Live Happy

Christmas

2011-12-29T11:45:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! Santa definitely came to our house and treated us very well. Our best present of all was of course this little angel right here....

My Grandma Montez and Aunt Queenie came over from California, so it was fun to celebrate Christmas morning with them. We opened our presents at home and then drove to Natalie's house to celebrate the rest of our day with our entire family. Carter had so much fun "opening" his presents...

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Of course Kylee did too!

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This is a little out of order but Kylee had her Christmas party at school last week too. Thank you Olivia for watching Carter boy so I could help celebrate with my girly girl! We had so much fun!

We took Kylee and Carter to see Santa and to look at some crazy lights around a couple different neighborhoods. Daddy and Carter stayed in the car while Kylee and I walked around. It was a tad bit cold and Carter was sleeping. But we still had so much fun as a family!

This should be a picture with Kylee and Carter sitting on Santa's lap, but we didn't feel like paying $30 for ONE picture!!! When did Santa become so expensive? Geez! We waited in line for 40 minutes just so they could sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Good enough I guess!

After celebrating Christmas day at Natalie's house with all our family, we drove to El Centro to spend some time with David's family....and to make one more VERY special visit with Carter's birth Mom.

We went on a hike to the Salton Sea. Definitely a Grandma Deede tradition when we are all there! Carter was super excited to go on his first "hike"....

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And the highlight of our trip.....visiting with our amazing birth Mother! It was such a great visit and made us so happy to see her and Carter together again! We love her dearly and are forever so thankful for her and for her strength, courage, and willingness to follow the spirit and share sweet Carter baby with us. We love her and her family and are so thankful for the amazing relationship and bond that we have with them! We never knew adoption could be this wonderful!We truly are all brothers and sisters and are guided and directed by our Father in Heaven. He loves us all and I know that we will all be together, happy, as one big family in paradise!

We are looking forward to the new year and for all the exciting new things that we will experience together as a family of four! We can't wait to move back to our house in Queen Creek and to pick up where we left off with our ward family, dear friends, neighbors, and family. Life is amazingly sweet and I'm so thankful to be on this journey of life with the ones I love the most! Happy holidays everyone!

Carter update

2011-12-19T11:55:00.000-08:00

Our sweet angel has changed so much! He is 6 weeks old today and is getting so big and changing everyday. He is smiling like crazy now and is really starting to show his personality. He coo's from time to time and just loves to be held! Here are some of the milestones he is making at 6 weeks old:

*Sleeping almost through the night (a solid 6-7 hours, and then another 3 after his middle of the night feeding)

*Loves his swing!

*Eating anywhere from 4-6 ounces each bottle

*LOVES to be on his tummy

*Starting to coo and smile!

*Knows voices and turns to find them

*LOVES his sissy! He lights up everytime she holds him and talks to him

Here are some pictures of just Carter boy!

Pictures with Carter and Mommy

Pictures with Carter and Daddy

Pictures of Kylee and Carter (best friends)!

Life is so amazing! I had two showers...one in Queen Creek and one in Peoria. I had so much fun seeing everyone I love and miss so much. Carter is such a loved little boy!! We absolutely can't get enough of him and he makes us smile daily. Sweet Kylee girl is in heaven with her new baby. If she had it her way, she would never put him down. Seeing them together lights up my life and brings me more joy than I ever could have imagined. I just love my sweet little family!!!

Carter Aaron Pew

2011-11-25T14:31:00.000-08:00

A month ago to the day I posted my "pre-Carter" post....now he is here with us and somedays I still can't believe it. I have a more "intimate" blog that I journal in so I don't want to go into details of placement, his birth, etc....but I will post lots of pictures and summarize events that occur in our lives from here on out.

Carter Aaron Pew was born on 11/7/11. It was the most amazing Monday of my life! He came out weighing a healthy 9 pounds and was 21 inches long. He came out perfectly perfect and the most beautiful baby boy ever! We couldn't believe this perfect little angel was our son!

Here is the first picture I took of him in the hospital. He was just 8 hours old and perfectly fresh and gorgeous. He felt perfect and warm in my arms and he instantly filled that void that had been missing for the past 5 years. We were instantly in love!!

After he was born, we stayed in El Centro with David's parents until we were able to take him home with us to Arizona. Here is a picture of him on Grandma Deede's lap...looking all perfect and beautiful as ever!

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Napping on Daddy's lap while we play card games. He just melts into our chest and in our arms! Oh I love him so much!!

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A week after Carter was born, we were given the ok to leave the state and take him home to AZ! Getting that phone call was like waking up on Christmas morning. I was so excited!!! We were finally going to start our adventure as a family of four!!

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We have now been home for a week and a half and every second has been pure bliss. He is such a good baby! He eats very well, sleeps really well (hasn't given us too many rough nights so far), and he is so alert and happy when he is awake. He is almost smiling!! Oh he is just perfect!

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These pictures pretty much sum up what I have been yearning to have for my family for the past 5 years. Kylee absolutely ADORES and loves her baby brother. She loves reading to him, holding up his musical and flashing toys for him when he is sad, feeding him, helping me with anything I need for him, and much much more. She is in heaven with her new brother!

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While in California, Natalie came down and took newborn photos of Carter. They came out absolutely amazing!!! He did such a good job and cooperated so well. These are just two of many shots. I'll be sure to post the rest later!

Words can't express what Carter has been for our family and for me personally. He lights up our everyday lives and reminds us everyday of how much our Father in Heaven loves us and is aware of us. We are beyond blessed to have him as a part of our family and can't wait for the day when we can be sealed to him for all time and eternity. We love him so much and we absolutely love our sweet birth mother! This has been the most spiritual experience ever for our family. It has strengthened us in multiple ways and brought us closer than I could ever have imagined. Carter completes our family!! He is our pride and joy and we can't get enough of him!

Pre-Carter post...

2011-10-25T08:57:00.000-07:00

As I'm sitting here this morning reflecting on everything that has happened in the past 6 months....and thinking about what is about to happen in the next few days, I can't help but express some feelings for journaling purposes.

Today is Tuesday (3 days before we make our way to California to await the arrival of Carter Aaron Pew). I've been busy making sure Kylee will be taken care of, rides are arranged for her activities, play dates are set, clothes washed, outfits arranged, notes and letters from us written out for her to read every morning.......tears of realizing how much I'm going to miss her while we are gone, and how much I'm going to miss the one-on-one time we have had for the past 6 years. Nothing can compare to the excitement we feel as a family to be bringing Carter into our home and lives for eternity....NOTHING!! But the realization of things changing around here is starting to show. Kylee is extremely clingy to me and doesn't want me to leave her room after we say our nightly prayers. She seems to only want me lately for everything. She has said that she doesn't want to go to school and just wants to stay home and have a Mommy-daughter day. She hears me say...."Kylee, you can do 'this or that' by yourself....you don't need me to do it for you. You are a big girl. Once Carter comes, I won't be able to help you with these little things all the time". (Given these "little things" are small tasks such as hanging up her towel after her shower, helping her clean her room, organizing her book shelf, etc). These are things she needs to do herself anyway. She has been spoiled her whole life because Mommy has been able to be there for every little tiny detail in her life. But despite her moments of sadness, she is the most excited little girl to be a big sister soon. She wants to help with every little thing, and she will be the best helper I could ever ask for. She is going to love Carter more than she can imagine.

My heart is already open and has loved Carter from day one. I never imagined what sharing my heart and love with two children could possibly be like. But I now understand that it is possible and very real. Kylee will always be my baby and I am so thankful for the 6 years I have had to give her 100% of all I have. I will continue to give her all that I have, but now I'm going to be giving all I have to sweet Carter boy too.....so even though the love will be the same, things are going to be changing.

As I think about what it's going to be like in California and all that is going to be taking place, I can't help but be extremely overwhelmed with the spirit, with gladness, with pure joy.....but yet with such a heavy heart for our sweet birth mother. I love her more than words can express. She has changed my life in more ways than one. To me, she is the most amazing woman in the world! She knows what she is doing is the right thing to do for both her and for Carter. It will make both their lives better in the end. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. She loves Carter more than words can say. I'm so thankful his birth mother and I have such a unique and strong bond so that I can always have amazing and wonderful stories and examples to share with him as he grows up. He will know that he was loved from the second he was created and that he has more people that love him than most people do here on this earth. He is such a lucky little man! I love that he will never have to question where he came from. He will always know that his birth Mom is the most amazing woman who loves him more than anything.

I never expected our adoption journey to end this way. If I could have planned and written it out the way I wanted it to be, I never could have dreamed of something this wonderful and absolutely perfect. Saying that I feel lucky and blessed, doesn't even begin to describe what I'm feeling. And I know those feelings are going to be magnified 1,000% once I hold Carter in my arms. Oh he is going to be so absolutely perfect in every way!

With so many emotions running through me, I don't feel like I'm making sense as I write it all out. But with each passing hour that brings us closer to our baby boy, I can't help but get these feelings out of me and on "paper". It helps me relax a little and to just breathe and take one moment at a time. I know that what David and I are about to experience is going to be the most spiritual experience of our lives. I know that all things are possible through our Savior Jesus Christ and I know that He will strengthen our birth mother through this process and that He will help us through this transition as well. I love my little family!

So happy!

2011-10-03T08:30:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning with so much gratitude. Maybe it was because of the amazing messages I heard at conference this weekend. All I know is that I have an amazing life filled with more blessings that I can count. I don't feel deserving of most of them. Somehow I was lucky enough to be born into the church and raised in an amazing family with siblings that I consider to be my best friends. I have supportive, loving parents who have solid testimonies of the gospel. I have an amazing group of friends who kept me grounded and "on the straight and narrow path" during my crazy teenage years.....and who are still my closest friends! I have made new friends throughout my life who have made an impact on my life in more ways than one whom I love dearly. I was blessed with many talents that I'm so thankful for and am happy to share those talents with others. I have coached the most amazing girls throughout the past 10 years and find great joy watching those girls excel. I have been blessed with the most amazing callings, especially with the youth and I find even greater joy watching those young women and sweet primary children grow and develop in the gospel....and in life! All these blessings and more have made me who I am today and I wouldn't change a thing. But the most amazing blessing in my life is my sweet little family, who is still in the process of growing.

I don't know what I did to deserve such an amazing man. I could never say enough about him and how good he is to me. He is the best father I could ask for and he works so hard to support our family....physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for him. I also thank my Father in Heaven for the family that came with David. I LOVE my Mother-in-law more than I could say. And all of his family has blessed our lives in so many ways and I love every single one of them!

How we got blessed with the most perfect daughter is beyond me! She was sent to us to be our angel and to teach us, guide us, and keep us focused on what life is all about. She makes us smile everyday and she gives us hope for our future. I don't know what I did to deserve her. She is so beautiful inside and out and impresses me daily with the things she is learning and can do.

I was blessed......YES BLESSED......with the trial of infertility after Kylee was born. This was always my biggest fear growing up when I was young because all I ever wanted to be was a mother. After we got pregnant with Kylee right away, I thought my fear was just that.....fear! But little did I know that it was going to be my reality. I didn't embrace it or want to accept it. I always had hope that something would work. I had many MANY ups and downs with it. But thankfully I was blessed with unshakable faith. Another amazing blessing that Heavenly Father somehow saw that I was deserving of. This faith has literally carried me through this trial. And just when I was about to give up, I was yet AGAIN blessed beyond my belief.

How I got so lucky to be getting this amazing TRUE angel will always be beyond me. Adoption was always something I talked about when I was young too. I would say...."as soon as I'm done having kids, I want to adopt a baby....just because". Little did I know that this would be my reality as well....but not JUST BECAUSE. This is the amazing way that Heavenly Father intended for me and David to expand our family. I embraced and accepted it, relying heavily on that faith I was blessed with. It was hard....it was extremely emotional. But somehow through it all, I was yet again blessed beyond belief with the most amazing birth mother who was going to be giving us her precious angel. Again....I can't stop thinking to myself "how did I get so lucky"? And by "lucky", I mean blessed.

This is why my heart is full of gratitude this morning. I woke up thinking about my life and how I got to where I am today. And because of everything I just said, I will forever be eternally grateful to my Father in Heaven because I know that none of this could have been possible without Him.

The thing that I'm most grateful for.........to have the knowledge that I am a daughter of my Father in Heaven and he loves me and wants me to be happy. With this knowledge, anything is possible!

FALL IS HERE!!!!

2011-09-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

I know it's the first day of Fall, but it doesn't feel like it considering it's still triple digits today. However, I am trusting the calendar and celebrating this day because I've been waiting for Fall to get here for a LONGGGG time now! This Fall will bring amazing weather, cute fashion (boots!!), it will take us one step closer to the holidays, and of course it means that Carter is almost here! We are about 5 weeks and counting until we welcome our sweet baby boy into our family. The excitement in our home is building more and more with each passing day. We are starting to buy more and more baby stuff for our little man, his crib is all set up, we got to go visit our AMAZING birth mother again and meet more of her awesome family.....it's just heaven over here and can't believe we are living our dream! I'm so thankful for all the online baby sales lately. I had a fun night the other night ordering away for our handsome guy. These shoes are just so stinkin' cute!

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When we got home from our visit with our birth mother, we were surprised with the stoller I've been wanting! My sisters and my Mom knew we were going to go out and buy this when we got home from our trip so they decided to get it for us. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it and love my amazing family!!!

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The reason for our pure joy.....CARTER!!!

Our birth mother set up another ultra sound for us to go see how much he has grown and changed since our last visit 6 weeks ago. His cheeks are chubbier than ever and he was smiling SO MUCH again! He is going to be our healthy (aka...super cute chunky) and smiley/happy baby! Oh we can't wait to meet him and give him all our love!!!!

We kept Kylee girl home with my parents so she can save her "missed days of school" for when Carter comes. We missed her so much but we will miss her even more when we will need to stay in California for a while once Carter is born. So we saved her days so that she can stay with us for a few days during that time.

We feel so incredibly blessed and we love our babies so much! It's going to be hard for me to realize that Kylee isn't my baby anymore! She hasn't been my "baby" for a while now considering she is 6 and in 1st grade, but she will always be my baby to me. Always! But I think I need to stop calling her "baby". That is my main nick name for her. Not sure if I will be able to stop calling her that. It's just habit. I'm sure it will phase out when I start calling Carter "baby". I can't have two babies! Oh I'm sooooo excited to have two kids! I'm so excited to have a boy! I'm so ready. Bring on the sleepless nights, the poopy diapers, the constant spit up all over my freshly washed shirts....bring it all on! I can't wait!

BRING ON FALL!!!

Goodbye August

2011-09-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

With August gone, that means a few things. 1 - Kylee is one year older, 2 - summer is nearing to an end, 3 - volleyball season has officially started, and 4 - it's one month closer to us getting our Carter boy! Bring on September and let's hope it goes by just as fast!

OUR AUGUST...

We had lots of fun as a family but we were also able to spend some time with our friends. I have talked a lot about my "girls" and how we have been close since grade school.....and I love that we still find the time to all get together! We had a BBQ at Heather's new house. Jodi left before we took this picture, but here's 5 of us (missing Christina and Jodi). We had a great time catching up with all our busy lives!

