Utah Reunion

May was absolutely full of reasons to celebrate and get together with the McKee family; so when Jordan's mom expressed her birthday wish of having all of her kids and grandkids together, everyone happily obliged. Plus, everyday we had something to celebrate (no joke!) with Heather's, Ashleigh's, Avery's, and Moms birthday as well as mothers day. Not to mention that is was Michele's 50th and Heathers 30th. Needless to say, we had an exceptional time having everyone stay here in Utah. Since Ashleigh's family is literally down the street (7 houses? I forget.) we were back and forth and everywhere getting lots of play time and laughs. How did I marry into the BEST family? 

We started the celebrations off by visiting the Payson temple open house. I told all the littles to look at the sparkly chandeliers and that there would be one in almost every room. I accidentally told them they were diamonds-- whoops. Those would be pretty 'spensive chandeliers... ANYWAY, the boys were absolutely darling as they kept coming up to me to tell me all the shiny sparkles they were seeing in the rooms. 

I didn't get any pictures at the temple... so I stole from Heather. Thank you for being so much of a better photographer/documenter than I!

A picture of the triplets is absolutely needed everywhere we go. Look how dang cute they all are!

Lucy and Linc fell asleep within seconds of one another. How sweet is that!

After our temple trip we made a stop at the BYU creamery where my Mr. joined us for lunch. Then we walked around BYU campus and I think a few of us felt a bit nostalgic remembering all the sweet, fun, hard, worthwhile experiences BYU provided for us. It is seriously such a beautiful campus and every time I step foot there I feel real proud that I am considered an alumni.

My favorite part of this picture is Kai and Heather. There is so much love right there!

Ashleigh was the only one who brought her stroller, bad move Mad. She played a little tetris and managed to fit all the babies in one stroller. I was seriously impressed.

Lucy fell asleep in Mema's arms while walking around on campus. She won't ever fall asleep in my arms anymore but this isn't the first time she done it for Mema. That woman has the magic touch!

That night we surprised Heather with a birthday party, ate Cafe Rio, and laughed our guts out all night long.

The next day we got family pictures. They all turned out darling. I wish I could post them all on here! We walked along the river path by our house and there were some gorgeous places for photos. We live in such a beautiful place!

 That is one heck of an awesome family!

 Our New York Wiggintons. It was SUCH a treat to have them in town.

 Chase and Meghan drove down from Idaho to join us!

 This is the sweetest picture to me. All the grandkids with Mema and Pepa.

We had a birthday lunch in the park for Jord's mom afterward. A special Cinco de mayo cake was made just for her. Heather taught me some camera tricks and we played around taking pictures, eating on the grass, talking, and of course, the men raced. 

 My lovies not looking terribly happy at the moment.

That night we went out just adults (with the exception of Lucy) and got a delicious meal. We went around expressing one by one why we love our Mom and it was something special. We are so lucky to have her!

Monday we surprised Ashleigh with a birthday party and played out in the backyard. Summer (technically spring) nights are wonderful.

The next day we squished in a much needed shopping stop at Hobby Lobby to make Quinny some headbands. We spent the day enjoying each others company and trying not to think too much about it all ending that night as Heather hopped on a plane with her babes.

What a wonderful long weekend it was. It was so special to have the babies all together again!

 Heather and I were giggling at the leg length difference between these two. Lucy is a little midget and Quinn got her beautiful long legs from her mommy.

Can we do it all over again soon!?

Our little eater

Lucy has just started eating baby food! I started with simple rice cereal and it was a total success. She couldn't really swallow any of it, but she at least liked what went in her mouth. Most of it slowly drooled out of her delicious cheeks onto her bib and clothes.

Soon after we decided to introduce squash and sweet potatoes. The idea of consuming cooked, mashed up squash and sweet potatoes packed into a jar doesn't sound entirely appealing to me. I personally like my sweet potatoes drenched in melted brown sugar with toasted marshmallows on top. So, when Lucy snarfed up her baby food I really was beginning to think she was a champ eater.

