Merry Christmas to Grandma and Grandpa Payne

Here are a few Christmas clips for the Grandma and Grandpa we missed at Christmastime. Sorry for the delay! Hope you enjoy them.

Angelique opening her new pajamas



Madeline LOVED her pajamas



Still LOVING her pajamas



Gigi testing out her new headbands. The boots aren't featured here, but they are great.



Madeline enjoys her new special books just for her



Gigi's first real pop-up book



Gigi's new apron



Madeline's new bath toys were the perfect gift for her



She was really excited to get her charm bracelet on



Gigi now takes this metal purse everywhere she goes!



Thank you again, Grandma and Grandpa Payne! We love you.

Thanksgiving 2009

We decided to go to another parade this Thanksgiving, but this time instead of going to NYC we decided to try Philadelphia's parade out. Here are the pros and cons of Philly's parade:

Pro: Waking up at 8:30 instead of 3am
Walking to the train station instead of driving to the ferry
Spending $12 on a train ticket instead of $4 per person for the ferry plus $100 for the parking ticket we got (I guess we shouldn't have trusted the people who told us not to worry about where we parked our car)
Seeing the floats up close instead of on our tiptoes trying to decide if we were looking at a turkey or Santa Claus

Cons: Not being able to enjoy the very distinct smell that NYC has to offer
Not being able to enjoy the look of the garbage lined streets of New York

Okay so New York really wasn't that bad, actually I LOVE NYC, but this was so much easier and better for the girls.
My parents even came out to celebrate this year with us. Gigi and Madeline were in 7th Heaven. David enjoyed a few great football games with his friends and I really enjoyed not watching any football games :)
To top it all off Tony and Candy did all of the cooking and they made a fabulous meal! Of course I forgot my camera so you'll just have to believe me. It was truly a feast :) Thanks!!

Waiting for the train

Super Grover!

Gigi with her own Dora parade balloon. Gigi was pretty thrilled about this!

Sweet little Madeline was great the whole time.

When Gigi saw this Nutcracker she ran to it and said, "it's just like from the Carebears." The only movie we have of the carebears is a knockoff of the nutcracker...I guess I should have explained things a bit better :)

We finally went to Love park.

I love that Madeline will still fall asleep on the go.

Gigi was so tired that today she fell asleep playing house.

Unorthodox Lessons from Fairy Tales

On Sunday, someone in church spoke about how we should teach doctrine rather than behavior. We have tried to teach Angelique to always tell the truth with strict rules about not lying (behavior). So, on the way home from church, I told her the story The Boy Who Cried Wolf (doctrine). At the end of the story, Bethany asked her, "What does that story teach us?" Angelique's reply was, "Never watch the sheep by yourself."

My Girl

Gigi at a Scottish festival this last summer.

Gigi and I have some pretty consistent battles. Some of the big ones are washing her hair and cutting her nails. She detests both of these activities and lets me know it. Yesterday she surprised me by saying, "I'm not going to whine when you wash my hair. It's okay Mommy I don't mind if you do it." It was wonderful. Later when I went to cut her nails she said the same thing. She even told me that she was going to help Madeline all day, which was true about 80% of the time (not bad at all!).
This evening I had to go to an orchestra rehearsal at the church and so David had to get the girls ready for bed. When I got home Gigi was about to get into bed and she told me, "I asked Daddy to give me a blessing so I can be more obedient for you." I was pretty shocked. Then after we sang to her and put her to bed she asked Daddy to come back for a minute. This is pretty typical, she usually wants him to give her another kiss or to open the curtains a little more or something else to stall for a few extra seconds, but tonight she asked him to help me put the food away and to have Madeline sleep well so that I could get some rest.
I am amazed at how perceptive Gigi is at 3. By herself she decided that she wanted to be a better daughter and sister. She is such a sweetheart I had to blog about this so I wouldn't forget it.

Answer to Prayer

Last Sunday both Madeline and Gigi came down with a bad case of the flu. They seemed to be doing better and by Thursday their fevers were gone. Then Thursday night Madeline's fever came back and she got really sick fast. She would wake up and just moan because she was too weak to cry. She would try to sleep, but would wake up every few minutes coughing. Friday morning David took her to the doctor's office and they found that she had pneumonia and an ear infection. They said that if she got any worse to call them and take her to the hospital. They started her on antibiotics that day. She basically slept/moaned for over 24 hours. (side note: Gigi got started on antibiotics on Saturday night because she started complaining of an earache, luckily she is now feeling much better!)
As a mom it was a pretty scary moment. My girls have never really been super sick before and poor Madeline looked so helpless. I called my mom and explained the situation. She took action. She called basically everyone in my family and told them to pray for Madeline and put her name in the prayer role. David and I prayed over and over for her too. David also gave her a blessing that day. On Saturday she perked up and today she is back to her old self crawling around like crazy and smiling constantly. Tonight she even started saying mama :) (until tonight she has only said dada). I know that Heavenly Father answered our prayers and helped our sweet little Madeline to get better.

