THE DEMARTINI FAMILY

Halloween Pictures

2011-12-02T14:21:00.000-08:00

Aunt Caitlyn set up a photo shoot with the cousins in their Halloween costumes that her friend Ashley did. They turned out so cute, I especially love the candid ones of them laughing together. Thanks for the cute photos, and for having us, the kids had so much fun doing it!

cousin Samson, cutest monster!

cousins Nora and Lucy! So cute!

Happy "5" Birthday Ava

2011-12-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

Ava turned "5" back in October. I can't believe how fast the last five years have flown. This year the Circus was here at UVU the same day as her birthday so we went with the cousins to celebrate and then had treats after at our house! Happy Birthday Ava, we love you so much!

Buddy Walk 2011

2011-11-16T13:41:00.000-08:00

Back in September was the Buddy Walk! We're so grateful for these little angels in our family and for everyone who came to walk and show support! These three cousins are so lucky to have each other! Our team name this year was "The Trisomy Trio--Bree, Lyla and Mia!"

The Signing Time concert. The kids were excited this year that they knew the songs to sing along!

Lyla's little friend Frankie, he's so cute!

Trick-or-Treat

2011-11-10T22:15:00.000-08:00

The kids really got into trick-or-treating this year. They were running as fast as they could from house to house until they finally got tired out!

Halloween Fun

2011-11-09T08:07:00.000-08:00

Saturday evening before Halloween we had a fun party at my parents house with all the cousins and family. The kids dressed up and we played Halloween games and had treats! It was a fun night!

Lindey and Caitlyn made these cute ghost juice boxes for the kids and pumpkin drinks!

The crazy monster dudes!

Ghost bowling!

Griffin, Samson and Crew. All the scary monsters!

Nora was missing her side-kick Thing 2 (Lucy) who was out of town. We missed them!

Donut eating contest on a string

Toilet paper mummies!

Gardner Village Witches

2011-11-06T22:23:00.000-08:00

We made a whole day of some Halloween fun the week before Halloween and before it got freezing cold. We went up to Gardner Village along with Caitlyn and Sam to see the witches in the afternoon after meeting Katherine and the kids at the Pumpkin Patch in the morning! The kids said they were nice witches so I guess they weren't too scared of them as long as they weren't too close!

Lyla wasn't too sure what to think about it!

The boys favorite was the firefighter witch of course!

Vineyard Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-06T22:15:00.000-08:00

We met Katherine, Blythe and her preschool group and Caitlyn and Samson out at the pumpkin patch to do the corn maze and pumpkins the week before Hallowen. It was a wee bit chilly in the morning but we had a good time despite the chill in the air!

Hayride and Hot Chocolate

2011-10-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

Carving Pumpkins

2011-10-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

Picking Pumpkins

2011-10-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

Cornbelly's Fieldtrip

2011-10-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

I went with the kids class on their fieldtrip to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point. They had the greatest time, they would have stayed for hours longer if they could have!

The dudes and their little friend Jett. I thought this picture was so cute that he's their little pal.

Crew's the king of the mountain! Ava informed me, when she saw the picture, that there was a sign saying you weren't supposed to climb on top of the stacks and if Crew isn't supposed to be doing it that's right where he wants to be, but Ava can't read either yet so who knows what the sign really said?

The whole class. Last year Ava wouldn't be in the class picture but this year they all were happy to participate!

Happy 4th Birthday Griffin and Crew

2011-10-16T22:55:00.000-07:00

The dudes turned "4" in September and I can hardly believe where the time has gone. It seems like yesterday that they were babies. Stop growing up already, it's going by way too fast! You two definitely keep us on our toes, and add double the excitement to our lives. We Love You! We had a party at Kangaroo Zoo with the cousins and family. They jumped and jumped and jumped and had a great time, then we had pizza and cake and ice cream to celebrate!

My mom and dad gave them tool sets, they are in heaven fixing every little thing they can find. Now they can be like the big guys.

