Father's & Sons # 17

This is Brad's 17th Father's and Sons in a row! He took Taylor when he was 2 (and was able to get rid of the binky) and hasn't missed since! They always have a great time. Don't I have a bunch of handsome boys?! I got to spend some quality time with Emily and we even got to get a pedicure!

Graduation Continued (a month late)

Taylor Bradley McBride - Highland High School Class of 2009

The graduating class of 2009 and Taylor is in the group up front singing. It is the Advanced Vocal Ensemble.

Graduation day - Thursday, May 21, 2009 was a gorgeous day. It was cloudy and cool and we were so excited that we wouldn't have to sit in the blistering sun. After Taylor's party, we took off to the high school with a couple of umbrellas and a couple of ponchos between the six of us - just in case. Well, almost right after we got there it started sprinkling, then started raining steadily. It rained that way for the whole entire time! Poor Ryan was freezing to death before it was over! They said that they were showing it in the gym, but we were afraid that if we left, that there wouldn't be any seats in the gym. So we stayed put and it was something we will always remember! We are proud of you Taylor. I can't believe two of our kids have already graduated!

Cricket (June 4, 2000 - June 2, ,2009)

We lost our sweet doggy today. We all have been having a really hard time with it. She got Valley Fever and it got into her bones and organs. We have been treating her for a month for it, but she just kept getting sicker and sicker and even quit eating. She died this morning and Brad was with her. We got to spend a really good few hours with her last night though, because we thought she was going to die then. I'm really glad we all got to say good bye and let her know we love her. This has been the first family pet death we have experienced and it has been a lot harder than I expected. We will miss her a lot.

We got Cricket in July of 2000 on our anniversary. She was just 6 weeks old and very cute! She was such a sweet thing - not a mean bone in her body. Her bark was very annoying, but she didn't really bark the last month and now I am really missing it. She loved to chase birds, lay in the shade, get her tummy and her ears scratched. She loved pizza and anything else she wasn't supposed to eat. She loved to jump up on the wall and peek over and bark at the Gooches. She was a lot of fun, and she will be dearly missed.

Post Graduation Day - May 21, 2009

Alex, Taylor Emily, Danny, Ryan

Danielle Short, Taylor and

Travis Hatch and Taylor

Tauvaga Kelemete (from our old Highland Ward) and Taylor

Jacob and Taylor

Lauren Plowman and Taylor

Rachel, Taylor, Ashley and Bethany

Ashley and Taylor

Taylor and Bethany

Brad, Rachel, Taylor and Bethany

End of School Whirlwind!

We had a get-together before graduation with family and friends. I was really happy with how many people came. Emily drove all the way down from Provo and got here just in time!

JoAnn, Don, Leslie & Jeanne

Julie and Mom

Jordan, Taylor and Greg

The Sunday before graduation was Baccalaureate. It was fantastic - as Brother Butler would say! No, seriously, the program was beautiful. The best part was when the concert choir sang "Come Thou Fount". It makes me cry almost every time I here it. Afterwards, we took a few pics and Taylor was being a goof wearing his hat on the back of his head and his tie on the outside of his gown!

Brad Walker and Taylor

Taylor and Jessica Keeling

Trace Bodine?, Greg Montgomery and Taylor

Greg Montgomery, Taylor and

Alex got his driver's license and you can tell he was really excited for me to take this picture!

Another Tooth Bites the Dust!

Ryan lost another tooth and was he ever excited! He had been working on the tooth for a really long time and he would ask his dad every few days if he would pull it. He is a tough kid because Brad would pull hard on it and it just didn't want to come out. Needless to say, it finally did and here is a picture of Ryan showing for his Tooth Fairy booty . . . 2 gold dollars (one for each tooth)! I'm sad that he is growing up so quickly :(

Mother's Day - Brad's Turn

In my book, Mother's Day falls right behind Christmas and Easter in importance. There is a bittersweet element to it, since my Mom has been gone for 9 years now. Those memories are beginning to not seem so fresh, and I still miss her - that is the "bitter". The "sweet" part is being married to Chrissie and sharing the adventure of raising 5 kids together.

