Maui, Hawaii 2009

June 6-13th, we took a family vacation to Maui, Hawaii! It was an amazing trip and we enjoyed relaxing in quite possibly one of the most beautiful places on earth. In fact we did not want to leave, but hey who would? We took over 400 photos, so I just tried to do as brief of an overview as possible. I wish I had the time and patience to up load each and every picture for you, but you will either have to just trust me, or go and have a visit for yourself! Enjoy!!!! This is a view on the property of the Westin Ka'anapali where we stayed.

The view from our patio.

Bennett and Brayden posing by a neat statue looking out from the top lobby towards the pool and beach area. This was our first full day and the boys were ready bright and early to hit the pool and beach!!!

Our 3 boys...

Looking out towards the pool

A view of the ocean from the lower pool, where we spent a lot of time with the boys in the pool.

The pirate ship pool. Brayden getting ready to slide down.

Bennett ready to take the plunge!

Bennett looking out over the Pacific ocean.

Baylor making the best of his time by the ocean. He was NOT a fan of the water. You can tell this boy was born in the desert :o). Ha!!!

Brayden working on his sandcastle fort.

Hang loose......

By lunch time each day, Baylor was so exhausted that he would fall asleep while eating his lunch. Poor sweet baby.

Mommy and Baylor on the patio.

Daddy and Baylor

Our three little monkey's laying in the bed in matching PJ's of course!!!

Daddy and his boys at Whalers Village

Mommy and her boys at Whalers Village

There was a Hula dancing show while we were there. The boys really enjoyed this new experience. There were even little tiny hula girls dancing that were maybe 4 yrs. old, so cute!!!

Baylor's favorite spot on the trip was the baby wading pool. He preferred to be here over any other place.

Baylor waving Hi to a man on his way to the pool!

Baylor and mommy in the Lazy River Bennett and Brayden at the Drums of the Pacific Luau at the Hyatt

Our family just before the luau began

At the luau, they were teaching those who wanted to learn, how to do the hula dance. Bennett, a.k.a Mr. Confidant went right up there and did a wonderful job learning the moves!

The boys favorite part of the luau, was the fire twirler! He was so awesome, and put on a great show!

Our family after the luau, with some of the hula dancers! Polynesian women are so beautiful!

Another day we went on the Sugar Cane Train and for a picnic. Such a fun adventure for 3 little boys.

Stopping for water for the steam train

Our family on the train.

Feeding koi fish

Bennett

Brayden

A view from our dinner table at one of our favorite places to eat at. Aloha Mixed Plate. All seating is outdoors and we had a $1,000,000.00 view!!!

Bennett waiting on dinner. Don't let that beautiful smile fool you, he was being a handful that night:o).

Sweet Brady waiting for dinner as well.

Baylor man, even though he had a snack trap for his little snacks, he did his best to throw lots of food on the ground for all the birds :o). Ha!

Mommy, ready to hit the beach!

The boys loved to play football on the beach. It's looks like Baylor is ready to make a pass to his dad or brothers!

Bennett running up from the beach! Babe watch, Ha!

How about this handsome boy?

Baylor enjoying the sand at the beach

I have a picture like this of the two older boys at the beach before Baylor was born, so I wanted to get one of all three! I love this picture.

Playing in some fourwheeler tracks!

More football.....

Pass it to me!

Sand fun!!!

Enjoying some Hawaiian shave ice! yumm-o

One of my all time favorite flowers: Bird of Paradise

Our last night in paradise. The boys infront of our resort.

Bennett took this picture of Bruce and myself on our last night. Brayden picked the flower for me :o).

Our trip home was quite the adventure. We checked out of our hotel room Saturday the 13th at 12pm and decided to go souvineer shopping and just taking it easy until our flight from Maui to Kona later that evening. We were told to arrive at the airport 3 hrs. early due to having to go through multiple agriculture inspections and that saturdays were just busy travel days. So we did, and once we arrived, we found out that we were booked on a lovely 8 passenger Cessna!?!?!?! What you have to be kidding me? I don't like flying to begin with much less a teany tiny puddle hopper. Well we waited around for 3 hrs. and then boarded our puddle hopper with another couple from Scottsdale, AZ. We made it, but I tell you I never want to be on a plane that small ever again!!!!!!!

Once we arrived in Kona, we were about 1/2 mile from the main terminal as the tiny little plane we flew in on, landed on a different runway. God knew I could not walk that distance with my newly operated knee, so he had a taxi cab waiting for us, which by the way, they are never there! Once we arrived at the main terminal we were in for another 3 hr. wait and long, long security lines, before boarding the plane at alomst 11pm Hawaii time to head home. Once on the plane, we got the boys all comfortable and ready to sleep for the red eye flight back home. They all did remarkably well, and we arrived in Arizona Sunday morning around 7:45am. We finally made it home to our house at around 9:20am. We all ate some breakfast, took baths, and took a huge much needed 5 hr. family nap.