St. George

2011-10-16T22:32:00.000-07:00

I took the kids and went with a couple of my sisters and mom to St. George for a quick few day trip. My mom had a conference down there so we decided to get out of town for a few days and tag along. We mostly went swimming and just took it easy! It was nice to just get away and relax in the sun.

Nora, Lucy and Lyla just chillin' at the pool. Lyla will not leave these two alone. She just loves them a little too much, if ya know what I mean!

Heber Valley Camp

2011-10-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

We went camping up at the Heber Valley Camp with my whole family a few weeks ago. We had a great time despite the downpour of rain soon after we got there, it cleared up at dark but it definitely didn't ruin the fun. We set up a few tarps and were good to go! Thanks for a fun time everyone, we love being together with family!

The boys spent hours hauling wood around and helping with the campfire

Enjoying some JiffyPop in the campfire.

Disneyland a year ago

2011-10-12T21:52:00.000-07:00

So, these pictures are nearly a year old, I have no idea how they didn't end up on my blog, I guess with the craziness of the holidays and such last year it got overlooked. We went to Disneyland last November with Rick and Lacey and the kids and the Leishman clan. We had the best time, it was so much fun! Ava still every few days talks about when we are going back. Sorry for the picture overload, I just didn't want to forget any of it!

Lyla went on ToyStory with everyone probably twenty times. It was by far her favorite ride i'm sure, if she could tell us!

Ava's favorite rides were the TeaCups, PeterPan, ToyStory, Mickey's RollerCoaster and Dumbo!

We did the princess lunch which Ava thought was the greatest. Her face just lit up every time a new princess came out. She kept saying to me, "mom, how do they all know what my name is?" She thought it was magical. Kristen and the girls were doing lunch about the same time and were across from us so it was fun for Ava and Gracie to be able to chat. Funny coincidence, not planned!

The Decker's were there for a few days at the same time so we had to snap a photo together!

Just hanging in the hotel, Ava pulled the box of donuts up and put on a movie. Relaxing!

Lyla was such a trooper considering the heat and us pushing her all around!

A few days into the trip our stroller wheel hit a curb and the steering broke so the wheels wouldn't move at all, so we had to move all our junk into rental strollers and use shoelaces to tie Lyla's carseat on so it didn't fall off. Chris was a little frustrated getting everything rigged so we could get moving again, considering it was record heat of nearly 100 degrees that week and we were all sweating like crazy!

Lyla

2011-09-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

Lyla has been making great progress this past month with her therapy. I can hardly keep up with her these days, she's everywhere. She can go up and down the stairs now, she's crawling on hands and knees, and is pulling herself up on and walking along all the furniture. I find her in any open shelves, closest, playing in the toilet and wherever else appeals to her. It's great, we're so excited for her progress, she's learning so much!

Here first pig-tails. She looks so much older to me. We're trying everything to find a solution to her crazy hair!

She loves to talk on the phone, she says hi and dada and mama.

Trying out a ride in the doll stroller

She's figured out the capri sun and straws. She drinks for a bit and then spits the rest, she thinks she's so funny.

Face painting Fun

2011-09-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

Lacey and Shaley were doing face painting Sunday evening to get ready for the school carnival. The kids were thrilled, they love it. Mazie and Ellie talked Chris into joining in the fun also, what a good sport! They do an awesome job!

I love Lyla's face when she looked at Griffin the tiger. She was a little scared!

School Days

2011-09-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

The kids all started preschool! Hooray! They are loving it and i'm not complaining about Lyla and I having a couple hours of free time to run errands and whatever!

Seven Peaks Fun

2011-08-20T14:49:00.000-07:00

We've been enjoying the last days of summer and trying to get the most out of our Seven Peaks passes before it closed so we went a few times the last week or so!

Lagoon Down Syndrome Day

2011-08-15T14:08:00.000-07:00

We went up to Lagoon for Down Syndrome Day this year! We had a lot of fun, we haven't been there probably since going in high school. We did all the kid rides over and over and over again and met up with the Down Syndrome group at the pavilion for dinner! Fun day!

