Kennedy Kartel

CHRISTMAS FUN-NESS

2011-12-29T21:37:00.000-08:00

Christmas for the Kennedy's in Utah
So it was Ollie's first Christmas, and Charlee's first Christmas where she started to understand. There were ups and downs, but over all we loved Christmas so much. Here are some pictures for those who want to see.

Ollie hanging up his stocking for the first time. Somehow my amazing mother found out Oliver's name and then made this stocking for him in time to get it out here for Christmas, thanks so much Mom, we love it. (and the face is from the flash being so bright, I don't like it)

Charlee trying to reach her stocking hanger.

Our family gingerbread house.

Charlee coming down the stairs followed by Ollie.

Just needed a little help getting up there.

Oh my goodness, look at all of this stuff, so much fun!!!!!!

Nail time with Mama.

Hi everyone, Merry First Christmas

What a big yawn.

Merry Christmas everyone, dig in to happiness.

Halloween Pictures!

2011-11-02T20:10:00.001-07:00

Birthday and Picnic in the Car

2011-10-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

So this last week/month have been very very hectic for us and a transition period as we are trying to get into this next phase of our lives. A couple of things that happened to us were Charlotte's second birthday and a picnic in the car. One of Danielle's favorite things to do is at the beginning of fall as the leaves start to turn, drive up the Provo canyon and look at all of trees as they are putting on a color show extravaganza. We went up a little bit later than usual, the night before the big chill here in Utah county. Well we decided to still go and make a night of it. So we loaded up some food and the three and a half of us and jumped in the Explorer and drove up the canyon, the colors were amazing. Then on the way back down as dark was falling we stopped at a little park and had a picnic. It was very chilly out so we decided to eat in the back of the car. It was super fun and Charlee had a great time.

Charlee's birthday was also very fun, she got some super fun presents and had a great time. She is really getting good at the presents and trying to blow out the candles. Here are a couple of pictures to remember these activities. Thanks for coming by and visiting us. Enjoy the pics.

"I am really trying to get this candle out, I huff and I puff, but it only moves a little. Thanks Aunt Kristen for helping"

"Hey, everyone is staring at me and singing, what is going on here?"

"Picnic fun in the back of the car"

"Mommy made some really really good food!"

"Yippee, I love it when mommy reads to me, she is the best"

"I like to move it move it, and I really like it when mommy moves it with me."

Two New Videos!

2011-10-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

I LOVE spicy nacho doritos!!!

2011-08-27T22:04:00.001-07:00

Announcement!

2011-08-18T12:00:00.001-07:00

Well, if you didn't all ready know! :)

Yummy Bananas!

2011-08-17T20:37:00.001-07:00

She couldn't get enough of her bananas so she licked the plate clean!!

Easter Happiness

2011-04-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

HAPPY EASTER

Hey everyone, Happy Easter to everyone!! We had a really good Easter. Charlotte was feeling a little bit under the weather (she had a virus that has been going around) but there were parts of Easter that just made her come out of her grumpy bad feelings. She had so much fun. It took her a little while to figure out the whole idea behind hunting eggs, but once she got it she had so much fun. On Saturday we had the family Easter Egg hunt and she started getting the idea. Then on Sunday morning we had Easter morning with Charlee, Dani, Aunt Kristen, David and Sydney and Bryan. We hid some eggs around the living room and Charlotte loved finding them. We kept re-hiding the ones that she found and she kept looking for what seemed like half an hour. She was just having so much fun. So here are some pictures and videos so you can see what was going on. Love to all and hope you had a fun Easter as well. Our next big thing is Bryan's graduation from UVU on the 29th of April.

Spring Break

2011-04-18T21:29:00.000-07:00

I admit it...I STINK at documentation. I've always stunk at journals, taking pictures, etc., and don't even get me started on my lack of scrapbooking know how!! I am just not creative that way. I'm much better at being creative with my 5th graders to get them to laugh through my Math lessons! But all of that aside, I'm trying to be better. Because the one thing I miss the most are the memories. I just don't remember! Just ask Bryan! Worst memory ever, but it does make me get over things really easy, because I can't even remember to be mad. :)
Well, Spring Break was last week and BOY was it fun! We thought we'd share what we remembered to take pictures of!

This was the best part of Spring Break, Fruzzins!! We love that Stef is back and so close. It is making my life a joy especially because my daughter is happy all the time she is around her cousins. They had some really fun days together, as you can see. They love that swing, and snuggles (is that an inherited trait or a learned trait?!)
Just working on the basketball skills set, prepping for the day she can take on her ol' mom!
Scarlet is so sporty! and daring!! She loved this, and just playing around with the ball.
Tough girl hu!!! She is so much fun :)
Charlee loves this little rider/scooter thingy. She pushes it, rides it, sit backwards on it....anyways she can possibly play with it without actually eating it (although she has tried that as well!)
See what I mean!
She also just loves to be outside in the backyard. She'd be there all the time if we let her. She loves to climb up on this kid wheeler (which doesn't run) I think she feels like a big girl.
This is her normal reaction to being pushed around on the wheeler, ABSOLUTE JOY!!
Seriously...could ya just die. She is so stinkin' cute!!
She is also becoming more adventurous and is starting to really like the slide!

Now, I just loaded on some different movies we took of various backyard activities. One is long, and really only meant for Grandma's, so watch at your own discretion. It is of her getting a ride from her dad on the tarp around the back yard. She loves it so much that every time she see's the tarp she'll come running. Enjoy the shows! I know I will in a few months when I can't remember what is in them! :)

My Parents are Slackers Again!!!!!!!!!

2011-03-20T20:43:00.001-07:00

Hello All! I need to apologize for my parents. They have been slackers again. They are never blogging. I keep growing up, and learning new things and they are not letting the world know. So because they are not letting you know, I will do it myself. So here are a bunch of pictures and some narrative to let you know what is going on.

So a while ago I got a measles vaccine and I had a reaction to it, it happens a lot to me when I get a vaccine. It did not hurt and it did not itch, but it looked really bad.

Front side a back side, it got pretty bad looking.

So this is one of the last pictures that was taken of me in my first house, this was the first house that I ever lived in, but we have moved and one thing that I will miss are the stairs. I learned how to climb the stairs here and I would go up and down. Sometimes I would climb to the top and throw things down at my dad below. It was quite funny.

So this is not showing up very much in the picture, but man I got myself a shiner. It was bad enough that everyone asked what was going on, I wish it had a really good story to go with it, but it does not, I just walked into a door after bumping into my dad.

So I love music, just hearing it makes my body move. It starts in my hips and bum, and then goes to my whole body. This little table makes some of the great music, so I will play it, and dance to it. Then I got this great puzzle and it has knobs on it and I love to hold it in my mouth. (Thanks Aunt Trista and cousins)

I love books too, my mom bought some little boxes to help organize the books and stuff, and the best part the boxes is climbing in and having fun with the books. I climb in and have tons of fun.

I love going to school with Mom, she is the best teacher ever. Sometime I go and just hang out in my stroller. I have gotten to the point where I will also run around the school and cause chaos. He he he he.

So this is my new home. We have been here a couple of weeks and we are still getting adjusted but things are going well. We have lots of unpacking and projects, but it is a lovely place, very charming and has the cutest little baby living in it (if I do say so myself).

Well everyone, hope you enjoyed the update, I will stay on my parents to keep you updated better, they can be such slackers sometimes. (They are also super busy. My Mom is working two jobs, working on her Masters degree, and being an amazing Mom. My Dad is finishing up with school, taking care of me and everything else, and he will be graduating at the end of April!!) But we just wanted to let everyone know that we love them and have been thinking about them. Until next time!
Charlotte Raynes Kennedy

Our Dear Father Joseph Raynes

2011-01-12T23:58:00.000-08:00

Joseph Lincoln Raynes PhD, age 64, passed away peacefully January 10, 2011, surrounded by his eternal family, after a battle with brain cancer.

He was born June 21, 1946, in Provo, Utah to Beth Milner and Lincoln Francis Raynes; he was the second of eight children. Much of his childhood was spent on the Oregon Coast. While at BYU, Joe... met his beautiful wife, Alice Nielsen, in a laundromat and it was love at first sight. Their first conversation began with his joke about both having red hair. They married in the Salt Lake Temple on May 27, 1969. They have ten children, all redheaded. It was impossible to be around Joe and not know he loved his family, the Gospel, and serving others.

Joseph completed his Bachelors and Masters degrees at BYU and earned his PhD at Texas A&M University. He served and inspired others throughout his lifelong career in Education. He was an Elementary School Teacher, Principal at Joaquin Elementary, Dean of Continuing Education, Dean of Trades and Technology, and Associate Academic Vice President at Utah Valley State College. He was instrumental in bringing the Education Program to the now Utah Valley University. He loved being a Professor of Education. His influence is carried through the countless teachers he molded.

Traveling the world extensively, Joe was always in search of opportunities to serve others. Fluent in both Portuguese and Spanish, he lived in Bolivia and traveled throughout South America with his young family while working with the Bolivian government. He lived in Colonia Juárez, México working with the Juárez Stake Academy, and traveled to Mongolia to develop higher education programs during their transition from Communism. He was a gifted storyteller who weaved his life experiences into tales that both entertained and edified.

He was a dedicated servant of the Lord, and served an honorable LDS mission in the Brazil North Mission. He labored as Branch President at the MTC, Bishop of Cascade 2nd Ward, High Council Member in Orem Cascade Stake, Ordinance Worker in the Mount Timpanogos Temple, and a member of the Curriculum Resource Committee. A gifted teacher of life and salvation, he lived to bring action to the Gospel’s precepts. He was always willfully obedient to the Lord’s commandments, firm in following the Prophet.

Joe was a builder of homes, ideas, and lives. A gentle giant, who was steadfast, thoughtful, humble, and strong; he spent his life in quiet service. His greatness was shown by his Christ-like love, the warmth of his smile, the power of his patience, the richness of his intelligence, his ability and desire to teach even the hardest of hearts, his comedic timing, and his gift to uplift others through his faith, stories, and unconditional love. His love of the Savior showed in everything he did.

He is survived by his loving wife Alice Nielsen Raynes, their ten children: Janelle (Nathan) Gerber, Michelle, Denise (Paul) Pitcher, Alison (Marshall) Smith, Melanee, Stefanie (Nate) Farnsworth, Jonathan (Daniela), Danielle (Bryan) Kennedy, Derrick (Alexa), David (Sydney), and 17 wonderful grandchildren. He is also survived by his father, Lincoln Raynes, stepmother Barbara, and five sisters.