We had a great time, and made some wonderful memories. Maui we will miss you, until the next time Aloha and Mahalo

May 2009

While I was recovering from my Rt. knee surgery done 3/26, we needed to have someone around M-F to help with getting the boys to school, Dr's appt, PT appts., grocery shopping, keeping up with the house, helping to care for Baylor etc, etc.... We were blessed to have met De, and have her help us out over a 7 week course. We spent nearly 300 hrs. together!!! She was an answer to prayer and we were both blessed with one another. The boys absolutely LOVED her, and I can say she just brought so much joy and happiness to our lives. May 14th was her last day with us, and it was such a bittersweet day. It was a day I had looked forward to for 7 long weeks, and when the time came, I was so sad to see her go. The boys still ask me each morning if Mrs. De is coming, especially Brayden.

This picture is a bit out of place, but the last week of January Grandad and Martha came to visit us. One of their last days here, we went to the World Wildlife Zoo for the day. It was so much fun, and we are hoping next year they will spend the month of January with us!

This is Baylor having his very first doughnut! It looked as big as a car tire in his mouth! Ha....

A cute picture of Baylor.

Friday May 8th I was invited to Chapel and a Mother's Day tea in Brayden pre-school class. We enjoyed pastries, fruit, cheese, and vegetables. The children performed a couple of songs, and presented their mommies with a picture and sentence of why their mommy was special. It was such a nice morning with just Brayden and I. There was a cute moment in Chapel where the kids were singing a song, and Brayden was singing at the top of his lungs. It was so cute and all the moms we so tickled by him :o).

As soon as Brayden's tea was over, I was invited to a tea in Bennett's class. They made us a bonnet with silk flowers, they gave us their chair to sit in, had a menu for us to look at, written us a book called, "My Mom can...", read out loud why they loved their mom, sung us a song, and served us our food and tea. It was so nice to spend some sweet one on one time with Bennett and hear his affirmation of his love for me.

They had asked us to send in a shoe that they had outgrown, so after bleaching his old sneaker, his teacher had sprayed it with bronze paint and they had a potted marigold in it for us to take home. The kids also iced our cupcake and topped it with a little flower pick! Bennett had made a heart shaped bowl as well in art class for me too!

It happened to be Hawaiian day at school so that's why he was dressed with a Hawaiian shirt and not his uniform shirt that day. I snapped this picture on the playground just after our tea. I thought this was a sweet picture of him.

Close up of the bronzed sneaker and plant from Bennett!

Later on that afternoon, we went to see the Arizona Diamondbacks take on the Washington Nationals. It was Faith and Family night and we went with our Community Church of Joy family. This is the boys waiting on the light rail. It costs us only $6.25 round trip to get to the game. They loved riding the train :o).

Brayden at the game.

Bennett at the game still sporting his lei from school:o).

We left Baylor home with Maxine his babysitter, since it was a late night. Having fun at the ballgame!

April 23rd, Bennett school had a play The Tale of Three Trees and had their art on display. This is Bennett just before his performance. He played the part of a cow. This is Brayden and Katie at the play. They are in the same pre-school class, and she came to visit us during the play. Don't ask why Brayden was making this funny face, I think he was so excited to see Katie.

Mother's Day May 10th, with my 3 boys. Baylor was not in the picture taking mood, so this is what I got! Ha.

I opted for individual pictures, since the group shot was not happening. Me and my Brady Bear!

Baylor thought this was o.k., so he decided to laugh for this one! Such a stinker.

Me and my sweet Bennett. It was such a nice day, they cooked breakfast, we went to church, spent time in the pool, and went to dinner at Black Angus. They got me sweet cards, Gerber daisy potted plant, some clothes from my favorite store, and lots of hugs and kisses. Thanks for a great day guys!!!!

Easter 2009

Sorry for the major bloggy break! I needed a break from my blog, and having knee surgery on March 26th was the perfect opportunity for it. I'm now back in near full swing, so I thought I'd catch up from where I left off. Not to mention I like my blog as a reference of what has been going on in our lives. Brayden had an Easter egg hunt in his class on Wednesday April 8th. He was an egg finding champion. I had to tell him to stop and he had to share some eggs with a few friends :o).

Brayden after his egg hunt, with his basket of eggs.

Mommy and Brayden. I was able to go and spend time with Brayden in his class. I still had the bandages on my rt. knee, and am holding on to something so I would not fall over!

Brayden and his buddy Gunnar

Having a snack! They took croissant rolls and rolled up a marshmallow and baked it. The kids then open the bread and saw that the marshmallow was gone, just like Jesus was from the tomb on the 3rd day! Such a neat lesson and a yummy snack all in one!