We got caught in a down pour waiting in line for the roller coaster but it was nice to cool off even though we got all wet!

Enjoying the Park

2011-08-13T23:12:00.000-07:00

It's a rare occasion that Lyla will leave a clip in her hair for longer than two seconds without pulling it out and eating it

cousins Lucy and Nora

The kids just couldn't help themselves playing in the fountain and ended up soaking wet

United Angels Foundation swim party

2011-08-12T22:54:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed some sun, popcicles and waterslides at the United Angels Foundation swim day at the Scera Pool! So many cute kids, it's fun to meet new friends and visit!

Orangeville Parade

2011-08-11T22:29:00.000-07:00

We all went to Orangeville for the day over July 24th holiday weekend because my cute grandpa Cox was the Grand Marshall of the parade there. Aunt Gerilyn had arranged for the kids to go for a ride in the firetruck which the boys talk about daily. They were a little nervous, however, when it pulled up in front of the house but they had fun on the ride! It was a fun day and good to see everyone down that way.

Lyla was not to thrilled about wearing her fire hat for some reason

At the picnic and celebration at the park they had foam from the firehouse which looked fun, Crew tried it for a minute but wasn't a big fan.

Finger Painting Fun

2011-08-02T23:17:00.000-07:00

We tried out some finger painting for Family Night a couple of weeks ago. I remember doing finger painting when we were younger and how much fun it was. It was actually less of a mess than I had anticipated and the kids thought it was great that they weren't getting in trouble for making a paint mess all over the driveway! Perfect for all of us!

Daddy-Daughter Barbie Dance

2011-08-01T23:13:00.000-07:00

For Ava's dance class they had a Summer daddy-daughter barbie dress-up dance evening where they taught their dads a dance they learned and had pictures and treats. Chris and Ava went as workout Barbie and Ken! They looked fabulous and had a fun evening together!

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

The 4th of July weekend was one non-stop party after another every day again this year, which makes for a fun weekend! We love it!

Lyla was put in the hospital over the weekend with another respiratory infection sort of stuff so our family picture this year was taken at the hospital, yahoo! I was sad she wasn't with us for the holiday but we took turns sitting with her and still enjoying the festivities with the other kids and family!

The nurse was so kind to let me change her into her 4th of July outfit at least for a photo or two!

The dudes and Sam had nearly matching shirts!

Lucy and Nora hanging out together!

The girls all ended up wearing some sort of blue striped shirts, not planned, so we had to get a photo!

Mikayla and Guy, Griffin and Ava chillin' on the couch outside to watch the fireworks!

4th of July Parade

2011-07-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

I took the kids to the parade while Chris sat with Lyla since she was in the hospital. It was a bummer that we weren't all together! But nevertheless we all still enjoyed the parade!

It was fun to catch up and see Charakie and the kids visiting here from out of town now that they moved last year! They're so kind every year to come let us sit and watch the parade!

Stadium Fireworks

2011-07-16T13:22:00.000-07:00

We went down to Provo High field again this year to play around and watch the big fireworks from the stadium!

Ava asked me, "Mom, now why do we like fireworks?" She's not much for the noise!

Griffin just really loves when someone tries to give him a hug or kiss. Not really, as you can see he gets all embarrassed and shy

Freedom Festival Hot Air Balloons

2011-07-15T13:10:00.000-07:00

This year we woke the kids up bright and early to meet everyone to watch the balloons take off. It was really fun and colorful to see them all in the sky!

4th of July Festivities

2011-07-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

cousin Samson and Lyla. They weren't too sure about why the other was on their chair

I love that Lyla crosses her feet whenever she sits now!

Bree and Mia eating snow cones together

Swimming

2011-07-13T14:09:00.000-07:00

That's pretty much what we've been up to this summer most days!

Mia Kareen

2011-07-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

Our newest niece and cousin has finally arrived home a few weeks ago and she is such a sweetie! We were so excited to meet her! After five weeks in the Ukraine Kris and Kecia are home at last after adopting Mia. There wasn't a dry eye at the airport as they arrived home and Mia met her new sisters and family. It's so fun to see her personality and how her life has changed already. Everything is new to her and it's amazing to watch her explore and discover her new journey here! We Love You Mia and are so happy you're home!

