December 2010

December came and went in a flash.  I have been so bad at keeping up with my posting.  I hope to do better next year.  Here are just a few photos and thoughts that made up part of December.  I still need to go back and post-date my thoughts on my dear husband getting released as Bishop . . . which is hard to do because my feelings are so jumbled.

 Alex & Friends before Winter Formal

We met up with the Patterson Family to go see the temple lights and Luke 2.  We love these guys and wish we could figure out how to do more together.  Cole is leaving in a week for his mission to Germany!  He gave a fabulous talk last Sunday.  Taylor can't believe that they won't see each other for 3 years and 3 months! 

 Here is our smaller family at the same time - minus Emily and Taylor :(

We had our annual Christmas Eve with the McBrides and the Mooneys.  It was wonderful like always.  Lots of good food and good family makes awesome memories!  These are the McBride/Mooney girl cousins:  Becky, Diana, Melissa and Emily

Here are the McBride boy cousins minus Elder Matt Mooney and Elder Taylor McBride:

Danny, Sam, Max, Alex, Isaac, Cole and Ryan.  Cole is getting baptized this Saturday!

After we are all done with our celebrations, we come home and do our own thing.  The kids usually get jammies, but this year they got Snuggies!  If you look really closely, you can see that Murphy has his own version of a Snuggie.  Alex bought him a little vest for Christmas :)

Elder McBride on Christmas Day!  We had the BEST talk with him.  I still say that missionary phone calls are the best gifts ever!  He is doing really well.  He loves being a missionary and is having a great time being in Santo Domingo finally.  He has been in the boondocks for all of his mission up until now.  He is living in a ghetto/gang area, but he loves the adventure of it.  Here he is with all of his little gifts including an awesome apron that Sister Sunderhaus made for him.  I think she made matching aprons for her son (his last companion) and Taylor!

This picture says it all for me.  The joy of being able to talk to your missionary on Christmas Day!  This is Ryan in his Snuggie talking to his big brother!

I hope that everyone had a great December like we did.  It is always such a frantic, busy time of year - but it is still my favorite!  We are so thankful for the birth of our Savior - the best gift of all.  We love Him and hope to be able to be able to show Him that love by serving others better this year.

2010: Rewind

Thanks to Emily for showing me this :)

Conference Weekend

We were lucky enough to have general conference this weekend.  I loves these weekends so much.  My soul needs to hear the voices of our prophet, apostles and other leaders.  I feel the Spirit so strongly and it just washes over me and makes me feel better.  I especially enjoyed President Eyring and also one of the general authorities named Larry Lawrence.  He gave an AMAZING talk on courageous parenting.  I'm not sure how much the kids loved it, but I know Brad and I did and I just got a letter from Taylor saying that it was his favorite talk also!

On Sunday evening, we got together with the McBride side of the family for dinner and a little conference comprehension game!  Everyone did great and I was proud of them.  Since we have missed most of the birthdays so far this year, we decided to call it an "UnBirthday Party" like in Alice in Wonderland!  Everyone wore silly hats and it was a lot of fun.  We sent the pics to those who weren't there like Emily and the missionary boys.  We sure missed them :)

Soccer Season

Ryan finally got to go to his first soccer game of the season.  He missed his first two practices and his first game because he was sick.  The coach decided to put him in as goalie and we were kind of nervous because he had never played goalie before.  Well . . . he did a GREAT job and he loved it!  Who knew?!  He never let them score on us and he stopped 4 or 5 balls.

 He played goalie the 1st quarter and then mid-field in the 3rd quarter.  He had to run a lot to do that and it was sooooo hot.  I was sitting under an umbrella and I was dying.  After the quarter was over, he came over and sat down and drank some more gatorade and said he felt really sick.  His fact started getting redder and redder and then all around his mouth was really white.  When I saw that part and he was feeling sick it kind of worried me.  Our friend Deb Kempton is a nurse and she told us she thought we ought to take him home.  I took a picture a little later and you can kind of see what I'm talking about - but not really.  It had started to get a little better by then.  He's not as red and the white around his mouth is almost gone.  We got him home and in the pool and he started feeling better a little later.  That is the second time since school started that that has happened.  I made sure he was hydrated.  I guess he just can't tolerate the heat very well.

He's Famous!!

