Gavin's 2nd Birthday

Gavin turned 2 last week on the 10th.  Before then he didn't have any concept of birthdays.  When he woke up that morning and saw all of the decorations, especially the balloons, he became very excited.  All day he kept saying 'birthday'.  Initially I had no plans for any type of theme but since he's into trains right now, I decorated his cake with trains and had train paperware.   

He loves McDonalds so we had his birthday dinner there.  Afterwards we came home to open presents and have cake.  From us, he received a climbing slide, wooden puzzles, Thomas the Train block/lego set, KU basketball and bubble machine.  G&G Kennington gave him Thomas and Elmo pajamas and a Thomas telephone.  G&G Leonard gave him a German book with sound buttons (he loves the doorbell button).  Nanna crocheted him a small blanket with the colors of the rainbow and a book all about colors

Oh Matt--what's next?

Our Matthew is full of personality.  He's always doing something silly.  In public, though, he tends to act a bit timid.  But, this just means, at home he's 100% himself.  The other day he found a bag of googly-eyes and put them all over his face.  He walked into the bathroom while I was giving Gavin a bath.  We couldn't stop laughing when we saw him.  When I took this photo I asked him to smile but he mumbled through his lips that if he smiled the eyes on his mouth would fall off.  What a character!

His craziness gets him into trouble sometimes.  Like Sunday evening.  Again while  I bathing Gavin, Matt was riding his skateboard in the hall.  He slipped off and gashed his head on our built-in cabinets.  So, off he and I went to the ER.  The gash was an inch long and quite deep.  The doctor decided to staple it shut.  When Matt heard the word 'staple', he was concerned that they were paper staples. 

Family Photos and Outtakes

Every parent wants family photos. 

The kids think it's torture, but it's worse for the parents. 

We attempted family photos over Easter Break since we hadn't had one since Gavin was born. 

TORTURE!

We went to Ft. Leavenworth to what we call the 'gazebo' park--down the street from where I used to live. 

 This was the lone, semi-decent photo we took

.

 This is what most of the other photos looked like.

 A nice photo of Grandma & Grandpa Kennington (Chichi)

 Jamie & Mike Kennington with daughters, Hadley and Kieralyn.



 We then attempted a group shot.  Again, we got one semi-decent shot, and lots of goofy outtakes.

 (Back row--Eddie, Heidi, Gavin, Jim, Cristina, Hadley, & Jamie.

Front row--Matthew, Adam, Robert, Mike & Kieralyn.)

 Check out Adam and Matt.  They stuffed their mouths with grass.



Kansas City Temple Open House

While in Kansas City, we attended the temple open house.  We've been looking forward to this since the temple announcement in October 2008.  It is a beautiful building on the outskirts of Kansas City, near Liberty, Missouri.  I was really drawn to the windows--the number and color of the panes.  The boys still aren't mature enough or at an age to truly appreciate the experience of attending the open house, but I think it will be something they will always remember.  It really is a wonderful blessing for the members in the KC area.  During our tour I kept thinking about all of the early Saints and pioneers that had lived in that part of the country and all of the struggles and experiences they had.  What a joyful time it is probably for them too, to know that there is now a temple there.    

  

KU Visit

At least once a year we take the boys to the KU Hall of Sports at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence.  So we went again over Easter break.  The kids enjoy the interactive exhibits.   

 Adam is comparing his wingspan to some of KU's greats.

 Gavin, with help from his cousins, Hadley and Kieralyn, tries to hit as many basketballs before the countdown runs out.

Matt is testing his vertical jump.



Easter Break

We spent Easter weekend in Leavenworth with Robert's parents, brothers, cousins, etc.  It had been at least five years since we had all been together.  Our Easter activities included an egg hunt, dying eggs and of course, a visit from the Easter bunny.

 Matt's favorite has always been the 'peeps'.

 Gavin loved his dum-dum lollipops.

First Tooth

Matthew finally lost his first tooth.  We were getting a bit worried about this because he's nearly 7 years old.  It fell out at school so the nurse gave him a tiny treasure chest to put it in.  The tooth fairy brought $2.  Then a few days later while at G&G Kennington's house, the mouse Perez (from South America) brought Matt five more dollars.