Sisters

My sister came to stay with us to help me a few weeks after Kyson was born. It was such a blessing. The boys had so much fun having her here. She was a great help to me. I had so much fun with her here.

We were able to go fishing at Hornings Hideout. We love fishing here with the boys because you can catch a fish in just seconds. We got 4 fish in about 15 mins. They also have wild peacocks and salamanders that are always fun to find and play with. This was the first fishing trip for both Kyson and Emily. They did pretty good. Emily caught a fish and was so excited, but check this video to find out what happened.

Those of you who know Emily check this picture out... She is holding the fish!

Kyson in his fishing hat.

We also went to try out one of the millions of food carts they have in Portland. The food carts are pretty famous in Portland and this one looked fun for the kids. It was the grilled cheese grill. You grab your food from the cart/trailer and eat it in a double decker bus. It was really fun. We had grilled cheese, Capri Suns, and a pickle.

We also got to go pick strawberries with Emily. We went a little early in the season so we had to look really hard but we found some good ones. Strawberries are so good farm fresh!

We loved having Emily here and miss her a lot. Thanks Emily for all your help with the boys!

We also received this beautiful Quilt, made by my sister in law Mandy, for Kyson.
Thanks Mandy! Its getting some good use from all the boys.

T ball

Wes played T ball for the Yankees this year. He was on the team with his best friend Matt. He had a blast. We are hooked. Wes loved playing and we loved watching. Brad was so into it that he learned to throw better just by watching Wes and the coaches. I'm sure we have quite a few more years of this with all our boys. We had some practices and games in the pouring rain and it got really cold but we had so much fun and can't wait until next year.

The trophy and snack on Wes's face after the last game.

Kyson's First Bath

We decided to give Kyson his first bath after the boys went to bed because we knew that we would have a little too much help if they were awake. But as soon as we started the boys ran out of their rooms and had to come and help. The boys had so much fun helping with Kyson's bath. Kyson loved it too.

Preschool Gradutation!!

Wesley Graduated from Preschool this year only 2 weeks after Kyson was born. It was my first real outing with the boys by my self and they did great. I did have a hard time trying to balance everything an take pictures so some are a little funny.

He got to cross over the bridge to receive his diploma.

His two teachers, Mrs. Susan & Mrs. Judi

The whole class sang some songs to us with Pasteur Ben. Bradley loved this part. He even started singing along.

Mrs. Taundra who is the principle of the school. We love her a lot.

Wes and his best friend at school, Tucker. They always had to sit together and walk by each other in the hall.

Wes and Teacher Judi. She was so sweet to Wes. She told me, Wes told her, that he loved her but not as much as he loves his mom. Too cute.

Wes sharing his cake with Brad.

The Diploma, the proof he passed preschool.

My Grandpa Barker

Picture at Our last year summer visit

About a month before I was due with Kyson, my Grandpa was diagnosed with a very aggressive brain tumor. It had already progressed so much the doctors said that there was really no treatment that would help and he was sent home. This news was very unexpected because he had always been in amazing health. My family had already planned an 80th birthday party for my grandma but it ended up being a time for the family to see him one last time here on earth. I was not able to make it to the gathering because I was due in a few weeks and didn’t think it was wise to travel. Then a week after Kyson was born my sweet grandpa passed away. I also was not able to make it to the funeral because Kyson was so young, but my mom brought her phone in, called me, and left it on so I could listen. It was extremely hard for me not to be there but, it was nice to be able to feel apart by listening on the phone.
I have such sweet memories of my grandpa throughout all the stages of my life. He has truly been a great example to me of service and how to show love for your family. As a really little girl I remember sitting with him at his desk in his home office and coloring or reading books with him while he worked. My cousins and I also loved to play in the beautiful yard that he had created. He always had an amazing garden. In one home he had a beautiful rose garden on a hill. He would go and cut flowers from it for grandma each day and sometimes for me too. As kids we would build forts in the bushes in the yard and grandpa would come in and play his saxophone or another instrument for us in the fort. We loved it. We also took trips to the beach each year. Grandpa never got in the water and would always wear long pants and long sleeves to the beach but he would always help us build some amazing sand castles. When I was in high school after my grandparents served 2 missions they came and stayed with us for a few months. I loved having them so close and loved learning a little about gardening from grandpa as we planted a tomato garden together for my young women project. My grandpa loved to play games. Whenever the Barkers gather there is always a game of some kind going on. I think we all got our love of games from grandpa. He was always willing to play. I have many memories of grandpa making his famous BBQ chicken. I think almost every time we got together grandpa made his chicken. It’s so amazing. My most favorite memory I have is when I had the job of cleaning my father’s office at night my grandpa volunteered every time he was in town to go and clean with me. I had that job for 15 years, and he ended up coming with me many times. I’m sure he would have preferred to stay and play games than empty a million garbage bags, but I knew that he was only going to spend time with me and to help me out. I cherish those one on one times we had together and I learned a lot from him. As I have gotten older it always touched my heart when he would tell me how he thought I was a good mother and tell me how proud he was of me and the woman I have become. He would never let me forget by reminding me every time he came to visit. I think the greatest lesson I learned from him is service and selflessness. He was always looking for opportunities to serve and was always first to volunteer for a job he knew no one wanted to do. He was truly a selfless man.
I am so blessed to be a part of his eternal family. I love that peace the gospel gives to me that I will be able to be with him again someday. I love you Grandpa!

