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first nieve, vegas style

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Okay, we’re playing a little catch up. And yes, the rumors are true–we did have snow here in Vegas. The last time we saw snow in the valley was Christmas Day 2003–but it was only a skiff and it did not last through the day. This time Las Vegans enjoyed a few days of it. Our home is located in one of the lower points of the valley so we did not get any actual snow on our street. But we did get lots of rain and slush. It tried snowing a few time, but turned quickly to rain. Adam’s parents and our friends, the Brummetts, had a lot of snow though. I am just happy that it rained for so many days in a row. We didn’t see blue skies for three or four days–and it was Glorious! I woke up every morning hoping for gray skies. I know, I know–I’m weird. But there are a lot of us transplants here in the desert that are happy to call ourselves precipitation loving weirdos.
Our own Mt. Charleston got pounded with snow so we decided to take advantage of it. We piled the four ninos in the truck, and took off. It wasn’t so bad going up, but by the time we reached the top we were in the middle of an actual snow storm…the kind of snow storm we usually only partake of in places like Utah and Washington. Anyway, by the time we were able to get down off the mountain conditions had worsened, and there were many many people driving who had no business being on the road.

5834583858445850As you can see, the poor little children had a mish-mash of our clothes and theirs to try and keep them warm. There were a couple of babies–big big babies–in the group. Oh yeah, they were all wimps except Danny!!! Even Ezzy melted down a couple of times. And only Danny would climb the “big” sledding hill with Adam. It was really funny. Here’s my hottie of a husband:
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Daddy and the kids ended the day by having a snowball fight with the neighbor kids when we got home. Yummy hot chocolate and soggy shoes were welcomed additions to our desert oasis.

58565859We were so happy that out of all the years we have lived here snow graced us in 2008. Our children have never seen snow, never experienced it. Snow was one of the things they were most excited about when moving to the States. They had a total blast freezing their tooshies off in our short-lived winter wonderland.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElxqeYvTHU0
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more spoilage, please

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Right before leaving for Thanksgiving in Logan, we glittered new stockings for our growing family. We also put up Christmas lights, decorated the house, and did some Christmas shopping. The kids had a blast, and they definitely know what Christmas is. I knew that we would be gone until the very end of Thanksgiving weekend so I wanted to get a jump start.

We also made our way to Jaimee and Brian’s home for Thanksgiving. They hosted for the whole family this year, and it was wonderful. Jaimee out did herself on decorations and food. Brian even smoked a turkey and a brisket for us to munch on through the weekend. We did miss my brother Mike and his family. Their work schedule caused them to stay back in Yakima. We missed them very very much. Oh yeah, I made the cute little turkey name holders…thanks for letting me place them on the magnificently dressed table, Jaimee.

We ate, and ate, and ate. We visited the Lights at Temple Square. We played games. We ate some more. We went fourwheeling and walking. We opened presents. And, finally, we ate some more.

5708571157175735Since we wouldn’t all be together for Christmas this year, we celebrated a little early. Grandma and aunties were way too generous. The boys wore their new little suits today with pride. And the girls wore their new little fluffy dresses. Thanks, grandma. Here are a few more pics from the weekend.

5757576357665769I guess there is no hiding Christmas from the kids anymore. :) Apparently, they never celebrated Christmas in the orphanage, and never received gifts. It’s a bright new world for these four little munchkins. We are blessed to be a part of it. The best of it all is that they are so thankful for everything they receive–and they treasure even their “smallest” gifts. The little writing books from the $1.00 bin were the hit of the drive home, mom. Amazing!

Our children are fantastic travelers. Not much complaining, and not any fighting either. And yes, that is without any movies playing in the car. I think they know that to be Rach and Adam’s kids, they have to be good travelers. I have no qualms about driving to Washington next summer with them. We are so lucky!!!!!!!!

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family pictures, anyone?

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Who knew we would make such beautiful babies! :) I suppose this post is a little past due, but I know there are many out there who know we took family pictures a few weeks ago. So here is the end result. We took them ourselves while in Logan, UT for Halloween. Check out my sister’s blog for Halloween pics…she and my mom were the only ones who captured actual Halloween pics because I was busy getting four kiddos ready on my own. Adam flew in and met us as we were walking out the door to trick-or-treat. We are so glad that he made it in time. There is no going back–the kids officially know what Halloween entails. Of course, I threw all of their candy away about three days after we got home. I couldn’t take the begging and whining for candy for breakfast anymore. However, I did pull out the best bits of candy and stashed them away for a rainy day! (Yeah, yeah, what are you going to do about it?)