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Onto Kylee and her recent happenings. I stayed with Natalie and Deron's kids for a few days while they were in New York. Some random fun....Kylee, Kyrstin and Dylan mattress sliding down the stairs. Oh to be a kid again!

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Kylee's amazing writing skills! I love it!

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Hat day at school. She was super excited to wear her dance recital hat!

We started Kylee in gymnastics this year. She has taken 2 years of dance and has taken a tumbling class, but she has never taken a real gymnastics class in a gym. She is loving it and loves having two of her friends from church there.

I've noticed something missing in my last few posts. I don't talk about David enough! He is the super hero Dad and husband behind the scenes and doesn't get a lot of "publicity"! Haha! But he is just that.....an amazing husband and father and Kylee and I don't know what we'd do without him. He works so hard to support our family and is the reason why we are able to have the amazing life that we have. I'll be sure to include him in more pictures so that he can be a part of my blog too. Haha!

Good-bye summer break...

2011-08-17T12:17:00.000-07:00

Well, summer break is over and Kylee is officially a 1st grader!!!! Soooo much has happened this summer. I really need to update my blog more than once a month because I have so much to journal and so many pictures to post. I had to cut them down so this post won't get too overwhelming!

Since my last post, I spilled the beans and mentioned that we are adopting a beautiful baby boy! He is still "cooking" and won't be here until the end of October, but we are anxiously awaiting his arrival and preparing to welcome our little man into our lives. Everything with our adoption journey is wonderful and couldn't be better. I'll talk more about that later.

I'm kind of OCD when it comes to my blog and I have to talk about thing in order from when they happened. Haha! So first things first! Christina turned 30! Just to explain, I grew up with an amazing group of friends....all LDS....and we have been each other's support group from day one. I don't know what I'd do without my girls. Well, Christina is the oldest out of us by a couple months so she has always been the first one to "get older". Well, we all knew this year was coming....but did it have to be here already? Ugh! We are all turning 30 this year and Christina was the first one to take the plunge. Those of us who were in town all got together to help celebrate her big day. Words can't express just how much I love this girl. :)

Kylee has been keeping busy this summer with her cousins. Since moving from Queen Creek, she has been making friends in our new ward but she has also had the chance to get closer to my side of the family. Kylee misses her Queen Creek cousins DEARLY, but she is also loving this time with her "West-side" cousins. She had quite a few sleep overs at Aunt Nanny's house and spent some quality girl time with her cousin Kyrstin and friend Landyn. She also has spent quite a few summer days swimming at Aunt Tera's with her cousins there, and spending some fun time at the Montez home with her cousins there. I don't have any pics of that but she has had the best summer with all of her cousins!

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The highlight of our summer was going to meet our birth Mom in San Diego! We decided to make a little "trip" out of it and went up a few days early to see Grandma Deede and Grandpa Jiggs. It was Grandma's birthday so we were excited to spend the day with her while we were there. No trip to Grandma Deede's is complete without swimming!!! Here is Kylee and Daddy enjoying a hot and extremely humid swim!

After spending a couple days in El Centro, we drove out to San Diego to meet our birth mother. We couldn't wait!!!! We spent a great day with her and her family. We feel so blessed to be adopting from such a wonderful family. We don't know how we got so lucky! After spending the first day in San Diego with the birth Mom and her family, we went back and got to go to a 3D ultra sound with her. It was the most amazing thing I've seen!!!!! We got to see our little guy swimming and dancing on the screen. It was beautiful. Kylee got to see it too. We are so glad she was able to experience all of this first hand. It helps her understand where her baby brother is coming from. Here she is all dressed and ready to see her brother....

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And here he is......our handsome little man! We have had a heck of a time trying to figure out what his name is. He is such a special guy that we knew there was a very special name that was meant to be his. So through much prayer and recommendations galore from everyone we knew, we found his name! Everyone....this is CARTER AARON PEW! :)

It was a great trip and we absolutely love our birth mother! She is amazing and comes from an even more amazing family. We feel so incredibly blessed!
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Now onto our Kylee girl. She turned 6 years old on August 9th! Time is flying by and we love watching our princess grow and learn more everyday. With things being a little crazy this summer, we didn't have a big "blow out" party like we have every year. But we did have two small little celebrations. The first one was a joint celebration with my family. There are a lot of birthdays in August on my side of the family so we all celebrated at Natalie's house and had a fun time! Then we took Kylee out to Queen Creek to celebrate at Peter Piper Pizza with all our family and her friends out there. Kylee was so excited to see all her cousins that she hadn't seen in a while. They are all amazing and we miss them everyday!

Of course with Kylee turning one year older, that means my traditional birthday "picture" post comes with it! I try to find different pictures when I do this so I'm not posting the same ones every year. So with that...here is the growth and progress of our princess:

New born (2 weeks old)

6 months old

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1 year old

2 years old

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3 years old

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4 years old

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5 years old

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6 years old

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With summer break over, that means Kylee has started 1st grade! She started at her new school and she is loving it so far. She luckily has 1 girl from her primary class in her school class, and another girl from her primary class in the room next to her school class. So she gets to play at recess and eat lunch with both of her new friends. And I know she is making more new friends everyday at school. I'm so thankful she is a social butterfly and doesn't have a hard time making friends. We are so proud of her and the person she is becoming.
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Here are some pictures of her first day of school!

We love you baby bear....more than you'll ever know! We can't wait for you to be a big sister (VERY SOON!!!) and know you will be the best big sister Carter could ever wish for. You are going to be the best helper ever. And Carter is going to be the most loved little guy ever! All our prayers are coming true this year. It's amazing to go through so many years and months of hardships and to finally see where all those tears have lead us. We can't believe how amazing it all is. We never expected it to be THIS good. Heavenly Father loves us more than we can ever possibly imagine. Life is so good! :)

BLESSINGS!

2011-07-19T09:23:00.000-07:00

Time and patience is something that I have grown to learn and accept over the past 8 years. For example:

*3 years = the time it took for David to finally agree that it was time to start our family (Kylee)

*27 1/2 hours = the length of my labor with Kylee (without a functional epidural)

*3 1/2 years = the amount of time we spent doing fertility treatments and other surgeries to try and get pregnant again

*3 months = the time it took to get certified to adopt (thanks to a lazy case worker)

*3 weeks = the amount of time it took to hear from our first birth mother

*5 months = the dry spell we had where we didn't hear from a single birth mother

*2 weeks = the amount of time it took for the perfect birth mother to decide we were the family for her precious baby

*Eternity = the endless amount of time I get to love and cherish my sweet miracle baby that is soon to join our family!

The events that have taken place over the past month have been absolutely amazing! I've never before seen the Lord's hand so evident in my life. We decided to move to the West Valley with my parents to pay off our astounding fertility bills, but little did we know that the Lord was directing us here to put us in the hands of those that were going to help us expand our family. The first Sunday here I met the first person that was going to help us in this journey. She taught the Relief Society lesson and told of her own adoption story with her 3 children. It was just what I needed to hear after being discouraged with our adoption situation. She then referred me to an amazing case worker out here on the West Valley. This case worker was the next person to help us in this journey. She has given us new hope and ambition to move forward with adoption (after wanting to give up). The 3rd person to help us was someone that has been in my life since I was a baby! I grew up with her. She is one of my most dearest and BEST friends. Miss Christina Contreras was in the right place at the right time and had certain friends in her life that helped her become an instrument in helping us expand our family. Due to a friend contact who knew a birth mother wanting to place her baby, we were able to find the answers to all our prayers! We are now preparing to become a family of 4 and our lives are forever changing!

Words can't express just how much I love and appreciate this birth mother. Not only is she entrusting her precious baby to us, but she has also been the perfect example of faith, endurance, love, and courage. We have learned so much from her in the short amount of time that we have been in contact with her. The Lord has guided us into each other's lives for a very special and unique purpose. It's amazing to me to see how great His love is for each and every one of His children. I know He loves me and knows the desires of my heart. I am so thankful to have this knowledge. I am in shock at how fast this is all happening after years and years of heartache....but I know that it is happening this way because it is meant to be and it is all in the Lord's hands. I can't wait to hold our new baby in our arms....to love him, kiss him, watch him grow, see his talents and abilities form and prosper, and the list goes on and on. I just can't wait to be his Mommy!!!

The happiness we feel as a family cannot be measured. The smile on my face hasn't left since July 1st when I read the first email from this amazing birth mother. Life is SO good and I feel extreme peace knowing that my Father in Heaven is the one in control. I just pray that I can continue to live my life the way He wants me to so that I can receive those blessings He is waiting to pour out upon me and my family. His plan is greater than any plan I could ever want for myself. I'm so thankful to be on this journey! Our Pewfect family is closer to becoming complete! Life is just Pewfect!!!!!!

OLD MAN!!!!

2011-07-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

I'd like to dedicate this entire post to a very special someone!!!! The one, the only....MR. PEWFECTION!!! He's my birthday boy today, turning the big 32! I could go on and on about this amazing guy but I'll let the pictures do most of the talking!

We have so much fun together and I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have him FOREVER! :)

(At Disneyland on the Toy Story ride)

(Road trip home from Utah)

(At a Diamondback's game)

(Bowling with friends)

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I can't say enough about the kind of father David is. Kylee (and any future children to come) are the luckiest kids ever to have him as their Daddy! One thing that I absolutely LOVE about David is how great he is with children. So it's no wonder why every other kid loves him.......but no kid loves him more than his Kylee princess!!!

(Dancing at the Daddy-Daughter dance at Kylee's school)

(Making faces at the camera...being silly together, as usual!)

(Playing with each other while waiting in line at Disneyland to see the princesses)

(Posing before we eat a yummy meal at Cheesecake Factory)

(Gotta love how Natalie captures all the great moments behind her camera.....this is one of my most favorite pictures of all time)

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The number one thing I LOVE LOVE LOVE about David is how he always makes me laugh. There is never a dull moment around our house and in our lives thanks to this guy right here. Here are just a couple classic moments caught on camera that pretty much define who David is...

(Always cracking sarcastic jokes and he laughing at himself! No one laughs more at his jokes than HIMSELF!)

(Posing next to his "twin"....Jared from Subway. HAHAHAHAHA)

(And of course, playing practical jokes on all of us at the beach. Just incase you are wondering, this is really a twig! Haha)

Oh how I love this guy!!!! Happy birthday old man! :) I love you more than you'll ever know!

Adoption Journey Update...

2011-07-07T21:53:00.000-07:00

We haven't had much to report in the past 5 months....until now! We had a crazy long and sad 5 month dry streak where we hadn't heard from any birth mothers. It was a very trying time for me personally. A time where I began to doubt renewing some of our paperwork that was due, and quite honestly, I started to doubt whether or not I wanted to keep going down this road. We have been certified for just over a year now and within our first year, we were contacted by 5 birth mothers....3 of which we communicated for long periods of time. But for one reason or another, contact was cut short and we have no idea why. I'm not sure why every single birth mother we have talked to just suddenly decides to stop talking to us with out giving us an explanation, but then again, I can't imagine being in their shoes and to be experiencing what they are experiencing. I know that this is hard for David and I....to be on the adopting side of things. But I can't begin to imagine what it must be for the birth mother's who are desperately trying to find the RIGHT family that their baby is supposed to be with. So I can't get angry at the fact that I have no idea why communication keeps getting cut short without explanation when it seemed to be going so well. The only thing I can keep telling myself is that when the right birth mother finds us and gives us the opportunity to love and care for another baby, everything will work out and all these "bumps in the road" and tears will all be worth it!

The past 2 weeks have been an answer to our prayers! We got a new case worker who is absolutely AMAZING! We have new found hope and ambition to keep going because she is making all the difference in this journey. It's nice to have a case worker who genuinelly cares and is excited to help us find our baby. We never felt that one time with our other case worker. So we are super excited to have her! And even more exciting news....because of a close friend of ours (you know who you are), we are now in contact with an amazing birth mother! I don't want to give details because this contact is still very new and we are just starting to get to know one another, but regardless of what happens...I'm just so thrilled to be in contact with a birth mother again. It's so hard to not get my hopes up but I'm trying to find the balance of reality and getting too excited! Haha! It's so hard for me not to get my hopes up because everyday I pray for this, and with every contact I get from birth mothers, I'm that much closer to finding our baby!

I always knew that taking this adoption route was going to be difficult and emotional, but I guess no one ever really knows how difficult something is going to be until they are in the middle of it. Regardless of the pain and tears....and ups and downs....I KNOW that this is what we are supposed to be doing and that there is a precious spirit out there who is meant to be a part of our eternal family. I can't wait to meet him/her and to love him/her forever. I pray that this moment will come soon for our family. I think the only person that wants this as much as David and I is our sweet little Kylee girl. She continues to pray daily for a brother or sister and because of the events that have transpired these past couple weeks, she hears us talking and praying constantly about it and she thinks we are getting a baby any day now. We try to keep her out of things because we don't want to get her hopes up. Getting our hopes up is one thing, but to let down a sweet child is another. So we don't tell her when we are in contact with birth mothers. But she met our new case worker and she knows that she is going to help us find a baby.....so it is fresh on her mind and she thinks our case worker is going to bring us a baby tomorrow! Haha! She is so sweet and innocent. But I sure hope she is right! I pray that she is right!

2011 Family Reunion

2011-06-28T08:19:00.000-07:00

We just had our 2011 family reunion (on David's side) and it was so much fun! I wasn't able to go to the last reunion because of regionals, but this year I was able to go and I'm so glad I did. I love all my family and am so thankful to have married into such an amazing family. We went to Utah where all of David's Aunts and Uncle live. It was a nice break in the weather. Our main "meeting" place was at Brett's house....where it was absolutely gorgeous.
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Here is Quincy, Navy and Kylee waiting their turn to ride Uncle Brett's horse!

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Finally their turn!!

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Kylee always wanted to hold baby Quincy. Hopefully she can hold her own baby brother or sister soon!

The first day we were there we all went on a hike. Sydney, Meg and Madeline are such happer hikers!

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At the end of the hike was a waterfall. It was icy cold water from the melting snow-capped mountains. It was tucked in a little cave area. Here is Kylee walking towards the waterfall.

The water was FREEZING and I could hardly handle it!

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We were all troopers and walked to through the cold water to the waterfall. But we didn't go through!!

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However, these crazy girls (Syd and Madge) did go through. They went through first and others followed after.

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Including Kylee! My brave little girl!!!

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Drying off on our hot car!

The whole crazy gang that went on the hike!!

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Next we went ice blocking down a huge grassy hill. The kids all loved it!

The next day was the reunion. It was at Aunt Jerelyn and Uncle Tom's Sandhill. The view was gorgeous!

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All the siblings starting off the program with a tradition fun song about the family. They are so much fun!

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Next was the talent show. Some of the girls singing "Mean" by Taylor Swift.

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No party is complete without a pinata!

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David wearing part of the pinata as a hat.

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Uncle Brett roping a baby calf so that Uncle Tom and his sons could brand and tag it. It was cool to see! The Momma cow in the back was mooing aggressively at the boys as if to say "leave my baby alone"! It was sad, but cool to experience!

