Clan McDonald

The Face

2012-01-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

Peter is really getting a personality lately. He loves Mariah and Dan best. Then the other siblings are next. I am definitely the least favorite. In the morning, Mariah usually gets him out of his crib. If she attempts to hand him over to me he growls. He cries hysterically when she and Dan leave for work/school. He can barely put up with me during the day and is overjoyed when his siblings return.

Another new thing is "The Face".

Here it is-

And again-
He is showing displeasure about his breakfast. Apparently graham crackers (all white sugar and white flour) and Costco dried mangos (coated with sugar) were not an acceptable breakfast this morning.

He also makes "the face" when he blows his nose. Amazing for a one-year-old....right? Except he does it without a kleenex and then I have to chase him around to clean up the mess. Lovely.

Still love that boy.

Calvin

2012-01-06T10:48:00.001-08:00

Calvin is one of a kind.

He breaks the mold in many ways.

For a preschooler, he has relatively no fears.

Other than an occasional nightmare (which has been a very recent phenomena)

he doesn't get scared.

When I commented this to my brother, Derek, he said to me ,"He doesn't get nightmares because HE is the thing nightmares are MADE OF!!"

Okay point taken...

he IS still working on being kind and gentle.

If a kid is coming towards Calvin to hit him or he perceives they are going to hit him,

no worries he will get them first.

Really hard.

Sometimes I feel like I am raising this Calvin-

But even that Calvin can sometimes look like this-

And just like the cartoon above our Calvin can be so very very loving.

He is the most devoted to his family in our family.

He will tell me out of the blue,

"Mommy, I LOVE Daddy",

or "Mommy, I LOVE Peter (or fill in the blank with any other family member)".

When I ask him who his best friends are he always tells me

Jake and McKayla (two of his cousins).

He is the most excited of all my kids to see a grandparent or to visit a grandparents house.

His favorite show is

Wild Kratts

He loves to

build forts & play dress up

He loves to eat

salad

nutella on banana

vitamin C drink

candy

sugar cereal

He loves to

work out in the yard with Dan & use tools of any kind.

Dan says Calvin can work a full 8 hour day in the yard with him.

He loves to go to preschool with his friends Miles & Hudson.

For his birthday-

he wanted to eat

meatballs

chocolate chocolate cake

and get-

"a dragon like Jake's that shoots out fake fire".

Here he is with his dragon. It is electronic and can walk and growl very loud.

It's eyes glow red.

At the birthday party. Jake & McKayla were his guests along with his siblings. Mariah planned all the games including, "fishing" for fish with candy attached, pin the wheel on the sports car (Natalie helped with this one), Duck duck goose, hide & seek, musical chairs, blanket monster, and playing in the huge blanket fort (pictured above) which took up half of our playroom.

With the chocolate chocolate Buzz light year cake. Andrew made the cake and it was delicious.

Aunt Missy, Kallie, & Jake

Uncle Derek had the most fun at the party.

Peter is 15 months

2012-01-04T10:46:00.000-08:00

It is hard to believe that Peter is 15 months already! It is difficult to get a picture of him lately because he is constantly in motion and won't stop for anything. He is also constantly falling or bonking his head as you may notice in the photo above. He is walking, climbing, pointing, throwing balls, and saying some words such as Dadda, Ba (ball), Ba Ba (bottle), Mil (milk), nuh (no), Na Na (Natalie), Mama, Boo (book) & Bre (bread- which he said several times VERY loudly on Sunday when he wanted more sacrament bread). He loves to read books and will request to be read to many many times a day. He also loves music and likes it to be played continuously (to the annoyance of some of the members of our family). He loves to give hugs and kisses, loves animals, and frosted mini wheats. He doesn't like to be confined or the pediatric office. Overall he is a pretty easy going guy, content most of the day. He weighs 24.69 pounds (50th%) and is 33.25 inches long (95th%). The nurse measured him twice yesterday (he grew 3 inches in 3 months) because she couldn't believe how much he had grown! I noticed his pants were all getting short on him so I wasn't too surprised. We feel lucky to have him in our family.

December

2011-12-31T04:13:00.001-08:00

This December has been filled with visits from family and celebrations. It started off with visits from my Lund cousins from Virginia. We enjoyed good food and a Christmas choir concert starring my cousin, Austin.

Mariah & baby Maggie from Virginia (Leslie in back ground)

As Christmas came we were thrilled for a visit by Uncle Nate and (soon-to-be) Aunt Katie. We enjoyed being with them for Christmas Eve and Day as they were staying with Dan's parents.

Christmas Eve we got together at Dan's parent's home for soup, music, and the reading of the birth of Jesus. Unfortunately, we somehow forgot to take pictures of Christmas day but it was a great day of gifts and a ham dinner at Dan's parents.

A few days ago we had fun catching up with my cousin Celeste, Richard (her husband) and their daughter Ellia. We met for a delicious dinner at Derek and Missy's place. Unfortunately, again no pictures!

