Someone's MOBILE!

Cuteness

First swim



She LOVES water



McKinley has a weekness with swinging

Milk mouth

4th of July.  Everyone smiling and looking at the camera!  Success.

Kayla and McKinley after Kayla's chocolate birthday cake



Kayla, McKinley, and Eamon

First Camping trip

Over Memorial Day weekend, McKinley went on her first outdoor camping trip.  She didn't really appreciate camping so much.  It totally threw her off her schedule.  The kids partying in the next site over were a little loud for her liking and she has become a pretty light sleeper.

But she was a real trooper (and it helped us to realize how nice it would be to have an RV with warm water for making bottles in the middle of the night.)

McKinley decided that stroller rides were perfect for falling asleep at night and I loved that time with my baby girl.

McKinley's Birth Family

McKinley's Birth Grandma came with her Birth Mom a couple of weeks ago for a get together.  While the three generations were together, we had to document.

More sweet pictures of Kinley and Kayla.

 

 Eventhough this one is blurry, I thought it was cute.  Kinley loves tummy raspberries.

 Playing on the floor.  McKinley intentionally rolled over for the first time on Friday.  Now she will do it within seconds of being layed on the floor to play!

 And this tank top is one that Kayla gave us for McKinley while still pregnant.  Kinley's been growing so fast that we had to layer it over a long-sleeved shirt to wear it before she out grows it.

Forever

The six of us entered the temple's sealing room hand in hand.  I will never forget that feeling.  It made me emotional before we even entered.

Photo by Rebecca Mueller

A little glimpse into my idea of Heaven.

SIX DAY COUNTDOWN!

We're on the final stretch and couldn't be more excited.  We talk about our upcoming trip to the temple everyday. 

 The Bishop told Gracie that she was the only Primary child in our ward with a temple recommend!  She is thrilled to have such an honor.

 McKinley loves her Daddy.  I think she's already a Daddy's girl.  He gets the biggest smiles out of her. 

I am truly so excited to enter the temple with these precious kiddos. 

Almost 10 years ago, I stared into my Ryan's eyes and imagined the things that our future held as we made sacred covenants and promises to each other forever.  At that moment, I had NO IDEA that I would get to be in that very same spot with my sweetheart ten years later as our beautiful baby girl is sealed to our family.  What a blessing.

Official

April 4th, at 1:30 pm, our littlest one was officially declared our daughter.  Gracie, Braden, and Tanner were asked by our attorney what they thought of our little bubble blower.  They said that they loved her and Tanner burst out with "she's our sister."

 It was a pretty neat experience even though it only lasted about 5 minutes or less.  My favorite part of the whole day was when the Judge said she "was happy to make official what was already in our hearts."  Those words really summarized my feelings.  We didn't need anyone to tell us McKinley was part of the family.  She has been part of the family since her birth mom told us she was selecting our family for the adoption and endured that bittersweet placement day.  But there is something that feels so wonderful about having it be official. 

 My sweet Sister in law and her two girls came along to support our family on our big day.  Calley videoed our whole interactions with the judge.  I'm so grateful that we have that. 

 Oh and she took a lot of pictures for us in the court room.

 We waited in the halls outside the court room for our attorney to bring us the adoption decree.

 Then we snapped a picture with our lawyer Albert Lirhus.  He was fantastic.

 Not knowing what the court atmosphere was going to be like, we bribed the kids with Red Robin for good behavior.  Truth be told, we would have gone there anyway to celebrate, but the kids decided that Red Robin was a good incentive and shared their thoughts on the topic with the attorney and the judge!  It was such a happy day.

I'm so thrilled to be declared McKinley's mommy.  It's a dream come true.  We love that girl so much.

Sisters

It's been the topic of discussion at least once a day for a while now. Next Monday, these girls will legally be what Heaven and our family calls them; SISTERS.

We can't wait.  (And yes, we plan on matching then too!)

Building homes

I've been reading through things to explain our upcoming temple trip to our kids.  Once McKinley's adoption is final, we will be ready to enter the temple and have her sealed to us, her mom and dad, brothers and sisters, for forever.  (I love talking about that.)

President Thomas S. Monsen has said:
A home is much more than a house built of lumber, brick, or stone. A home is made of love, sacrifice, and respect. We are responsible for the homes we build. We must build wisely, for eternity is not a short voyage.

Such great wisdom. 

More about temples below.

3 months

We love this girl to bits.  We are so grateful she is part of our family and have been talking quite a bit about our upcoming finalization and temple trip.  We're all pretty excited.

At 3 months, McKinley has discovered how fascinating her hands are, and loves to suck on that fist.  She gives huge smiles freely to strangers and is starting to show signs of being tickelish.  She likes the book "Peek a Who" and grins ear to ear on the last page when she see's her self in the mirror.  When I change her diaper on the changing table she loves to look at her baby footprints that are framed and hanging over the table.  McKinley is a GREAT sleeper (only gets up once a night if at all).

Sisters at the cabin this week

Serious bubble talent.  Can you smile and blow bubbles at the same time?

Gracie helped me to get McKinley to smile while I snapped photos.  Thank goodness for a funny sister who knows how to blow bubbles back to her baby sister!