Our New little guy

Wesley Sam McKinstry was born at 6:00pm, Friday Aug 21. 7lb 9oz and 21.75in long. Blue eyes and brownish reddish hair.

School

Well I can't believe it, but school is fast approaching. Chan starts Kindergarten on the 31st. He seems so little to me, it is hard to comprehend him at school all day. It is going to be really hard to see him ride off on the bus every morning. I know that we have a long, hard road ahead of us with him starting school. One of the hard parts is thinking about him eating lunch in the cafeteria, it seems too weird. Spencer starts preschool on Sept. 8th and he is really excited. For the most part he is potty trained. He still has a little difficulty with number 2, but that will come. I am very proud of my two boys getting ready to start a new chapter in their lives.

Grandpa

Last Monday I got the sad news that my grandpa had passed away. I was thinking that he was doing okay and then I got a call a few days before saying that he was not doing well. My grandma passed away six months ago, so the good news is that they are now reunited. He was a terrific grandpa and a fabulous great-grandpa. My kids loved playing with his cane and hat. Those will be cherished memories that I think Chandler will remember. I will always remember his gentle nature, he was very easy to love. He loved to camp and spend time with his family in the outdoors. The hardest part about his passing was not being able to attend the funeral a few days ago. Our little guy is due any day now and so I definitely could not fly out there. Our scanner broke, so I am bummed that I can't post any pics of him. We love and miss you grandpa.

These past few weeks have been really hard for me emotionally. Being 2,000 miles away from family and most of our friends, has really hit hard these few weeks. I know that those that have passed away are in a better place, it still makes it hard.

Life

Yesterday I got the terrible news that one of our good friends had died unexpectedly this week. A year and a half ago she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and had to do chemo and radiation, after this it looked like it was all gone. I guess a few months ago she went to the oncologist for her yearly and everything looked good. Well last week she had a bloody nose that lasted for three hours, she had to get a blood transfusion. She went to the oncologist they did tests and came back telling her that she had cervical cancer and blood clots in her lungs, and it had spread so much into her body she only had a few days to few weeks to live. Well she was given this diagnosis and then the next day passed away. This tragedy left everyone who knew her dumbfounded, she seemed perfectly healthy the beginning of the week. She actually was teaching at Salt Lake Community College four days before she passed. She leaves behind two small girls, a husband, and two step children. We lived right across the street from them and had their little girls over at our house everyday, or my boys over at their house. It makes me really sad that we are still not their neighbors, so that we can help them out. I was really surprised when I told Chan and Spence that Jane and Clair's mommy had died they got really sad looks on their faces and said, "oh how sad for our friends, their mommy is not going to be their mommy anymore?" This was a great teaching moment to let them know that she was in heaven with Jesus and she was happy. I think this made them feel a little better knowing she was with Jesus.
I also found out that a great friend from the same ward and neighborhood's little boy who had open heart surgery last month was back at Primary Children's with fluid around his heart. This family has been through a lot of trials with this little guys health. It makes me think about my own trials that we have been going through and nothing compares to losing someone close to you, or watching your child in the hospital. I admire both of these families and will continue to pray and send our love to them. This post is mainly to be therapy to me and a reminder that we are so blessed to have our health and each other.

Baby names

Well the due date is fast approaching and we still have no clue what this little guy is going to be named. We have a really hard time deciding on names. It seems I give all the suggestions, and they get vetoed. So I asked the kids what we should name him and here were their responses? Chandler- Zach, Cody (he got that from a show on the disney channel). Spencer- Jackson (a few months ago he asked me where Jackson was and I asked him who he was talking about. He responded the baby in your tummy.) Unfortunately Nate does not like this name, I am rather partial to it. Lexie- Stop it, or baby. I can already tell she is going to have a hard time when he comes, she freaks out when Chan or Spence sit on my lap. Of course my lap room has shrunk, so only one can really sit on it at a time. So if anyone has any good suggestions I am am up for any.

Gettysburg

Today we decided that we would get out and about. The day started with us actually going and buying some living room couches. We left ours in Utah and have had a bare living room for the past 6 months. It will be nice to have couches for visitors to sit on and a place to read. The we ventured up to Gettysburg. We have been to Gettysburg a number of times and have still not seen the whole battlefield. The kids loved the hikes that we took. It was a little muddy, so that added to the fun of it. The hike up big roundtop was steeper and longer than either of us planned, but we all made it. Spence and I lagged way behind Chan and Nate. Nate was even carrying Lexie most the way. Spencer kept picking up rocks and stopping to ask what plant we were going by, or just plain doddling. It actually was okay that he was going that slow, I was thinking this hike might put me in labor. But as luck would have it so far it hasn't, you can always wish :) It was quite the tiring day, but fun.

Riding Adventures

Chandler in the past few weeks has really started to love riding his bike. He got it for his birthday in April and it has taken him this long to really get into to. Everyday he asks if he can go outside and ride his bike. We live on a hill, so it gives him great practice at going up and down hills. Earlier this week we had some nice overcast, not too humid days. So it has been perfect for us to go outside and play and ride. Now that I am two weeks from my due date and it will probably get warmer I may be watching from inside.

Sleepover

Chandler had taken over Spencer's bed one night, so Spence thought he would bunk with Lexie. Chan had built a tent between the two beds and we had taken enough off Spence's bed for him to sleep. The plan was that Chan would sleep on the floor under the tent, but that changed I guess. I walked upstairs to check on the kids and found Chan in Spence's bed and Spence no where in the room. I thought he might have gone into our room to sleep, but no he went in with Lexie. I was really surprised we did not hear her screaming when he got into her bed. She is not a big fan of them getting into bed with her. We ended up moving all the tent stuff and putting Chan and Spence back in their own beds. I wanted to capture this precious moment, they seem to be few and far between lately.