Lately

I haven't written too much about Kendal lately, and i should be kicking myself because she's so much fun and i don't want miss recording some of the things she does. Kendal is a hopping 26 month old; literally - Kendal doesn't seem to walk much, she would prefer to run, hop, jump, and waddle her way anywhere. Kendal is always on the go whether it is getting out all of her toys and only really playing with a couple of them; or wanting to do something so bad (like play dough or color) she won't let it go until she is doing so. Casey and i wish there was a bit more snow. We've only really had a few storms and Kendal loves to go out, eat, and trollop through the snow. We still read a lot to Kendal. She loves to get a pile of books and sit on my lap to read them, then she jumps off and gets another batch of books.
Kendal still loves to talk, and now she's adding humor and imagination to her thoughts. It can make for some funny things. Kendal has a lot to say. Lately she talks a lot in third person. "Kendal is crying" "Kendal loves daddy" etc. She talks a lot in the car, mostly nonsense, occasionally she sees something out the window like a cow and goes off on a tangent about it. In the car the other day she's singing twinkle twinkle little star to herself then she stops and says "Hear dat?" "I hear a monkey" . . . " ooo ooo ooo" then she started to giggle. Kendal can sing her alphabet and point out most of the letters to us. Kendal is always saying "ohh love . . . " pretty much everything goes into that . . . it can be her ducky, mommy, daddy, a goldfish cracker, a puzzle piece, etc. You name it she loves it. Sometimes i feel so special when she says "mommy luv you" then i see her loving something like a cracker two minutes later and i come back to reality. Kendal thinks any baby that cries anywhere is because it has bonked it's head. In the store, at church, etc. She hears a crying baby and says how sad it is and how it bonked its head. (We think this stemmed from one incident over Christmas break where her cousin Bryker hit his head and cried a bit) We've been working with Kendal on her colors, but she still gets mixed up. She can't name the color of most objects; however if you ask her to find a blue or red crayon out of a pile she can do it most of the time.
We are in love with our silly crazy girl. She teaches us so much and is a treasure.


Lately -
I've been back to work since Christmas break ended. This school year has been a good one; (still not so much teacher support, and always some challenging kids) but i've learned to work around / with the teachers, and i try to do my best in working with any kid happy or mad that comes my way. My job definitely helps me appreciate my own daughter way more, and makes me want to do better by her as a parent.
Casey is subbing around Cache Valley and helping my dad every now and then on jobs. He is continuing to throw himself out there and working hard to find a job. We are hopeful something will come along, and know whenever, and wherever that might be it is in Heavenly Father's hands.
I am looking forward to many wonderful things this year and am grateful for all that last year brought to us.

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!