Awaiting Mia's arrival to meet their new sister!

The Cabin

2011-07-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

The girls all went up to the cabin with the kids to escape for the week. It was fun, not too hot and we took lots of crafts to entertain the kids. We had a great time!

Bree, Lyla and Mia all ended up with the same jammies on one night (not planned). Adrie was so cute, she came upstairs in the morning and said "look, it's all the down syndrome girls in their matching jammies" We laughed!

We did a lot of cabin crafts the kids love. We decorated placemats, painted rocks, made friendship bracelets and necklaces, made soap and decorated flip flops.

Ava and Mia having a tea party

The kids washing their rocks to paint

Aunt Lacey tried pigtails in Lyla's hair. It lasted for a few minutes until she pulled the rubber bands out and put them in her mouth to eat. I honestly don't know what to do with her funky hair. She won't leave anything in it. It's bad news and always in her face these days!

decorating flip flops

We took a little fieldtrip to the Crater in Midway to let the kids go in and see it.

Seven Peaks

2011-07-03T22:43:00.000-07:00

Crew wanted his picture taken by the flagpole, I'm not really sure why since he rarely wants his picture taken at all.

Cousin Nora, her swimsuit is just the cutest thing ever

Orem SummerFest

2011-07-03T22:01:00.000-07:00

We took the kids out to the carnival at Orem SummerFest. They love all the little rides!

Lyla and Samson chillin' in the strollers

Movie night on the deck

2011-07-02T21:45:00.000-07:00

The kids had movie and popcorn night out on the deck at grandma's while Kyra, Adrie and Bree were staying for the weekend! They thought it was the greatest!

Ava's Dance Concert

2011-07-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

Ava's been taking dance this past year at Jive and she had her first concert. She did great! She's wanted to take dance where cousins Mazie and Ellie have but she was a little nervous about it until this year and she loves it now. They all did a great job performing! It was a whole weekend of dance!

Ellie, Ava and Mazie

Lucy and Ava

Ava and Gracie

Ava's Preschool Graduation

2011-06-23T13:20:00.000-07:00

Ava and her teacher Mrs. Stephanie. She is a fun teacher, Ava really enjoyed preschool this past year and learned a lot!

Lyla Pneumonia

2011-06-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

Lyla spent another week in the hospital with pneumonia again. She's home now and not quite all the way better but mostly on the mend. She's a lot happier, hopefully she can stay well through the Summer now that it's warmer outside. Cross our fingers!

Ava blowing bubbles to keep her entertained!

cousin Mazie and Ellie made her a cute card and brought her a toy bear to play with! She was happy to see them!

This is what she thinks of her oxygen. She will not leave it in her nose, she pulls at the tube and patches constantly, she absolutely hates it!

Ducks gone bad

2011-06-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

A few Sunday's ago we went for a stroll along the new river path at BYU to see the new baby ducks there. To make a long story short some girls asked if we wanted to take a few ducks home because they were wandering around without a mom and probably wouldn't make it so of course Chris thinks that's a great idea and we bring a couple of them home. The kids were so excited, they made them a little bed and went the next morning to get duck food and stuff with Chris only to arrive home and find the ducks had passed on while they were at the store. They were so sad, Ava cried and cried all morning.

Jumping Jacks Fieldtrip

2011-05-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon we went with Ava's class on a fieldtrip to Jumping Jacks. The fieldtrip was supposed to be to the zoo but if it would ever quit raining maybe we could do some activities outside so it got moved inside. When is it going to be warm already! I'm so done with the rain everyday! The kids had fun, they jumped their little hearts out and thought it was just as great!

