Relay For Life

Yesterday we had the privalege of participating in the Relay For Life. Ali's friend Eli was diagnosed last fall with Leukemia so we were part of his team. The relay had a movie theme so we were the "Kung Fu Elias" team. Thanks to all of you who donated and supported Ali. She was able to raise $660! Ali had so much fun running around the track. I think she ran a whole mile, at least. Then there was the times she went around walking (backwards, of course). I don't know where she gets that energy! Anyway, here are some pictures of the event. Here's a picture of the team sign. Here is Ali with the Walker Boys. I think Ali and Eli have been friends longer than they haven't been friends. Eli was the Superhero for the whole event. Here is last year's Princess "choosing" this year's superhero and bringing him to the stage for his gear. They gave him a medal and a superhero cape. It was really cute! One of the Superhero's responsibilities was to lead the Survivor's Lap and Eli took this job seriously. The teams lined the track and blew bubbles at the survivors as the came around. Eli was so fast he left the other survivors (who were walking) in the dust! He got huge cheers all around the track but none were as loud as when he passed our team. Look at that smile! Here's a good picture of his cape. Here's Ali with her relay shirt. I swear she is wearing shorts under there. The whole team wore ninja bandannas. Ali walking with Gabi We were all thrilled to find our favorite friend, Ariel, also walking. Ali and Eli taking a lap together. After a few laps Ali was too hot to keep wearing her relay shirt. Here she is walking with her friend Sara (right behind Ali). Look at that pink face. Ali and Gabi

John and I had a hard time keeping up with Ali and Gabi. Each time we started getting close, they would start running. I just didn't think that I should run after her 6 weeks before my due date. A little detour for Ali and Gabi. We really did have a great time. Thanks to the Walkers for being such great friends and inviting us to participate in this special event!

Ali's Spring Program

This year Ali's class had a spring program. It was really cute! It was centered around St. Patrick's day. They sang songs and recited little poems with actions. This was actually the first program where Ali actually sang all of the songs! In the past she would just do the actions but never move her lips. I got the whole thing on video but thought I'd better just post my favorite part. The Irish Jig:
Teacher Vicki has the kids say the steps out loud so that they can remember the steps. You may also note the red stickers on their right feet so they can remember which foot to start with. I'm proud to note that Ali needed neither of these aids... for the most part.
PS. Ali is the one in the front row on the left- in case you couldn't tell with her leprechaun disguise.

Ali's Quinquennial

We decided to start a new tradition in our family. We are now only going to have big "friend" birthday parties on the even number years. That way we catch the big ones- 8, 12, 16, 18. On the odd numbered years Ali can pick one special friend to spend a whole day doing whatever she wants. This year she chose to have lunch at McDonald's, go to OMSI, and then 7-11 for slurpees. Grandma and Grandpa King were able to join us for lunch and then we dropped Grandpa off at the airport on our way to OMSI. Here is Ali and her friend Morgan playing with some plastic dinosaurs. (Dinosaurs are the current attraction at OMSI.) Ali the Velociraptor Ali is a little over a month older than Morgan and a little under a foot shorter. Looks like she's going to be taking after her short Mama, poor thing. Ali and Gma Ali had a pretty impressive haul of gifts this year. It was really fun to watch her open them. She was so grateful for everything! Here she is loving on "Paddington". Ali wanted a Lightning McQueen birthday and I just didn't have it in me to make a big character cake like I usually do (what was the point with just four people eating it?). So, I found some icing decorations that we put on cupcakes instead. She didn't mind or notice a thing. I am so lucky to have such a happy daughter!
Ali and her cupcakes A week later it was our turn to have the playgroup girls at our house. Since I needed something to do with them for 2 1/2 hrs, I caved a little on the no friend birthday party during odd years rule. But just a little. Here they all are. From left to right we have: Taylor, Sami, Morgan, Sara, Macy, and Gabi. We're going to miss playgroup next year!

Ali's new 'do

Ali's hair was all the way down to her waist and getting hair done in the morning involved a lot of tears trying to get the tangles out. Plus, it was starting to not be as curly as it had been. So, I decided to cut it. I was hoping that by getting rid of some of the weight that we would get the curls back. It sort of worked but not the way I wanted it to. (I was hoping for the three year old curls again. Maybe they'll come back when she hits puberty.) Anyway, I think the cut turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. This is Ali before... and after. (This was taken on easter in the dress that our Easter Bunny who lives in Keizer made for her.) Here she is after we had some fun with my flat iron. She looks like a different kid with straight hair! The kids at school were all amazed and several of the Moms had no idea who she was. It took a long time though so I doubt this will become something we do on a regular basis.

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.)