The Last Week

I have been slacking on blogging. Here is what we have been up to:

Last Saturday we went up to Anthem where our good friends Shantel, Danny and Izzie live. There are some great outlets so Shantel and I shopped while the boys took the kids to the playground. Yes, it was cold enough to need jackets!

Our other good friend Niki had her baby. Welcome Gavin! Maya wanted to hold him right away at the hospital. Isn't he so cute and those chubby cheeks are to die for!!

On Monday we swam and had a BBQ. Actually we had bbqs on Friday, Saturday and Monday. I love summer!!!

Maya would dance and sing on these rocks and then...

Jump in the pool!

Kenyon has a molar coming in so he is kind of miserable - especially in the middle of the night :(. Then you can't help but miss Jer's sunburn from golfing that morning. When will he learn to put sunblock on??!! :)

Maya and Izzie in their matching shirts from our shopping adventures earlier in the weekend.

Monday night we took Maya to the Diamondbacks baseball game. She was happy with her cotton candy...

and the playground!

She does this face all of the time lately. It makes me laugh!

So there is our life. That and swim lessons 3 days a week for Maya. I am hoping to get Kenyon in some in a couple of weeks.

Rainy Days

It has been raining the last 2 days. What a treat from the 110 degrees we had on Tuesday!

It looked like this out the window:

The park (that usually has no water) looks like this:

Maya is finally using her rain boots and umbrella:

They are loving it!

It has been so cold though that Maya keeps asking for a jacket when we go outside. I was thinking about how one of her first words was "brrrr" since it was winter in Park City when she started talking. Kenyon, on the other hand, says "hot" and blows like he is trying to cool off his food when we walk outside.

As I have been filled with so much sadness over the last couple days thinking about Molly, Vic and Lucy, the rain has been just what I needed. Molly and Vic bid farewell to little Lucy yesterday. She has returned home to her Heavenly Father. I know she is singing and dancing in Heaven right now. What a special spirit she is and she has truly touched the lives of more people than they realize.

My prayer is that Molly and Vic can find peace and comfort amidst all of the sorrow they must feel. That they can turn to their Savior, who has bore all things. I pray that they may be sustained by family and friends at their time of need. Families are forever and they will be reunited with Lucy again. Please continue to pray with me.

Things on my mind today...

When will Kenyon get tubes in his ears?! He had yet another ear infection this week so tubes, here we come! I am sort of relieved because now we (hopefully) won't deal with ear infections anymore. I just want it scheduled and done, but am waiting for the doctor's office to call me back. Ugh!

Last day of music class today. Dance class and playgroup were over last week so now all we have left is swim lessons for a couple of weeks. What am I going to do with all of my free time?!

Why am I so blind? Yes, I am legally blind. I can't wear contacts anymore because of allergies in my eyes so instead I wear these bottle caps. Yesterday I went to see if I could get lasik. Nope - too blind! They can do a procedure called ICL where they put a permanent contact in your eye. Anyone have an experience with it? It is fairly new and expensive so I have to really think about it...

Sweet Lucy is constantly on my mind. No major updates. Her parents are still holding strong and many people are fasting and praying for that sweet little girl. A lot of tough decisions for Molly and Vic are ahead - please keep praying for them! A fund has been set up for Lucy at the Chase Bank in Park City if anyone is interested.

Memorial Day weekend - I sure want to go on a vacation, but it is hard to justify with all of the household repairs we have had lately that have taken money from the vacation fund. I do love vacations!

Going to Costa Vida tonight with some friends. Yummy! Nothing like a girls night out when I have so much on my mind!! :)

Please Pray for Lucy!

This is a plea to pray for our friends from Park City, Molly and Vic's little girl, Lucy. This past Sunday she choked on a piece of apple and it got lodged in her lungs. She didn't breathe for 20 minutes before life flight got there. Her almost 2 year old body is now in a coma. The doctors are saying it doesn't look good, but everyone is praying for a miracle. Please pray for her. Pray for her parents - she's their only child and the center of their world. Her mom posted on her blog tonight that she is scared, but: "Please don't give up hope. She is my little angel. She is a fighter. She has so much spunk. I want her to be able to sing and dance again, but if not, she will sing and dance in heaven."

This amazing family needs our faith! My heart is aching for them. Please pray!

So much to share!!!

First, we went to Alexa's birthday party on Friday night at Amazing Jake's. It was amazing!!! Happy Birthday Alexa - we love you!

I thought it was so cute that he wasn't just steering, but also shifting gears!

Kenyon and Izzy played with the balloons forever!

Maya has been wanting to bowl so we went and she LOVED it!

Maya went on a big ride with a bunch of big girls

That girl has no fear!

Kenyon and the birthday girl playing

Maya - one hour past bedtime and told we had to leave!

Next, this morning Jeremy picked up our first produce basket from Bountiful Baskets Coop. For $15 you get all of this:

Maya thought it was Christmas morning and ate raw mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers for lunch - yum! (I had to take the picture at a weird angle so you wouldn't see the piles on my counter. My counters are usually clean, but this week has been busy. We had to do some MAJOR cleaning today! :)

Then tonight we had Maya's dance recital. Their little group was so cute!

Here they are in their performance:

(Warning: It is really dark until they turn the lights on)

With her flowers from Mom and Dad

Finally, we have been working with Maya on the 1st Article of Faith (there are 13 Articles of Faith, or beliefs, of our religion) and she has been repeating it after us each night. Tonight we had her give it a shot on her own and watch this:

(Warning again: you cannot see Maya well at all, but you can hear her :)

What a great afternoon!

