Officially walking!

She is so proud of herself!


Cuddle time with Daddy! She kisses and cuddles all the time now!

Aaron plays this game with her where he runs holding her hands and she laughs and laughs and the boys laugh even harder! Here they are getting ready to run!

And they are off!



My three kiddos. Lucia looks way to small to be walking. She is still in the infant carrier because she is only 17 lbs. I unbuckle her from the carrier and she gets out and walks away it really freaks people out. They think my 5 month old baby is walking. . . .

The boys wait with open arms for Aaron to run with her into them. It is the sweetest thing. They are dressed and ready to go for camping with Grampy.

Hugs all around. . .

Summertime!

We love summer around here! Bubblegum icecream, skirts, lots of water, sun and tons of smiles!

Weekend at Loon Lake

LOVE LOVE LOVE this place. We had such a fun weekend at Loon Lake!

My favorite time of the day at the lake is sunset.
Keagan and Kinkade have a new soul mate! Kellen is so much fun and they are instant BFF's!
Don't get wet Aaron your at the lake. . . just kidding this guy swims in the lake more than anyone I know. He swam out to the dock with the boys 8000 times throughout the weekend.
First chips and cookies . . lake food. . . Somebody is so close to walking. . .at least 10-15 steps now before she plops on the ground.

Our good friends the Gordans came up for dinner. Ava was so sweet with Lucia. Lots of kisses.
Lucia thought Laura was so fun!
Always a crazy picture with the McMurray boys!
Ava, Elijah, Keagan and Kinkade
A little boys dream. . . climbing climbing and more climbing!

Our life was forever changed!

Dear Lucia, (Sugar Bug, Little Lu, Beetle, Lucy Lu, Little Missy)
We met you for the first time one year ago today. I'm not sure I have ever been so excited for anything in my life. I had been dreaming about you and praying for you literally since I was a little girl. God put a deep desire in my heart very early to adopt a baby. You had been growing in our hearts and prayers for 10 years. We flew all night on the airplane and when we got to Guatemala City it was all so familiar to me. This beautiful country that God had planted a seed 12 years ago in college and from that trip on I knew I would come back and bring a orphan baby home to love and raise. I was exhausted from flying but could not sleep one second in anticipation of meeting you. I wouldn't even let Daddy get breakfast for fear they would call our room when we were at breakfast. I sat staring at the phone begging it to ring so I could go and finally meet my daughter.
The moment we walked into that tiny little room and saw you I will never forget just like when I saw your brothers for the first time in the hospital. It was surreal and yet so real. I had loved you in my prayers for years, then I fell in love with your picture and at that moment I loved you with every cell of my body. You were more beautiful than I could of ever imagined and so TINY! We could not get over how gorgeous and small you were; not even 6 lbs. So tiny yet so alert, I had never met a baby so young and so alert and wide eyed. Your eyes were fixated on us and we were captivated by you. Your personality is still captivating. . . .people just want to hold you and laugh with you and just look into your eyes.
The other amazing answer to prayer was your amazing foster mommy. She was so warm and tender and already loved you so much too. She cried when she left you with us. She was a remarkable answer to prayer. My heart was at peace instantly with your care until we could take you home.
When we got up to the room I just laid you on my chest out of instinct. I think my heart needed to feel you as close as possible. You fell asleep instantly and I felt so complete and an overwhelming gratitude to God, your birth mother, and my dear husband who all made my dreams come true! When you awoke you looked up at us and smiled. . . we could not believe it. You were too young to smile and you continued to smile the entire visit. God had given me the word JOY since the moment I started praying for the baby that would be ours when we started the whole process. I knew with that first smile that God was smiling down relaying that this indeed was the daughter he chose for the McMurray family and she would bring us so much JOY! We love you more than words can express and our life was forever changed that day.
Love,
Mommy

