"I think I just want to play the microphone"

As some of you know, Elsie LOVES to sing! Just recently we asked her if she wanted to play the piano or flute when she is old enough. She said, "No, I think I just want to play the microphone!" When asked last year what she wanted to be when she grows up, she said, "I think I just want to be an American Idol!" Some nights she gets a treat and we will let her stay up and watch a couple of the contestants sing on American Idol. Almost every night is spent with Matt and Elsie listening to music on the computer. Her favorite songs right now are, the new Hosanna song, This is the Air I Breath, and Mighty to Save. She sings them non-stop. She really studies the songs and the words. Well, this past Sunday, the preschool group was given the opportunity to sing a song in church. They sang Your Love is Deep, and it had hand motions of course. We thought we would give you a little taste of our American Idol performing on stage with her friends. She sang every word, did every hand motion, and mimicked our friend Teri, who was leading them. At one point she had her head looking up with her mouth wide open shaking her head from side to side as she held the note! Enjoy!

Carson's Dedication

This past Sunday, Carson was dedicated at our church. We had all the family in tow for the celebration, including Papa Jack and Granny Annie from Fresno. We were honored to have "Papa Ed," my best friends Dad whom I've known since I was 7, dedicate Carson. He dedicated Elsie as well, so it was very nice to have him be a part of this again. As you can tell from some of the pictures, Carson does not do very well at staying in one place for a very long time! She never stopped trying to wiggle herself out of my arms throughout the dedication! It was very entertaining for the congregation. After church we came back home and had a family birthday celebration for Carson. She opened gifts and we had yummy food and cake. She was pretty much done with the gift opening, so she wasn't too thrilled to have her birthday hat on...as you can tell.

Thank you Uncle Mike and Keith for my new dress. It is beautiful!

Thanks Grandma Gigi for my pretty pink hat, everyone else thought I was cute, even though I was burnt out on gift opening!

All About Miss Paige...and Auntie Lala and Uncle A, of course

During the weekend of Carson's birthday party, we were so excited to have our guests of honor join us...Paige, Auntie Lala, and Uncle A! They were so kind to come down for a visit for Carson's birthday. Auntie Lala and Carson share the same birthday, our two Valentines! We had so much fun getting to see Miss Paige and spending time with Aaron and Laura at Huntington Beach...eating of course!! Elsie LOVES Paige and was so excited to see her and play with her. We got our Panfilio fix and can't wait to see them again soon, hopefully!

Happy Birthday Bosco!!

In addition to celebrating Carson's 1st Birthday this week, we are also celebrating Bosco's 1st Birthday. Bosco joined our family just a few days after Carson was born courtesy of our friends Derrick and Mary Catheryne Woodward. They bought Elsie two new fish (Bosco and Patches) as a special gift because her first fish, Fish Eyes, had just died. Unfortunately, Patches did not last a week; however, Bosco is a real trooper despite living in stank water most of the time. For his birthday we will be cleaning his tank for the first time since Thanksgiving. Yipeeeeee for Bosco!!!

Carson and Weston's Excellent Adventure

On Valentine's Day, February 14, Carson celebrated her 1st birthday. We had a combo party with her friend, Weston because he was born the day after Carson. Our friends Paula and Sam asked if we wanted to join them in celebrating together, to spare our friends of having to go to 2 one year parties in a weekend. It was a hiking theme and we had a lot of fun planning all the activities for the party.

We set up tents and sleeping bags at a park nearby.

Sam and Matt led the kids on a "hike" around the park.

First stop, make your own trail mix!

2nd stop, make a rainstorm
3rd stop, put stickers on water bottles
Last stop, dig for bubbles

Now on to the cake! They had mini tent cakes to dig in to. They were so funny trying to figure out what to do with it. It took a while, but they got it! They each tried to feed each other, and of course got messy! The rest of us enjoyed smores! yum!

Elsie quote of the week...

So, I know we just posted yesterday, but I had to include a couple of quotes from our ever questioning Elsie. They are wide in spectrum, but remember, she is a Tremper!

1. Why is poop brown?
   
2. I, Mishawn, was sitting in the backseat with the girls and Elsie looks over at me and says, "Mommy, why is your tummy so big?" If she only knew how long it takes to get rid of the post-pregnancy "muffin top"!
3. Do we take the freeway to get to Heaven?
   
4. Mommy how can we not hear God? (Which then I told her that we have a feeling if we should be doing a good thing or a bad thing, that is like God talking to us) She replied, Can I talk to Him? Yes, I said, go ahead. "God, how do we get to Heaven? She listened (What did He say?) "Oh, what God? We fly?
   

"90 degrees under these palm trees..."

A free nights stay in beautiful Whittier, California if you can name the band who used the title of this blog in one of their songs! Ok, I'll give you a clue - "one time...two times!" Anybody? Unless you were a fan of The Fugees in the mid-to-late nineties, you would never get it, so nobody wins! So why such a random title; well, because it was blazing hot in SoCal this past weekend. It didn't hit 90, but it got close, which called for a trip to the beach. These pictures were taken at Newport Beach, one of our favorite places to play in the sand and take in a beautiful sunset!

Elsie and Carson on the playground

Elsie will be 4 this May

Carson's first experience with sand, needless to say, she loved it and ate it...a lot of it!

They both loved being at the beach, Elsie collected a lot of shells

We went with our good friends, Pat and Teri. We ate at BJ's and then enjoyed a walk around Balboa Island. Balboa bars...yum!

Matt and Elsie rode the merry-go-round together, Matt got in trouble for riding the horse, of course!

Here is a video of Carson eating sand, thankfully we still have yet to see it come out the other end!

Carson's walking...

Well, Carson is officially walking! Here is a video of her on Feb. 1 taking some of her first consecutive steps. She is now really moving, walking from room to room. I love the wobbly legs with her arms held out. So cute...