gifts from family. She caries her Minnie around everywhere and wants to wear her purple coat any time we go out. Casey and i got her a Mickey Mouse music player, slippers, and art stuff (play dough / supplies, paints, coloring book, etc.).
Kendal is a fun / energetic two year old. She is always learning new things and surprising us with how much she knows. Kendal has a bright cheery personality. She is always showing us how much she loves us with Kisses and hugs. Kendal is sweet with her animals. She talks to them and gives them big hugs all day. Her new passion is for babies. Since adding three baby cousins recently Kendal is all about wrapping up her animals in blankets and giving them naps and hugs.
Kendal's current favorites:
- Music, both listening to it, and trying to sing her own tunes. Kendal was on the potty this morning singing Jingle Bells. She also went up to the piano at my parents recently and was singing the Elmo theme song.
- Color, This is harder because Kendal calls everything blue or pink. I'll say pink is her current favorite color because that is what she picks out to wear most often.
- Food, Kendal loves anything with Sauce (sauce means ketchup and can occasionally mean other things) The food she eats the best is pasta.
- Toy, Right now Kendal is loving her birthday toys. Usually she is pulling out puzzles, her ducky, or her angel (bear).
- TV show, Kendal would love it if we still had Cable and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but since we moved Kendal's favorite show is either Super Why or Elmo.
- Book, Kendal's current favorite book is Dooby Dooby Moo. She has a plethora of books that we read over and over again, but currently it's the Cow / Duck books she's into.
- Snack, Kendal's favorite snacks are gold fish, cookies, and fruit snacks.

Casey and I are lucky parents to have such an awesome daughter. We are proud of how smart and wonderful she is.







Happy Second Birthday Kendal - (in Kendal's words) "luv ooo"

Fall Fun!

We decided to Carve pumpkins. A first in our marriage and with Kendal. Apartments and pumpkins never went together well for us. It was too cold outside, so we decided to put some plastic on the floor and carve our pumpkins inside. Kendal thought it was neat and wanted to help. Once Casey and i got to carving Kendal was being silly by trying to put the pumpkin goo back inside the pumpkins. She loved to squish the goo and playing with it. (I made masks for all of the pumpkins to have before we carved them. I decided to put mine back on post carving.)



Since we're in a house now we have leaves to rake. I asked Casey to rake up some leaves the other day while i was at work. So after Kendal woke up from her nap Casey and Kendal played outside. Kendal had a blast raking, jumping, and running around.




Kendal has a love for anything Mickey Mouse related. So it was an easy choice having her be Minnie Mouse for Halloween. I found a pink dress, cute polka dot shoes, and i made her ears and bag. We practiced saying Trick or Treat before every stop, but Kendal would never say it when we got to the door. She was in a hiper mood with all of the sugar coming her way. Campbell was a very cute Peter Pan for Halloween. I love how well Kendal and Campbell or "Cangol" as Kendal calls him, get along. Kendal had a great night visiting family and being Minnie Mouse!



Happy Fall to you all!

An Eternal Blessing

Casey and i were able to fly under the radar in our new ward for a little over a month. However they found us and had us talk today. We were told to speak on Patriarchal Blessings. They never told us how long we needed to speak. I prepared around a ten minute talk (nerves got the best of me, i spoke faster and it was about an eight minute talk). Luckily Casey was well prepared and generously filled the rest of the twenty five minutes with his wonderful talk. Casey and i both took different perspectives about the patriarchal blessing; mine was more content, blessings, guidance, and direction you can receive from it. Casey talked about lineage and the position and calling of a Stake Patriarch. He did very well. I learned more from him, then i did researching about the blessing. As i was preparing my talk i came across the idea that not only is a patriarchal blessing meant for life here on earth, but it's blessings, and promises reach into the next life. What may not be fulfilled here can be accomplished in our life to come. That was so neat to discover. I have an eternal blessing, it's a wonderful thing! I cherish my patriarchal blessing; i know Casey and i will both be reading our blessings more often, and seeking their direction, guidance, and light.




p.s. potty training going well. Kendal is loving her new found Independence.

