Makynzie Noel

November 25, 2011, was a special day for our family. It was the day that we welcomed this little princess to our family:









Weighing in at 6 pounds 11 ounces and officially 18 inches long (though 5 days later at the pediatrician she was 19 inches so we think there may be a discrepancy there), Makynzie Noel Ford was born at 4:18 a.m. at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, Utah.

Makynzie didn't have a first name until she was about 36 hours old, although we knew her middle name, Noel (pronounced No-el) after her Daddy (his is pronounced Nole), for at least 3 or 4 months before she was born. We just couldn't make a decision and had to go through a book of 100,000 names. We wanted something that was cute and seemed to fit her and it just had to be right. Finally we decided that Makynzie was the perfect name for her. Then the hard part began. There are hundreds of ways to spell Makynzie and we spent an hour and a half spelling out all the different ways and deciding which way we liked the best. Makynzie is very loved by all and we are so grateful to have her sweet spirit in our home! We are adjusting to being a family of 6 (wow that sounds big)!

I will post Makynzie's birth story soon (hopefully) along with pictures from her first month of life.

Snakes and Slugs

Around here, snakes and slimy things are pretty common. Unfortunately (for me), our back yard seems to have an endless supply. The boys love finding snakes, but are also very understanding of my aversion toward them and only ask their father for help with these creatures. Kaci has quickly picked up on my phrase of "Ewww" whenever there is a snake, spider, bug, etc., involved, but she is also pretty daring and curious about these too. She loves dressing up in her tutus, but is definitely not afraid to get close to the more yucky things in life. Yes, that is a snake slithering right next to her. If you look closely, you can see that it is being held by Daddy. I would never just sit and take a picture of her that close to a snake if David didn't have the stiuation under tight control. :) I love my boys and am so glad that Kacianna gets to have such fun big brothers. :)

Mission and Masters...

We had a fun time visiting with David's family. They were out here to drop Donald off at the MTC! The kids gravitated towards him and had a thoroughly enjoyed the time they got to spend with him. We are excited that Donald is choosing to serve our Heavenly Father and know that the people of Hong Kong will love him. What a great example for my boys to see their uncle serving a mission! It was also sad to say goodbye to Aunt Cindy. The kids love her, even Kaci, which is saying something! Cindy is going to be spending then next year getting her Master's in York, England...so we will not be seeing her at all during that time. We've really enjoyed having her so close the last year or so and we will really miss her. She always takes the time to play with the kids, which is the way to win them over for sure!

Colorado Trip

We were blessed enough to be able to spend a few days in Colorado before school started this year. As always, the time went by way to fast and it was hard saying goodbye. It definitely made me want to wish away the year to 2 years that will have to pass before we can live closer to our families. It was so great watching my kids get to play with their cousins and see the special bond cousins always seem to have. We felt very welcome and right at home from the beginning. I am mad that I didn't get pictures of the trip Diana and I took with our kids to the pool. It was kind of an ordeal getting there since all of the ones in our area were closed. Our kids were so excited though so we searched our brains and Diana finally found an indoor one in Downtown Littleton that ended up being really fun! There was a wave pool (I think) and the kids loved it! I just remember going in there with them and it seemed like it was nonstop splashing, running and keeping kids' heads above water, very chaotic, but definitely worth it to see how much fun they were having.

These are just some random photos that i took and some of them are pretty blurry, but we were having so much fun, I didn't take the chance to get better ones.

Thanks everyone for a great couple of days! :)

Fun in the sun with the Lowes

We had a fun day with our friends the Lowe's a while back. Christy and I were roommates and I feel so lucky that we live close enough now that our kids can play and we can still hang out! Great friendships last through the ages! :)

They have a fun backyard and combine that with the element of water and we had the perfect afternoon. It is fun to watch our kids get along so well. Kaci and her youngest, Sophie, are only a few months apart (maybe one?) and hopefully they will grow up being good friends.

Thanks for lunch, a fun day, and some great memories guys!

Pioneer Day Highlights and Lowlights

Our Pioneer Day...

Highlights:

• Winning free passes to the pool for the kids' completing all the pioneer activities
• Buying frozen bananas covered in chocolate and sharing them with my kids and remembering when I ate them in Disneyland so long ago as a kid. (Mason, Carter, and Kaci had to eat the bananas up before they could get their coveted treat - cotton candy) haha
• Watching my boys compete in a root beer chugging contest, and Mason standing on his chair and jumping when the Elder in charge yelled "chug, chug, chug" because he thought he said "Jump, jump, jump" :)
• Country music being played by the band in the park.
• Watching my kids enjoy themselves
• Having missionaries dressed in western and pioneer attire help the kids with the activities.
• Free bottles of water available!
• Carter's favorite- panning for gold and Mason's favorite - being in jail.
  
• Kaci's favorite - riding in the stroller and spending time with her brothers doing big kid things. :)
  

Lowlights: :)

• David having to work and be at clinicals all day and night the night before, day of, and night of so we had to go daddy and husband-less.
• BOTH of my boys getting lost at one time or another. Mason was just going to turn his paper in for a prize and i found him quickly. I was very scared by the time we found Carter. We were playing at the park and he lost sight of me 'cuz i was helping Mason on the monkey bars. he tried to go back to the car (but I didn't know that's what he was doing). We (Me dragging Mason and Kaci) looked frantically all over and finally went to the information booth, where just when we walked up, a volunteer came up carrying Carter. She said she saw him lying on the sidewalk by the crosswalk. I think he was too afraid to cross the street by himself (thank goodness) and was just waiting for us. I am very grateful that my frantic silent prayers were answered that day and we were able to find Carter!
• Getting yelled at by the owner of the old fashioned fire truck 'cuz Mason was on the top of it. I honestly didn't think about it that that might not be a good idea. :(
• Forgetting to go to the petting zoo! I can't believe I did that. We were just so tired I guess, but I still can't believe that I forgot!