I am so thankful for my wonderful husband who skipped 2 days of school to take care of us(I got pretty sick too and was unable to do much for a few days). He took over everything: dishes, diapers, laundry, throw up, running to the pharmacy, etc. He even figured out how to make homemade pizza dough. It turned out pretty good :) Thank you David. I am so lucky to have you!
Also, Thank you Canders for risking your own health to take care of us. We sure love you!!
David and I were talking about Madeline the other night and he said how if we had lived 100 years ago she probably would have just died. I am so happy that we don't have to worry about that. We love our little Madeline so much and couldn't imagine life without her. Here are a few things we love about her:

She's always smiling, no matter the sitaution.

She's quietly curious. She's always eagar to explore, but sometimes get into mischief because she's so quiet. She's pretty good at getting to whatever it is she's interested in.

She's always crawling to us! I love how much she love us!!

She adores her sister Gigi and loves being a part of her games.

Halloween

Sleeping Beauty pumpkin
For months Gigi has been talking about Halloween. Gigi saw the Wizard of Oz last Christmas and since that time has loved Dorothy. Of course this year she wanted to dress up as Dorothy for Halloween. However, when Gigi plans things she figures out every detail. Here is what she came up with :

Gigi- Dorothy
Madeline- Toto
Bethany- Auntie Em
David- The tin man
Candy- The scarecrow
Tony- The cowardly lion
Grandma Parent (she came out for the week)- Glynda the good witch
Monkey monk (her monkey from build a bear)- the wicked witch of the west
all other stuffed animals- flying monkeys

Everyone mentioned above loves Gigi so much that we all complied. (My mom even let me spray paint her hair pink!)
It was a lot of fun coming up with makeshift costumes. My friend Megan helped me make Gigi's without a pattern...experts please don't look too closely :)

In case you can't tell (from left to right) Glynda, Tin Man, Auntie Em, Scarecrow and lion. Bottom: Dorothy and Toto


Isn't my mom awesome? I still can't believe she let me paint her hair pink!!!


Poor David- When I put his costume on I didn't think about eating.


The girls are already fighting over candy (no we didn't really let Madeline eat any..well not much anyway :) )

We had a blast going to all of the fun Halloween festivities, but Sunday night Gigi and then Madeline came down with a fever and cough. Gigi's has been pretty minor, but Madeline has had a fever of 102.3 degrees on and off today. It's so sad seeing my energetic girls so lethargic. On the bright side I actually get to have some snuggle time.

Finally some good news!

David at his office in Erie last summer
After about 30 1st round interviews, 6 2nd round interviews, 4 rejections and an endless amount of prayers and tears...David has a job!!!!
David will be working for Reed Smith in Chicago this summer. We are thrilled! We know that this was an answer to prayer. I am so proud of David. Through all of the stress and rejections David stayed positive and faithful. I have so much to learn from my amazing husband. David is really excited about working for this particular firm because they do a lot of the type of law that he wants to practice, they have firms all over the world (Europe here we come :)?), and most importantly he really liked the people that he interviewed with.
Congrats David!!!! We are so proud of you! (Does anyone want to come help us move in 7 months? I have to admit I'm getting a bit sick of it.) I had to show off David's other talent...this was taken at the Franklin museum in Philly. David is one amazing goalie, but I think Gigi might just be a little bit better.(sorry David, it was just too funny and yes I know I will pay for this)

Since we've been back

We moved back to Philadelphia on August 15th. I can't believe that I haven't blogged since before then. It has been beyond crazy since we have returned. Some of the major things that have happened:

We unpacked all of our stuff.
Our bathroom flooded, soaking the bedroom and hall, so we had a big fan running for days under our carpet.
David has been to Dallas once and Chicago twice for interviews.
My sister was in the hospital for a week (they found fluid around her heart and drained it, but she is doing much better now).
My mom came to visit for a week to help out with Candy.
We have dealt with major mold problems under our bathroom sink and in our storage unit.
David has gone through 3 weeks of interviews (he is interviewing for a summer internship, but essentially a job for after he graduates). We are MAJORLY stressed!! Right now it is looking like we will end up in Philadelphia or DC.
Our car has been in the shop 3 times.
David has started school and the business law journal.
I painted my sister's living room.
I started a bible study class, we are studying the book of Genesis and I am way excited!
Madeline has started crawling so we are attempting to babyproof our place.

Whew! I think that is it, but I'm sure i've missed a few things. I guess our restful summer has offically ended.
Hopefully I can start blogging about fun stuff again soon :)

Just because I love pictures here are a few pictures that were taken of the girls in Erie by a fantastic photographer in our ward,(thanks again Suzie!). She is sending the pictures now so these are the only pictures I have seen!

