Merry Christmas Photos

We took our pictures this year but unfortunately can't afford to send them out to everyone. :-) 

Merry Christmas everyone!

We love you,

The Townsends

Adelaide is 2

I can't believe my love bug is 2 years old! Time goes by so much faster when you're older, it makes me sad a little. I was still a little sick with baby #2 so I asked my cousin Mary to help out with Adelaide's birthday this year. She did a wonderful job. She did decorations and the cake. It was so nice not stressing about the cake this year. :-) 

Adelaide had a few friends over and I think we should have parties more often, it was fun. Unfortunately my camera died in the middle of the party. I didn't even get any good pictures of the birthday girl. We played Pin the carrot on Olaf and played with balloons. 

Mary and I spent a night laughing and cutting out snowflakes. I thought they turned out pretty darn cute! 

Welcome to Arendelle 

Presents were the best of course. Adelaide was so cute and kept asking her friends to help her open them. :-) Christmas will be fun this year now that she understands how to unwrap presents. 

Hawaii

Hello Beautiful Hawaii!! I needed to go on vacation and decided to go to Utah for a week. I loved the cold weather and crisp air but when I got there my brother and sister-in-law invited me to go to Hawaii with them. I had never been and I didn't have a reason to say no. It was totally awesome! Adelaide was such a fantastic flyer, I didn't have a problem at all. 

We hung out at the pool and beach a lot. :-) Thank goodness for this kiddie pool. 

Auntie Em was in high demand. :-) 

She couldn't decide if she liked getting all dirty.

But after awhile she thought it was the best thing ever. 

This goober likes to make silly faces like her daddy. 

We went on a hike and realized later we ventured off on a trail less taken and our actual hiking spot was a few miles away still. 

Feeding the ducks was such a weird idea...?? 

Emily had a hard time enjoying it too. Haha!! 

We saw a waterfall or two. Hawaii is gorgeous!

Black sand beach, aka black rock (ouchy) beach.

I didn't even get pictures of my favorite adventures in Maui. We sat and watched the waves and surfers which was awesome. Jenny, Emily and I learned how to paddle board. And then we went to a Luau right before heading to the airport to go back to the main land. 

Other things

Besides going on vacation for almost 2 months, we have been doing other things. Adelaide took swim lessons for two weeks and everyday was an adventure. I never knew if she would enjoy it or scream and hold on for dear life to anything she could grab. I'm just thankfull I don't have patches of bald spots on my head. Over all she did a great job. This class was a "Mommy and Me" class which was fun for me too. After the 3rd day we found our lucky charm. The instructor had a baby doll she would help demonstrate moves with and she suggested to Adelaide that the baby needed help. Adelaide was such a good helper to that baby. She would jump into the pool with it, float on her back and try to blow blubbles with the doll. It was a weight off my shoulders. Every time I asked if she wanted to swim, her eyes would get big and have a huge smile on her face and say UH Huh!! She was always good about getting ready for swim. She would bring me her swim diaper and suit on her own. We try to go swimming at Aunties house but she seems to just want to play on the steps.

Yesterday when we tried to go swimming at Aunties she got stung by a bee. I'm not sure if she was trying to grab it or if she grabbed the noodle and it was already there. But I saw her turn and face me with her fist and teeth clenched like she was getting upset. I asked what was wrong and that is when I saw the bee. Poor little girl! I couldn't get the stinger out so Geoff had to assist getting it out for her. Thankfully she didn't have a bad reaction. Her finger was swollen but that's all. We went home and gave her some Tylenol and put her to bed. She never complained after that. She is one tough cookie.

This next exciting news is about Geoff! It all began on the day of our Anniversay in May. Geoff kicked Adelaide and me out of the house for 2 days. We went and stayed with my Aunt and Uncle and it happened to be when my parents were here also, so it really wasn't that bad. He was taking the "Write on" competition and couldn't have any distractions. It all paid off because just a couple weeks ago we found out he got accepted to the Arizona State Law Journal.

Geoff and I have been very involved with our ward since we moved here last year. Our first callings were Weblos leader and Activity Day Coordinator. We both enjoyed getting to know the kids in our church during the week. Apparently that was not the only area the Lord wanted us to serve. Only about a month later Geoff was asked to be Elders Quorum Instructor and I was asked to be Primary Chorister. Not only did we have Callings during the week now, we had callings for Sunday. If any of you have every been the primary chorister, you know how much fun it is to be around the kids. They are all so silly and intelligent. I love singing time!  Well, once again, Geoff and I were called into the Bishops office a couple weeks ago. Geoff now has 3 callings and I am back to one. I am now the first counselor in the Primary Presidency and Geoff is going to be a Primary teacher. We love to serve the Lord and His children. We are blessed to get to know many people in our ward and to help build up His kingdom here on earth.

We went to Barnes and Nobles to "Cool off with Olaf." They had story telling, sing-a-longs, frozen hot chocolate, coloring and more. Adelaide was tired since it didn't start until after her bedtime. She was still very good. We ended up getting her a frozen storybook and coloring book. Frozen, like many other children, is her favorite movie.

Adelaide is growing up way too fast for me. She can say and repeat almost everything we say. She looks older each day and wants to do everything I do. She is such a good helper. She helps clear off the table after dinner, picks up her toys before bed, puts laundry in the washer and vacuums the house. She also likes to play on my laptop. What a cute stinker!

Phoenix Children's Museum

We found out about a month ago that our Library has this thing called "Cultural Pass." You can check out a pass that includes several different museums, the zoo and other things. So I went to the Library at 8:45 to stand in line until 10 am when the library actually opened. There is only one available each day and thankfully I got the one for the Children's Museum. Totally worth the wait!

The Texture Wall

My favorite room was the Art Room. Adelaide got to paint a castle, how cool is that?! 

She ended up getting paint all over her neck and in her hair but she enjoyed painting. Our next adventure was trying to draw Starry Night.

She insisted that she sit in every chair before we could continue onto other play rooms. 

She even asked Daddy to change seats and sit next to her. What a sweet Daddy she has. :-) I love him. 

It's FORT MAKING TIME!! 

Building a fort can work up a sweat. Thankfully our next stop was to get a wash. A Car Wash that is. She loved going through it and went several times. 

Watch out!! We have to go through the Noodle Forest to get to the Poetry Wall! 

If anyone knows little Miss Adelaide, you know she can't walk past a book without picking it up. She is our little book worm. 

I love watching her explore and get exited about new things. She is my precious baby girl and I can't believe she is getting so big. 

It's always a fun day when we can spend the whole day with Daddy.