Baby Mac

Our newest addition has been growing so much lately, so I thought I would share some pictures from her first 6 months!  McKinley is much more docile and calm than our other two.  It has been a nice little change.  At least until she starts getting in to things!

 

Baby Mac in March, 2011

 

McKinley in June in her dress Mason brought her from Hawaii

 

Mac in June in Washington D.C. where it was very, very hot!

 

Baby McKinley in July, 2011

 

 Mac eating baby cereal for the first time in August 2011

Annual Meeting of the State Bar of Nevada - Kauai

Mason serves on the Nevada State Bar and so each year he attends several meetings around the state.  One of the meetings he goes to each year is at the Annual Bar Conference.  This year the conference was held in Hawaii, so Mason was FORCED to attend a great event on a beautiful island.  It was quite the sacrifice!  Mandy was lucky enough to have her parents come down and stay with her during the week to help with the kids.  Dad brought home lots of presents for everyone!

  

Mason took an amazing helicopter ride of the whole island.

 

 The resort Mason stayed at.

 

Mason took a fishing trip and caught 9 tuna.

 Mason brought dresses back for all his girls (including his mother-in-law) and chocolate covered macadamian nuts for all our friends.  He also brought back Mandy a gorgeous turtle necklace and a ukelele for his father-in-law.

Happy Graduation!

Tonight we attended Miley's preschool graduation. She had phenomenal teachers this year and we couldn't have asked for a better place for her to go to preschool. Miley got to introduce the song "skitamarink". Thhe did a great job! They all wore real graduation caps and gowns in miniature sizes. Each child got an award. Miley got the "Helping Hands" award. It was a super special night. Afterwards we all came home and ate a neat cake we bought especially for the occasion.

Miley's end of the year picture.

Posing in her cap and gown.

The very official diploma.

The special graduation "fish" cake. Her class was called the Hummingbirds. But fish was as close as we could find!

Singing one of their songs they learned for the program.

Receiving her diploma.

Dancing

Miley has completed another year of dance lessons.  Her recital was super fun to watch.  She sometimes feels the need to add in her own moves.  They are always slightly saucy!  We love it!

Mother's Day

Mandy had a great Mother's day. She woke up to wonderful flowers and yummy chocolates! Happy mother's day to all you mommies!

McKinley's Blessing

We had a wonderful weekend with lots of family here at our home. Most of both our families were able to come for McKinley's blessing at church. We live so far away from everyone, thaat it makes it extra special when they do come and visit. Grandpa Simons, Cousin Glen, Uncle Karl, Cousin Lance, Grandpa Simons, Uncle Steve, Bishop Talbot, Brother Stetler, and our friends Rick, Jim, and Andy, all stood in the circle. It was big, but we were so grateful to have so many people there to help bless our sweet baby. Afterwards were came back to the house and hade fake Cafe Rio. It was super yummy. McKinley is very content and happy. She is a peaceful and loving presence in our home. We are grateful to have her as part of our family!

Family Pics

We decided since we have a new member of the family, it would be good to get some family pictures done. We think they turned out great!

The whole Simons clan

Our sweet girls

Baby Mac almost 2 months old

Mason's birthday

Today is Mason's birthday! He turnes the big 34! Every friday we feed the missionaries at lunch, so they got to join in on our birthday lunch. We had cake and ice cream, and opened gifts. He got a subscription to a political magazine he wanted and an ipad 2. He can't wait for the ipad to arrive in the mail! We love Mason and are grateful he is the priesthood holder in our family. He is fun and patient and happy.

Miley and Marley helped decorate the wrapping paper.

Blowing out the candles!

The ipad 2's were on back order, so we just had to give him a paper showing his gift.

And her name is...

The name procrastinators have finally acted. We have settled on McKinley Louise Simons. McKinley is a family name on the Simons side, and Louise is Mandy's mother's middle name.

The new baby has arrived...

Well Mandy started having labor pains yesterday (2/26) at around 6:00 pm. We went to the hospital just after midnight. Our new baby girl was born today (2/27) at 6:12 am. Our new little girl (as of yet unnamed) weighed in at 6 lbs 7 oz and measured 19 3/4 inches. Both mom and baby are doing fine.

The big 3!

Marley turned 3 this year. She of course wanted a dinosaur party. She is a bit obsessed with all things prehistoric. Mandy made a t-rex cake and we invited friends over for cake and ice cream. It was a lot of fun. She got lots of dinosaur themed presents from her friends. She also got some magformers and her first dinosaur discovery kit. We love this tender/violent little girl!

Mom and Miley helping Marley excavate some dino fossils!

A few weeks later Aunt Monica and Uncle James (both engineers) came to visit. We decided we better have them help but the dinosaur bones together!

A growing triceratops! We left this little blue dino in the water for several days and it grew to be much larger!