Public viewings will be held on Friday, January 14, at Walker Sanderson Mortuary (646 E 800 N, Orem) from 6 to 8pm; and on Saturday, January 15, at the Orem Utah Cascade Stake Center (481 E Center St, Orem) from 11am to 12:30pm. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, January 15, at the Orem Utah Cascade Stake Center (481 E Center St, Orem) starting at 1pm. Interment will be at the Orem City Cemetery (1520 N 800 E) directly following the service.

SNOW DAY!!!!!!

2010-12-21T21:24:00.000-08:00

So, after a long, long, long, long time, in fact my whole life so far, my parents finally let me go out and play in the snow. It snowed a bunch last night and this morning, so there was lots of fresh snow to play in. I took my parents over to Grandma and Grandpa Raynes' house so that I could play there, luckily Aunt Sydney was there to take some pictures. (Thank you Aunt Sydney, at least there are some adults around that I don't have to train) So here are some of the pictures of me, I will narrate so that you know what was going on and also what I was thinking (for those out there who cannot tell)

I was so excited, I was getting to go out into the white stuff!!!

Look at me in my "Marshmallow Suit" Right after this picture I told my Mom that I needed to go to the bathroom, and she reminded me that I still wore a diaper and that I should "go with the flow" whatever that means.

Look, Look, Look, I made a person that is smaller then me. I set it up and then knocked them down. Muah Ha Ha (in my evil laugh voice)

I have my evil laugh, but I am still an angel, see, proof. :)

Well, thanks for coming with me on my little adventure, I can't wait until I can convince my parents to let me do this again, until next time, Charlotte

Walking Tall

2010-12-11T22:08:00.001-08:00

Charlotte has been taking steps and doing a few short walks (2 or 3 steps) for a couple of months now, but today, she decided that she wanted to become a walker, so she did. We got some footage for your enjoyment.

Did you see me? Did ya? Did ya?

I am coming to get you, coming to get you.

So the way to do this is 4 steps which are:
1-Walk
2-Fall
3-Take Dramatic Pause
4-Crawl like crazy
See watch how it is done:

The Single Lady

2010-11-19T20:46:00.000-08:00

Thanks Mel for getting this video, it is a routine that Charlee has picked up and does, purely from her love of music. She danced naturally and all on her own. She would hear any music and would dance, but this is her first routine.

Halloween Fun

2010-11-11T09:24:00.000-08:00

Sorry that it has been so long, life is crazy, it was a very busy month that just seemed to disappear. It seems strange that I only have about 5 weeks of this semester left, but am looking forward to a good end of the semester and next semester (the best being that it is the last one for my bachelor's degree). So anyways, to the stuff that you want to actually see on our blog.

We had a really nice HALLOWEEN, one of our favorite holidays. We were able to spend time with family and friends, have a couple of nice parties and activities and also have a period of normalcy in a crazy time.

We were able to throw, what I hope was, a fun party for our family and a few friends. It was our food-a-palooza party. Here are a few pictures.

7Layer Bean Dip Graveyard

Slithering Snakewich (pizza flavored)

Worm for Brains

Spider-Web Cupcakes

We also got dressed up and went to Dani's school to do the parade (Dani and Charlotte got to lead her classroom around the school)The three Muppets (Kermit, Mrs. Piggy and Fozzie)

Here are a couple of videos that we made. They are a few of the Halloween decorations that we set up. In the beginning Charlotte was a bit worried when ever she saw them. After a few weeks she got more comfortable then she started imitating them. It is one of the funniest things that Dani and I have seen (we have a couple of other videos we need to get out (dancing and walking) and are taking a bit) but now we have these, enjoy the funniness of our beautiful daughter.

Singing with Skulls

Dancing with Skeletons

Charlotte's First Birthday

2010-10-06T10:12:00.001-07:00

Hello, everyone, first I want to thank everyone that came to my First Birthday Party (and the well wishes from those who were not able to make it.) It was super fun having everyone there, for those who were not there here are a couple highlights.

I got these musical maracas from the Smith's, they are super cool and I have already played with them a bunch.

Since my birthday is in October and my Mother loves Halloween, the party had some Halloween overtones one of which was the Jack o' Lantern Pizza thy got me, I thought it was pretty cool.

What a lovely looking cake, I think I might have a piece.

Okay, maybe I will have a nice sized piece.

Okay, maybe I will have a piece the size of my head!!!!

I LOVE CAKE SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got this really cool rocking chair from my Granddad Kennedy.

It took me a little bit, but I got a hold of this whole unwrapping thing. Thanks for all of the wonderful and thoughtful gifts, I felt very bless and grateful for such good family and friends.

Even my friend Michaela came over to hang out, the whole night was very fun. Thanks again and love to all.

What a night!!

2010-09-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

Alexa and Derricks reception was absolutely amazing! Such a blast, with carnival food all over, and good friends every where!! The bride was STUNNING, and the groom looked good too! :) I am horrible at the camera, but Mel took some super cute pictures of Charlee during the reception. Next week is the wedding in Arizona and we can't wait!!!

Plus, a huge shout out to my sista, Kristen, who helped us with Charlotte all night! We couldn't have done it with out you, YOU'RE THE BESTEST!!!!

11 Months Old

2010-09-03T19:49:00.001-07:00

WOW!!!!! Where have the last 11 months gone? It was 11 months ago today that Charlotte joined our family, it has been quite the experience. It seems strange that this month mark is such a big deal, it just makes the 1 year mark seem so close! Well anyways, it has been a while since we blogged. The main thing that we did this summer was a vacation/trip. We went to California to visit my (Bryan's) hometown, then Oregon to visit the family and for Charlotte to have some Granddad and Grandma Kennedy time, and then back to California for a Kennedy Family reunion. We had a great trip with lots of first and lots of good times with family.

On the way to California, Charlotte cut her first tooth and then on the way home, she cut her second tooth. Charlotte had such a good time (her parents did too) with the Kennedy side of the family. Even though we spent almost 3 weeks there, it still just did not seem like enough. Well here are some pictures that we got on the trip.

Charlotte had lots of fun on her first trip to the beach, she got to play in the wet stuff and the dry stuff, she was not so sure about it, then started liking it and then she got scared when her Uncle Derek played sand monster and then it took her a while to get back to comfortable with the sand.

Fun at the beach with Grandma K.

"Hello Everyone"

(Imagine the mouth moving a mile a minute)
"Look out, it is baby Godzilla attacking an even larger Charlie Brown"
Clash of the Titans

Fun at the Beach

"Look, it is someone my own size to play with, though he does not talk very much. He is a good friend"

Fun with Missy. Charlotte was a bit cautious with Missy at the beginning of our stay, but she warmed up to her and by the end of the stay they were best of friends. Well, Charlotte really liked her and Missy tolerated her with a smile.

Charlotte having a lemon at Moe's Restaurant. She sure does love them, but don't worry, it was not the only thing she had. The best part of the restaurant was the fun Charlotte had looking around at all of the other people who were there.

I know, I know, a picture without Charlotte, sacrilege, but who could resist putting up a picture of a flesh eating plant called "The Viper Lilly"

Charlotte in her stroller while we went to Darlingtonia to look at the Viper Lilly marsh

Fun at Spaghetti night, what more needs to be said.

Great Grandma Kennedy's spaghetti sauce is so good I could just take a bath in it (and I almost did!)

Charlotte with her Kennedy Cousins

Just having fun at the family reunion.

So now some time to brag. We were very blessed when Mom and Dad (Alice and Joe) let us take their car for the trip, it made things easier. So on the way out it was three people (one of them being a baby that really takes up a disproportional amount of space with all her things!!) taking the stuff for three weeks. My sister Kristen came back from her mission to Bulgaria and got a job in Provo and it worked out that she was going to come back with us. So on the way back we increased 1 more person and all the stuff that she needed to bring to get going with her life here. It came out being the big pile that you see above, it took up a large part of the garage when we unpacked. So you say what is there to brag about......

It is my wife and her mad packing skills that was able to get 4 people and all this stuff into the Acura (the picture makes it look bigger than it actually is). I still don't know how she did it, there may have been some magic involved, I don't know, but it was impressive. I would have been able to fit about half of what we brought, but my amazing wife made so much of it fit. I think it may be a side affect of so many hours and so much proficiency at playing.... Dr. Mario. :)

What happened to the "Halloween-er" Tradition?

2010-07-07T09:39:00.000-07:00

As many people who know Danielle understand, she is a die hard Halloween Fan. It is her holiday, she loves it, loves the decorations, getting dressed up, the food, the family and the ambiance. After having been married for just a couple of Halloweens this enthusiasm and devotion to this great and wondrous day of mischief and mayhem has begun to rub off on me. So using logic and basic genetic math and reason, Charlotte should love Halloween above and beyond all other holidays...right? Well it may just be the fact that she did not have enough cognitive reasoning and development during her first Halloween (being less than a month old) but it appears that she might be a "4th-er". Charlotte decided to take a late nap on the day we celebrated the 4th and so she decided to stay up late and watch the fireworks, and lets just say that the proof is in the pudding, or if a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a video worth? I will present the evidence and let you decide for yourselves. Please comment and let us know if you think she is a permanent "4th-er" or if we can change her into a "Halloween-er" like her parents.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

(Hey everyone, thanks for visiting the Blog, Love Ya, Charlotte)

Sorry we are so behind again

2010-07-04T20:30:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone, sorry that we have fallen behind again, I (Bryan) was talking to my Mom (Grandma Kennedy) and she reminded us that it had been almost a month since we put up pictures. To try and correct this egregious error here are some pictures that we have taken in the last month. They are sort of out of order, we just put them up and will let you enjoy them (hopefully) with minimal interruption!!!

Interruption #1: This is a picture of Charlotte after she got her foot stuck in a Kleenex box and we spent time watching her try and get it off her foot (many many laughs)

Interruption #2: Charlotte trying out the bean bags at the local RC Willey's

Hello My Friends and Peeps

2010-06-04T16:19:00.000-07:00

I noticed and have heard people talking that my parents have been slacking off and not posting for a long time. So to rectify the situation I, Charlotte Raynes Kennedy, have decided that I will blog so that my friends, family and all my other peeps can see what I am doing and how much I am growing.

So one of the things that I really like as I am growing and exploring my world is eating. My parents have been giving me new foods. I really enjoy pickles, curry and noodles. I also really like eating paper and cardboard, I am really good at soaking them with slobber and tearing them into little pieces that my parents spend all of their time trying to keep away from me.

One of the other foods that I like and eat the most often comes out of a bottle. This is good, but it is a little boring so I need to find ways to make eating more fun, so I decided that I would start using my feet to feed me. Sometimes I use my hands and feet and sometimes I feed myself holding the bottle with only my feet. It is so much more fun to do it this way. Since my parents have been remiss in posting pictures I will also post a few of me eating and saying hello to you all. Enjoy!!

Hello My Peeps!! Long time no see!!!

