Becoming Self Reliant

since kyle and i have moved, we have put several hours worth of paint onto the walls of our new home. we have hung pictures, moved furniture, and decorated. while we are still in the process of giving our home the "mckay touch", we needed to get out of the house for a while and thought planting our own garden would be a perfect opportunity. this is the spot we chose:

in our new ward, the bishop (a.k.a. - my uncle who lives next door) has been coordinating a ward garden. the 1/2 acre of land for the garden just down the street from us was donated several months ago by a fellow family in the ward. early on the morning of saturday, march 6, the whole ward got together to plant the garden. each organization in the ward is in charged with keeping their assigned area free of weeds and well watered.

after hearing my uncle talk so much about the garden, kyle and i decided to use spring break as our time to make a garden. we live on an acre of land and grandma said we could put our garden anywhere in the backyard that didn't have grass - about half of the backyard. so kyle and i picked a spot that will get the right kind of sun and got to work. in the corner that we chose, there was a flatbed trailer, luckily we had kyle's dad's truck to move that. next came the worst part about gardening - removing any unwanted plant life. and believe me, there was a lot. for two hours kyle and i hacked at the shoulder height weed-bushes that seemed to be plentiful in the area we'd chosen. we raked several piles of shrubbery and filled up the bed of the truck. once that was done we took the rototiller we borrowed from kyle's uncle and tilled the rock hard ground. that handy machine saved us hours of work! i told brookie - my aunt next door about the garden and the rototiller and she and loren (uncle and bishop) came over to see it. loren asked if he could use it next door so kyle showed him how to work it and turn it on. loren got so excited that he walked it over to his house and used it right then. funny thing is he had just come home from church meetings and was still in his sunday best - down to his shiny shoes. i laughed so hard seeing him walk through the dirt in those shoes and his church attire, using that machine! too bad i couldn't take a picture. that ended day one.

i woke up on day two pretty sore in my back. (one thing about me: i love being sore. like after a great workout - like weed killing - and i can hardly move. that kind of sore. call me crazy, but it just feels good!) we dumped the weeds and pick up some fresh and *free* manure down the street at fisher ranch. (illene fisher is the young woman's president). then kyle backed the truck into our garden and we sprinkled it everywhere and tilled it in. then we were off to home depot to get seeds, soil, transplants, and a few other odds and ends. we came home and dug trenches on the south and east sides of our garden where we put walls.

addison was hard to take care of during this time of gardening. g-ma has a fenced in trampoline that we put her on with many toys, books, and a drink. she was always fine until she would see one of ours heads peek out from over the wall, or we had to run past her into the house. we tried to let her roam free, but she would just get stuck trying to climb over the berm to see us, or whine for us to hold her. so she had lots of tramp and quiet time. (quiet time is something we have started recently to encourage her to learn to entertain herself. quiet time means she is in her crib with books and a bottle. she does very well with this. i heart quiet time.)

day three was the sabbath, and on that day we rested from our labors.

day four. we made a grid on our garden and placed tile for our two paths. we then planted - which takes a surprisingly long time. we watered our garden, kyle did many excited fingers, and we celebrated with dinner - pb&j. i love pb&j. kyle said the blessing on our delectable dinner and asked God to bless our garden. we both will be very disappointed if it dies. family prayer had the same pleading. there is a sign on the ward garden that says " as the seeds grow, so does the gardener". i'm sure some things will die, but gardening is a process of trial and error and kyle and i have many things to learn.
this morning we woke up and learned it had rained. i think God is looking out for us.

Second Aniversary - A Scavenger Hunt

Since last year I planned and executed our first year anniversary, Brittney decided it was her turn to plan this years. I knew she was up to something making mysterious phone calls, and deleting the history on our Internet. The big surprise actually came a week before our anniversary. After going to the temple, I was walking out to my car (we drove separately) and I saw a note on the windshield. The note told me to look in my glove box and from there I was sent on a scavenger hunt.

I went to Barnes and Nobel to pick up a book, and in the book was another note telling me to go to an address in Tempe (thank goodness for map quest). I soon found myself in front of Brittney's favorite restaurant the serves an authentic cuisine of India. After eating there she gave me a note and left. The note was a puzzle in which I had to go through my book and find letters to figure out my secret password for my next destination. In the car, I found another note that led me to the Arizona Grand Resort.

