Kaylee Arrives!

 We arrived on Monday, August 27th at about 7PM after Jana was talked into going in (to UVRMC). 

 In the first hour of observation sufficient progress was made to be checked in at 8:15. By 1:00 AM the doctor broke the water...

 ...at 1:33 AM Kaylee TBD Lindsay was born. She passed the screaming lung test...

 ...and was given to Jana. Kaylee quieted right down when she was next to Jana. Special moment! She is 7lbs 9 ozs, 19.5 inches long.

 Perfect little baby girl! We were moved down to a recovery room. Kaylee was bathed and given her shots, then brought to Jana. She slept with Jana while I went home (5AM) to get ready to care for the kids that morning.

After getting the others off to school, Bryson and I went over to make a visit. Brady was so excited to see both Jana and Kaylee!

 Precious little girl!

 Brady and I went back to pick up Ryan from school to go sailing witht he scouts, but he would have nothing with that, he said, "I want to go see my new little sister!" So we picked up Lisa and I checked out McKay and Bryson from school to go over and see everyone. I called Tyler to meet us there.

 Lisa was of course the first to go right after Kaylee...

 She loved holding her new little sister...

 ...finally, a sister!

 Everyone wanted their turn to hold Kaylee!

Lisa was very touched by her new sister and the reality that she now, finally had her sister.

 Happy, eternal family...angel boy is above in the middle :)

 Everyone had their turns holding Kaylee. They were filled with smiles...

 ...and hugs...

 ...more smiles...

 Proud papa!

 ...couldn't get enough of those squeezy toes, 'so tiny.'

 We couldn't help but just bunch up all around her...

 ...to see our new addition.

...amidst it all, I was most touched by the new relationship beginning between two loving sisters who had a lifetime ahead of memories and love.

We're walking on clouds! Jana and Kaylee come home tomorrow!

Back to School and Stuff

 Ryan before getting his braces on...back to school shot has Ryan with braces below. Just 15 months!

 McKay finally got his turn at the park with the 3-d web crawler thingy.

 Always cute Brady!

 Bryson and Mckay doin' there thing.

 Our neighbor let us borrow his riding lawn mower. He had mowed our side yard the week before and let McKay drive it. He picked up the steering so quickly McKay was driving by himself. So McKay had another chance to drive the mower...he was all smiles!

 All boys love riding lawn mowers!

Jana pointed out a lizard and McKay went into stealth mode and pounced on it. He kept it for the afternoon, then released it into the wild to be caught another day.

 Brady on his first day of pre-school. He loves his new school, Kid's village.

 Lisa on her first day...no braces for the first day of High School.

Tyler and Lisa went to school together again for the first time in something like six years. 

 Tyler is a Senior this year!!! He has a guitar class so he takes his guitar to school every other day.

 Ryan is a seventh grader...his first year in Junior High School. You can see his braces here...he had aqua colored bands put in, just like his cousin Cory.

 Mckay is going into fourth grade, cool as ever. He likes to do the moon walk in his new shoes.

 McKay and Bryson go to school together, they take care of each other at school.

Bryson is now in second grade. He has some great friends and especially likes to "shoot hoops."

The Friday before school started we went to the movie Brave, then went swimming and then out to eat at The Old Spaghetti Factory. It was a nice day. Followed by a morning of weeding, then snowcones for everyone. I will see if I can find a picture of one, they were amazing!

Ty's Trip to Havasupai

 A 6AM start for the 12 hour drive.

They made a breakfast stop at the St. George temple grounds...

 ...muffins and juice...

 ...and some time at the visitor's center.

 ...next stop was the Hoover Dam. Tyler took some great pics of it, but I didn't feel like just putting a bunch of Hoover Dam pics...it's quite an engineering wonder though.

 Ty man.

 They arrived late that night and camped just outside the North Rim parking lot so they were ready for the steep hike down to base of the Grand Canyon.

 The first mile was very intense as it was just switchbacks down the face of the Grand Canyon. The trail evened out a little...just nine more miles to camp.

 On his way to camp.

 Big group taking a short break on the long hot hike.

 Tyler just plugs along despite challenges. His leaders told me he was so helpful, obedient, a natural leader and a huge help to others.

:) 

 ...lots of hiking in mega heat...

 ...amazing scenery...

 At the base of the Canyon there is a reservation called Havasupai. It's a rugged, but beautiful oasis.

 And all this just on the way to their camp.

 Quite the falls.

 Panorama of the camp site.

 Tyler's hammock. This is what he slept in while there.

...then it was time to have some fun and cool off. 

 ...back at the falls.

 ...see the group above getting ready to hike down.

 ...through the caves...

 ...hiking down to the base of the falls...

 ...super steep on the way down...

 ...there he goes...

 ...and nobody got hurt...

...fun at the base. Tyler had a great experience with the Priests, Teachers and Leaders he was with...a group of 32. The hike out sounds absolutely crazy, steep, hot, very difficult...and they did it.