Thank goodness, I got my act together for a Garff/McDonald/Anderson cousin dinner which was at our house last night. Here are all the cousins attending.

April, William, Steven, Karen, Bill, Michael, Derek, Karina, Calvin

Daniel, Catherine, Jake, Natalie, McKayla, Mariah, Peter, Andrew, Blake

(not pictured- Dan- who snapped the photo)

Andrew's Dance Performance Christmas 2011

2011-12-23T09:12:00.001-08:00

Andrew has been taken dance classes this Fall. This Christmas season he has had many performances. Here are the dances he performed at the Southtown Expo in Sandy, UT:

Deck the Halls - It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas - We Need a Little Christmas

The Island of Misfit Toys

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

Rockin On Top of the World

Andrew's Jazz Band Concert 2011

2011-12-19T07:43:00.000-08:00

Andrew has been going to Jazz Band practice each morning at 7am this year at school. Last week the Jazz Band had their holiday performance.

Andrew is sitting on the far left next to the vibes. He plays the electric guitar. In the last two videos, he is behind Mr. Halverson, the teacher so it is hard to see him.

Andrew has a solo in this first song (called "City") at the very beginning of the song and in the middle.

City

Gonna Fly Now from the Rocky Soundtrack

Monkey song or (I Wanna to Be Like You) from the Jungle Book

Family Christmas Recital

2011-12-19T06:25:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, the kids performed some songs they had been practicing for a family recital

Natalie's First Day Skiing!

2011-12-11T06:39:00.000-08:00

Dan took the kids skiing yesterday. It was the second day the resort was open for the season. Natalie went for the first time! She said she really liked it. The boys were disappointed that the more difficult runs were not open yet, as there wasn't enough snow. I told them it was early in the season and once the snow really started to fall there would be plenty!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T07:27:00.000-08:00

We had fun visiting with Andrea & Marc and their boys this year on Thanksgiving. It was fun catching up and renewing friendships with them.

Thanksgiving this year in pics....

A new church outfit which we talked Calvin into wearing to Grandma's house....he wore it just long enough to take a picture.
Grandma McDonald...the master chef

Holding wiggly Peter still for a shot.
Marc & Andrea...master carvers

Grandpa & Clark
The kids took over the dinning room

Cousin bonding..

Luke

So Long Braces!

2011-11-18T17:28:00.000-08:00

Andrew FINALLY got his braces off after at least two years and too much $$ spent. Neither Dan nor I wore braces and so far BOTH Blake and Andrew have needed expanders, braces and some sort of retainers. What does that mean? Less money for us, and a HUGE pain driving to all those dang appointments. So I have a couple of months break from Michael Richards, our friendly orthodontist (see photo above) until Blake gets his second round of braces on in the spring.

A Raging BBQ

2011-11-16T08:30:00.000-08:00

The other day we had a raging BBQ. I was really excited to cook the steaks I had bought on sale. I marinated for the afternoon and then started up the grill. When I went to put the meat on, the grill was still pretty cold. The propane tank was empty. I called to ask Dan if he would be home soon to help me put on a new propane tank. Because he would be awhile, he explained how to do it. It was pretty simple. Unscrew the old propane tank and put in into the garage. Get the new tank and screw it in. Easy peasy, right?

Wrong.

Each time I tried to screw in the new tank it made a hissing sound. I did it over and over again and almost called Dan. I didn't want to bug him at work again though so I just screwed it in really tight one more time and decided that maybe the hissing sound was normal.

Wrong again.

I lit the match (our lighter button is broken) and threw it in. Flames exploded all beneath the grill. This was all totally wrong! I tried to get my hand in underneath to unhook the propane tank but flames had engulfed the entire bottom part of the grill. I called Dan to see if he could tell me how to unhook it. He couldn't. The fire popped bigger. Then it popped bigger again and the flames were almost as high as our second floor. I told Dan I was calling 911. I called and we evacuated the house. All 9 of us (me, my 6 kids and their 2 friends). When the fire trucks got here the fire had more or less died down. The tank was still hissing though and so the fire fighters removed the tank and put it far from the house. They told me I either didn't hook the tank up properly (definitely possible) or the tank was defective (I am going with that one). Anyway you look at it we were fortunate. Another house in the neighborhood had the same situation awhile back and the propane tank exploded taking off part of the house. WOW. We are grateful we are all okay. Even still, I am bugged that our nice grill looks like this. All the knobs melted off as well as part of the trash can and the broom is "toast". The brick on the house is all black also.

The irony..... The steaks turned out quite good. They were a little smoky tasting but most everyone ate them. I used the leftovers to make pioneer stew yesterday!

Dipping Chocolates

2011-11-13T06:36:00.000-08:00

My Aunt Karen has dipped chocolates every year for a very long time- how long? I don't know. Her sister-in-law started the tradition and she has taken over heading it up.