Chrissie has been a Mom for 21 years now, and it started out rough. Her first pregnancy with Emily was brutal - back then (back in the eighties!) her doctor wouldn't even think of given her any kind of meds while pregnant, so Chrissie spent half her pregnancy throwing up. Constantly. I remember one stretch where she threw up every twenty minutes for several day. (I was the one holding her hair with the washcloth - powerless to help.) At one point she had to get IVs because of the dehydration. It was a difficult time. Thankfully, as later children came, as and as doctors relaxed a little, pregnancy became less traumatic, and the sick period shrank.

Everyone who knows Emily knows she is a strong, capable girl. We saw it when she was born. Emily apparently had decided that she didn't want to come out. So she wouldn't. For 14 hours. Chrissie couldn't walk for weeks.

The Lord is merciful, and somehow manages to selectively obliterate the memories of women so that they don't recall pregnancy or labor with any degree of accuracy. That's a good thing, because if Chrissie remembered it at all, Emily would be an only child. Oddly, those memories remain sharp with most husbands I've talked to, creating a safeguard against families with 20 children and a destroyed mom.

Even last night as we were walking past the baby aisle at Target, Chrissie started the "ooohing" sounds that mean she wishes she still had a baby. She constantly reminds me of how much she LOVED being pregnant. Go figure!

As a Mom, Chrissie is kind, charitable, patient and understanding - all of the things I am not. I am firmly convinced that if not for her influence, some of our kids would have long since been offered up on Craigslist by now as a "free to a good family." She is always afraid she hounds the boys too much, (untrue) and I can't imagine how difficult it would be to be the sole source of estrogen in a family of 5 testosterone-addled boys with very smelly socks.

We love her, I love her. She is a wonderful mother to our children, and a wonderful wife. She also has another role I wouldn't ever want - Bishop's wife - or Mother of the Ward. It is an odd position she finds herself in, and at times uncomfortable. She is a great advisor on those select things I can talk to her about, but a lot of the time she is in the dark about most things. Nobody wants to hear the conversation stop when you walk in the room - but it happens. The Stake President warned her that a lot of the time she would be the last person in the ward to know some juicy bit of gossip - and it has turned out to be true. But, all in all, she handles that role with grace and kindness, and the Ward is blessed to have her.

I love Chrissie, and admire her , and love being able to focus on her today. Happy Mother's Day to you, sweetheart, and all the other good Moms out there!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! I love Mother's Day. I love being a Mom - that was always my biggest goal in life - was to be a wife and a mother. I am so blessed to have the 5 best kids in the history of the world! I love you guys.

I am also blessed to have such a wonderful mother myself. Mom, you are so good and have set such a wonderful example to us and our children. I chose to post a picture of you on one of your many missions. I am so proud of you for serving so much. I hated all the times you had to miss baptisms and other important events in our lives. But, then I would get over the selfishness and realize how blessed we are to have had parents that served missions. And you served 4! Thank you for being so wonderful. I love you very much!

Smarty Pants!

A couple of nights ago Danny had his 3rd Academic Night - the last in elementary school. Danny is really smart, but he also works really hard in school. We are very proud of him and his accomplishments! As we were reading the program I noticed Adam Patterson's name on it also. Pat and Krissy came and sat by us and I took a picture of the boys afterwards. Danny goes to Greenfield and Adam goes to Towne Meadows, but eventually they will both go to Highland High. Way to go boys!

Danny went to the Dr. the next day and got his cast off. However, they cut it in half long-ways and now he has to wear it as a splint for another two weeks. But at least this way we will get to take it off to shower and exercise his arm. It is pretty stiff and he can't straighten it all the way yet.

Senior Prom

Last weekend was Taylor's last school Prom. I thought he looked really handsome! By the way, on the same night Alex went on his first date!

