Kindergarten Program

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!

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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

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.

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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!!

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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!!!!

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

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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!

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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!

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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

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??

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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!!!

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

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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!

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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

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!

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

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Belle!

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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!!!

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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

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.

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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