The kids had a blast at Jaimee and Brian’s. And they were troopers during pictures. They actually tried to smile–even though a couple of them are still learning how to pose for the camera. (oh, the things we take for granted) I am really pleased how they turned out. And I am even more pleased that we don’t have to have a desert landscape. Fall pictures are always my favorite. Here you go:

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55705576THE BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!

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55915594THE GIRLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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55545606OUR BEAUTIFUL FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Camping

Last weekend, we had fun with an overnight campout in the Lea’s backyard. It was complete with campfire, roasted hot dogs, and S’mores. Rob was nice enough to lend us the backyard and prepared a fire pit for the festivities. We put all four kids in the tent, me outside on the lawn, and Rob retreated to the safety and comfort of his wife and bed. :)

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Everyone loved the chance to practice cutting fire wood, roasting Starbursts, and having a generally great time. Despite their greatest efforts, all phalanges remain attached. Rach was busy scrappin’ with her friends (I imagine we’ll see a post on that shortly), so stayed at home while we played.

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We made yummy breakfast Saturday morning with the assistance of Jaime and Rob and then Uncle Rob assisted Papi with the ninos the rest of Saturday while Mami and Tia Jaime scrapped the day away. Thanks for an awesome weekend!

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sunday fun

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A couple of people have asked what Sundays are like at our house now. Adam and I both feel that our Sundays are even better. We get home from church around 12:30 and eat some lunch straight away. After lunch, the kids scurry off to their rooms for quiet time. We have each child in a separate room and they love their own personal time. The kids don’t have to sleep, but they have to stay in their rooms until we come and get them, which is usually around 3:00. (although two out of the four regularly fall asleep anyway) That give Adam and I two whole hours together. We nap, we talk, we read, we snuggle, we catch up on shows we haven’t seen during the week. Mostly we just enjoy the quiet.

Once the kids are up, we either go outside or watch a movie usually. This past Sunday Adam taught the children to play a new game. Danny caught on right away. Ezzy had no clue what she was doing. And the two younger ones followed their brother. I also broke out our Cocoamotion, and taught the kids how to make hot chocolate. Nikky and Juan P. stared at the maker the whole time–they could not believe their eyes. 

After a couple of hours of family time, we have dinner and then the kids get ready for bed. That usually lands us around 7:00 or so. And the kids go to bed at 8:00. I thought Sundays would possibly be extra “work” for me, but I have found the opposite to be true. It is mostly relaxing and low-key. As long as we get the kids an hour or so of activity they are pretty awesome the whole day. I love Sundays!!!

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afraid of heights…yeah, right!

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We spent last Saturday out at Red Rock exposing our children to the elements. It was awesome. The Brummett and DeMarco families both joined us. We also had our little buddy, Kavika, up from Arizona. Oh yeah, and we brought a friend’s grandson from Adam’s work. Needless to say, our car was packed with kids and gear. The picture to the left is of our little band. Even our prissy one loves to hike, so the climb was no problems. Dave bought a few pair of kid’s climbing shoes a few months back since they regularly take friends out climbing. Jena has been anxious to let our kids use them for months now. :) Adam also took the kids a few weeks back to buy a couple of children-sized harnesses. Note, Wompy looking like a little utilities worker in his shoulder harness…too cute. At least I don’t have to worry about him or Nikky flipping upside down on the wall. We knew the kids would do great, but it was rewarding to see them all reach the top of the route. Well, all except Wompy. I think he could have done it with another try, and a little help, but we ran out of time.

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Nicole was the only one who didn’t want to try in the beginning. Of course, Adam and I basically threw her onto the wall and made her start. She was crying for a few minutes, but then papi helped her realize that she was perfectly safe by letting her hang on the rope off of the ground. After that, she started, and never looked back until she was 50 feet off the ground at the top of the route. She rappelled down without any help or direction. Actually, both of the girls were better on their first tries than the boys. Ezzy scurried on up without a thought. It took Danny two tries to do the whole thing. His first try saw him only 15 feet up. After seeing Ezzy do it, he wanted to try again. Classic Danny!!!!