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Kylee watching on Chad's knee! She met and made a lot of new friends on this trip. So glad she is able to get to know her extended family.

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Water balloon toss!!! Navy and Kylee never moved past this point. It was funny!

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Sparklers later that night. Kylee was a little concerned at first that it was going to burn her hand. Haha!

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Then the drive back home. We stopped in Vegas and stayed the night the way up and on the way back. It made the long drive to Utah not as LONG!

We had so much fun on our trip. Kylee is so blessed to have so much family. We all are. But Kylee was able to play with all her cousins and new cousins she met in Utah. She is surrounded by so many people that love her. I don't know what we would do without family. We are truly so blessed! Can't wait for our next reunion!!! Hopefully Kylee will be bringing along a sibling or two by the time we see them all again. :)

Westside....all settled in!

2011-06-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

We are all moved in and getting comfortable with our new "home". Living here definitely has it's perks....for example: MICKEY MOUSE PANCAKES!!!

Kylee loves Papa's pancakes!

We were rummaging through some old pictures the other day and we found some pictures of my Mom as a Senior in High School. She was absolutely beautiful! (and still is of course)!

One of the first things we did was start looking for a gym. I am used to working out at boot camps out in Queen Creek so as soon as I knew I wasn't going to have that "luxury" anymore, I did my research and found the most amazing gym who offers a 2 for 1 law enforcement discount! So David and I signed up and are only paying for one membership. It's great! (although I should add that I am the only one who has taken advantage of the gym, so we are basically paying for me only anyway) - hahaha! Ok, ok.....I'm sure David would like for me to add that he hurt his back the other day playing basketball and has been down and out. I'm SURE he'll be in the gym soon! :)

One of the main things that attracted me to this gym was the child care program. Kylee loves the gym more than me! She begs me to go every morning. It's great motivation and keeps me going even when I don't feel like it. (although I am becoming quite the gym rat lately). The other day Kylee tried the rock wall. She was a little hesitant at first and only got about 1/4 way up, but she said she will keep trying and hopefully make it to the top one of these days. Along with the rock wall, Kylee was doing mini-aerobics and dance with one of the day care babysitters. I got to watch her as I ran on the treadmill. Each machine has it's own tv and we can watch the day care cameras or tv while we work out. It is pretty much AMAZING!

So I have to write some things for journaling purposes. We have been out here for 2 weeks now and the first week was quite an adjustment. So much so that I started to get home sick. I was missing Queen Creek, missing the Higginson's, missing all our family and friends out East, missing our ward. I was second guessing our decision to move out here. As the week went on, it got a little better and I started getting used to everything, but when I sat in church at another new ward....I started getting "bitter" and just wanted to go back to our home ward where we knew everyone and where everything was familiar. I missed my primary kids and those I served with! I had a very negative attitude as we were sitting there waiting for church to start. ****It was fast and testimony meeting and everything changed when a sweet little old Greek lady got up to bare her testimony. It was the most moving and powerful testimony I have ever heard! And I'm not just saying that. Something about her touched me so deeply and I was immediately changed. I couldn't stop crying throughout the rest of the meeting. Then relief society came and the person giving the lesson has 3 adopted children. She included her adoption story in her lesson and how hard it was to come to that point. I couldn't believe this was the lesson...on this day....our first week there. My Mom introduced us after church was over and we immediately connected and she had so many wonderful suggestions and advice for me. We met a couple days later and as a result, we now have a new case worker who (from what I can tell already) is absolutely amazing!!! I have a new found ambition to keep going after I was ready to give up. And best of all, this lady has a little 5 year old girl (who is adopted) and Kylee loves her! Kylee got to watch her adoption video and to see what adoption is all about. I'm so thankful for our new found friendship with this family. It is such a blessing!

When we first made the decision to move out here, it was mainly just to help us pay off the fertility debt we had accrued over the past 4 years (and I was excited to be closer to my family). But I never expected to receive and get so many answers to prayers that I didn't even know I was searching for. I'm not sure if moving out here is going to be permanent for our family, but for now, I KNOW that we are supposed to be out here! I'm so thankful for the gospel and that no matter where we go, it's always there! I'm so thankful for family who loves and supports us in our time of need. Living with the Higginson's was amazing and I miss them dearly. We bonded with them over the past 2 months that we got to live with them. I'm so thankful for that time we had with them and I'm thankful that our relationship with them is forever changed because of it. Family is amazing and I don't know what I'd do without ALL of our family!

LIFE IS GOOD!

Summer is here!!!

2011-05-28T08:13:00.000-07:00

Summer 2011 is officially here.....and what do we do to kick start it off?

SWIM of course!!!!

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With summer break starting, that can only mean one thing......Kylee isn't a Kindergartener anymore! So sad, yet so exciting at the same time. Kylee's school had a "Kindergarten Celebration" performance instead of a graduation this year, so a parent decided to throw a pool party graduation at a local pool. I'm so glad she did because it was the perfect way to end a perfect school year. Kylee made so many great friends this year and we are so sad to be moving and not see them next year.

Mrs. Wright showed up to say hi to all her kids! Not all of the class showed up but it was a great turn out none the less. They all had a blast!

They even had a little back drop and a cap and gown for them to take pictures. Cutest thing ever!

With summer here, it only means changes for the Pews. We are so sad to leave all our family and friends here in Queen Creek, but are also excited to be close to my family on the West side of town. Well, I'm more excited than David because he doesn't understand that a girl needs her sisters and Mom! Haha! But this could just be a temporary move. Not sure where we will be in a year. Either back here in Queen Creek, or we will permanently stay out there in Peoria. Either way, it's a win-win situation for us because we love both places and will be happy in either city. Well, David would be more happy out here since he is an "East sider", but I guess I would be happy in either place. But my Mom and sisters would probably kill me if we move back! Haha! My Mom has been trying to get me to move back ever since we moved out to Queen Creek 8 years ago. :)

Either way....life is good and we are so blessed to have amazing family on both the West and East side! We are good to go wherever we live because we are surrounded by loved ones. For now, we are going to embrace the summer, enjoy all our time with Kylee girl, and do what we do best.....soak up the sun! :)

Mother's Day and Kylee's Recital

2011-05-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day! Everyday that I get to be Kylee's Momma is a day of celebration to me....but it's fun to get gifts on one of those days! Kylee and David got me work out clothes! LOVE THEM!

Every year the Montez women get together for our annual Mother's Day lunch at Olive Garden. It's a tradition I've come to love and look forward to every year. I love all the women in my life!

This past weekend was Kylee's dance recital. She danced at the Suns game back in February and now this was the end of the year recital. She had two performances and did great! She had a lot of people come to support her!

Kyrstin...Kylee loves her cousin! We get to go watch Kyrstin at her dance recital in a month and Kylee can't wait!

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Kylee and her dance teacher....Miss Melanie! She is awesome and we loved her!

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Aunt Nanny and Kyrstin! They both surprised us. We didnt' know they were coming. Kylee was so excited!!

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And of course Kylee's best supporters came....Grandma and Papa Montez!

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Family pic at the end of the recital. We are so proud of our dancing Queen!

Something special happened at the recital. In Kylee's first dance performance, all the girls had pom-poms as a prop during part of the song. They placed their pom-pom's behind them while they danced to the first part of the song and then went back to get their pom-pom's during the second part of the song. Well, Kylee's pom-poms accidentally got taken and she couldn't find another set of pom-pom's close to her. She was frantically looking around while all the girls kept on dancing. I wanted to cry for her! I was afraid she was going to cry and run off stage. But instead....she made us SO PROUD! After 5 seconds of looking and not being able to find her pom-pom's, she jumped back in with all her dancer friends and started dancing as if she was holding her pom-pom's. She didn't skip a beat! My tears of sadness and feeling sorry for her quickly turned into tears of pride.

I quickly ran back stage to comfort her, thinking she was going to save her tears for backstage....but she had a smile on her face and was quickly changing into her next outfit for her second dance. She wasn't sad at all. If you know Kylee, she is a very tender-hearted girl. So I was certain that she was going to get upset about this. But she kept a smile on her face and was professional about the whole thing. I was so impressed and learned something new about my princess that day. She never ceases to amaze me everyday! She makes me so proud. I don't know how I got so extremely lucky. What did I do to deserve to be her Mother? I'm thankful for her every second of every day. She is the best example for me....and now she is an example of never giving up and keeping a smile on your face no matter what happens in life. She gave me the BEST Mother's Day gift ever by showing me her strength and optimism. Words could never describe how much we love our princess!

Girl's Trip for Jodi's Wedding

2011-05-07T19:55:00.000-07:00

I just went on the quickest, yet "funnest", trip ever this weekend!!! One of my best friend's got married this weekend in St. George so Heather, Tausha and I packed up and made a fun girl's trip out of it! We decided to stop in Vegas and stay the night at the Circus Circus. Did you know it's only $34 per night there?? Amazing!! Here we are after arriving from our 4 hour drive, getting ready to drive the strip! We were too tired to walk it!

The next morning, curling our hair and getting ready to make the 2 hour drive to St. George for Jodi's big day!

At the Jolley cabin! The scenery was gorgeous and perfect for a Jodi wedding!!!

Heather and I decided it was necessary to test out the wedding spot! It was perfect!! Well, perfect for now until they get sealed in the temple soon!!

The beautiful bride herseld!! LOVE HER!

The happy couple! New fresh love!!!

Welcome to the MP family McKay! We love you already!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my friends. I am so lucky to have had the best friends in high school and to be able to still have an amazing bond with them to this day. They kept me on the right track and were great examples for me during those crazy tough teenage years. I'm so thankful for them everyday and I love them all so much!

PS...we missed you Heidi Marie!!! Get off that cruise ship and come home so we can celebrate with you too!

Kindergarten Program

2011-04-29T08:32:00.000-07:00

Last night was Kylee's "Kindergarten Celebration". This is in lieu of a graduation. It was super cute and the theme was based off of a book called The Sleeping Time Alphabet....so all the kids were wearing pajamas. They have been working hard on this for weeks and it turned out amazing! I volunteered to help make the set/back drop and I think that turned out just as amazing as the program!

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Here is Kylee's group talking about the letter Z. Kylee got to hold the letter!

Kylee's teacher, Mrs. Wright. WE LOVE HER!

Kylee has made so many great friends this year. We are sad to be leaving....but there's a chance we will be back for 2nd grade. If we do move back, we hope that all her friends will still be here too!

More friends!

They had a slide show of all the kids "profiles". They drew these pictures on a computer. Some of them were hilarious!

The set!!!!! Isn't it cute!? It's hard to see all the detail but it is so cute!

I can't believe Kylee's first year of school is almost over. She has done amazingly well in school...even with preschool the past couple years. I'm so glad that she loves school and loves to interact with all her friends at school. She is progressing well and we couldn't be more proud of the student and person she is, and is continuing to become. We love her so much and are so blessed to have her in our lives!

This video isn't the best but I wanted to catch some of the program on film for the Grandma's and Papa's! Kylee looks a little scared in this film. Haha! But I caught some of her friends smiling for the camera!

Easter 2011

2011-04-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

Have I ever mentioned that Easter candy is my favorite candy of all the holidays? Well...it is! A tradition that Kylee and I have come to be "famous" for is dying eggs for the egg cracking game we play every year. It's been a Montez family tradition for as long as I can remember, and 4 years ago, I brought it to David's side of the family. So we had A LOT of eggs to boil and dye this year since we have added a few more people to each side of the family.

Friday was our Montez Easter celebration at Grandma and Papa Montez's. Kylee is my best helper...she loves dying the eggs! Pretty soon, she'll be doing this job all by herself and Momma can take a break!

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Let the games begin...

Can always count on Dad to make a classic "doh" face whenever his egg loses the battle!

Caleb won this year! He's trying to make his toughest "egg winning" face right here! Haha!

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Today (Sunday) was the Higginson/Oram/Pew Easter celebration. There are too many of us and I couldn't get us all in the picture. But it sure is a fun gang!

Sweet baby girl Quincy Lola! The only baby left in the family. Sure hope we can add a little Pew baby soon!!

As always...we have the BEST time celebrating the holidays with our family. We are so blessed to have the best families on both sides. Church was great today and I'm so thankful for this holiday season that we have it to remember Christ our Savior and that he died for us and was resurrected so that we too can live forever with our families and be happy! I know he is my Savior and that he loves me. I am so blessed....we are truly so blessed because of this day. I love my family SOOO much. LIFE IS GOOD!

Daddy Daughter Dance!!!!

2011-04-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was the Daddy Daughter dance at Kylee's school. Kylee has been looking forward to this for weeks! We went shopping for a new dress and new shoes for this VERY special occasion. We even bought Daddy a matching PINK tie! They were the cutest couple there. I was so lucky because I got to go as a volunteer Mom and help. As we were setting up, I was so excited because the colors were black and pink....the same colors as Kylee's dress! It was so meant to be! :)

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Here is the princess herself all ready to go!

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Kenzie and Kylee...one of her good friends at school

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Mallika and Kylee....another good friend of hers at school

Daddy doing the cha-cha! Hilarious!!!

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Daddy spinning Kylee.....so precious!

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The cutest couple ever! Kylee always says that she wants to marry her Daddy. As long as she marries someone JUST like her Daddy, Mommy will be extremely happy!

It was so fun to watch them dance together and to see Kylee having so much fun with her little friends. The hit song of the night was "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz. As soon as that song came on, all the girls went running and screaming to the middle of the dance floor and sang and danced to the entire song. It was so cute!

Kylee has the best Daddy ever! I'm so thankful for the special relationship that they have and to see how much Kylee ADORES her Daddy. She is definitely Daddy's little girl.

Spring

2011-04-12T08:52:00.001-07:00

Spring is here, and it has pretty much come and gone in a matter of a week! I've lived in Arizona my entire life and I've come to realize 2 things about this state:

1. Arizona has 2 seasons ("warm" winter, and "crazy hot" summer)

2. Arizona's weather is only consistent during the middle of summer, when the temperatures consistently stay in the triple digits. Otherwise, the weather can be 50 degrees one day and then 100 the next. Case in point....

This is Kylee and Emily swimming last week in 100 degree weather.

3 days later....it was 41 degrees and the heaters were cranked up! What the heck??

As of lately...

Kylee was given an assignment in school a couple weeks ago and it was all about what you want to be when you grow up. This was Kylee's paper! I couldn't be more proud! Haha! If you can't understand it, it says that she wants to be a "volleyball girl"! YES!!!

My latest obsession.....I can't get enough of these things!

So David has been a police officer for almost 3 years now and I still have an extreme fear of guns. I always have. I have NEVER shot a gun before! Whenever I see his gun, I think death and accidents! So I make him keep them hidden from sight when he is home....in the safe they go!!! Well lately I've been wanting to go shooting so I can get over this fear and gain a little "gun knowledge". So yesterday we went to a shooting range and David taught me gun shooting 101!

David said there are a million things wrong with my form in this picture but I think it looks pretty good! Haha! Below is the "master" at work! I guess he does look a little more comfortable and relaxed than I do. I guess my posture shows what I'm really feeling inside....FEAR and anticipation of what's going to happen when I pull the trigger.

