April May and June

UGggHHH! Do you ever feel like you're so behind (you know, like housework, yardwork) that you just feel so overwhelmed in even thinking about conquering such tasks.-that you don't even try. Well, that's how I feel about this blog. It started with one month, then two months, now three months behind. It shouldn't be a burden right, this is good for me to reflect on the happenings of family life, a journal of sorts, important RIGHT?!?! So, bear with me, there is no rhyme or reason or order to this post. Just ramblings of a now 33 year old of some of the events at the McKinney household.
JUNE- other than my birthday -(which Wes decided to treat me to a weekend "get a way" @ Little America in Salt Lake since he was starting his Graveyard shift that next day-(ughhh-don't want to talk about it-Let's just say, it gets lonely, a lot, and poor Wes gets like NO sleep. :( Anyways, as I was saying, other than my birthday, there have been some great memorable family experiences this month. My sister in law Meagan is having their first baby- A BOY!- and i was fun to hang out with extened family and eat great food. I made this cake especially for her! So EXCITED! This last month I've been teaching a free "dancercise" class at our wardhouse gymnasium. I've had a lot of fun and am happy to announce that the ladies participating have been having a blast! I do it twice a week for an hour in the mornings. I'm doing Country "line dance"(not really technically a line dance), Salsa, Jive/Swing, African, and will be doing a Lyrical this week-should be intersting-but I really want to push them out of their comfort zones and maybe let them experience something they've wanted to do since they were little girls-we'll see how that goes-just one more week.

We just got back from a two day splurge at Lagoon. It was so fun to be with the kids and spend time going on CRAAAzY rides, and playing in the water, and watching top notch entertainment(Well, at least the girls and I enjoyed that part anyways) They're real troopers and didn't want to go home until closing times. I'm glad I still get a thrill on some of those rides and don't have to take a naseau pill. I also have a new calling, 1st councellor in the Relief Society. To say the least, it's been pretty low key compared to my YW calling- so far anways. I'm on a new chore chart system for the kids, it seems to work, well, at least half of the time, but that beats the "NONE of the time" which is not a foreign term when it comes to chores at our house.

MAY-Ballare Dance Studio PRESENTS. . . . . 2011 Year End Dance Review!!!!!!!!!!!

My cousin Patrice was kind enough to just give her AWESOME expertise in photography skills for my students this year-here is a sampling of some of the pics. She is sooooooooo GREAT!!!!
She did THIS with a piece of white material hanging in my family room, an old construction light I had in the garage, and of course her TALENT!

85 students-7 classes-22 dances-19 costume changes- PHEW!!!


So, it's hard to believe, but my Zac has graduated from Elementary, and is now moving on to bigger and better things in Junior High. EEekk! I'm excited for him and nervous at the same time. He earned some great rewards and here's hoping that he can continue that in Junior High. He ran and campaigned for Student 7th grade officer. You're looking at the next Snowcrest Junior High 7th grade officer for 2011-2012!! Yea, great job Zac.

At the end of the school year also comes all the fun plays and opera's. Zac's class did a science melodrama and Hailey was a fairy in her school opera this year. Soo cute, isn't she!

This year, Mother's Day just happened to land on our Wedding Anniversary. To really celebrate we took that Friday and Saturday and booked on over to Park City for a relaxing weekend. It was nice to spend some quality one on one time together and not worry about the kiddos(THanks Nana, Pawpaw, and Aunt Angie) And if you're wondering- I'm TOTALLY in love with this guy! My DEAR SWEET WESLEY!

Ethan is getting so BIG! He's been in nursery the last few months and does well, though, he did get his first bloody nose today! Good thing he's tough and used to it. He is such a character and his personality is really growing leaps and bounds. I would be lying if I said I wasn't the least bit worried. One thing I can tell you is that I don't think there's been one sacrament meeting where I'm not fighting him while he's crying, yelling, squirming-the WHOLE TIME!!! It's so hard to not just give in and let the older boys take him out to the nursery to play so that we don't distract from the spirit-but I think it just makes it worse because he expects to go out there play. I've tried taking him out to the foyer and hold him but then I leave another potential catastrophe in the chapel where my kids end up fighting or being irreverant. It's like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. The kids really get a kick out of him. Let's just say he's not starved for attention, though, I might add again, some times the attention he gets encourages the not so good behavior. Still, he is such a joy to have around. So fun, and smart, and loving!