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Above is a picture of each kid on the wall, but there are a ton of picture in our gallery! We may endure blazing hot summers here in the desert, but the benefits are days like this from October to April. The kids are begging to go back to the Mountains. I guess Adam is pretty proud. I think that Danny and Ezzy will be able to do Keyhole on our annual Zion trip in May, if they learn to really swim by then. (I guess I’ll be calling the Y soon for swim lessons.) That also makes daddy very happy. I can’t resist…here are a few more pics:

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almost halloween

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We have had a fun-filled October so far, and it just keeps going. The past two weekends were filled with excitement and laughter. On the weekend of the 11th, we hosted a Halloween party here at the house. Don’t ask me why I had the bright idea before we were fully moved into the house, but we pulled it off. In fact, the pressure helped us get more shelves put together and hung. Our family room truly looks like one. I had drapes made for our front room. Our loft finally has bookshelves for the plethora of kids’ books we possess. And there are only a few boxes scattered throughout the house left to unpack.

The party itself was a blast. We probably had about 40 people total. Some new friends, some old friends, some neighbors, and tons of kids. Adam inflated our little bounce house, which was a huge hit in our backyard. We decorated sugar cookies (thanks Val for taking charge) and let’s just say the McCracken kids were completely enthralled. When Valerie mixed the food coloring into the icing, Danny’s eyes got really big and he said his classic, “oh, wow!” They could not believe the icing was changing color. It really blew them away when she mixed yellow and blue together to make green. Each kid frosted a cookie for the daddy who was hard at work carving a pumpkin in the other room. I am not sure how many toppings they used, but Adam had enough sugar to last him through the holidays at least.

In addition, we had pumpkin carving, a coloring corner, and an all around good time. Oh yeah, we made my sister’s famous Chili in a Pumpkin, which was the hit of the party. Everyone loved it, Jaimee!!! All in all, the kids had a blast. They are figuring out what Halloween is all about from friends at school. So now they are totally excited to dress up and trick-or-treat next weekend. We will be spending that holiday in Logan, UT. We have many friends and family there who are anxious to meet the children. So off we go on Thursday. It will be fun for the kids to experience a real fall as well. Although Logan is more like winter temps right now. :) Regardless, we are excited to see everyone.

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A few more pics can be found here!

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Let’s go ride a bike

All of the kids LOVE to ride their bikes. When they wake up, “can we ride our bikes today?” When they go to bed, “can we ride our bikes tomorrow?” As soon as I walk in the door from work, “when are we going outside to ride our bikes?”

With all the anticipation of the first ride, you might think they actually know how to ride a bike. Logical thinking like this will lead you down the wrong path…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKHYfA4EPh0

But, after just a little practice, Danny was up and moving…at least on Nikky’s bike! He hasn’t yet mastered his own, but a few more days of practice and he should be good.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nedgTBP8AEs

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Ice Cube

That’s what you feel like when you swim through the water in this canyon. Seldom traveled, this is one of my favorite places for a fun day in the park. Our intrepid group of five included me, Duane Woodmansee, and the three Leas — Rob, Eric, and Troy. Dave was kind enough to drive us up to the trailhead to save us the time of driving back at the end. Being Dave, he hiked the first part of the approach in his flip-flops!

We had a great time and our 3 noobs did a great job! All of the pics (as if these aren’t enough!) can be found in the photo album. Special thanks to Rach (because she is amazing!) for watching the kids for the day so that I could go on this — love you!

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thirty five pounds, and counting

I know everyone is mostly tuned into the adoption blog–for which we are grateful. But I have to celebrate my personal accomplishments as well. I braved the scale a few days ago because so many people have said I am looking thinner. To my amazement I have lost more weight. This is a huge blessing since I haven’t had time to “try” in months. Of course, running after four children, forgetting to eat dinner, and scaling the stairs 20 times per day is sure to help.

I have lost 35 pounds since January when I started training for the 1/2 marathon. The best part about it is that I feel so good right now that I am motivated to start exercising again. My schedule with the children doesn’t lend me to much snacking during the day. That has also helped. I still have about 50 pounds to go, but 50 is manageable when I see that I’ve already lost almost that much.

I know I should post a picture, but I don’t really have one ready. I’ll have to go through the recent pictures, and post it next to one of my pre-miscarriage pics from January!