2011: Another One Bites the Dust!

For as long as I can remember, I have had the task of summarizing our family's annual comings and goings in a tiny block of text sandwiched between a bunch of pictures on a Christmas card.  Not this year - this year I have the family blog at my disposal, and I can write as much as I want, and nobody, and I mean nobody, is going to tell me what to write. What's that honey" Get on with it?  OK.

Here is the McBride Family 2011 in Review. Yes it is crazy long. But if you really love us, you will read every word, and leave a heartfelt comment at the end.

January
• It was our Ward's turn for 8:00am church. This is the modern-day equivalent of the Handcart Pioneers in our home. And we prevailed. (For me, it seemed like sleeping in after 5 years of 6:00am meetings.)

• Chrissie and I started teaching a Sunday School class together. 15 to 16 year-olds. New Testament with the best kids on earth. We actually taught together - none of that lazy "trading weeks" kind of stuff.

• January played out as most Januarys do. Long, bleak, cold, and low calorie. Lots of phlegm.

• Emily made the the decision that after she finished he job in the Church Welfare Department, she was going to go back to BYU to get her teaching certificate. She wants to teach High School English. Thank heavens for people like her.

February

• Danny won a $150 iPod Nano in a claw-type vending machine. Effectively destroying a life-long effort to teach my children not to waste money or participate in games of chance. Curses. But the iPod is sweet.

• Chrissie had a birthday. Let's just say she is younger than me, and leave it at that. (Did I do good sweetheart?)


• Ryan had his 9th birthday. For the 9th consecutive year, his birthday fell on Valentine's Day. Weird, huh? Three pictures of him, just because he is so cute.

• Emily celebrated her 23rd birthday by doing whatever it is those young people do. Here's the quilt Chrissie made for her out of all the t-shirts of her youth.

• We decided to celebrate this mass of birthdays together at Disneyland. Emily came down, but we felt it would be best to not invite Taylor. We were pretty sure that it would have been against rules.  You can tell I'm getting old when my favorite part is the Bengal BBQ.  (Chrissie wrote about the trip here.)



March
• Danny turned 14, and is on track to become the tallest of the McBride boys. Now I have a Home Teaching companion.

• Alex was knee-deep in his final year on the Varsity Volleyball team. Unfortunately, he had a serious case of "jumper's knee" which limited his playing time. He played in pain, and became very familiar with ice packs, Advil and therapy. Thanks Uncle Mark!

• Chrissie and I were able to go to California to watch him play in a tournament. Proud parents.

• Spring-break came and went and I don't recall that we did anything worth remembering. Of course, that could be age related.

April
• Alex turned 18. And with that important birthday Alex quickly realized that being 18 is almost exactly like being 17, except you have to register with Selective Services.

• Chrissie took off to Salt Lake to spend a weekend with Emily before she moved back to Provo. The had a great time. Chrissie has really missed Emily, and tires of being the sole female amongst the animals. (She wrote about it here)

• As payback for her trip to Utah, Brad took the boys camping. Not really, it was our annual Father and Sons outing. Sadly, Alex couldn't go because of conflicts (with sports and prom -  not with me). But Ryan, Danny and I packed up and headed up to the mountains. We had a great time and made some killer buffalo wings. (I even blogged about it here.)

• Alex went to prom and looked mighty fine with his girl and his tux.

• Danny ran a triathalon with the boys in the ward and did well. (Thank heavens I wasn't his leader, or they would have had to dust off their first aid skills)

May
• I discovered that Haagen-Daas had reduced the amount of ice cream in their container from 16oz to 14oz but raised the price. I'm now sticking with Ben & Jerry's. I smell a conspiracy.

• Alex graduated from High School and Seminary. Amazing! Happy day! Two more to go.

• Danny completed Junior High with very little fanfare, but really, really good grades.

• With some trepidation, Chrissie accepted the call to be the Young Women's Secretary in our ward, effectively abandoning me to teach the those Sunday School youngsters by myself. It will be good for her, and great for the girls to have her influence in their lives.

• Osama Bin Laden was finally hunted down and killed.  We will neither confirm nor deny our family's involvement.

• Murphy continued adding status updates to his Facebook page. He seems to be pretty snarky for such a little dog. I think it has something to do with him being half-poodle.