I bet you can't guess what bullet holes are mine in this target picture below?! Hahaha! This was the first target I shot at. It got better as the time went on. I almost hit the X!

The "debt-free" journey has begun! We have officially moved out of our house and rented it out to an amazing family who is going to take care of our house....and we have moved in with family for the next few months so we can start paying off our fertility/medical debts! The past 4 1/2 years of uncovered fertility treatments and surgeries have really put us in over our heads with bills. I'm so thankful that David has an amazing SECURE job to help us pay off our debts fast! But we can't do it without the help of cutting WAY back on our day to day expenses. We have the most amazing family, on both sides, and they are more than willing to help us out by letting us live with them. We can't wait to have a clean slate so that we can prepare for our future children (through adoption or more fertility treatments). I joke and tell people that we literally have to make these sacrifices so that we can "buy" our future children. Not sure why it has to be this way for us but we are taking it as it is and know that this is the plan for us, and that blessings await us! We are willing to do whatever it takes to give our sweet Kylee girl a sibling and to have more amazing babies to love!

We just love her SOOOO much and are so thankful to have her in our lives. We wouldn't be able to keep a clear focus on our ending goal without having her sweet smile everyday. She keeps us going! She has given us the ambition to have more sweet spirits in our home no matter what it takes. I thank my Father in Heaven EVERDAY for blessing us with Kylee before sending us on this incredibly difficult infertility journey. I see friends and loved ones going through their infertility journey's without any children, and I just don't know if I could do it. I pray for them daily and feed off of their strength and faith to keep going. No one can EVER know the heart-wrenching pain of infertility unless they have gone through it themselves. It's a cancer of the heart...slowly killing you everyday. I am so thankful for the knowledge that I have...that I know I have a Heavenly Father that loves me and wants me to be happy. That I have a Savior that died for me so that I can live with my family for eternity. That even if I don't get to have more children here on this earth, that I will have that opportunity someday. I'm so thankful for an amazing husband who, even though he feels the same pains I feel, is my rock and supports me through all of it! Life is good and I LOVE LOVE LOVE my little family!

Spring Break 2011

2011-03-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

We love spring break and Daddy's work schedule!!! We were able to get away for 6 days, and it only cost us about a fraction of what it should have. We left for California on Monday and spent all day Tuesday at Disneyland and California Adventure with the Walkers. Most of it was spent at California Adventure since we were just at Disneyland in July. We had a blast!

Here is Kylee and Daddy trying to pass the time while waiting to see the Princesses at Disneyland...

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Belle!

After the princesses, we spent the rest of the day at California Adventure. Londyn and Kylee loved the new Toy Story ride.

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Jumpin' Jellies were next!

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I'm happy to say that Kylee is FINALLY over her fear of real life characters! If you know her, she used to be terrified of them. The Chick-fil-a cow was the worst! She would scream and hide until it was out of sight. And even then, she would stay very close to me knowing that it might still be around. In July when we went to Disneyland in the summer, she was terrified of the princesses and any character she saw.....but she is finally over her fear! The Grizzly Bear at California Adventure got a big hug out of her!

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I'm also happy to say that David is ALMOST over his fear of roller coasters! It took him 31 years to FINALLY ride his first roller coaster! We are in the back (you can't see us), but this was the take-off of his very first ride. Not sure if he will ever ride one again, but at least he can say that he has ridden a roller coaster.....and not the little tiny tinker roller coasters at Disneyland! Hahaha!

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While standing in line for a ride at California Adventure, Kylee lost her second tooth! It was loose for a while but it finally joined it's friend and came out on Tuesday. Luckily the tooth fairy travels and knew just where to find her tooth.

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The family waiting for the World of Color show at California Adventure. This was the highlight of our entire trip. AMAZING! If you ever to go Disneyland/California Adventure, you MUST get a fast pass for this show and see it! We didn't get a fast pass but we found a REALLY nice worker who let us sneak in! It was awesome!

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After Disneyland, we drove to Vegas where we spent the next 4 days. I must say, it isn't the most "kid-friendly" environment, but I think we did a great job of keeping Kylee sheltered from the yucky stuff. We spent our time visiting all the family friendly places. Here we are at the M&M World...

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At the Flamingo Hotel looking at all the fish, turtles, swans, ducks, and flamingos....

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Eating at the Cheesecake Factory inside Cesar's Palace....after watching the Fall of Atlantis show.

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The Asian Acrobats after watching their show. It was really neat to watch. Got my heart racing a few times for sure! They are so strong and daring!!!

Kylee's tooth was being stubborn! It was super loose for a few days and we tried pulling it a couple times. But Kylee would freak out and stop us. Here is one of my MANY attempts at pulling it (while in line at Disneyland)...

We had a great time with the Walkers and also spending some quality family time together. Vegas isn't exactly the "best" family vacation location, but it was free so we made the best experience we could out of it. Won't do it again....but still had fun! I love my little family so much. There's nothing I enjoy more than spending lots and lots of time together and making memories for life. We are home now and it's time to get back to reality. But we are so happy because David doesn't have to work for another 3 days! YAY! The life of being a police officer, and being the wife of a police officer, isn't always "easy".....but the ability to take time off and have a lot of it off is GREAT! Life is good!

Natalia Rae Miller

2011-03-03T21:07:00.000-08:00

I don't really know how to word this post. There really are no words to describe how I'm feeling. So I'm going to do it the only way I know how....and that is in a letter to my sweet baby angel niece.

Natalia Rae,

It's only been 5 short months that I have been able to bond with you and dream about how beautiful you were going to be and all the amazing talents you were going to possess. Oh how you lit up my sister's life when you were sent here to this earth. You see, your Mommy is my sister and I love her so very much. She is my best friend! Your Mommy waited 10 long years for you to come to her. And she finally got you and all her dreams were coming true! But little did we know that Heavenly Father had a different plan for you. You are so special and so perfect that this world just was not good enough for you! Your purpose and plan is far beyond our understanding. Your talents are so special and so great that Heavenly Father needed them in heaven with Him. Your Mommy will always be your Mommy forever, but she is going to have to wait much longer to be able to raise you, and hug you, and kiss you, and hold you again. But she will get to, and we will all get to be blessed with your sweet presence in this next life. We love you more than you'll ever know! Our selfish desires wish to have you here with us on this earth, but we know that what we want isn't always what our Heavenly Father has in store for us. We find peace and comfort knowing you are in the arms of your Father in Heaven. We love you so much baby girl and can't wait to be with you as an eternal family in heaven. Please send love and comfort to your Mommy and Daddy at this time. They miss you so much and love you more than words can express. Let them know that you are ok and that you are perfect and happy and whole where you are. Natalia Rae Miller....we love you baby girl. Thank you for blessing and changing our lives forever.

Love,

Aunt Stefany

Momentous Day!

2011-02-24T07:40:00.000-08:00

It's official......Kylee has lost her first tooth! She is officially a BIG GIRL now! Haha! She has been a big girl for a while now, but it's just crazy to me that she lost a tooth. That marks the "official big girl" status for me. About a month or so ago, Kylee was at school and bit down on her plastic fork during lunch. One of the prongs of the fork got stuck between her two bottom teeth. She came home with semi wiggly teeth that day. Nothing ever came of it because they weren't loose enough to bother her or to wiggle around. But during these past few days, one of those teeth has become more and more loose. This morning she was complaining of it bother her, so we messed around with it a little and then.....pop! I was able to pull that sucker out with ease! She was so excited! Her first visit from the Tooth Fairy is coming tonight! Which makes me wonder.....what is the going "rate" of the tooth fairy these days? Hmmmmm!

Can't Forget!!

2011-02-22T11:43:00.000-08:00

Between Facebook and my blog, I can't remember what pictures I posted where. Apparently I've only been posting pictures and updating "events" in our lives on Facebook. I scrolled through my blog and realized I missed quite a few things. I need to remember to post more on my blog because I print these into journal books every two years and I would hate to miss anything. Lesson learned.....post more on blog.....not so much on facebook! CHECK!

Well, for starters.....I ran my first 1/2 marathon on January 29th, 2011! And, um, yes....that is my birthday as well. My present to myself on my "golden birthday" was waking up at 7am and running 13 miles! I can't think of a better present to give my body. It was so fulfilling and I felt extremely accomplished when I crossed that finish line. The name of the marathon was London's Run....in honor of 6 year old London Solomon who lost her battle to leukemia. This marathon has been held every year since 2006 (I believe) and I have always wanted to participate in it. Well, in 2010, I lost a lot of weight and became addicted to working out. So I decided to start training and prepare for the 1/2 marathon. I can't believe I did it.....but I did!

These pictures aren't very clear because I had to take a picture of them off of the computer! I didn't want to buy them. Haha!

My time was 2 hours and 14 minutes exactly. I was the 354th person to cross the finish line out of 531 people. Kind of sad.....but hey....it was my FIRST 1/2 marathon and the first time I've ever ran more than 8 miles at a time. Crazy stuff! So glad I did it! It came at a price though.....

OUCH!!!!!
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Kylee had her first big dance performance on February 4th. She got to dance at a Suns pregame show. She did so great! It is so fun to watch her grow and develop and do what she loves to do. She is becoming a great little dancer! Makes Mama proud!

Jaime is awesome and came to support her favorite little girl!

Here is Kylee's entire dance group! They were so stinkin' adorable!!

She's in the blue skirt on the bottom, in the middle...

Gotta have the family picture!

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Grandma and Papa Montez came to support their princess too! Kylee was so happy they came!

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Another season has come! I'm in the middle of my 11th season of coaching Club. I have a super fun and adorable (and talented) 15's team. They are amazing girls and they make coaching fun! I love their energy and their ambition to grow and improve. I'm having a blast coaching with Erin Roth. I coached her on my very first High School team at Higley.....and she was a huge contributor to the reason why we won state that year. Love her!

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And now the "not so fun" part of my post......

Kylee has had a fever for 4 days now. It came out of nowhere and it refuses to go away! It's comforting to know that hundreds of others kids around us have gone through this already and the only signs of sickness was the fever. But it lasts for days and weeks! Her doctor said that it just has to run it's course. She has been pumping the fluids and motrin/tylonel everyday. Hope it goes away soon! I hate seeing her like this!!!

The crazy thing is that most of the day she is happy and normal.....like this below! But come 2pm, the fever comes back and she is back to looking like the picture above. And then it goes away again. So weird!

Since Kylee couldn't go to school today, we decided to have a little fun of our own at home and made today "crazy hair day'!! Gotta love these moments because in about an hour, the fever is going to hit and she will be down and out. It's amazing how I can track this fever! It likes to play "hide and go seek". I'll get you dang fever!!! Watch out!!!

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Times are changing for the Pews! We have decided to move. To the West side we will go! My sister Natalie is pregnant and due in a few months. I have always wanted to live closer to my family, but now that my sister is pregnant, it's given me even more motivation to move back there to be a part of that babie's life! I can't wait!!

And that's that! Can't believe I missed all of this. I need to remember to post my pictures on my blog after I post them on Facebook! I would hate to miss out on anything for our journal books. LIFE IS GOOD!

2011 Family Pictures

2011-02-07T09:04:00.000-08:00

We are a little behind on getting our family pictures done but I guess it's better late than never! We meant to send out Christmas cards but never got around to taking our pictures in time, so we decided to take pictures at the beginning of the new year and send out "Happy New Year" cards. We are also going to be turning these into pass along cards for adoption. With a new year, comes new hopes and dreams and goals. We feel good about our life and what is happening for us and we have a fresh ambitious attitude about finding a baby to join our little family. With the helps of our loved ones, we hope 2011 will be our year....the year that Kylee will finally become a big sister! If I don't have your mailing address, please email it to me at stefanypew@gmail.com. My goal is to send pass along cards to everyone I know! The more that know....the better! We are hopeful and optimistic about our future, and as always....LIFE IS GOOD! Hope you enjoy our pictures! My sister is amazing!!!

Dang dog....but thanks!

2011-01-09T17:20:00.000-08:00

Back in April we got a little 8 week old Yorkie-Poo and we named him Charlie. David and I didn't really want to have a dog but Kylee REALLY did. So we decided that since she was turning 5 in a couple months, we felt she was responsible enough and ready to have a puppy. And considering that she is currently an only child, she needed someone to love and have. So a puppy was very fitting at the time and we were all excited to have him join our family.

Well....with puppies comes consequences!!! Within the first 2 months of having him, he chewed up about 10 pairs of sandals, a variety of toys, damaged dresses and various articles of clothing, and left many pee and poo surprises around the house. Oh man......we were ready to give him back or accidently leave the back yard gate open!!!!! The carpet was by far the most frustrating...as you can see here....

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He chewed the entire border of our carpet along the tile. Everywhere carpet met tile, he clawed and chewed at and left the nails exposed for our lovely toes and feet to puncture.

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We debated replacing the entire carpeted area with new carpet or all tile....but found that it was REALLY expensive. But then one day, my good friend Jamie Williams came over and saw it and suggested we get a tile border done. I didn't realize these even existed! But lo and behold...they do and they are WONDERFUL! We had our good friend Colton Grant (who owns his own tile and carpet business called Majestic Carpet Care) and he came out right away and did some "majic"!

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I absolutely LOVE the finished product. So to you Charlie.....I curse you for making us spend money that we don't necessarily have....but thanks for making us bring this beautiful change to our house! I'm in love with it!

Fun Weekend!!

2011-01-08T18:29:00.000-08:00

David worked 11 days straight, starting Christmas night, so it has been nice having him home and doing fun things together. We are currently in the middle of his 7 day break from work and I'm so glad we have this time together, and as a family.

Last night we went to an 80's murder mystery and dinner game with friends. It was so much fun and we are already looking forward to attending another one! David and I were detectives. I was more of an "under cover" detective, and David....well....it was pretty obvious what he was! He rocks the stache!

This morning I ran a 5K with my girls! It was FREEZING and I was so nervous that the cold was going to slow me down....but within the first mile, my blood was flowing and I started to warm up. We had a blast and I just love my girls!!! Brunch at the US Egg afterwards was delicious and a perfect way to top off our morning.

My next run coming up......a half marathon on my birthday! I have 3 weeks to prepare myself for those 13 miles. Hope I can do it! Wish my girls were joining me for that one. Maybe I can still convince them to do it with me! Perfect birthday present right??!!! Heck....I invite all of you to join me! Londyn's Run....January 29th! Sign up!!!! Join me will ya?! :)

Oh the holidays!

2011-01-03T15:30:00.000-08:00

Well, a lot has happened but shockingly I have no pictures to post. But I need to post this for journaling purposes.

A lot has been going on this past month. It all started at the end of November when I had surgery on my nose. I had 3 things done internally (don't ask me what it's all called), but I do know that one of the things that got fixed was my deviated septum. It was out-patient surgery and the recovery wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. I had to wear a hideous white cast for a week and I had some bruising for about 2 weeks, but I was up and at it after 2 days. I felt good and I'm breathing better already!

