Happy 2008!

We have reached our one year anniversary of blogging. So exciting! I guess I better make this blog a good one!
We are finally setting back into normal life after the Christmas break. Christmas was celebrated in Utah. It was so good to be with all of my family. We loved everything about our visit minus the bitter cold. I though I really missed Utah winters, but it was just too cold. It was nice to come back to Ontario in our 30 degree weather. I never though that would be much better, but it is!

Christmas Eve was filled with our usual activities, including all of us singing and playing Christmas carols on our instruments. McKay loved helping out by playing the piano, sitting on Papa's lap playing the guitar, whining at my feet (the usual when I play violin. He can't handle my attention going toward something else) and dancing. This dance move kind of looks like a karate move though.

This was McKay's favorite spot Christmas morning, behind the Christmas tree. McKay's favorite present was the Nemo fruit snacks in his stockings, mine was a new coat and Danny's was the two pairs of kacki (sp?) pants (he just can't get enough of those. He's such a teacher!)

Right before we left Utah, we all went to the Bean Museum at BYU (minus Danny who had to go home early for basketball practice). It was fun to see McKay get excited about all the animals (all are dead and stuffed). Everything time he passed the bear he had to give a big 'roar!' to show he wasn't scared. The reptiles weren't a big hit. He's so my son when it comes to that area.

The new year was celebrate with a bunch of people from our ward. I always feel that's it's so hard to stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve. This is weird because I go to bed around midnight most nights. New Years day McKay had to break in his new snow pants, so Danny and McKay went out to play some football. McKay loved being outside but didn't like his cold hands. So when Danny took him inside he threw a royal fit because he still wanted to be outside. Life is so confusing for a toddler!

2007 was such a good year, and I have a good feeling about 2008. One wonderful thing we have to look forward to in 2008 is we'll expect another baby around July 20th. We went the doctor yesterday and got to hear a healthy heartbeat. That is so exciting. My first trimester is almost over which I can't wait for. Morning sickness (which last all day) and being tired all the time is not the best. Hopefully not much longer!

Visiting Santa

On Saturday we went to the mall to finish up our Christmas shopping and to visit Santa. McKay loved waiting in line looking at the huge Christmas tree and every time we asked him if he wanted to see Santa we would get an excited 'yes'. When it was our turn, he smiled as we walked to Santa, but the moment I put him on Santa's lap, the good mood was over. Santa said that he had never heard a scream that loud and high. (I don't know what to think of this.)McKay survived for two quick pictures (I was so glad that the mall didn't make us buy their picture) and was done. Last year wasn't much of a success with Santa either, so we'll try again next year!

I hope you can all see how sad McKay's face is in this picture. He's looking right at me, and I kind of don't blame him. I remember being nervous around Santa.

McKay is ready to go, but I love how good Santa looks!

Happy St. Nick Day!

My mom and her family spent most of the first six years of her life living in Germany. Christmas is celebrated on Dec. 6th and is called St. Nickolaus Day, and instead of stockings, shoes are set out. So ever since I can remember my family and I have been celebrating this extra holiday. We always receive new ornaments and this year McKay got a new Christmas book (Carl's Christmas). Danny got to open his St. Nick presents by himself this year because McKay and I (mostly me) weren't getting up at 4:45 AM. I think he appreciate the Poweraid to get him through basketball practice. At 9:00 AM McKay and I finally got to our presents and treats. (I love it when he sleeps that late!) Notice the package of Mint M&M's in my shoe? A must have for every Christmas season. They are only made at Christmas so I buy enough to last all year. McKay was excited to see everything but still didn't quite know what was going on.

When McKay saw the candy he tried to hold as much as possible, and then tried to do the same for the oranges. It was so cute seeing him try to balance everything, but he wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get a picture.

McKay was so tickled that St. Nick left him crackers, his most favorite thing in the world.

I can't believe how old he looks in this picture! Such a little boy, not a baby!

Everything else in our lives is going well. We are in full-flege basketball season. Danny is doing well with winning two games and losing one so far. McKay loves loves loves all the basketball games. He especially loves scouting with Danny and getting french fries after the game. This week I have my Christmas concert, which should go well. I get anxious to get the concerts over with but at the same time it's another Christmas tradition. We hope you all are enjoying this wonderful season!

