IT'S A BOY!

We went to court today and our adoption of Logan is final! It feels really good to have this done. It's been a long road, but so worth it. As everyone knows, we've had Jacob for 4 1/2 years now. (One of the greatest events of our lives!) We feel like it's important for him to maintain a relationship with his birthmom since he lived with her for the first 3 years of his life. It's turned into a blending of a few families in some ways as we've grown to love his other sisters and brothers and of course Elizabeth. Because of our relationship with her, we've now been blessed with the opportunity to raise Logan as well. At first we felt like we were too old to be parents of a newborn, but after lots of prayer, we knew he was supposed to be here. He stayed with his birth parents for 6 months before coming here. Even though it seemed like a really long 6 months, we knew that when the time was right, he would come to us. Adoption has opened up a whole new realm of emotions for me. I always wondered if I could love someone else's child as much as my own. Now, I know that I can. I always wondered how I would feel about someone who could give up their child. The answer is respect. I have witnessed firsthand how much love a birthmother must have for her child to be able to let them go. As much joy as I felt by welcoming Logan and Jacob into our home, I felt an equal amount of heartache for their parents knowing how hard this is for them. So, to them I say thank you for loving your children enough to let us share our love with them as well.

On to our event of today. We went to court at 9 this morning. It was short and sweet, but such an amazing experience. Amber and Bret, Lindsay, Kylie, Whitney and Jacob were able to go with us. Once it was over we got our picture taken with the judge. Logan just wanted to play with the phone on her desk so wasn't overly cooperative.

So this adorable baby now belongs to us!

Tyler is engaged!

Tyler proposed to Tatum last night! They've been dating for a few months and as you can see by my last post~ she even survived a week with our family at Lake Powell. (Barely...literally. But that's another story) We love her already and are absolutely thrilled to be getting another daughter/sister-in-law. No date set yet, but it will be sometime before the end of the year.

Lake Powell 2009

We had another fabulous trip to Lake Powell this year. We really missed Kevin and Jessica but all the other kids were able to come and we enjoyed every minute of it. Tyler brought his girlfriend, Tatum and Kylie brought her friend, Sarah. Our weather was perfect, the boats ran well and it was a great trip!

Logan had a great time, but we spent every second following him around. Luckily with so many of us, we succeeded in keeping him safe! Isn't he cute?!

Logan and big sister Amber (aka ~ his 2nd mom)

Logan loved kayak rides and Tyler was happy to paddle him around.

These next few pictures are a little disturbing until you realize that he LOVED it and couldn't wait to get back up and do it again!

Jacob spent most of his time playing with cousins. They swam, dug in the sand, fished, and danced on top of the houseboat. He had a great time, but they spent a lot of time on the other houseboat. He and my nephew Mark competed over this cute little girl's attention the whole week. (She was a cousin of a cousin however, and not their cousin so its okay!)

He did however stop by for a nap once in awhile.

Whitney picks things up quickly. She skis, wakeboards and can do some great tricks on a kneeboard. She's dang cute as well don't you think?

Kylie brought her friend, Sarah this year. We loved her!

Amber, Sarah, and Kylie were brave enough to be pulled on a tube by Bret. I think Kylie and Sarah thought since Bret's wife was on the tube, he'd be nice. They were wrong.

Lindsay got up on skis the very first time she tried when she was only 7 or 8. She stood up and skied for probably 10 minutes her first time. Amazing. This year she learned to slalom ski.

Bret is so much fun to take to the lake! I've never seen anyone wakeboard on a kneeboard before. Apparently it can be done.

If Tyler wants to sit on the couch, Tyler sits on the couch. Oh, and that means whether there is room or not.

Poor Tatum got stuck in between Tyler and Bret on the tube. They tortured her the whole time as they switched places over the top of her and hung off the sides. Made for some interesting pictures but I'll spare you those.

Bret, Amber, Tyler and Tatum took a ride on a 2 person kayak. And they even added Logan to the mix.

Tyler learned the art of an air chair this year.
Chris, Nikki, and Tatum were in 1 person kayaks. Cheryl and I took the 2 person kayak and we headed off for a race accross the lake. Cheryl and I were clearly in the lead when Chris grabbed the back of our kayak and flipped it around turning us backwards. He's obviously not a nice person. Tatum and Nikki said he flipped theirs too, but that can't possibly be true because we didn't win. It's never too early for a Dad to start teaching his son how to drive a boat. I think Logan would even sit on his lap and watch something as boring as golf. They have a great bond.