David also had surgery...on his eyes! He had a form of lasik done....it was implantable contact lenses. He is officially glasses free after wearing them for 25 years! Crazy to see the change in him. HOWEVER, his eyes are really bad and these contacts didn't fix his stigmatisms....so he still has minor blurry vision, especially at night. We don't want for him to have to have lasik because his cornea's are too thin and the risks aren't worth it. So he decided to get glasses to wear at work so he feels more confident. He doesn't wear them day to day, but he does wear them at night when he works. So all in all, it was worth it because he can see so much better and he gets to be glasses free 90% of the time. We should be getting new family pictures done soon and once we do, I'll be posting them and you can see what he looks like without glasses!

Christmas was really good this year. We had a fun Christmas Eve brunch with David's family, then Christmas morning with just the 3 of us at our home, then a big lunch/dinner with my family at my parent's house with all my siblings. I am shocked that I didn't take any pictures of any of these events! I had my camera at all of them, but for some reason never took it out of my purse. I blame it on my "scrooge-like" feelings towards Christmas this year. I don't know why, but I was totally not in the Christmas mood this year. I only put up my tree (but no other decorations around the house), and I took it down right after Christmas instead of leaving it up until after New Year's like I usually do. I don't know what is wrong with me, but I just wasn't feeling the Christmas "cheer" this year. I think I just wanted 2010 to go away and be done with already. There are so many changes coming up in 2011 for our family and I'm ready for those changes to happen. The changes are still "TBD" so I don't want to say anything just yet.

Anyhow, New Year's was interesting! David had to work so I went out to Natalie's house because her hubby Deron was working too. So we hung out and babysat all 12 of our neices and nephews! It was a crazy house, but we had lots of fun. Simple and fun.

David is currently finishing up his 11-day working streak. He picked up a few days of overtime and has been a work-a-holic. He is still on his grave yard shift and will be working that again for the next 6 months. We have gotten used to it and have organized our life around his working schedule. So it all works out.

A new club season has started for me and I have a sweet little group of 14/15 year olds. They are almost all new to club volleyball so this is a growing year for them. They are so eager and willing to learn so it makes my job that much more fun! I'm still the primary president in my ward and loving that. I'm excited for the new year and the new theme we have for primary. Things are good with that and I'm so lucky to be serving the sweet children in my ward.

Kylee is loving Kindergarten!!! I can't believe she is half way done and is that much closer to being in the 1st grade. Time is flying!!! She loves her dance class and will be performing in February at a Suns pre-game show. So excited for that!!

I am babysitting a little baby girl now. She is a blessing for Kylee and I. We love her so much and love spending our days with her. She fills a void that has been missing in our lives for so long. We love every minute of having her in our home.

Which leads me to my next subject of adoption. Nothing is happening for us with that just yet. It's now been 4 months with ZERO contact from a birth mother. We had a "hot spot" of contacts for about 3 months when we first got certified....but now....nothing. Not sure why, but we are still hopeful and have faith that we are supposed to be doing this. It has taught us a lot and has definitely been a growing experience for us. Not sure what Heavenly Father has in store for our family, but whatever it is, we are willing to accept it and can't wait for it to happen.

As always......LIFE IS GOOD!

Christmas...this and that

2010-12-11T21:49:00.000-08:00

Having Kylee in school is so much fun during the holidays! She gets to experience the holidays in a whole new light with wonderful teachers who have such fun crafts and activities for her and her new "school" friends to do. This was the cutest letter to Santa.....

Next week Kylee's class gets to take a pretend trip to the Polar Express....or the "Polar Bear Express" as Kylee calls it. They get to wear pajamas, slippers and robes. She is so excited! I'm volunteering at her Christmas party the following day and I can't wait to be a part of that. I'm absolutely loving having Kylee in school. I'm positive she loves it more than I love her being there, which makes it all the more perfect!

Kylee has reached a new chapter in her life. She is no longer afraid of Santa!!! She finally sat on his knee without freaking out and crying. When she first saw him, she was hesitant as usual and started to cry but as she saw other kids laughing and smiling on his knee she started to warm up as we got closer to him. Then she let go of my hand and walked right up to him. Such a proud Momma moment!!!

*On a side note....this has got to be the WORST Santa EVER!!! Can his mask, I mean "beard", be any more HIDEOUS?!!! You can't even see his eyes or nose! Come on now!!! Haha!

So I was pretty sure, after getting 3 comments total with my last 10 posts, that no one read my blog anymore...but lately I've been getting people coming up to me and commenting in person about my blog. So I know people are reading it! I still blog regardless because this is my journal that I eventually turn into a book every 2 years. It's just fun to read comments every now and then. So if you do read my blog, don't be afraid to comment every once and a while! :)

Thankgiving...

2010-11-27T22:34:00.000-08:00

The holidays go by WAY too fast! Can't believe Thanksgiving has come and gone already. We were lucky enough that Thanksgiving fell on one of David's days off...infact, the 3 days he has off was right in the middle of Thanksgiving! So we took advantage of this and drove to California for 3 1/2 days to spend it with all of David's family. Everyone was able to go so we were so excited for a fun Thanksgiving!!

While we were there, my camera got "hi-jacked" by 9 adorable nieces of mine. These next few pictures are the result of this crime...

ADORABLE Andersen Kate...

The lovely Meg, Paige and Emily...

Crazy girls...Hannah and Andersen...

We were so glad that Meg flew over from Utah to be with us for a couple days. Wish she could have stayed longer!

The dangerous duo...Cole and Kylee (Kylee striking a pose of course)...

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And the reason why I gained 5 lbs this weekend...2 yummy turkeys!!!! This one was roasted...

And this one was grilled to perfection with an amazing homemade glaze by Brian and Becky...

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We are so blessed to have such amazing families on both sides. We are excited to spend Christmas here with my family next month. I live for the holidays! They make me so unbelievably happy!!! I will always be a kid at heart when it comes to these months. I can't get enough of them!!

Before we left, David was able to visit Kylee's Kindergarten class for "citizenship week". He talked to the kids about how they can be good citizens in their neighborhood. It was hilarious!!! Kids say the craziest things...and are so open about their home life! I won't even mention some of the things that were said. Some of these kids have been exposed to WAY too many things at such a young age. Sad!!! Kylee was so excited and proud of her Daddy!

If you haven't noticed...I have made my blog open again. Since my adoption blog and this blog have basically the same posts, I have decided to just combine the two and only post my pictures and comments one time. Plus, my mother in law was having issues getting into my private blog. So this just works better for multiple reasons.

Thanksgiving was amazing and we can't wait for Christmas to come! Black Friday shopping was a HUGE success!!! I love going with my mother in law and all of my sister in laws. It's a fun tradition that will never die. I always save my shopping for that one day and I usually get 90 to 100% of all my Christmas shopping done in that one day. I love it! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!! Life is good!

The end...and the beginning

2010-11-21T10:18:00.000-08:00

My 6th season as a high school coach has officially ended. We had our banquet on Tuesday and I was sad to say my final goodbye's to these girls until next year.

But when one thing ends....another begins!!! Or in this case...a couple "new" things are beginning. Club season officially started. Tryouts are over with and all 5 teams are complete and ready to go. I'm coaching the 15's team and can't wait to start working with my team! Should be a great season.

Another "new beginning" is the most wonderful news EVER!! Natalie and Deron are pregnant!!! They got married 2 months ago and are so excited to start their new family together and to add to the one they already have. I'm so incredibly happy for them both. In less than 8 months, I'll have a sweet new baby to love and hold and kiss whenever I want!!! Can't wait!

As for our adoption journey.....it's still going. We've had a few contacts from birth mothers since we've been certified but nothing promising and no commitments. It's hard just waiting to hear from someone and not being able to go out and find someone. This is a tough process, but we know that this is what we are supposed to be doing and that our baby is somewhere out there waiting for us to find them. We feel so blessed and have so much to be thankful for. Life is good!

As of lately...

2010-11-05T22:54:00.001-07:00

Halloween has come and gone! Kylee and her best friend Mallika helped me carve our pumpkin this year....

Kylee of course wanted another cat this year. I think it turned out pretty darn cute!

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This is Kylee before we left for the Fall Festival at her school. She was so excited!

She was a cute little witch this year. She has been wanting to be a witch for a couple years now but I refuse. I don't know why but I hate the "usual and normal" costumes that EVERY kids wear each year. I always try to make hers unique. She was a little indian girl 3 years ago, a pirate girl 2 years ago, Rainbow Brite last year, and this year I finally gave in and let her be a witch. There is one thing that I refuse to let her be for Halloween.......a princess! She already has every Disney princess dress in her closet for dress up so why would I let her dress up as a princess for Halloween when she dresses up as one all throughout the year? Ya.....that ain't happenin!!! Hahaha! But she sure did make a pretty witch!

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David had his awards ceremony for work tonight and I couldn't be more proud of all that he has accomplished during his year and a half of being a police officer. He won "rookie of the year"! It's no surprise to me that he has made such an impact on his police department and with the people fo the Salt River community. He is such an amazing man and I'm so lucky to have him in my life!

So....Halloween has come and gone and now I get to look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just LOVE the "ber" months.....October, November, and December! They make me so happy! I can't wait to start playing the Christmas music around the house and in my car. I can't wait to spend the holidays with family and friends. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!!! Life is good!

Miss Stephanie Rhees.....my hero!

2010-10-18T12:50:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Stephanie was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer last month.....she is 28 years old. It was a shock to everyone who knew her. She is one of the most healthiest people I know! It always seems to happen to these types of people right?! Maybe I should just eat junk food and not take care of my body. I just don't get it!!!!

Stephanie just finished her 2nd round of chemo and her hair was falling out at a rapid pace! So she decided it was time to shave it all off. But we couldn't let her shave it off without a PARTY!!! Last night we had a fun "head shaving" party at her house. Good food, good friends, and good hair ALL OVER THE FLOOR! Haha! Here is Stephanie before all the head shaving.......

A friend from the ward, Brent, who is a 2 time cancer survivor. I love this shirt!!!

A freshly shaved Stephanie with David....who is about to shave his head!

I got to shave David's head! This was the first time I've used clippers.......I think he was a little bit nervous! Haha

If he didn't have to go to work later that night, I would've left this awesome man patch on!

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All done! He has a good shaped head! Nice to know for future references in case he does go bald!

Jeff, Steph's husband, giving his beautiful wife a hug!

Priceless!

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Tom's turn! He looks so natural with a shaved head!

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Brigham and Dennen......studs with shaved heads!

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Jose's turn! Traci said that it looks like he belongs in the projects with a weapon strapped to his belt! Hahaha! Gangsta!

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Brent and Brigham (Father and Son).....so sweet!

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Travis' turn! Hilarious! He didn't want to lose his "precious" hairs! Haha

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Words can't express how much I love and look up to this girl. She is so strong and amazes me with her determination and strength. She didn't shed a tear while getting her head shaved. I, on the other hand, can't say the same thing. I love this girl and I have no doubt that this cancer is going to be kicked to the curb REAL soon!

Recent Happenings...

2010-10-09T22:31:00.000-07:00

Well, considering it's been over a month since I last updated, this is going to be a recap of what has been going on lately. A lot has happened since I last posted so this is going to be fun!

On Labor Day, I organized a fun get together at a place called the Bounz House with a bunch of ladies in my ward. We rounded up the kids and took them there. It was really fun!

Kylee's new friend....Skyler! She loved her!

Okay.....so this slide pictured above was HUGE! Kylee decided she wanted me to go down it with her, so I of course said yes because I never pass up an opportunity to have fun! Well, you are supposed to wear socks while playing on the slides and stuff because it helps you slide easier. I didn't have socks and I didn't think twice. So I kicked off my sandals and went down the giant slide with Kylee. Well, when we got to the bottom of the slide, my foot decided to get stuck in the crevice and my body decided to keep on going. My foot in turn, twisted and pulled in slow motion. And this was the result of that "fun"...

YEP!!!! I got the boot! I pulled 2 tendons and pinched a nerve by my achilles. It's been a month since this happened and I'm just now getting back into working out again. It still hurts but I'm desperate and can't NOT workout anymore! I HAVE TO! It feels pretty good though and I'm doing some physical therapy on it so it's getting stronger everyday.
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The most important event that happened last month was my sister's wedding! Yes.....Natalie got married! Woo hoo! I hurt my ankle 5 days before Natalie's wedding too........WONDERFUL! I was supposed to be on my crutches for a week but I had to cut that short of 2 days because I wasn't about to be on crutches all day at her wedding. But I blinged out my boot and made it work!!!!

Silly boys....haha

Awwwwww.....

HOT!!!! Haha!

The happy couple!

They are gorgeous and so amazing together. A true example of what love and sacrifice is all about. Love them!!!

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My high school teams are doing awesome. I'm the head coach for the JV team and the assistant for varsity. Both teams are currently 13-1 and going strong! We took team photos recently of both teams. Here are some varsity pics....

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And here are some JV pics....

I love these girls!!!!!! So much! They make me so proud!
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Then there's my pride and joy.......my sunshine!!! Kylee is doing so well in school. We had our first parent teacher conference yesterday and her teacher said wonderful things about her. She is in the top percentage of her class and is ready to start reading! After fall break, her teacher is going to start her in the reading program. Apparently this is something that they usually don't start kids in until the end of the year and when they get closer to 1st grade, but Kylee is apparently ready and they want to get her started. I'm so excited for her to start reading! She is such a smart girl and is loving every minute of Kindergarten. Here is her first ever "official" school picture....

I was pleased that she didn't smile too "cheesy" in this picture. Kylee just started her second year of dance and loves her new teacher Miss Melanie. She is excelling in all that she does and makes us smile everyday. Life has been so busy lately but it is SO GOOD! We are still in the process of trying to adopt and we are actually in communication with a birth mother in Colorado right now. Things are going great and we can't wait to add to our family soon!

A Saturday of mixed emotions...

2010-09-06T09:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 9/3, was a very emotional day. Sweet Jaxon Payne in my ward passed away on August 30th and on Saturday we laid his sweet tiny 3 year old body to rest. The funeral was beautiful and the Payne family is even more beautiful on the inside and out. Such an amazing and sad experience.

Jaxon was laid to rest at the same cemetery as David's Dad. We loved visiting him that day. These pictures came from my camera phone so they are really distorted.....but at least I even have these!

Grandpa Pew with Daddy and Kylee...

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Grandpa Pew with Mommy and Kylee...

Grandpa Pew with his sweet baby grand-girl Kylee...

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I've only heard wonderful and amazing things about this man. I can't wait to meet him one day and to thank him for giving me his sweet son David. Families are forever!

Later that day we took our nieces (Madeline and Sydney) to the Diamondback's game for their birthdays. Their birthdays are a day apart. This day was Madeline's actual birthday and Sydney's was the next day. This was Sydney's first professional athletic game ever. We had lots of fun!

Madeline, Sydney, and me...

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David, Madeline, and Sydney...

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The "chaperone's"! We haven't been to a game together in a couple years, so it was fun to go!

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Crazy birthday girls....

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No birthday celebration is complete with out a "cake"! I present to you......the birthday snickerdoodle!!!

