A "moving" Experience for McKenzie

So today we were reading scriptures as a family and the baby started moving all over the place. I had McKenzie put her hand on my belly and she actually felt the baby move for the first time. It probably wasn't the best time to distract her, but it was so exciting to see her feel the baby. McKenzie got very excited and started talking about how she was going to help out with the baby when she comes. Then Owen started touching my belly and then laughing like he had felt the baby move too. It was really cute.

Owen's Potty Issues

So Owen Has been potty trained since just after he turned 2. The last month or so, he has been peeing in his pants. I know that toddlers sometimes do this when something new happens (McKenzie also did this after she was trained.) But it usually only lasts a short time. This has continued to go on and I was not sure what to do. We tried punishing, taking toys away, giving treats and high fives, but nothing has worked.

Well, I thought if only he could stay dry for a week I would get him something that he really likes as motivation. So I made a lame potty chart and made him go to the bathroom every hour/half hour. If there was any potty in his briefs he would not get a smiley face on his potty chart. Well, since he wasn't seeing any reward that didn't work either, but I decided that I should give him a small smiley face on the chart for everytime he was dry. Then if he was dry all day, then he would get a BIG smiley face. The big smiley faces are the ones that count.

The little smiley face worked wonders! He would get so excited everytime he got a small smiley face. Finally, yesterday, he stayed dry all day! Matt and I were a little scared to take him to the fair because we didn't want to have to deal with wet briefs. So I told him that he had to wear a diaper. Owen started screaming! He absolutley did not want to wear a diaper! I was really shocked, because to this day, McKenzie would like to wear diapers. I don't know why...

So, at the fair, Owen told us when he had to go and even stayed dry during the time we were at the fair! It has been such a relief, because I have know that he knows how to use the potty. Even during the time he would pee in his pants, he would NOT poop in his pants, he always did that in the toilet. Sorry if this is gross! As a mom, this is what our family is going through right now.

The potty chart is really wrinkled and beaten up. Owen is just so excited about his accomplishment that he carries it around like it's a toy. He even took it to bed with him. It's really lame, but it makes Owen excited!

Western Idaho Fair

Yesterday was Matt's day off and we decided to go to the Western Idaho Fair. We are pretty cheap people, so we didn't go on any rides or anything thing like that. Plus I couldn't go on rides anyway being pregnant. We walked around looking at the different booths and stopped to look at the animals. The kids LOVED seeing the animals up close and got excited when they could pet them.

After we were done walking around we stopped and got some ice cream bars and milk. The kids had a lot of fun and I got a nice work out.

Here is McKenzie and Owen on the way to the fair

Owen and McKenzie eating their ice cream bars.

McKenzie's First Talk

McKenzie started sunbeams this year and as part of being in primary, you have to give talks. Well with her first attempt a few months ago, she was too scared and just stood there. She absolutely would not say a thing. She got another opportunity to give a talk, yesterday, on the 12th article of faith. We had 2 weeks to work on it and again she didn't want to do it. I told her that if she would give her talk then she could have a treat when we got home from church. She got very excited and started practicing her talk with me. I was so excited!

Then we got in primary and she was supposed to sit up front and she didn't want to. I thought, "Oh great, I'm going to have to give the talk." I reminded her about her treat and her face lit up and she got very excited and sat down in front. When it was time to give her talk, she did it!! I am so proud of her. I know that it was scary for her, but she did it! So when we got home from church, she got a pudding pie.

A little bit about Kelly

Well I currently don't have any pictures of me when I was younger on the computer, so I'll have to add some later.
Here is my beginnings.

I was born in Payson, UT to Richard and Lori Hudson. We lived in Springville, UT for a little bit and eventually ended up in Everett, WA, where my Dad grew up. We moved around a lot and after my sister was born, my parents moved to a 3 bedroom 1 bath, rental home. My parents ended up buying that house and we lived there for about 12 years. When we moved there, my parents only had 3 kids. Me, Scott, and Kristi. By the time we moved, there was 7 of us. We were very crowded in the little house, but we had so many memories there.

Growing up Me, Scott, Kristi, Jason and Angela were fairly close in age, so we always had someone to play with. We played baseball in our backyard, made forts and did lots of other things that normal kids do. It was a lot of fun. When Jennifer and Wendy came along, we included them in our activites. One time I was jumping on the trampoline with Wendy, She was probably about 2 and I was in high School. Well, as we were jumping, I took her bounce and she landed wrong and ended up with a hairline fracture in her leg. I cried, because I felt so bad. She just sat on the couch until she got used to having a cast.

We eventually moved out of the house, just before my junior year in high school. After we moved from that house, we found out that my Mom was pregnant. I was 17 at the time. She had a girl named Jaime. After Jaime was born, my Dad started looking for new jobs. He found a Temp job in Boise, ID and we put our house up for sale. My Dad moved to Boise, ID the beginning of January to start his job, while the rest of us stayed home and went to school. The end of January was the end of the semester for us and since it was my senior year in high school, I moved to Boise to be with my Dad while everyone stayed in Washington, so I could get started on the 2nd semester there. I was so excited to get away from Everett and start fresh in Boise.

Our house finally sold and everyone moved here with us the end of March. I graduated from Centennial and then started working at McDonalds in Eagle. I moved out when I was 19 to live with some friends. I started going to the student ward and that's where I met Matt.

Matt and I were married November 8, 2002. We've moved from apartment to apartment and have even bought and sold a few houses. We love it here in Boise and we are planning on staying here to raise our family.

A little bit about Matt

Well, Since not a whole lot is going on right now, I thought that I would let everyone know how Matt and I got to this point. Here's Matt beginnings.

