New Years Eve 2011

This New Years Eve we kept it super low-key, which I must admit I was very excited about! We went to dinner, at one of your usually restaurants, with another couple and then back to our house to play games. We both have little ones so we called it a night around 10 p.m. However, Blaine and I were determined to make it to midnight. Not sure why, because we lied in bed impatiently waiting for the darn ball to drop and then we instantly fell asleep! Fun times in The Clark household :)

One last picture in 2011!

Admiring our little peanut! 

Mommy and Ken walking to our New Years Eve dinner :)

Looking at the ducks!

Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! Kenley and I headed back to KS for 3 weeks for the month of December (Blaine came to KS on Christmas Eve). We had the opportunity to attend a good friends wedding, a graduation party for my cousin, hang out with cousins and good friends, and most importantly relax! Kenley had 4 different Christmas's this year and she loved it! She opened all of her presents and has enjoyed playing with her new toys.

Christmas in Cali!

Santa Came Mommy!

Hugging Baby Abby!

Dr. Kenley :)

Doodle! 

Checking out her new drawing tool!

Back in KS...going to the wedding!

Christmas Eve at Great Grandpas.

Kenley and her 3 favorite men!

LOVE!

Christmas Morning at Nana and Opa's!

Cute :)

She's one happy little girl!

Christmas at Papa and Grandma Clarks

Our little Family!

HP Christmas Gala!

Every year Hensel Phelps, the company Blaine works for, throws a wonderful Christmas party filled with amazing food, drinks, gambling, and great friends! Blaine and I enjoy going to the hotel early so we can spend time exploring Dana Point. Kenley is really into staying at hotels. She loves to run around and basically cause havoc :) But, isn't that what toddlers are suppose to do?!

Daddy and Kenley taking in the beautiful views!

She has decided that it is fun to squat down and try to walk! 

It looks pretty silly!

LOVE!

Silly Girl!

We cannot find a pair of jeans to fit this skinny girl!

She thought this was so funny.
We actually found it to be pretty cute too...hence the picture!

This year, for some reason, the company decided on a Western theme...hmmm! I always love shopping for a fancy dress to wear so this definitely put a damper on that. However, I actually ended up enjoying the themed idea and we had a wonderful night in our Western wear!

Some of us girls in our western attire :)

Great friends! 

Continued Prayers Please!

As I have mentioned before, some of our good friends are living every parents nightmare. Their baby girl (Paxten) was diagnosed with Leukemia at 9 months old (last December) and shortly after (three or so months) Paxten went into remission. However, a few months ago they found out she had relapsed. Paxten will now need to receive a bone marrow transplant. However, before she undergoes this procedure she must endure intense chemo treatments and radiation.

I ask you to please keep this family in your prayers. Their continued strength, faith, love, and fight are beyond inspirational. Paxten is only a three weeks older than our little angel, and I cannot imagine going through this with our baby girl. I'm a firm believer that God never gives you more than you can handle. However, I must admit that I don't think I would handle this with as much grace, faith, and strength as this family has...it's truly amazing! 

Here is the link to Paxten's caringbridge if you would like to follow Blake, Libby and Paxten's story.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/paxtenpearson

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! Papa and Grandma Clark flew to CA (for the second year in a row now) and spent the week with us. Rhonda and Larry were kind enough to watch Kenley, while Blaine and I had the entire day to OURSELVES to shop and go out to dinner. It is amazing how relaxing and peaceful it is to shop without the little bug! After wrapping up some Christmas shopping at Toys R Us, we headed to South Coast Plaza to shop some more and dine. We stopped at ANQI to share a bottle of wine and to grab a quick appetizer before shopping. You see, I like to get Blaine a little tipsy before I ask him what our budget is for Kenley's Christmas and for my Christmas gift. I find he tends to allow me to spend more freely when he has had a drink or two :) As we were soaking up the alone time, I told Blaine, "this is so perfect...I feel like this is too good to be true!" I know what you're thinking, "Wow, they don't get out much!" However, you have to understand that when you live away from family, even getting to go on a date to the mall is a very special treat! This is partially my fault as I am very particular about who I leave my little sweetie with. Anyway, just as I was saying this we got a phone call from Blaine's mom telling us that Kenley had thrown up :( Of course, I wanted to run home immediately and comfort my little girl. However, Blaine convinced me to let his parents take care of her. Overall, we had a wonderful date and look forward to our next one!

The rest of our Thanksgiving week was pretty relaxed. We spent a lot of time going on walks around the lake near our house, enjoying the beautiful weather (literally 80s), and spending the day at The Grove (which has become a Thanksgiving tradition of ours). The Grove is an outdoor shopping mall with a fabulous atmosphere and amazing restaurants. During the Holiday season, Christmas music is humming through the center, and on two different occasions during the night fake snow falls down. While at The Grove, Kenley visited with Santa! We have it on video and I'll try to upload it in an upcoming blog.


Waiting to see Santa!

Our kissing pose!

She wasn't really wanting to cooperate as you can tell :)

Daddy and his little girl!

I adore the way he looks at her...pure happiness and love!

Trying to catch the snow!

This is her silly face :)

A Blessed Life!

Blaine and I have been blessed with an amazing life. We are blessed to have one another to spend our lives with, blessed to have supportive/amazing parents, blessed to have siblings, whom we are especially close to, blessed with amazing friends that would do anything for us and vise versa, blessed to give Kenley a healthy/stable/loved home to grow up in, blessed to have our health, and blessed to have a home and stable careers.

Most importantly, we are blessed to have a healthy, beautiful little girl!

Blessed Beyond Words!

Halloween 2011

This Halloween I was so excited to dress Kenley up as a ladybug! We wanted her to be a ladybug last Halloween, however we waited too long to order the costume and unfortunately the one we wanted was sold out. Therefore, this year I order the ladybug outfit months in advanced, as I was determined that our little Ken Bug would be the perfect ladybug...WRONG! Kenley was adamant on not wearing the outfit. I mean screaming, crying, yelling, "NO, MOMMY" when I tried to put her in the costume! I continued to try to persuade her into the costume by saying, "Everyone is wearing an outfit, Lolo and Jordy have their outfits on, we can't go trick or treating without the outfit"...you get the point! Nothing I would say or do would change her mind. So, naturally I ran to her closet and looked for a replacement costume. I grabbed a fur and away we went...Rachel Zoe and I that is :)

Kenley and her pumpkin!

She actually thought the pumpkin was dirty! She kept saying, "Yuck, dirty!"

Watching daddy crave the pumpkin!
She is saying, "Ewww, Mommy!"

 Looking inside the pumpkin!

Some of the kids waiting to go trick-or-treating!

As she was walking up to her first door, I became a little emotional!
 Our little girl is growing up too quickly!
She got the hang of it right away saying,"Tick or Teet!"

Looking at all her goodies!

Trying one last time to coax her into her costume...no luck :(

We love you Kenley!

Thank you for bringing so much love to our home!