Beach, Disneyland, Family

I know I am a few weeks late but here it is. We went on our first family vacation and had so much fun together. We decided to take the boys to Disneyland and the beach. We spent the first few days with my family and the boys had fun as always riding the big wheels and taking the dogs for walks. Of course there is always the mandatory trip to Target. Then we headed down to the hotel. We stopped at Newport Beach and let the boys play. Andrew had fun jumping in the waves with Eric. Joshy loved running away from the water. Alex stayed clear of the water. I just took pictures and ventured in once. As I looked through the pictures some are so priceless as I look at the joy on the boys faces. They loved it and loved to have Eric there playing with them.

We then spent 1 day at Disneyland and one at California Adventure. The boys hada great time. We went on the Mattahorn first and I turned around to check on Josh and I have never seen his eyes so big. He looked so scared. I thought uh oh. But we get off the ride and he says, "That was so awesome" He loves rollercoasters. Alex was attached to Eric and wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. Which is fine except when he throws a fit because he has to stay with me while Eric goes on a ride. My sweet lovable 3 year old.
Andrew's Favorite ride: Space Mountain. He also was picked to become a Jedi. He fought Darth Mal and was excited.
Joshy's Favorite ride: Space Mountain, Mattahorn and becoming a Jedi. He fought Darth Mal and Darth Vadar.
Alex: Not sure but he did like Dumbo and the Carousel.

We also hit up California Adventure. This was the first time for all of us. My mom and dad joined us and we had a great time. I don't know what it is about theme parks but I always have to have a pretzel, ice cream, churros, etc. FOOD!FOOD!FOOD!. I even ventured on California Screaming. I was so scared and of course Eric loved every single minute of it. My mom even went on the ride. She can't remember the last time she went on a roller coaster. Eric got some great pictures.
Andrew LOVED the Rapid Ride. It was cold and rainy and Eric and I did not want to get wet so he went by himself twice.
Josh loved: All the rides that he could go on. The faster the better. He wanted to go on California Screaming even. I am glad he was not tall enough.
Alex loved the rocket ride.

We then drove to Arizona to cvisit with Eric's Family. We hada great time all in all and it was so worth it to build those memories with the boys. I can't wait till next vacation

Camping, Soccer, Field Day

Here are a few slides from our busy week. Soent Friday and Saturday up in the canyon with cousins, hiked Timpagnos (not smart on my part due to knee), Josh graduated from Preschool and Andrew and Josh had their annual dance festival at school.

From 2009-05-27 field day 2009

From 2009-05-27 field day 2009

Random Pics and Thoughts

Here are random pictures from the last few weeks. Not much has been going on. The boys are playing soccer and have had fun. Alex has become obsessed with Spiderman to the point of only wanting to wear blue and red. He refers to himself in the 3rd person and will tell me that "Peter Parker wants this" I think he has watched Spiderman now over 100 times. Crazy kid! Josh was Star of the Week in his class and loved making a poster with pictures of him. Andrew is star of the week this week and made his poster by himself. It is hard when your kids get old enough to do things on their own. His poster turned out great and he did not want me to give suggestions or help. Eric has been working hard and we love having him around on Saturdays now. It is great! I have been busy winding up the end of my school year and keeping up with everything else in life.

From 2009-05-19 andrew bday 09

I'll help you Andrew!

From 2009-05-19 andrew bday 09

I love this kid!

From 2009-05-19 andrew bday 09

Spiderman aka Peter Parker aka Alex

From 2009-05-19 andrew bday 09

This is his Spiderman mask. You never know what he will be wearing

From 2009-05-19 andrew bday 09

Need I say more? 5 hours of this

From 2009-05-19 andrew bday 09

Kids can only watch not play! They are a bunch of big kids having fun

From 2009-05-19 andrew bday 09

From 2009-05-19 andrew bday 09

Little action! Go Andrew!

From 2009-05-19 andrew bday 09

I love when kids first start playing. Joshy always looks to us to see where and what he needs to do. So fun!

From 2009-05-19 andrew bday 09

From 2009-05-19 andrew bday 09

Just try and get past me now!!

From 2009-05-19 andrew bday 09

The shirt says it all! I so love my boys!