Meet Florentina!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited about sponsoring Florentina so she can attend school. She will be a first grader which is the grade I taught for 6 years and her birthday is June 13th two days before mine and right before Lucias. We love Guatemala and the people! We will continue to pray about ways we can give back and make a difference there. Instead of gifts for Lucia's first birthday we had people make donations so we could sponsor a little girl through http://www.mayanfamilies.org/

We saw, trust, and support completely the amazing work this organization is doing in Guatmala. We knew instantly that we wanted to be a part of it. God once again answered our prayer with choosing this sweet little girl for us to sponsor. Here is her biography that was sent to us:

Florentina is 6yrs old. Her birthday is June 13th. She did not go to
school yet because her family could not afford to send her.

She lives in the very rural agricultural village called El Barranco.
Florentina lives with her father, Abelino 40yrs old and her mother, Alejandra
33yrs old . She has three brothers and one sister.

They are :
Carlos is 16yrs old. He is in 9th grade. He works half day in the
fields in the morning and goes to school in the afternoons. He earns
$2US per day. He does not work every day because sometimes he has
homework or other school activities.

Cristina is 15yrs old. She went to school only until 6th grade. She is
now not in school because her parents cannot afford to send her.

Victor is 12yrs old. He is in 6th grade.

Humberto is 8yrs old. He is in 2nd grade

The father works as a day laborer , which means that he takes whatever
work is available. He works in the fields mostly. He earns $4 US per
day.
The mother, Alejandra makes beaded jewelry at home. She earns $4 US per week.

They own their home. It is made of mud brick. The roof is tin and the
floor is dirt.
They have two rooms and a kitchen.
They do not have an onil stove.
They have a large wood burning stove.
They do not have a water filter.
They do not have a pila.
They have water connected and pay $2US per month.
They have electricity connected and pay $4 US per month.
They do not have a closet. They keep all their clothes in cardboard boxes.
They have four beds made of wooden planks that the father made.
They do not have mattresses. They sleep on woven straw mats.
They do not have enough blankets.

I have been tagged

Today I was exposed to something new in the world of blogging. I was 'tagged' by my friend Collen at http://flaniganpartyof5.blogspot.com on her blog.
Here are the rules of this tag:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog
3.Share 6 random things about yourself
4.Tag people at the end of your entry.
ok...here we go!

1. I love candy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And since I had my twin boys I love chocolate too!!!!!!!!!!!!! I eat chocolate or candy at least 5X a day in small doses.

2. I hate top sheets they are so annoying and get in the way of the real covers! I have to have a fleece blanket on my bed and touching my skin even on the hottest nights of the summer. Which leads me to the next interesting fact. .

3. I love being hot and hate being cold. AC is the worst invention ever. It is freezing! I love getting into a hot car that has been sitting in the sun it is glorious! The sun makes me so happy!

4. Reading to my kids is my favorite thing to do in the whole world!


5. I played basketball, volleyball, and softball in HS. Then went on to play VB in college and now coach Volleyball at the collegiate level. I love investing in the girls at such a crucial fun age and I love the game of volleyball. I am in my number one comfort zone in a gym!

6. I have never worn any make-up . . . I do not know how to put it on. My friends have tried to help but I am a lost cause. So I just put on lip gloss and smear it on my cheeks afterwards. . . . done!

Okay I tag Megan at http://charliecoopersnyder.blogspot.com & Gretchen at http://gfivefam.blogspot.com

Have Fun!

Family Fun at Priest Lake

We had a little McMurray Family reunion at Priest Lake. We had so much fun. What a gorgeous place. We were blessed to be together and to spend time together at such a Fabulous place. . .

Big news Lucia can now pucker and kiss at the same time.

Fun with Grandma!
HUCKLEBERRY PIE!!!!! We waited until the last night to end with a bang Huckleberry PIE!
The boys loved every bite!
The cousins . . .they are nuts together. They absolutely love each other and get along amazingly well. We love watching them play and play and play some more!