McKay's Baptism

McKay's baptism was on July 2.  It was a crazy weekend as we had family up and we were getting ready to go on our cruise.  Everything seemed to fall into place and we had a wonderful time during this special event.  Grandpa and Grandma Hall, Aunt Charisse, and Uncle Kelly were all there on the Hall side and Grandpa and Grandma Adams, and Jared and Michelle's family, and even Aunt Isabelle were there on the Adams side.  McKay was baptised by his dad.  It was very spiritual experience, at least for me.  They made me bear my testimony just before he was confirmed and I just bawled through it.  I was very proud of McKay when he was baptised.  The day or two before, I can't remember, McKay to me seemed a bit nervous.  He has never really put his head underwater and I think he was worried about that.  I told Kory when he got home from work and he took McKay up to the bathtub and they practiced putting his head underwater.  He did fine with it and I was really glad.  He also did fine as he was baptised.  However, even after that, he still does not like to put his head under the water.  We had a dinner after the baptism at our home with pulled pork sandwiches, salads, veg tray, chips, and cookies.  A wonderful event and we were so glad we had so many family willing to come up from so far away.

McKay's Birthday - 8 years old!!!!!

McKay turned 8 on June 26.  We kind of celebrated his birthday over 3 days worth because of how busy we were.  On the first day, Friday, we went to lunch at one of his favorite places, Olive Garden.  On the second day, Saturday, we spent the day up at Placerville welcoming our ward trekers home who had left that week to go on trek.  It was a long drive and hot, but we enjoyed being with our other ward members and felt that spirit as they came in, and also enjoyed a wonderful lunch.  We drove home and Kory had to help unload a lot of the treker's gear and deliver them.  Late that night we went bowling as a family.  That was the first time that our kids have gone bowling.  It was a lot of fun and the winners went in line with the family, Kory, Sharese, McKay, and Erica.  Kason just enjoyed watching us all bowl and he was able to do it once in a while.  The third day, Sunday, was his true birthday.  We did our normal stuff, went to church, came home and took naps, and to celebrate his birthday we opened presents, had one of his favorite dinners (tuna turnovers), and had cake.  We love McKay.  He at times is challenging but very spiritual, deep, and loving.  We are so glad that he is apart of our lives.

McKay LOVES flag cakes.  He requests them each year.  I made our famous jello cake with cream cheese frosting.  Yummmmm.

Time To Start Blogging Again

I have been terrible this summer.  I just did not have the desire or ambition to do any blogging.  So now school is starting in about 4 days and I need to get back to some routiness around here.  One thing I need to catch up on is my blogging.  I have heard a lot of people say that they take their blogs and then at the end of the year they make a book out of them and that is their journal.  I need to do something like that.  It sounds like fun and a great way to capture these memories, but I have to be more consistent in blogging.  So I am making some middle of the year resolutions and changing some things in my life.  I am hoping I can stay consistent with this.  My new blog day is going to be Fridays, and Iwill try to capture as much as I can on my camera during the week and post them on Fridays.  It is past midnight now, so I think I might delay this till tomorrow.  My next post will be a big one:  What we did during this summer.  So stay tuned until tomorrow.

Father's Day

Father's Day was great this year.  Kory got a trophy for the greatest day from Erica, a card from McKay, and some new Church pants from the rest of us.  Kory also had to speak in Sacrament Meeting for Father's Day.  He did a great job focusing on father's in the scriptures, his own experiences as a father, and life lessons he learned from his dad.  I love when he talks because he is a natural at it and doesn't need notes and his beautiful emotion comes through and I learn the more deeper spiritual aspects and experiences that he does not share often.  It is hard to get anything out of him, at least for me.  He has been sick with the flu most of the week and did not feel well on Father's Day.  He also hurt his back when he sneezed too hard.  Poor thing.  I love him SO much.  He is a good father with a very caring heart.  Kory is always willing to help others no matter what the circumstance is.  He is very good at balancing his life and is not afraid to say no when he knows he cannot accomplish it (unlike me who says yes to everything and I get way overwhelmed).  He is very patient, especially with me.  He is quiet and lots of fun.  He teases me a lot and makes me laugh.  I have always felt we were a good match and still feel that way today more than ever.  I hope we can make it through this life together and all of the challenges we will be faced with in our future and continue on through eternity. 

My Dad also spoke today in Sacrament Meeting down in Toquerville, Utah.  I heard it was excellent as well.  He told a story about his life and his father in a fairy tale sort of way.  I was not there to hear it, but I had the privilege of typing it up for him as he dictated over the phone to me and I typed it and emailed it to him.  We love our dads and all that they have taught us through the years and how they are still willing to help us even today when we live so far away from them.  Happy Father's Day!!!

