Anabelle - Beauty Queen

This afternoon Shirley was playing with Anabelle and they decided to put some curls in her hair and make her Beauuuttttiful! Shirley than took some pictures of her, which turned out absolutely darling... Here they are:

Superman Flying...

The girls love being lifted up by our feet and act like they are flying... Well this afternoon Shirley did it with Elin, and of course she absolutely loved it. Here is the photo... Anabelle than came in the room, and of course asked for her turn. Elin, not to happy that she had to wait her turn while Mommy lifted Anabelle to soar through the air, came over and sat right on Shirley's chest and kept moving closer and closer to her face. The real funny part is that she had a dirty diaper, so she was really making her point. Shirley than lifted both in the air, and the last picture here was towards the end of the flight when they came in for the crash landings. Very cute! Don't forget that to view a larger image all you have to do is click. It is worth clicking on the middle picture when Elin is sitting on Shirley's chest just to see her face. You can see the "I'll get you back" look in her eyes...

Backyard Fun...

The girls got a Slip N Slide to play with in the backyard and are enjoying it. Here is a picture of Anabelle when she was drying off.

Anabelle sings at church...

This week has gone by way too fast...

Last Sunday, When the final song was announced in church at our Sacrament meeting, Anabelle grabbed the hymn book and asked me to turn to the song they were going to sing. As I sang the song, Anabelle (of course not knowing the words nor how to read) was singing along with me. I did not hear any actual words come from her mouth - it was almost like a language of her own as she made little noises that matched the notes being song. Hopefully I am explaining it so you can understand what I mean - it was just too cute - and she song the entire song - all three verses...

Mother's Day B-Fast in Bed

For Mother's Day Katelyn, Anabelle and I decided to make Shirley breakfast in bed. They both were so adorable when I went in their room to wake them up - they jumped out of bed with the same enthusiasm as if it was Christmas morning. While preparing the food Katelyn spilled a bowl of 16 eggs - which of course was delightful to clean up but otherwise it was lots of fun cooking with them. They were both so excited to help.

When we walked into the room to give Mommy the food both girls were smiles ear to ear. If you look close in the picture of all four you will see the typical Elin morning face. Every morning she wakes up with this beautiful morning smile...

Memorable morning for sure...

Anabelle breaking out of her shell

Well for the last 3 years we have witnessed Anabelle grow up in her little shell - very timid and quiet when others are around. Lately however she is starting to climb out. Some examples include - while at Barnes and Noble the other night Shirley asked her if she knew her ABC's. First off I did not know she already knows her whole ABC's (that was the first surprise) - second rather then singing them, she shouted them so everyone could her. It was very cute - but when we asked her to quiet down - she decided to sing them all over again very loud again - who knew she had it in her. While at Office Max she did something similiar but this time to the song BINGO.
Last night at a wedding reception Anabelle decided to start dancing all by herself when the song, "Celebration" came on. As she was dancing the bride went over to her and began dancing with her, which Anabelle thought was so neat. Even when people gathered to watch the two, Anabelle stayed dancing. It was absolutely adorable.
So here she comes world - breaking out of her shell!

Visit to the temple..

Saturday (Apr. 28, 2007) morning we took the girls to the temple. It was a nice break from the kitchen cleanin', laundry foldin', computer typin', backyard landscapin' daily life. The girls discovered strawberries growing amongst the flowers and of course dove right in to grab some. Of course they were the best strawberries ever! We had a great time there!

Shirley and the girls!


Anabelle picking strawberries!

(note Mesa Temple in background)

Anabelle's Prayer for Sanjaya...

So tonight when we gathered as a family to say a prayer, Anabelle asked if she could say it. The prayer was very cute, but the best part of it was when she said, "Please help Sanjaya get to stay in American Idol." Little did she know he was voted off the week before - but we didn't say anything, afraid we might break her heart. Too cute! It must have been the hair...

New Neighborhood

Although we are very happy with our new house - the best part about it was a feature that did not come as an upgrade - in fact it is priceless - and that is all of our neighbors. We really lucked out in our new neighborhood, because it is the kind of street that I always dreamed of raising a family on. Almost every day when I come home from work, I see all the neighborhood children playing together, as well as other parents gathered together in the front yards on lawn chairs discussing the day's news.

One of the features that the children find most fun is the large inflatable, water slide which our front neighbors purchased. About twice a week, the children have their own waterpark to splash around in - and in Arizona it is much needed.