Where's Logan?

When we have to ask ourselves, "Where's Logan?", it's never a good sign. Last time we wondered where he was, we found him sitting in the toilet, playing in the water. A couple of hours ago, I asked my mom, "Where's Logan?". She said he was in the backyard playing, but it had been a couple of minutes since she looked out the window. We looked out to see that he had climbed over the pond fence, picked up the fish net, and had caught a fish! He was holding it up for us to see! He's too funny!

I've been tagged

A-Z's All about ME

Nikki tagged me~ so here goes...

A-Z's All about ME...........
A – Age: 46
B – Bed size: Queen
C – Chore you hate: Putting laundry away
D – Dogs' names: Minnie and Howie
E – Essential start your day item: Sunlight
F – Favorite color: Red
G – Gold or Silver: Silver ~ but I'm old so I still have gold
H – Height: 5'5"
I – Instruments you play: piano and I'm pretty good at the drums on Rock Band
J – Job title: wife, mom, preschool teacher
K – Kid(s): Kevin and Jessica, Tyler, Amber and Bret, Lindsay, Kylie, Whitney, Jacob, & Logan
L – Living arrangements: Glendale, AZ with husband Kevin, and 6 of the 8 kids
M – Mom’s name: Dottie
N – Nicknames: Miss Linda (given by my preschool kids)
O- Overnight stay in the hospital other than your birth: other than giving birth, I've also had a couple of surgeries
P – Pet Peeve: rude people
Q – Quote from a movie: "That's going to leave a mark"
R – Right or left handed: Right
S – Siblings: 2 brothers ~ Mark and Kevin
T – Time you wake up: 7 AM is my favorite time, but Logan is usually up by 6
U- Underwear: Of course
V- Vegetable you dislike: Brussel Sprouts
W – Ways you drink your coffee: Don't drink it but I LOVE the smell of coffee
X - rays you’ve had: just teeth
Y – Yummy food you make: Whatever Costco sells already prepared and frozen
Z – Zoo favorite : The gorillas

Now pass this on to 3 other friends that you want to get to know better...so here goes! I'm tagging:

Amber, Lindsay and Stephanie

Kylie

Kylie often goes unnoticed in our family. It has become a HUGE joke. Especially after a trip to Utah a couple years ago. Anyone who knows Grandpa Starkey knows that Grandpa Starkey never forgets anything. We saw him only a couple times a year, yet when we saw him, he would ask about every detail of our lives. We all lined up to give Grandpa our hello hugs. As Kylie approached the front of the line, Grandpa says, "Now who are you?" She smiled and simply said, "Kylie". He responded with the answer that we can forever tease her for. "Well Kylie, I completely forgot about you!"

Anyone who knows Kylie knows that she is an amazing girl. I am so grateful to have her as a sister. She lightens up the mood when something goes terribly wrong. She takes the time to have deep conversations about books, music, and movies with Whitney. She sits down and jokes with Jacob. She plays with Logan outside and in the pool. She gets A's in most every class. And...she does it with a smile.

I feel like I am not even doing this girl justice by the things that I am saying. Just take the time to get to know her, you'll know what I mean.

She wrote my Dad probably the best Father's Day Poem, ever. It is totally Kylie's personality. I envy her for it.

There is no one like our father
Just no one at all
We’re always going to love him
even though he’s not very tall.

He teaches us at an early age
things like what is important in life
Now we know that we should love him
way more than we love his wife.

Maybe our father is perhaps
much alike the weather
always changing and unpredictable
forever and forever

But one thing that our father
does really very well
is always looking out for us kids
as anyone can tell

So if we make you feel down father
if we make you feel mad or blue
please always remember
that we’re just taking after you!

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY DAD!!!

Isn't that the greatest! I love you Kylie!

The Evolution of Dance ~ Family Reunion Style

This past weekend we attended the Billingsley Bunch Reunion. This year was our 29th annual reunion. We have a huge family, but we get together often enough that my kids are great friends with my cousin's grandkids! Saturday night we always have a skit night followed by homemade ice cream. Here is the McAlister family skit. My parents, brothers, sister in law, niece, nephews, along with our family allowed us to do our version of the Evolution of Dance. Jacob is missing because he fell running to base earlier in the day and sliced up his behind and couldn't dance. Tyler is missing because he was hiking the Grand Canyon.