Erica's Ballet

Erica had her first official ballet performance.  I got to put lots of makup on her face and she had a beautiful outfit and did a wonderful job.  For her first year in ballet, she really got pretty good at the end.  I am excited to see how well she does when it starts up again after the summer.

Salt Lake Vacation

For Memorial Day Weekend we took a trip down to Salt Lake City for some family fun.  We stayed in our World Mark Condo in Ogden and focused on seeing things around that area.  One of the places we like to go to is Lagoon.  As we were driving there on the freeway, McKay threw up.  It was all over him, Kason, and the seats and floor.  Luckily we had a lot of wet wipes to clean up the spill.  We stopped off at Walmart and had to buy McKay some new clothes, lucikly we found a short sleeve shirt for $1 and a long sleeve shirt for $3.00.  We got to Lagoon and it was a bit cold at times and super crowded.  They did not have the Lagoona Beach open yet and I think that could have thinned the crowd a bit.  Also they had a really good Memorial Day sale on the tickets and I think others took advantage of the deal as well.  The kids rode lots of rides and had a lot of fun.  Kory and I waited in line for Wicked and just as we got to the end, the ride shut down.  They made us all get out of line.  Then we went on another ride and it broke down when we were almost to the end as well.  They did eventually get that ride going and we were able to ride it by the Wicked ride never opened again while we were there.  Also towards the end it started raining, really raining.  We hurried and left.  It was fun, but at times I wish Kory and I could have went on more rides.  The kids had a blast though and were exhaused on the drive back to the condo.

One of the days we went to the Airplane Museum in Ogden right off the freeway.  Kory has always wanted to go there.  We had no idea what it was about.  We thought it was just the airplanes you see outside as you drive by but it was so much more.  Inside were two huge hangers full of planes.  It was really amazing and the kids were soooo good there and well behaved.  We just walked around and took our time.  It was peaceful and quiet and not very many people there.  We found a fun play area for the kids with hands on toys and science projects and other aviation things that they could try.  We spent about an hour just in that room with the kids having a blast.  The planes were amazing and HUGE.  We really enjoyed this place and glad we were finally able to go.

On our drive to Ogden, we got off the freeway and headed to Golden Spike Museum.  It was in the middle of nowhere and really simple and nicely done.  We were there later in the afternoon and we got the chance to watch one of the trains move and blow its whisle and drive off where they put it away for the night.  That was neat for us and the kids.  Overall we had a wonderful trip and were busy most of the time but also had some time to relax.  Can't wait till next year!

Kason's 2-year-old Birthday

Kason turned 2 on April 30th, wow I am behind on blogging this.  He is getting so big and we sure love him.  We had fun and busy day with a soccer game, eating out at Chuck-A-Rama, playing at Wahzoo's Fun Center, eating cake and opening presents.  Kason is such fun, but also a typical 2-year-old.  He doesn't like it when someone takes things from him and he often counteracts with biting.  He loves Erica and follows her around wanting to do whatever she does.  I love when Erica grabs some paper to color and he notices her doing that and then he runs over and gets some paper and follows her to the designated coloring spot in our living room.  He often likes to quietly come over and color on her paper, she does not like that.  He likes to laugh and finds just about anything funny.  He is getting smarter and can count to about 13, he knows his animal sounds really well, and knows a few letters.  He has become less messy when eating and I like that I don't have to clean around the floor as much after he is done eating.  He also can eat without a bib now and does not hardly get anything on his clothes.  He likes to help me with laundry, putting dishes away out of the dishwasher, setting the table, and clean up toys.  He has an interesting way of eating.  If you give him a cup of water with his food, he often dips the food in the water first and then eats it.  The best one was with peanut butter and jam sandwhiches.  He used to not like them, but one day I caught him breaking off pieces, dipping them in the water, and then eating them saying, "yum".  It was really gross.  Oh, and then he would drink his water, yuck!!!  Oh well.  He is truly a dipper with food and loves to dip things into ranch and salsa, and water.  Thank you Kason for coming into our home and being apart of our family, we love you!!!!

Soccer

We finished up McKay's soccer season this last Saturday.  He was with another coach this year and different kids.  I think he had a good time and he is slowly improving, especially with his fancy foot work.  I'm not sure how much longer we are going to do this, maybe one more season.  Here are a few pictures of McKay in action:

 

Fun Run

This was a couple of weeks ago, but still wanted to add it for memories.  Each year the school district has a Fun Run.  A 1 mile run for anyone.  Kory was helping someone move in the ward so I was left to take the kids to this fun event.  This is our third year.  McKay was situated amongst the 2nd grade runners and Erica, Kason and I were in the back with the walkers.  I actually was planning on not participating because I knew I would have to push Kason in the stroller and towards the end you have to go through a grassy area.  The stroller and grass do not get along well, so I was nervous.  While we were standing in the walking area and I was deciding what to do, going back and forth with my decision, I watched as there were many others with kids in strollers ready to take on the race.  I then felt confident that I could do it too and I also wanted Erica to get a medal so we did it.  We walked the mile with Erica running next to us.  She ran almost the whole way, I was very impressed.  The grassy area was difficult to push the stroller through but we did it and I felt good because it was a great exercise.  I am excited for next year!

