Happy 4th of July!

What a view! This was flying from Portland to Medford. Kenya did amazing on both flights! She did struggle with the drive from Medford to Klamath Falls. Can't really blame her because she had been up since 4:30am and confined when traveling the last 3 days!
Aunt Christine and Kenya! What a cute pair!
Getting ready the day before and the day of the war. Tons and tons of water balloons and guns. When they were filling them with water the day before about half of the balloons were popping. That scared Kenya a bit, but she got over it. She loved seeing the hoses and running water!


Our family picture for the day before the action begins.


These next pictures are of family and friends hanging around during the BBQ and waiting for it to get dark to start the fireworks.

Yummy! Loving Grandma Draper's BBQ pork ribs!



James and Tia Draper enjoying BBQ.
These are cute kiddos are some of Robert's cousin children. We thought that her little girl resembles Kenya a little bit. In the bottom picture they had had a fudge pop!

We had a blast and the fireworks were great and LONG! Kenya really enjoyed it. She fell asleep around 10pm and the show lasted until about 10:30pm. She slept right through the last 30 minutes or so. Thank you so much a everyone for coming!!! It would not be the same without having you all there. We already can't wait to see everyone in 2 years!

Another Draper reporting for War and for Summer time!

Here are some pictures of Kenya training for the The 4th of July this year!

***WARNING!!!*** DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE CUTENESS OF THIS CHILD! DOING SO WILL RESULT IN HUMILIATION OF THE SOAKED TYPE!

(Well we tried to upload some videos at the bottom displaying her Expert H2o training, but for some reason Blogger must have switched to powering the videos by YouTube and for some reason they don't upload! Videos uploads are on delay until further notice.)


We even got her training for eating BBQ on the 4th!
Kenya's going to be ready for fireworks too! Grandpa and Grandma Evans assisted in her preparations by allowing us all to be present to test out the merchandise for their fireworks stand, Master Blaster Fireworks!The next couple of pics are how she's preparing for swimming in Oregon, whether it be at a lake or pool or the coast!

We got word that Grandpa Draper has a riding lawn mower that has a little trailer hooked to the back of it just for Kenya to go for a ride around the yard in. I will count this as some good preparation! Can't go wrong with a good, old fashioned, Radio Flyer wagon!

Here's she is with the face ready for battle! She's using those big, brown eyes to peer into the souls of all who should oppose her! The look may not strike fear, but it will be enough to make enemies drop their guard long enough to get soaked!

This and Kenya

I tried so hard to get this on video, but failed.
Today Kenya and I were dancing in the living room and This was just sitting there watching us. Kenya walked over and picked up one of her front paws and started moving it like she was trying to dance with her. SO CUTE! This took it for a little bit, but then pulled her paw away and walked away. I then got my phone to record it and asked Kenya to do it again. She did, but stood directly in front of her so I could not get the shot. By then This had had enough and Kenya was starting to pull her tail and trying to pick her up, so I decided they had both had enough.
Later Kenya was going down for a nap and she would not stop insisting that she needed her kitty!! This was laying on the chair sleeping and so I set Kenya next to her and gave her her blanket. She told me to "shhh" because kitty was sleeping. Then I told her to go to sleep with kitty. I went and sat down on the other side of the room and Kenya began to space off. This's tail was wagging and before Kenya spaced out she was feeling This's tail with her hand and it was actually helping put her to sleep. When I made a noise and Kenya noticed the tail again she was scared of the tail. She didn't know what it was and started crying a little bit. I walked over and uncovered This (because Kenya had covered her to go to sleep) and showed her it was the kitty. It took her a second, but then she said "Oh" with a big smile on her face and started giggling.

Memorial Day Weekend fun!

In this picture: Sam Hammond holding Sammy Evans , Sarah Hammond, AJ Hammond holding Mikhail Evans, Rachael Hammond, Matt Hammond trying to Harmon Evans still, and Kenya Draper front and center. What a good looking bunch!

