OurLittleMcFamily.com

Summer will quickly be upon us here in the desert. And you all know how cranky I get when summer comes. So I try and make the summer as busy as possible for myself so that I can endure the baking hot sun.

Here is what we are planning:

MAY
–Zion Nat’l Park, of course. Year six. We leave tomorrow.

JUNE
–Spring Mountain Ranch, Willy Wonka. Planning this outing for months now with friends. So excited to take the kids to their first official play.
–Camp Invent. Danny is going to his first invention camp with a buddy. He is totally stoked.
–Bear Lake. The kids and I are planning a week at the lake with my mom and sister. (Adam will be in China on business–boo, boo!)
–Swim lessons. Hopefully we can squeeze a couple of these in. :)

JULY
–Grandma Penning Visits. YAY!
–Relay for Life. We are going to Oregon to participate in Team Georgie this summer. So Excited!
–Washington. Oh how I love escaping the desert heat, trading it in for two weeks in Yakima. I can’t wait to hang with my family, scrap with Jes, camp at Rainier with cousins, and see old friends and their children.

AUGUST
–The Beach. Yes! Who love the Oregon Coast? We do. We do. We have been planning this vacation since Thanksgiving with my parents and siblings. One whole week in Seaside with my family. The kids are going to learn to body surf this time around. Can’t wait for vacation with my hubby and kiddos.

Denver, Finally!!! This friend trip seemed extra-long in the making (due to my canceling the summer). Here are our lovely hosts:

(yeah, we keep him around; great entertainment value!)

A mountain retreat with girlfriends is exactly what this girl needed after the holidays. The massive amount of talking, drinking (purely diet coke), and scrapping was enough to push any husband over the edge–good thing the boys didn’t come along this time. I only finished six scrapbook layouts, but I napped, ate, and lounged in between each layout. It was perfect. I think Jes’s numbers were in the 20’s and Amy’s were in the 30’s. They kick my trash every time–and I am totally okay with that.We also hottubbed in the snow, ate loads of sweet chewy Chex Mix, and walked around Breckenridge. A huge thanks to Grandma Carlson for letting us use the Mountain House.

Other highlights
Amy’s local day spa–I haven’t had a massage in so long. Thanks for the treat, Ames.
Downtown dinner and walking with Steffan–The chicken fajitas were also a treat.
Shopping for scrap supplies–Archivers and Hobby Lobby.
Talking until midnight in the basement–wish we could do it more often.
Spending time with Mya and Peyton–I miss them already. They are growing faster than any auntie would want.

Resolutions Made
Join Weight Watchers
Scrap more often
Drink less diet coke
Plan next girlfriend getaway

And could my friends be any cuter? I think our thirties suit us well. :)

FOURTH annual BFF trip, not third.

I totally spaced 2006 BYU Women’s Conference, which started the whole tradition. Phew….glad I caught myself before Jessica or Amy corrected me. :)

Six more days and I am on a plane to Denver. It is Amy’s turn to host our third annual bff trip, which I am soooo excited about. My back injury this past summer foiled our original vacation. We had planned a summer vacay with our three families. I know the girls, including myself, were super disappointed.

On the bright side, we get a girls weekend all to ourselves. Massages, scrapping in the mountains, and lots of talking on our short list. I am sure we will throw in a McDonald’s breakfast and a couple of diet coke runs just for good measure. Ladies, I can’t wait to see both of you!!!

OK, so we’re a little behind while Rach and the kids are up in Washington and Utah visiting family. I’ll get the ball rolling with our mid-June campout in Lee Canyon’s Dolomite Campground. Dolomite is the highest developed campsite in the Spring Mountains, at 8,500 feet. This was nice, as the daytime temperatures in Las Vegas were starting to get a bit warm.

We had the pleasure of camping with the famLEA (with little Rachel in tow) and the Brummetts. Tio Rob brought little LED flashlights that the kids loved. We got some firewood from the camp hosts to ensure our chocolate and marshmallows stayed warm.

On Saturday morning, we met the DeMarco clans and headed up to Mary Jane Falls (more info here). For those who have visited Washington or Oregon waterfalls (or even turned a faucet on!), you’re not likely to be impressed. For us Southern Nevadans, it’s a raging torrent! The kids all had a blast on the little bit of snow still left at the base of the falls.

Leaving for Mary Jane Falls

At Mary Jane Falls

After saying goodbye to the rest of the group, we had fun with just the McFamily back in the campsite. The kids were learning about shelters that nomads built in earlier times and they built their own shelter from what they could find on the ground. Altogether a great weekend!

What do the following items have in common:

1. seven pairs of heart and star sunglasses

2.  one package of peanut m&m’s

3. 10 fruit snacks

4. one kid-friendly craft project

5. hundreds of water balloons

They are all part of the best pick-me-up care package ever!

A HUGE HUG FROM THE NINOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After our fun-filled week at Zion, we rushed home to wash clothes and sleep so we could be ready the next day to drive to L.A. Adam had a last-minute business meeting so we tagged along. I called my long-time friend, Marisa, and she graciously drove down from Ventura with her three girls so we could hang out. I was ecstatic that she came down. They got to our hotel first thing in the morning so we had all day, and the kids had a blast. First, we went swimming at the hotel, and then headed to the beach.

 The ninos “knew” where we were going, but when they first saw the ocean, as we approached the pier, they were in complete shock and awe. Each child piled out of the car and just stared out in front of them for a good couple of minutes. Once I assured them that it was okay to run across the sand and out to the water, they took off–screeching the whole way. Imagine the happy mayhem that soon followed. This trip was one of my favorite ‘firsts’ so far.

