two

This little chunk went ahead and did it. He turned two! From this...

...to this. And boy, is he ever two! But what a sweet kid this one is.

Studying those candles, making a plan.

I don't think he knew exactly what to do. But he's a smart cookie and figured it out on his own.

It took two blows, but he did it. I showed him how to take his candles out and lick them. He thought that was a great idea and continued 'dipping' them and licking them until we figured out that 1/2 the candle was gone.

Because he (and therefore, all of us) is a bit obsessed with Buzz Lightyear, his present was a hit! He sleeps with him, eats with him--basically hasn't put him down yet!

As he's showing me Buzz, he is saying what translates to be, "To infinity and beyond!" We're glad he likes his Buzz.

Because we sure love this two year-old! Happy Birthday, kiddo!

We {heart} Haiti

With the scenes of devestation in Haiti all over the media, many of us feel helpless in our efforts to provide some kind of aid. any kind of aid. It is heart wrenching to see this already poverty-striken country suffer losses of their homes, their belongings and even lives. So in a very small effort to help, our family joined with the M family in a neighborhood bake sale. Yes, we may be very small, but every penny counts. right? My sweet friend, Amy, was the brains behind all this as she knows of a local organization that deals with an orphanage in Haiti. So we got all of our kids together and made a plan. She told the kids of this organization and how not only are the children in the orphanage without food and shelter because of the earthquake, but now there are many newly orphaned children with severe wounds that are being brought to this orphanage. They need help. The kids were excited and had ALL kind of ideas! We had a goal of raising $100 and then came up with a list of needed baked goods. Maren made flyers and all the kids put them on the doors of our ward neighborhoods and an adjoining neighborhood. And did I mention that it's really cold here! But they did it without any complaints (well, they did take turns warming up in the car). The next two days consisted of lots and lots of baking. And many thanks to a few of our friends that donated baked goods to the cause as well! We live in an amazing area!

Maren and Natalie got busy right away making one of our signs.

Natalie was very helpful...I even let her sneak some dough because she did such a good job!

With our cheerful volunteers ready...

and two tables FULL of baked goods...

And our dancing sign girls...

We were ready.

And they came! We had such a great turnout! Did I mention that we live in the most amazing area?! So generous and supportive. It was steady for the first hour and then, with only a few items left, it turned really cold.

We packed it all up. They still came anyway--with donations to this great cause. The kids were besides themselves as they counted way above and beyond our goal of $100--we were able to raise over $550!

So I hope that the benefits of this little neighborhood bake sale are two fold: one, this organization can use this money for good in the rebuilding of this orpanage in Haiti; and two, it will provide a lasting impression on our children as a 'look-beyond-myself-I-can-help-others' and 'I-can-acheive-any-goal-if-I-work-hard' experience.

Thank you, thank you, M family, for including us! And a special thanks to the many generous families that contributed to this great cause!

*ok, the final numbers are in....our bake sale raised a total of $601! Again, thanks to many kind and generous people.