Lyla's 1st Birthday

2011-05-04T22:27:00.000-07:00

Lyla turned ONE back in March! On one hand I can hardly believe she's already one and on the other hand it seems that she's been part of our family for much longer than a year. She is such a joy to us, we love her tons! She is the happiest little person, she makes us smile just looking at her. She has the sweetest, loving spirit about her. We wouldn't change one thing about her or this past year with her joining our family! For her birthday we had a party with our families, she liked playing in her cake and mostly liked eating the frosting off her fingers! Happy Birthday Pretty Girl, we love you so much!

She loves being pushed around in her new bike!

A few things about Lyla on her 1st Birthday:

--She can sit pretty well on her own now

--She just got her first tooth

--She can army crawl scoot where she wants to go

--She is loving food!

--She babbles dada and Mmm for mom or mama sometimes

--She always has a big happy smile, we're so excited about how well she is doing!

Thank You Primary Children's Hospital

2011-05-03T22:51:00.000-07:00

As part of Lyla's 1st Birthday we wanted to do something to give back to Primary Children's Hospital for all the care and help we've received for her over this past year, so our families joined us to donate onesies for the babies in the cardiac unit. We are so grateful to so many doctors and nurses we see there that take care of Lyla. We've spent quite a bit of time there this past year for surgery's and dr visits and everyone has been so wonderful and helpful to us, we are beyond grateful for all who have and are still taking care of Lyla! Thanks a ton!

Tulip Festival

2011-05-02T22:16:00.000-07:00

We met up with Katherine and the kids to check out the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point last week. The kids ran around all the paths and we had a picnic lunch and enjoyed being outside finally for one semi-nice day. Is it ever going to be Spring? The tulips were really pretty as always!

Swim and Easter Egg Hunt

2011-05-01T22:02:00.000-07:00

Aunt Jeri and Uncle Steve had their annual swim party and egg hunt! The kids had the best time swimming and then hunting for eggs (despite the drizzling rain outside). Thanks for a fun party, we had a great time!

cousin Madi and Lyla

The kids had a great time on the rope swing

cousin Lucy

Lyla loved swimming and splashing! She's going to have a fun summer this year in the pool!

cousin Bree and Kris

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

Crew was really excited about having his picture taken before church!

DeMar's Egg Hunt and Easter Dinner

2011-04-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

All the DeMar cousins

Grandma Sue and Lyla! We missed Grandpa Larry who is still in the hospital recovering. Hopefully he will be back home soon!

Cox's Easter Dinner and Egg Hunt

2011-04-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

the cousins

(minus Lucy who was out of town, Nora who was sleeping, and Kareen who will hopefully be here for the next holiday cousin picture!)

Coloring Easter Eggs

2011-04-21T22:48:00.000-07:00

We colored eggs for family night. It was actually not too chaotic, I expected much more craziness. The kids each colored their own carton of eggs without much fuss. They loved it!

cousin Nora

cousin Samson and Lyla

cousin Lucy

Lyla was thrilled when she spotted a basket left unattended on the floor. She was all over dumping it out to get to the eggs inside as quickly as possible before someone took it away!

This is Lyla this year in her Easter Basket. Not quite the same as the picture below from last year when she fit inside her basket. I can't believe she was ever really that small!

Lyla's growing up

2011-04-20T22:07:00.000-07:00

Lyla's been making some good progress lately. I get so excited to see her catch on to new things! She was standing against the wall for a couple of minutes during therapy last week, she does her army crawl scoot thing to get where she wants to go but isn't thrilled about crawling on hands and knees yet, but she'll get there eventually!

We're trying clippies in her crazy hair now since she won't leave a headband on for one second anymore.

She's so proud of herself standing against the window! She sits for quite a while now really well but then she rolls her legs back behind her and goes on her tummy. It makes me cringe a little watching her, it looks like it should hurt but she's just a little gumby and it doesn't bother her in the least!

She's discovered she loves her sippie cup (and any of the others kids cups she can get her hands on) and loves food now! She hasn't spit out or made a face at anything we've fed her yet! It's a little hard since she just has one tooth but she does pretty well regardless.

She loves her big girl carseat she took over from Ava. We trade off with that and the infant seat still but she thinks she's so big sitting in it!

