Barfuss Life: March 2018

Easter 2016

Easter was really nice this year. We went to a neighborhood egg hunt the Monday before Easter Sunday for our third year in a row. This was the first year that Lyla really got what was going on, and she had a great time finding her eggs.

On Easter Sunday, we had a great dinner at Debbie's which included her family, Chad's Family, and our family. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was nice and relaxed. It was a great time! After that, we headed over to the Barfusses' house, where they hosted an Easter sing. It was a great day.

We tried to teach Lyla a little about what Easter was all about. Todd asked her the day before what Easter was all about. She said "The Easter Bunny!" I swear I haven't even mentioned the Easter Bunny to her. Then he said "No, Easter is about Jesus. What did Jesus do?". "He hides all the eggs!" She says. They had a discussion, and after that she was able to tell us that Easter was about Jesus, and that he was resurrected.

When we were driving home from the Easter sing, we were in the car and Todd and I were chatting, and Lyla was quiet most of the drive. When we were almost home Lyla said to me "Mom, I need to tell you something. The bad guys took Jesus and they burned his hands and his feet. Then they wrapped him in a white cloth. " She may not have gotten it exactly right, but she was telling me about what she had learned in Primary, and she was clearly back there just thinking about it. I love that sweet girl. She is learning so much, and sometimes I forget that her little brain is just a sponge.

Penny Is Two

Penny turned two last week! Penny is about as cute as it gets, but she can also be quite the stinker. She is awesome at saying "thank you" to everyone, and being super friendly when she sees people she knows, is the most adorable little dancer. She sings along to some of her favorite songs (the Moana soundtrack, Let it Go, I'm trying to be like Jesus, etc) and it seriously so cute. She talks quite a bit, is starting to make small sentences, and gets comments on how she has the cutest little voice.

She is kind of a little ham.

She really likes TV, and Moana is probably her favorite thing to watch. She still has food radar and seems to always know if I'm sneaking a treat. She is a bit of a stinker to her big sister and doesn't much care for being touched by her. Or talked to.

When I pick her up, she will wrap her little arm around my neck and I can feel her little hand curling up against my neck. It is so sweet and one of my favorite things.

When daddy comes home from work, she's been saying "Hi Daddy! I happy see you!". Seriously so cute.

Love, love, love this girl!

gotta watch your back or she'll steal your drink

Penny enjoying Lyla's Moana birthday party

Went through a phase where it was almost impossible to get her to wear anything but this "Sofia dress" handed down from cousin Callie.

Christmas 2017

We had another wonderful Christmas this year. At the top of Lyla's list was a "gem american girl doll". She had flipped through the American Girl Doll catalogue with her dad and apparently seen this "gem" doll. The problem was that no one actually knew what she was talking about. At first I just kind of ignored the specifics and was planning to give her a doll with a ballerina costume. The closer we got to Christmas, the clearer it became that this "gem" thing was not going away. I tried to track down the catalogue to have Todd show me what she had liked, but I had thrown ours away and so had everyone we knew. We looked through the website, but nothing seemed to fit. Finally, I found a weird YouTube video of someone flipping through the catalogue, told Todd he had to watch it till he figured out what it was she had seen with him. Finally he declared that he had found it, and it turned out looking nothing like the description he had given me. haha. We made a last minute change a few days before Christmas and bought a doll from Target with earrings and bracelets, hoping that that would fit the bill.

I felt like a giddy Santa on Christmas Eve as we set out the presents and went to bed. We spent the night at Mimi and Papa's house and did Christmas morning there. When Lyla woke up, we told her Santa had left something by her bedroom door and she ran and grabbed her stocking. The first thing she pulled out was an Anna and Elsa watch and as she pulled it out, her eyes got big and she was so excited. I thought she was happy about the watch, till she yelled "I didn't get coal!!"Then she looked down at what she was actually holding in her hand and said "I got a Frozen watch!". It was pretty amusing. I had no idea that she was that worried about getting coal in her stocking. I felt a little bad that she had been so concerned about it.

It was another wonderful and blessed Christmas. I love this time of year and feeling the magic that comes from remembering the Savior and his miraculous birth.