Happy Birthday, Anna Banana!!!

Happy Birthday, Anna Banana!!!

Nine years ago today our precious little Anna was born! So, according to Blogger tradition, I will rattle off nine of my favorite things about Miss Anna.

9- I love her cute little snout. Funny little inside family joke. We love you Grandpa!

8- I love that she loves being a little girl. I love that she loves dolls and pretty dresses. I love that she is clinging with all her might to the reality of the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus. Love it.

7- I love how much she LOVES to sleep. Ever since she was a baby, she has loved it. I have never had to fight with her to go to bed or to take a nap. She used to even rock herself to sleep in her carseat. I know someday soon this will bite me in the fanny as I am sure I am going to have to yank her out of bed for school, but for now, I will continue loving it.

6- I love her cartoon voice. She is a very animated little girl. She reads stories to us and always uses different voices for all the characters. It is VERY entertaining.

5- I love that she is so content. She is very even keeled and happy to be so. Whatever she is doing is exactly what she would like to be doing, except cleaning. That is the exception. But now she is 9. I hear that is the year kids start to like cleaning. Here's to hoping! :)

4- I love that she loves pickles and olives. Not just likes them. She LOVES them.

3- I love what a smart little cookie she is. She gets things. I like that in a kid.

2- I love that she loves her family. She really is a source of peace in our home and I appreciate it so much.

1- I love that she loves her Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love that she loves the gospel, the temple, and primary. She is a tender hearted little angel, and I wouldn't trade her for anything!

Here we are at Anna's favorite restaurant, Olive Garden, for her birthday dinner. Most of us anyway, Jessica is not such a fan of pictures.

Our FANTASTIC neighbors, John and Elaine, joined us for dinner. We love these two. They have become our surrogate family here in California.



And here is our sleeping little Angel with her Bear named Elaine and her new Felicity doll.

Happy Birthday, Anna! We love you!!

Don't Mess With the Kerns

We are so stinkin' tough!!! Anna and Reese started Tae Kwon Do about a year ago and have loved it! We thought it would be fun to get the rest of us involved earlier this year, so here we are! Jeff even gets in on the action every once in a while! This is a fun, wholesome and healthy activity we all enjoy and can do as a family. We love Merafuentes Tae Kwon Do!!!

I Have to Give Credit Where Credit is Due...

So.....Josie! You are one amazing Chick! Thanks for the inspiration behind all the RAVE reviews I have gotten simply by copying sweet little you!!!


Jeff turned two on the 4th. I cannot believe my baby is 2! He is such a little sweetheart and probably the smartest little two year old out there. He LOVES Elmo and Cookie monster, so I just whipped these little guys up! Not really. Funny story.





I am not usually one to ruin food, I consider myself to be a pretty good cook. This week, however, was a different story. Two Wednesdays ago was a busy day, so I decided to have a freezer meal that night. I took my stoneware cookie sheet out of the oven so it would heat up faster and forgot to put it back in to catch any drips. So, while I was at my meeting, I got a call from Jessica that the house was filling up with smoke. It had dripped all over the bottom of the oven. Oops #1. The following Sunday I decided to make roasted potatoes to go with our steak, and wouldn't you know it...I had forgotten about the spills in the oven and turned on the oven. Once again, the house was filled with smoke. Oops #2. Then last Wednesday, I knew it was going to be another busy day so before I went to my evening class with all the kids, I put the potatoes into the (now clean) oven and put some chicken breasts on the stove to simmer til we got home. We came home to, you guessed it, a house full of smoke. I had not put the chicken on simmer, but HIGH! Yikes!!! Oops #3. I got the house all de-stinked (I'm sure in some parts of the country that is a real word, so I'm going to go with it.) . That was Thursday. Jeffs birthday. I made up the batter and put the cupcakes and cake into the oven, timed beautifully to come out of the oven RIGHT when I got home from taking Maya and Bella to school. It was really rainy that day, so I drove them. And since we were already in the car, why not go fill up the gas tank and get a few things at Office Depot. As I was paying for my things I all of a sudden remembered the cakes in the oven and headed right on over to the grocery store to buy a new cake mix. Oops #4. I am thankful that that oops wasn't nearly as stinky as the previous 3. So there. I guess we all have our troubles and I think I have met my quota for a while.

On to Valentines day...

Another idea kiped right from my dear sister-in-law! I love them! We only had to make about 94, so it was only a little overwhelming.... :)! But fun! The kids love them and are so excited to give them out! BTW, all it is is a box of conversation hearts dressed up a little! With the right link at Family Fun and a few punches, you too, can make these beauties!

Well, there you go! A lovely new post! I have been doing this for 2 years now and have yet to hit 100 posts! I will get there soon enough, mark my words!

Oh, by the way, we are moving in June. I will make another post about that. :). That ought to take the total up to about 70 :).