The boring way to eat, some people use just their hands to eat, that is just so BORING!!!!

Look you can use all of your limbs to eat, it makes it so much more fun. :)

Sometimes it does take a lot of concentration, but it is well worth the extra work. You should try it. It is fun and relaxing as well, almost like yoga while you eat.

You just got to get your legs up and then curl the feet around the bottle, I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Such a BIG personality in such a small person

2010-04-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

I have always known that little babies were people, but I never realized how much of a BIG personality can be packed into a small person. I remember when my little brother was small and he had a big personality as well, but it did not come until he was closer to 4 years old. Maybe it is because I spend so much time with Charlotte, but I can see her personality in every thing that she does. Sometimes she does things her own way just because she wants to.

For example, Charlotte's Mom and Dad always keep feeding her from the nipple side of the bottle, and she needs to show them that that is the wrong way. So whenever she get the chance to feed herself the bottle she will turn it over and try and eat from the bottom and asks herself "When will my Mom and Dad ever learn"

So yesterday it was such a nice day in the late afternoon that we decided to go out into the yard on a blanket and we took a bunch of pictures of Charlotte (sorry to keep bragging but I think she is the cutest baby ever) so here are a couple of the pictures that we took. Enjoy

Little Miss. Independent

2010-04-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

So, to start off with a couple of photos, mainly so that those who don't see Charlotte very often will see how much she is growing.

So, our lovely little Charlotte is starting to eat "real" food, at least as real as baby food can be considered. She really struggled in the beginning, trying to figure things out; however, like it will probably be throughout her life, she was just waiting for her parents to figure out how to do thing the "right" way. The problem, as she told us, was that we were trying to feed her, and she just does not want or need us to do this. She has a little independent streak in her that will not let us feed her. The fix that she taught us is that we dip her spoon in the food and then hand her the spoon and she will feed herself. Don't believe me (don't worry I wouldn't either), well we have proof, enjoy the delicious cuteness.

Easter Photo & Video Montage

2010-04-11T18:41:00.000-07:00

Life has caught up with us again, (Spring Break is over! So Sad!!) We wanted to share all our fun, so we made an Easter montage! Enjoy :)

6 months!

2010-04-07T12:58:00.001-07:00

Charlotte had her 6 month appointment yesterday, and she is growing so well. She is almost 18 pounds and her head is in almost the 99th percentile!! Her grew an inch and a half taller, and the circumference of her head grew an inch and a quarter! Almost the same amount!! The Doctor commented, "Oh! She's growing brain cells!" when he saw the measurements. Her weight and length are just normal around the 75th percentile in both, but luckily she doesn't look out of proportion :) She also got her shots and she let out the most pitiful cry when they stuck her but didn't cry much after that. Such a good baby. But she did start running a fever. Her first fever!! She is okay when she has baby's Tylenol, but is just miserable with out it. She had a hard night, bless her heart.
We get to start feeding her solids now too! He mentioned something like, "If she could masticate a steak she could have one!" ha! That will not be happening for a while but Bryan is determined to not continue my red meat squeamish-ness with her, and I agree. He can cook it and he can feed it to her!!
We've has such a great Easter Weekend (new post pending with more photos included!), and are fully enjoying my Spring Break this week hanging out with my sister and Charlee's (said "Shar-Lee") cousins........actually.....I think we'll get back to more Spring Break fun!! Yay!! So enjoy just a couple pictures and look forward to the many more to come!!

Charlotte loves cardboard and paper products!

This is her best friend Scarlett, they seriously are inseparable already. She just loves her! Charlotte wants to be where ever she is, and do whatever she is doing.

Cute hu! Thanks Alexa for the cute pic's!

I will get you camera....if its the last thing I do!!

Scarlett loves Charlee too, and always gives her lots of kisses. I have to dry off her head once we get home from all the slobber kisses!! Isn't it the best!!!! Charlee is going to miss Scarlett something terrible!!!

She's got a new trick!

2010-03-29T14:10:00.001-07:00

Hey fam! We are slackers at posting, but we're both is school and work full time day jobs (mine-teaching, Bryan's-Charlotte, mines easier!) But we finally got the camera back out and are trying to document more!

Charlotte is growing so fast!! She rolls over a lot more, but still hates to be in crawl position. She is not up for it yet. She doesn't think baby cereal is very fun either, but she'll get the hang of it soon!!

She is such a people person and loves to be in crowds. She's never been afraid of a stranger, well, only David and that is because he is stranger than most!! (he he he) Her latest trick is she has started to suck on her bottom lip. So we actually got some video to document it, so please ignore my annoying voice and Harry Potter in the background! Enjoy!

Yes, we are the annoying set of parents that think baiting their child is hilarious. Charlotte is a good sport, but she'll whip us into shape here soon.

Another of her tricks! She is one amazing baby, biased or not, its the plain truth!!

She can do the Faux-Hawk

2010-03-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

So Charlotte has been growing and growing and we are sorry that we have not gotten more things posted. However, one of the things that has been growing along with Charlotte is her hair! Some of her first hair, the stuff she was born with, has gotten long enough that she can finally do the....FAUX-HAWK.

(This is Charlotte asking her mom: "Why can't daddy cut my hair so it is a real Mohawk?")

Our Flexible Leader of the Pack

2010-02-12T16:31:00.000-08:00

So there is something that I have noticed about Charlotte, she does not like doing things the way that others do it. This could be very good or very bad. :) Hopefully as she grows she will continue to do it and be a leader and not a follower. As you can see from the title Charlotte is flexible and a leader. So the way I noticed that she did things a little different was because of her flexibility. Most little babies suck on their thumbs; however, Charlotte enjoys sucking on her middle fingers or even recently she started sucking on her toes, yep she is bendable enough that she can reach up and pull down on her legs and get her toes into her mouth. Don't believe me, I was able to get proof. I think she is just so funny, she puts her toes in her mouth then looks at me like it is the most normal thing ever.

So remember, go out there, limber up and start sucking on your toes, all the cool kids are doing it.

Rice Goodness

2010-02-08T19:43:00.000-08:00

So, as Charlotte is getting older, she keeps growing and doing more and more new things and lots of firsts. I try and keep everyone up, and I know it slips sometimes, but Charlotte had a big first yesterday. For the first time she ate a food that was not milk. It was supposed to be rice cereal, but the directions for the "first baby feeding" waters it down so much, it was closer to Horchata than cereal. It was still quite the experience.

Charlotte was so excited to eat the food she could hardly contain herself and she felt it all the way down to her toes
.
So her first bite, I think she is saying "This must be an acquired taste!!"

She did not want more so she leaned as far back in the Bumbo as she possible could.

She is such a great baby though, through it all she kept smiling when we smiled at her. The problem was that as soon as she smiled everything in her mouth came squirting out.

She is just such a smiley baby.

This was the face that she made pretty much every time she got another "delicious" bite.

Does this picture remind anyone else of the part in the Harry Potter Movie where Harry has to force feed Dumbledore the water?

The whole experience was just a surprising event.

So, when Charlotte is in a few of her outfits the collar makes it look like she it a little count Dracula, and when she sucks on her arm, it looks like she is doing the vampire arm in front of the face, well now she is showing her true color and is growing her vampire fangs.

They are getting even longer!!! Watch out, everybody run!! It is Baby Dracula.

Best Kid Quote Ever!

2010-02-03T18:33:00.001-08:00

So the other day I was teaching and I said, "Wunderbar!" (which is German for Marvelous!) when one of my kids got an answer right. One of my 5th graders said, "What does that mean?" Before I could answer another of my students said, "Duh, it is a kind of candy bar!" I literally could not hold back the laughter, and the whole class just laughed together. I love those days. We'll today I am here to eat my own words. I found out it really is a candy bar!! Gotta love 10 year olds!!

We finally got a picture of the Laugh

2010-01-29T14:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, so after lots and lots of trying and a bit of time, we were finally able to get a good laugh of Charlotte on camera. I (Bryan) have not been able to get her to laugh since the first time until now, Danielle was able to do it a couple of times, even an Uncle making funny faces did it. Danielle was able to hid behind the couch so that Charlotte could not see her, and then I was able to find a word that made her laugh, and as you will (hopefully) be able to see it is "Mommy."

My Little Relaxed Mover

2010-01-23T21:36:00.000-08:00

So, it has been a little while since we blogged(thanks for the little kick in the rear Derek to help us get more up). For Christmas, Charlotte got a Wiggle Worm Gym, and at the time it seemed like a toy that did not really match up with her. She did not wiggle around much, she would just lie around and fidget. Well, she has learned a few new tricks. At her Dr's appointment (where everything went well by the way) the Doctor asked if she was rolling over or starting to roll over, and we said not really. The Doctor's response was that often calm babies took a little longer to get moving around. Just as he was saying this, she stuck both of her feet high up in the air and rolled over to her side, I think it was just because she wanted to show that she could. Well anyway, she tried to do the same thing in her Wiggle Worm Gym, but the problem was that she got her feet caught up in the toy, got her self twisted around and then stuck, and did not know what to do. She kicked her feet and that made it jiggle, but she was still stuck, so then she just started crying, it was the cutest thing.

Charlotte, realizing that she got herself stuck.

Charlotte realizing that she can't get herself unstuck.

As I was saying, the Doctor said, and we have noticed that Charlotte is a very calm and relaxed baby, and she really is an amazing little girl. I wondered what a really relaxed baby looked like and then I got this next picture of Charlotte that I thinks sums it up, she is so relaxed that even her favorite sleeping position is showing her extra relaxed nature.

How much more relaxed can you get?

And just to end off I just needed to throw in a picture of my two favorite Ladies!!!!!!!!!!!!

Charlotte's Laugh!

2009-12-23T11:49:00.000-08:00

Well, she is starting to laugh!! It is to die for! We just caught a little of it because she see's our camera and gets distracted! Anyways, we have some blogging to catch up on, Christmas and New Years and such. We'll get to it, but for now just enjoy her laugh! :)

Santa, friends, sleep and Christmas! Can't get better than that!!

2009-12-22T20:54:00.000-08:00

We have been sleep training Charlotte, and she does great during the day! She is great at napping......not so great at night! Up until recently, this is how she would sleep at night. IN MY ARMS. She would throw out her arms and just own the space on that recliner! I loved having her sleep in my arms and miss it A LOT sometimes. But, alas, I have to go back to work in a couple weeks and she needs to do this on her own. But to document this, I had to have Bry take pictures of us sleeping so I'll always be able to remember those early months.

