second half of 2016

besides isla turning one, we've had many happy memories!

SUMMER 2016:

we started the summer off right by heading to texas to visit family. dassia and jonny rode with us with their tiny, new baby Rhett Jonathan. i got to be there for his birth and dassia was strong, and amazing. i'm so glad i was able to experience the moment with her! it was incredible. 

while we were in salt lake, we visited the temple because zenna is obsessed and kept talking about it every time we drove by. i love her wonder for the world and love for temples!

and two months later, we drove to texas. it was over 30 hours EACH WAY and we had three babies, but it was surprisingly fine! the babies usually just slept or ate lots of snacks. we made a huge mess, but it was a fun experience and i foresee the trip happening many more times in our future! 

while we were in texas, we stayed with drake's aunts and got spoiled rotten again. we visited the beach, the zoo, and had lots of barbecues. the humidity and bugs were thick, but we enjoyed getting closer to our Texas Family! 

the zoo is always a hit because zenna loves animals, and isla loves anything zenna loves.

the beach was a favorite place for everyone to play. isla was a little fearful of the water and preferred the sand - especially eating the sand!! no matter how clean we tried to keep her hands or treats, they ended up in the sand. poor girl even had sandy poop in her diapers!

zenna had a not-so-great experience in the water. at first, she was terrified and drake and i worked really hard to get her willing to go in the ocean with us. when she was finally willing to go out with us, a jellyfish wrapped himself around me and her and we got stung quite a lot. poor Z was screaming in shock and pain and i was luckily worried more about her pain than mine, but it felt like little shocking electrocuting stings everywhere the jellyfish touched.  we talked to the medics on the beach and they recommended salt water (like we were going to go back out there!) but it did help a little. zenna just wanted to wrap up in a towel in her daddy's arms and then continued to tell anyone who would listen about the mean fish who tried to eat her legs. she still (months later) tells this story! BUT all in all, the beach was a highlight of the trip!

i love this picture, even if it doesn't show the joy felt at the beach! :)

we also went on a dolphin watch by boat and were able to see some dolphins. zenna thought this was the best part of the whole trip. she loves remembering those dolphins we saw on the boat. 

so after seafood, fun in the sun, lots of laughs, and the best barbecues - we took off for our long drive home. 

fun in the sun - swimming!

the rest of the summer was full of swimming adventures in the yard or at Lava. it was a great way for the girls to get out energies before nap-time, and we loved spending our first summer in our home in our own yard with the sprinklers. 

   

   

sand box fun at grandma and grandpa's! 

in July, we celebrated the fourth of july at inkom's celebration and parade. it is always hot hot hot, but  it is so fun seeing our neighbors and eating the yummy food that comes to visit. zenna cautiously picked candy up from the roadside, in her usual concerned manner about safety. and it was all we could do to keep isla on the sidewalk. i love seeing their different personalities emerge more and more!

we also spent the july days with tia emma and her sons blake and dalton. it was so fun getting to know them more and even though at this point i was sometimes experiencing morning sickness from being in the early pregnant months, we still had so much fun exploring yellowstone national park and jackson, wyoming! we also fit in some more swimming trips at lava hot springs and even the mckee family campout! finally, we hit up the mccammon rodeo! it is always one of my favorite parts of the summer, and zenna and isla both loved the animals and action! 

 

yellowstone:

swimming:

the mckee family campout was full of horses, music, and dirt. just what my girls love the most! we feel blessed to live such close to the beautiful nature of the outdoors, and our family who all enjoy getting together and having a great time!

finally: the rodeo!

finally, we celebrated isla turning one. you can read about that here: all about isla: she's one!

the rest of july and august flew by. we went to the eastern idaho state fair, another favorite thing to do. isla and zenna both love animals so much that it's so exciting walking around and seeing the exhibits. we loved the petting zoo, eating ice cream, and even riding the ponies!

  

    

  

      

i love this sweet picture of isla hugging her cousin, brantley, at the fair!

another highlight to the summer was when drake took me to a keith urban concert in salt lake, and then i went the next weekend with my family in pocatello! my life can never have too much keith urban!

   

i LOVED spending my summer with the girls and soaking up every moment. they made it busy, exhausting, hilarious, and special. what adorable, funny girls i have!! 

   

  

FALL 2016

august brought exciting new changes to our lives like me going to work at inkom elementary, so close to home! zenna also started preschool and dance classes. she is such a quick learner and loves both of these things so much! 

first day of inkom elementary!

  

  

we also found out some BIG NEWS that we couldn't have been more excited about!

october 2016 is a month that forever changed my life. on october 4, i received news that my nephew ryker zane had left this earthly existence too early, in fact before he was able to be born. i still don't have the words or emotional strength to write about those days... but he lived and was loved, even while only with my sister... he will never be forgotten. 

"Sometimes you just have to focus on what you know and not what you can't explain. On hard days when my heart is aching for those I love most who are broken-hearted, and I find myself focusing on the unfairness and unknowns, that's when I have to make a change of focus and then I feel myself drawing closest to my Father and Brother, Jesus Christ, because I have to give my burden over or I feel like I might break, I have to pray harder and serve more thoughtfully others beside myself, I have to search more seriously the words of prophets and scripture. It's the only way to not let the grief for my loved ones take over. It brings peace, almost immediately. And then I feel the real comfort from the Comforter, and stillness within my soul to know that even without a knowledge of everything, I can not deny the love I have felt for me and my family and I cannot deny that it's the love from my Savior. My testimony hasn't ever felt stronger even though my heart has never felt so broken because of these things that I KNOW. 💙💙💙 #raralovesryker#writingtherapy #familiesareforever"  Oct. 21, 2016

