The Klenk Family

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

The Happiest Place on Earth

And, yes, I'm talking about Disneyland! I am 25 years old and I still think it is just as magical as I did when I was five. It was so exciting to take Makenzie there now that she is old enough to know the Disney characters and appreciate the rides. I must say that she had a blast, but her favorite thing of all from the day was watching Fantasmic. She absolutely loved the musical water show that displayed all of her favorite Disney princesses and characters. It was so fun for Shane and I to watch her excitement throughout the performance. We really had such a lovely day and I can't wait until the next time we are able to go.
Home, of course, really IS the happiest place on earth and we got to spend several days at Shane's parents and mine (but I accidently deleted the pictures from my home) while we were in California. It was such a wonderful trip.

At Grammy Klenk's.

No, I did not set this picture up. These two just really loves each other.

When we got to Grandpa Christensen's, Zach and Rachel had made Kenzie a piñata for Cinco de Mayo. They are always so good to my kids!

I actually didn't get a whole lot of pictures at Disneyland but that's alright because Steve had his camera clicking all day and he is going to let my raid his photo's soon. So there will be more to come.

Excited to start our day at Disneyland!

Astro blasters! Makenzie was so excited to see Buz and Woody.

Doing double duty. What a great dad!

We watched a cute little Rapunzel play.

I love that Shane snuck right into the very center of this picture of my brother and his adorable wife.

We rode the Winnie the Pooh ride three times! It was so fun!

I think Henry's face looks so funny in this picture.

I couldn't resist adding this one. She really wasn't scared; I just got her at a funny moment.

Waiting for Fantasmic, the highlight of the day.

Because the following Sunday was Mother's Day, we were able to join my family in a Skype chat with Andrew, who is on a mission in Chili. It was so fun to see him and talk to him.

Kenzie and Grandpa sang a few songs for us afterwards.

Our dear friend Micheline.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Silly Kids and Packages

Here is one post of MANY to come. I am behind several months in my blogging and I am determined to get caught up now. These are just some silly pictures of my kids from April.

Makenzie put on her backpack, hat, and boots on (which I accidentally cut off in the picture), and grabbed her lunch pail. "I welly to go to work, Mommy!" She then went to the door and insisted on going outside so she could go to work.

We got an awesome package in the mail from our Aunt Carolyn for Henry's birthday. She always send the funnest things. And even though the package was for Henry, she was sure to include goodies for Kenzie too (who helped Henry open all of his gifts).

These little princesses that she sent are a huge hit to all who enter our home.

This sweet boy is always so cuddly.

So I found this turtle tent outside with a bunch of stuff that people were getting rid of. I thought it was so cute and decided to bring it home to play with for a day or two. I quickly realized why it was unwanted. It was ridiculous to set up, the corners of it wouldn't stay evenly on the ground and it fell over anytime you walked by it, but the kids LOVED it. Henry especially loved it. He would get so excited to crawl into it every single day. He would take toys in it to play with. Every time I set it up (after it had been collapsed on the floor for a day) he would squeal and giggle as he crawled as quickly as he could inside. It has since been tossed into the garbage, where it truly belongs. We kept it much longer than I ever thought we would but it was worth the joy our kids got out of it.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

A Happy Birthday

This little girl has been talking about her birthday since December of last year. I'm not even exaggerating. She has been so excited for this day and I didn't want to let her down in anyway so we really made a day out of it. Here is my litte 3-year old angel. My sister took these pictures for me and Makenzie was actually quite difficult during the entire shoot. Her hands were on her face, her eyebrows were furrowed, she kept lifting up her shirt, and the list goes on. Luckily, however, Katie got a few really sweet pictures out of the hundred (at least) that she took.

I had to add a couple that showed how she REALLY was during the photo shoot :)

She is still a doll even when she isn't cooperating.

Things about Makenzie:

She is a wonderful big sister- She is usually really good at sharing with Henry too. A couple days ago she was eating a Hershey's bar (a real treat in our home) and she was sharing it with Henry. She got down to the last piece which, despite it's large size, was too hard for her to break in half for her brother. She looked at it for a second then gave the whole piece to Henry for himself. These kinds of thing happen quite often in our home.
She still loves to sing and is even pretty good at it. Sometimes she makes up her own words to songs but she keeps the key really well for a three-year-old.
She loves church and asks to go to church all week long.
She loves to ride a bike. She started getting pretty good at riding a tricycle a few months ago. It is so fun to watch her pedal as fast as she can on that little trike.
She talks a lot and says such funny things all day long. She is also very kind, encouraging and complimenting. She often tells me how pretty I am or that my shirt is cute or that she likes my hair. She thanks me profusely for the yummy food I make her (even if it's boxed mac and cheese) and whenever Shane and I throw the football around she becomes our little cheerleader, telling us how good we're throwing and catching. She just brightens my day all day long.
She is potty trained! Woot woot!
She loves to dance and asks to listen to music so she can dance to it every day.
Every time I give her a piece of gum, she tears it in two and gives me the other half. I think it is the sweetest thing ever!

I asked Makenzie a few questions about herself
What's your favorite color: purple
What's your favorite book: Dinosaurs (Oh my, oh my, dinosaurs!)
What's your favorite movie: Bell (Beauty and the beast)
Who's your favorite princess: Bell (although the first time someone asked her this question she said "Auntie Kate" who is my sister)
Who's your best friend: Mallory (her cousin)
What is your favorite food: rice (she really does LOVE rice)
What's your favorite thing to do outside: Play with my friends
Where is your favorite place to go: to live in a castle (not sure where she got that, haha)
What do you want to be when you grow up: A mommy (good answer!)

When I said "we made a day out of it," I wasn't kidding. Shane and I stayed up and blew up 75 balloons for her to walk out to in the morning. She loved it. After breakfast, we went to Barns and Noble and let her pick out a couple of books to buy. We also got her a free birthday cupcake at their café. When we got home we had friends come over to make little pita pizzas. I think they all liked making the pizzas more than eating them. It was wild having all those children around one table but it was a blast. After lunch, we went outside and invited all of the court kids to decorate cupcakes with us. We had naps and then we were right back to it. We went to a little place called Jumping Jim's. Though it was very old, Makenzie had a blast on the little rides they had and playing games in their arcade. When we got home, we had baths and then opened presents. Whew! What a day!

Makenzie helped me make cupcakes the night before her birthday. She LOVES to help me with the kitchen. Of course, the best part is always having a little (or not-so-little) taste test of the batter.