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Comes complete with 2 straws! Bet you didn't know that you can still make a birthday wish and blow out a straw and have that wish come true! Haha!

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I love these girls! They are amazing young women who are absolutely gorgeous on the inside and out.

Pre-wedding FUN!!!

2010-08-31T08:38:00.000-07:00

It's now 10 days until my sweet sister gets married!!! Can't believe it's already here!!! We've been busy....that's for sure!

On Saturday, we had her bridal shower. It was amazing and a ton of people showed up........no surprise though considering Natalie knows 1,000 people!!!

The Montez girls!!! LOVE!!!!

Last night was Natalie's Batchelorette party. We know how to live it up!! Hahaha! It was more like a dinner party than a batchelorette party. But we had a ton of fun and it was good to see some of Natalie's friends that I haven't seen in a while. Not to mention MY good friend Christina!! Miss this girl!

Christina, me and Paralee

More LOVE!

The whole gang! Fun night....good times!

My sister.....my best friend! LOVE HER!

Can't take enough pictures with these girls. They are my most favorite girls in the world......well, other than Kylee of course! :)

Bridal shower....DONE! Batchelorette party....DONE! Next up......THE WEDDING!!! Woo hoo! Can't wait! Natalie deserves all the happiness in the world and I can't think of a better man and a better family for her to be joining. Love you Natty! Now I'm off to find my dress! Ugh!

Kylee's 5th Birthday Party!!!

2010-08-07T19:37:00.000-07:00

My baby girl may have had her party yesterday, but she isn't 5 until Monday!!! So I still have one more full day to keep her my baby!!! But who am I kidding?? Whoever knows Kylee knows that she just can't wait to grow up. She is always trying to act grown up and she always wants to hang out with the big kids, because she wants to be a big kid! She is so excited to be 5!

Her party was a huge success! Every single friend she invited was able to come! She had an absolute blast! When I asked her what kind of party she wanted, she said she wanted a water slide (again) but to make sure she had pink princess decorations and plates and cups. She was adamant about that! So here is what her decorations (on a budget) turned out to be...

Princess cups, plates and napkins just like the princess herself ordered! Of course there is Toy Story stuff too because I wasn't about to make the boys at her party eat off of silly girl stuff!

Yes, I made these myself! Don't go taking orders now because I'm not going to turn this into my business! Hahaha!

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Blowing out the cupcake candles with her friends at the first portion of her party...

Blowing out the candles on her cake for her second party with her cousins and family...

She was such a lucky girl to have a 5 hour party!!!!! It was broken down into sections though because Mommy couldn't handle having a gazillion people in her tiny house!
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All her friends (and the Montez cousins)...

WATER SLIDE TIME!!!!!

Kylee's party was awesome and I'm pretty sure David had more fun on that slide than all the kids did put together! Haha! Kylee got a ton of great presents from all her family and friends! She got a cool make-up kit from her Grandma Dede and couldn't wait to use it on me! Aren't we just beautiful?!!

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As tradition would have it here on my blog, I have to post my picture update of my growing princess! I do this every year and it never gets old looking back and posting pictures of her throughout the years. I wish so bad that I could just hold and cuddle this baby one more time! She was the cutest baby!!!!! I'm so thankful that she is still a cuddle bunny because I get to hold and cuddle her anytime I want!

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2 weeks old...

1 year old...

2 years old...

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3 years old...

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4 years old...

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5 years old...

Happy birthday sweet princess girl! I don't know if you will ever realize just how much I love you. You are my everything! Your daddy and I thank our Father in Heaven every day for giving you to us and blessing our lives to the fullest! We don't know what we would do without you in our lives. You make our struggles and trials seem so small. You make us laugh everyday. You keep our hopes and dreams alive and you always know how to melt our worries away. With every year that you grow and change, you enrich our lives even more. We are so excited for you to start Kindergarten and can't wait to watch you learn and grow. Happy birthday sweet princess! We love you so much!

California 2010 - BEST VACATION EVER!!!

2010-07-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

I'm proud (and sad) to say that the Pew's have officially taken their first REAL vacation! All of our vacations so far have been weekend trips (3-4 days MAX) with family and just hanging out. Not to say that is a bad thing because we love spending time with family at their houses and just relaxing. But this year we had something bigger in mind. When my sister's and I took our beach trip in 2009, we decided then and there that our family needed an annual vacation together. So we started planning out a beach house trip from then on. It finally happened and it was AWESOME!

With David's schedule, he only had to request 4 days off of work and ended up having 10 days off in total. So we took full advantage of those 10 days and headed to California. We stayed with his parents in El Centro for the first 3 days. No El Centro trip is complete without playing hours and hours of card games until our fingers bleed. We LOVE it!

David and I took in a movie and saw "Knight and Day" while we were there. Cute movie!

Then we were off to Newport Beach for 7 days in a beach house right off the sand! It was awesome! Right across from our house on the bay side was a few rides. Here is Kylee, David and Kyrstin riding the ferris wheel.

*Also on the bay side was a ferry boat tour of the bay. Kylee, Kyrstin and Dylan!

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BEACH TIME! Yes everyone......this is my lovely husband for all time and eternity. Aren't I lucky?!!!!

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My little beach babe!

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Dylan, Kyrstin and Kylee catching sand crabs...

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The first day we were there, Kylee got demolished by a huge wave! Needless to say, our little fragile princess refused to go back in. But David tried and tried to pep talk her into going back in........as you can see in this picture below. It didn't work though! She refused to step foot in the water for the rest of the week!

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My beach babes!

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Beautiful Princess Tiana dresses that Kylee and Kyrstin got at Disneyland. They never took these dresses off!

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Waiting outside the Crab Cooker. Natalie and me!

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All the girls waiting outside the Crab Cooker. Most of our other family members had left by this time.

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The WHOLE MONTEZ GANG hanging out at the beach house. We are a crazy bunch! Love them all!!!

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The Montez and Pew family taking a bike ride. Fun times!

Olivia and I before a refreshing and AMAZING run on the beach. I lived for that each morning I was there. So awesome!!!

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Kylee and her cousins Libby and Maddie. They live in Newport Beach. Lucky girls!

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Tera and me getting tan! I love my sisters!

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DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!

This was the first time Kylee had been to Disneyland. We were so excited to take her and to see her reactions to everything there for the first time. Here is Kylee and Kyrstin eating a churro! Can't go to Disneyland and not eat one of these! Mmmm!

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Splash Mountain! Kylee was a trooper and rode all the rides!

Kyrstin and Kylee on the merry-g0-round!

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She missed out on the Matterhorn because this is what happened as we were waiting in line!

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Our "navigating" boys! Yes....we needed a map! Haha!

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The PRINCESSES!!!!! Not gonna lie.....Kylee was terrified of all the characters walking around the park, including the princesses! I thought she'd LOVE them and want to stare at them and talk to them all day long. But she was terrified! This picture took some convincing!

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Kyrstin and Kylee on "It's a Small World After All". This was the first ride of the day!

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Taking a rest on Daddy's head! Sweet girl!

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Typical Disneyland family picture at the front of the park. I think David is a LITTLE excited to be there! Hahaha!

After the first picture with Princess Tiana, the only way Kylee would take pictures with the rest of the princesses is if I went with her. But I'm glad she made me because I got to take a picture with my favorite Disney Princess (Jasmine)!

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One happy family at Disneyland!

I'm so glad we had the opportunity to go on this vacation. It was amazing and just what our little family needed! We will hopefully be doing this every summer now with my family. Next year will be Sea World! We can't wait! Gotta start saving now! :)

Summer stuff

2010-07-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

W-O-W!!!! Summer is here and my June was already JAM PACKED, and my July is looking about the same so far. Where oh where do I start? I just have to start out by saying that I have been amazingly blessed when it comes to volleyball. I've had some of the BEST coaches, I had the once in a life-time opportunity to win a state title as a player and as a coach, I had an undefeated season as a Sophmore on my JV High School team, my team won the 16's division in club, and the list goes on and on. But I never thought I'd be loving and blesssed on the flip side of volleyball........OFFICIATING! I have been officiating off and on over the past 5 years but this past year I took the year off of coaching and dedicated my time to officiating. And I'm LOVING it! I'm getting more opportunities in my first REAL year of officiating than most officials get in their lifetime. I ranked up this year from a level 1 official to a level 2. I was then asked to line judge the open adult nationals in Phoenix. That was HUGE! I worked matches with TEAM USA! The speed and tempo of those matches were unreal! Here is a picture of me working one of the matches. This was actually the final championship match. This picture was taken by a professional and it was on the USAV website for all to see. I'm famous! Hahaha!

Look at me getting "low" to see every angle of the play! Oh yeah baby!!!!

The next week was Girl's Camp at Camp LoMia. I love going to Camp LoMia! I secretly wish to have a cabin there one day just because being there makes me so happy. I went up on a stake level this year and it was an amazing experience! I met so many amazing women and had a blast staying up late and talking and laughing until I cried my eyes out. I went up with the Junior Staffers. My girls were amazing! I always have the best experiences up at camp and I'm so thankful that I get the opportunity to go every year somehow!

While at Girl's Camp, I had to leave to drive back for my 10 year High School reunion. YES PEOPLE......I'm THAT old! Awwwww! I left for the night and went back to camp the next day. The turn out at the reunion was very poor but I still got to see some great friends of mine that I hadn't seen in a long time. Case in point below......HALEY STEWART!!! Love that girl! Hadn't seen her since High School. Tausha and Jodi I see all the time, but it was still fun to hang out with them there!

Between my crazy schedule last month, I decided it was time to super clean and gut out our computer room closet! That thing is a DISASTER! As I was cleaning, I came across an old shoe box full of pictures from my childhood. It was awesome to see these pictures! Here are a few of them I found and can't help but post them...
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This one isn't from my childhood but it is our engagement picture. I can't believe how dark David's hair is! NO GRAYS! YAY!!!!! Hahahaha!

And below is a LOVELY picture of me in one of my many many dance costumes. My Mom had all of us girls in dance for years! This was my "famous" Baby Face dance that my sisters used to tease me about. Gotta love that costume though!

Here is an AWESOME picture of the Montez crew! We are dang good lookin!

I had my first garage sale a couple weeks ago! It was interesting but a success! We didn't have that much to sell, but with what we had we ended up making $160!!! Vacation money baby! Woo hoo!

Also between all the business of this past month, Kylee was able to have friends over and play play play! Here is a state-of-the-art fort made by Cole and herself. They did this all by themselves too! They are GENIOUSES! Hahaah!

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I was having blackberry issues so we took a family trip to T-Mobile a couple weeks ago. This was just a cute picture that I took of Kylee and decided it was "post-worthy"!

Let's see......moving on.....2 weeks ago I helped run the Queen Creek Bulldog volleyball camp. I had 20 kids on my court from age 10 up to 14. They were cute as usual and they improved so much! So proud of them! They worked hard! I'm getting more and more excited to coach again after taking a year off.

This past week (just ended yesterday) I was in Phoenix every day.....5 days in a row....for the Festival volleyball tournament. It's a huge tournament held at the end of the club season. I had a couple teams from my club enter and it was great to see them there, but I was there for officiating purposes. I worked 31 matches in all! My legs felt like they were going to fall off. I was gone from 6am until 9pm everyday. I now know what it feels like to be a working Mom and I am so thankful to have a hard-working husband who sacrifices so much so that I can stay at home with Kylee and our future children. I'm also so thankful to have a part-time job where I can help bring in some money!

Here is a shot of the main playing area at the Pheonix Convention Center. There were over 65 courts in all with over 1,000 teams! It was crazy insane and such a cool experience!

I got to work the 17's final at the US Airways Center. That was such an amazing experience. Out of the 200+ officials that were there this week, I got chosen to work one of the finals! That's huge and one of the many amazing opportunities that I was talking about that I'm getting. Coaching is my passion, but I just happen to be good at officiating (and the money is great) so I will keep on going with it! Anything that keeps me involved with the game makes me happy!

So that was my June! CRAZY RIGHT?! My July is busy but it's all about the fun and not so much about the work work work. In two weeks we leave for our long-awaited beach house (10 day) vacation in New Port with my family. I can't wait!!! We are taking Kylee to Disneyland for an early birthday present! So excited for that! The last week of July, school starts and therefore so does volleyball! I'm coaching at Queen Creek and I am getting more and more excited for the girls! I have some great ones coming up and some fun ones returning. It should be a great season!

And the BEST news of all...........WE ARE OFFICIALLY CERTIFIED TO BE ADOPTIVE PARENTS! Woo hoo! We just got our certificate today in the mail. We are so excited. I've been busy all day posting our information on a couple different websites. Please remember to keep us in mind if you hear of anyone that is looking to place or is considering adoption. We are praying that this process won't take as long as our infertility struggle. We are SO ready to have a sweet precious baby join our family at last. Keep us in your prayers please!

LIFE IS GOOD......and busy!

Swim lessons

2010-06-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

Kylee just finished her 3rd year of swim lessons. She has become quite the little swimmer! She can now swim forever and knows exactly what to do and she knows how to do 3 different kinds of strokes. I'm so proud of her and thankful she knows how to swim so that I don't have to be so nervous around a pool! She made some new friends in her class. Here she is with her class...

It's tradition that they all get to go down the slide on the last day. They were so excited!

They were all a little hesitant but ended up jumping off the waterfall too. Kylee was the first one to try it but ended up doing a belly flop!!! Needless to say, she did NOT want to do that again!

Perfect form for a FLOP!

These pictures below were worth posting for sure! Kylee was cleaning her toy room yesterday and ended up running out of gas half way through it. It got quiet so we went to check on her, and this is what we found!!!

She sleeps just like her Daddy! Haha!

We are loving summer! Maybe one of these years we'll move to a house with a pool! Don't you think that having a pool should come STANDARD on ALL houses in Arizona? It's suicide to NOT have one in the summer when you live here!!! We are thankful to have friends and family close by that don't mind us using their pool all the time. We love the water! Can't wait for the beach next month! Woo hoo!

Catching up...

2010-06-04T18:02:00.000-07:00

Between Facebook and my blog, I can't remember what I've posted on what. As I went back and looked through my recent blog posts, I realized that I have missed some important events! So I have some catching up to do...
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In May, Kylee graduated from preschool! She did really well these past two years in her class. Her teacher is GREAT and Kylee absolutely loved her. Kylee knows how to spell and write out her entire name (Kylee Alexa Pew), she can write her entire alphabet in upper and lower case letters, she knows and can recite the pledge of allegiance, she knows many riddles and songs and all of her colors and shapes, and there are many other things she has learned over the past two years in preschool.

Here she is with her class...

Proud Momma!!!

Kylee with her teacher "Miss Jill"

Last month, on May 17th, David and I celebrated our 8th anniversary. I can't believe we are coming up on our 10 year in 2 years. Time flies by! Words can't express just how much I love this man. I'm the luckiest woman in the world! And I mean that! He makes me laugh everyday, he hugs and kisses me everyday, he is my little cuddle bear, he never hesitates to give me back tickles when I ask for them (my favorite thing EVER), he is such an amazing provider for our family, he is the world's GREATEST Daddy, and the list goes on and on. We also got a scanner from my sister so it's been fun to post old pictures on here. This was our wedding announcement picture. Young pups in googoo gaga love! Haha!