I got an e-mail from a friend that Ryan's cute little face from last year is on the Greenfield Elementary website!  Whadayaknow - our little guy is famous!  :)

http://www.gilbertschools.net/schoolpgs/greenfieldel/greenfieldelaboutus.php

Families Are Forever

 After announcing about 2 years ago that they were going to build a temple in Gilbert they finally have machines on the land.  I heard that they are going to break ground sometime in November!  Our new Stake Presidency challenged all of the families in the stake to take our families to the site and have our picture taken, before the temple is built.  Well, we have been meaning to - and finally got around to it for part of FHE last week.  We got everything all set up and took 3 pictures and then . . . my battery died.  I wish I would have been better prepared.  However, even though we didn't get to take as many as I would have liked, I think this one turned out pretty good.  I just haven't adjusted to the fact that I have two children gone.  It's hard to think of it as a "family picture" when two family members are missing.  They are gone doing good things though!  Emily is working in the Welfare Department of the church office building in SLC, and Taylor just finished his 1st year of  his mission in the DR.  So . . . I guess we'll excuse them. :)  It will be really fun to take another picture after the temple is finished.

After my camera died, we took a few of the boys with our phones!  Alex, Danny, & Ryan :)

Hump Day - One Down & One to Go!

 This is the last time I saw my boy exactly a year ago today.  I can't believe it has been a year.  It is so weird, because in many ways, time as crept so slowly.  It seems like FOREVER since I have seen him.  But then, sometimes I'm thinking - wow, I can't believe it's been a year!  I miss him soooo much, but am so thankful that he is on a mission.  The people of the Dominican Republic are so lucky to have him!  He has been an awesome missionary.  He has been very obedient and focused on what the Lord would have him do.  Brad and I couldn't be any more proud of him than we are!  Taylor is currently serving in the Bávaro/Punta Cana area.  His new companion is Elder Jordan Sunderhaus and Taylor is so excited about that.  He is from Mesa/Red Mountain High School and they have a bunch of friends in common!  Taylor has had a GREAT year and I know that he will have an even better 2nd year.  Our family has been so blessed by his service.  We love and miss you Elder McBride :)

Happy 20th Elder McBride!

Me and Taylor at Fred's Lake in Pinetop

Elder Timmreck & Elder McBride

Taylor's Home/Church in Bávaro/Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Well, this was our first official birthday without our boy :(  Taylor is 20 now!  How weird that I have 2 children in their 20's now.  I sent Taylor a great package and was so glad to hear that he got it!  It was mostly things that are hard for him to get in the DR like a cake mix and frosting, candles, plates - all the birthday fixin's.  I also send candy and a little kit to make animal balloons.  He loved that and said that he is going to make animal balloons for the little kids!  He said that he had a great day.  He has a new companion that is from Mesa.  His name is Jordan Sunderhaus and he went to Red Mountain High School and knows a bunch of Taylor's friends from volleyball.  They are excited to be together and Taylor thinks that they will work well together.

Happy Birthday son!  I still remember so clearly the night you were born.  You weighed almost 10 pounds!  Me and Dad and Emily were so excited to add a little boy to our family. :)  You have been a joy all of your life and I appreciate what a good boy you are.  We love you!

Ward Camp-Out #3

We had our 3rd Annual Gilbert 3rd Ward Camp-out this weekend.  It is such a fun little tradition that was started 3 years ago.  Everyones loves it and we get a huge turn-out.  We were disappointed though this year because Ryan missed the whole wee of school with the croup.  He still wasn't feeling well and had a really nasty cough - so we headed up with the boys for just the evening.  The weather was beautiful and our dinner was delicious!  Brad made green chili burros in the dutch oven.  We had a nice program and then we packed up our stuff and left minus Danny!  He wanted to stay really bad, so we left him a tent and some of the scouts slept in it with him.  Hopefully we will be able to stay the whole time next year . . . but who knows - that will be around the time Taylor will be done with his mission :)

Ryan taking it easy

Nice... Alex!

David, Danny, Ryan & Jake

Birthday for Brad

Dear Bradley,

You are 49 years old today.  I can hardly believe it!  Only one more to go til the big "50" :/  Yikes!!!!!  I am the luckiest girl alive that you decided you wanted to marry me.  It has been quite a ride over the last 24 years and I'm expecting the next 30 to be just as great.  Thank you for being the best husband and friend EVER.  You have truly made my life better than I ever dreamed it could be :)

I love you more than anything and everything.

