tender hearted

my dad described kinkade as the most tender hearted little boy he has ever known. i would have to completely agree. he has always been so compassionate to other people and how he can help them. he blows us away with his compassion and empathy. the other night i let both the boy's watch a few minutes of idol gives back. after the segment on Africa and malaria i looked over and they both were in tears. kinkade then went upstairs to get his giving jar and started planning a mission trip to help the people in Africa. that night he slept with us he was so upset about their situation and just kept praying for them. he told me he would go there to help even if it was just for three people. he is beyond unselfish for his age always giving and sharing and thinking of others. we are so proud of who kinkade is and his heart for people and the world. i was trying to find pictures of just kinkade to post but all of my favorite pictures of him are with someone else. . . . he truly is the happiest when he is with people!

here is the poem that kinkade and i did together. i was amazed at how self reflective he was and i just adore how sweet and tender hearted this little boy is. yet he is also tough as nails. . . you may have noticed kinkade's teeth these last few posts. the story goes.. . he and his brother were playing dunk hoops and he did a reverse dunk and got his two front permanent adult teeth caught in the net. they both were completely fractured at the crown and all the ligaments were torn. it has been traumatic and painful for kinkade but he has been so tough and handled the situation with grace and tons of character. at times i think it has been harder on mom and dad then him. after a really long night the day it happened kinkade said to us when he got into bed - "is it okay to pray for yourself?"

love this little guy so much!

kinkade trever

funny, athletic, awesome

son of aaron and darcy

lover of basketball, soccer, and reading

big fan of school, conner, boston celtics

who feels lucky, awesome, friendly

who finds happiness in playing with conner, presents, keagan

who needs sleep, God's love, friends

who gives compassion, laughter, an example to be good

who fears being alone, earthquakes, hurricanes

who would like to see a parrot, India, the eiffel tower

who enjoys running, playing basketball, reading

who likes to wear basketball shorts, whitworth sweatshirts, blankets

who likes to eat bubblegum ice cream, plain bubblegum, kale smoothies, root beer

who is good at basketball, soccer, being compassionate

who loves animals, God, Jesus, and my family

who wants bionicles, to be a marine biologist, a new friend to play with conner and i at recess

mcmurray

you got a red head!

in my heart i always knew i would raise a red head. i think it was God preparing me my whole life. he gave me a curly red headed little brother first. . and years later he gave a red headed baby boy.. . . keagan. when i was pregnant with the boys i told people that one would have red hair and nobody believed me since aaron and i both have dark hair. the first thing our doctor said when the boys were born was "you got a red head!" and the adventure began. if there is one word that describes keagan it is PASSION! it is the best thing about him and the hardest. he puts us on our knees praying to God for guidance weekly. we can't believe all his talents he is a natural athlete, plays the piano by ear, and his artwork amazes us. this little boy is going to do amazing things in the world but my very favorite thing about keagan is how deeply and passionately he loves his family!

keagan will be seven and a half may first. i wanted a snapshot of who he is right now so we made this poem together. i would start the sentence and he would finish it with his creative personaltiy. i used to do this with my first graders at the end of the year. so i could not pass up my own first graders in my house. none of these answers were prompted he is such a silly guy!

keagan thomas

funny, athletic, friendly

son of aaron and darcy

lover of basketball, soccer, reading

big fan of Duke University, Gonzaga bulldogs, Boston celtics

who feels intense, hard working, loving

who finds happiness in playing basketball, cuddling with mom and dad, pulling kinkade's hair at school

who needs patience, support, kinkade

who gives the gift of music, hugs to my friends, great passes in basketball

who fears Gollum, earthquakes, asparagus

who would like to see Saudi Arabia, Mongolia, Argentina

who enjoys playing basketball, playing soccer, picking up snakes with conner

who likes to wear basketball shorts, t-shirts, dad's Marquette hat

who is good at basketball, soccer, reading

who loves mom, dad, kinkade, lucia, emery, cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and God

who wants to be the starting point guard for Duke University, as good of a singer as dad, and an artist

who likes to eat kale smoothies, homemade vanilla ice cream, pizza

mcmurray

we found a slice of heaven

mornings at the beach in tybee! it was truly heaven. we would wake up grab bananas and granola bars and take a five minute walk through a charming neighborhood to this beautiful beach. i can't believe some people live this daily. i love this first picture of the boys out in the water together, aaron and lucia with their feet in the tide and emery crawling around. the beach is so freeing almost like a spiritual experience. we all just loved to start each day together playing at the beach. i am a little biased but could this little girl be any cuter?

