Happy Birthday Mckinley

Mckinley,
We hope you have a fun birthday! We are so excited that you are 8 years old. What a special birthday. We can't wait for your big day on Feb. 20th when you get baptized. We love you Sweetheart! :)

Happy Birthday Kyle!

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY KYLE!
We are so glad that you joined our family 10 years ago! We love all the things you do to keep us smiling! You are awesome!

Kyle had a birthday Party on Jan. 29th at the Soldier Hollow Lodge. He invited a couple of friends to go Tubing and they had a blast. Luckily the weather cooperated. The sun was shining bright, but as soon as it went over the mountain it got pretty cold.

The nice thing about the tubing hill is, you sit on your tub and the rope pulls you up the hill. So, the kids were able to get a lot of tubing runs in before they got exhausted!

Sierra did so good in the snow! She was calm and and when they layed her in the snow, she just looked around. That picture of her reminds me of the little boy in "The Christmas Story!" :)

I LOVE how Braxton winks when he give me a thumbs up! ;)

Mike, Lori and Sierra joined us! Sierra loved the snow!

Blake and I got things ready in the Lodge, but we had to jump on a tub just for fun!
I am glad there was a lodge close by, so they could come in when they got cold. After two hours of tubing they were pretty hungry and so we had pizza, cake and ice cream.

Happy 10th Birthday Kyle! We love you!

Family Pictures 09

Family Pictures can be so stressful. We got some taken in Midway and the kids were pretty good. However, throughout the photo shoot, each of them took their turn having a meltdown...but at least they didn't do it all at the same time! ha ha!!! We have had that happen in the past! I am grateful we got at least one good picture of each of the kids. Hopefully family pictures will get easier in the future. :)

Soccer 2009

Kyle had his first soccer game tonight!

He has the best coach again this fall! :o) I am glad that EJ and Kyle have that time to bond. He really likes having his Dad be the coach!

We took a family photo after the game! Way to go Kyle! (We will try and get more action photos at the next game!)

Miracles Do Happen!

In March I learned about Paul Cardall, who has been waiting for a heart transplant . I also discovered his beautiful piano music, which our family LOVES. He truly has a gift on the piano...his music brings peace into our home. (His music is on my playlist.) I shared Paul's story with my kids and periodically since March they have prayed for him to receive his heart transplant. I think his story hit home to me, because my 10 year old niece, Kacie, is waiting for a kidney transplant. In April my sister found out that she couldn't be the donor for her daughter. So, I told her I would be the donor. Long story short...on July 1st EJ and I flew to Portland to do the rest of the tests. Then on July 2nd I found out that I couldn't be the donor either. It was sooo hard to break the news to my sister and her husband. I didn't want them to have to face another set-back.

Today I decided to go to Provo and get Paul Cardall's new CD at Deseret Book called "Sacred Piano" and get his "Primary" CD for my friend's birthday. As I put his CD in my car and drove up Provo Canyon...a flood of emotion came over me. I thought about Paul and Kacie, who are both waiting for transplants. I pleaded with Heavenly Father to help both of them get their transplants soon, if it was according to His Will.

I got home and was wrapping my friends CD for her birthday, when another friend called to tell me that Paul Cardall had just received his NEW HEART! I was shocked to say the least. I was so thrilled for him and his family. He is my age and has a little 3 year old girl named Eden. He has a CD called "Living for Eden." I am so grateful Heavenly Father has made it possible for him to live longer for Eden and his wife.

I thought this photo was so touching of Eden reaching down to feel her Daddy's new heart.

He is doing well! You can follow his blog at http://mytricuspidatresia.blogspot.com

(Mckinley wanted me to add this funny picture of him and his family, so you could see him smiling.)

His wife wrote something on their blog that was awesome. She said, "A dear friend of ours encouraged us to hang on to a simple truth and that has pulled us through to today. That truth is that "Miracles happen."
I LOVE that! I know Heavenly Father answers our prayers. I am grateful that Paul received his miracle after waiting since last August for a heart transplant. I hope and pray that Kacie will receive her MIRACLE soon! We love you Kacie!

P.S. I shared this story with my children on Sept. 10th. They were so excited that Paul received his NEW HEART! Today is Sept. 14th and every time Kyle and Mckinley pray, they are so sincere and thank Heavenly Father that Paul received his new Heart. I am grateful that this miracle has also touched their HEARTS.

Preschool with Ms. Karen!

9-9-09 is a great day for two reasons.
1. It is a cool day to look at 9-9-09!