SUMMER is here!!! This is our favorite time of year. Kylee got a new swimsuit and is ready to swim everyday! She is in swim lessons for the 3rd straight year in a row. She is the best swimmer in her little class right now. She is doing her strokes so well and is finally mastering how to come up and take breaths. She can now swim across the entire pool! She's a little fishy!

One thing that we have never taken as a family is a TRUE vacation! Our "vacations" consist of spending a weekend with a family member or just staying over night in a hotel somewhere. Well, this year we are actually taking a real vacation and it's going to last 10 whole days! I can't believe it! With David's schedule now, we are able to take more time away for a vacation. We are going to a beach house with my entire family in July for a week. During that week, we will be attending a family reunion from my Mom's side, going to Disneyland for Kylee's 5th birthday, celebrating David's 31st birthday on the beach, having endless fun on the beach, and hopefully spending 3 extra days with David's family in El Centro. We are so excited!!!

After our vacation and summer nears to an end, we get to have one more BIG celebration. On August 9th, my baby girl turns 5 and starts Kindergarten on the same day! How lucky is she! She gets a birthday party in her classroom on her first day of school!! The Saturday before the "big day", we are going to party it up in celebration of Kylee girl turning 5. I can't believe how fast these 5 years have flown by. Words can't express just how much this angel means to me. She is beyond beautiful on the outside, and even more beautiful on the inside. She has the most tender heart and is such a willing helper. She's smart, funny, silly, a good dancer, an even better singer, and the best cook and cleaner I know! She is everything and more that I ever could've hoped for in a daughter.

We are still in the steps and process of getting certified to adopt. We should hopefully be certified by the middle to end of this month (June). We can't wait to finally be certified so we can post our profiles all over the internet. We are so excited still to be on this journey and know the Lord is guiding us through every step. We feel his love and presence constantly throughout this process.

We had family pictures taken in April and most of them are posted on our adoption blog, but this one below pretty much sums up our family. David is always making the jokes, I'm always laughing at him, and Kylee is off in her own little "la-la" land dancing and singing like a princess.

We love life, we are extremely happy, we get stronger through the struggles, we have so much fun during the smooth times, and we never stop laughing. Life is good! Life is PEWfect!

New Family Pictures

2010-05-23T15:45:00.001-07:00

I don't know if anyone still looks at my blog, but for those of you who still do, I posted new family pictures on our adoption blog. If you don't have that blog address, you can just click to the right on our link.

Kylee's First Dance Recital

2010-05-15T19:03:00.000-07:00

Ever since January, Kylee has been taking dance lessons from a lady who teaches them out of her home. It was a perfect little starter dance class and I think I will put her in a few more of her classes. Kylee loved it and she was so cute and GREAT at her dance recital last night. Here are a few pictures from it....

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Good Ship Lolli Pop tap dance...

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When You Wish Upon A Star ballerina dance...

My favorite dance was the Good Ship Lolli Pop, but my favorite outfit was the ballerina tu tu. She looked so cute! She did so good and remembered almost all of the dances! THE VIDEOS OF BOTH HER DANCES ARE POSTED AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF MY BLOG (this is for the Grandma's mainly)

PS - Thanks to Jaime for taking these amazing pictures!!!!!

Annual Mother's Day Lunch

2010-05-07T22:29:00.000-07:00

Every Friday before Mother's Day, all of us girls get together for lunch at Olive Garden. It's quickly becoming one of my most favorite traditions. I love any excuse to get together with my "girls"! We are missing Olivia because she was sick, but here is the rest of us after stuffing our faces full of yummy delicious food...

Sisters!!!!!

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Sisters.........My Aunt Penny and Momma!

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Me and my baby! Hopefully she'll have sisters one day too!

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After lunch we decided to go visit our other "Mom" and life long friend. We love our Debbie!

It was a wonderful day........Lunch with my girls, a visit to Deb, shopping with Tera and Mom, a baptism for 5 amazing little girls, and then watching the Suns DESTROY the Spurs and take a 3-0 lead in the series! LIFE IS GOOD!!!!! :)

Before and After

2010-04-27T22:41:00.001-07:00

Over the past 2 months, I have lost a significant amount of weight. 28 pounds to be exact! My friend introduced me to a miracle diet called HCG. It taught me a new way to eat! It taught me how to "eat to live", not to "live to eat"! I have been "living to eat" my entire life! My life revolved around food. I'm surprised I didn't weigh 300 pounds! But going through this diet has opened my eyes to a new way of eating and living. I have been an athlete my entire life and have always been in shape. But after having a baby and not being an "active athlete" anymore with coaches pushing me to stay in shape, I have gradually gone downhill. Since I was a Sophmore in college, I have gained 35 pounds! I was at the point where I felt extremely uncomfortable wearing anything but sweat pants. I felt extremely bloated all the time and hated how I looked. I felt weird pains in my chest randomly and I knew that my cholesterol was off the charts! I was literally at my ALL TIME LOW! I was determined to do something about it FOR GOOD this time! I had tried diets and "re-started" a healthy eating style many many times, but nothing ever stuck. I always gave up and wanted to eat anything and everything again. Well, after gaining a shocking 10 pounds over the past 8 months while taking a lot of fertility meds and eating like crap, I finally got the strength to do something drastic and change my life. I did and now I feel great! Here are some before and after pictures...

EWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

After picture....

I know this isn't the most flattering picture of me but it is all I have at the moment. I will be posting family pictures soon because we just got them taken a couple days ago. Waiting to get them and can't wait to post them!

Evidence of change...

2010-04-27T07:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I always promised myself that if we got a dog, I wouldn't let our house "seem" like we had one. I was foolish to think that I could do that! BUT, the main thing is that Charlie doesn't stink, he doesn't shed, and our house doesn't SMELL like we have a dog. That is VERY important to me! However, our house has definitely changed and "molded" itself into a doggy environment. Here is the evidence....

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He has his own little "den"...

There are pee stains on the back patio because he hasn't quite grasped the concept of the grass just yet...

There are holes in our backyard...

There are also holes in our house!!! He is obsessed with trying to go underneath and behind our couches so we had to block them off with pillows. Here is evidence that he is still trying to gnaw his way back there...

There are dog toys all over the house! Yes....he has made a volleyball into a toy! He is definitely MY dog! Haha!

He chews on EVERY and ANYTHING!!!!

After all of this, you'd think that I might be upset and second guessing my decision to get a dog! But everytime I cuddle him, everytime he looks at me with his innocent eyes, everytime I see Kylee carrying him around like a baby and talking to him and taking care of him like her baby, and everytime I see this face....

I'm reassured that we made the right decision and that Charlie was meant to be a part of our family! WE LOVE OUR CHARLIE BOY!!!

We got a dog!!!

2010-04-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

David and I both grew up with a family dog and loved them but for some reason since we've been married, we have both strongly agreed that we didn't want a dog! All the responsibilities of having one and cleaning up after it and having to potty train it.........finding a "dog sitter" while we go on vacations....etc! We just didn't want to deal with it and quite frankly, we got very annoyed when other dogs at people's houses would smell us, bark, stink, shed, and just bug us! It made our decision to not get a dog stand strong! But don't let what I just wrote fool you because we do like dogs! Hahaha!
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Something recently has changed in us. I'm not sure if it's the fact that Kylee has been begging us to get a puppy for about a year now, or if it's our adoption situation and the fact that we can't get pregnant right now........but something deep inside of both of us changed at the same time! We both started talking about getting a puppy and what kind of dog we would get if we did get one. Once we agreed on the kind of dog we would get and looked at pictures online, we started to get really excited about it. We found a local breeder here in Queen Creek and decided to go check them out. Well......we fell in love instantly with this CUTE face and knew that we just had to have him!

His name is Charlie and he is a 12 week old Yorkiepoo! He will only get to be about 5-7 pounds at full size. He is the cutest thing ever!!! The great things about Yorkiepoo's is that they don't shed, they don't stink, and they are hypoallergetic so if you are allergic to dogs, this little guy won't affect you at all......so come on over! I love the fact that we have a dog, but our house doesn't smell or feel like we have a dog! That was one of our goals when choosing a dog because David and I still get super annoyed with other people's dogs! Haha!

Kylee absolutely adores him! (Olivia.....if you are reading this, you'll notice that Kylee got Brigham's "Flat Stanley" and had to take a picture with Charlie and him! Haha)

This face is just so adorable and we couldn't resist taking him home. Kylee is so good with him. She takes him outside for potty breaks and feeds him his morning biscuit! She refills his water and makes sure he has enough food in his bowl. She plays with him and pretty much carries him around everywhere like her little baby. This was one of our main goals in getting a small puppy.......so Kylee can have someone to take care of. She is so happy and loves him so much! I'm not one to think of an animal as a "kid" or even a member of the family, but right now it's hard not to because he is bringing us so much joy and stealing our hearts over so fast! We love our little Charlie boy!

Trying something out!

2010-04-08T08:59:00.000-07:00

I just downloaded a new picture program and it is allowing me to post stuff to my blog directly from the program. So I used Kylee as my "subject" and am testing it out!

Our new blog

2010-04-06T07:24:00.001-07:00

PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW BLOG! THE LINK IS TO THE RIGHT CALLED "OUR ADOPTION STORY". FOLLOW US IF YOU'D LIKE! THANK YOU!

Easter Weekend

2010-04-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

I've been looking forward to Easter weekend for a while now because I knew I was going to be spending it all out in Peoria with my family. Friday I drove out to start out the weekend right by going to my nephew's baseball game. Zachary and Dallin are studs!!! This is Dallin pitching...

And this is Zachary catching!

Sweet Ella watching her brothers play! I wouldn't say she was "watching" as much as eating chips, running around, eating sunflower seeds, eating a sucker, running around some more, and eating cheezits!

And of course Kylee had fun too!

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Easter morning was also Conference morning! We always get together for our annual conference breakfast at my parent's house. Here are the kids blowing all the bubbles that Kylee got from the Easter Bunny!

Ella was going crazy with all those bubbles! She cracks me up!

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Later we went to Deron's house (Natalie's man) where Kylee had a fun time dying Easter eggs and having an Easter egg hunt. Here she is dying some eggs...

And here she is running all over Deron's backyard trying to find the most eggs!

She loves "Kiki".....Deron's daughter! Kylee and Kiki are becoming fast friends!

These three girls are hilarious together! This is Kylee (of course), Madison (Kiki's cousin), and Kiki. They dressed up and put on shows for everyone. They are so cute!

David got to catch all of the AM session of conference with us at my parent's house. It was nice to have him home for the morning and part of the afternoon with the family. Tera and her family couldn't be with us today so we are going to be having our "official" Easter celebration in 2 weeks. We will have our Montez Easter traditions and celebrate together as an entire family. I love my family! And I love holidays!!!!

San Diego - Spring Break

2010-03-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

With Kylee now in preschool, we have reason to celebrate Spring Break! We took advantage of the fact that Kylee didn't have school this week and that David has Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday off. So we headed up to El Centro and then to San Diego for a few days. It was beautiful, but on the warmer side. We got an early taste of summer.

We drove up to El Centro and stayed with David's parents for the first day. Then we went up to San Diego and stayed there for 2 days and one night. We went to Anthony's Fish Grotto and had yummy seafood and steaks. This was the view from our table...

And this was my attempt at taking a picture of us with my camera phone! Hahaha! My old blackberry used to have a flash so normally this would've come out just fine, but come to find out.....my new blackberry does NOT have a flash! LOL! After I took this picture and saw how it came out, I think I laughed for about 10 minutes straight. You had to be there! Don't we look beautiful!? Hahaha!

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This was Kylee on St. Patrick's Day. I forgot to pack her a green outfit so she carried this green egg around all day. She just thought it was pretty at first but then she carried it around because she said it was green. Funny girl! She had a BLAST with her Grandma and Grandpa.

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David and I went and saw Avatar in 3D while we were in San Diego. It was an AMAZING movie! I totally prejudged it and had zero desire to go see it, but with nothing else showing in the movies that night that looked interesting, we decided to go see what all the "hype" was about. And I must say that it is truly one of the best movies I've seen! You MUST experience it in 3D too. Awesome!

Here I am with our COOL 3D glasses on!

And David with his.....

We had a great time!!! We wish it could've been longer but we are so lucky that we even had these 3 days to go have some fun. We had a little "bump" in the road on the beginning of our trip. We borrowed a DVD player from some friends of ours and let Kylee watch a movie the whole way over to California. This was Kylee's first experience watching tv in a moving car. Needless to say, she got a little car sick and threw up. Luckily she warned me ahead of time and we were able to catch most of it in a princess bucket that Kylee brought. She was sad that we had to throw it away though! I'm just glad that it was only car sickness and not a flu bug. I guess we won't be investing in a portable DVD player anytime soon!

Feeling GREAT!

2010-03-15T08:28:00.000-07:00

I first need to comment on this picture......THIS IS NOT MY STOMACH! Even with me losing weight, my stomach will never look this smooth (considering the heeping amount of stretch marks all over my stomach!)

I feel the need to blog about this because I have never been this successful with losing weight before. I'm officially the weight I was before I got pregnant with Kylee. I'm feeling great and extremely healthy! My face is more clear than it's ever been and I have more energy. It's amazing what eating right can do for your body all around. I'm sure you all are curious as to what I'm doing right??? For those of you who don't know yet, I'm on the HCG diet. I've been doing it for ONLY 3 weeks and I've lost 17 pounds and 3 inches off my waist. That's why I call it the "miracle diet"! I'm eating yummy foods, I'm never hungry because I eat 5-6 times a day, and I hardly ever crave the foods I am missing out on. I seriously feel so wonderful that I can't ever see myself going back to my old HORRIBLE eating habits.

The wonderful thing about this diet is that it has kept my mind and energy busy with focusing on myself and not thinking about my infertility issues. Of course I still think about having another baby HOURLY, but it isn't consuming my life and making me depressed. I feel so wonderful about myself right now that I don't have the energy to feel sad (if that makes any sense at all). This is actually one of the reasons why I started this diet so quickly. If I wasn't going to get pregnant anytime soon, then I was going to take care of my body and feel good about myself again. It has worked! I still have 2 1/2 weeks left of this diet and I'm hoping for 10 more pounds to melt off of me! I'm confident that it will happen.

So anyway, once I'm done with it all I'll be sure to post before (nasty) and after (yay) pictures of myself. It should be fun to see!

Life is good!

Life is good

2010-02-23T14:19:00.001-08:00

It's amazing what life brings us each day. I never realized how loved I really am. I have the most amazing family and friends. I also have the most amazing Father in Heaven who loves me more than I could ever imagine someone loving me.

I have been on a long emotional roller coaster these past 3 1/2 years. Infertility is not fun and I don't wish it upon anyone........well, maybe drug addicts and child abusers! (that was my brief comic relief for this post)

It's crazy how many opinions and suggestions I've had from my 3 different specialists. All I know is that only one opinion matters.....and that is my Father in Heaven's. He knows what is best for me. He knows what my body can and cannot handle. I feel such comfort and peace when I think about my future children and family. Hearing the worst news possible, and growing from that news, has been a huge turning point for me with this trial. I'm not afraid anymore. I'm so willing to adopt, use a surrogate, or attempt to get pregnant one more time! I feel so free of worries, stresses, and fear. I'm so excited for our future family and can't wait until we are complete.

