Time for Thanks

I realize that Thanksgiving was over a month ago. But that just means that my blog post is late not my gratitude for so many wonderful blessings. We were fortunate to have Allison, Brayden and Mason stay with us for several days and Wes, Julie, Weston, MacKenzie, and Katie stayed overnight. They all helped us complete our Thankful Turkey that is pictured above. Each turkey feather contains a blessing recognized by one us.

Once again we had a successful Christmas tree hunt. Besides trees for ourselves we also found trees for a couple of neighbors as well as ones for Allen and family in Flagstaff and Amber in New York.

Weston, MacKenzie, Katie and Mason

Katie

MacKenzie

Weston

Fall Family Fun

It has been a busy fall - so busy that there hasn't been time to blog! So in an effort to catch up...

STRAW MAZE AND PUMPKIN PATCH

We went to a straw bale maze just before Halloween near Rexburg. It was great fun!

This is the view from on top of the maze! There were 1,700 bales in all.

Besides the maze there was a petting zoo. MacKenzie, Katie and Weston posed for the picture, but Mason wanted the bunny inside the hutch.

The pumpkin patch - with some pretty special 'pumpkins' checking it out!

MACKAY WORK WEEKEND

I've blogged about this in years past - our family work weekend, helping preg check at Lemhi Ranches. Some think we are crazy, as it is a worked filled, exhausting day. But we enjoy working together. We make quite the crew!

The 'K' girls - Katie, Kalli, and Kenzie

We even introduced Kalli's friend, Allison to the fun.

MEETING MAIZY

We were so excited to meet Maizy and are so happy that she is part of our family. We had loved her and prayed for her for so long that it was wonderful to get to be with her. She made a connection with Grandma right away! Playing 'ring-around-the-rosy' with Maizy.

We are "family"!

Ashlynn and Brynlee showed off their new horse, Breyson and Grandpa took turns riding the goat - somehow it was a little easier for Grandpa!

Maizy and her Family

I love the pictures that Brett and Jinni have shared of Maizy with her family.

Bringing Maizy Home

In April I blogged about the newest member of our family, Maizy NT'seliseng. She was born in Lesotho, South Africa and joined Brett and Jinni's family. The following post is the pictures and updates that we received from them as they traveled to pick her up and bring her home. Amber also accompanied them on their trip.

Hello every one we have made it safely and absolutely love the people here at Foothills Guesthouse, they have taken such great care of us. We have had a couple of bumps on our meeting Maizy today but hope to leave in a half hour or so. The jet lag was horrible and we slept for about 24 hrs straight and then were wide awake all last night. We attended church yesterday and that was crazy. Half of it was in Seotho and the other in English. Way crazy! We do have some peaceful demonstration going on, but are well away from them. The bestest part is we had another family come in from Vancouver BC last night and are also staying here and our little girls are both at the same place. Such a BLESSING! Well need to run. Will update soon!

Monday, August 22, 2011

So she is now ours!! Today at around 3:30pm we were able to meet with the new PS at Social Health and Welfare and she sent us on to get our Maizy with her blessing. Maizy has been quite shy and nervous and has cried a little bit, bit is doing good now. She has a pretty severe case of eczema all over her body and so we have started working on that. So wish us luck at the embassy tomorrow and faith that it will all go well.

We are approved!
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Maizy did great and slept through the night and today Scott from the embassy said I have had the best collection of paperwork he has seen so far! YAY We have had a great couple of days and have loved being here. We miss our kids terribly and need Brayden and Allison to spread hugs and kisses from all of us including Amber, she just arrived! Well off to enjoy our new little one. Will post pictures later tonight!!!

Another update!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011

So a few of you have commented on Maizy's size and her full head of hair! Well she is really, really big. At this point she weighs more than Breyson and is very round with lots of rolls. I am now getting a little more comfortable with all her hair. It has been so fun to play with. She has been sleeping through the night great and early in the morning she will come and crawl into our bed and sing songs and giggle. She loves to play with her dad, it cracks me up. As you probably can already tell she loves food. She is a good eater and get really giddy when we are making our meals. I had worried a lot about what we would be eating but it has all been normal and we have had plenty. She has a little bit of a fire and will let you know what she thinks. Kind of interesting.

Saturday Update from Lesotho
Saturday, August 27, 2011
So we are doing well and trying to help our little Maizy adjust. Yesterday we went to Morija and spent the morning on a pony ride and were able to go through a museum about Lesotho. It was fun! We went with another family who is here from BC collecting their daughter from the same facility as ours. We have become great friends. We also have another family staying here from BC who are members of our church and so there has been some great connections there. We were able to talk to our kids today and that was the best. Tomorrow we will attend church for the second week in a row and they have been really welcoming to us. Brett leaves Monday and then Amber and I will follow Friday! So all is well, we look forward to getting closer to home and will stay in touch!

Well Maizy came down very sick and so we had to see a pediatrician in Maseru yesterday to find out that Maizy has pneumonia. We got some antibiotics and were able to fly out to Joburg today. We've got to our apartment and to the embassy Dr. for our appointment today and are now way exhausted, so we will post more later. Goodnight!!!
A few more pictures! Our final sign out at the orphanage and a couple from our safari today! We had the best guide ever, total crack up!

A couple of photos from the Lion Park! The baby lions were so cute, the ostrich kept pecking me and the giraffe just wrapped his whole tongue around my hand:) So fun!!!

Visa's are done and flights are on schedule, so we should be home tomorrow! YAY!!! After sitting in the Embassy yesterday for three hours with a one year old in the middle of her nap time, they finally approved us and said to come get our Visa at 2pm today. So please pray that it is ready and we can fly out tonight!!!:) They promised it would be!

On American soil again, sitting at JFK airport waiting to board our final flight on my way to see my sweet little family. Can't wait!

More pictures...

Happy Birthday Elder Mackay!

In Glenn's last email from his mission in Merida, Mexico, he asked us "to eat a chunk of cake or something for me... " to celebrate his 20th birthday. We took him up on his word and celebrated Friday with Wes, Julie and family. Saying "We love You!" with our hands

Katie, MacKenzie and Weston blew out the candles for him!

We were blessed to the have missionaries that serve in our area staying with us on Saturday night and we asked them to celebrate too. Besides family, who better to share his birthday cake with than missionaries?! Elder Sharp, Elder Nelson and Scott ready to enjoy cake and ice cream

A Peak into Eternity

On July 9, we shared a wonderful day with the Vern Fellon family as they attended the Idaho Falls Temple. We witnessed their family sealing. It was such a treat to be a part of their special day. The phrase is true - " a picture is worth a thousand words"...