Palmyra

We've been so busy seeing and doing fun things that I haven't really had much time to blog about them. A few weeks ago we went to Palmyra and had a great time.
We drove down Friday evening, watched the pageant and then stayed overnight at a hotel. The next day we saw some historical sights and took turns going to the temple.

At the pageant with an actor. A friend from Erie had family in the pageant so we were able to snag great seats- 3 rows back- dead center. It was pretty sweet!.

David and I were both impressed by the pageant. It wasn't a typical cheesy production. Gigi was FASCINATED!!! She watched the entire thing wide eyed and talked about it for days.

The girls and I slept in while David went to an early session at the temple. We had a lot of fun. We snuggled and watched way too many episodes of sponge bob and got some yummy free breakfast. It was so much fun to have a lazy morning with Gigi and Madeline. I love the Hampton Inn.

There is a street corner in Palmyra with 4 churches. It was pretty amazing that there are still so many different religions competing in Palmyra.

Outside the rebuilt Smith log cabin..

David with the girls on the recreated bed where the angel Moroni visited Joseph Smith..

Inside the log cabin..

Inside the frame house that is 80% original. This is the spot where Joseph Smith dug around the bricks and hid the gold plates..

Inside the sacred grove.
Palmyra was such a special place to visit. We loved it!

Budding pianist

5 months old and practicing like a pro!

Kirtland

One great thing about moving a lot is that we are able to visit really cool places without spending a lot of money (well unless you consider moving your entire family every few months expensive :) ).
Last Saturday we went to Kirtland, which is only about an hour away from here. While David was attending BYU he took a week long trip with a photography professor to kirtland to take pictures of the Kirtland temple. He really wanted to go back and since I hadn't been since high school we thought it would be fun.
Kirtland has changed a lot since I had been there. The Newel K Whitney store used to be on a street corner, but the church got rid of the street and put a sidewalk in front of it. They have also built some other historical homes. It is really beautiful.
The community of Christ church built up the landscaping around the temple and built a huge visitors center. The whole place is really spectacular now.
We had a lot of fun taking tours of the temple and the other sites around town. That night we went to a friends house for dinner who recently moved to the Cleveland area(which is about 20 minutes from Kirtland), and saw a play about Kirtland put on by a local stake center. It was a bit cheesy, but Gigi was fascinated. They had a big cut out of the Newel K. Whitney store and Gigi commented- That's where we were today. She really enjoyed seeing Joseph Smith and the other pioneers and has decided that she wants a pioneer costume for Christmas (any ideas how to make one?).We ended the night by getting some ice cream and driving home in peace after the girls fell fast asleep :)

Gigi in an awesome pioneer outfit

outside the temple

Outside the famous store

Gigi and Annie

Us with the Call Family- Matt, James, Lisa, Kimball and Annie.

Don't eat the cows

Last Friday Chick-fil-A was giving away free meals to people that dressed up like cows. Free food...of course we were in. Gigi and I whipped up some cow outfits and taped them on when we got there. Unfortunately, we left a trail of cow spots throughout the restaurant.
They had someone making balloon animals and lots of people in random cow outfits. The food was great and Gigi even got a little maisy book.

Candy comes to visit!

A few weekends ago Candy drove up from Philadelphia to spend the weekend with us. We had so much fun!! Mainly we just hung out, but we did manage to make it to the beach and to Waldameer resort, which has small amusement rides. Gigi rode her first rollercoaster with David. I think she's hooked!


We all cramed into our little car.

Gigi turned Candy's bed into a "nest" that we all enjoyed snuggling in.



Our Magnificent sandcastle.

Madeline's expression watching Gigi on the rides :)

Gigi conquored the rollercoaster! Hooray!

This one's for the Grandparents

Both sets of grandparents live far away, so I thought I would post some pictures and video.

Ride'em cowgirl. I love getting the girls in the bath together. Way too cute!


Madeline is constantly smiling now. Love it!!

Family day at the Maritime Museum

Erie has a fabulous Maritime museum complete with a replica of the USS Brig Niagara. During the war of 1812 the Niagara fought alongside some other US ships against the British on Lake Erie and apparently the Brig Niagara saved the day and captured a whole fleet of British ships. Erie is pretty proud of it's naval history and about 20 years ago re-built the entire brig, just the way it would have looked in 1812. It even has some wood from the original Niagara.
A few weeks ago the museum had a family day so we all went. It was pretty cool. There were people in costumes re-enacting events that would have taken place on the brig. David was REALLY into it and said that if we lived here he would like to become a volunteer at the museum.
Here are some highlights from the day:


Fishing

Making sailor hats

That's Captain Payne to you!


Learning about sailing.


Touring the Brig


We stayed late to see a puppet show. Little did we know John McCain would be there.


Gigi even got a coupon for free fries.