Having a baby is one of those life altering moments that really shows you who your friends are and who you can rely on and I was pleasantly surprised to have some new people come up to the surface. Like my neighbor, Jeffani. She is just a doll, and is always so willing and nice!! She bought this outfit for Charlotte, and you know I would just die over it since it is polka dots! Plus, isn't this just the cutest picture!!
Lastly, we finally brought Charlotte into my school for everyone to meet, and she was ADORED!! She smiled and was pleasant and made everyone fall in love with her. She even got to sit on Santa's lap when he came to our classroom (special shout out to Janelle who set that all up for my students, SO COOL of her) She was getting so tired of being the center of attention that when I put her in Santa's arms she just snuggled right in and went to sleep!

So Christmas is on the way and here in this house we love Christmas Specials, like Santa vs. The Snowman, Prep and Landing, and all those wonderful claymation classics like Rudolph & Frosty!! But we discovered a new one this year called Cranberry Christmas. The plot is lack luster, and the animation juvenile, but any true Raynes will accept it as gospel once they know all the songs and narrations are done by none other than BARRY MANILOW!! Now, I couldn't just tell you that and not let you taste some of that heaven, so enjoy the clip! But if you want to watch the entire thing come by the house, we have it on DVR, or it is on ABC Family on Christmas Day at 10 am! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!

Swiss Family Christmas!

2009-12-11T15:23:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we had a fun day up in Heber with Jon's Fam, Ali's Fam, and Stef's Fam. We were invited to Swiss Days Christmas by Jon and it was a blast! There was a Creche Festival, a Gingerbread House Auction, and Santa was there!! Here are some photos from that lover-ly day! We also got a great group shot of us all dressed up as the Nativity, but we haven't scanned it in. Oh well! Enjoy these!!

Chancelor finally settled to be a sheep, but at the first he kept yelling that he wanted to be Jesus!!

Ah yes, the star and her angel!

Here is the livestock (Roman-Donkey & Chance-Sheep) in the manger! Please note they took care of their own pooper scooper duties! :)
This is how Charlotte spent the day. Bundled in her Car seat!! It was cold!
This is how Jack Jack spent his day, Bundled! but with the added warmth of his Dad!
See! Cute hu! This was most ingenious on Marshall's part.
This is the weird mural on the wall of one of the buildings. Bryan and I looked at her, and if you really take a second to look at her, you'll notice she desperately needs to go to the chiropractor!! Her back is totally out of alignment with her head and waist!
Chane was waiting patiently for his turn at Santa. He was bashful at all.
Alice on the other hand wanted nothing to do with Santa, and wasn't liking waiting in line either! This is her trying to make a dash for it!
Okay, seriously, when did Camryn grow up! I blink my eyes and wow! Look at her so beautiful and tall!
"I want TRUCKS! and...um..CARS!!....and...ah...CANDY!!.....oh...and..please?"
He is such a cute little stinker! :)

Roman wasn't too keen on seeing Santa, until he learned that they were giving out Candy Canes, then he was all over it! He did really well too!
This is as close as Alice would get to Santa. Really, though, I can't blame her! We teach our kids to be aware of people, and not sit on men's laps, and stranger dangers and all that stuff, and then we tell them to go sit on a old, hairy, robed man and whisper in to his ear what we want him to leave us when he sneaks into our house in the near future! :)
This was Savannah's first time sitting on Santa's lap, and we thought we almost didn't get a shot of it cause my camera was dying, but when I got home I realized that I had three pictures of her! We have fully documented this momentous occasion! Way to go Savy!! (Ok, Ali and Marsh, you have your work cut out for you cause both your daughters are drop dead gorgeous! Just look at her!!)

Afterwards, Nate made us yummy enchiladas at Jon's house! Thanks! It was such a fun day! Thanks for getting it all together Jon and Daniela!!

I just can't take it!!!!!

2009-12-10T21:19:00.000-08:00

A good friend of mine, Amy Harrison, did a photo shoot of Charlotte, and I'm not kidding, I just can't take how cute Charlotte is!!! Here are a few of the photos of my friend's blog, there are more there so go and take a look!! http://amyharrisonphotography.blogspot.com/ (We're also one of her Christmas Card examples, so check those out!) She did such an amazing job, so if you need a photographer, call her!!

I love this photo of my two loves!!

This one is my favorite!!

She is definitely giving Amy a courtesy smile. She was getting tired :)

Ah....

I CAN'T TAKE IT!! She is TOO perfect! Aren't those eyes just to DIE for!!

Okay, enough with the exclamation marks, but seriously, my little girl is stunning.

Waking Up Is Hard to do...(Imagine singing that to the tune it should go to)

2009-12-06T19:40:00.000-08:00

Well, we have a bit of a problem, it could be a small issue for Charlotte. The problem is that both Danielle and I think that her crying is one of the cutest things ever, so sometimes we just let her cry and we laugh at how cute it is. I really like sleep and waking up is not the best thing, and I guess Charlotte got that from me, because a lot of the time she really does not like waking up, it really is a hard thing to do. You don't have to take my word for it, we have proof, and here it is. (enjoy, Danielle and I did)

First, this is Charlotte Celebrating being asleep.

Then she checks to see if there is anything out "there" for her to wake up to.
(sorry the videos are a little hard to see, it is dark)
She can tell there is something worth waking up for so she try and begins....

And then the hard part begins.......

So much to post about!

2009-12-01T13:20:00.000-08:00

Charlotte is taking a very long nap (Hallelujah!) and so I can get some blogging done! We have been busy, busy, busy lately!! We had family come into town, Thanksgiving, and Charlotte's blessing! We've had so much fun this past week I almost don't know where to start. Soooooooo....... how about if I start before the family got here!

As I am now rejoining the human race by actually getting more things done than just feed baby, play with baby, sleep with baby...we've finally finished Charlotte's room! It was a mess of boxes and lovely gifts from family and friends that weren't opened or being used so this is a huge accomplishment!! Plus, I think it turned out pretty cute for me not having a decorating bone in my body and no money, and not wanting to paint! But you can think what you will, just don't tell me if you don't like it! I don't want to hear it! :) he he he

I forgot the most important part! Charlotte loves her room! We'll have to take a picture of her in it, but we laid her in her crib and she was instantly drawn to the walls and just sat looking and enjoying! I'm glad she likes it.

Then Bryan's family came into town for Charlotte's blessing. They made it so much fun, and I really appreciate them traveling so far and making it such a priority. I loved having our house full of people I love! It was just such a blast, and we can't wait to see them all again in February!!

There aren't very many pictures of Emalee with Charlotte because she was always the one behind the camera! She was the one who got most of these great shots! Thank you! Thank you Emalee!!

The Kennedy's came to a much subdued Raynes' family Thanksgiving and we had a blast. I sat back for one moment that day and was just extremely thankful for both families, and that they get along so well!

Charlotte was adored by many, as it should be!
But Roman was the star! I think the Kennedy's would adopt him in a split second! They all just love him! (Forgive my ug-ish face, it was a candid photo!)

This is a video documenting the eating challenge between Alex and Jon that will go down in Thanksgiving history! They ate so So SOOOOO much!! You'll have to ask them for the details as to how much, but I think there was something like 8 pieces of pie each! This is Jon getting some much needed moral support from his wife as he is trying to get the winning bite down his throat. Luckily, Alex threw up just after this, and Jon won! I don't think Jon could have gone much further! I don't think any human could have gone much further!! I only wished we had documented Alex's defeat as he hugged the porcelain thrown, it was priceless!!

The next day we had Charlotte's blessing. It was perfect! I cried, and she didn't! My husband did a wonderful job, and Charlotte was surrounded by those that love her, plus there were tons of Thanksgiving leftovers! Who could ask for more!!!

Well, there is plenty more to share from this weekend, but it will have to wait until Charlotte takes another long nap! Keep your fingers crossed for me!! :)

Chocolate and Friendship! They were made for each other!

2009-11-21T08:54:00.000-08:00

My wonderful and talented husband was listening to me moan about how I was craving a candy bar last Sunday and how we didn't have any candy bars in the house so I couldn't have one. I was bummed to say the least but he just said, "Ok, I'll take care of it." The next thing I know he had whipped up homemade candy bars that are TO DIE FOR!!!! They truly are divine and other can attest to that! I thought I would show you and let you drool on your keyboards a little, also to let you marvel at the mad skills and super sweetness of my hubby.

Then I just had to let the world know that a life long "BFF" type friendship has been forged!! Charlotte and Scarlett have finally met! And they love each other! (as is they even had a choice!) Aren't they just the cutest ever!!!!

Now all we need is a picture of these two girls each giving Jackson a kiss on either cheek and the three-some will be bonded for life long BFF Cousin trio! (Alison and Stefanie will totally be assisting me in staging that photo!!)

And here a couple photos of Charlotte's cuteness!!

I LOVE TO KISS HER NECK!!!

Sorry It Has Been So Long

2009-11-13T19:23:00.000-08:00

So we have had some requests for more and current pictures. It has been a while since we have posted some, so here are a couple more random pictures of Charlotte. I was holding her today, and looked at her and it hit me how much and how fast she is changing. I realized we have to make sure we keep taking lots and lots of pictures of her. For your viewing pleasure, Charlotte Raynes Kennedy.

(Bye Bye Everyone Thanks for Coming by)

Halloween Numero Uno!

2009-10-31T20:03:00.000-07:00

Well, today Charlotte celebrated (as much as an exactly 4 week old can) her first of many Halloween's (which with her Mom being who she, all of them will be big deals). So we had a couple of different outfits for her to celebrate the Halloween holiday, Alison (Charlotte's Aunt) dropped off a couple of really cute Halloween Costumes that Charlotte got to try out, she was super happy to put them on. No, really, she was!! She tried on four different outfits and was super happy with all of them until the last one and then she started getting a little cranky because her Dad was taking so many pictures. So here are some pictures of the family doing our little celebration this year.

Well here is our first unofficial family portrait. My Mom took it during her visit here from Oregon. It was so good to have her here with us. She was a great help and we had so much fun having her here.

I know I could have done the whole red-eye reduction/fix, but I think it works in this photo, it pulls the whole red color and Halloween theme together well.

Yipee, it looks like my little girl likes her spicy food. :)

Just Daddy and Charlotte at home, with Charlotte wondering about the costume, but liking how warm it keeps her.

Look at me, I have wings.

Daddy's Little Pumpkin, what else can I say.
(A big thanks to Lois who got us this outfit!!)

Charlotte, letting us know that she is getting tired of the changes and the posing and the pictures, but doing in a cute way and in a cute outfit, or course.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE FROM THE KENNEDY FAMILY, HOPE TO BE BACK CELEBRATING WITH YOU NEXT YEAR!!

Just Some More Cute Pictures

2009-10-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

Okay, so not anything big, no big new marks, except that everyday is still new. She is still under a month old, so I just decided to put up some more pictures, just a Dad showing off his amazingly cute little daughter. My Mom has been here for about a week know, and Charlotte loves her so much. She thinks her Grandma Kennedy is the most comfortable person in the world, no matter how upset, hungry, messy, or anything, her Grandma can put her to sleep, she just loves her so much!