9 Years Ago ....

From 2009-05-05 andrew baby

9 years ago today a sweet, loving, giving young woman gave birth to her first child, a son. She held this baby in her arms and made a phone call to tell us that "our son had been born". Imagine the joy and love we felt that day, knowing that after 5 long years our dream was coming true. We were being blessed with a child. This young woman was so unselfish and so giving and did all in her power to make sure that her little boy was put into a home where he could have a mom and a dad, the gospel in his life and most important love. The day that we went to pick him up, we waited patiently as she said her final goodbye. You can imagine the heartache and loss that she was feeling. She then walked into the room where we were waiting and held him out to me and said,"Here is your son." Words cannot express what we felt that day. Mother to mother we spoke and shared a hug. Her heart breaking but the strength she had to do what she felt and knew was right. Truly a gift from God's arms, to her arms to ours. Andrew McKay what a sweet joy you brought to our lives. We waited and prayed and waited and prayed so long for you. We knew there was a child out there that was meant to be in our family. You grew in our hearts and we are truly blessed to have you in our lives.

From 2009-05-05 andrew baby

You have brought us joy, laughter, love, strength, and so much more. We are truly blessed to be your parents. Heavenly Father has a special mission for you in this life and we are proud that we are the lucky parents blessed to have you. May you always remember where you came from. Your birthmom was and is truly a unselfish, loving person. She wanted only the best for you.
We were able to take you to the Temple and seal you as ours for eternity. That is a day that is burned into my memory forever. Our sweet little boy all dressed in white with big blue eyes and a big blue binky, looking at us as though you had been waiting for this day forever. It still brings tears to my eyes today as I think about it. You were ready and waiting to be ours for eternity.
I can't believe it has been 9 years. You are an amazing boy, a great brother and a wonderful son. You love to help and to please. You are so sweet with your baby cousins and you have a very tender spirit. We hope that you always keep these qualities. We love you Andrew and are so grateful for the boy you are and the young man you are becoming. May your testimony always burn bright within you. We as your parents love you so much and feel truly blessed to have the privilege of raising you.
Love,
Mom and Dad

From 2009-05-04 april 09 soccer

From 2009-03-15 Mar 09

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

Spring Break

I know this post is a little late but hey better late than never. I took the boys out of school a few days early and we headed down to Arizona for the first half of Spring Break. Eric's parents just built a house in Snowflake so that was our first stop. On the way there we stopped at one of the arches and hiked up to it. The two older boys thought it was great but Alex was petrified. He did not like climbing up at all. Of course I was the only adult and I did not want Andrew and Josh going on there own nor could I leave Alex. So Alex hiked up most of the way with us. It was a fun spot.
While in Snowflake, the boys searched for old pottery pieces left around, went on easter egg hunts and just enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa. We then headed down to Cave Creek to see cousins. Of course the boys loved that. We had a great time swimming and playing. Eric and I even got to do a little scuba diving.It was only in a 14ft deep pool but Eric loved ut. He was able to be with us for Easter.
The final leg of our journey was in California. We went to my parents house. The boys love to ride their bikes in the front at Grammie and Poppa's. You would think that they had never done that before. We spent all our time in front watching them ride. They loved it. We did go to Oak Glen on Saturday and got to see some animals and even feed them. Alex who has a thing with shoes was not to keen on being in with the animals because dirt was getting in his shoes. But my Uncle Mike was so good with him and totally helped him. He helped keep the peace. We loved being at Grammie and Poppa's.
My mom then drove back up to Utah with us so that she could see the other grandkids and also be here to help while I had knee surgery. What would I do without my mom? She is the best and she truly was a blessing this last week. She did everything for us and I am so grateful to her. I was sad to see her go but am thanksful she was here. We had a great Spring Break seeing family and being with them

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

Don't we look like a happy family? Smile everyone!

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

We thought this was so funny. Andrew was trying to scare us

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

Alex's new best friend

From 2009-04-26 spring break 09

Finally a picture where they were all happy!!

Andrew Dunkin!

Last Friday Andrew, Almary and myself headed to the last Flash game of the season that we could attend. Andrew had asked my brother earlier in the week if he could be in the dunk contest and Joe said he would let him. So Andrew was way excited. He did a great job and had fun. Thanks Joe for making it happen. Andrew's teacher was also at the game so that made it even more special for him. Here is the video of him dunkin and some other pictures from the week.

From 2009-04-08 b ball and shower

Click on the picture to see the video

From 2009-04-08 b ball and shower

Cousins playing some Mario Kart. Andrew wanted to play so bad but he was restricted from it so he was trying his hardest to be big about it.