• Two days after graduation, Alex left to go to Missouri to get rich selling security systems with his friends. Look out world. Then we had 3 cars and two drivers.

• Danny went to his High Adventure activity. Southern California: Sun, surfing, spirituality and sand.

• Suddenly, we were down to one kid at home - a tiny family of three. It was strangely quiet, and we always cooked too much food, but we did go out to eat more often. And, after sabbatical, we had to begin hiring babysitters again.

June
• Everything in our lives was turned upside down - and most of it no longer mattered to us.

• We got word that Taylor had suffered a severe head trauma in the Dominican Republic. He had to be brought home for treatment. He spent a week at Barrow's Neurological Institute in Phoenix for a week. It was a time of fear and faith, tears and joy - and it has all has a happy ending.  Chrissie and I blogged about it as it unfolded - if you want the gory details, and photos, including x-rays of his cracked noggin, click here.

• Alex came home from Missouri without amassing a fortune - but we needed the family to be together. Emily came home for a week as well.

• Suddenly we were back to being complete: Our family of 7.

• Besides that, June was such a blur that I actualy had to go back and look at the calendar to see what else happened.

• Danny's friend Holden, from Virginia came and stayed. 

• We got the carpet cleaned. Yes, this is a big enough deal to mention.

July

• We got permission from Taylor's doctors to go to Oceanside. We have a tradition where my brother and sister and their families spend the 4th of July together. It was great fun, as usual - and the weather was fabulous.  We did not want to come home.

• Taylor received a sweet visit from Elder Wilford Andersen of the Seventy came by with our Stake President Dan Barker. Taylor received a sweet blessing full of hope and promises for a full recovery.

• Our Eternal Family turned 25 years old on July 18. More specifically, Chrissie and I have survived celebrated 25 years of marriage. To celebrate we took a 2 week cruise around the Mediterranean. Not really. We spent two nights in Scottsdale, but had a wonderful time, considering we were preoccupied with Taylor, home, work etc.

• Danny went to Provo for EFY and was able to build some time in to visit Emily. He loved it and had great fun with his new and old friends.

• I got into an accident in my truck, and Alex got into a wreck in the Mazda. On the same day. In the same driveway. With each other. Yeah, that is impressive.

August

• School started on August 10. How stupid is that? What happened to the good old days when sumer started with Memorial Day and ended with Labor Day?

• Dearest Emily came home for a week before she started up again at BYU so she could hold down the fort for me and Chrissie.

• We went on a spectacular belated anniversary trip to....Pennsylvania!!!  Why Pennsylvania, you may ask?  Because poverty and fancy vacations do not mix.  If yo have enough AmEx and Delta points for flights and lodging, you can spend a week in PA on the cheap because there are tons of free things to do:

Aaronic Priesthood Restoration site

Amish Country (Best hot pretzel we have ever eaten in our lives.)

Gettysburg

Liberty Bell

Constitution Hall

Poconos Mountains

Valley Forge

Spiderman on Broadway (OK, that wasn't free, but it was awesome!

• Emily went on a ferocious roadtrip to the West coast and the Northwest. (That's the real reason to go to college.)

• Alex started a new job. Manual labor, starting at 6am, slave wages, 13 hour days. His dad could not have been happier.

• Emily went back to school. Which made her very happy. She has this weird compulsion about gaining more knowledge. Weird, I know.

September

• Labor Day was the day that Taylor received permission to drive again. After his accident, he had a seizure - the rule is no driving for 3 months post-seizure. Lots of kind people drove him around a lot.

• After Labor day we now had 3 cars for 4 drivers.

• Chrissie, Danny, Ryan and I hit Oceanside for the Labor Day weekend. It was great staying at my baby brother's place, and playing Bananagrams and Dominos with them.

• Taylor turned 21 on the 18th.  But he still has to help mow the lawn.

• Danny and Ryan both startup with volleyball and soccer, respectively. Saturdays would no longer be ours anymore until Christmas.

• On the 13th, I turned 50 years old. I know, I know, "I don't look a day over 49". Thanks! I seems I still have to mow the lawn too. Go figure

• Chrissie threw me a giant party and hundreds of people showed up to shower me with love. OK, not hundreds, but tens of dozens of people showed up. It was great. Now I have tons of things like Preparation H to give to my friends as they join me.