So here are the pictures, just cute things that we see and grab the camera and this is what we got

Charlotte dead asleep on Grandma Kennedy, something she loves to do.

Sometimes we take so many pictures that she gets upset with her Dad and sometimes is just annoyed and hides like I am the paparazzi.

Okay, So this is Charlotte sitting up and showing how much of a big girl she is on the couch.

And this is her realizing that she is still just a baby.....TIMBER!!!!!

This is Charlotte hanging out in her bouncer that her Aunt Denise gave her, she really likes hanging out in it.

She loves to snuggle up to skin and to people, this is her getting comfortable on her Mom and being totally relaxed and posing for the camera....AND SLEEP. (She has to have her hands near her face whenever she is sleeping.)

One last one of Charlotte chillaxin' on her Grandma, a place that she loves to be.

The New Grandma Kennedy

2009-10-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

Well, the 20th of October 2009 was a special day for us, and particularly for Charlotte. She got to meet her Grandma Kennedy for the first time ever (at least in this plane of existence). My Mom (Vickie Kennedy) flew out from Oregon to visit with us for a while. We are so happy to have her and we are so glad that she is here staying with us. So on thier very first day together we got to take some pictures of the two of them together. So here are a few of them.

Charlotte found a new person that loves her, so she is just checking her out.

Two Kennedy Ladies hanging out with each other, getting to know each other.

Just Smiling and being happy with each other.

Doing one of Charlotte's favorite things, Cuddling and getting a little bit of skin time. Look how happy she is to be with her Grandma Kennedy. She is so lucky because she has two great and amazing Grandmas (her Grandpas are both pretty great too)

And occasionally to pass the time Charlotte will challenge anyone around to a staring contest, this is one that she won against her Mom, she is the best one in the house at this, sometimes abnormally good. :)

Mr. Duckie

2009-10-16T23:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some Bath Time Fun pictures!! I promised myself to never purposely embarrass my child to the point that they won't ever talk to me again, so these are rated PG pictures! No black mail material here!!

In these ones her umbilical cord still hadn't fallen off yet so we're still doing the whole sponge bath baby!!

She LOVES Baths! Not like her first one where she first showcased her now famous "squeaky toy" cry.

Yes, she still has a diaper on in these because she is a Ninja Pee-er. (see future posting for explanation)

She has this killer towel that is a duck, if you can't tell. It's actually bigger than the bath towels that Bryan and I use!! It makes you wonder what the people who made it were thinking? 200lb baby?!? Way to go Mr. Duckie!

I hope you enjoyed these Derek!! :)

I'm Out!

2009-10-12T17:22:00.001-07:00

We are so glad that she is!! I actually laid down on my stomach last night for the first time in forever. :) We are so happy she is out!

This is her agreeing with herself by giving you the okay sign, and a "rock on" fist. See Jon! She already a democrat!! :)

Two of a Kind

2009-10-09T21:16:00.001-07:00

As I was downloading pictures off my camera, I noticed one of my mom holding Charlotte that reminded me very much of a picture that I have of my mom holding me. There are differences, but they are both so cute, and similar that I couldn't pass up sharing them!!

Charlotte's favorite visitor really is my mom!! My mom wasn't feeling very well today (probably due to that stupid nurse!) and so I just wanted to give a little thanks for all that she does! She is the most selfless person I know, and I think that she is the best example of what Heavenly Mother must be like that I can imagine. Maybe that is why all the little babies love her so much!! She feels so familiar to them!! :) Thanks Mom for always being there for us, and loving our little ones so much!! We love you too. Feel Better!!!!!

No More Lights!!

2009-10-09T15:53:00.000-07:00

The day we got back from the hospital we were given these bili-lights for Charlotte's case of Hyperbilirubinemia. She DID NOT like being the suitcase, and really struggled the first couple days. But we persevered!! Today we received word from the Doctor that her levels had improved so much that Charlotte is out of any danger zone. So she is off the lights!!! Hooray! We get to send those stinkin' lights back :) So this post is to commemorate Charlotte's first bed, and hopefully the last time she'll ever use it! (It probably is the most expensive first bed ever!)

The dreaded suitcase. She had to be in here any time we weren't feeding her or changing her. It made for some long nights, and sad cries!

This is her little get-up that she had to wear. She had a light strapped to her back. That is what the yellow straps are, I promise we did NOT put her in a tube top, cause you know if I had it wouldn't have been a yellow one!! jk :)

We also had to have a hat on her to keep her warm in the suitcase, and to cover her eyes so they didn't get hurt from all the bright lights. You can kind of see the light on her back glowing. It makes her look like a toy I had growing up. It was called a Glow Worm. Anyone remember those?
So we wish the suitcase a less than fond farewell and hope to never have to endure it's presence again!

YESSSS!!!!!

2009-10-08T22:25:00.001-07:00

I GOT LOTS OF GOOD SLEEP!! (Thank you Mel and Mom!) Enough said!! Enjoy the photos :)

(I know it's blurry, but look at that smile!!!)

To Pink or not to Pink, that is the question

2009-10-07T23:00:00.000-07:00

Having a girl has brought up a vital question, "to Pink or not to Pink" If you really know me well, you will have noticed, I never wear pink. I only own one pink sweater (that was given to me) that I will wear on Valentines Day, and that is it!! I do not like Pink, Sam I am. Not in a boat, not with a goat. Not with my hair, not with a flair. Not here, not there, not anywhere!! Having this aversion, I have been asked many times, "Can Charlotte wear pink?" and here is my public response......MOST DEFINITELY YES!! I want to actually be a good parent, and I can't start off with pushing my likes and dislikes onto her. If she wants pink, she can wear it...eat it...sleep it... live it!!!...for all I care. I also hate mushrooms...she will get to have those too. I seriously dislike most any kind of meat...she'll will NOT be a vegetarian. As you will see with these pictures, she is darn cute in pink (thanks to Sherry's cute outfit!!) and she will continue to be cute in it until she decides to follow in her impeccable mother's footsteps, or her mother caves and becomes a horrible mom. :)

Here in this clip you will see that Charlotte has an addiction, HICCUPS!! We're still working on step one, admitting that she has no power over these horrible hiccups. They hit at the most inopportune times, and last as long as they want. She had these a lot while she was still in my stomach, and they have followed her here. I think they will follow her to the ends of the earth. :)

More Drama but I'm too lazy to do more than just list them:
-Charlotte's bilirubin levels are out of the danger zone, yet we STILL have to keep her under the lights for an undetermined amount of time.
-That means that every morning early, we still have to go to UVRMC and get Charlotte's heel pricked and the blood MILKED out of her. It is very traumatizing.
-My husband, and sister, and mom were given the wrong flu shot by a totally incompetent nurse, and ended up getting a double shot of the regular flu shot instead of the swine flu shot!! Making it so that now they can't get the swine flu shot for a while. But luckily, she corrected her idiocy by the time I got my swine flu shot.
-I fell asleep sitting straight up, and burping Charlotte (yes, that means that I was actually in movement and still fell asleep!!)
-Today was my actual due date!! :)

Must....stay.....awake.......zzzzzzzz

2009-10-06T23:31:00.000-07:00

We took Charlotte into the outpatient lab to check her bilirubin levels this morning, and nothing much had changed so we are still living in the land of lights here at my house. Charlotte is getting more used to being in the suitcase, but still fights it with every stubborn redhead recessive gene that she has!! We finally figured out that those super cool goggles are what she truly hates, and if we just stick a hat far enough over her eyes she is much more compliant when she needs to be put back in the suitcase. My mom came over tonight to help and Bryan, my mom and I were making fun of how this suitcase has written all over it, "specially designed by physicians" and how STUPID most of the designs are!! (It is also a suitcase straight out of the 60's era!! Powder Blue and ALL!!) We have a long list that is constantly growing of things we would change or improvements that could be made to this suitcase to make this a more baby-friendly situation. Physicians really aren't that smart I guess, it takes a teacher, a student, and a wonder-mom to come up with the world's really good ideas!! So we can't leave Charlotte in the suitcase unattended, so we are having to take shifts and stay up all night sitting next to her, making sure all is well. That would be why I am blogging in the middle of the night...I need some distraction to keep me awake until the next feeding!!! Speaking of feeding, and dozing off, I thought I would share my funny happening for today. Charlotte can be lethargic at times because of her high bilirubin levels, and she is always falling asleep while she is nursing. I am constantly having to keep her awake and going so she will eat. I will jiggle her, or move her around, or poker her cheek, whatever to annoy her and keep her awake. Well, really early this morning, I was feeding her and she was wide awake (as most babies are at 4:30 in the morning, which makes no sense to me AT ALL!!) and eating like a champ, while I was struggling to keep my eyes open. My eyes were opening and closing, feeling like sheets of steel that I just could not keep from slamming shut, when I completely dozed off. The next thing I know, Charlotte gave a particularly hard tug that sent a shot of pain throughout my entire body and woke me with a startle. I looked down at her and she was looking back at me as bright eyed as ever with, I swear, a smug little look of, "now were even!!" :) Gotta love bein' a mom!!

I love this picture, with the lights and such it is so ethereal. It is like she is saying, "Blessed World, I hail from above with a very important mission. I have come to be a part of the lives of Bryan and Danielle Kennedy, for they needed the most help." :) I love my little girl!!

We're Home!

2009-10-05T23:17:00.000-07:00

After 48 hours of Labor, 48 hours in the hospital, we are finally home!! It was quite the drama filled day. It started out early, with us getting up around 6 so that we could be out of the hospital by 8:30. All went well until we went into the nursery and the doctors were still checking Charlotte. We waited for the pediatrician, and he told us that Charlotte's bilirubin levels were high. That isn't abnormal for newborns, but she was in the higher end of those levels and they wanted to keep her under bili-lights a while longer, and then they decided that they were going to send us some bili-lights to keep her under at home. So we were a little worried not really knowing much about the lights and all it would entail, and just knowing that something isn't right with your brand new child is heart wrenching!! But we took it in stride, and continued to get ready to go. It was like everyone decided to wait to come in and see us until 8:30! We had the nurse give me my vaccinations last minute, they had the social worker come in to explain the bili-lights come in last minute, then even the lactation specialist showed up last minute!! The nurse finally said, "We are going to just release you paper work wise, and you can just leave when you're all done!" It also allowed us to keep Charlotte under the lights a little longer, so it turned out okay. We finally left the Hospital at about 10:00 and headed to the pharmacy to fill my prescriptions that I was needed to take right away now that we were so late leaving the hospital. As we were leaving the parking lot, a girl rear ended us!! Yup! Charlotte has now been in her first (and hopefully only!) car accident!! She was so good that she slept right through it!! But that was only because of Bryan's fast reactions. He saw the girl backing into him, and knew she wasn't stopping so he threw it into drive and tried to get away from her!! He lessened the blow so that it wasn't bad at all for us, and saved us from probably having to go back to the hospital for whiplash. He was just amazing!! Well, after all that drama, we finally made it home and Mom showed up helped us settle in and even brought us dinner later on! We had a nice relaxing rest of the day, with a few fabulous visitors, and some well deserved naps! (Man, I love me a good nap!!) Charlotte is getting used to her bili-light spa, and hopefully we'll see some improvement on her levels.
Here she is looking "oh so styling" in her saftey goggles!!

