more baby pics

i just couldn't resist adding a few more pics of lindee, brand, and zadee! i love the look on lindee's face as she stares at zadee.

what a proud, proud daddy!!

a new niece!!

my sweet sister had a new BABY!! her first - zadee jean. she was born on monday, august 23rd at 8:06 am. she weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces. is this baby girl adorable?

i was lucky enough to fly down the day after zadee was born and spend a few days playing auntie. i didn't get a chance to see any other family (except my mom because i crashed at her place!). i got there tuesday morning and left thursday afternoon. it was so so fun to hold this sweet baby. she is uber-cute and i wish i lived there so i could hold her!!

mak's accident

makaela fell thru the slats on the ladder in the basement while trying to make the bed. oops!

the front of her shin

the back of her calf - poor girl!!

random pics

the kids got to play with my camera on one of our outings ... apparently katy's a gangster. LOL.

some summer pics

joey and michael fishing - michael fished every day. he LOVED it!

one of our daily visitors. we put lots of sunflower seeds out on the patio to ensure they visited often.

miss rebecka in the field. hair a mess and just so happy to be there.

great kate ... look at those cute freckles!

complete JOY! the merry go round ...

katy loved swinging - the wind in her face and the weightlessness of coming down

four kids fishing

yet another visitor!

snowflake temple

michael and makaela were lucky enough to go to the temple in snowflake while we were at the cabin this summer. they were the only ones in there and the temple president sat and talked to them for a while. a nice gentleman was kind enough to take a picture of our forever family in front of the temple.

so it's the end of august

and i think we're getting settled. basically everything is unpacked and put away - everything has a place, you know. school started almost a month ago and the kids seem to be enjoying their classes.

makaela is loving middle school - she has been moved up to a higher math class than she was put in at first and has now been moved to "discovery" language arts class (which is a gifted program). she brings her lunch almost every day because the line to purchase food is "so long, mom". apparently, it spans the lunch room and turns corners. smart girl! she really likes that dad drives her to school when he's in town - some nice talk time for them.

katy is enjoying being the "oldest mcvey kid" at her school. she is in 5th grade and has joined chorus, which she likes most of the time. she can always be found in the basement curled up reading a book. a girl after her mom's heart! katy's been experimenting with riding skateboards out front and has gotten better. still makes her mom crazy with worry when she does tricks!

joey has a fantastic teacher for 3rd grade - mrs. charleton. she was a speech teacher in her previous life in arizona - both in scottsdale and yuma. so that is fantastic for him. he still loves math and has already passed the "end of the year" test for math skills. joey still loves sports - in fact, he finishes his chores quickly in the morning so he can watch "sports center" on tv. oh - it was so funny - michael and i checked the dvr to see if there were any shows we wanted to watch. there were over ONE HUNDRED shows on there. we clicked to see what shows they were - joey had set the dvr to record EVERY SINGLE sports center episode. and there's at least four a day. silly boy! he finishes his homework and afternoon chores quickly, too, so he can go out front and play with the kids.

becka is still impressing people with her reading. with her first test, she read over 150 words a minute. such a speed demon! becka learned to ride her bike this last week - WITH NO TRAINING WHEELS. she is quite proud of this accomplishment - especially that she can start AND stop by herself. becka has been quite patient with her mom - becka's room has train wall paper. still. i haven't had a chance to get it off and becka just says "it's ok, mom, trains aren't bad." what a doll!

michael has a new calling in our ward - webelo's leader - the same calling he had in our last ward. so that's fun for him. he likes that. and webelos is at the same time as joey's bear meetings, so it saves me a trip. yay!! if only young women's were on the same night as scouts.

and that's our update in a nut-shell! i will post some pics later this week - both of the house and of the kids.