After Adam’s meeting, he came out to the beach and buried each nino in the sand. The kids thought that was quite possibly the coolest thing they had ever experienced. (Wait until you see the video…..Adorable!) I bought the children new water shoes and sunglasses before the trip. Nikki has yet to take her glasses off her head. And Wompy, well…he had his thrown in the garbage around San Bernardino!!!!!!!! But I have to give the kid props, he hadn’t been home for over a week, and that was his only meldown during that week (except for the very first night of camping, poor little dude). We are making major strides here. :)

What was my favorite part? Talking to my friend about nothing and everything, watching each kid squeal in delight as he or she ran away from the waves (like a thousand times, at least), and seeing how silly goofy happy Adam is when he is playing with his kids. Thanks for being my friend, Maris. Thanks for being an awesome daddy, Adam. And thanks for bringing my life even more joy, ninos!

Baby Lea has actually been a part of our lives for as long as we have had the ninos. And now he is finally, and officially, here! 

The night Zackary was born, I took the ninos to see their new little cousin, and they were in total awe over the new little alien. I think they were in even more awe over their Tia. They were curious about everything, and they had a million questions for her, which she answered in typical patient Tia style despite the fact that she was exhausted. These were firsts for the ninos–visiting someone in the hospital, and watching someone go through an entire pregnancy with a live little baby to show for it. I can tell that they understand the process a little more now. (Maybe Tia J. will eventually post some of those pics for everyone to see)

Welcome to the world, and the family, little Zack!

So my best friend is pregnant. And we’re not talking a little pregnant. We are talking bursting boobies, peeing constantly, going to have the little guy any day pregnant. I haven’t blogged much about my personal experience with her pregnancy because 1. this is a sacred experience for her and her husband, which I have done my best to honor, and 2. I haven’t wanted to jinx the good luck she has had with this pregnancy.

It seems like just yesterday that she called me in Bogota terrified and sobbing. I will never forget that moment. Jena and Brian were trying their best to wrangle the wild beasts (that really is what they were at the time) into bed so I could step out on the balcony and take the phone call. It was rainy and dark and cold, and I could hear the franticness in her voice. I knew those emotions and thoughts all too well, and I felt her desperation through the phone. It killed me to know that my house was just down the street, but I was thousands of miles away.

The realization of another pregnancy left us both fairly faithless that it would develop into something miraculous. I am not ashamed to admit that. When you have experienced miscarriage after miscarriage, your first thought isn’t “Woohoo, I am pregnant again.” It is, instead, ”Oh crap, here we go again. Are you kidding me?” We end up checking ourselves every hour for the inevitable spots of blood. We remember the physical pain, and emotional anguish, of all the grief we have felt before.

And yet, we still try. Why do we try? Because we are believers. And because faith and hope are tightly and inseparably intertwined. So when we feel like our faith is almost depleted, those little glimmers of hope–however shiny and tiny–pick us up and push us on. Hope that something miraculous could eventually happen. Hope that tomorrow is always better than today. Hope that God knows us individually and is keenly aware of our most righteous desires. Now, eight months from that phone call, we are hanging baby clothes, having baby showers, and sprinting happily toward the baby finish line. A true miracle. A true strengthening of faith.

For me, there have been moments of jealousy, of course. There has been some sadness for our own fertility hopes unfulfilled. But those moments have been surprisingly few, actually. Part of it is due to being so busy with our little adopted sunshines. Part of it is me consciously deciding to be happy, no matter what. Part of it is the ability I have to talk to my friend…there is no pretense between us that everything is always okay!

But also, I am just different now than two years ago. I am so grateful that I purposely allowed my recent trials to refine me and to strengthen me. I can’t wait to hold Baby Lea for the first time, truly. I can’t wait to cuddle him, smother him, and spoil him. And I know that the allowance of these feelings are only due to the compassion and strength I have gained from miscarriage and adoption. Look at what I would be missing out on, if I had allowed infertility to consume me. I am so grateful that my faith continues to be strengthened by wonderful experiences such as Jaime’s pregnancy.

And it is not a moment too soon, since all of my friends have decided to be pregnant at the same time!!!!!!!!! (We are still rooting for you, sis.)

It has been an impressive, emotional, unforgettable week here at the McCracken home. It will take a few days for me to sort through all of the pictures and events. For those who didn’t make it this weekend, be prepared for a barrage of pictures and text. So much happened in so little time–I can’t wait to document it all. There might even be some tears on your end. Heaven knows there were many happy tears on ours.

Knowing that sorting pics might take awhile, I don’t want too much time to go by without thanking everyone who did make the effort to attend. From the bottom of our hearts we thank each of you for your participation, support, and hard work. Whether you prepared food, provided supplies, donated time, or simply arranged your schedule to be in attendance….we thank you. We appreciate you. We honor each of your efforts in gracing our family.

Our children feel so much love. I see your patience, your caring and your kindness healing their little wounded hearts. It is unbelievable to me, eight months into this journey, how much gratitude I feel for each person who has stayed the course along side Adam and me. Our love for each of you continues to grow. We know you continue to invest in our children and in us. Sometimes that is not an easy thing. And yet, you continue on. That is why we care so deeply for each of you. That is why sharing this weekend with our close family and friends meant so much to us.

Whether you came from across the street, across town, or across a few states, we are grateful for your investment in our family. Whether you are of our Faith or not, we are grateful for your support. Whether you have known us for decades, or for a few short months, we feel gratitude for your service on our behalf. We would not change our situation for anything in the world. Thank You!!!