This is her little suitcase that she has to stay in as much as possible! The lights aren't warm, they're just florescent so she didn't like them at first cause she loves to be warm!!
You can see she has a portable light as well strapped to her body that goes with her everywhere, so when she is getting fed, or changed she still has some bili-light action!

Introducing....Charlotte Raynes Kennedy

2009-10-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures. On the 3rd of October 2009 Danielle Dawn (Raynes) Kennedy gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Charlotte Raynes Kennedy. She was born in Provo, UT and weighed 7 pounds and 15 ounces and was 20 inches long. She had an interesting time coming into the world but we are so happy that she has joined our family.

We are going to be at the hospital until probably early Monday, and the hospital has changed it visiting policy to only having two visitors at a time, both over 14 and not being sick. We also want people to have had there flu shots. We love having visitors, so we can have some at the hospital and would love people to come by and see her at home. We are more relaxed on some points than the hospital, we take people of all ages and allow more than 2, but we do ask that people visiting her before she has received her immunizations (usually 1 1/2 to 2 months but call when closer and we will let you know for sure) to have had their flu shots, and also that they not come if they know they are sick. Danielle and I both appreciate the respect you show us by respecting our wishes regarding this, so thank you. But please call and let us know if you want to come and visit us at home and we would love to have you.

So what you really came to see. The pictures (and a video):

Time for a Flu Shot

2009-09-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

Hey Family and Friends,
I have an odd but firm request. With the baby coming in the midst of the flu season, we are asking anyone that wants to come to see the baby (before the baby gets his or her own shots at around 2 months) to get a flu shot. I truly didn't know that so many people were so against flu shots until I started just mentioning that that was what I was wanting to have happen. Please know that I understand if you don't get a flu shot and will not hold it against anyone who chooses that. You'll just get to "ooh" and "ahh" a little later than the rest, as soon as the baby gets his or her shots. Now we aren't talking about getting the Swine Flu Shot, that is your own decision. We are talking just the regular, ol' Flu Shot. (If you didn't know you're supposed to get the regular one even if you get the Swine Flu Shot) We aren't crazy fanatics, but we would like to lessen the exposure as much as we can for our little one that is being born in the thick of the season. So, thanks for understanding, or at least respecting our decision, and we can't wait to show off this little kid, at 2 months or earlier if you choose!

4 Weeks Left

2009-09-09T16:40:00.000-07:00

(How many of my siblings burst into song at reading that graphic??? he he he I know you all did!)

Well, we've finally hit the month mark. Today is exactly 4 weeks from my due date! Let me list to you all the million things I have to do in just one month's time! (You know me and lists! I love crossing things off so I'll put even the littlest thing on a list!!)

To Do:
-Maternity Leave Plans: yeah think writing subplans for like three months, it sucks! I had to write a couple half day subplans for this week and it was like pulling teeth!
-Home Visits to each of my students families: every night for about 2 1/2 hours for the next three weeks.
-Clean my humongous house (It only seems huge cause I need to clean it!)
-Go Gluten Free........Again (starting tomorrow I promise! I was really good at it before but when I wasn't gaining any weight I was told to just eat and wheat was all I wanted!)
-Baby Prep: all my last minute nesting, and prepping, and reading and AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
-Oh, and enjoy the last few days I'll ever have of non-motherhood!!!

So I have grossly misused my allotment of exclamation points in this post, but I feel like my life is a living exclamation point at this time, so you should forgive me. Luckily, I have an amazing husband that is helping out where ever he can, and a fabulous family that is always willing to come with me to a Home Visit, or give some baby tips. I feel blessed despite it all, and closer to tears more often then I hope to ever be again. (Me no likely to cry!) In one month I get to have this little being in my arms that has been invading my space and ribs with straight prejudice for months now. I get to hold him or her (yes, we really still do not know, despite all the people swearing that they know what it is) and give him or her all the kisses I want and they can't do anything about it cause I'm the momma now! (poor kid!) In closing, I really am excited! But I have also been tainted by the involvement I've had for years now with nieces and nephews, and my students, and just kids in general. I know how much work they are! But I know that mine will be worth it, well, I hope!!

By the way, did I mention that it is Halloween Season! Yes!! IT IS!! I saw ads with Halloween paraphernalia and that means that I can put up all my Halloween stuff! Just so you know, they will be up until December cause there is no way I'm taking it down so soon after having the baby, so just deal!! Oh! I should add that onto my To Do list, "Put up Halloween Decorations!!!!"

Watch Out......Who Knows Who Will Be Sued Next

2009-07-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, hello again, I know long time no see, anyways, I was doing some research for Danielle and I came across this article, did some research to make sure it was true and yes it is. I read it to Danielle and she said that I need to Blog it. So here is the article.

A US court has rejected a case brought against God by an American politician. Ernie Chambers, the longest-serving senator in the state of Nebraska, tried to use the courts to stop God from harming people. Mr. Chambers, 71, filed a lawsuit that ordered God to stop causing "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth's inhabitants". He listed examples of the terrible things God allows to happen on Earth, including "fearsome floods, horrendous hurricanes, earthquakes, plagues, famine, genocidal wars, birth defects, terrifying tornadoes and the like". Chambers said the “defendant”, God, has not apologized for any of the troubles brought to Earth, saying the Almighty has shown “neither compassion nor remorse”.
The court judge threw Mr. Chambers’ case out on a technicality. Nebraska state law requires all defendants in court cases to have an address. This is so state officials can deliver papers requesting the defendant attends court. Mr. Chambers disputed this. He said the court acknowledged the existence of God and because of this, it knew God was everywhere so there was no need for a street address. He added that: "Since God knows everything, God has notice of this lawsuit."

Okay, so yes the story/article is true, but the Senator did say that he only did this to show and make a comment about frivolous lawsuits the rest of the article says:

Mr. Chambers’ real reason for his actions is not because he has any grudge against God. He said he simply wants to show that law courts are open and available to anyone. He said: "Anyone can sue anyone they choose, even God." The senator has 30 days to decide whether to appeal against the ruling.

More Amazing Stuff My Wife Does

2009-05-07T09:38:00.001-07:00

So on top of being pregnant (and pretty sick from that) my wife just keeps on doing more and more amazing things. This week was a very busy one for her because of school. First on Tuesday she spent almost 14 hours straight at work with the students because the school choir had a performance at Abravanel Hall which is home to the Utah Symphony and part of the Salt Lake County Center for the Arts.Then on Wednesday she spent another 13 hours at work doing school, having meetings and then taking care of her kids while they performed in Hope of America. Hope of America is a very large musical presentation put on by a couple of school districts and involves thousands of students. Danielle had her whole class there and I was able to watch from the audience in the Marriot Center. I sat on the upper most seat in the building so the pictures are a little far off but here are a couple of pictures/videos from the performance it was quite an amazing production.

This is a picture of the "Living Flag" that the students made.

This is the kids performing on of the songs, they not only sang, but had lots of hand movements that they had to learn and perform, they have been spending a lot of time and my very cool wife has been helping teach them.

Okay, this might not look like much, the picture is not the greatest, but let me tell you about this person dancing, well the only thing to tell is that yes she is doing the splits and the end and yes, this lady is 92 years young.

This is the last song that the students performed it is pretty cool, they did a great job, and so did my wife(I know the bragging might be getting a little old, but she makes it so easy by being such an amazing person, so I will just have to keep doing it) :)

Married to Possibly the best Teacher Ever :)

2009-05-01T14:35:00.000-07:00

Well, I have to say that I just might be married to the best teacher ever. This past week Danielle was awarded the "Golden Apple Award"

She got this award from the District PTA. Danielle, Joe and Alice(Dani's Parent) and I(Bryan) all got to go to the award ceremony and luncheon. It was a pretty big deal. They had a nice lunch and then they called up the winners and the shook hands with all of the School District big wigs and she got a nice award. Since I don't think that Dani would go around telling people (and this might reach a couple of people that Alice did not tell) I just wanted to let everyone know (and just brag a little bit about how amazing my wife is.

To know or not to know, that is the question!

2009-03-22T11:31:00.000-07:00

We finally made the decision. We are NOT going to find out the sex of the baby before the baby comes. It will make the delivery day that much more special, and maybe help me keep my mind off the pain! :) But we have heard some interesting theories!
Theory 1:
Look at the father of the child and how many siblings he has. Which ever one there are more of is what the first baby will be. So Bryan has 5 kids in his family. 3 boys and 2 girls. So that is making it seem like its gonna be a boy!
Theory 2:
An old wives tales says the baby's heartbeat while in utero can tell you the sex of the baby. If the heart beat is less than 140 than it is a boy, and if it is above 140 than it is a girl. Well, our baby's heart was 168 at our last check-up and that is making it seem like its gonna be a girl!
So those are the theories we've seen so far...do you know any more you want to share and in October we'll see which ones come true and which don't!

Redhead or Brunette?

2009-03-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

Big news! We are going to be parents! I am due the beginning of October, and and we are so excited about it!! We were playing around with a website, and put in pictures of us and they made a composite to see what our baby could look like. Cute huh! I definitely think that Redhead is the way to go! :) But I'll love any color, even green!

We don't know if we want to know what sex it is before it comes so whenever it is that we find out is when you'll find out! Wish us luck! :)

Cellphone MANIA!!!

2009-02-05T19:45:00.000-08:00

I teach 5th grade, and I run into such problems with CELLPHONES!! I teach 10 and 11 year olds and these kids are over run with cellphones!! I have had problems with kids at school and cellphone ranging from such things as pornography to death threats!! All on my student's cellphones! Let me reiterate one more time, I TEACH 5th GRADERS!!! Does this not seem a little much to be giving a 10 year old a cellphone and unlimited texting and just think they are going to know how to handle everything that comes their way. This is the new aspect of parenting that parents are forgetting! You have to explicitly teach your kids cellphone "rights and wrongs" Am I the only one who thinks it is plain CRAZY to give a 5th grader their own cellphone!?! Vent with me if you will.....

Books! Books! The Magical Fruit!