Milestones!

Kendal turns 23 months old tomorrow. She is just a month away from turning two years old. For me this is a big milestone, she will no longer be my baby girl, but my big girl.
Kendal has been showing a lot of interest in being potty trained lately. So Casey and i decided to bring on another milestone by potty training Kendal. We are on day four of potty training. Kendal has picked up on things really well. However we still have a couple accidents a day. Kendal enjoys being a big girl, and saying "bye bye diaper". We've still got some road ahead of us on this potty training ride; but i'm hopeful things will continue to do well, and my little one will be all set come her second birthday.
Some things Kendal has been up to lately -
Kendal loves to paint and play with play dough. If she spies her play dough or paints she begs Casey and i until we pull it out. (I would pull it out more willingly if my entire house wasn't carpet; i don't love cleaning smashed play dough out of the carpet)
Kendal is still obsessed with books. She has her handful of favorites that she pulls out almost daily for Casey or i to read to her. Her top picks right now are How i became a Pirate, Pirates don't change Diapers, Mickey Mouse nursery rhymes, and the potty books we currently have on loan from the library.
Kendal is improving and expanding her language every day. She has started to pick up on songs. When we sing to her she'll talk randomly through parts and then say words that are emphasized or at the end of a sentence.
With all of the new babies in the Darrington family. Kendal has become quite baby happy. She loves her baby dolls, finding babies in books, and on TV, and anywhere we go. She likes to give her dolls and her stuffed animal friends hugs all the time and talk to them. Sometimes if she's not super tired when i put her down for a nap or if we don't get her right away in the morning we can hear her in her room chatting away to her animals and dolls.
Kendal is our little Sweet Pea. She brightens our day and makes life so enjoyable. I can't wait for her birthday and the upcoming holidays! Kendal has blossomed into an energetic, loving, sweet, and funny cutie. It'll be sad to be done with her baby years, but i'm definitely looking forward to more milestones in her future.

Painting,Play dough nails, and rainbow rice fun:



More recent pictures:



No Diaper mom!

Need to

I always look forward to conference weekend. It's a great time to hear the Prophets / Apposals teachings, be inspired, and learn more about the gospel. Heading into this weekend i have this strong feeling i NEED TO listen to conference. I NEED TO hear those prophetic messages. I am always uplifted and edified by conference and i'm anticipating a good weekend.

I NEED TO say how grateful i am for Casey; and i need to say how much i love him. I take for granted how hard working, loving, and just plain AWESOME he is. I am truly blessed to have him as my eternal companion.



Not that i need to, but i am going to update about life lately. I am settled into another year at After School Club. My position isn't always the funnest or the easiest, but it is a good job, and the kids make my job worthwhile. Casey has started Subbing. He has been to a handful of schools already around Cache Valley. We would love it if Casey could get a job during this school year and turn this subbing into a full time teaching job; but for now he'll keep pursuing his dreams through subbing. Casey does an amazing job and i'm very proud of him. Kendal is as always my little sweet pea. She is growing and getting into all sorts of mischief as usual. Kendal's vocab is constantly expanding; their is no doubt she is a talker, and still loves her books. Her favorite phrase right now is "______ where are you". The blank line is for many things people, stuffed animals, etc. She loves to copy cat people and learn from others too. For example the other day when we were taking family pictures her Uncle David put some of Kendal's animals on top of Anica's head while she took pictures. So now Kendal loves to put animals on our head; such as the middle of sacrament she puts a monkey on my head and says (a bit too loudly) "Mommy monkey, Ek Ek Ek". I just have to laugh at her funny ways.

I need to post family pictures as soon as Anica gets them looking good.

Happy Birthday Campbell!

Campbell is the oldest out of two grandkids on my side of the family. He is at that awesome age of funny sayings, active adventures, and silly play. He is a great cousin to Kendal and a wonderful nephew. We love you so much Campbell!


- My favorite picture is of Kendal and Campbell holding hands (I love that they're still at the age that they'll do stuff like that)




Happy Third birthday Campbell, may your day be AWESOME, and your year wonderful!