I know the picture is blurry because it was taken by my cell phone, but it sums up our afternoon so well. We had such a fun one! First, we met Jer at the zoo. On the way there it was 97 degrees. I thought, "WHAT ARE WE DOING?!" Right after we got there and were letting the kids play in the water fountains, it started pouring rain. Rain in Arizona is such a treat! The kids played in the rain. It cooled everything off and people left so once the rain stopped, we had the remaining 2 hours at the zoo to ourselves. It was so fun to walk around and see the animals and not have to deal with other people. This was the first time that we have gone to the zoo that Kenyon really loved it. He was constantly pointing to birds and signing bird. He also learned how to say "turtle" and "monkey" (sounds more like "donkey").

After we left the zoo we went to my parents' house for dinner and swimming. They just got a heater put on their pool so we can finally swim in their pool instead of their community pool. It was still too cold for my liking (82 degrees), but both kids got in and had a blast. Kenyon kept stepping off of the edge and going completely under. He would kick around until we rescued him. Just trying to teach him what happens! :) Maya is a total fish and Jer would throw her in from the edge and she would swim to the side. Swim lessons start next week and I can't wait to see her progress.

Then right as I walked in the door my friend Kyle called to go walking. We went last night and tonight and walked 3 miles each time. For those of you that know me well, you know that I am not an exerciser so this is a HUGE accomplishment. Watch out Jer - I am going to be doing triathlons before you know it. Okay, not really, but I love to walk and talk!

I took pictures at the zoo and swimming, but I am too tired to go downstairs and get my camera so maybe in the days to come :).

Changes are coming!

Maya's world is crumbling right now. Her baby brother is not such a baby anymore. Just the other day we were watering our dead grass (sprinklers still broken!) and Kenyon discovered the hose

while Maya was peacefully picking flowers.

And then he sprayed her!

She didn't like it one bit!

Kenyon's Words

When Maya was 13 months, I did a scrapbook page in her book listing all of the words and signs she knew. Well poor Kenyon doesn't even have a scrapbook yet so I am justifying that this blog serves as his scrapbook. So this might be boring to many of you, but is required of me! :)

Words I know:
uh-oh
dada
mama
cookie
cracker
nana
milk
maya
doggy (this is any animal!)
wo! (when he falls down)
poo-poo
...and the word for everything else is he points and says "uh"

Signs I know:
all done
more
milk
eat
doggy
fish
bird

Mom's Day

I have been prepping Maya for Mother's Day all week telling her that I need lots of cuddles and hugs and kisses and no whining on Mother's Day. So far it has worked! She keeps coming up and giving me lots of loves.

My hubby was out of town until last night and when he got home I asked if he would be so kind as to sleep on the couch with the baby monitors so that if a kid woke up, it wouldn't even wake me. All I wanted was a good, solid night of sleep without interruption! So he went for it! I slept in until 8:00 and loved it! When I walked out of my room, the kids and Jer had made me Mother's Day cards that were ever so creative. The rest of the day involves a nap and lots of laying around before our 2:00 church and dinner at my parents.

I am so blessed to have a wonderful mom and mother-in-law. They are both so giving and willing to help out whenever they are needed. I feel like between going to Hawaii and on adoption trips, they have really been used and abused lately! :) I love that my kids completely adore them! We get to see my mom quite often and can't wait to go to Utah next month and spend time with Nana!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms, nanas, grandmas, birthmoms, sister-in-laws, aunts, cousins and friends in our lives. We love you all!!!

Of course I have to post pics of my kiddos - I am the luckiest mom in the world!

Rock Star!

I am home! While I was gone my mom took the kids with her to the post office - brave woman! While they were waiting in line a lady started talking to Maya. She was asking her how old she is, what her name is, etc. Then she asked her what she wants to be when she grows up. Without hesitation, Maya struck a pose with her hands on her hips and yelled, "A ROCK STAR!" The entire post office erupted in laughter.

So tonight we were saying bedtime prayers and Maya included this, "Thank you that I can be a rock star."

I am so happy to be home with my little rock star!

Texas

I am back in Texas again for another adoption. It was crazy getting here considering all of the drama in my last post and that Jeremy is super sick with bronchitis and the flu, but I made it. The beautiful baby is 3 weeks old and so stinkin' cute. Almost makes me want another one... ALMOST! :) The birthmom already signed papers, but there is not an adoptive family yet so my boss and I are at the hotel taking care of her. I am sure after being up all night with her, I will remember how much I don't love newborns!!

In exciting news, we were eating lunch at Panera Bread (love, love, love that place!) and all of these couples in matching shirts started running in and filling out papers. Come to find out, they are on Amazing Race. So when the next one airs, they will go to Houston, TX and I can say that I saw them. There was a British couple that was SO rude to the other couples. I can't wait to see them on TV!

Okay, off to bathe our baby! Thanks mom and dad for being so willing to help out with my kiddos! When I told Maya I was going on another trip and grandma and grandpa were coming to get her, she said, "Are they here right now??!!" She was VERY excited!

Reasons for not blogging this week...

This is our garage - the bathroom upstairs has had a leak that we didn't know about until the ceiling in the garage stared coming down.

This is our backyard - yet another leak, this time the sprinklers so they are all dug up.

This is the computer I am using while our good computer is in the repair shop. Okay, this isn't really the computer, but it is super slow.

This is the phone that I answered for A Guardian Angel Adoptions for FOUR days in a row - I typically work 1 or 2 a week.

This kid had his 4th ear infection in 5 months!

This kid keeps me on my toes with her constant imagination and games - I think in this picture she was asking me to play limbo with the jump rope!

Any questions as to why I have been taking naps every day and going to bed at 8:00 instead of blogging? :)