Ear Tubes for Lyla

2011-04-19T13:35:00.000-07:00

Lyla had tubes put in her ears last week and they also did an echocardiagram to check her heart since her surgery while she was already put out. Hopefully the tubes will cut down on the number of infections! She was so happy even though she hadn't been able to eat anything from the night before.

The nurse gave her a Popsicle after she woke up, she loved it! She's ready for the Summer Popsicle treats!

Letter "P" Party

2011-04-05T13:01:00.000-07:00

Katherine and the kids invited us over for a "P" Party for their letter P week. We all wore Pink and Purple (Crew was thrilled that he could wear one of Ava's pink shirts and Griffin too surprisingly) The games were Pop the Purple Balloon, Pass the Potato, the Pink Poodle on the Parachute and a Pineapple Pinata! They loved all the letter P treats and the Pizza. Thanks for having us over to join in the "P" fun! We had a great time!

Pink Polka-Dot Girls

2011-04-04T23:01:00.000-07:00

Over at my mom's the other night Lucy, Lyla and Nora were all wearing white onesies, pink polka-dot leggings of some sort and pink headbands (not planned) so of course we had to snap a photo! They are going to be great cousin buddies growing up together!

Color Me Mine

2011-04-03T22:51:00.000-07:00

We met up with Katherine and the kids last week to paint pottery. It was a bit chaotic getting everyone settled with the paint colors they wanted and choosing the item to paint but after that they all got to work painting. They did a great job and asked me every day at least a few times until Friday when we could go pick up their work of art! They were so excited to see the end result!

Their finished products (Ava wanted to paint one for Lyla too so they all added a little paint on a cup for her)

Grandpa Larry

2011-04-02T22:17:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Larry has been in the hospital nearly two months now recovering from complications after a surgery. We miss you and hope you get well to come home soon! Katherine made these cute pictures with the kids that are hanging on his hospital room wall to remind him of who's waiting for him at home! We love you!

Fieldtrip to the Aquarium

2011-04-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

I took the kids on a fieldtrip with Ava's preschool class to the aquarium. We had a good time despite the fact that there were so many people there, it must have been fieldtrip day for everyone. After we went to lunch and played at Chick-Fil-A and had a fun time!

Ava, Crew, Loren and Kali

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

We had a green pancake breakfast which the kids wouldn't eat because they all said it tasted weird. Funny how color makes some foods non-appetizing. Then a little leprechaun left a trail of shamrocks leading to a pot of gold with some goodies in it!

Hospital with Lyla

2011-03-04T23:11:00.000-08:00

We spent this past week at the hospital with Lyla. I could start making a chain with all of the hot pink parent bracelets we've received from being in the hospital with her since she was born. She had RSV and Pneumonia and also the doctors told us they're sure she has asthma which made her recovery a little complicated. She was miserable for the week but got to come home a couple of days ago and is breathing much better now. She's always so happy it's hard to tell when she doesn't feel good until she's really sick. Poor little thing, she really doesn't like the hospital, but who does!

Ava spent a couple of days there with me holding and playing with Lyla. She loved that the nurses brought her treats and any movie that she wanted off the DVD list to watch.

Thanks Ellie for this cute sign and the cousins for the pictures for Lyla's bed to help her get well!

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-03-01T22:49:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to the Provo Beach Resort in the morning and they thought that was so much fun. They loved the mini bowling, playground, croquet and their favorite is always the carousel. Then later we had a Valentine's dinner and a scavenger hunt to find some treats, they think that is the greatest to run from clue to clue to find the end prize. Then kids to bed and watching The Bachelor with pizza and cookies!

Ice Castles

2011-02-16T20:49:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we went up to Midway to see the ice castles. They were super cool! We stopped at Dairy Keen for dinner and the kids thought the train going around the restuarant was great and then to see the castles. It was 10 degrees when we got out of the car so we lasted walking around freezing for a bit and headed home! They were really amazing definately worth a trip up to Midway!

Kent, Katherine, Brandt and Blythe joined us also!