I was forced to say my passward (it was naughty) several times because she "couldn't hear me" outside our room - quite embarrassing. She had bought some fun finger foods and I brought our leftovers from the restaraunt. It turned out to be a very fun and unexpected stay-cation. Sorry, no pictures.

Dear Addison,

I can't believe that you've already completed your first year. It's hard to think that my precious little baby is growing up so fast. I remember how excited I was the day you were born. It was very special to see you come into this world, to hear your first cry, see your beautiful face, and to feel your little hand clasped around my finger. It was hard to believe that in just a matter of seconds I became a Dad and how my love for you grew so much. I could not believe how absolutely beautiful you were. You had stunning blue eyes with long eye lashes that would make any movie star jealous. I remember holding you for the first time and thinking about how much I loved you and how excited I was to see you start your new life.

Your Mom and I were so exited when we were able to take you home for the first time. You were such a good baby. You would never wake up during the night. In fact, your Mom and I would have to wake you up in order to make sure you were fed. It was hard going to back to work after we took you home from the hospital. While at work I would constantly think about you and during my breaks I would always call and tell Mom to put me on speakerphone so I could talk to you and let you know how much I loved you.

We got so many compliments on what a friendly, happy, and easy going baby you were. Both your Grandmas and Grandpas were jealous on how good you were. They told you that you needed to be harder on us because we were difficult babies compared to you, and that it was not fair that you were just an angel. We got so many compliments on what a smiley baby you were. Your sweet, innocent smile would light up the room. You also loved to laugh, especially when we tickled you. Sometimes you would laugh for no apparent reason.

You were always a very friendly baby and loved to be held by anyone. You have a sweet spirit and a loving heart. Even at your extremely young age I was impressed at how you would watch and interact with other babies or children. You were always drawn to them and would try to befriend them by showing or sharing with them your binky, bottle, or whatever it was that you had.

It's been so much fun seeing you learn an grow every day. I was so excited when for the first time you laughed, rolled over, crawled, stood up, and when you took your first step. You learn so fast and you are so determined. I was especially excited and proud I was when you said "DA DA" for the first time. I constantly reminded and teased your Mom that you said "DA DA" before you said "MA MA." You learn new things almost every day - like folding your arms during family prayer, waiving your hand when we say goodbye, putting mommy's cell phone up to your ear and saying "hi", and kicking your ball around with me when we play soccer. It is so much fun to see you learn and developing your talents.

This year has gone by so quick and I already miss my little baby girl, bit I'm so excited for the years to come. You are my prized possession, my happy thought, the apple of my eye, and my little princess. There is nothing in this world that I wouldn't do for your own good or benefit. My life is your life. You bring so much joy into my life and I love you so very much.

Love,

Daddy

One Year Older and Wiser Too...

above: addison blew out her candle all by herself!

...happy birthday to you!

it happened. even though i have been looking forward to this day, i also dreaded my baby growing up. yes, i know she'll still need me for a while yet, but february 19th made the inevitable one year closer. so, because i knew it couldn't be avoided, i let addison turn one. aren't i nice? i sure think i am. there are so many precious things that she does, cute ways that she thinks about things, i am terrified that she will suddenly stop. on the other hand, i love watching her continue to learn about the world around her and figure out how to accomplish the things she wants. she is mi bebe guros (baby laguage for my baby girls) and i absolutely LOVE her.

she had a family birthday party at our new house. it was a great turn out with kyle's parents, my parents and sisters including michelle and jesse, both great grandmas, and great, great grandpa breinholt. we ate amazing food - hawaiian burgers - a great recipe kyle's dad found that includes mango, pineapple, bacon, and a mango sauce with anything else you like. way better than regular burgers.

above: jalee trying to get addison to eat her cake by example. addison was having fun being quite the tease - right when jalee would lean forward to take a bite, addy would pull the fork away and laugh. below: addison opening her presents. favorite toy thus far - balloons, go figure.we totally didn't think to get pictures of anyone but addison until afterward, sniff sniff. but, we are so lucky to have such great family who loves addy there to wish her happy birthday.

she is growing up so fast, and i'm gonna enjoy every minute of it. i am the luckiest mom in the world. i know everyone says that, but only this mom is right!