2. BRAXTON started preschool today with Ms. Karen!

He has been counting down the days until he could go to her preschool. Kyle and Mckinley went to Ms. Karen, so for the past few months they have been telling Braxton all the fun things he will do.

When I picked him up...
Me: Did you have fun?
Braxton: YES!!!
Me: What did you do?
Braxton: WE PLAYED!!!
Me: What else did you do?
Braxton: We just PLAYED!!!

I am excited for Braxton to get to go to school like his brother and sister! This is a big milestone for him. I just can't believe he is old enough to go...where has the time gone? (I thought it would be fun to put a couple photos of Ms. Karen with Kyle and Mckinley too.)

Kyle's 1st day of Preschool was 9.9.04!

Halloween 2004

Kyle's Preschool Graduation May 25, 2005. (I was 7 months pregnant with Braxton and I cried through the whole thing.)

Mckinley's 1st day of Preschool 9.7.06

Halloween 2006

Mckinley's Preschool Graduation May 15, 2007 "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" by Eric Carle (The funny thing is, I was pregnant with Blake at her Graduation. He was born on May 29, 2007.)

We are so glad that Ms. Karen has taught our children. They all LOVE her so much!

Back to School 2009!

Kyle-4th Grade and Mckinley-2nd Grade

This morning I was greeted by Kyle at my bed at 6:00 am. He was dressed, backpack on, hair combed. I was shocked...I had to remind him that school didn't start until 8:45 am. He has a lot of friends in his class, so I think he just can't wait to get to school. He is also excited to have Mrs. Hall for his teacher this year. We have heard that she is awesome at teaching boys.

We like to take the kids to school on their first day, but last year Kyle didn't want me to walk him to class. So, I was NOT that surprised when he didn't want me to this year either. Although after I took Mckinley to class and got her situated (I have to admit) I walked back to Kyle's room just to peek in. He didn't know I was there, but it was fun just to check out how he was doing. It is crazy to realize that Kyle is growing up so fast and getting so independent.

Mckinley was also excited to get back to school to see her friends!

I was glad that Mckinley still let me walk her to class. She even let me take some pictures of her with Mrs. Clark. Mckinley is really excited because she is starting gymnastics this year, and at back-to-school she found out that Mrs. Clark was an Olympic Gymnast.

Mrs. Clark also likes art, which is Mckinley's favorite subject. At back to school night, she had the kids make their own name tag for their desks and they got to pick where they wanted to sit. I thought this was a great idea! Mckinley chose to sit by two friends from our ward, which helped her first day go smoothly.

I am grateful my kids have great teachers and good friends in their classrooms this year. It makes a big difference!

Happy 4th Birthday Braxton!

We want to wish Braxton a Happy 4th Birthday!

We LOVE you buddy!!!

(This was taken two days ago at Bryce Canyon!)

Sleep Tight!

Tonight after I put Blake to bed I thought, "I really need to write down his bedtime routine before I forget." Lately our bedtime routine is: PJ's, prayers, brush teeth etc. Then depending on how much time I have we rock for a few minutes, read a book or sing together. I lay him down while he is still awake and he usually rolls over and goes to sleep!
The last couple of weeks when I lay him down, he has been doing the cutest thing. He rolls over and pops his head up and blows me a kiss and says "bye" or "night" or "wolov ou" (love you)! Sometimes he says all of the above! If he isn't ready to go to sleep it is a different story, he will yell "ROCK." If I have time I will rock him a little more and lay him down and he knows I am not coming back, so he will go to sleep. (I must admit that sometimes I am not very patient when he doesn't go to bed right away.)

Tonight as Blake went to bed and was so sweet and said "wolov ou" and blew me kisses, I wanted to freeze time. If he is my baby then I want to cherish these moments with him. Blake, you are a cutie! We love you!!!

9 years ago

Nine years ago today, my beautiful little sister passed away at the age of 15 from bone cancer. Even though my oldest child was only 4 months old when Kaylin passed away, all my kids love to see pictures and hear stories about her. They also love to listen to her books on CD. She recorded a few books and songs just before she passed away so we could always remember her voice. I am so grateful she did, they are so precious to us!
Last year we started a new tradition. We got 4 white balloons (1 for each of the kids) and we let them write her notes, trace their hand, or draw pictures on the balloons. Then they let them go up in the sky to their Aunt Kaylin! The kids love to watch them until they can't see them anymore.




After we let the balloons go, we came in and had ice cream, orange floats and SQUIRT!!! Kaylin loved Squirt so we had it in memory of her! We love and miss you Sis!