2009-01-22T19:44:00.000-08:00

So I have decided that when I read a good book I need to tell people! As a teacher I am exposed to a lot of great literature, and some not so great (BORING!) But as I come across books that I love I am going to tell you all about them!
This has been my latest. Children of the Dust Bowl, The True Story of the School at Weedpatch Camp. This books centers mainly on the unknown tale of the "Okies" of Southern California. John Steinbeck wrote an amazing (and disturbing) book called the Grapes of Wrath after visiting this Weedpatch Camp, he pulled his story from the real life suffering of these people. During the Depression there was a huge migration of "Okies" or people from Oklahoma (from the Pan Handle) to California. They were going through a terrible drought in the Dust Bowl Area, which included parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico. People were losing their farms, and living through horrifying dust storms. California was promising jobs and opportunity for anyone and everyone who came. But it was a lie. As these people, the Okies, came to California they found no jobs, no help, and hate and scorn. They were considered the lowest of the low, and were starving as surplus food was burned infront of their eyes. They were called "Okies" as a kind of derogetory name. The horrible the kinds of conditions the book talked about them living through was shocking, and this was in the United States, less than a hundred years ago!! It was appaling to me! But through the hard work of a good man, and many others things changed. They built a school when no one wanted them and made something better of themselves.
This is an amazing read! I read it less than an hour, so its not too long. I'm no amazing speed reader! But as we talked about this book with others from my school that had grown up in California, they knew nothing of this! They were not taught this part of their states history. I don't blame them, it's not something to be proud of. But they should be proud of all the amazing people that came out of that camp, and eventually the school that was built there. If you need a great inspirational true story of human spirit and have a spare hour, this is a great way to spend it! I have a copy so borrow away!

Life's Little Joys

2009-01-16T21:30:00.000-08:00

We live in the basement of our house. As with all Basement living, it can get COLD!! I am not one for cold, and my husband knows this. He bought me the coolest Christmas Present, it is called a Snuggie, which is basically a blanket with sleeves! It is the best!! Well, if we don't turn the heat up during the day, my bedroom gets quite nippy and it is like jumping in between sheets of ice when we climb into bed. Bryan, the warm hearted one, LOVES it, and so I try to leave the heat down, and just use blankets. (It also saves money) But every night I climb into bed and shiver for a few minutes until my body warmth has warmed up my blankets. Tonight I caught my amazingly thoughtful and kind husband doing something a little weird! I came in to go to bed, and he was using my blow dryer to heat up the sheets and blankets on my side of the bed! I was one of the sweetest, kindest, oddest thing he's ever done for me. I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, isn't he the best!?!!! By the way, it is one of life's little joys to jump into a nice and toasty warm bed. If you haven't tried it, YOU SHOULD! :)

2 years and going strong!

2009-01-12T15:15:00.000-08:00

Two years today, Byran and I met for the first time. We decided that on this day every year we would go back to the first place we met, and just make it a special day. We'll if any of you know our story, the first place we met was the Airport! Soooo Corney, I know, but we drive up to the airport each year (this will obviously only be the second time we've done this, well the third if your counting the first time) and we go out to eat where we went on our first date, (Sensuous Sandwich) which was technically also today! Its been an amazing two years, and if I could even venture, better that the two years/18 months I spent on my mission, and that is saying a lot but that's only because of how amazing Bryan is! I have to run off and do more homework, but I didn't want to pass up being able to tell you about this, and truth be told, I COMPLETELY forgot about it! Bryan is the one that remembered, isn't he just the best ever! I can't imagine life without him.

Thanks Alison

2009-01-10T23:40:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say thanks to Alison (Danielle's Sister), I was looking over some of the older posts that we have had, and we, for one reason or another have used a bunch of pictures that she has taken and then sent to us (Halloween and the house) so as a way to say thanks I got a picture of her son Chancelor (very cute kid) for her and put it up here, enjoy.

(it is his missing halloween picture)

Christmas Pictures and Some pics for Kennedy Family

2008-12-26T21:31:00.000-08:00

Well, as most of you know (see previous BLOG) we did not make it up to Oregon for Christmas. It was pretty sad and disappointing, there were many things that I (Bryan) especially missed, mainly the family and some traditions. However there were some very special things that happened and made this a good Christmas. It was my first ever White Christmas, maybe a little too white, there was quite a bit of snow in the last week (see some of the later pictures). Because we were planning on having christmas with my parents wer did not really need to do much for Christmas, but with the change in plans that changed, so we pulled out the christmas tree, put on all of the few ornaments that we have and then bought a strand of some pretty cool lights and got that set up really quick. Because of our new apartment not having a fire place we had to come up with something else for us to hang up our stockings and this thank goodness for the "Yule Log" TV station. So here are some pictures of the things that we did. It was a good Christmas, I am just glad that I was able to talk to my family who was in Oregon, spend it with family in Orem and be with my wonderful and supportive, loving, beautiful wife.

So here is our little Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, it was a small artificial tree, but I must say that it really transformed our home, there was just something about setting it up and having the lights on that made it Chris-missy.

Danielle hanging up her stocking.

Bryan hanging up his stocking on the "mantle"

This is a picture of some quail that where right out side Mom and Dad's (Alice and Joe Raynes) back door, I was only about 5 or 6 feet from them when I took the picture, there were even a few more than this, it was quite the little flock, or gaggle, or mob or what ever you call a group of quail.

So this is the the part of the blog that has to do more for the California and Oregon family, (Also friends who have not seen our house). Back in July of this year we bought a house and I have really slacked about getting pictures out for people too see. Right now we are living in the basement and when we get to the point where we need it, we will be able to make the short move upstairs. So here are some pictures of the house (the indoor pictures are ones of the upstairs, given to us by Danielle's sister Alison who was the previous owner).

Here is the front of the house, taken the day after Christmas, with all of the whiteness.

This picture is of the driveway, just wanted to let you get an idea of how long it is. I must say that while I was outside shoveling snow I broke one of the ten commandments, I coveted my neighbors driveway (all of about the ten feet)

My car has not moved in a while, but this was after cleaning off and then a sunny day to melt most of it. Emalee wanted to see some picture of the snow because she did not believe that we had snow that actually stuck. Here you go Emalee.

Part of the kitchen of the upstairs house.

This is the front entryway to the house (looking out to the front door) with the stairs going up and a small room to the other side.

Just a picture to end the Blog, this is a picture of us on our annual trip to see the lights on temple square, they were beautiful, almost a beautiful as Dani.

No Oregon for Christmas

2008-12-23T18:05:00.000-08:00

This was our trip, snow, snow and more snow. We left really early this morning (around 4:30) and the roads were not great, but not horrible. We made it all the way to Snowville, making good time when they closed down I-84. We holed up in Snowville for about three hours until we had missed our window of time that we would need to get over the Blue Mountains before the really bad storm hit and made things super horrible. So we reluctantly and very depressedly turned around and came home. The drive home was no peach either, but we much would have rather been dealing with bad weather if we were heading in the opposite direction (towards Oregon).
So now we are bummed out sitting at home wishing we were there. We are really going to miss you all up in Oregon this Christmas. Just know we wish we were there, and will be thinking of you!

How many me's are there?

2008-12-21T09:05:00.000-08:00

BRYAN KENNEDY

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
195
people with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

DANIELLE KENNEDY

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
153
people with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

This was so interesting! We put in tons of Family names. The Raynes name is very exclusive! You should see Alison's name though! I think she wins the cake, but she named her kids very well cause they only had a few other people with their names, and Chancelor had NONE!!! So go explore! It was a lot of fun!

Early Christmas Presents

2008-11-29T21:57:00.000-08:00

I had two Christmas on my mission, which is sometimes unusual for a sister missionary cause of how it works out with girls going only 18 months and all, (still SOOOOO jealous we couldn't go 2 full years!) Both were great! Full of the spirit and good people, and amazing food (more tamales than I could have ever dreamed of!) But I never had any gifts to open on Christmas morning! Now don't go thinking, HOW DARE HER FAMILY!! While yes, I do have 10 siblings and should have been showered with letters, but I only ever got mail from my mom and dad and 1 amazing sister Shelly who is so amazing and wonderful that she is going straight to heaven anyways, so she didn't even need the extra blessings! (Those three letters were my favorite, and I am not trying to diminishing them in anyway, because they were inspired every week to write exactly what I needed to hear, and Shelly does need those extra blessings cause she has to store up on blessings cause she has 9 heathen siblings to get into heaven!) Now back to the point, I truly never had any gifts to open on Christmas morning! My mom sent these incredible Christmas packages with all the Raynes Family traditions, like Caramel Popcorn and Chex mix, and TON of presents. So it wasn't her fault. IT WAS ALL MY FAULT, NO ONE ELSE'S!! I hate to wait! I am so impatient! I would open the packages the day I got them, and I didn't even think twice about open all my presents right then! I admit, it wasn't the most pleasant experience watching my companions opening present after present without any to open for myself, but that was my own doing and I knew it! They would warn me but nope! I can be a stubborn one! Just ask any of them! :)
Well, I did it again. I couldn't wait until Christmas and we got two of our Christmas Presents today. I guess I didn't learn my lesson because I didn't even pause before cracking into them! :) To be fair, one wasn't wrapped, and it took my amazingly talented father and my fabulous husband a good part of the day installing it and making it work. The other one wasn't exactly wrapped either, unless you count an Amazon Box as wrapping! But I love them both!!!
Here they are!

My Beautifully Powerful and agile Dyson Vacuum and.....

A WASHER AND DRYER!!!!!

Yes, yes it is true! We finally got a washer and dryer into our basement apartment, and we finally upgraded from our swivel sweeper to a real vacuum! Are we moving up in the world or what!?! he he he
Now I know I am so completely stoked about these two new additions to my home. They will make my life so much easier, and with much less hassle. But my mom is no longer speaking to my dad cause he installed them! (just kidding) She was sad we weren't going to be coming over every week for a few hours to do our laundry, so to save their marriage (also a joke) we promised to keep up the weekly visits, but with less baggage! So THANK YOU DAD! and THANK YOU BRYAN! for my early Christmas Presents. Hopefully I will still have at least one thing to unwrap on Christmas Day!

Memories

2008-11-21T19:18:00.000-08:00

This sounds like fun, but could also turn into Blackmail material! :) So be kind! :) Ha, yeah right!
And Please share memories of either Bryan and I or both! :)

1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you

Farley Family FUN-FEST!!

2008-11-18T15:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Bryan and I went to the Scera for a two hour laugh-fest that is The Farley Family Reunion. Seeing him do it live was absolutely amazing! He was much more interactive, and once when we it took us (the audience) a second to figure out a joke, he made fun of us! He pulled people up on the stage and gave them prizes (which were coupon from Albertson's or somewhere!) It was Bryan's first time ever seeing it, even on movie, and we both laughed the whole time!! My face hurt from laughing. As we were leaving Bryan leaned over and said, "you know who would love this, .... Daniela" I asked him why, and he said, "because she always comments on how much she loves your laugh and all you did tonight was laugh!"