Africa

Brad is in the middle of his annual trip to Mozambique, Africa. I hate so much for him to be gone. I really stress out the whole week before he leaves and then pretty much feel like a zombie while he is gone. Well, this morning was totally worth it! He texted me and said to call him at an exact certain time. When I called, he said, "The people in the community want to thank you". So, this guy gets on the phone and says this long speech which I can't understand because it is in Portugese - and then the whole crowd starts screaming and yelling thank you! It was so touching that I cried for 5 minutes! I haven't even done anything, except lend my husband for a week every year. I am so proud of him and what he is doing! We really believe in the Family Preservation Program that they are working on and feel that it is inspired. I'm sorry that I am such a baby when you are gone Brad. And, I really want to go with you some day. Come home safely! Oh, by the way - he said he did the "Pee Wee Herman Tequila Dance" for 300 people! Way to go Brad!

Easter 2009

I love Easter! I love the symbolism of renewal in everything around us. We have had such a beautiful, prolonged Spring for this area. We have enjoyed planting a garden and watching things grow - and watching things come to life again. I am so thankful for Jesus Christ. Every year I feel like I am a little more aware of the significance of what He did for us. Sometimes it is very overwhelming. I know that He loves me and I am so grateful for His atoning sacrifice. Mostly, I am so happy to know that I will get to see Dad and my other loved ones again!

I meant to take more pictures. I especially meant to take dressed-up Easter pictures, but I didn't do it. Here are the few I got when we colored eggs on Saturday.

You can't see very well, but Danny's egg is supposed to be a Phoenix Sun's egg.

I love my boys!

Missionary Matt

We got to go over to the Mooney's for Matt to open his mission call! There were a lot of people there and a lot of anticipation. He is going to Santiago, Chile and will report on August 5th! We are all so excited because Brad went to Vina del Mar, Chile, and Susie went to Concepcion, Chile! Another thing to remember is that our relative Parley P. Pratt opened up Chile to missionary work. We are so proud of Matt and can't wait until Taylor gets his mission call. They are 6 months apart but Taylor will be able to put his papers in sometime in June. We are all very excited and can't believe that the time has already come for these boys to serve missions!

Moving Day

One of Danny's best friends moved on April 9th. Holden Green is a great kid! His dad, Jeff Green got transferred to Virginia. We have been really sad about it. They are such a wonderful family. Holden got to sleep over the night before they left and then we let Danny play hookey for part of the next day! After a while Max Pothier came over and they played around and I took them to In and Out for lunch. I got a couple of pictures before I took Danny back to school. We are sure sorry to see him leave. We will really miss that family.

Tough Break!

Danny broke his arm on March 27, but didn't get a cast until 2 1/2 weeks later - Crazy! It was a Friday, and at the end of school he was playing basketball and someone tripped him and he fell. He came home in a lot of pain but was really upset because it was supposed to be his first Scout camp-out that night. I was worried because he broke the same elbow when he was three, and then last year he hurt the same elbow and had to wear a splint for a month.

Brad took him over to see Steve Mousser (who is a pediatrician and Brad's 1st Counselor). He said that he didn't know, but if Danny wanted to go on the camp-out, Steve was coming home later that night and he could bring him home if he was in too much pain. So, Danny set off on the camp-out holding his arm to his side. I was worried, but grateful that Steve was there. Well, Danny never came home that night and everyone said that he seemed to do okay. He got home the next afternoon and as soon as he came in I could tell he was in a lot of pain and his elbow was swollen. Brad took him to get it x-rayed. They said that it seemed broken, but they couldn't find the break. So, they put in in a splint and a sling and told us to go see a specialist.

On Monday, he got checked out and Dr. Peterson said that he thought that he just really hurt it but that it wasn't broken. He said to come back in a week and he bet it would be a lot better. We went up to conference and it didn't seem to get any better. He had a lot of pain, tingling, numbness, all sorts of stuff. When he went back to the doctor, they decided it was broken after all. Poor Danny :( I guess it's a really good story that he hiked to the top of Superstition Mountain with a broken arm. What a tough guy!

Okay, so I just went back to last year to look at the picture when Danny had a hurt arm and just realized that it wasn't the same arm. All this time we were concerned because we thought it was the same elbow!