Actually the tradition may have been started even longer ago on our side of the family. You see, my Dad & Aunt Karen's mother, Grandma Carrie, worked for THE Mrs. Sees in Los Angeles. Grandma always said, "Mrs. See's had the tiniest little feet". Anyway, Grandma Carrie LOVED See's Candy and "Diet Cola". She ate them every day and lived staying quite petite in her figure until she was in her 80's. Go figure.

I have dipped chocolates with Aunt Karen and her gang most years I have lived here. I have made chocolate fudge, peanut butter, caramel, and mint centers. The kids like the mint centers the best so this year I only made one double batch of mint centers. The other women make all sorts of centers including huckleberry, lime, coconut, etc etc. It makes me tired just thinking about it. It took me more than half the day yesterday just to dip my double batch of mint and that's not including making the centers (with Dan's help) the night before!

One of these years I will make more batches and give them away to friends and family...but don't hold your breath 'cause for right now we have to ration the few we have within our household only!

Turkey Dinner

2011-11-13T06:03:00.001-08:00

We LOVE Thanksgiving dinner. When Dan and I first got married our first Thanksgiving was in Ankeny, Iowa. Actually, we made our dinner a few days before the actual day and on Thanksgiving we went to Chicago to see the sights. However, it was that first year that Dan told me that Thanksgiving was his favorite meal of the year. It is my favorite holiday.

It is simple.

Food only.

No gifts.

Not many decorations.

No candy.

It is great!

Before we moved to this state, we cooked our own Thanksgiving. It was fun. For the past 6 years we have gone to Dan's parents for Thanksgiving which has been wonderful. So for the past 6 years we have cooked our own mini turkey dinner on a Sunday before Thanksgiving.

Everyone helps.

This year my Dad and Mary Lou were in town. Since I have only seen my Dad making tuna fish sandwiches or canned beef stew I wanted to document the event.

Grandpa Dave-Green bean casserole

Mariah- Rolls

Grandma Mary Lou- Sweet Potato Casserole

You can't have too many pictures of history in the making...

Blake- Mashed Potatoes

Not pictured (my camera ran out of charge)- Karina & Dan- turkey, stuffing & Andrew-gravy

Also not pictured- Us eating the meal with Grandpa & Grandma McDonald

A picture of all the kids (minus Drew as he had left for school) with

Grandma Mary Lou & Grandpa Dave

Halloween

2011-11-07T11:21:00.000-08:00

Calvin, Hudson, & Miles- our preschool group field trip to the pumpkin patch

The pumpkin patch tunnel of pumpkin vines

Natalie's 2nd grade did a Halloween singing & dancing performance.

All the kids minus Andrew (note the costume changes as the day goes on...some of my kids aren't content with one costume per Halloween--fortunately I have several boxes of options)

Peter the Monkey boy- he didn't need a costume for this one!

Nerd & Hippie Girl

Parker, Blake (A "Beat-up BYU fan" I don't know if he now roots for the Y or the U), & Calvin (Peter Pan)

Andrew- A Very Cool Scientist

Grandma Jean

2011-11-07T10:11:00.001-08:00

Grandma Jean was Mary Lou's mother. I met her when I was almost 14. She was always very kind to me and accepting of me into the family. She passed away last week and I was able to go to her funeral in Northern California. It was fun to catch up with my four stepbrothers and cousins in Mary Lou's family.
This was a very cool cemetery. It was rustic and in a remote area. I liked it.

My Dad, Bryan, Bob, me, Kevin, Terry, Mary Lou

Another Grease Dance Video....

2011-11-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

Another Grease video....

2011-11-06T19:19:00.000-08:00

Andrew's "Grease" Dance Video

2011-11-06T19:00:00.000-08:00

Andrew's new Jr. High has a fantastic drama program. Around 400 students tried out for the first play this year, Grease. Seventy made it- 35 boys and 35 girls. We were very proud of Andrew for making it into the play as the competition was fierce. He was in the "Men's Chorus" group. He had one line and was in many dances and sang many songs. He also got pushed around by the "T-Birds" when they were at the Hamburger Joint. He has preformed 4 nights and has 2 more to go. It has been a great experience!

Friends

2011-10-23T09:15:00.001-07:00

It is nice to have friends. We have always been fortunate to find nice friends everywhere we live. For several years we carpooled with The Tengs to school. Now they, like us, are moving to a different place. They are moving further, out-of-state. So we got the boys together for a final get together. They wrestled, rode bikes, and bought frozen yogurt. We will have good memories of them and hope to keep in touch.

Birthday Party

2011-10-22T18:10:00.001-07:00

Mariah loves to be organized. She had her entire 10th birthday party planned a month ago. I didn't have to do anything other than taxi her around to pick up the needed items. This was her plan.

**Have a mint chocolate chip oreo ice cream cake

**Watch Home Alone 2

**Make bracelets

**Give her friends goodie bags with 2 squinkies & candy

She even decorated before the party with her friend Ali.

Blake and Andrew always show up when cake appears or fire is needed.

Her birthday party was a real hit with all her new friends!!

