The Ali Blues

Ali recently spent the weekend with Grandma and Grandpa King. When we went to their house for dinner and to pick her up on that Sunday she had made up a song on the harmonica. She calls it "The Harmonica Song". It was pretty fascinating to me to watch her because every time she played it, it was the same tune (if not the same notes). She was also really careful to start the song on the same note- the harmonica had numbers above the holes. She also would look at the hymn book on the piano and pretend that she was reading the music to "The Harmonica Song". We tried to get her to play it for all of us but she was too shy and would only play for one person at a time.

Unfortunately we didn't have our video camera there but luckily Bonnie stepped in and we have this video of Ali playing courtesy of her. The sound is a little low and the dance was a big surprise. Each time I had to announce her the same way and if I messed up or varied from the script she would correct me and make me start over. So, without further ado:

Presenting the Amazing Alicyn and her harmonica playing "The Harmonica Song":

It's a boy!!

There's not a whole lot more to say. John and I are thrilled to death (and 50% scared to death- I have no idea what to do with a boy). The Dr. couldn't get a good look at the baby's heart so we are going back in four weeks. The baby was also on the small side so the due date was pushed back to Aug 11th. We're hoping he has John's stature and not mine. We'd hate to have to name him Frodo or Gollum or something like that. Ali was really cute calling everyone to tell them her "news". Every message she left was slightly different but for the most part she was happy to tell everyone that she is "going to be the big sister of a baby brother". We're estimating the blessing will be the first weekend in October. We'd love to have anyone who can come.

Ali's big news

Well, if you couldn't already tell by the survey, Ali is going to be a big sister in August. We're not really sure how this happened. (Well, I guess that's not TOTALLY true- he hem...)Anyway, we went into the DR. in November to have our first appointment to start in-vitro. They told us to call them when my next cycle started and we would get started right away on the meds and shots and stuff. So, we waited. And waited and waited. I was actually starting to be really annoyed because I just wanted to get going now that we'd finally made the decision. But, as it turns out the whole sticking long needles into my own stomach wasn't necessary after all. Thank heavens! One morning while I was getting Ali's hair done for church she said," Momma, you have a bump on your tummy. Do you think there is a baby in their like Kaitlyn's mom?" I side stepped that question because we wanted to have our first Dr. appointment before we said anything to her about it- just in case. Nothing gets past that girl! Anyway, our appointment was the next day so we told her that night. The first thing she said was "I was right!". Ali is really excited for the new baby to come. I'm not sure how long after it actually comes that the excitement will continue. She is always asking if the baby is still in there and loves to give my tummy pokes and kisses for the baby. I've been pretty sick so far. Not as sick as I was with Ali (thankfully) but it still prevented me from doing Christmas cards this year. Hopefully you'll all understand.

Thirty, Flirty and... Thriving???

Or something like that. Here are some pics from my birthday. Ali was convinced that I wanted a Harry Potter birthday party. So that's what we did.

Christmast Highlights

Well, as it turns out we didn't take a whole lot of pictures this year but we have a lot of video. We went to Idaho Falls this year to join the Love family in a huge Christmas celebration. Almost everyone was there and Ali had a great time getting to know her cousins on that side. The snow was lots of fun too. We were also very lucky to get tickets to go through the Rexburg, ID temple open house. We were in the first group to go through on the first day. Since there was no backup of people yet, we were privileged to be able to also get a peek at the bride's room. Ali's favorite rooms were the sealing rooms and the Celestial room. It was absolutely beautiful! Even though it hadn't been dedicated yet, there was a very special spirit there and you could feel that you were standing in a holy place. It was so wonderful to be able to be there in the temple with Ali. I hope she will always remember how she felt there. Thanks again for the tickets, Dad. Now to the pictures: This is Ali hanging up the stockings next to our fireplace. Decorating our "Charlie Brown Tree" with Dad And Mom Adding the Angel Here is Ali and Aunt Adrie playing ukuleles together. Ali was so excited to see Aunt Adrienne and she is still talking about playing disney sorry with her. These next few pictures are from the Johnson Family Christmas party on Christmas eve. There were so many people we had to use the seminary building because no house could hold that many people. Every year they have the kids act out the nativity. This was Ali's first year participating and she was so thrilled to be Mary. She even got to hold a real baby- cousin Jacob. I'm not sure who was Joseph- if anyone was. It was mostly angels running around. It was also special because someone brought a video of Grandpa Johnson reading the story from years and years ago. That is why in most of the pictures people are looking at the TV. Hopefully you'll be able to see some of the adorable chaos that took place during this reenactment. It was really fun. Notice a much younger Aunt Adrienne being the angel on the TV. Here Ali's playing her new guitar in her new McQeen PJ's. She decorated it with the flowers all by herself. We were home from IF for about an hour or so before we headed down to Keizer to spend New Year's Eve with Grandma and Grandpa King. Ali was thrilled to see that Grandpa had gotten a Cars electric racing track. She wouldn't leave him alone until he got it out and played with her. She was all giggles and played for hours. Then we all went to the Merry-Go-Round on New Year's day. I think Ali went 8 or 9 times in a row. No one else could stomach it so we all took turns with her.

