Happy Birthday McKay!

10 years ago today, McKay was born at 7:38 PM (eastern time). I was in labor for 10 1/2 hours before he finally decided to make his debut. He was 9 lbs. 4 oz. and was 23 inches long. Jeremy and I were so excited to finally get him here. We had waited a long time for him to come.

He was a cutie and was such a good baby.

We had a great time celebrating his birthday today. Here Josh is doing "Heavy, heavy hang over thy poor head....what do you wish (insert gift giver's name here) with a BUMP on the head." Then McKay had to wish something to the gift giver before receiving his present.

He is a boy who loves his Legos. He was pretty excited to receive two Lego sets. One from us and one from Grandma and Grandpa.

The family, the gifts, and the cupcakes.

Happy Birthday to McKay! (I must say here that McKay wanted white cupcakes with chocolate frosting. I learned how to frost cupcakes so they are appealing to the eye and the stomach from a friend of mine. This was my first attempt and I thought they turned out pretty darn good!)

Ten Things We Love About McKay:
1- Is a great big brother.
2- He is a BIG tease and he makes me laugh. See below for an example:
3- He loves putting things together and is often found building with Legos or building a creation with his Erector Set.
4- He loves to play sports. He plays soccer, football, baseball and basketball.
5- He loves meat, meat and meat.
6- He likes earning money. He will do just about anything for a buck or two. Once he jumped in the Green River just below Flaming Gorge Dam for $20. His Aunt Caprice didn't think he would do it.
7- Loves roller coasters. All kinds, all sorts. He does not, however, enjoy the Tower of Terror.
8- He is a great student and does very well in school. I never have to fight with him to get his homework done.
9- Enjoys reading. He recently finished the Harry Potter series and has moved on to the Fablehaven series.
10- Overall he is a great kid and he makes us proud!

Happy 10th birthday McKay!

Good Friends...Good Times

As you may know, we spent four years living in Virginia while Jeremy was attending dental school. We have many dear friends that where there with us doing the same thing. We have stayed in touch and still get together when we can. We got together this summer to let the kids renew friendships and to catch up with each other.

Some of the Virginia babies. From the left: Alex, Chandler (who shares a birthday with Jeremy), Courtney, McKay and Jaxon.

Great friends Melanie (with Lizzy on her lap) and Shannon.

Great friend Emilie (with Tessa on her lap).

While the girls were talking....Kayden was eating all the chips.

Jeremy (above) played some tennis with Jeff and Alan (Alan is below).

Josh was the ball boy.

It was a great night and it was great to see everyone and how the kids have changed and grown up. My how time flies!

Ensign Peak

When my nieces and nephews were in town a couple of weeks ago, we hiked up to Ensign Peak. Ensign Peak is where Brigham Young hiked to two days after arriving in the Salt Lake Valley. It was there that he mapped out the city and decided where to build the Salt Lake Temple.

Here we are at the beginning of the hike at the base of the peak. Our good friend, Marilyn Jenkins, joined us for the hike. We all had a good time.

Kayden at the top of the peak taking a much needed drink.

The group of us at the top over looking the Salt Lake Valley. It was a beautiful view. However, I don't think that Brigham Young saw the haze that we did that day.

The cousins by the monument.

After we finished our hike, we stopped by the Salt Lake City cemetery. McKay has a special place in his heart for the prophet David O. McKay (seeing how he shares his name). We found his grave marker, along with many other prophets' burial sites that day. It was a great way to spend a summer day!

Bridal Veil Falls

We have stayed very busy this summer and enjoyed every minute of it. Last week, when my nieces and nephews were in town, we went up to Bridal Veil Falls with Grandma Haacke to cool off and enjoy the scenery.

At the beginning of the trail to the falls. It was a beautiful walk.

The cousins from Idaho Falls with my boys. What a great shot, they were all looking! It is so beautiful there.

Kayden and his rocks.

McKay is so innovative. He was building a dam with rocks. This boy is always building something.

Joshua at the base of the falls.

Jaxon and Samantha (my niece) climbing up the side of the falls.

Fly Butterflies, Fly!

McKay received a butterfly habitat for Christmas last year and we have been waiting for the opportunity to use it. So this summer we adopted five caterpillars to watch them grow into butterflies.

Our caterpillars that we received in the mail. They were hungry because all they did was eat (and poop).

We were sad we missed it, but they formed their chrysalis while we were out of town visiting family. We pinned the chrysalis onto the side of the net so the butterflies would be able to get out.

Finally they all emerged and it was time to set them free. (I just have to point out one thing here in this picture besides the butterflies: McKay's hair. We had a little mishap the last time we did buzz cuts. He had a nice bald spot on the top of his head for a few days.)

Finally the butterflies came out of the net and flew away. This one paused to bid us farewell.

This one needed some extra help in leaving. He stayed at the top of the net until we bent it down so he could get out of the door. I guess it was a "failure to launch" as he did not want to leave home.

McKay and Josh showing us the empty chrysalis. It was a fun couple of weeks watching the life cycle of a butterfly. Hopefully our butterflies made it out of the neighborhood without any mishaps and are off flying with happy memories of their youth.

The Bear

I keep forgetting to post that McKay received his Bear award in Cub Scouts. He earned his award in April, but did not receive it until June's pack meeting. Way to go McKay!

Here is Jeremy and McKay receiving the award from the Cubmasters.

I was late for pack meeting, so Jeremy received the Mother's pin in my place.

My Handsome Family

This is us at Brady and Kelli's wedding. (Brady is Jeremy's brother.) That is one good looking family!