Heidi and Sean welcomed Kaden Joseph McMullin on August 18th. He weighed in at 7 pounds 13 ounces, and is 19 1/2 inches long. It's seems like so long ago that Megan was that little! Now we are just waiting for Holly to have her little baby! Can't wait to meet him!
So, here it is, I've been tagged. I have NEVER done one of these. I am the one who usually reads them when my friends send them, but then delete them. I think I have been tagged by Samantha, April, and Stacy! Thanks guys!
My answers:
Three jobs I have had: 1. Chiropractor assistant 2. Waitress at Claim Jumper 3. Occupational Therapist.
Three places I have lived: Corona, CA, San Bernardino, CA, Provo, UT
Three shows that I watch: American Idol, Intervention (I can't believe I admit that), and The Deadliest Catch (Pretty much anything on Discovery)
Three places I have been: Little Cayman (A favorite), St Maarten, Maui
Three people who email me often: Mom, Daleen, My husband (how sad is that)
Three of my favorite foods: Licorice, Creme Brulee, Bananas Foster (All sweets)
Three places I'd rather be right now: Relaxing, By Myself, getting a massage (none of them involve the kids you see!)
Three friends I think will respond: Daleen, Allison, Mom
Three things I am looking forward to this year: More Lake Mead trips, The Twilight Movie (so I can see what all the fuss is about), and Grading our lot (exciting huh!)
We had a great Sunday today. First, Ethan decided to get ready all by himself. I knew what that meant - and I have a picture to prove it. This is usually what he looks like when we pick him up from Sunbeams, not before church! We left early because Robby and Courtney came up with my mom to visit. It was fun to spend time with them and their little Natalie. Megan is 6 months, and Natalie is 3 1/2 months. Can you believe they are the same size, in fact, I think Natalie is a little bigger. They are both about 16 pounds. They were very sweet with eachother. Here are some of the pictures of them together!
I'm a little late on the back to school picture. Oh Well. Taylor started 2nd grade and has Mrs. Graff (Who Jacob had in 1st grade). She got a new haircut for school this year. She has her friends Heeli and Alissandra in her class, so she is so happy. She was a little nervous the night before. We were saying family prayer, and she started to get a little choked up. After the prayer, I asked her what was wrong, and she said she didn't know what she was going to do without Mrs. Bradsher as her teacher. I assured her it would be okay, and it was. Jacob is now in the 5th grade (last year of elementary school), and he has Mrs. Edison. Jordan is a junior in high school now (I totally forgot to take a picture) and is enjoying his classes. He is most excited for his AP Music Theory class. We'll see how much he likes it in a couple weeks! Ethan is home with me and Megan for now. We would like to find him a preschool which fits our schedule a little better cuz mom is needing a little break! Megan started to get up on all fours this last week and is scooting everywhere. She loves her bouncy chair (Thanks Heidi). It is like a johnny jump up but you don't need a doorway! Here are some pics of this last week!
We just got back from a relaxing vacation to Morro Bay. We went with the Bowens, Voges', Hoskin's, Grant's, Joost's, Cioffi's, Johnson's, Miles, and Banry's. What a fun time we had. We spent time riding bikes to town, going to the tide pools, the aquarium, eating fresh fish, and just relaxing by the fire with friends. It is just what we needed. It was a relaxing, fun, non-stressful getaway for the weekend before the kids go back to school! Thanks friends for making it so fun!
So here is Megan's second photo shoot. She is 4 months old here. It is just one picture that Autumn, the photographer, put up on her blog.
Rob and his Mom!
Jacob and Little Kenny.
Ethan and Mom.
Aunt Kathleen with Megan.
Chicken fighting!
MacKenzie, Taylor, and Jenna.
Grandma with the girls!
Dad playing pool with the kids.
Ethan and Dad.
John, Kenny, Grandma, Kathleen, and Rob.
TROUBLE!
We had such a great time in Utah over the weekend. We went to Robs great nephew's, yes great, wedding. He was married in the St. George temple. We were able to do a session there, and then see them get sealed. It is always a great experience to hear the temple worker give instruction to the couple. It always brings back sweet memories of when we were sealed. The kids got to see cousins, who they don't see as often as we would like. It is funny how they pick up right where they left off. All of Rob's siblings, minus one, were there. It was a busy weekend but we enjoyed every moment of it.
Yep, I'm the bad mom, who gives my child a nectarine at 5 months expecting her not to like it at all. Boy was I wrong! Here is a little snippit of video just to show you all what happened!
