Little Movers

Livie and Sienna have been good sports through the whole move. We are finally settling into our new house and getting unpacked.  The girls seem to be comfortable in the house. From the pic below, I worry they may like moving too much!
I've also attached a photo of the girls Halloween costumes. They were very cute.
Livie and I went to the BYU game last week. We had a great time.

Our Little Photographer

Last year for Christmas, I (Brad) gave Livie some snow shoes for Christmas.  Unfortunately, it was one of the mildest winters on record in Maine and we never had enough snow to use them.  Since we are now moving to So Cal and won't have a chance to use them there, I took them back to LL Bean and promised Livie a different present.

In going through things for the move, I stumbled across my old digital camera that I bought about 8 years ago and haven't used in years.  Since Livie always likes to pretend that she's taking pictures, I gave her this little camera to use for fun.

You would have thought she won the lottery!  We've probaby heard over 100 times how much she loves her camera.  She tells everyone--teachers, friends, and strangers.

I had to change the settings to the lowest image quality because she was taking so many pictures that she kept filling up the card too quickly.  Now she can take about 1,000 pictures before I have to delete any (she usually averages a couple hundred a day). 

Today, she wanted to take mine and Abby's picture hugging.  When we posed in the kitchen, she made us move to a different spot because "it was too bright behind us."  (Are you kidding me?)

Below are some of my favorites from her first day of shooting.  Her favorite subjects are Sienna, Bailey and herself (I think that she gets the last one from my friend, James).

It is really cute to see the world from the perspective of a 3 year old.

Sienna wanted to take a picture, too, so I helped her take this photo of Livie.

Florida Sun Sentinel Editorial

I'm not sure how interested you are in the Presidential Race this year... Abby and I follow it religiously every day.  One thing that we find frustrating is how slanted the news outlets can be, both right and left, depending on their own political leanings.  I came across this editorial in today's edition of the Florida Sun Sentinel.  The paper endorsed Obama in 2008 but is endorsing Romney in 2012. 

Regardless of one's political leanings, I thought this was a very well written and carefully thought out endorsement.  What impressed me is that they seem to have done a good job analyzing both the strengths and the weaknesses of both candidates in reaching their decision, as opposed to basing it on biased personal agendas.  If you're interested, here you go:

Sun Sentinel Endorsement

Sorry for the political commentary...  I will refrain after Nov 7.

Autumn in Maine

We are sad that our days in Maine are rapidly coming to an end.  We've loved our time here.  Maine is always beautiful, but it is especially so this time of year.  The girls don't know any other home than Maine. They love playing outside.  Here are a few recent photos.

 

Here is Livie showing off one of her pumpkins from our garden.  Livie helped dry the seeds last year, plant them in the spring and take care of them all summer.  She was very excited when they turned orange so she could pick them.  (I'm not sure what either of them are looking at in this picture.)

 

Here is a very cute picture of "all my girls."  I think they are all adorable!

 

Livie LOVES to run with Bailey!

 

Sienna loves to hike with Mama.

 

The girls love playing with Bailey.

 

As you can see, they love Bailey very much.

Fortunately, Bailey is a very good sport with a great temperament.

 

Here's one of my favorites... Sienna is trying to put Bailey's leash on her so that she can take her for a walk in the woods.

We hope that you've all had a great summer!  Once we get back out west, we hope that we'll be able to see more of our family and friends!

Westward Bound!

After 3 short years in Maine, Brad has been asked by Savage to take a new position in Long Beach, CA.  The change is bittersweet for us.  While we are excited to take on a new opportunity and live closer to family, we are very sad to leave Maine.  We've made so many great friends and really enjoyed our time here.  Life is good in Maine.  Our little girls do not know any other home, but Livie seems to be adjusting okay once we told her that we will be moving close to Disneyland! :)

While we are sure that we'll make new friends and enjoy our new experiences, we will always hold a special place in our heart for Maine.

PS Sorry that we haven't posted any pictures lately.  Life has been very busy.  The girls are getting big and have had a very fun summer.  We'll try to post something soon.