We had lots of family at my parents house for a birthday party weekend. All but 2 of my siblings were there and all but 2 of my parents grandchildren. We sure missed them. We celebrated 6 birthdays: Amy, AJ, Jayde, Mom, Aaron ans Alyxana. We camped, had campfires and wonderful bbq! Thanks again dad and Aaron for the yummy food!
Kenya loved going down to the creek and playing in the water. She got to stand in it and throw as many rocks as she wanted it the water. Throwing is a fairly new skill she has perfected. It only took a day or two before she could really get some distance with a object. Now we are learning that throwing is only for outside.

We just love being with family and think it is so important. We are trying to make sure Kenya knows her family and understands the importance. We teach her that God has given us our families and that families are meant to be eternal! We are so excited go to Oregon for the 4th of July to see our other side of the family. We are so blessed to be able to travel and to live in a time where travel is so easy.
I just has to put this picture up. She is so darling and her eyes in this picture sure give a look that melts my heart. Her sad puppy face!


This is Kenya yesterday playing on uncle Chris's computer.

Sunday 5/23 Visiting Family

Sunday was our last day in California and we were able to see some family. We went to church and then to lunch with my sister Amy. What a blast we had with her even if the time was short. While waiting for lunch Amy and Kenya played in the fountain. Of coarse that is what Kenya was doing because it has running water.

Then we went to Robert’s grandmother house in Oakland right before we had to fly out. This was quite the adventure. She is 93 years old and Kenya was born on her birthday. Grandma Banks was so excited to see Kenya and was one of the main reason we took this trip. The reason we have no pictures of them together is we were occupied by other things, including the police. Grandma was happy to see us and Kenya and it was all worth it. Here is the story.

I told Robert to go to the door and knock while I got Kenya out of the car because I knew it would take her a while to get to the door. He did and when grandma opened the door this really loud siren went off. Yep, gma forgot to turn the burglar alarm off. So, we get inside and I don’t think gma notice the noise. We asked her for her code and she did not know it. Sure enough just a few moments later the phone rings and it is the alarm company. Well, gma could not hear them and she gives me the phone. I tell them I don’t know it and she said she does not know it. Then I give the phone back to here. The whole time the alarm is still going off. I finally shuts off and then gma asks Robert to open the door because it is to hot. Rightfully so! So, he does hoping it doesn’t go off again. It does, and then minutes later another phone call. Same thing, gma cant hear, she give me the phone, I explain and tell them they have to talk really loud, and give the phone back to gma. I am not sure what happened, but gma said it will all be okay and when we asked her about them sending some out she told us they were going to. So, we were able to visit for a short time. Robert was on the phone pretty much the whole time with different relatives trying to find out who knew the code. We still did not figure it out, but shortly before we left a policewoman stopped by and checked. She was very nice and chatted a little with us and then left. Gma was sad to see us go and sad it was such a short visit, we were too. It could have been better had out visit not been so “alarming.” Thanks for the memory Grandma Banks!!

Then off the return the car and to the airport. Once again, can you guess? Kenya was great! She had some fun in the plane climbing the seats before we departed and slept on the flight. What great planning and tricks we have for traveling! We stayed with our friend the Norris that night and left midday Monday to return home. What a fun vacation! Thanks again everyone who we visited

Saturday 5/22; Wedding in Redding

Our high school friend Landyn Trammell got married in Redding, CA and we drove 3 hours up to the wedding. Again, Kenya was a amazing. She slept most of the way there (thanks to great parent planning and not letting her fall asleep until we were on our way) and was an angel while we were there. She enjoyed spending time with her grandparents who also were attending the wedding. She played and danced the night away. We left the reception at about 9:30 to go back to Concord where we were staying and Kenya slept all the way there. Wonderful! The wedding was a lot of fun and we were so excited to see Landyn and his new wife Nicole. Congrats you two!


This is on the way to Redding. What a cutie!


Robert and mother of the groom.
This little boy Kenya danced with several times and stole the dance floor.


This is Kenya dancing with Brendan, a friend from high school, who was the bestman at the wedding.
Here are some of Kenya's dance moves.