That Friday the boys were off from school, so we dyed Easter Eggs. This is one of my favorite activities of Easter. I remember choosing all the pretty colors and having baskets full of eggs as a child!

I got this beautiful basket in NC at the Southern Spring Show and decorated it with the ribbons. Each year, we fill this basket with the eggs the boys and I make!

Saturday the 11th of April, we went to our church's Family Easter Egg Hunt. This was our 4th year attending. It was cool and rainy, so all the festivities were moved inside.We had a great time as always! This is a photo I get made each year, and it's so neat to see the kids growing over the years!

The McKinstry 5!

One of the Joy families sells bunnies! They had bunnies for sell, and the boys decided having a pet bunny was just what we needed. Actually Bennett's teacher assures me that bunnies are fabulous pets, much better than dogs or cats. Hmmm, wonder who's side she is on?

Brayden with his "Chickie" the name he has for bunnies.

This is the best shot of the 3 boys Easter Sunday, April 12th. This was made just before church.

This is our family photo taken just after church!

This is the boys with our friends The Surbers kids. From Left to Right:

Brayden, Keenan, Logan, Bennett, and Baylor

The Surbers our packing up and moving house from Arizona to Tennessee in a few short weeks. It will be sad to see them go, but we wish them well on their new adventure!

Brayden, Bennett, Logan, and Keenan in front of the water fountain Easter Sunday. They look so cute all coordinating!

Bennett posing with the pinwheel :o). 6 yrs. 5 months old.

Mommy and Brayden.

Sweet Brady! 4 1/2 yrs.

Having fun with Baylor on a beautiful Spring day! 18months

Had to get some pictures of Baylor in the famous Cozy coupe. All the boys have loved this car, and Baylor does too! So cute that sweet baby smile!

Making a run for it! Love this action shot!

Our future little golf pro!

Spring Fling

We have been having the most delightful weather since January! The boys have enjoyed playing outside and practicing their skills with various sports almost daily. We know this perfect weather will draw to a close all to soon, and turn unbearably HOT, so we are trying to take advantage of it as much as possible right now. This is the boys this morning just before church! This seems to be the best time to try and capture pictures of them, as they are neatly groomed and fairly willing to oblige in my mad attempts to get perfect pictures of their sweet angelic faces!

Brotherly love....

Bennett had 2 more teeth from the bottom pulled 3/17 adding to his total of teeth pulled from the bottom to 6! He also lost one of his top teeth on his own about 1 week prior and lost another top tooth last night, bringing his grand total to 8 teeth missing. I told him, the tooth fairy was going to go broke with all the teeth his has been loosing and getting pulled. Not to mention, it is very difficult for him to take bites with so few teeth in the front. Non the less, he is still our handsome boy, and I love every chance I can get to hold him in my arms, as I know all to soon, he will feel to big and get in his mama's arms!

Brayden has been doing remarkably well in all areas lately. His teacher raves about how well he is doing at school and what a sweet boy he is. He is such a lover, and demands at least 3 hugs and 3 kisses before you get out of his sight. We cherish all the love he showers us with!

Baylor... My my, he has developed quite the little temper lately. If he gets scolded, he will flop his little body down, and wail on the floor. Where has this come from? He is also signing and copying any and all actions that he can. Several times lately, we have caught him in the food pantry, sitting on the floor and stuffing his fat little cheeks with goldfish and cheese crackers as fast as he can. I also found him with a sucker the other day, too funny!!!

He still loves to get in the toilet and play(ewe gross...). His most favorite thing right now though is to be outside playing ball! When you bring him in, it's a full out melt down and scream fest. I tell you this boy would live outside if I would let him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will be having surgery on my right knee, this week Thursday 3/26 for repair of an Articular Cartilage Lesion. Dr. John Brown will perform a Microfracture on the lesion area, by drilling many holes there causing scar tissue to form and allow my bone to track on the scar tissue instead of bone to bone. I would covet all your prayers, as I will be on crutches for the next 6 weeks. UGH.... Please also pray for De the boys nanny as she has some big shoes to fill. She is awesome, and I have full confidence that she will do an amazing job!

My 3 Little loves

To get a great shot of 3 active little boys is a very hard task. Bruce gave me a gift certificate for a photo purse, either a Gina Alexander or Brighton for Mother's Day a year ago, and I've still not gotten a picture that's I've felt was good enough to spend the money on getting the purse. This morning after the boys were all dressed and ready for church, I decided to try and get some pictures. I really like the way this one turned out. It may be the one I use, or I may try a little more and see if I can get the perfect shot. Either way though, this picture is just so sweet of the three of them. Enjoy ♥