Tuesday, I took the kids to the science center in LA with Mimi (our old neighbor). We saw the Sea Monster 3D show, which scared Ethan to pieces. He said the sharks were coming to eat him. Then we decided to see the body works exhibit. If you haven't seen it, it is worth the drive. Definitely better for the older kids since I had to explain to Ethan why the men were naked. Oh well, a little lesson for him. Jacob loved it, it was right up his alley. Now he thinks he is the expert on how the body works. We had a blast, and could have spent all day there. We had to get Jacob back since he was going to the Griffith Observatory that evening with scouts.
We decided to go out for a motorcycle ride Sunday after church. Rob rode the quad with Taylor, Ethan rode the little quad, Jacob rode the 50, Jordan rode the 80, and Heather and Megan drove in the truck and followed them. At one point, Jacob went down a hill and couldn't make it back up. Rob had to find a strap in his trunk to hook up the quads together. He was able to pull Jacob up the hill safely. After that we went down the canyon and found a good spot to go shooting. Rob made the kids wear the motorcycle helmets since we forgot ear protection. All the kids got to shoot the gun. I even tried to get practice shooting the coyotes. Anyways, on the way home Rob signaled everyone to stop, where we were shocked to see a rattlesnake in the middle of the road. It was about 4 feet long, and had lots of rattles. Ethan wanted to dad to pick it up, but we had a good lesson on why we don't pick them up. I think he watches too many of those discovery channel shows.
Well, it would seem that all we do is go out on the lake every weekend. You would be right. We took the Joost family out on Saturday (minus Collette) for a day on the lake. They bought it at our ward silent auction, second year in a row. They are so much fun! We had a very nice, relaxing day with our usual Gandolfo's for lunch. It was real rough out so we did lots of tubing! Here are some highlights of the day! Check out the Joost's blog for more fun pictures, since Tracy brought her nice camera! BRAVE! At the end of the day, we were all beat, especially Ethan (notice the drool from the mouth).
In honor of all those blogs with new summer cuts, I thought it appropriate to show you all what I came home to last night. Ethan says Aralee taught him how to do this! I think he used the whole bottle of gel though. Oh well. He was pretty proud of himself!
This is the Meghan we named our little Megan after. The McCoys are good friends of ours, and Peter (Meghan's big brother) is Jacob's best friend. They moved to Huntington Beach about 3 weeks ago. Please keep her in your prayers, as she is having surgery today. She was diagnosed with kidney cancer last week and will start chemo soon. We love you Meghan!
Here are some shots from our recent trip to Lake Mead! We were there over the Fourth of July. We go to Lake Mead every 4th of July with the Searle's. We spent time with Bert and Maggie, went to dinner, and they came out on the lake with us. Bert brought a fishing pole and he and Ethan went fishing. Bert caught 5 catfish that day. Ethan helped him catch 2 of those. It made his day. Ethan wanted to go out on the boat with us after fishing for a while, so he told Bert-"Don't catch any fish until without me!" Jordan got to try out our new toy, the wakekite. It says if you have trouble setting it up, then it is too windy. Well, we should have listened. Nobody got hurt, but we got the cord in the prop a couple times so we called it quits. Jordan attempted his second 360 jump. Failed attempt. It scares me to watch him, but I love to watch him try new things. He isn't afraid of anything and that's what I love about him. Megan spent most of her time in the lake, Naked. She loved the water, and would cry when she wasn't in it. Ethan had a blast at the pool, but we couldn't get him in the lake much. Only at the shore would he go in. Jacob, finally after the third day on the lake, decided to wakeboard. He got right up and was in and out of the wake. What a stud. Taylor was not feeling herself on the trip so she and I hung out in the water most of the time. Rob's family made an unexpected last minute decision to meet us in Vegas. His brother Kenny came down from Cedar City with Brenda and they brought Amanda and Little Kenny. We took them out on the lake and had such a great time. Little Kenny got to tube, waterski, and drive the boat. Later that day, Kathleen, Rob's sister, came down with his Mom and 2 kids. We hung out by the pool the rest of the day and just visited with everyone. It was great to be able to see family that we haven't seen in a while. All in All, it was a great trip. Some minor complications with the boat, but much fun and memories were made!
We had FHE in the park Monday with our ward. April brought some strawberries, which if you didn't know are my favorite! Especially the good ones we buy at the corner of Hasley and Val Verde split, in that little dirt area! Yum! Anyways, I had to see what my little sugar would do with a taste of something good. Well, the picture doesn't say much, but if you look at her little fingers, you can see that she wanted more. Plus, I couldn't resist the picture opportunity with the little strawberry shirt on! I'm cheesy I know.