Sorry its sideways.

Friday 5/21; San Fransisco Pier 39

What a fun day we had in San Fransisco. We took a few hours and played tourist. Kenya loved looking at all of the animals. She had fun chasing the seagulls and loved looking at the water! Water is one of her favorite things. We had a fun relaxing day, truly a nice vacation day.



Kenya learned quickly what a sea lions says. She picks up on things rather quickly; what a smart little girl!
Robert got a really nice picture of Alcatraz. We really wish we could have gone out to the island and spent the day there looking around.

UP, UP, AND AWAY!

So, today marks the first time Kenya has ever flown in an airplane. It also marks the first time Lois and I have flown as parents! (I will say it is very strange to think of it that way, but really cool! However, we still can’t believe she’s our little girl. It’ s like we are babysitting for an extended period. One thing that helps us know Kenya is our daughter is that she calls us “Mommy” and “Daddy”. )

Here are a couple of pictures of Kenya and her first time in an airport. We didn’t get many, but they are good for the memories.

This girl was so amazing at the airport, she never had any meltdowns, which is amazing because we were keeping her awake so she could sleep on the plane and be pleasant…and boy did she! We were in the air for less than 5 minutes and she was out! After our 3-hour travel from Libby to Spokane she was chomping at the bit to get on the ground and run around! She was so well behaved at the airport! And of course heads were turning as if she was a bloody celebrity! There was this shop next to a bar and there was a rack that had a bunch of goofy-looking stuffed animals and she stood there for about 3-4 minutes laughing at them! She would point and would say a few words in her language and laugh! That of course was enough to melt the hearts of anyone within a 20-foot radius. I mentioned the bar because there was this guy who just sat there leaning on the counter holding up his head just admiring her and laughing with her! He guessed her age on the money and just sat there admiring her and smiling as if she made his day!

Here's some pics of Kenya getting on the plane.

I had to resist all temptation to get the camera out and record while we were taking off because Kenya was so excited about us taxiing down the runway! It was priceless! I was so close, but then was reminded by the stewardess that all electronic devices were to be shut off during take off! I guess it wasn’t that hard of a decision to make between recording Kenya for the first time or possibly the last time. (If you know what I mean ;)...but here are some pictures when we were allowed to use electronics.

Here are some cool, in the air pictures. Lois sat by the window and took these pics.

Chatty Cathy.

That is what my mom use to call me. She use to tell me should should have named me Cathy because there was a doll at one time that could talk and her name was Chatty Cathy.
Well, Kenya enjoys talking too! She is using new words on almost a daily basis. She is really amazing at this talking thing. She has even begun to put 2 or 3 words together. Her newest words:
outside: ou ide
drink: dink
treat: treat
Mirmo: Mirmo (cousins Mikhail's nick name)
water: wa wa
dish: dish
meow: maaw (she has said this before, but uses it all the time now)
I can teach her new tricks rather easy too! It just took me about 2 days to train her to place her cups on the table when she is done drinking them and then she goes and gets it when she wants more. She taught herself to unlock and open the front door (the knob on it is lower than the rest of the knobs in the house.) The other day she began to count. Now, it was not with the same numbers you and I are use to, but she would point at objects and then say something. She had on a shirt that had a bunch of hearts on it and when we read a book I count all the hearts. She was sitting on my lap and pointing at one heart and then move to the one next to it and so on. So, thought there was something on her shirt, but then realized what she was doing and began to count with her. She repeated 3, 6 and 10. She usually says 10 when I counted before, but never really initiated it herself. It blew my mind when I understood what she was doing.
What can I say... Yeah she is amazing!

Really?

I did the meter again with our most recent spring pictures and this is what I got. Hmmmm...
I think it might be because her eyes are closed and she does have her daddy's eyes!

Where did Kenya come from?

Well, Kenya does not really look like either Robert or I. We cannot even find features of either one if us. SO, I saw this on a friends blog and thought I would give it a try. Tell us what you think.

Draper Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Free family tree - Family tree search