A funny Ali story

Ali said the cutest thing when we were grocery shopping a few weeks ago. She has asked me not to tell people the story because their reaction embarrasses her but I'm afraid that I'm going to forget it. Hopefully since anyone who reads this story will be able to react away from her it's OK to add it to the blog. So, we were shopping at Winco in the meat department. Suddenly Ali exclaimed, "OH MY GOSH!!! THERE'S BITS OF PEOPLE IN HERE!!" To which I replied, "What???" She explained it to me by pointing to the signs and reading, "See- 'shoulder steaks', 'ribs', 'riblets'..." She didn't see the small word printed on each of those signs that read 'pork'. It was so funny I had to try really hard to not laugh at her. I pointed out that it was meat and picked her up so she could see into the freezers and not just the signs. She was OK after that but at the time she was really freaked out.

The Big Game

Ali decided that we needed to have a powder puff football game at Grandma's house. (We recently watched her favorite babysitter, Ariel, play). So, we decided it would be good to do it while the turkey was cooking. She figured out the teams. Her team, which included herself, her Dad and Grandma was the BYU team (obviously). The other team which was Grandpa and Mom was the Utah team. She was a little disappointed that we wouldn't have anyone to be the audience but we talked her into letting Mojo (the dog) cover that. Here she is demonstrating her touchdown victory pose. Here is Ali trying to tackle Grandpa on the run. And here he is tackling/tickling her. Ali made John hold the ball while she ran to kick it. She was disappointed when he didn't yank it away and made him re-do the whole thing just like Charlie Brown. It was so funny! She even fell on her back (in slow motion and very carefully) while screaming AAARGH!! like Charlie does. I couldn't stop laughing and begged her to do it again so I could get video. But, because we were all laughing she declined. Ali quickly lost interested in the game and spent most of the time playing on the playground with Grandpa.

"Happy Turkey Day!"

This year we spent Thanksgiving down at Dad and Bonnie's house. Though they live less than an hour away, we opted to spend the whole weekend down there. It was great for us to get away for a while for a mini vacation. The only problem is that now Ali is asking when she can do it again without us. "Just me and Grandma and Grandpa." Ali had a lot of fun cooking with Grandma. Grandma lets her do so many more things than Mom does. Here she is making the pumpkin pie. Grandma let her pour in the condensed milk all by herself. Here is Ali helping make the homemade noodles for the turkey noodle soup. I think she ate more noodles raw than she did cooked. On Saturday we got to go with Grandma and Grandpa to pick out their tree and then help decorate it. Ali's favorite part was being allowed to use the stepladder. She thought it was funny that she was bigger than me (Mom). This is a close up I took to put in her yearly Christmas ornament. I just thought I'd share it.