A Celebration for Life As We Know is Over

The time has finally come. Danny starts basketball on Monday. We are excited, and a little nervous for what these next few months are going to be like . We are not new to the coaching thing, but are new to the varsity coaching thing. So to savor the last few days of good family time, Danny took a personal day on Friday and we headed to the Boise Zoo. This was McKay's first trip to the zoo. He liked all the birds and cats, and especially the huge tortoise, but kept asking where the 'doggie' was. This zoo is pretty small, so there were no big animals to amaze him. We did get to be one of the first people to see the new baby gibbon (a type of a monkey, is case you didn't know, because I didn't!). She was so cute. After the zoo, we had lunch and then headed to the factory outlets, because we were so close anyway. But really, I'll take any excuse to go there. And I found a $2.00 oh so cute shirt! One of the rare times in our marriage that Danny out spent me. The day was so fun, I think we'll make this a tradition.

There were lots of animals for kids to play on, but this one was the only one McKay would go near to.

"Get me out of this dinosaur egg!"

Our silly McKay

Happy Halloween!

Danny and I were a little nervous how Halloween would go this year, considering McKay has been terrified of all things Halloween. We were even more worried when Danny went to put on McKay's monkey costume. McKay starting crying like he had been hurt so I ran into the room to see what the matter was and asked what happened. Danny said, "I took the pants off the hanger." Once the costume was on, all was well and McKay liked being 'George.' Danny was a vampire, and I was a preppy witch. I was confused though with a teenager (I have no idea what that person was thinking) and Pippy Longstocking. I liked my costume though. We first went to our ward's Trunk or Treat. McKay's nursery leader dressed up as a scary witch (I was even a little nervous around her.) She even took out her teeth, which made it a little too real. McKay was not sure about her at all and I'm praying all our hard work to get McKay to like nursery isn't out the door. After that, we then went to our friends Halloween party. Danny made his oh-so-good french fries and I was reminded why we don't own a fryer anymore. They are too good! McKay loved running around with all the kids. I loved this, because he doesn't do that often. The day turned out very fun and I'm glad McKay enjoyed it too.

"I'm ready to go!"

Dad kind of looks like a meat head vampire.

McKay has loved his jack-o-lantern pail all month. He would hold it like a purse and collect his things in it. One night I found a few blocks, a cracker, a sippy cup, a book, and a football all in it. so cute. On Halloween though, he wanted nothing to do with it, and I got to carry it.

The hood got to be too much.

We are with our good friends, Breanna and Landon. McKay loves London, and wakes up in the morning sometimes saying "LanLan?" They are so cute and I think so are we!

Happy October!

October has been a busy month for us. Every time we would do something blog-worthy, life would pick up so I couldn't post what I wanted too. So now I'm making up for that. The month started by going to the pumpkin patch. We have a great farmers market about 10 minutes away and they do tractor rides out to the pumpkin patch where you can pick your own pumpkins. McKay loved just sitting in the dirt pounding on the pumpkins like they were drums. I found a white pumpkin which I think is so cute.

This is McKay saying "cheese!"

"I found you!" McKay says this when he finds something he's looking for. A ball, his blanket, and the pumpkin.

I thought he would love a ride in the wagon, but it kind of looks like he's holding on for dear life.

The farmers set up an area full of pumpkins and hay bails to take fun pictures with. I love McKay's face, even though he's screaming for us to go.
When the time came for carving the pumpkins, McKay was really excited about the whole thing, until he realized what was involved. he spent the night on the couch eating Cheerios while Danny and I carved. I think we did a pretty good job.


Danny finished football and also got to go to a basketball clinic at Pepperdine University, in Malibu, CA. The trip was short, but that was good because he left the same day all the fires started. As for me, I've been busy reading. The girls in my ward put together a book club and our first book was "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer. I loved, loved, loved it, and the other two books in the series. If you haven't read these books, it is a must!! The symphony I'm in performed our first concert series of the season. We play for a bunch of schools, so in three days we performed seven concerts. Whew! To make things harder, right before the concerts my violin bow broke. The tip had been cracked for a while and it finally broke in two. What a sad day. I thought the bow's life was over because the material it's made of isn't a simple fix, but I sent it to the makers and they just called the other day to tell me that they are fixing it under warranty. Yea! My mom sent me an old bow to use in the mean time, but I'm so excited to get my nice bow back. and also, I've been substituting a few times for a couple of college music classes for another teacher. I'm glad I've had many opportunities to teach and play this month, but even more glad not to send McKay to a sitter so much this month (Breanna- Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!)

Our Cone-head

McKay found his sand bucket the other day, and now it's his new favorite hat. Well, whatever makes him happy, huh?