"What more can be said? We resist the ending because of the grief, because of the "interruption", because of the seeming "end" that is impossible to see past... but that resistance is only another proof of our true identities as children of God, as eternal beings... Sweet Ryker understands that there is an "everlasting beginning" here and not an "ending"- and he is aware of the joy that is waiting for his family... for all of us 💙 I treasure up the the moments I had with Ryker and his mommy and daddy... and I try to soak up all the bravery, faith, love, sacrifice, and hope that is encircling his parents still. Tonight I loved hearing Zane tell Zenna that he was Ryker's father. I loved sending balloons and lanterns to heaven for Jesus and Ryker. I loved feeling the spirit present and reminding us all of what Ryker knows... we are eternal... this is not his ending with his family, but his beginning. And families can be together forever. I love you @bailey_marley and @zrmarley215 💙💙💙#raralovesryker #familiesareforever #rzm" Nov. 29, 2016

zenna's birthday was a lot of fun to celebrate. she invited a few little friends and knew that the day was all about her. we celebrated with some of her favorite things: pizza and Jump-In. she got all new snow clothes so that as soon as it snows, she'll be able to go out and play! she also got a new play kitchen and plenty of toy food and accessories.  

   

for MY birthday, drake and i spent an awesome jam-packed weekend with Maroon5!! first, we headed to salt lake city where we enjoyed a concert and ate at the cheesecake factory... then we drove to boise where we went to ANOTHER concert! it was so great spending the weekend with just drake and having plenty of alone time together. 

fall is my favorite season. i love the cool weather, the sports, the new school year, the pumpkin patches and pumpkin flavored goodies, and halloween! this year was so much fun with the littles! 

we decided this year to decorate pumpkins to take to ryker's grave. we have been talking with zenna a lot about what happened with ryker and bailey and zane. we're trying to help her understand about heaven and death.  she knows that there is a lot of sadness, but also a lot of love. zenna made ryker a mickey mouse pumpkin- very close to her heart!

halloween costumes this year were fun! zenna wanted to be rapunzel from Tangled, an obsession the time. so we researched ways to make isla her little sidekick, pascal. she was probably the cutest chameleon i've ever seen!! 

i also went as a "holy cow" at school because the kids get a kick out of it! and drake went as well....

finally, another memorable moment of october: zenna mastered pooping in the toilet! it has been a big struggle since the early summer. but, finally - she was able to comfortably and privately do her business! hallelujah! we discovered this milestone while grocery shopping, so i had to document with this picture next to a giant minion. 

we feel so blessed to have our cousins live so close by. brantley is a favorite friend!!

  

zenna sweet-talked me into getting her two little baby bunnies, but it honestly didn't take much convincing. we loaded up two bunnies and a hutch inside the van and they've been a favorite friend!

a check-up for isla jo: 31.8 lbs, 32.5 inches long and larger than usual all around ❤️ The doctor cracks me up when he says "She's definitely big, definitely growing, but perfectly proportional" and no one is worried at all that she speaks pure gibberish (sentences and paragraphs worth of gibberish) but not any real words yet. She knows what we're saying and has a grunt or yell or finger-pointed for everything she wants in life. She is sweet sweet sweet, sassy, a champion sleeper in her own crib in her own room alllll night long, and wants to be just like Zenna every day ❤️ I love my soon to be middle child

christmas 2016: 

it's funny how christmas takes forever to get here each year, but it also feels like it comes so fast! i was especially excited this year because we splurged on the boys and got them tickets to a dallas cowboys game in texas! drake, his dad, jarik, and caden all had tickets - along with some family members from texas too! i bought the tickets in october and had to work really hard to keep the secret- although it pretty much had gotten out ... oops! they were still so excited to be able to go and even though we couldn't afford plane tickets for everyone too, they had a fun road trip... kind of. the weather going south was terrible. they were caught in a horrible snow storm in wyoming where the winds were blowing, roads were closed down, and visibility was horrible. they ended up getting stuck and rerouting. i'm grateful they were safe! it was worth it for them to all experience the cowboys win together though. 

several months ago, santa landed a REALLY good deal on a battery-operated frozen convertible and four-wheeler. it was a special surprise for the girls when they saw those things and our house has hosted multiple car rides every day since. they also got spoiled with baby dolls, dinosaurs, my little ponies, play-dough, and building blocks. it was a great year. 

we played in the snow with the gunter family while daddy was away in texas and that was lots of excitement and fun for the girls.

    

  

this was Zenna's recreation of Grandma Elsaka

Daddy had already left for Texas by the time we thought of a picture... oops! Christmas Day!

we loved the story of these pictures... zenna misbehaving, isla diving away, me getting angry, then bribing zenna with candy for a smile.... and drake's expression through it all the same!!

   

their newest trick is to hug it out .... all the time! my heart melts! i love it!

bailey and zane threw an awesome ugly sweater christmas party. it was so much fun to hang out with family and friends and feel grateful for the things we are blessed with. i love my family so much!

why does drake always have to hold something in our pictures? :)

and we can't forget making sugar cookies with grandma "elsaka" .... 

     

this year, the May Family was in charge of the mckee family christmas party!! we decided to do a mexican christmas fiesta. it was a lot of planning and work, but it was awesome! we had tamales made, ordered chili lights, had mustaches for everyone, and even put together an awesome "elf yourself" talent. dassia put her blood, sweat, and tears into painting some awesome photo booth backgrounds! it was so much fun! i'm glad we're off the hook for 10 years though!

  

   

i love this life of mine! 

  

GOAL for 2017: blog more often.... don't do a whole half-year in one post!!