For my sweet cousin.......

For those of you who don't know, I have a fantastic and amazing cousin who has suffered the loss of two of her babies through a genetic defect where the baby develops without a brain. She had her husband have one sweet boy of their own, who is darling and cute as can be!! I love these two so much, and am always amazed at the strength with which they had dealt with the loss of their son, Ben, at birth, and just recently, their daughter Abigail, who was stillborn. It breaks my heart to even imagine this, and yet they have struggled through it twice and have been blessed and uplifted by our loving Heavenly Father through it all. They just finished their adoption profile on the LDS Family Services website.Adoption is amazing - I have 5 cousins who are adopted, and I love everyone of them! They are all SO cool and I have tons of fabulous memories growing up with them.
I cannot think of a more deserving family than these two. I don't know if any of you are in contact with someone who is looking into adoption, but I know that the more people who know about it, the better their chances are to find a precious baby for them to raise. I am sure many of you know people who have suffered the loss of children and even some of you have gone through it yourself. I just want you to know that I know Heavenly Father is watching over these sweet children until the day that we are reunited with them in heaven.

Here is the link to their profile:
http://www.providentliving.org/ses/birthmother/searchprofiles/0,12268,2133-1,00.html
Their adoptive profile name is: BradleyAndCara (it's case-sensitive)
Best of luck to them - we love you Brad & Cara!!

The Firsts

First HAIRCUT
Before

Blurry, but I absolutely love his expression

Looking a little cleaned up.......... (ps. if you click on the image, his eyes are a gorgeous blue here - check it out)

The finished product!! So handsome and looking much older.... *sigh* but SO CUTE




First CAKE









First PRESENTS (of a birthday nature)
Mostly, I think Keegan just thought it was his second birthday.....here he is 'helping' open the presents

A CD and some cute clothes from Sugar Mama

Checking out the box of his "Busy Ball Popper"

Did I mention I love living close to IKEA? Totally CHEAP but cute table and chairs - Kayden LOVED it

5 years and counting

I LOVE YOU!! Here's to another wild, crazy, and fantastic 5 more years - and then some!!

366 days later............

I got lucky. Thanks to 2008 being a Leap year, we got 1 extra day in Kayden's first year. It has been a fabulous first year, full of smiles, laughs, sleeping, dirty diapers, messes, baths, and more. We have loved every second of it. Kayden is so sweet and loving by nature. He has spoiled us by being a practically perfect baby and always being so good-natured. I love that he is walking now, and enjoy watching him totter around the house trying to be a big boy like his brother. He loves Keegan tons - so much, that at Keegan's swimming lessons he tries to walk into the pool with him! We are so thankful that Heavenly Father gave Kayden to us. We love him so much and look forward to the adventures the next 365 days will bring!









HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYDEN!!!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE

This couple. Seriously. THEY ARE FANTASTIC. End of story.


These are their earlier dances of the season. I can't even describe how great I think they are. Even Zach agrees with me! (and Danielle, I have been begging him to let me record his "Mary" impersonation....maybe next week?) Hope you like them as much as I do!

Wordless Wednesday: One year is 2 days away

Summer Solstice 5k

I think Zach officially qualifies as a "runner." He has quite a few races under his belt now and has several more planned for the summer. I am SO amazed by him!! Running is definitely not my forte, and I am so impressed with his diligence - he gets up and runs almost every morning before he goes to school. On the days he doesn't run before school, he takes clothes with him and works out at the gym at school. He is so dedicated!! I need to learn some of this from him :-)

Last Thursday Zach ran the Summer Solstice 5k with some friends from the BME department at school. It was out in Clackamas (a Portland suburb) and I drove out with the K's to meet him there (he rode out from school with his friends). It was tons of fun! Thankfully, traffic was blissfully light, and the boys and I made really good time. Zach made really good time too! I think it was about 21 minutes. He even got a ribbon for placing 5th in his age division (and yes, there were more than 5 people!). It was such a beautiful evening, the K's and I had a good time playing on the grass while we waited for them to finish. We even got some free fudge pops! YUMMM. And here's a little tidbit to make you feel like a couch potato - the overall winner of the 5k was 56 years old and he ran it in under 16 minutes. Yep, I feel lazy. But honestly, I would really like to walk a 5k. I don't know about running it, but I could definitely walk it with the boys (pushing them, I mean). I'm keep you posted on that idea..........
Waiting for the race to start.....

Go Daddy Go!!!

"That killed me!"

Left to right - Robbie, Zach, Jenny, Owen - such fun people, it was fun to meet Zach's "colleagues"


Kayden finally has decided to give walking a sincere effort! He took several steps a few weeks ago and then didn't care to do more than that. But today in church, he was walking all over the gym (15-20 steps continuously!) and has been walking all over the house too!!! I AM SO HAPPY!! Seriously, little babes walking is about the cutest thing ever. I love their tottering with their hands up in the air, it is just so precious! He still loses his balance and falls, but stands back up pretty quickly and is at it again. Three cheers for Kayden!!!

Summer Love

Popsicles on the deck - doesn't get much better than this.

Wordless Wednesday: Boxed in at Dan & Tara's

Birthday Bonanza

Today was a fun-filled day for the whole family. Uncle Jace came down Friday night from WA and we also were graced with our good friend Jeff D's presence!! Saturday morning found us up bright and early as the boys both woke up around 6:15am. Normally, I would NEVER let this go - I refuse to get up before 7 am. But Zach and Jace were running races this morning, so we got up and got going. Here is the breakdown of the day -

8am: Zach and Jace start their races - 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles) and 10k (approx 6 miles) respectively. The K's and I head over about 8:30 after breakfast to see Jace finish the 10k at about 8:45. Jace got 2nd place in his age division! Way to go Jace!!

9:30am: Jace, the K's and I head down to the finish line to cheer Daddy in. Keegan informs me he needs to use the restroom. Zach told me he would be coming in about 1 hr and 50 min. if he was doing really good - but most likely 2 hrs. I take Keegan to the bathroom, we come back down to the line. Zach is ALREADY THERE. I was so upset! I guess that is just part of being Mom. The last 3 races Zach has run, I have missed his finish due to motherly duties. I felt like crying, I really wanted to see him finish. He ran a fantastic time, 1 hr and 39 minutes!! It was so fun, I love the race atmosphere!




Kaydee-babe and I left early so he could have a nap and I could complete this project:


It turned out pretty good, and Keegan loved it! I was really happy, it was tough! I'm no Martha Stewart, so I know this is pretty amateur, but it made Keegan happy, so it was worth it!

After lunch and quick naps for the K's and some relaxing in the pool/hot tub for Zach and Jace, we headed to a local pizza/playplace that Keegan loves. It has a huge climbing structure, inflatable obstacle courses, climbing wall, and little bikes. A kid's dream! Plus it has a little place for Kayden to play too - awesome! It has a couple HUGE slides (we are talking ceiling to floor and it is a giant warehouse - BIG CEILINGS) that Grandma & Grandpa bribed Keegan into going down on his own. He has been pretty scared of them because they are big and enclosed - a child after my own claustrophobic heart! But $1.50 won him over, and he went down it 3 times. So brave!!




After playing there for a while, we headed back home and just had a big BBQ with family and friends. Thanks to everyone who came, especially my family for driving a long way and being so great! We all had a great time and are so thankful that Keegan is in our family!

Not to overlook my sweet Kayden, who will be 1 in two weeks - he seems so grown up lately. He has fallen in love with a little rocking chair that I had when I was little. He climbs up in it all by himself and sits and rocks and chatters away in it. I love to see him in it - he looks so cute!!!!