My Wonderful Mom

I was so blessed to have my mom be able to come for a little over a week when Kyson was born. She arrived the day before we went to the hospital and was able to have lots of grandma time with the kids. They loved having her here. It was a really busy time for her but she made sure that she could make it and I am so grateful. Thanks mom for everything. Love you!

Kyson Scott Mackey born May 12, 2011

Here's the story:

Orrin and I woke up early to make it to our appointed time at the hospital to do a version or a c-section. We got to the hospital and they hooked me up to all the stuff they needed to. They tried 4 different times and 2 different nurses to get the IV in and finally did. Not so fun. When my doctor got to the hospital She wanted to do a ultra sound to check his position again. When she did we found out he had flipped! My doctor had told me that if he did flip that I would know. She said that most women feel like the are going to throw up after. I never got that feeling but Sunday night I woke up and thought I was in labor. I was shaking and having lots of contractions but they were very sporadic and just stopped 15 minuets later. So we are guessing that's when he flipped. It was a true answer to prayers from so many people. Thank you everyone for praying for us. We were so excited to find out that news! The doctor was even excited and surprised for us. It was a true blessing. I don't know how I would have been able to take care of the boys being so far from family if I had to have a c-section.

We then decided that since we were there, he was in the right position, and everything else was taken care of that we would just go ahead and induce. It was the longest labor I have had but I was the easiest. We did a lot of TV watching and waiting. It was a great delivery. He was born at 8:20pm that night. He weighed 6lbs 8oz and 19 1/2 inches long.

Soon after we had gotten to the recovery room we decided to hurry up and go to bed so we would be rested for when Kyson woke up. After Orrin feel asleep I started feeling this really horrendous pain. I called for a nurse to come but after 15mins of no one coming, I woke Orrin up to go get someone. The pain was so bad. It was worse than any part of the labor. Come to find out I was hemorrhaging. About 8 different nurses came running to my room. It was really scary. They were trying to stop the bleeding and even had to call the on call doctor at my doctors office to come to the hospital. They even took Kyson to the nursery. It was mostly scary because of how stressed the nurses were. I was freaking out because they were. I finally did stop bleeding after all the medication they gave me. I had lost a lot of blood. I didn't get any sleep that night because of it, so the next morning I was super out of it. They even were talking about giving me a blood transfusion but lucky I was just on the border of needing one that they let me decided. I really didn't want one so they sad that if I could stand on my own by the time it was time to go home that they wouldn't give me one. I'm so glad I didn't needed that.

We love having Kyson in our home. The boys love him so much and help out a lot(expecially Bradley). They love to hold him, kiss him, and tell him that they love him. He has been a really good baby. He likes to sleep during the day and play at night (we hope to fix that soon). He is my smallest baby yet (a whole pound & a half smaller then Wes & Brad) but super cute! As he has gained some weight I think he looks just like the other boys did. We absolulely adore him!