This man is pure genius! The whole show I kept leaning over to Bryan saying, "Oh this is the best part!" " Oh no! This is the best part!" But truely, hands down, my all time favorite part of the play is the Magic Show. He did add some new things. When the little girl is praying with her hands folded on top of her head, he added a line, it went like this, "Heavenly Father, please bless Hussain Obama, that he can be the ruler of the world like he says." :) it was a crack up I'm telling ya! There was lady behind us that laughed so hard that when we finally went to intermission she leaned over to her friend and said, "I think I wet myself." :) Yup, it was that good! :) he he he

Well, we also found out that he is doing a Farley Family Xmas at UVU this December, and I for one am sure to be there! It would be a blast to have a bunch of us come! So, Come one and come all, be ready for laughs, and bring a change of underpanties!

More Treats than Tricks

2008-11-16T20:49:00.001-08:00

Well, it has been a little bit since HALLOWEEN but I have finally gotten around to the blog part of it. First of all I must say something about my beautiful wife, she loves, loves, loves Halloween, it is one of her favorite holidays. To help spread the halloween cheer (fear?), she decided to throw the family halloween party [the parents were in Tennesee celebrating and visiting Denise and Family (who were all missed)] so that everyone would get together. So we decended upon the Compound and decorated, had some Rock Band (thanks to Nate F.) and some treats (that looked like tricks).

This is pretty much the spread for all of the people that came on over, it was a great fun with all the family and friends.

One of the fun things was a Cheese-n-Stein ball that was fun easy.

Gotta have you Mummy (pizzas) and Bloody Skulls cream cheese dip.

We wanted to do some outside stuff so we did a bunch of Jack 'o Lanterns which were pretty fun to make. Chancellor had fun running around.

What the? Chancellor was not exactly sure about Danielle (and her teeth) but it he had to check it out. It was great fun celebrating Halloween with family fun and getting to hang out with my beautiful (and for the day OLD) wife.

Life as a Teacher, it doesn't get better than this!!

2008-10-14T21:59:00.000-07:00

So....life as a teacher has it ups and downs, but I can't imagine doing anything else. Almost every time Bryan asks me about my day he asks me, "What was the funniest thing your kids did today?" And everyday I have something to share. You can't go through a day without laughing when you work
kids. So when I got this I had to share it because it is the epitome of the funny things kids do! Enjoy!

The 'Middle Wife' by an Anonymous 2nd grade teacher

I've been teaching now for about fifteen years. I have two kids myself, but the best birth story I know is the one I saw in my own second grade classroom a few years back.

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they're welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.

She holds up a snapshot of an infant. 'This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday'

'First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.'

She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.

'Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. 'She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!' (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)

'My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.' (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)

'And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!' (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!)

'Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center, (placenta) so there must be a lot of toys inside there.'

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest. Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another 'Middle Wife' comes along..

Last bit of the Family Reunion and our Oregon trip

2008-08-20T15:33:00.001-07:00

Well, I found out that if you have a bunch of things to blog about, you should not waste them all at the same time, so I have waited a while before I finished up the sharing of our trip. One of the really cool things we did was to go to the Oregon Aquarium in Newport, Oregon. I was able to get a bunch of really cool pictures, here are some.

I know, I know, to all fishermen in the world it looks like a picture of a bait shop, but it was really cool to see how all these hundreds of fish moved as one all around there tank.

This is Danielle touching sting ray. It is not the yellow thing, it is the tan thing hiding under the sand right at her finger tips. They felt really slimy yet rough and strong.

This is a picture of a crab, yep a crab, but this thing is not small, it was at least 4 feet across. There was a bunch of them in this huge tank.

This is a picture of a lump fish, it was a dark tank, but I thought it was cool how it just came out of the Darkness.

This is one of my lovely wife Danielle touching a starfish, they also had a bunch of other things to touch like sea anemones, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and sunflower sea stars.

I think this crab was just as interested in us as we were in him, or he was planning his escape.

The had a big area that had tons of different seals that were all zooming around, with lots of them swimming around upside down, maybe they are Australian seals?

There were also three otters, and this one was putting on quite a show for us.

And this one is just one of a Puffin with an inferiority complex, or letting us know that he is not a small bird, but the big bird in the area.

This is one I really like, there was a pretty big tank full of this kind of jellyfish.

The family reunion was quite good, it was fun to see family and make new memories, and Danielle got to meet a few more of the extended family that she had not yet met and got to know some better. We were able to have a good time together and have a special first anniversary. The only downside to the whole trip was getting home. It took us 21 hours, because about 1000 feet from the Utah boarder (Idaho side) we got a flat tire. It was 7:30 on a Saturday in the middle of no-where. I put on the spare and found out that it was flat, so we needed to get help and it took several hours to get it, it was almost midnight before someone came, inflated the spare and then took us to a place that would open for us and put a new tire on. It was quite an ordeal, but as my wonderful wife reminded me, it could have been a lot worse.

First Anniversary

2008-08-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been one year since Danielle and I were joined together for time and all eternity. It has been a very interesting year, a time of discovery, joy, happiness, some sickness, and togetherness. We were both commenting on how it seems to have been both a long time and also how fast it has seemed to pass. For our first anniversary (because of my family reunion in Oregon) we were able to go to the Heceta Head Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast. We stayed there and also did some other fun stuff.

The day started off with us going to the Yaquina Lighthouse. It was a very low tie so they have had lots of tide pools that you could walk around and discover. These are some of the things that we saw. (Or in other words vacation picture time)

There were lots of these green things. Pretty cool.

There were lots and lots of starfish, I thought they were really cool, this was a tide pool that had several, with a couple different colors.

This one is a little hard to see because of the glare from the sun on the pool but it has some starfish and purple urchins.

This one is a little hard to see, but all of the little bumps on the big rock are seagulls or cormorants.

This was a huge star fish, if I had held my hand up to it while taking the picture (good idea now) my whole hand would have covered the middle section only.

Another one with a couple of different starfish, I guess I have a thing for starfish (besides the yummy goodness of starfish soup)

This is one of a starfish getting ready to dine on the yummy-ness of mussel soup!

A picture of (L-R) My beautiful wife Danielle, my favorite little sister Kristen, my wonderful Mom, and my favorite cousin named David, David.

This is a picture of a tick that started crawling on Danielle, okay, well actually it is a crab that was put on her hand while in it's shell and then got out and started crawling around, and by the way the crab's name is Hermie (the hermit crab).

These are Hermie and some of his friends (L-R) Pépe, Hermie and Lequisha.

Another little crab friend that we found, they are small but they are really quick and wiry.

After visiting the Lighthouse Danielle and I went to Florence and had lunch, then we explored a little around the town, got some Dairy Queen treats and then drove down to the beach, we stopped a little ways up from the beach on a little area that looked over the jetty turns the ocean into the river. Then we checked into the Heceta Head Bed and Breakfast. It is a lovely little light keepers house that was turned into an Inn. They had a nice little garden that included:

ARTICHOKES!!

After checking in and exploring the house a bit we decided to go to dinner, we decided on one place, but as we walked in I almost choked on all the cigarette smoke, so we went down the street a couple of buildings to a nice placed called the "Bay Street Grill" and it was a very nice little place, one of the things that Danielle liked about it was this, if you can't tell what is it, here is a better picture:

Yep, foam soap, Dani loves the stuff, in fact I now have two family members that every time they see foam soap they think of Dani.

Another interesting thing we saw at dinner was the nicest arrest ever made. Dani saw a guy in the restaurant that seemed to be one of the waitresses boyfriend, then he left, as he did a cop stopped him, shook his hand and than began to talk to him. Another cop came up and really animatedly shook his hand and then Dani said she thought he was going to hug him, but instead turned him around and put cuffs on him and took him off. After dinner we went and saw the Dark Knight, in what might have been the worst theater that I have ever been in, but the movie was still amazing, I loved it. Then we went back to the Bed and Breakfast and celebrated our anniversary buy eating the top of the wedding cake that had been frozen and saved, it was actually pretty good, and then we went up onto the lighthouse at about 10:30PM. It was amazing, the pictures don't do it justice at all. It was so amazing it was a bit of a spiritual experience. We saw almost absolute darkness, and then from this center light, pillars of light showing us the way to go, just how we would imagine it when Christ is likened to a light house. Then we thought it was amazing as we realized that the light in the light house is always shining, it is just not that we see its true and full power until the darkness comes upon us.

A picture of the lighthouse from the yard of the B&B.

This is one of Danielle showing how comfortable and luxurious the bed was.

This is a picture of the B&B from below on the beach, quite the house.

This is a picture that has the mists that were coming in off of the ocean, just below the lighthouse.

A picture from the beach of the lighthouse during the day.

Another panoramic view of the ocean with rocks leading up to the lighthouse.

After one year of marriage, I am more in love with my amazing and beautiful wife that I was on the day that I proposed to her at this lighthouse, more in love than the day we got married, and I know that I will be in love with her a little bit more tomorrow. I am a lucky man to have her in my life and to have her as my wife. I love you Danielle, with all my heart and for all of eternity.-Bryan

Catch up and Family Reunion

2008-08-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

So as you have probably noticed, those of you who faithfully check (and those who are doing their monthly check) it has been a while since we have checked-in with the cyber-world. We have been having a pretty busy time of it. Some of the highlights have been that Danielle sold her house, we bought a new one, and moved, all the while Danielle has been diligently working at Clear Creek. Well we have finally gotten some time off and will do a bunch of blogs so that we can then take another break when things get busy and school starts. So on the 2nd of August we left home and drove to Depoe Bay Oregon for a Kennedy Family Reunion. It was a long drive but a nice one. I think that one of the best ways to keep up and explain what is going on is with pictures. So enjoy and I will just provide some commentary.

These are some of the pictures that we took on the first day that we were here in Depoe Bay, we went to church (it took for ever to find) then came back and had a relaxing day. This is the picture off of the balcony from our room. We are on the second floor and it looks right over the ocean (I know I know that was a Captain Obvious statement), but it is a really beautiful scene and we can hear the ocean all day when we are here.

Also on the first day we had a pod of grey whales that decided to put on a show for us. There were (at best count) 4 whales that were rolling around for a long time, this is a picture of a couple of them waving at us.

Up in the left hand corner is one of the sprays from the whale, at the bottom is someones head that was sitting on the rocks right outside the room. They were so close, really it was a stone throw away from us, they were very close and were doing lots of things.

This is another shot from our balcony along the coast, one that we get to wake up to each day we are here. We will try to keep you caught up and let you know what is going on; both with the trip and with our first anniversary (pictures from the day are coming).