In case you are wondering, this is a bottle of maple syrup drizzled and drenched on a buttery Ethan pancake.

Both Zachary and Cameron's comp teams won their Indoor Soccer Sessions.

We had a fun day @ Toad's with Grandma and Grandpa Smith after they returned from the airport from visiting the Lunt family (Lucy) in California!

My cousin Leslie got married to a pretty cool cat this April. I got to see and spend some time with a lot of my cousins I haven't seen in awhile. One special cuz that I have such great memories with, Andrea, also got to come down and be their photographer. She took this great picture of my princesses just outside the Timpanogas Temple. So cute! Oh. . . . have a mentioned. . . my BABY SISTER IS GETTING MARRIED!!!!! Yep! The little squirly girl with the bigger than life attitude is now a grown "woman" (he he, still hard for me to say that) and is getting married to a nice young gent named Thomas Fejltstead(sp) at the end of next month in the Timpanogas temple. I can't believe it!!!! I'm excited for her and her new journey she'll be taking as she starts her own family unit.

April-- SNOW!!!!!! No, this was not an April Fool's Joke. Let's just say we've had a long extended Winter period.

Thus, we've spent a lot of time indoors, doing well, you know-Indoor stuff.

We had a great Easter spending time Kev and Nat and fam and Colby and Crystal's fam. My nieces and nephew are the CUTEST!

March 2011

It's scary how I try to look back and remember the last month and everything is just a blurr flying by to the next big blur. I've seen as I've gotten older, and as older people used to warn me that before I knew it my children would be grown and gone. Believe it or not, but I'm more than half way there already with my oldest children. Zac has grown over six inches just this last year, his voice is changing, and he has informed me that he needs Proactiv for his zits. What! In some ways I enjoy having this new kind of relationship with Zac and in other ways it scares the pants off of me. There are so many new things that I have to worry about. The basic necessities of food, clothes, teaching to share, potty training, abc's and 123's, not touching "hot" objects or sticking metal things in the outlet, keeping toothbrushes out of the toilet and stepping on those darn legos strewn across the floor seem like bliss comparatively. I'm still doing those things but add on teaching self confidence, a new level of testimony and knowledge of the gospel, preparing them for priesthood, mission, and marriage (not that we didn't teach them when they're really young but boy, it's really on now) Worrying about Junior High, friends, girls, bad influences( drugs, pornography etc,) not being smart alec, obedience, work, kind to siblings etc. I don't know how my parents did it with 8 children, the pressure to teach my kids and keep them safe, Ughhh! I get a headache just thinking about it. One thing for sure, it has humbled me and brings me often to my knees because I know there is NOOOO Way I can do this alone. I need my Father in Heaven's help. I think I'm always asking Him to bless me with patience and to be more loving. Keeping consistent in doing the things that I need to do to stay constantly close to the spirit throughout the day is also a challenge. It's a lot easier to pass time away with a project, the internet, or a chick flick to get my mind off of the crazy monotany of daily chores and responsibilities, but I find inspiriation and renewed determination by listening to the prophets speak through the scriptures and modern day revelation from prophets and apostles. I feel the weight of my "calling" as I raise our Heavenly Father's special spirit children and am grateful to know that he is on my side and tons more invested. My advocate. I was so grateful to have the opportunity this last Conference weekend to spend with my family and being uplifted and inspired by the Holy Ghost.

Well, on a less weightier subject. March was nice. On St. Patrick's Day, Jonathan's 2nd grade put on a puppet play. Jonathan was Browlin the Dinosaur. He did a great job, from the parts that I heard anyways. Ethan is in that "fun" stage where he won't sit still for a second on my lap. HA! You should see the video I tried to take of Jonathan while holding Ethan in one hand while he squirmed and screamed and the camera in the other.

