The Great Outdoors

We've tried to fit in a couple trips up the canyon before it's too cold. The leaves are starting to change and it's beautiful. I would encourage everyone to get out this week and enjoy some great outdoors!

We went last weekend up Little Cottonwood Canyon with the Goodrich clan (we missed you Brett and Matt!). I think we were a little crazy packing up dinner and all the kids in the pouring-down rain but that made it more spontaneous and fun! April got some fried chicken and the rest of us pitched in with chips, drinks, fruit, and a pasta salad.

We spent most of the time warming up around the warm fire that Gene and Justin built. Camille, Rachelle, and I were impressed at how fast they got the fire going while it was raining. It took us much longer when we went camping.

After our bellies got full of food along with s'mores and cookies, it was fun to just talk and laugh around the fire. The kids got tossed in the blanketand Camille, Rachelle, and Gene showed us the "Goodrich theme song." (I didn't know such a thing existed!)

Molly had so much fun that she requested to go to the mountains again the next day. Since it was one of those lazy Sunday afternoons, we decided to take a drive up Provo Canyon. We parked somewhere and started walking up a paved trail until we arrived at Bridal Veil Falls. This was as far as we got because Molly decided that she wanted to play in the water. The water was so cold but she didn't seem to mind!We walked across the rocks to try to get some pictures.The only thing that got Molly out of the water was the promise of homemade ice cream when we got home. Mmm, did somebody say ice cream?

Doctors and Pictures

Took Molly to her 2-year checkup yesterday. Here are her stats:

Weight: 23.15 pounds, 8.8%
Height: 33.5 inches, 42.26%

She got two shots, Chickenpox and the last of her Hepatitis. After her flu shot next month, she's done with shots until Kindergarten! Yay!!!

My mom and I took Molly last week to get her pictures taken. She didn't cooperate very much (she hated it!) but I still think they turned out pretty darn cute!(They look a little grainy because I scanned them in)

We can't believe how grown-up she looks! Last week when we were driving on the freeway Molly saw a billboard of a girl with her mouth open and her hands on her cheeks (SURPRISE!). So Molly shouts out, "Mommy, that girl saying Holy Cow!" We got a good laugh out of that...

Hangin' out at home

Some of my favorite times spent at home in the last few weeks...1. Coming home from grocery shopping and seeing Molly sitting on the chair with all of her stuffed animals...yes, she has a lot. This is what happens when Daddy is left to "baby-sit!"

2. Molly loves our neighbor's kitties. She picks them up and drags them all over. All I can say is poor, poor kitty!

3. Molly loves helping Mommy clean. She went through 3-day period where every minute she was awake, she had to be wearing her life jacket.

4. Playing dress-up with whatever we could find on a rainy afternoon.

We still love jumping on the tramp...

On another note, I cleaned out Molly's closet. Since she had a birthday, it's time to put away the clothes that are too small and get out the next size. Thanks to on-loan clothes from Tiana and Lizzy (and some I bought on clearance last season), this is what I unpacked for the winter:And yes, these clothes had to fit in the closet with these clothesthat she can still wear. It was a tight squeeze but with a little re-arranging, we managed to squeeze everything in. Except for her 20+ pairs of pants that had to go in her drawer. I think she's set for the winter...what do you think?

And the fun continues...

WARNING: Lots of pictures...I had a hard time narrowing it down so instead you just get all of them (almost). At least Grandma will like it!

Monday was Molly's actual 2nd birthday. She's such a lucky girl because Justin doesn't work on Monday's-so we had a family day all day! What could be better?

Justin and I were like little kids and set up all her toys the night before so she would wake up to this:I think she knew from the moment we walked into her room that it was a special day. She doesn't usually get this excited to wake up!

Justin and I found the little red car on KSL for a really good price. I had my mom and dad go pick it up one night--well, the lady was also selling the cute little slide for a great deal so we ended up getting her both! Our justification: she has NO outside toys and these kind of toys never wear out so we figure that not only will Molly use it but all of our kids. She seemed to have fun with both. We thought that maybe we would do something fun in the morning but after getting thoroughly spoiled from family the day before we thought she'd have fun playing with her toys. And play she did...all morning long. I don't think she left the front room once and I know she only had one or two bites of her breakfast. She was too busy playing!Taking a little break to watch Barney with Annie (the baby). After her nap we went to Chuck E. Cheese for pizza and games. It was really fun! We were worried that it would be geared to kids a little older than 2 but there was plenty of things for Molly to enjoy. She was only scared of two things:
this rideand Chuck E. Cheese himself.She seemed to enjoy him from a distance but as soon as Justin got closer the tighter she held on to him! She's been telling me the last few days, "Mommy, Chuck E. Cheese don't get me."

Like I said, there was plenty of things for her to have fun on...Taking a break to eat pizza and watch the show. This was fun...when Molly would jump up and down, it would make animal sounds.While Justin was redeeming our tickets for a prize, Molly sat in this little car with Chuck E. Cheese (she wasn't afraid of this little one). She kept giving him a hug-it was pretty cute. She was so sad to leave him!Happy Birthday Molly! We love you!!!

One year older and wiser too!

Wow! Where has the time gone!! I can't believe that Molly is 2!!! We had a birthday party on Sunday (the day before her birthday) at Justin's parents house. (Thanks Gene and April!) It was a nice day so we decided to take advantage of it and have a barbecue outside.After dinner, the kids played until it was time for cake and ice cream. They were pretending that this bench was the boat and that there was water (or fire?) surrounding them. They weren't too happy about pausing for a picture...Then we had cake and ice cream. I made Molly a cupcake cake-it's supposed to look like an ice cream cone, if you couldn't tell. It was pretty easy to serve-as soon as we finished singing "Happy Birthday" the kids dove right in. All they had to do was grab a cupcake-no cutting involved!

I also made these cupcake pops.It was my first attempt so they don't look nearly as good as these I found on the Internet. But they tasted good, or so I hear, I haven't had one yet!

Justin's mom also made homemade peach ice cream...YUM!

After the cake was polished off we moved on to opening presents. Molly had a lot of help from her cousins, but she didn't mind!

She was spoiled, as usual.After she opened her presents, she played with a few that were already out of the box while the grown-ups attempted to clean up.And we ended the night with jumping on Grandma's bed!