• In September we were grateful that nobody "occupied" our front yard.

October

• We loaded up the car and drove to Utah for General Conference. All of us except Alex, who had to work. It was a great time to be together as a family, enjoy Utah, and enjoy Conference.

• We caught the amazing come-from-behind victory of BYU vs. USU. Of course we had to sit in the middle of a section filled with Aggies. Hehehe.

• We attended General Conference by begging for tickets on the corner. Thanks to Ryan's cute face, we had no trouble. He dubbed himself "The Ticketmaster".

• Autumn was setting in, and it was beautiful. Thanks to a kind and generous friend, we were able to stay in a sweet condo in Deer Valley while we were there. It was great to have the kids to ourselves.

• Taylor got a job in plastics plant, and started getting back to normal life.

• Fall break hit just a couple of weeks later. Our family, and some other friends from the ward went camping together. It was great fun. This time all the boys were able to go. Even Murphy. Let's just say Murphy's not built for camping.  Chrissie documented it here.

• The National media began finding people who liked to claim that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, were not, in fact, Christian. Hysterical. 

• Also in October I dragged the entire family to a Switchfoot concert because I felt that my boys needed to experience a rock n' roll show.  Yes, they pretended they didn't know us. We were the old guys.

• The very next night, Alex held hands with Taylor Swift. As she looked deeply into his eyes she pressed her guitar pick into his hand. True story.

November

• Ryan had the good fortune of having both Cub Scout Day Camp and his Overnight stay at the Zoo. He also had the mis-fortune that they fell on the same day. He was able to do most of both, and squeeze in a soccer game as well.

• Alex had his wisdom teeth out, and was mildly disappointed that he didn't turn into an idiot (like some of his friends) when he was coming out from under anesthesia. He looked cute with his puffy cheeks - it reminded us of when he was little,. Overall, it was not a traumatic experience, and his recovery was speedy.

• Taylor got a new, better job working as a tech at Southwest Eye Center. He loves it. And he doesn't have to get up for work at 5:30am. And he takes the car, leaving Alex stranded often.

• They raised the price of a pint of Ben & Jerry's to $5.99 at Basha's. I know that forces are combining against me, but I refuse to take the hint.

• On 11/11/11 at 11:11, I was not paying attention to the clock, and missed an opportunity that would not come around again until 12 hours later.

• I started walking either to or from work on most days. It's only 2.5 miles, and it is nice to have some time to think deep thoughts. (Like how much my feet hurt.)

• Turns out that steroid shots in the hand are painful. I learned this after being treated for "trigger finger". Which I think sounds like a pretty manly condition. Hopefully one more shot will cure it, and I can be back to doing manly things, like opening stuck jars.

• Our Thanksgiving feast was held at my sister's house this year. Emily came back to town and somehow finagled an entire week home. I think we are all becoming better cooks the older we get, or our taste buds are beginning to die, because everything tasted perfect. It was great fun, after which we saw The Muppets together - also great fun!

December

• You are probably saying "Hallelujah! We made it to December". And I would agree. But I'm not finished yet...

• Alex had surgery for his deviant deviated septum.

• Danny's V-Ball team took 2nd in Regionals in a very close championship.

• Collectively, we produced incredible amounts of phlegm.

• It was big day for Ryan when he got his Bear award in Cub Scouts.

• And finally, on December 20th, Brad stopped typing this.

Wishing you a very wonderful Christmas!

The McBride Family.

Happy Halloween!

Well, another Halloween has come and gone!  It is really interesting to see how Halloween has changed over the years.  When I was young, we trick-or-treated, but I don't have any pictures of those times.  It seems like the holiday has gotten more "fashionable". It seems like everyone is always saying that Halloween is one of their favorite holidays.  It also seems like adults are waaay into it more than they used to be.  The most disturbing thing to me is that so many girls and women use Halloween as an excuse to not wear much clothing.  Anyway . . . I love the parts of Halloween that are cutesy and "Fall-ish".  It is a fun time if it is done right.

I go to help with Mr. Petrie's 4th Grade Halloween Party.  I was supposed to bring cupcakes.  I found a picture of mummy's online and decided to try them.  They were so fun to make and I think they turned out so cute.  I love them!