Soccer

2011-10-09T13:45:00.001-07:00

Another soccer season is over. This fall only Blake played as we didn't have time to look for a team for Mariah. He played on our new neighbors team, The Vipers. It was made up of 7th and 8th graders and he was the only 6th grader. He held his own, though and made goals during many of the games including yesterday. They had a strong season and won most of their games. Yesterday during the last game they won 10 to 0.

General Conference Cinnamon Rolls

2011-10-09T13:31:00.001-07:00

Dan started a tradition a few years ago of making cinnamon rolls the Sunday morning of General Conference. Now our kids look forward to this every 6 months. This time Calvin & Natalie helped him make them and the rest of us helped him eat them! There are no pictures of the cooked cinnamon rolls but they were delicious.

Grandma turned ?!??!

2011-09-25T08:20:00.001-07:00

We love living closer to Grandpa & Grandma McDonald. Everyone loves seeing them more frequently especially Calvin. He LOVES having Grandma over!

On Monday we had them over to celebrate Grandma's (?!?!) birthday. We had a frittata and fresh veggies (from her garden) and the most moist banana cake ever.

Sweet Peter turned 1!

2011-09-25T07:24:00.000-07:00

Our sweet Peter turned one! We can't believe how fast the last year went by. He is still such a sweet boy although his little personality is starting to come out.

Some of his favorites:

-taking a bath

-his family

-playing outside

-unloading the dishwasher (preferably while mom is loading it)

-chasing the cats (they have been very patient and he is learning to be gentle)

-playing with Calvin

-sleeping in the same room with Calvin

-giving hugs

-reading books

-listening to his siblings practice their music (& joining in when possible)

Some of his unfavorites:

-getting out of the bath

-getting his diaper changed

Words he knows:

-ba ba mil (bottle of milk)

-aahtt! (hot)

-Da da, ma ma

Skills:

-crawling, standing, cruising, climbing stairs, clapping, standing & clapping at the same time

Stats:

23 pounds (56%)

30 inches long (79%)

He is the cutest, sweetest little guy and we are so happy he is in our family!

He is always in motion now so this blurry photo of him pushing the shopping cart is appropriate.

Mariah has given him multiple sink baths which he has loved.

For his birthday he got a pair of shoes(our traditional gift for one-year-olds).

Calvin the preschool boy & a new phase

2011-09-18T04:44:00.001-07:00

Last February I enrolled Calvin in a fantastic preschool. I called and bugged the school starting in January until he got into a class (getting into good preschools these days can be like getting into an ivy league school). Then I went to the parent meeting, filled out pages of release forms, and worked out a carpool. Calvin was ecstatic to go to "boy school" as he called it. Then we found out we were moving. With all the other decisions we had to make for our school-age children, finding a preschool for a 3-year-old was at the bottom of my list- oh wait- it actually wasn't even ON the list. The kids all started school and a week into it I was asked if we wanted to join a home-based "Mom Preschool". Calvin was THRILLED. He has gone for three weeks and loves it. When class is held close to our house he scooters to school just like his siblings.

At Calvin's request here is a picture of the back of his backpack.

Calvin has entered yet another phase. It is the knife boy phase. He loves knifes. Steak knives, bread knives, plastic knives, & pictures of knives. In August I went to the doctor with Calvin and Natalie. While getting out of the car I noticed a bulge in his side. I pulled up his shirt and saw that he had a steak knife stuck in his underwear! After I explained to him that it is against the "rules" to take a knife into the dr office, he reluctantly left it in his carseat. Realizing that Calvin will get into our knives no matter where we put them (remember this is the child who at 7 months could climb into my above the counter cupboards) Dan and I have had no other choice that to teach him "knife safety". Of course this is different that you would teach to an older child. We have told him that he needs to sit at the table to cut fruit. We had taught him not to jab a the aspens in the back yard but that he can "cut" the grass. We have also told him about a older boy that Dan knew who cut off his finger. For about two weeks when we found him with a knife we had daily conversations about it which evolved until they became like this.

Karina/Dan: Calvin, there was an older boy who was playing with a knife and he cut his finger off.

Calvin: Really? And it didin't grow back?

Karina/Dan: Yes. And it didn't grow back.

Calvin: Fingers don't grow back. Fingernails grow back, fingers don't grow back, eyeballs

don't grow back.

He became well-versed in what does and doesn't grow back. I was happy when a couple of days ago I found him happily playing with paper and no knives. Maybe we are working our way out of the knife phase!

One more funny Calvin story. We walk the kids to the elementary school nearly every day. Up until last week there was a sign in our neighbors yard encouraging voters to vote for "blah blah Black" (It obviously made a huge impact on me since I can't remember the first name of the lady). Each day Calvin would ask me to point to the words on the sign and read it to him. He was fascinated by it. He would ask me why the lady put the sign in the yard and I would tell him "because she wants our votes". However, he heard "boats" not "votes" and no matter how many times I enunciated the "v" sound he heard "b". We would go back and forth him asking why she wanted so many "boats" and me replying that she wants our "votes" until finally I would give in. He would look smugly at me and say solemnly, "she wants all our boats and really wants a BIG boat like Uncle Kelly!"