So, St. Paddy's morning I made French toast for breakfast. Hailey sat there with a frown on her face. I looked at her like WHAT's WRONG? since it's not really unusual for her to be whining. She said, Where's the green milk, or the green eggs, or green toast etc. Well, I set myself up for that one. I had indulged my children every other year on St. Paddy's Day with a "Green Eggs and Ham" type breakfast, and this year, I had just plain forgot. After I reassured her it was not necessary to eat a green breakfast but a privelage and she should be grateful that she gets breakfast , I decided that I wanted to do something special-traditions are actually really important to me and I could see how it would be important to my kids. So my thoughts turned to what I should do for dinner. Wes and I love eating at Mongolian restaurant's and our kids have never eaten at one, so I decided to recreate it at home, in GREEN fashion.

Thus, green cabbage, green onion, green pepper, broccoli, celery, jalepenos, sugar snap peas, zucchini, garlic, thin sliced beef and oriental noodles. It was delicious, healthy, and GREEN I might add. Our dessert was green cupcakes.

This was Jonathan's first year in participating in the Pinewood Derby. I think he did a great job in designing and crafting his car but as competative as he is, you can tell by the look on his face that he was not quite happy that his car wasn't winning. I don't know if the lesson on "just have fun" , "your car looks AWESOME" or "Winning isn't everything" helped his attitude much, but, we tried.

We had quite a few fun family gatherings the month of March. Ryan and Meagan were PERFECT hosts as they invited all the Smith clan for dinner on a Sunday night. Everything was gourmet and Deelish and Meagan makes everything looks so elegant so you feel special. It was quite the house full but enjoyed seeing and spending time with everyone. My parents even made it down and it was the first time I got to see and hold cute little Georgia Beth. Nat looked great and seemed to be holding down the fort well while Kevvy was off in England. I even burned off a few calories playing a Dance game on the Wii-the kids LOVED it-it was so fun watching them dance together. My great Uncle Craig passed away mid-month from this terminal lung disease. I was sad to hear of the news because I really adored and was fond of Uncle Craig, but might heart just broke thinking of how Grandma must be mourning the loss of her last living sibling, and Aunt Barbara and their sweet children and grandchildren. The funeral was very nice and I even got to see where Grandmas parents and other sibling were buried in that cemetary. The next week Kevin and Natalie blessed Georgia Beth in their home ward in Logan. She is already getting so chunky, and already has a full head of hair on her head. Nat's grandma made her a beatiful blessing dress with a hooded cape to go with it. The blessing was beautiful and could only have been better if we all weren't stressing over my parents not being there. (They were about 30 sec. too late :( ) Natalie and her mom made a feast fit for a king. Potatoes, ham, rolls, salad, fruit, yummy treats galore etc. The cousins have fun with each other and I enjoyed a little R&R with the fam. The next weekend I made the trip to Idaho with the kiddos. It was fun to see and spend time with my cousin Amie and her cute cute family. I love reading her blog, she does so well capturing such a clear image of her family's life through pictures and her writings so I felt like I already somewhat knew her darling little family when I finally got to meet them. Jeffrey did such a great job during his "farewell" address on the topic of Forgiveness. He will be an awesome missionary and I was very proud of him. I was surprised when they announced that the choir would be singing a song written and directed by my Grandma Childers. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and I know it was a labor of love for my Grandma. Her and my Grandpa had pretty much lived in the mission field and she conveyed that well through her lyrics and I know she was so proud of Jeffrey for choosing to go. I also got to see my cute Childer's cousins who are growing TOOOO fast. My cousin Holly looks like a model and has the cutest little family. I was anamoured (sp?) by her daughter Macy, cutest, sweetest little princess!!!

So, tis the time again for the chaos of getting ready for my annual dance recital. My front room has become the costume room and tis also the time to reflect and think-WHAT the WORLD am I DOING!!!!! Costumes are such pain, time wise etc, yet, I know I wouldn't be totally happy with the performance unless the costume fit style, mood, of the dance. So, it would not be unusual to hear the drum of the sewing maching at the McKinney household most late late nights. 85 students, 2-3 costume changes for each students, ya, I know, that's a lot of costumes. May 20th is the big day, and so hoping I can get the last dance taught to all the classes to where they feel comfortable enough to perform. Well, busy month, and busier months ahead. Just grateful to have a home, food, healthy family, freedoms and knowledge of the gospel in these times where there is much chaos and trial throughout many parts of the world.

