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

Momentous Day!

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!!

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!

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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!

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

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

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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!!

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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

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!

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.

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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!!

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.

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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!

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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.

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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?! :)