Twelve

2011-09-18T04:13:00.000-07:00

Blake is twelve. It is hard to believe it. Today he will receive the Aaronic Priesthood and begin to pass the sacrament. Wow time flies.

Blake still loves sports and is enjoying soccer after a couple year break. He is on a Soccer team with 7th and 8th graders. Yesterday they won 3-2 and he scored two of the goals. He started taking Suzuki violin in March- took for two months until our move and then started up with a new teacher in June. He is progressing well. He likes his new school although laments the fact that if he were only 2 weeks older he could be in Jr High. He is disciplined about doing his one hour of homework every day and completes it as soon as he gets home. He always gives Dan and I a nice hug before going to bed. If we could only get him to shower more often.......

Here are pics of his birthday party. Last Monday Blake, Andrew, Mariah, Parker, and Ali went to Trafalgas to celebrate. All the kids still had passes from the summer so they were able to go for free! Afterwards, they had pizza and cake at our place. Blake chose an oreo cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream for his party and a white cake with chocolate frosting for his "real" birthday. Lasagna is his favorite dinner right now so we had that on his real day as well. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLAKE!!

LOTOJA 2011

2011-09-12T10:15:00.000-07:00

LOTOJA marks the start of Autumn for me. It is always the second Saturday in September & The kids are just getting settled into school. Beforehand it always seems like it is more hassle to prepare to go than it is worth, but as soon as I get up to Logan I am verbally committing to doing it again in a year. LOTOJA nights are usually crisp and downright cold. The afternoons are hot and sunny. Last year we missed LOTOJA. I was due a couple of days after the race with Peter. This year I went solo. Since Dan wasn't signed up for the race he stayed to take care of our kids. I missed him being there but had a great get-away. The wind was blowing hard the night before the race. My aunt commented that it looked like it would be "blow-to-ja" this year. One year it was "snow-to-ja" and part of our LOTOJA family was a part of that unforgettable race. Fortunately, in the morning the wind had died down and it was surprisingly warm. The Firestorm relay woke up at 4:30 AM to get our first rider, Liz, off to the start.

The Firestorm relay- Karina, Catherine, & Liz (Catherine & I are obviously contemplating our plan of attack on the grass)

Before my start in Montpelier

Catherine & cute Daniel

The relay

my cousin Michael & his fam

(he rode solo and finished the 206 miles in just under 10 hours snatching 5th place in his category!)

Karina, Steve (has completed multiple full LOTOJA's), Catherine, Michael, & Liz

With Aunt Karen, Uncle Bill (who had just finished his 5th full LOTOJA) and Laura

Overall I was very happy with my race. I did a 47 mile leg in about 2 hours and 50 minutes and averaged 16.5 miles per hour. I had 2 steep climbs, Geneva Summit and Salt River Pass. I rode as hard as I ever have and felt more spent afterwards than ever before!

Back to School!

2011-08-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

Last week we started school. Two new schools, new schedules, and different rules but the days seemed to go great. This year Andrew will ride his bike to the Jr. High with his new neighbor friend, Caleb. Blake, Mariah, & Natalie will ride bikes, scooter or walk to school. I LOVE being so close to both schools!! I have been going with the Elementary school kids. Calvin loves for Peter, he and I to take the Elementary kids. He wears his backpack and rides his scooter at breakneck speed with the older kids.

Mariah with her new friend, Ali.

McCall 2011

2011-08-18T06:33:00.000-07:00

McCall marks the passing of another year for us. This summer we weren't sure we were going to be able to go. We are so grateful we were able to! For the first time in 5 years Dan was able to come up with us for the entire week. It was so much fun to have him there with us! Soon after we arrived Natalie while sprawled on the couch exclaimed, "I LOVE McCall! Dreams really DO come true!"

Calvin said playing in the sand was his favorite part about McCall.

Aunt Kalene kindly let us borrow her kayaks again. Calvin called them "The Boyacks" the name of our new neighbors.

I love this photo of Natalie and Calvin. This is what I deal with all day right now. Calvin tortures Natalie and she reacts dramatically. Repeat 100 times.

Ice Cream Alley.

Grandma McDonald came up for the last part of the week.

Blake liked riding in Uncle Kelly's boat best. My camera ran out of batteries so I didn't get a photo of Drew's fav in McCall....the old blue rowboat that Dan rigged a motor up to. I have one pic of me below waterskiing. I was happy to be able to get up and stay up for awhile.

Calvin was our "flag person". He wanted full control of the flag which made it interesting when a skier was in the water and he was off duty.

Blake showing his stuff. He skied for the first time and Mariah wake boarded.

Dan happy to be skiing again. Last time he waterskied (5 years ago) he wound up in the McCall E.R. with a shattered fingertip and ripped out fingernail. I drove a motorboat for the first time while he skiied. I was super nervous about not hitting any other boats as well as not hurting Dan. We kept his ride on the short side and I was very happy it went well and we were all safe!