February 2011

My Valentine of 14 years now!!! My Dear Sweet Wesley. Our first Valentine's together, right after we were engaged, Wes got me a blown glass replica of the Salt Lake Temple where we were to be sealed for Time and all Eternity. It adorned the top of our wedding cake. This year he got me another replica of the Salt Lake Temple. The detail is amazing-I LOVE IT! For Valentine's dinner I asked the kids what they wanted to eat. Zac commented "EVERYTHING RED" thus- our menu- Roasted red onions, red peppers, on top or roasted red potatoes with garlic butter cream sauce. Red leaf lettuce with red roma tomatoes and Red french dressing. Grilled steak(not so red after cooked:)adorned with sauteed mushrooms(not red but for Wes a must) and for dessert-Red Velvet cake with cream cheese frosting-MMMmm!

This year Cameron's Valentine Box for school was a skunk that held a Valentine that says "LOVE STINKS" Something Cameron would say. Anyways, We inserted my Airwick sprayer with motion sensor on it- so everytime you lifted the skunks tail it would spray.

Zac's BIG idea was this Love Bird. I think he got quite a few extra Valentines' because the kids enjoyed sticking their Valentine in the bird's mouth and hearing it travel down its throat into the bird's belly-HA!

We went to St. George President's Day Weekend for Cameron's soccer tournament. The Utah President's Cup. They were in the Gold division. While we were there we stayed with my Cousin's Jason's wife's family. The Slater's. They were so kind and hospitable. We enjoyed our stay and the chance to meet such a great family. We appreciate their generosity. We took the kids on a tour of the St. George temple. A sister missionary from Bakers, Calif led us in the tour-she was AWESOME! We enjoyed listening the history of this beautiful temple.

The McKinney Clan

While we were in St. George Wes had a big day. It was his 37th birthday on Saturday. He got a "special" birthday card ;) and I made a big dinner for him on Sunday Hope he had a memorable week.

So Cameron's team, from our little valley, SWAT VALLEY UNITED, WON the Championship! On Saturday we got rained on all day for the games, we enjoyed a nice pasta buffet as a team afterwards, and then on Monday finished off the games. The championship game was a close one. Going to overtime and then ending with a shoot-out. The boys did great-we were proud of them whether they won or not-but it's always funner to come out on top I guess.

SWAT stands for Soccer With ATTI-TUDE!

This is a friend to Cameron and Zac, Nate Preston, who flew out the next day to New Zealand, the day of the devastating earthquake. Their family is moving back their but they are in a different part of the country so seem to be doing fine. Best of Luck to them and their family.

On our way to California we stopped at our dear friends, the Bainbridge Family, WE LOOOOOVE spending time with them and the kids all do well together. They are always so hospitable and we always feel at home.

Wish we could have spent more time with them but we had a very important meeting with some very important people:)

The Happiest Place on Earth with Special Family Members!

Especially THIS little Cutie Patootie!!!!!

Three of my main men waiting in line for Pirates of the Caribbean. Ethan was quite enthralled with it all. He even kept his glasses on and sat like a statue during the 3-D movies. He cried a few times in some of the rides, but I think overall loved it.

The boys weren't actually all that thrilled to ride the teacups but it was a MUST for their Disneyland experience. Notice the matchy matchy shirts. I totally recommend it for any family going to a crowded place with lots of kiddos, although, we got quite a few stares and comments when Wes and I had Dallin and Jocey by ourselves with our kiddos-HA!

One of the highlights was the girls getting to meet the princesses. The Disney workers were very kind and let us meet 3 of the princesses before the next shift of princesses. They met Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Belle, and Aurora. They were soooooo sweet and very much in character and gave each of them special attention. Lucy LOVED It!

and I can't say enough of how Sweet Tinkerbell was. You can tell that their personalities are genuinely that sweet. Overall we had such a great time. The kids had so much fun and it was even magical for me. We love our hotel-Radisson Suites in Buena Park, the breakfast's themselves were Amazing. We relished in getting to spend time with family even though it can get quite chaotic with so many people. Even Mel got to spend some time with us. We appreciated my parents help and Ryan and Meagan's help. I know they would have probably had a lot more fun if they were just by themselves but they were so patient. THANK YOU!