That was until we tried peas. She absolutely hated it. She reacted as if we were poisoning her. Maybe we are bad parents for thinking it was hilarious in every way. Either way, we got both good and bad eating experiences on film for all to enjoy.

6 months

How my baby girl is already six months blows my mind! She is nothing short of delightful and has changed our lives in the best of ways.

Recently, Lucy started waking up every hour and a half refusing to calm her sobs for anything but nursing. She nurses every 3-4 hours during the day so she definitely wasn't hungry! We finally decided (after many tears on my part) that she should probably sleep in her own room. Her first night was amazing and she was back to nursing just a couple times in the night. I've become fairly certain that I was just waking her up somehow. My siblings, parents, and husband have all witnessed my nightly sleep talking and as crazy as it sounds I think it is a very real possibility that thats what was waking her up! Who knows, maybe I roll over absurdly load and got her so worked up she had to nurse back to sleep. I guess we will never know. ;)

With the change of Lucy not sleeping in our room anymore I find myself tip-toeing down the hall to quietly open her door just so I can spy on her while she rests her little eyes. There is nothing sweeter, I tell you.

Since Lucy is an entire HALF YEAR old the two of us had a little photo shoot, naturally. I have far too many pictures of just her and not enough of me loving on her. So that's what we did! I couldn't get the little peanut to give one little smile to the camera. But I love them all anyway!

 I could kiss those rosy, plump cheeks all day long.

Mom's 50th

We celebrated my moms 50th birthday a little early so that we could have Chelsie's family come into town and the kids out of school for a extra long weekend getaway! We went down to St. George with all the kids, my parents, and my grandparents. Chelsie had put in some SERIOUS work and everything turned out fantastic.

We enjoyed family time while watching conference, stuffing our faces with delicious food, celebrating Easter, and celebrating the best mom and nana in the world!

Our family as well as Chelsie and Emme drove down earlier in the day to beat everyone there. Chels and I went shopping with the littles. We did not understand what we were getting ourselves into. When we got to the car after our Costco trip we realized that we may not be able to fit everything in. It was decided that one of us would hang back with the rest of the groceries while the other dropped the load off at the cabin and returned as quickly as possible. Well, luckily we didn't have to do that. I sat in the front seat and nursed Lucy while Chelsie piled everything into my car. And she completely worked a miracle! Right when Lucy was finished Chelsie had fit EVERYTHING into the car. I didn't even help her a bit. And it was seriously impressive.

Then we discussed that we only had a few more items to go get at Smiths. Was it really worth making the drive back to the cabin only to turn around and get more groceries? Of course not! So, we went to Smiths. A few items was definitely pushing it. We came out with a couple of carts full of more food and treats. When we opened the already full car we just laughed. We pushed and shoved groceries into every nock and canny of that car. And then in the end we had food on top of our babies and I had to fit food all around Chelsie once she had sat down.

Pictures to prove it?

 Wait, first look at how big Lu is being! So dang cute.

After our grocery fiasco Chels and I set up a few decorations for my mom to walk in to. They turned out darling.

The next morning was spent watching conference, swimming, and playing games. Sunday was conference and my moms big surprise day! Chels had shirts and hats made that said "I heart Tricia" and matching water bottles. We were all wearing them Sunday morning to surprise her. We had an Easter egg hunt and that night we watched an incredible video my dad made for her. He had spent the last few months going through old family videos and clipping his favorite parts. We all got to watch them on their wedding day, my mom with each of us as babies, and all of us growing up with her. It was incredibly touching and so, so fun to watch. It really was a testament of what a fantastic mom my mom really is. And my dad is seriously a rockstar for putting it all together.

 Our beaming birthday girl!

Best uncle award right there.

Monday and Tuesday were just a blast. The boys went golfing while the girls got pedicures. We went shopping, ate yummy yummy food, swam, played games with hilarious prices, and on and on. I can't begin to explain what a treat it was to have everyone together. It felt like MY birthday!

And a bunch of pictures of our fabulous weekend...

 Lookin' classy, as always.

 This is what happens to Lucy's hair if I don't tame it. Not joking.

 My loves.

 Eat that hat!

So... a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the best mother I know! I sure am grateful for you.