Matt was born in Pasadena, California to David and Corrine Dickerson. Shortly after he was born, Dave and Corrine decided to move to Idaho to get away from the gangs and violence that was in their area where they lived. They ended up in a cute 3 bedroom starter home where Dave and Lindsay (Matt's younger sister) still live.





Matt is the oldest. He has a brother and a sister. Matt and Mike played a lot together. They were the typical little boys that got into trouble and did a lot of things that they thought were good ideas, until someone got hurt. For example. Matt said that one day they were playing grenades with rocks. Matt threw the "grenade" and hit Mike. Mike started to cry and matt noticed that he was bleeding. Matt frantically ran home to get his parents. They also like to play non-harmful games like when they built this fort. He was a good big brother.











Like Most families, they had a family pet. Laika has been in the family for many years and is now getting old. She is a very good dog with kids and now McKenzie and Owen get to enjoy her when they go to Papa's house. They got Laika from the dog pound. Corrine was looking for a dog and saved Laika. She was about to be put to rest and Corrine fell in love with her right from the moment she saw her. Matt says that Corrine loves animals and has saved or helped many animals in her lifetime.



As Matt got older, his Mom got very sick. She had diabetes for most of her life and she actually had a couple kidney transplants and went on dialasys a few times a week. They had a lot of help from people in the church to make sure that they all got to school and church activities. In August 1998 Corrine past away. Matt and his family took the loss really hard. Matt dropped out of school the last few weeks of his senior year. He did get things back in order and served a 2 year mission in Nagoya, Japan and he did get his GED.

After Matt got home from his mission he started working at Capz in the Boise Towne Square mall. He started going to the Student Ward by BSU and started living with his friend Mikey, parents. (Mikey was still on his mission.)

Matt went on some dates and then had a girlfriend that he really liked. Later, he discovered that her most important things are her snowboard and her dog.

Matt had a lot of girls that liked him, none of which he was interested in. He did like a few girls that were in the student ward, but for whatever reason, he never went out with any of them, until one day a really hot girl named Kelly approached him and told him that she liked him. 2 days later Matt and Kelly went out on their first date to the sand dunes. On the 2nd date, they talked about getting married and a month and a half later, they were engaged. Then a month and a half after that, on November 8, 2008 they were married in the Boise, ID Temple.

municipal Park and the Natatorium

On Wednesday, August 6th, we went to the Meridian 8th Ward annual party at municipal Park and then the Natatorium. The food was great and it was really nice to see everyone from my parents ward again. Owen, McKenzie, Jaime, Richie, Hunter, Wendy and Jennifer all played at the park and had a great time. Hunter and Richie were laughing and running around. McKenzie goes to the parks to make new friends and Owen was growling with Matt when he would peek around the corners on the toys. Everyone was having a great time.

Matt went to move our car. There was a St. Luke's thing going on at the same time, so there was no parking. We had to park on Holly Street, which is a long walk with 2 little kids. While Matt was gone, Owen went over by the sand pits and was walking along the cement edge. I was sitting on the other side of the park and thought that maybe I should have him come closer, so I could watch him more closely. Plus I would have to waddle over there if there was an issue or something. So I yelled to Owen to come back and he just smiled and waved at me. I called to him again and again he waved. So I decided that I'd better get off my butt and go get him. I went over to the sand pit and he was gone. I searched the playground to see if I could see him, but I didn't see Owen at all. I started to freak out! I frantically looked and finally spotted him by a nearby tree. He found 2 guys playing bocce ball and joined them. I called to him and Owen told me, "I playing balls!" Then he would pick up another ball and throw it. The guys were just laughing and told me that he should finish playing, because he was really good at bocce ball. So I let him finish and then told Owen to tell the guys thank you. He said, "Thank you" and then gave the guys high five. It was really cute, but scary all at the same time. I'm so glad that the guys were really nice. They really got a kick out of Owen.

Then we went to the Natatorium to go swimming. Since I am due in 3 months, I didn't swim, but all the kids, Matt and my parents, all played in the water. Matt took Owen down the water slide and Owen LOVED it. He went down 3 times. Jaime, went down the water slide all by herself for the first time. Way to go Jaime! Richie and McKenzie were in the Big pool for a little bit with Scott and Janel and then later ended up in the kiddie pool. Richie had a blast, but McKenzie cried the whole time because it was too cold. In the kiddie pool, McKenzie had so much fun. She did her own thing playing in the water. Richie and my Dad were playing together and Richie was laughing so hard. After Matt and Owen went down the water slide, they joined McKenzie and all the little kids in the kiddie pool. Owen did NOT want to go into the water at first and was really cold, so I held him for awhile wrapped in a towel so he could keep warm. He was shaking really bad, because he was so cold. Once he was warmed up he jumped back into the water.

I was really bummed because I wanted to bring my camera to capture all the fun that we had, but of course, we had some camera issues. Just so that you could see who I am talking about, I included pics of everyone.

Here is Owen

This is my Nephew Hunter. He is Kristi and Tyler's little guy.

Here's Hunter with his little brother Jarom.

This is my Sister Wendy. This was taken at DeMeyer park.

This is my Sister Jennifer. This picture was taken at DeMeyer Park

This is my Sister Jaime. This was taken at DeMeyer Park.

Here are my sister's Angela, Jennifer, Wendy and Jaime.

Here is my brother Richie. Richie and I are almost exactly 24 years apart.

Here is my Dad.

Here is my Mom.

This is me just before I became pregnant.

Here is my sister Kristi and her husband Tyler.

This is Matt

Here is my brother Scott and his wife Janel.

Here is McKenzie.

***My brother Jason was unable to attend, because he is currently serving a mission in Chile. He will be returning home September 23, 2008!***