Also not pictured our visit to Bergdorf Hot Springs and our horse fly friends there. We had a fantastic relaxing week and it was a great way to finish up a busy summer!

More Cousin Fun!

2011-08-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

Aunt Andrea, Clark, Alex, & Luke came for a visit this week. We had fun visiting and playing with them.

The museum was a real hit. You can tell by the looks on the kids faces...

At the Statue of Liberty...(okay Trafalga)

Check out Calvin and Luke's faces on these turns. I thought they would be crying because Blake and Drew were flying around the corners but they are laughing and loving it!

Strike!

Making fire is always a hit with kids.
Check out the roaring river behind the kids. Grandma McDonald put the watermelon in it to keep it cold just like her mom used to do when they went camping.

Yes we were there too!

This picture was taken at the base of Bridal Veil Falls. Alex told me, "this is awesome!" during the scary hike up which we traversed over gravely surfaces and past cliffs. NOT the most safe but most of the kids loved it!

Family Campout

2011-07-31T19:44:00.001-07:00

Last week we went on a campout up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Our reservations were at Albion Basin again but it was still closed for the season due to snow. Luckily we were able to get two last minute spots at Tanner Flat which is lower down the canyon. We were excited that Uncle Derek, Jake and Leila were able to come with us!

Celebrating Pioneer Day with the Primos

2011-07-27T15:23:00.001-07:00

Uncle Matt, Aunt Karen, Ian, & Abby came out for the weekend. It has been 2 1/2 years since we saw them last and we had fun catching up. Abby and Peter are one month apart. They were perpetual motion and it was difficult getting a picture of them together without the shot being blurry.

Abby doesn't like anyone but her mother to hold her but let Mariah for this photo.
On Pioneer Day we celebrated by going to the Mapleton town breakfast and then parade. I was so sad to notice that I wasn't able to get any photos of Ian. Some of our group got sick Sunday and Monday so we missed two days of visiting time. Next time I will get him!!

Here is my only one of Uncle Matt....He is in the background & I think he is taking a picture of Ian!

Painting the Fence

2011-07-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

We decided to paint our fence last week. When we bought the home the paint was cracking off and looked really bad. We aren't quite done yet but have worked on it for two days. The first day, Calvin fell into the paint. Don't ask how- I am still trying to figure that out, but he had paint up to his waist. The second day Dan, Drew, Blake, Mariah and I worked on it for 5 hot hours. Natalie helped with painting and then also with Calvin and Peter. I am not gonna lie...there was some whining about the job. However, everyone is happy with how the new paint looks. Now if we could just figure out how to remove the paint that Calvin rolled onto the side of the house.... According to Mariah he got confused about which "wall" to paint on...

Learning to Sew

2011-07-24T17:56:00.001-07:00

Mariah and Natalie just completed a three week sewing class taught by two college age sisters in our new ward. They LOVED going to class and love their new dresses. It cost more $ for the fabric and the class than I have ever spent on dresses for my girls. However, I think it was worth it for them to be able to learn a little more about sewing. They both proudly wore the dresses to church last Sunday and Mariah wore hers today as well.

Good friends and look who's 40!!

2011-07-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

Our road trip was cancelled this summer due to my Dad's accident, our chaotic move, and lice (I haven't blogged about it but our 4 oldest children had it & it was the WORST parenting experience I have EVER been through....I am still recovering emotionally from it).

Road trips, however, came to us!

Here we are with April & Scott and their children. We were good friends in Iowa. It's been 13 years since we last saw them and yet we all still look the same ;)

Katie and John and their 6 kids came to visit us over the 4th. We splashed around the pool at the base of Bridal Veil Falls that afternoon. Saturday, Drew, Blake, Dan, John, Seth & Abby went shooting with John's siblings (a policeman, 2 SWAT team members, and automatic weapons). It was quite the experience!

We are looking forward to traveling family members who are coming soon!!

Look who turned 40! The candles are "the #30 plus 10 singles". We celebrated the weekend by eating at Dan's parents house, getting massages at the massage school, and giving talks in Sacrament Meeting. Today Dan, Drew, & Blake left for scout camp with our old ward.

Demolishing the new kitchen

2011-07-11T06:47:00.001-07:00

Our plan was to move into the house without doing anything to it right away. However, we soon realized that our fridge (a standard sized one for our day-and-age) was too tall for the fridge opening. We had the same problem with two other homes. This time it was a little more complicated because the drop-down ceiling attached to the cupboards. In order to enlarge the space for the fridge we had to remove the drop-down ceiling and then move up the cupboard.

Below is a photo of the kitchen before we moved in with the previous owners things.

First Dan removed the florescent light cover to see what was underneath. We rented a dumpster and in 4 hours Dan and I went from the stage below.

To this one.

Like the domino affect we then had to repair the ceiling, texture the new ceiling, and then paint ceilings in both the kitchen and the family room. Below is the almost finished kitchen. As you can see we are still putting in light bulbs, repairing moldings, and putting away things!