the boys would kick off their shoes and rip off their shirts and sprint into the waves

the first morning emery crawed right down into the water and sat in it and was so happy.so sweet of the two girls. taking pictures at the beach is so fun.

love these eyes. . .keagan could not wait to experience the atlantic ocean!

this could be one of our new all time favorite pics of lucia and dad. aaron and i both just starting cracking up when we saw it . . lucia has more expressions than anyone i know. this little body has the biggest personality!

the waves were perfect not too big not too small. . the boys had a blast!

there were these great swings all over the beach. we have to go back as soon as possible. the re-entry back to spokane has been rough. it is freezing here. it was snowing as we drove home from the airport when it hasn't snowed all winter. we really did just have an amazing vacation.

family. . . beach. . . sun. . . and charming. someday i want to wake up and see water every morning wouldn't that be glorious. . maybe that is heaven!

sunny easter!

we had a sunny glorious fun filled easter on tybee island. we woke up and went straight to the beach to greet the day then. . . . home to a wonderful breakfast . . got dressed up and went to a sweet little church then back home to lots of easter activities! grammy died eggs with the older kids on the lovely porch and they loved every second! what a precious memory.

lots of grammy snuggles!

and of course bunny outfits. yep the bunny outfits made it to georgia:) grammy has outfits for every holiday. she is the holiday queen as the boys call her! she sent them ahead now that is impressive. . . my husband is such a good sport!

the egg hiders had to be in full costume. . normal huh?????? grampy is used to this now.

emery and lucia had the sweetest easter dresses from tiny sprouts. i LOVE their clothing it is simple, sweet and quality! the dresses were perfect! check out tiny sprouts it is the sweetest baby clothing out there! http://www.tinysprouts.com/

keagan is the so passionate about his baby sisters. he loves them with all his heart!

love this swing and these four kids so much look how much they have changed since last year http://mcmurraymania.blogspot.com/2009/04/easter.html

or the year before lucia's first easter home http://mcmurraymania.blogspot.com/2008/03/easter-bronchitis-pink-eye-ugly-spokane.html

i adore this picture with kinkade and lucia they have the most precious fun relationship. kinkade plays with lucia ALL the time and plays anything she wants. he is so sweet and patient with her.

the whole outfit was from tiny sprouts even the leggings! they were darling with ruffles on the bottom!

it was such a special sunny easter.. . . the best ever! we ended the day with going to a wonderful little restaurant a 3 minute walk from the house to watch the sunset.

southern charm

it's true the south is charming! i have never spent lots of time in the south and i loved every minute of our vacation! we spent five nights four days on a little island called tybee island. . . we flew into savannah georgia and drove about 40 minutes and came to the most quaint charming darling little island called TYBEE! the houses were old, unique, beautiful and each one had so much character. the people were so lovely. . . i went to pick up peanut butter from the small grocery store and at check out I was called honey, darlin, and sweetie all in about 45 seconds! our favorite thing about the island was it is not one bit commercialized and so charming! i would put this little family reunion vacation in my top three trips of my life. we chose this location b/c my brother and his wife are in their last stage of preparation before they leave to be missionaries in central asia. they are in intense language training in south carolina and tybee island was a short drive for them to meet us. this first post about the trip is all about family time. we all stayed in this wonderful house with a HUGE screened porch it had tons of comfy chairs and a fabulous porch swing. it was so good to just be together. grampy and grammy thank you for making it all happen and splurging for our family so we could be together at an amazing place! the weather could not have been more perfect high 70's low 80's everyday! sun on spring break and easter is my dream come true! lots of snuggling!

i love this face and the color of the swing could not be more perfect. . i want to paint every piece of furniture i have this color! i also had to get a close up of "the curl" right behind her ear. i have never seen a curl on a mcmurray head.

we ate at this crazy place called the crab shack. . there were real crocodiles, and a exotic bird room - the kids loved the animals. here are the older three in the gift shop! i love how lucia copies everything her brother's do. . well most of the time:)

we read and read and read!

grammy sent a box ahead with monster basketball for the family to enjoy! hours of entertainment!

we ate out tons and had amazing seafood!

we rented bikes and rode all over the town. . .and on the beach the bikes had fat tires so you could ride on the beach. keagan got up at 6am one morning to go on a sunrise bike ride with grampy and grammy!

keagan and kinkade fell in love with Tintin books. . they were aaron's favorite books when he was in elementary school. so sweet. . .

we loved spending time with uncle damian and auntie grace. we are going to miss them so much.

and of course baby mo mo as lucia calls cousin moses.

auntie grace got to experience an emery masher kiss!

emery and moses are six weeks apart and loved each other. crawling around the entire time.

family + sun + the beach = perfect vacation! stay tuned for more!