Livie's Sayings

We need to do a better job of recording some of the cute little things that Livie says.  She is such a little hoot.  Here are some of her recent sayings that cracked us up.  By the way, we realize that these sayings are much funnier live and when the little ones say it themselves versus when parents try to repeat it, so please forgive us if you don't find these funny.

• Livie loves to find ways to stall so that she doesn't have to go to bed.  Tonight, after we finished stories, she was supposed to turn off the light.  I didn't know what she was doing, but I knew she was dinking around, so I said, "Livie!"  She quickly responded, "I'm getting a drink, Dad. Be patient!"  If there is one thing that Livie is teaching us, it is certainly patience. :)
• Livie needed to go potty before bedtime.  In an attempt to speed up the bedtime process, I (foolishly) attempted to have her sit on the toilet without her little potty seat.  She quickly rebuked me, "Dada, I need my seat.  What is Dada thinking?"
• We were having a little lesson for "Family Home Evening" and we were talking about the "Priesthood" (for more info, you can check out this site:  Priesthood).  I showed Livie a picture of Jesus and said, "Who is this?"  She quickly responded, "Jesus."  I showed her a picture of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and again, she quickly responded, "Joseph Smith." Lastly, I showed her a picture of President Thomas S. Monson.  She quickly responded, "Mitt Romney."  I guess that's what you'd call, "Right church, wrong pew." 

We love our little Olivia.  She makes us laugh so much.

Springtime in Maine

We are very happy that Spring is here in Maine... finally! Here is a photo of the girls in their Easter dresses. They are both getting so big. Sienna is almost walking...she's getting more and more daring by the day.

Livie and Sienna both love playing the piano with Abby during Family Home Evening.  They are quite the pianists!

Happy Birthday, Sienna!!!

Happy Birthday, Little Sienna!  March 29th marked Sienna's 1st birthday. We celebrated Sienna's birthday with a fun-filled night.  Even Bailey joined the party (reluctantly).

Livie picked out a present for Sienna all on her own.  She picked a little puppy that walks around, barks and pants.  Sienna loved it.  Here she is giving it kisses.  Sienna even mimics it when it pants.

We made homemade pizza for dinner.  Livie loves to put the toppings on the pizza.

We went to a place called Jokers where we played lots of games.  Livie and Sienna both liked the bouncy house.

Sienna is very happy with her presents.

Sienna liked the birthday cake that Mama made for her.

Sienna had her own little cake.  It didn't take her long to dig in with both hands.

This was the Livie's first experience of a party where she was not the one getting presents.  She did really well, but wanted to make sure that we all know that "Sienna needs to share." Fortunately, Sienna is very good at sharing.

Sienna seemed to have a really good time.  She was very happy when everyone (including Grandma, Grandpa, Hammy and Ash all via Skype) sang Happy Birthday to her.

We all love Sienna very much and are very grateful that she is in our little family!

Livie & Mitt

As all of you political junkies know, the GOP primary was in Maine this last week. On Friday night, we took the girls to Mitt Romney's town hall meeting in Portland, ME. Livie wasn't very excited about going.

After Mitt spoke, I worked my way through the crowds and Secret Service to get fairly close to Mitt. I held Livie up over two rows of people and told her to "shake that man's hand." Mitt saw me holding Livie over the crowd and reached out to shake Livie's hand. As Livie does whenever she shakes anyone's hand, she proclaimed, "It's nice to see you!" I think this reaction from a 3-year old suprised Mitt. He got a big grin on his face and replied, "It's nice to you see you, Sweetie!"

When we got home that night, the local news had a great shot of Livie on the news. (Unfortunately, they didn't catch her shaking his hand.)

The "fun" for the girls didn't stop. We took them to our first-ever caucus on Saturday morning. Livie was very bored during most of the caucus, but she was very happy that "Mitt Romney" won. She told several people at church today that she shook hands with "Mitt Romney" and that he told her, "It's nice to see you, Sweetie!"

Here's hoping that Livie can someday tell people that she shook hands with "President Romney!"

We haven't posted for a long time. January was a big month. We had a very fun trip to Disney World and celebrated Livie's 3rd birthday. We need to post some of our favorite photos from the trip and her birthday.