I also stained the family room mantle a darker shade. The greenish looking walls look goulish but are actually the same color in both pictures.

We also gutted two closets in the family room to make lockers for us and the kids.

I really like the new wall color which I stole from my cousin. It is called "of the earth" and is a grayish, brownish, color with a touch of khaki green. It was most difficult for me to choose a color that went well in these rooms which don't have a lot of natural light and have carpet and wood floors with orangish tones to them.

Bike Rides and Bowling

2011-07-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

Timponogos Caves were such a hit that we have tried to do weekly family "staycations". We went bowling with my cousin, Austin. And we also rode bikes up to Vivian Park with Grandma McDonald.

Timpanogos Caves

2011-07-10T21:05:00.001-07:00

While getting settled in our new place we have tried to make time for some day excursions. Our first one was to the Timpanogos Caves. There are three of them connected together. The steep 1 1/2 or 2 mile hike up was more difficult than we expected. The sheer cliff drops aside of the trail made me nervous with the kids, especially Calvin. Inside the cave it was quite cold. Grandma McDonald was able to go with us and treated us to milkshakes afterwards.

Here is Peter. Calvin calls him a "big boy" now that he can stand up. He army scoots around the house looking for toys to play with.

The Big May Move

2011-07-10T19:45:00.000-07:00

Last year in May I blogged about how May is the second busiest month in our home. This year May won the GRANDE prize for being absolute chaos. Here it is recapped...

Derek & Missy had baby Kallie. She is a real cutie and unlike her siblings a real chunk. Drew & I enjoyed visiting with her in the hospital. The other kids were really jealous since there was an age minimum and they couldn't go with us.

Grandpa Dave & Grandma Mary Lou came from So Cal to help with Kallie's birth. However, the day after she was born my Dad fell down the basement stairs and shattered his shoulder. He wound up with shoulder replacement surgery 2 days later. Here is a pic of them before the accident.

We played with friends in moving boxes.
Several good friends came to say goodbye and help me pack up our belongings. I didn't think we had that much stuff until I started to pack it all and I realized we had WAY TOO MANY THINGS!!!

Here I am with my good friend Cecily.
And with my angelic visiting teachers Heidi and Linda.

And Matt too who helped by playing with Peter.
Mindy, Amy, & I at a going away party Mindy threw for us. It was nice enough to be a casual wedding reception. (Check out the decorated tables behind us)
Saying goodbye to our beloved Pediatrician.
There were many other friends, church members and family who helped us with our move. We are so grateful to all of them. We couldn't have done it without them!

Dan and I (okay mainly Dan) commuted the kids to school from our new home to their old schools for the last 3 weeks. Andrew graduated from Salt Lake Arts Academy at the end of the month. He was on the High Honor Roll for the entire year. Here he is at the promotion. Incidentally, Blake also made it on the High Honor Roll for the final semester.

Things aren't always what they seem...

2011-05-31T10:27:00.001-07:00

What would YOU think if you saw this in someone's house??

You would probably think that one of the 6 hooligans who lived in the dwelling, had removed his/her underwear (note the underwear in the left corner) and almost, but not quite, made it to the toilet.

Yesterday, an old friend from our previous existence of "life before children" had come to see our new home. During the visit I was feeling pretty pleased with myself at the decent state of our home, despite the fact we just moved in a week ago. Imagine my surprise when I found the doorway to the bathroom in it's current state (no I have not cleaned it up yet).

Actually, the underwear is clean and what looks like poop is plastic "hippo poop" a cheap toy won at the nickel arcade. Who would guess?!? Now I just need to remember to explain it to our old friend!

Happy Birthday Dear Natalie!

2011-04-27T11:33:00.001-07:00

Natalie just turned 7. It is hard to believe that 7 years have gone by since she was born on that hot Arizona night. She has turned from a bald little baby to a fiery reddish-haired girl with cute freckles. She has gone from a quiet little baby to our drama queen. She loves to play the violin and loves to dance to music. She loves to dress in bright, flowing clothes and wear her hair down. She loves to stay up late and sleep in the morning. She loves to eat frosty toast for breakfast and chicken, rice & peas for dinner.

Andrew made her a chocolate chocolate cake topped with a chocolate donut.

Eagle Slideshow

2011-04-24T17:50:00.000-07:00

DISCLAIMER:

This is a wonderful slideshow we put together for Drew's Eagle Court of Honor. It mainly contains pictures of him in scouting and other outdoor activities. We realize that several very important family members are not included in it...please don't be offended!! We love you all and you have all had a huge impact in his life. We tried to choose a variety of photos that were cute shots of him...he of course being the focus of the slideshow!

Eagles & Bunnies

2011-04-24T16:23:00.000-07:00

Despite preparing for a big move south which will require a change of schools, churches, and other things, life has carried on at it's hectic pace.

EAGLES:

Sunday Drew became an Eagle Scout. We are so proud of his accomplishment at such a young age. We celebrated by having family over for walking tacos and then an Eagle Court of Honor at the church.