Chrissie

80th Birthday Bash

Mom/Nana/Grandma turned 80 years old on September 1st!  Some of the kids got together and threw her a huge party.  Many thanks go to all that helped - especially to Don and Leslie for kindly letting us hold it at their home.  I sent 70+ invitations out to all kinds of family and friends a couple of months ago.  They turned out really cute!

  LOTS of people showed up from near and far!   All her living children were there except for Terri (who has been really ill and lives in California).  But we were so happy that two of her children, Jeff and Brandon and their families came.  One of her nephews, Jim Heap even came from as far as Ohio!  It was a great time for everyone!

Mom, thanks for being such a great mother!  We all love you and appreciate the example you set through the years and for your love and faith in all of us.  Happy 80th birthday!!!

 Aunt Vera and Virginia Hamblin (who came all the way from Salt Lake)

Ginna, Larry & Jennifer

I didn't take as many pics as I wanted to because I had to visit with too many people and help with the food.  It was all kind of crazy.  Other people took pics and hopefully I can get some of them to post because we took family pictures too:)  Also, Jenna did an awesome video.  Thanks Jenna for all your hard work!

Labor Day 2010

We got lucky and got to go to San Diego for Labor Day weekend!  Sadly, Alex didn't join us, but Brad and I and Danny and Ryan had a great time.  We spent some time at the beach on Saturday afternoon.  It was kind of cloudy but plenty warm.  However, the water was colder than Brad had ever remembered it so they didn't really get in the water.  We had a great time eating and being lazy and just plain enjoying the weather.

We had to celebrate the fact that it has been 10 years since I had my freak accident in the ocean!  We drove up to Orange County to eat at the Crab Cooker and take some pictures.  We also stopped at the park that we love in Dana Point.  We had a great time and didn't want to come back to the hot weather.

This is Capistrano Beach where I destroyed my leg

Here is the hospital that I spent 5 days at - only it was called San Clemente Hospital, or something like that.  So glad that is all over with (even though I'll live with the effects of it forever)

Family "Staycation"

School starts soooo early in Gilbert that we were desperate to do something before our Summer fun was over.  We couldn't really go anywhere so we decided to do a "Staycation"!  On Friday, we sent the boys and a couple of their friends to Sun Splash.  Then that night, all of us but Alex went to Joe's Crab Shack.  Alex wanted to play with his friendsies. :)  

 Then next day, we slept in and went bowling in the afternoon.  All in all it was a great, lazy time and Ryan proclaimed our "Staycation" a success!  He thinks we should do it more often!

St. Johns High 1980

This is the most awesome old St. Johns High School!  I started high school here in 1976 as a Freshman.  Sadly, by the time I was a Senior, they had built a brand new school and we were the first Senior class to go there.  I have sooo many great memories of this old building.  I love St. Johns so much!

The class of 1980 just had our 30 year reunion :/  I can hardly believe it's been that long.  It is soooo crazy.  Anyway, I was really excited about it when I heard about it, but then as the time approached, I really had misgivings about going.  I didn't really want to and then Brad talked me into it.  I am soooo glad that he did.  It was so wonderful to see old friends - kids that I had grown up with since I was a tiny girl.  We met and ate Mexican food the first night.  The next morning was the 24th of July parade and so we rode on a float.  I felt pretty silly doing that!  That night was the big dinner and program.  We stayed as long as we could, but then had to leave to get back for church the next morning (since Brad is the Bishop).  I was really sad when I found out that they took a picture after I left.  All of us that were there throughout the weekend weren't in the picture, but I am so glad that they took one of the ones that were there.  Love you guys :)

Janet Shreeve Wengert (my best friend growing up), me and Lurlynn Burnett

24th of July parade float

Greg & Leni live at our old house and all the family that was there gathered and had lunch.  Sometimes I sure miss that old house.  It really made me miss my Dad too

24 and Counting!

On Sunday, July 18th, our family had a birthday!  We are 24 years old!  24 years ago I married Brad and it will always be the best day of my life.  I love him more now than I could ever have imagined then.  It's funny how your perception of love changes - it changes as you add more to your family and it deepens to a level that I would not have thought possible then.  I wonder what it will be like in another 24 years - or in eternity.  I look forward to forever with Brad and with our wonderful children.  I am so thankful that we were given the blessing of finding each other and creating our own family.  Happy Anniversary!

Here's what's left of our family still living with us -  in Carlsbad, CA

This is the last time our family was all together the night before Taylor left for him mission (last September)