Taylor and Alex went to a few different parties and had a great time.  Taylor and Matt dressed as Arabs from some things that Aunt Susie got while she was in Saudi Arabia.  they were awesome costumes, but I guess got pretty hot after dancing for awhile!

Taylor, Diana & Alex . . . cowboy???

Ryan tried to carve a stick man into his pumpkin - because that was what he was going to be for Halloween.  It's hard to see in the light, but turns out better in the dark.  He did a good job!

 Great job Danny!

 Nice glasses Alex!

 Taylor and the Robot

 Ryan the Stickman - isn't it great!

 The Zombie (Quinn) and the Stickman 

 Danana???

 Sorting Candy

Dear Emily . . .

I miss you.  I miss you a LOT.  I don't like your new busier schedule.  I think it's time to come and live in Arizona now so that you are closer.  :)

Love, Mom

Fall Break 2011

I have been so bad at blogging lately.  I really love to have the record, and I enjoy doing it - it's just that it takes so much time and I am so behind on everything else already.  So, I just decided that I would do a post and then slowly try and go back and update things.

Last week we were lucky enough to have Fall Break.  Before the economic crash we were spoiled and we used our Fall Break's to go on really amazing trips.  Those were the weeks that we took the family and went to Hawaii, New York, and Washington D.C.  We were able to get those trips in before Emily left home.  We haven't been able to do trips like that for a few years now.  Sometimes I kind of get bummed out about it.  But, it turns out that we had a great little vacation right here close to home!

We haven't been able to go camping much as a family lately.  We were all disappointed that there wasn't a ward campout this year - so, a few families decided to take this last chance before it gets to cold and go camping.  We went up to Bear Canyon Lake, which is only about 2 1/2 hours away.  We found a nice spot and set up camp on Thursday.  Taylor and Alex joined us later that night.

Just had to take a picture of our tents because they went in the trash when we got home.  Totally falling apart.  But they served us well for a lot of years. :)

We didn't have anyone to watch Murphy because so many people were out of town.  So, we took him and found out that he really isn't a "camping" kind of dog!  He was so funny.  He was so cold and scared all of the time.  We really babied him the whole time.  Wyndi Curtis lost a dog up there last year and so we were afraid to let him wander.  It ended up working out fine - I just don't know if we'd ever take him again!

On Friday, we hiked down to the lake and it was sooooo beautiful.  The hike (even though it was steep and hard for me) and the time spent at that beautiful place was good for my soul.  The younger kids had a blast finding crawdads.  Ryan caught a couple and added them to the community bucket.  They then hiked back up to one of the camps and cooked and ate them!  Ryan said they forgot to clean them out (like shrimp) so it kind of grossed him out.  But he had a great time!

 Me, Wyndi Curtis, Janna Hassell, Teresa Lee & Heather (Wyndi's sister)

!Got a crawdad

 Dad, Danny, Taylor and Murphy enjoying the view

 Alex & Ryan

 Paige Lee "walking on the water"!

The "fam" minus Emily :(  I will post a better one when I get one from my friends.  One where Taylor is actually looking at the camera!

 Danny, Paige, Alex, Taylor and Kirk Lee went on a hike around the lake

It is so beautiful that it takes my breath away!  I want to go back :)

We had a community dinner that night and it was a lot of fun.  I FROZE my tootsies off that night!  On Saturday, we took down camp and drove back home.  Camping is just so much better when you can spend two nights!  It is more worth all the work.  What a great little vacation!

I came across this camping "Father and Son's" picture and had to add it.  I LOVE it!  (Dad, Danny and Alex)

Ryan's 4th Grade Program

Last year I wrote to the music teacher at Greenfield Elementary wondering why there was not a program for Ryan's grade.  She said that they only do them every 2 years.  So...this was the year and we were excited!  It was a 4th grade patriotic musical program.  They did great!

 Being led in by Mr. Petrie

 Blurry, but hey - I was far away!

Ryan was awesome!  He did so good and we were very proud of him. :)  The best thing was afterward when everyone clapped.  He ran toward us and said, "Wow - I feel like I'm famous!"  Love you Ryan :)