This is a little out of order, but my brother David married Becka on February 24th in the Oklahoma City temple. We are very happy for them and it was a super fun day celebrating with family and friends!
Cori busted her lip at the temple, but she recovered pretty quickly.
Do you think he’s enjoying that?
Since the kids just had birthdays, I figured I would record a few things about them at this age.
I’ll start with Eli. Sometimes I call him boy genius, which can be accurate when he is explaining reversible change, or sarcastic when he is running laps around the house to avoid going to pee. He loves playing pretend and he wants me to tell him a story “with my mouth” every night. The hero always has to be named Eli and he is usually a prince, knight, or ninja knight. He loves to run, jump, climb, dig, and ride his bike. He always wants to win (big surprise). He went through a phase this year when all he wanted to watch on TV was Max & Ruby, but now he has moved on to Mike the Knight. He loves nursery school and primary and he learns a lot. Captain Moroni is his favorite scripture hero and Nephi’s Courage is his favorite primary song. He eats very well these days and is usually willing to try new things, but his favorite is peanut butter and honey sandwiches. He mostly knows his letters and numbers 1-10. He can write his name and Cori’s name. He loves Cori and they have wild conversations laying in bed at night. He tells Derek and I that he loves us all the way to infinity and he loves to help Derek fix things or help me cook.
Cori is as cute as she can be, but also a handful. I have to keep an eye on her constantly or she will be either destroying something or doing something that could cause her harm. She is much less cautious than Eli. She loves to climb and spin and throw her body around. She is still tiny (about 19 lbs). One of my friends calls her a sample. She is a talker just like her bubba. People are always surprised when she starts speaking to them in full sentences. She has a very sweet little voice. She copies everything Eli says and does. She loves to be read to and even “reads” books to herself sometimes. She also loves to take care of her doll babies and play ring around the rosies. She loves nursery and her favorite primary song is The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock. She eats well too, and some of her favorites are avocado, spaghetti, yogurt, and chicken nuggets. She mostly knows her colors and she can count to 10. She loves her family and gives great hugs!
For me, the worst moments with them are when they ignore me. The best moments are when they give me hugs, play well together, or eat my food and tell me it is delicious. I love them both lots!
We had a combined family birthday party for Eli and Cori this year with a knight and princess theme. It was lots of fun. We made the same castle cake that Mom used to make for us and Sir/Uncle Doug was nice enough to welcome the guests to the royal birthday fair.
The knights decorated their helmets at the knights armory and the princesses decorated tiaras at the princesses jewel room. Then we headed outside for pony rides!
Aunt Caroline’s friend brought her pony Wonder. Cori jumped right on to ride. Eli was nervous for a while, but once he got on he loved it.
The knights and princesses used a sword made by the king to slay the dragon piñata.
Then it was time to eat cake and play.
Cori and Eli sat in their thrones to open a few gifts, but we asked people to bring canned food items for the needy of the kingdom in lieu of gifts.
This is Eli donating the food. Sara Lee also donated a loaf of bread for each item we collected.
A few days before Eli’s birthday we had a little party at the park with all his nursery school and playgroup friends. The theme was digging, so the kids dug in the dirt and played on the playground. It was lots of fun. Eli even said, “This is the best day ever.”
On his actual birthday he got breakfast in bed of course. He requested donuts, and since it was Sunday I did homemade ones. His present from us was cowboy boots. He had a great day in primary and then more fun at the farm, but I don’t have pics of that cause Cori and I were home sick.
We bought a van. I have always wanted a pearly white vehicle, so Derek got me one just in time for my birthday. I love it.
We had a weekend away in Dallas too, which was great! Derek had a business trip down there, so I went down at the end of the week and the kids stayed at grandma and papa’s house. We got some R&R, saw friends, went to the temple, shopped, and of course ate good food including Rosa’s and Einstein Bros., yum.