Lucy & Nora Have Arrived

2011-02-01T21:29:00.000-08:00

Craziest thing! My two sisters who were both due on the same day, February 17th had their baby girls a few weeks early on the same day, last Sunday January 30th. These two little girls couldn't wait to come to earth together. They are going to be great pals. They are so darling, each weighed 7.5 lbs, and both have a bunch of dark hair. We couldn't be happier for them. We're so excited to have two new nieces and cousins!

Nora Ruth Mercer

Lucy Mae Madsen

I Pad GIVEAWAY!

2011-01-26T14:58:00.000-08:00

We are so excited to have Kareen as our new niece! My brother Kris and sister-in-law Kecia are adopting this darling 4 year old little girl from an orphanage in Eastern Europe. She has down syndrome and we could not be happier for them! We are participating in a fund raiser to help bring her home, any little bit helps! We appreciate all the love and support from everyone!

I Pad/Fund Raiser GIVEAWAY!

We are kicking off our fundraising for Kareen with an iPad giveaway!

iPad Giveaway for KAREEN!

Kareen is a 4 year old little girl with Down syndrome who was given up at birth and has lived in an orphanage in Eastern Europe ever since. In her country a child with special needs is only held in an orphanage until the age of 4 or 5 and is then transferred to an institution where conditions are bleak and offer little hope for living a fulfilling life. Kareen's story has touched our family, and we are committed to bring her home. The cost of international adoption is very high, and we could use your help!

Donate now through Saturday, February 5th, when one lucky person will receive a Brand New 16GB Wi-Fi iPad

For every $10 donated, you will be entered into a drawing for the iPad (i.e. $50 equals 5 entries). Also, if after donating, you advertise this giveaway on your blog or facebook, you will get an additional entry. Simply leave me a comment with your name and the link to your post.

Ways to Donate:

Go to www.kareensjourneyhome.blogspot.com and click the “Chip in “ button
Bring a check or cash by our home. You may email me at keciajcox@msn.com for our address.
Tax deductible donation (must leave me a comment with your name and donation amount to be entered into the giveaway, since this site is kept confidential) http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsorcox

Every dollar helps, and brings us closer to having our little angel home safe.

Thanks for your Support!!!

- Kris & Kecia Cox

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1Yr. Ago Today

2011-01-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

I noticed on my calendar that 1 year ago today we were at my ultrasound with Lyla recieving news of her heart defect and that she would possibly be born having down syndrome. Those were a few hard days and weeks unti her birth. I remember thinking why is this happening to us, I'm not cut out for this, will I love her regardless, will I think she's cute and so on. Had I only know then the immense love and joy she would bring to our lives over this past year it would have saved me many sleepless nights. We've been through some challenges this past year with her and I'm sure there are many more ahead but I wouldn't change a thing! We've grown and learned a lot this year from having her in our home. I feel like we're in a good place with it all. It's crazy how Heavenly Father has a way of sending us things we never knew we wanted but now wouldn't want to live without! She makes us smile every day and for that i'm so grateful!

Playing in the Gym

2011-01-05T13:25:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to entertain the kids while it's freezing outside and we're stuck in the house we went over to Katherine's church to ride bikes and play in the gym. The kids thought it was great, we rode bikes, shot the foam guns, played with the parachute, had a paper plate throwing contest, did some music sticks and had another indoor picnic. It was a great time!

Indoor Picnic

2011-01-05T13:21:00.000-08:00

Ava had been asking me for a while to have an indoor picnic in the basement. I'm not sure where that idea came from but since we can't have a picnic outside why not have one inside, so we called Katherine, Brandt and Blythe to come over and join us!

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-04T21:44:00.000-08:00

Deep fried crab, shrimp, lobster, french fries, onion rings, oreos

Team Cobra's and Pantyhose (Cobra's take victory)

Caitlyn exploding the soda machine all over herself,

Kyra laughing so hard she couldn't even tell the story

Frozen icy Martinelli's at midnight

Crew asking to do the fishpond for two hours straight non-stop

Good company, Fun evening!