I feel confident, and say with confidence, that my everything (spiritual, physical and mental) has been placed in the hands of the Lord and I'm willing to go and do whatever he needs me to do. I know He is waiting to bless me with more sweet spirits and I'm doing all that I can here on this earth to be able to receive those blessing in my life.

I'm so thankful for this gospel and the knowledge that it gives me. It's amazing how happy I can be with this knowledge....even despite my worse trials and fears coming true. I'm almost happier than I was before I had this trial. I'm more thankful than I was before this trial. This isn't to say that I don't have hard days and get sad.....because I do. But it is just a momentary lapse of sadness and then I'm back up again and still very much excited about our future.

As I always say....."Life is good"!

Yee haw!!!

2010-02-13T12:27:00.000-08:00

Today we had our super fun ward rodeo. Both Jacey and Kylee are exhausted and resting and David just left for work, so I have some "me" time and I feel like putting these pictures up already! We always have so much fun at our ward rodeo's but this year was even more fun because we got to enjoy it with Jacey girl! Kylee and Jacey LOVED the horsey rides....

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Kylee got to participate in the potatoe sack races. This girl is JUST like me with her competitive nature. She realized that she wasn't winning half way to the finish line, so she stopped right there and didn't want to finish. Instead she took the bag off her legs and walked back to the starting line and gave her bag to the next girl in line. She then found me pouting and said...."Mom, I didn't get to win"! Geez!!!! I'm in trouble for the next 14 years!

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The girls had so much fun on the playground!

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They are so cute!!!

David also participated in a race. Here he is getting ready to start....

And he's off!!! Hahaha! Looks like he's diving into a pool of sand. He ended up losing this race. Awwww.....so sad!

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And this picture below is just for fun. This was Kylee all dressed up for her Valentine's party at preschool Thursday morning. She was so excited to hand out her "personally addressed" fun-dip valentines to all her class mates.

Mommy-isms

2010-02-11T07:24:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how and what our kids get from us. Kylee looks like me......yes, Kylee has a competitive personality like me.....yes! But little did I know that she would even sleep like me!

I have woken up numerous times and found my legs crossed just like these pictures of Kylee above. David also has told me numerous times that he has found me asleep in this very position. Kylee has apparently inherited this fabulous gene from me as well! I don't see how she sleeps at night but lately during her nap, I always find her in this position. It cracks me up! In my opinion....Kylee just wants to look "cool" while sleeping! She's posing in her dreams for all the cute boys. Hahaha!

Random life happenings...

2010-02-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

The Pew household gets excited over the little things! We love spending time together.....just the 3 of us. We love it when Daddy has his 3 days off during the week. On those days, we love to just hang out around the house and do whatever we feel like doing. Today Mommy was REALLY excited (not sure why I'm speaking in "Kylee" version) because we got to do yard work. Here is Daddy working his magic on our beautiful GREEN grass!

And Kylee doing her part!

I had to get a big picture of our yard because this is the best our grass has ever looked!

Mommy and Kylee picked up all the toys off of the lawn in the back yard and made sure it was nice and ready for Daddy to mow.

Kylee doing her part by staying out of the way and jumping on the trampoline!

Woo hoo!

Our backyard is a tad bit neglected.....especially when you just saw what our front yard grass looks like. We didn't feel like spending the money for winter rye in the back yard. It still works though!

We also had some fun inside baking......EASY baking that is! Kylee got an Easy Bake Oven from her cousin Ella. She has been dying to use it and I finally remembered to buy the right light bulb, so we whipped it out and baked a yummy little treat.

Kylee concentrating hard to make sure the frosting is just right!

She was very patient! I didn't realize how long it took for these things to bake. 37 minutes later (after a 15 minute pre-warm up, 12 minutes of baking, and 10 minutes of cooling) she was ready to eat it all up!

Friday was my 28th birthday.......yes, I'm nearing the big 3-0!!! Awwww!!! I had one of the best birthdays this year. On Wednesday, David took me out to yummy Red Lobster and then to Ulta 3 where he let me buy my Chi flat iron! LOVE IT! We then went to the mall and he let me splurge on a new pair of jeans. I of course went straight to buckle.....the BEST place to splurge on jeans. I found the perfect pair but they are too long so I'm now waiting for them to get tailored. I hopefully get them tomorrow! Woo hoo!

Then on Thursday, Tera and Natalie took me out to my most FAVORITE place ever......KABUKI! Sushi is our favorite thing to pig out on. So it was no question as to where they were taking me for my birthday lunch. After Kabuki, we went and got pedicures. And when I say pedicures....I mean an hour of heavenly massaging, primping, soaking, foot scrubbing, and toe nail designing. It was absolutely AMAZING!

The finished product!

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I don't have pictures for the rest of my birthday celebration but on Friday, Jaime took me out to lunch at Costa Vida (our favorite place) and then to Yogurt Jungle (our newest favorite place). We hung out for the rest of the day and she helped make my actual birthDAY special! I had so many pre-birthday celebrations that I didn't know if anything was left for my actual special day. Thanks to Jaime, it was filled with greatness!

Then yesterday my Mom accompanied me to my doctor's appointment and took me out to a yummy Mexican dinner afterwards to celebrate my belated birthday with me. It was all perfect and I couldn't have asked for anything more! My birthDAY turned into a birthWEEK! It was the BEST!

I am LOVING David's schedule. He works Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday and then has Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday off. I love that he has week days off. We can go out without the rush of the crowds and we can feel like he actually has 3 FULL days off instead of a short little weekend with only Saturday to really do anything. I've been busy with volleyball on the weekends so it works out perfect that when David works, so do I! So it makes for a quick weekend and then a nice 3 days off together as a family.

Quick update.....I'm proceeding with IVF! My post-hysteroscopy appointments have been good and we are free and clear of scar tissue! Woo hoo! If all goes well, we will be doing the actual IVF sometime during the end of March/beginning of April. We are very optimistic and hopeful. Whatever happens will be according to Heavenly Father's plan and we are ready and willing for whatever is going to happen, to happen! Life is good!

Snow Day!!

2010-01-21T07:15:00.000-08:00

We have been wanting to take Kylee up to the snow for a while now and since it's been raining these past few days, we took advantage of it and went up to Strawberry to have a fun snow day! We brought Cole with us because we knew Kylee would have so much more fun with a friend. And we were right! These two were so cute together and had a blast! We can't wait to do it again soon!

We knew that it had snowed quite a bit but we didn't realize just how much until we got there! It was pure white everywhere! I've never seen so much snow in my life!

The first place we stopped was beautiful! We saw wide open slopes with no trees or shrubs in the way. The slope was perfect and so we pulled over and got dressed. The second we stepped into the snow, we sunk up to our waists! It was so DEEP! The kids started to panic a little. We decided to keep going and trudge through the snow and make it down that perfect slope. The kids went down once and on our way back up the slope, we kept sinking further and further. By the time we got to the top (with the kids riding piggy back), we thought our lungs were going to burst out of our chests! It was insane! So we got back in the car and found a new spot. This slope below was AWESOME!

Cole and Kylee preferred riding down together! We had two sleds when we first got there but we lost one at the first place we tried sledding at (remember the thick snow!). After we made it to the top of the slope at the first place, one of the sleds slipped and went back down to the bottom. We looked at each other and both decided that it was a gonner! Neither of us wanted to go back down to get it and make the trek back up. Hahaha! The one sled was great though!

*Goof balls! Loving every minute of it!

*Below is David throwing a snow ball at Kylee. She had no idea it was coming! David was the bully of the day. Poor Kylee! She had no idea what was coming!

Yep......evidence that David nailed Kylee right on the head with that snow ball!!! She kept smiling and loved it all regardless of mean Daddy! Hahaha

I think David is a LITTLE excited that he finally got his turn down the slope! He is such a big kid!

Evidence of David being a bully to me too! He pushed me down in the snow and quickly snapped a picture right after. Thanks honey! Love you too!

Making a classic snow angel!

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Daddy and his little snow bunny!

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Mommy and her little snow bunny!

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She was in transition of running up the snow hill but I asked her to stop for a picture so she did and even gave me a little head tilt! That's my girl! She's been behind Natalie's camera lense far too long and knows all about "posing"! Hahaha

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Making a classic snowman!

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And eating the chocolate donut holes off of him before we left! Mmmmm

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We had so much fun! The weather was perfect and the area we found was perfect! It makes me want to go back already today. I hope this weather keeps up so that we can go again in a few weeks. I love visiting and playing in the snow but I always say that I could never live in it. It's just too cold and wet! I'm so thankful for David's schedule and that we have the freedoms of doing things like this as a family. Life is good!

MY GIRLY GIRL

2010-01-13T21:45:00.000-08:00

Kylee has made some new friends! This is Kirsten (aka: Kiki) and Mattie. She absolutely LOVES playing with older girls. She is a year to two years younger than both of them but she fits right in because she always has acted like an older "big" girl! All our neighbors that she plays with are at least 8 years old or older. So she just thinks she so big and "cool"! Hahaha!

One of her most favorite things to do is play dress up (typical girly girl). These girls kept coming out in cute dresses and costumes. They begged us to let them put make up on and when we finally gave in, this is what we found.....(make up everywhere)!

Final product.....cute girls!

I love having a girl!!! I would be so happy with all girls! But I really want a boy for David. As much as he LOVES this girly girl stuff, I'm sure he wants a boy soon so he can teach him all his mad "sports" skills!!! Haha! One day!!!

Dance Class!!!

2010-01-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

As of this morning, Kylee is now a dancer! My Mom has been begging me to put her in a dance class since she was 2! Now that we found a dance class that fits in with her preschool schedule, we are super excited for her to get started. Today was her first lesson. They are starting with tap and will go onto ballet later, and then tumbling. She is so excited!

Here she is with her brand new tap shoes and all dressed up ready to go to her first class! (and she's wearing the CUTEST sandals ever!!!!!)

There are 6 other girls in the class with Kylee. She knows 2 of them from church so she was excited to see them there!

She's got this toe-tapping "talent" from her Dad! He's famous for dancing with a toe tap! Hahaha

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Her teacher Miss Judd!

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She will have her first concert in May. I can't wait for that day! My little dancing girl!

Parties, Parties, Parties!!!

2010-01-01T07:40:00.000-08:00

This Christmas season started really early for me. I started playing Christmas music and decorating back in October. I dragged this holiday spirit out for as long as I could!!! But I must say that I'm SO READY FOR IT TO BE OVER!!! I usually hate to take down decorations and hate for the Christmas season to end, but for some reason I'm more than ready this year. Don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful Christmas season! But for some reason, I'm just ready to move on into 2010 and start a fresh year with high hopes!

FAMILY CHRISTMAS PARTY

We started out our Christmas celebrations with the Pew/Higginson/Oram party. I love it when we all get together. We always have so much fun and eat yummy food!
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Here is Hannah and Abby leading everyone in a Christmas song...

Paige reading everyone a Christmas story...

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Kylee, Becky and Hannah acting something out while playing "Christmas charades"...

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Brian not sure what to do for his charade - haha....

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Kylee acting out her charade - the kids loved this game (I highly recommend it at your next family Christmas party)...

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David being "typcial Uncle David" and messing around with all the kids. He came straight from work so he was in the mood to take down some kids...

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Sydney and Madeline leg wresting - it was on...

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CHRISTMAS

A few days later came Christmas morning! It was so much fun celebrating Christmas this year with Kylee. She's almost 4 1/2 now so she really understood everything about Christmas. I love that she understands the true meaning of Christmas too (Jesus's birthday).

The night before getting Santa's cookies and milk ready...

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Sleepy but VERY excited to open all her presents that Santa brought her...

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David had quite a few funny faces Christmas morning. He didn't know he was going to be getting so many presents from me. He was a little confused and didn't know what they were. Get ready for a "face" show...

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Ughs!!!! He loves them...

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Not sure what this is...

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Then realizing what it was and looking at me in total surprise...

Showing off his new phone to the camera! He hasn't put this thing down since he opened it...

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After Kylee opened all her presents under the tree, she had a special present that Santa left for her on the patio...

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Woo hoo! A new big girl bike...

Putting up the last ornament on the Christmas tree counter...

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Kylee was a very good girl this year!!! She still had more presents to open at Grandma and Grandpa Montez's house too! She was loaded with gifts this year...

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And yes....Santa ate all his cookies and drank all his milk...

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She was ready to go and have fun with all her new toys...

I recorded everything on our camcorder while at my parent's house so I didn't get any pictures from that portion of our day. But my Grandma and Aunt Queenie were in town and it was so much fun to spend this Christmas with them.

MP CHRISTMAS PARTY

A couple days after Christmas, all my friends got together for our annual "MP" Christmas party. I always look forward to this party because it's the one time during the year that we all get together. We all live in various parts of the county and don't get to see each other very often anymore. So this is always a very fun party!

Kimberly and John! Came all the way from Texas! We love the Bakers...

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Our beloved Heidi!!! She brought this dang electric-hot potato ball that shocks you. Leave it to Heidi to bring the fun and dangerous games! We love her...

This is about right....

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I love my girls! Kimberly left before we took this picture so we are sad that she isn't in the picture. We are also missing Heather who couldn't make it this year from Idaho. But we missed her so much! Tausha made these CUTE beanies for us. Love them...

Heidi and her friend Dane. It was fun to have the "singles" of the group bring their guy friends. It adds something special to our party! Yay....

Jodi rapping to "I'm a Little Teapot" during a game of truth or dare - haha....

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The one and only, Christina Margarita Contreras!!!!! She's the raddest girl ever...

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Jodi and her friend David...

The lovely couple, aka - The Pews...

No MP party is complete without this amazingly delicious treat! It's become a tradition that Mary (Heidi's Mom) has to make this for us every year. So good...

We ended 2009 by having a little party at the Walkers house with them and the Williams'. It was a fun party filled with games and FAR TOO MUCH SNACKING, but I'm so thankful for the great people in our lives. This 2009 year was a roller coaster ride of ups and downs but I'm thankful for every down and loved every up! I wouldn't change anything that has happened to us over these past 12 months. We have learned so much from every experience. I can't wait to see what 2010 has in store for us. Happy New Year everyone!

Death Trap

2009-12-19T08:40:00.000-08:00

Our bug man comes once every two months and when he does, he so generously places two sticky pads right by our front door to stop any critters from sneaking in under our screen door. We have caught quite a few interesting creatures on these things which include the usual bugs such as crickets, spiders, pincher bugs, ants, etc........we've even caught a poor little baby lizard! But this morning we found this....

The poor birdy had it's leg stuck to the pad. These pads are POWERFUL! It was trying so hard to flap it's wings and get away. I was sure it was going to get away because of how hard it was flapping, but this miracle sticky pad wouldn't give in. So I had David grab his gloves and free the bird!

Awwww.......my hero!