McKenna Family

We were so excited to have Abi's cousin from Arizona come and spend a week with us this summer.  These two girls are so sweet and have so much fun together.  We spent most of the week in Bear Lake and they did what girls do best......any guesses? HAVE FUN!!! (just in case there was any confusion) We had a great week and were so happy when our friends from medical school called and asked if we could meet up to go skiing with them in their new boat.  It was awesome.  We had such a great time catching up with them.  I love the picture of Makenna on the left.  She just couldn't get enough of the crazy tubing.  She asked to go with the older boys so she could get whipped around more.  We took this picture at the very end.  It was awesome! And yes this is little Bridger and baby Brayden (who are not so little anymore) from our days in Kansas City.  They also brought cute Braxton and adorable little Jenna, who has quite the personality and love...

This year was an extra special reunion for the McKennas.  Many years ago, the McKenna family hosted an Indian brother and sister in their home.  They quickly became family and the McKennas grew to love them like their own over the 7 years they lived with them.  Sadly, the brother, Harrison, was killed in an accident, but we have kept in contact with the sister, Evelyn, over the years and it's been fun to keep track of what's she doing and what her boys are doing. Until this year, most of the McKennas had not seen Evelyn and many of us had never met her.  We decided it was time so Rich contacted her and made all the arrangements for her to come visit for a few days.  She brought one of her sons and her boyfriend with her.  It was such a great time to be with them and catch up on their lives.  What wonderful people they are. The kids had a great time with these (for lack of better words or knowledge for that matter) sponge swords.  They played for h...

It's crazy weird that my sweet little boy has turned into a driving, dating machine....well the dating not so much....yet!  But soon!  Josh is such a good boy and it's so fun to watch him enter this stage of his life.  I'll admit it was pretty nerve wracking to just hand over the keys but he is a great driver and it has been a HUGE help to me.  I just send him wherever I need and he's pretty much thrilled to do it. We had a great few days of celebration  We started out with a family birthday party about a week before his birthday.  The McKenna clan all showed up and Josh even got his first kiss!  And boy oh boy, he was thrilled ;) On his actual birthday, we went and made it official and somehow they issued him his real full-on driver's license.  CRAZY!!  We met dad for lunch and the girls were lucky enough to join us.  All during the lunch, Meili kept saying that Josh was her boyfriend....pretty darn cute. Since 16 is a big year, we let ...

I'm not even sure how to start this entry.  To think about the worst moments of my life, this one ranks right at the top.  Saturday morning, as we were getting ready to head to the lake, the kids were cleaning up, getting swimsuits on, etc.   As I heard Josh yell, the words that came out of his mouth made my entire body just want to shut down.  As I heard the words "Meili just fell out of the window."  I just wanted and prayed to hear her screams but I heard nothing.  This was one time I would've preferred all the screaming in the world.....not silence.  Russel and I were racing down the stairs as fast as we could.  He made it out the door and to her side just as I was coming through the door.  What I saw was a scene I will never forget.  That moment will be seared in my memory forever.  I saw my sweet little angel laying on the concrete, curled up, not moving, with eyes rolled to the side and she was bleeding a lot.  I think I...

As a post wrap-up party to the 4th, we decided to grab some cousins and head to Bear Lake.  The kids had a great time.  We hiked the Limber Pines trail once again.  It is seriously so beautiful and the perfect hike for kids.  Their imaginations were running wild.  They went from Harry Potter to Hunger Games to BigFoot and Sasquatch. The kids had a great time and were excited to spend the day at the lake on Saturday.  Unfortunately, we had a very sad incident that cut our trip short.  It's not a blog I'm looking forward to writing but at the same time we feel so blessed.  Stay tuned.

As is always tradition, we headed to Centerville for lots of 4th of July celebrations.  On Tuesday night, we went to the Concert in the Park and Gina's kids had the cotton candy booth this year.  WOW!!!  They were swamped and I thought Gina was going to pass out from all the cotton candy spinning.  Abi was thrilled to help as well as Nick.  They had a blast and got up the next morning to do it all over again.   And after the concert was over we rushed back to Grandma's so the kids could watch the fireworks from the pool.  The view of course is better at the park but really how can you beat swimming in a pool watching beautiful fireworks right above you?  The kids won't have it any other way. Wednesday morning was the annual Centerville parade which again did not disappoint.  The kids had a blast and of course were scrambling for candy every chance they got.  It's such a fun tradition for the cousins to do together.  It's such a popu...