the bob

someone got a new haircut. . .

an extra special mothers day!

happy mother's day and happy mcmurray girls dedication! what a faboulous day to dedicate these amazing gifts from God. only God could of brought each one into our life their stories are miraculous! to be surrounded by our church community and dear friends and family it was beyond anything i could of ever hoped for in our life.

to have ryan holding the girls and dedicating each one of the girls was so special. our best friends who we get to do life with it was incredible.

papa and grandma made the trip with our sweet niece bridget.

grammy and grampy had a celebration brunch at their home afterwards. . . and of course grammy made it so special with beautiful flowers and cake pops!

janny and ryan brought the girls balloons. they also stood upfront with us at church as the girls godparents.

these are the amazing girls that have lived with us the last couple of years and invested their lives in our family! we love you caitlin, ashley, and melodie!

bryan brought the girls flowers. . their first bouquets!

here is what we wrote pastor ryan about emery and scripture we chose for her -

emery pearl mcmurray

* named after her great grandmother an amazing women of faith and "pearl" after her mom's nickname from her father "pearl of a girl."

* emery was a huge surprise and a miracle baby.

* she has put the family into complete chaos being number 4!

* we believe god put her in our family to humble us in parenting. . . we have never been so challenged, and to make us laugh and most importantly to believe in miracles!

scripture chosen for emery pearl - Colossians 2:6-7

"And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust Him. Let your roots grow down into Him and draw up nourishment from Him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught . Let your lives overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all he has done."

there is always some healthy competition at every mcmurray party/celebration!

these boys look so old to me here i can't believe it.

here is what we wrote about lucia and the scripture we chose for her -

lucia jacinta shean mcmurray

* named after her biological maternal grandmother who died of cancer a year prior to her birth. shean is her great grandmother's maiden name, maternal grandmother's middle name, forever mommy's middle name.

* everytime we look into lucia's face i am reminded of god's faithfullness and how He blesses us when we are faithful to the seeds He plants in our hearts. darcy dreamed of adopting since she was in second grade. in college after spending a month in guatemala she knew God was calling her to the children in guatemala. aaron and darcy talked about both feeling called to adoption their second date.

* god gave us the word "joy" when we prayed for lucia and if you know her she is bursting with joy in every way!

* we are also daily reminded of the amazing sacrifice lucia's birthmother made so luica would have an education and enough to eat.

* we are beyond blessed to be lucia's forever family!

scripture chosen for lucia - Jeremiah 29:11-13

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

all ready for nap.

such a special mothers day.

adult fun!

we started our time away driving with two of our favorite people on the planet. . who we get to do life with and are so lucky!this post is way late. . but we were blessed to get away with some great friends this winter and had so much fun. we went to Leavenworth and just played!
heidi is so beautiful and the best part she is just as beautiful inside.
the girls and ryan!
morning walk with coffee and mimosas.
they were filming a movie and ryan asked if he could kiss one of the actors. . . life with ryan is always better!
then i got to get away to santa barbara for a girls weekend with two of my bestest college friends. we have a tradition to pick angel cards when we are together.
love mandolyn. . we all searched for heart rocks on the beach to bring home to our valentines.
i felt so refreshed after a weekend away. . and could not wait to get home to see everyone.
and, santa barbara is fabulous. . the food, shopping, the beach and most of all the SUN!!!

painting

the last couple of days i have been working really hard to enjoy the sweet moments. it is so easy to get overwhelmed, rushed and just simply task oriented around here. emery was painting today and she was so content and contemplative i had to capture it.

first bloomsday

we had a blast today running bloomsday together. it was the boy's first bloomsday and aaron's first bloomsday. i used to run bloomsday when i was younger but have not run it for many years. grampy is the main announcer at the finish line. there are over 60,00 runners and so much fun. i am so proud of the boys for finishing and having great attitudes for all 7.5 miles. ready to go on a foggy morning. . emery is in the picture but the girls were not invited on this adventure.. . only for big kids! thank goodness the fog disappeared and the sun came out for the race. i don't think real runners grab a starbucks on their way. . .
we took the bus down with many others to avoid the parking disaster downtown. home after the race. . . finisher t-shirts, stomachs full of olive garden, and exhausted!we did it!

sonatina #6 allegro - olsen

so proud of keagan . . he has improved so much in his second year of piano. he has worked hard and spent much time practicing when others are playing. he played sonatina #6 allegro - olsen at his spring recital this weekend and knocked the ball out of the park. he looks so old and so handsome in these pictures. way to go keagan!

second grade spring run off winners!

every year the boy's school has a spring run off. every grade level runs throughout their entire recess all week. the run has individual grade level competitions and classroom competitions. keagan and kinkade won last year in first grade and won again this year with one of their best friends. all three tied in number of laps total for the week. they were thrilled and so proud.

the boys had been nervous leading up to the the spring run off, so i told them they do not have to win. . just run for fun. kinkade responded, "it is not fun if you do not win."

oh boy. . they are so competitive!