Sewing

We saw a sewing machine on sale at Costco one day and Kory bought it for me, even though I told him it was too much and I did not know how much I would use it or if I had time for it.  He picked it up and put it in the cart and said, "Let's go."  It took me about a month to get it out and start trying it.  McKay had a great fascination towards it also and wanted to try it out.  We played around and made lots of patterns on scrapes of material I had.  I now love my sewing machine!  A friend in our ward who sews a lot said it was addicting, and I have to agree with her.  Our first project was a simple, small bean bag.  McKay even helped do some hand stitching which he has never done before.  I think he felt really proud of his work.  Our next project is some aprons for the kids that are made out of dishtowels.  After that I am making some of Erica's pants that have holes in them into shorts with a fun trim.  My big project is a skirt for me.  I just have to find the right material.  I have been looking and don't know what to buy.  I think that is the hardest part for me, the pattern of the material and what would look good.

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter this year.  The only down side was that we had to spend it without Kory.  He went to Salt Lake City to be with his family as his dad had a kidney transplant.  I managed to hold down the fort while he was away.  Here are some pictures of what we did.

I made for the first time some chocolate Easter eggs filled with peanut butter and some with cream cheese and coconut.  Very rich and very yummy!

 

We went to the Easter Egg Hunt they have every year at the park in front of our home.  We gathered a few eggs and then the kids played at the park for awhile.  We were blessed with a very nice, warm day.

 I was surprised that Kason started picking up eggs all by himself really well, until he saw the Easter Bunny.  Then he got scared and just stared at the bunny, not able to move.  I then had to step in to help him ignore the bunny and pick up the eggs.

 Yes, we are still trying to patch Kason's eye every so often.  I have to admit, I am not very consistent in this.  He really does not like to wear it and it is a struggle to get him to keep it on.  He has to be very distracted and we have to watch him carefully because he will sneak off and take it off.

McKay was in charge of making the Family Home Evening dessert.  He did it almost all by himself.  He decided to make a cake with many colors.  I guess you can call it a rainbow cake or a tie-dye cake.

Need help on your food storage?

This is a great blog about how to use your food storage for everyday cooking.  Tammy, the writter of the blog, is our Stake Provident Living expert.  She put together this blog for our stake and am sharing it with all of you.  I am excited to start trying some of the recipes.  Check it out:  http://living-providently-today.blogspot.com/.

Sickness all around

Our family has been infested with some type of very yucky virus.  McKay got it first, which is usually the case.  His immunity seems to be the weakest amongst all of us.  He had a fever for 2 days and then a lingering cough.  Not too bad.  Then I got it next.  Same symptoms, fever and chills, but mine would no go away so easily.  It is as if the virus grew bigger and it was attacking my body.  Luckily ibuprofen seemed to keep things under control some of the time but it seemed to wear off quickly before I could take my next dose.  So I just had to suffer through the chills and fever and I was forced to just lay down most of the day, try to get as much rest as I could, but I was miserable.  It was hard for me to take care of the family and work.  This went on and on for about 5 days.  I was starting to get worried that maybe something else was wrong with me.  Then all of a sudden I was cured!  I woke up this morning and the fever and chills were gone!!!!  I know it was from a loving Heavenly Father who thought I had suffered enough and it was time to take the trial away.  I have felt so good all day and went right to work trying to put my house back in order.  I also went through the house disinfecting all the things we touch (except the toys, that would take forever).  I did not want this bug back again.  I was so happy all day, I was running through the house, I did not have to lie down for hours at a time, it was great!  However, it does not end there.  My sickness is gone but now Kory has got a mild case of the virus, Erica has a terrible croupy cough and fever, and Kason has a croupy cough, drippy nose, but luckily no fever.  Fun stuff.

Valentine's Day

This year we had fun making cookies for our neighbors and for us.  The kids helped deliver them to people who were members of our ward and to those who are not.  They loved to give this service and see the neighbor's surprised faces.  This was an all day project but a fun one we like to do each year.

I thought that we should make homemade valentine's this year.  McKay helped quite a bit and also Erica as they got their's ready for school.  They were a lot of work but I think they turned out so cute and it was worth it!