Ali's first talk

A couple of weeks ago Ali gave her first talk in Primary. I was a little worried that John was going to have to be the one to give it. She didn't want anyone to hear her practice- even me. The Saturday before her talk we were babysitting a 3 month old and she wouldn't practice her talk unless I had the baby turned away so he wasn't looking at her (he was sleeping but she was insistent). We also had her practice in the Primary room before all of the kids came in. When it sounded like someone was turning the doorknob to come into the room she would immediately freeze and stop talking. Here she is practicing with John. Since she can read, we simply typed out her talk and she read it. It was about being thankful so she held up some pictures of things we should be thankful for. (Food, family, the world etc.) She decided to hold the picture up for the JR Primary to see (they sit on the side that could see her holding it) and then she would give it to John to show the SR Primary. He kept forgetting during rehearsal and she had to keep reminding him how to do it the right way. It was really funny until I realized where she gets that from... So, when the time came to give her talk, she stepped right up to the microphone and started reading her talk. It was perfect! I couldn't believe this was the same child! We were just so proud. It was a moment we'd waited for for so long and weren't disappointed. Later that day I got an e-mail from the Primary President that I'd thought I'd share. (Mostly for posterity's sake since after I copy and paste it here I'm deleting it.) "Sunday was sooo awesome, when she gave her talk so sweetly and fervently. Everyone in the room hushed as she captured their undivided attention…. I remember thinking, too bad for anyone sitting in another room of the church as they were missing the most spiritual and uplifting moments of the day. I felt like if all we had for Primary that day was her talk and the song, that would have been enough."

Happy Halloween

I was chastised a few weeks ago by a friend at church for not updating our blog often enough. Of course she is right so I am trying to make amends by posting some semi-recent pictures. Ali was a knight for Halloween this year. This is Ali with Sami (the little girl I babysit) at the ward trunk or treat party. Here she is at the Halloween party at school. She is on the pumkin walk. There was no limit as to how many times you could win so she spent the majority of her time doing this. And again... ...and again. She did pause for snacks though. Here is Ali's whole class. Teacher Vicki was grapes and Ali thought that was the funniest thing ever! She still giggles about it when she remembers. On Halloween we went to some friend's house for dinner and trick or treating. This is Ali's friend Eli. They were both thrilled when they found out that they were both going to be knights. Eli was certain Ali was going to be something girly. (By the way, this was a complete coincidence.)

Awana Kika Kitti

Sarah and Ali recently visited Buhl, Idaho for a baby blessing. During that visit, Tutu taught Ali some hula dancing. She got a kick out of it and couldn't wait to get home to show me.

As luck would have it, Grandma Love was in Hawaii around the same time and got her a cute little hula outfit. You can see Ali in action here.

Here is a stillshot for those too impatient or technologically challenged to download the video:

32 Years and No Grey Hair

We celebrated John's 32nd birthday this week. Ali decided that what he really wanted was to have a Doodlebops party. (This is a show on Disney where three adults dress like puppets and do humiliating things that normal adults would not do. Ali loves them.) So, not wanting to spend money on Doodlebop stuff, I printed off some pictures from the internet for Ali to color. It was also a great way to keep her busy while I made dinner. Dad and Bonnie came over and had dinner with us. Then we all went swimming. John finally got his Creative Zen (MP3 player). He's been playing with it all day. Alicyn was very helpful when it came to opening presents and blowing out candles. We had to make sure there were exactly 32 candles. Ali checked and double checkd (and triple checked and...). This is Ali helping John remember to make a wish and giving him some suggestions. John got a fun book from Mom and Dad Love.

Our new place

Well, a lot has happened since last October when we last posted things. First of all, we moved. We are finally home owners. We bought a little townhouse. It has two bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs. Downstairs is a half bath, kitchen, dining, living and third bedroom which we've made into a den/family room. It also comes with a two car garage and a swimming pool. We've made good use out of both. It really is just the right size for us. We don't feel cramped and every space is used. We also have a little backyard and have turned part of it into a garden. So far, only the radishes and strawberries have produced anything we could eat but we have high hopes for the peas and green beans. Here are some pictures of planting day. We didn't move far- just 15 minutes away- but it is a whole different side of town and we're having fun finding our way around. We are now 5 minutes away from some great tennis courts so we bought Ali a tennis racket and are attempting to teach her how to play. She loves being the ball girl when we play and is a great cheer leader if anyone hits the ball and gets it over the net.

Dance Lessons

This summer Ali took dance lessons from the YMCA. She loved the ballet part but got scared during the tap part because of all the noise. I made sure that she had tap shoes thinking that if she was taking part in making the noise she wouldn't be so scared but it didn't really work. Anyway, here are a couple of cute pictures.