A Day for McKay

In case you're wondering who McKay is......he's one of the 28 "cutest in the world" nephews that I have. It was his day to get baptized and receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost.....and he became an official member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!!! I love McKay because he always has a smile! He was so excited today. He would squeeze his hands really tight and just smile and shake with excitement. I loved spending the day with him (and my parents, Adam and Lindsey's family, Holly's brother's family, Holly's parents, and the rest of Holly and Dan's family - phew) Baptisms are always so amazingly spiritual for me. I always end up with tears of happiness in my eyes. The more and more I learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more emotional I get when I watch this sacred ordinance. I LOVE being a member of the church!!! And I'm soooo glad McKay is too!! Here's some pictures of our perfect day!...Thanks McKay!

McKay and his Dad (my brother, Dan). See how cute he is!!!..McKay that is...Okay, Danny is too.

McKay's biggest fans. The normally smiling McKay is not smiling too big in this picture because his mom just told him...no goofy faces - ha!

Same fan club...different location. What do you do with so many people....you head to the beach....even though it was SNOWING off and on and 30 degrees! We can officially be classified as nut cases. But, true to form....we had a BLAST!! Couldn't have had it any better!!

One of Heavenly Father's wonderful creations....an adventurous boy's paradise!!! Who needs to go to Tom Sawyer's Island at Disneyland?

We came....We saw....We conquered the wall!! Watch out Helaman's stripling warriors!

One of Amanda's many talents....Hint...look at the sucked in nose. (you may need to click on the picture to make it bigger). I must say this one really makes a parent proud!! Actually....I can't do it...can anyone else?? Go ahead and Try it...suck in your nostrils!

Bob's photography skills in action. Isn't this a cool shot? Although, I think one of these seagulls was the one who POOPED on me!! Yep....I got pooped on....yucky!!! (Hey...is that blue sky???)

Another fun photography moment....my mom and dad walking along the beach. They are just soooo cute!


Party of 26 please! We gave the workers at Mo's restaraunt a "firery furnace" type of training when we showed up to eat there. But, they pulled it off and we LOVED the warm clam chowder and other fantastic seafood! Perfect ending to a perfect day!! (well, "perfect" day is subtracting the getting pooped on by the seagull - hee-hee)

Amazing Amanda strikes again...Scholar Athlete!

The family (minus Toby the dog) were invited to the highschool's scholar athlete dinner and awards ceremony for Amanda. Nathan was all moans and groans about another boring thing...until we mentioned that they would be serving Panda Express for dinner. Boy did he pork down on the orange chicken!!!

Such a cutie!

Look at that!!...Since I know how busy Amanda's been....this 4.0 is HUGE!! She is truly Amazing!!

On the way out, we had to stop and read a poster that Amanda had made for leadership....It's HUGE!! I love all the things the students want from the Administrators.

The SUN....drop every possible responsibility and run to have fun!!

Even though our house is still turned upside down, we had to bag it all and run outside for some fun on Sat. It was in the 80's and a picnic at the park was calling. Amanda made all the sandwiches and Nathan packed all the sporting stuff and I got Toby.....Bob was frantically trying to finish cleaning the garage (the only responsible one of the group). The only rule was that Amanda couldn't run....still a NO-go from the doctor. We had a BLAST!!

WHAT THE........????

WE GOT ROBBED!!!!

No, not really....we just moved our furniture to the garage so we could rip the carpet out....on to the "getting new carpet" phase of the never ending home improvement project. (Can you tell where our couches were? -ha!!)

Sooo..... here's a Family Home Evening idea for you....I'm thinking I should submit it to the Ensign :)

Lesson....watch the NCAA championship game.

Activity.....rip up the carpet in your house! (this is especially fun for young boys!) Hey look...you can kind of see our latest tile experiment....when it's all finished, I'll get a "real"

picture up...promise!

Treat....eat DUST and CARPET PAD PARTICLES!!! Looking at this picture, you might wonder...."what in the world kind of low quality camera do they have???" The dots are dust and carpet pad particles! Can you believe that?? We should have been wearing masks!! I wonder what kind of damage we just did to our lungs!

There you have it....guaranteed to bring your family closer and your home more enjoyable. For sure you will have a LOVELY and welcoming home to enter into the next day :) Boy, if noone used me as a role model for raising kids before...for sure they will now!

It's OFF!!

Amanda didn't stop smiling the ENTIRE time!! They made her a special little insert for her shoe and she has to wear her tennis shoes at ALL times...in the house too...and even to church (which she is sooooo embarrassed about - ha!) And....still...NO RUNNING for a couple more weeks.

Amanda's still smiling...seriously, she didn't stop the entire appointment!

Can you see a difference? If you can't see a size difference....look close at which leg is hairy :) Of course after the appointment, Amanda didn't go to school right away. She came home and took a nice and LONG shower......ahhhh.....and shaved that leg!

In case you were wondering...

Are we the only family that has the hardest time finishing something?? Here's the home project update....in case you were wondering.

1. Bob is still working on the tile project. He is cutting the last pieces for the bathroom tonight! But then we have to thinset it and wait 24 hours to have it dry....then we still need to grout. All the while, I have been without a washer and dryer. People are starting to avoid us....I think it's because we STINK!! When the project is done I will FOR SURE put up pictures. (after I do my laundry)

2. My window has SLAMMED shut for the fireplace remodel. Moment of silence please. :\
After all the bids, one of the guys said that with the type of fireplace we have, we don't need to have tile in front of it to meet code. Well....that got Bob's finance mind thinking. The only reason we needed to do the fireplace this year was because we NEEDED to get new carpet....and with getting new carpet, we didn't want to move the fireplace in a couple of years and have a hole in it from the old tile in front of the fireplace.....do you see where his mind is going? Yep....no fireplace this year. We're pulling up the tile in front and then carpeting all the way up to the wall. But, I have saved everyone's ideas and I will continue my quest. It was just such a sad moment...I couldn't write about it for a while. I have had such high hopes....but it's final.

The best day of the year.....at least for Nathan

Forget Christmas....I think Nathan just found his new favorite day of the year! The April Fools jokes never stopped. It was like a kid discovering Knock-Knock jokes for the first time. Here's some that he totally came up with by himself. Maybe you can use them next year :)

1. Bob went into the kitchen and flipped on the light switch...but the lights wouldn't come on. He tested several different things all the while saying, "Hey...we don't have any electricity....oh my heck, what happened?" He decided to check the breaker box and found a little note taped to the switch that said....."APRIL FOOLS" Ha-ha-ha....I was soooo shocked at how clever this was. I'm still chuckling writing about it!

2. Nathan came home from school and after a couple minutes he started panicking and said, "Oh my gosh mom...I totally forgot that I have a band rehearsal today after school". He grabbed his trumpet case and then said, "Can you drive me? I'm really late. I'm sorry....I just forgot". So, I got in the van and drove him over. He got out of the van but turned back really quick saying, "I don't think anyone is there." I said...WHAT?? He then said....."APRIL FOOLS" Ha-ha-ha....I am still in awe at how great of an actor he is....Hollywood watch out! I totally fell for this one!!

3. Plus.....All day he would do those same little things like..."Mom, you dropped your pocket", "You've got some food on your shirt"......etc. He told me stories of everyone he was able to fool at school too. He really had a hay-day. I just can't believe how clever he was!!