A T-Rex costumes she got as a present.

A Big Change in our Lives

Our family will be a little different for the next few years! Last week Mason was extended the call to be the second counselor in our ward's new Bishopric. We know it will bring lots of sacrifices but also lots of blessings. Mason is very level headed and dedicated, so our family is sure he will serve well. We are so proud of him for being faithful in the gospel and dedicated to the Lord. Both Mandy and Mason's parents were able to come to see him set apart. We are excited and grateful (and a little nervous!) for this chapter in our lives. The girls are especially excited that daddy is the "Bishop's helper"!

Giddy Up!

Our town hosts a wonderful cowboy poetry week every year. People come from all over the world. Even if you aren't cowboyish, it is great entertainment and something to look forward to. One of the best parts is that they make it a community event, including taking it to the schools. This year Miley's preschool did two big activities to celebrate our western spirit. Miley got to ride horses and have a Buckaroo Breakfast. I was unable to go with her to ride horses, but she had a wonderful time. She loves horses and was so excited that she got to ride a big black horse. Then her class put on a breakfast for the parents. Miley's job was to cut the cantaloupe for the fruit salad. She also drew of picture of mom on the tablecloth so I would know exactly where to sit! Mom left Marley at a babysitter and her and Miley enjoyed a wonderful breakfast together. Miley's class also made great cowboy bandannas to wear. We are so grateful for a preschool program that gives the kids these awesome experiences and allows families to participate.

Th picture of mom that Miley drew, along with a picture of the yummy pancakes, sausage, and fruit we enjoyed!

You can't really see the white bandanna she is wearing around her neck, but she used stamps and paint to decorate it.

Good News

For those who don't know, Miley was diagnosed with bivesicuritural reflux when she was 1 year old. Every since then we have had to take her to the urologist at least once a year. She has also had to take a low dose of antibiotics every day of her life for the last 4 years. So this weekend we made a quick trip to Utah to go to Primary Children's Hospital. We received wonderful news! It seems she has finally grown out of the problem and they could find no evidence of refluxing into her kidneys. We are so excited to be done with the medicine. It was hard for Miley to understand why she had to take meds every night if she didn't feel sick. The doctor said we need to come back in one year just to be sure, but I think we are finally done with this stage in our lives. We told Miley if she would have these tests done at the hospital (they really are horrible tests for a little girl!), then we would take her wherever she wanted. She chose the Gateway Discovery Center in Salt Lake. The girls have been there before, but they really love it. It was a wonderful trip all around.

The top of the building has a real medflight helicopter.

Miley playing a giant xylophone

Marley at the ball machine

The construction zone

The second floor is all building things (magformers, legos, etc.)

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We were able to spend 5 days in Idaho with Mandy's family, then we went to Boise for 3 days at Mandy's sister's home. The girls were able to play with cousins and got spoiled by Santa. We were so thankful that Mason was able to take time off so we could enjoy being with family. Our trip included Mandy's mom's birthday, a trip to the discovery center in Boise, and of course a browse around Cabella's. It was a wonderful time for everyone.

Just SOME of the presents under the tree. Gifts for 17 people take a lot of room!

This is when we went to visit Great Grandma Snyder at the assisted living center.

The girls in their "Christmas Eve" pajamas, opening some presents. This year Miley got pajamas from the book "Pinkalicious" and Marley's were from the book "How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight".

This is at the Discovery Center in Boise. Miley is hoisting Marley up in a chair made with a bunch of pulleys.

Grandma Hunter's birthday. We had German Chocolate cake and Hot fudge Sundaes.

This was a trip to Cabellas in Boise. The girls loved seeing all the animals.

New Pictures

While we were in Southern Utah for Thanksgiving, Mason's mom had some family pictures taken.

The whole Simons clan.

Carol and Quay, their kids and spouses.

Miley

Marley

Mason and Mandy

My big 5 year old

Miley just turned 5 years old. I can't believe it. I keep telling her I want her to stay my baby. Some days she is excited to grow up. Other days she wants to stay my baby too! In fact one day she made me leave the room so she could talk to Jesus. I overheard her asking Him if she could please not grow up.

Miley is a wonderful sister and makes friends with everyone. She loves helping and is so creative. She will sit and play by herself for hours just being imaginative with her toys. She wanted a Pink Pony Party this year. We invited over some friends and had a wonderful time. We are so proud of our big girl!

The Pink Pony cake

Miley spent last summer catching and examining bugs. So we got her a bug book, bug jar, and a "field journal" to record her findings.

Miley really wanted a pinata this year. She isn't blindfolded in this picture because it started raining and we wanted it broke open fast!

Miley got her own camera so she wouldn't have to use mom and dads.

Miley was dancing to show off how her new Skechers light up!