Since We Moved

we have been very busy cleaning, unpacking, organizing, decorating and painting. i know i said in november that i was going to paint befroe we moved in, but things just never turn out the way you would like them too. so kyle and i spent our school vacation time painting. my sisters have put in many hours to help us out (thanks guys) and though we're not done yet, we will be taking a break until summer. we still need to paint our office, bathrooms, and hallways. plus touch ups. grandma is so nice to let us do this in her basement. her favorite color for walls is white, so i think our tahitian red in the kitchen is a bit bold for her taste.

it's an amazing feeling to go from a 900 sq. ft. one bedroom, one bathroom and shared laundry to 2,200 sq. ft. three bedroom two bathroom complete with our own laundry. we are absolutely loving it and feeling like we are swimming in the extra square footage. oh, what a wonderful feeling! i think addison's favorite part is the carpet. her poor knees really had to toughen up for crawling all over hard, mexican tile. now they will somewhat soften on the carpet. well, i guess i should say would've softened. addison started walking a couple of steps at a time in later december, now she is walking pretty well. i laugh every time i see her going from one room into another because when she sees a transition in the flooring, she gets down on hands and knees to crawl over it, then is back up and walking. what makes her even think to do that?!

Harley Puppy Dog

I was looking though some of our family pictures and wanted to share some of these.

A few months ago Uncle Carson suprised us one night by taking us back to his bedroom and showing us the cutest little boxer puppy I've ever seen. Harley and I soon became great friends. She was full of energy and loved to play and then she would turn around and be the best little cuddle bug ever.

Harley was surprisingly obedient for a little puppy dog. When we took her on a family walk we couldn't find a leash so we put her in the back of Addison's stroller. She was soon excited by the new sights and sounds and wanted to walk on her own. I letter her out and she stayed no more than 20 feed behind or ahead of us and would come right when we called her.

We enjoyed watching movies together, taking naps, and playing outside.

A couple of weeks ago Harley had quite the adventure and so did we. On new years day she escaped out the front gate and was lost. We frantically looked for her all over the neighborhood.

We posted dozens of signs, talked to neighbors, and searched the streets up and down for her. Luckily though we got a lead from an animal hospital nearby that someone had dropped off a boxer puppy and they had animal control come pick her up. I spent that afternoon waiting at the animal shelter for the truck to return from the route. When I saw the truck pull up and watched them take Harley out my heart was relieved. Poor dog had quite the adventure.

Addison's First Christmas

All of my family was in town this year for Christmas. Christmas Eve the family always goes to a movie and dinner at Texas Roadhouse. This year, Maeli - the oldest grandchild - and Jennifer really wanted to see The Princess and The Frog. Grandma and Grandpa watched Addison and Cameron at home, which is starting to become part of the tradition and they couldn't be happier.

Christmas was a blast this year. It was my first Christmas as a Dad. Growing up I thought that parents got jipped on Christmas because the kids got all the fun toys and stuff. But it was so much fun watching my daughter opening presents even though she had no idea what was going on. We woke her up around 8 am and started opening presents. Santa gave Addison blocks, and a Disney movie. Brittney bought me a beautiful painting, several Calvin Klein belts, and my favorite candy bar - Butterfinger. I made her a Dating Jar where on any weekend she can pull out a fun and unique date idea for that night. She also got a gift card to her favorite store - Charlotte Russe. We cooked our traditional Christmas morning breakfast, crepes, and then headed out to our parents. Both Grandparents gave Addison toy cell phones since she is always putting ours up to her ear and saying "hi" and then she presses all the buttons. She got a toy monkey and a puzzle from the Grandma and Grandpas and princess sippy cups from her cousin's Maeli and Cameron. Let's just say she was one spoiled grandchild.

The next day, Grandma and Grandpa McKay took the grand kids to Freestone park to ride the train while Brittney had a photoshoot with Uncle Ernest's family. Addison loved the train.

For New Years, Addison saw fireworks for the first time at Grandma and Grandpa McKays. We walked out to the end of the cul-de-sac and watched the Jones' traditional display. She cried when they exploded and we had to take her back inside before any more went off.
We moved into our new place which is Brittney's Grandma's basement. It's 2,200 sq. ft. of space and we couldn't be happier. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen with a small pantry, a large storage room, and a very spacious family room. Oh, and we have our own laundry which is a huge plus! We are loving all the room and Addison loves the carpet. We will miss our French Cottage, but we are excited about our new home and can't wait to give it the "McKay" treatment.