Grandma did the fish-pond for the kids, they love fishing for little treasures!

The Candy Bar Game!

Lyla decided to wake up just before midnight to join in the celebration and stayed up until 2:30am before I could get her back to sleep. I think she thought she had just had a small nap. But she was all smiles for the new year regardless!

Bree wanted to introduce Lyla to the ipad starting young since it's her favorite thing!

Every New Year's Eve growing up we had a big sleepover at Grandma's and left nylon socks strung around the family room for Santa's helpers to come leave treats in so we decided to keep up with tradition and try it. Sure enough, Santa's helpers found us and left some yummy snacks.

Random Fun

2011-01-03T22:13:00.000-08:00

The after-christmas nothing going on, tired of winter and being stuck inside because it's freezing finding random things to keep entertained!
Crew was looking for anything pink of Ava's to put on. Not sure what the umbrealla had to do with anything but they were dancing around having a great time.

It looks like the they wanted Lyla to have a book or two to look at.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2010-12-25T21:51:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day Breakfast at DeMar's

2010-12-25T21:41:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T21:18:00.000-08:00

Crew was a little intense about the left, right present game

Cookies and milk for Santa and his helpers and carrots for the reindeer! (Ava counted and made sure to leave one carrot for each reindeer, I hope they weren't hungry for more than one)

We took the kids swimming at Lindey and Corbin's in the morning to entertain the excitement!

Cookies, Stories, Nativity Puppets and a Snow Fort with DeMar's

2010-12-23T21:07:00.000-08:00

The kids did a puppet show with the nativity on wooden spoons. They did a great job!

Katherine read Christmas stories and led Christmas carols

Guy and Blake built a fabulous snow fort the kids had a great time playing in!

Riverwoods Holiday Decor

2010-12-21T12:23:00.000-08:00

We went down to the Riverwoods to walk around see the new holiday decor and see Santa. The kids enjoyed an ice cream cone after even though it was freezing!

Andrew, Adrie, Bree, Kyra, Lyla and Mazie

Lyla and cousin Madi

Gardner Village Elves

2010-12-20T10:54:00.000-08:00

Every year we go to Gardner Village to see Santa's cute Elves. We met Kris and Kecia and the girls. It was a perfect night, we barely needed a coat and it was not crowded one bit. The kids got their list and literally ran from elf to elf as fast as they could to find them all so they could get their prize at the end! We had a great time!

It was so cute in the shops that were empty they had scenes set up with new elves!

Christmas outfits

2010-12-19T12:18:00.000-08:00

Festival of Lights

2010-12-18T10:38:00.000-08:00

One of our Christmas traditions is to drive to Spanish Fork to the Festival of Lights. The kids loved it this year, we put the back of the car up and sat and looked at the lights listening to Christmas music, there was a light snow but we had a couple of blankets and they were in heaven, they thought it was the greatest ever.

Breakfast with Santa

2010-12-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

Papa and Grandma had everyone over for breakfast and Santa made a magical visit to their house. He must have known there was yummy breakfast!

That is as close as Ava would get to Santa, with dad.

Papa and Grandma with all the grandkids.

An Evening with Santa

2010-12-16T23:39:00.000-08:00

Kecia's brother Jess held a Santa Christmas party as his eagle project for the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation. It was a really cute party! We had a good time, it was fun to see some familiar faces we have recently met since having Lyla and also to meet some new people! The kids loved the sugar cookies, getting treasures from Santa's big bag and playing around with the cousins.

The kids got to go fish in Santa's big bag and get some treasures! They were in heaven

Lyla and Bree rockin out on the dance floor!

PEIP Christmas Party

2010-12-16T23:31:00.000-08:00

One of the Christmas parties we had this week was the Provo Early Intervention Program that comes to work with Lyla. There was a dinner and then Santa was there. Lyla and Crew were the only ones excited to see him, Griffin and Ava stood back in the hall and wouldn't talk to him. Santa gave Lyla a cute blanket they had made. We're grateful for all the therapists that come and help Lyla learn and grow! Thanks for a fun party!