Dan is our ward scoutmaster and conducted the ceremony.

Sam Alba, the previous scoutmaster, received the mentor pin.

The Eagles Nest

Mariah told us about Eagles

Blake also helped out (he is very proud of his bedhead)

BUNNIES:

The Easter Bunny visited our home last night. He brought chocolate, special drinks, bagels, gummy bears, and special toys. Yesterday our children got to go to the annual Easter Egg Hunt near Dan's parent's home. Kids from all over line up in various sections of lawn to grab as many eggs as they can.

Here is Natalie looking nervous before the start of the "race" for eggs. She was nervous since last year she only got 3 eggs. Calvin, you can see, was more confident. He got a whole bag of eggs and was confident he would have the same success this year. Alas, Natalie was able to secure more eggs this year (10?) and even scored a dollar bill in one! Calvin got a whole bag full again and was declared the McDonald Master Egg Hunter once again. Mariah, Andrew, & Blake participated also.

Peter Cottontail

Chaos

2011-04-08T17:52:00.000-07:00

The past weeks have been truly unforgettable in our home. In February, Dan badly injured his back while moving some computer servers. He herniated a disk and is still going through rehabilitation for it. Soon after he received an offer for a tenure-track position at a university an hour south. After much thought we decided to accept the offer. We put our house on the market and began looking for homes. Our criteria- a home within 20 minutes from work and in an area with good schools. We sold our home very quickly and also found a nice home in a good neighborhood. We feel very blessed. In between all the chaos of buying & selling a home, Andrew turned 14. He had a pizza party with some friends from school. Peter turned 6 months at the end of March. He weighs 16 pounds 10 oz. and is 27.4 inches long. He is saying, "Dadda" and can sit up for a split second. General Conference weekend we had a fun visit with a good friend Vicki and her daughter, Stephanie.

Four-months-old

2011-02-17T17:35:00.001-08:00

Peter is growing up too quickly. He weighs over 15 pounds and is 26 inches long- the exact length and weight Blake was at his age. Here are some of his favorites.

The exersaucer(okay it's actually my favorite)

His tongue and drooling all the time. We have crowned him the "Drool King" of the clan.

His hands because they are so cool to look at.

His brothers and sisters because they are so funny to watch.

Two three-year-old boys + Distracted Mom = Kitty Litter Pies!!

2011-02-17T12:09:00.000-08:00

Today Calvin had a friend over. They played so well together. I couldn't believe that Calvin willingly shared his toys, didn't hit and was pleasant with his friend for 2 hours!! It was a miracle. Near the end of the playdate I got a phone call from a friend about something important. The cell phone call lasted for 5 minutes total (I checked). Near the end of my call I decided to check on the boys downstairs because things were unusually quiet.... This is what I found.

They had made kitty litter pies! Not to be confused with mud pies because these are far superior. When water is added to kitty litter it becomes like cement...perfect for zooming around their motorcycle (it's in the shadows near the litter box). Adding the kitty food of course adds color and texture. A cup and the purple pooper scooper were perfect for completing the task.

The boys were quite pleased with themselves and felt their few minutes of unsupervised fun was worth it. When asked to get in the tub (very calmly of course) they bounded up the stairs leaving a trail of kitty litter behind. Here are the perpetrators.

The Case of the Missing Chapstick...

2011-01-31T12:59:00.000-08:00

As a mother of 6 children ages 0 to 13 in the house, there are times when among my other responsibilities (taxi driver, cook, house cleaner, judge, nurse, psychologist, tutor, & bottle) I also must take up the profession of a DETECTIVE. We have things that just disappear in our house. Some examples are nail clippers, scissors, and socks to name a few. Recently we had another mystery. All of the chap sticks we bought kept disappearing. And I mean disappearing immediately after I bought them... I couldn't figure it out. I was exasperated and looking all over the house for a smidgen of some chap stick to put on my very dry lips and said out loud to no one in particular, "I just can't figure out where all the chap stick keeps going!" Natalie, overheard me and replied, "Well I COLLECT chap stick!" She took me downstairs where she had stashed all of the chap sticks in a secret spot. Case solved.

Rube Goldberg Project

2011-01-16T20:47:00.001-08:00

Andrew's school just had an assignment to make a Rube Goldberg machine. If you really want to learn about the machines Mr. Rube created you can go here en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg_machine . This 8th-grade project entailed many hours of trips to Home Depot, time spent building the machine, failed attempts at getting it to work, & lots of water spilled on my hardwood floor when it missed the bowl. It also required a lot of $$$. Drew and his friend, Evan, connected their machines to create one machine that would (without human intervention) put water into a kitty's bowl for Blake so he wouldn't have to manually do it. They scored 105 % on the project due to the many connections their machine made. Now if only they could create a machine that would scoop the poop also.......

We can't believe it..Calvin turned 3!

2011-01-10T13:28:00.001-08:00

Calvin turned three! To celebrate he wanted, "Grandma, Jakie & Kayla" to come over. The rest of us came anyways. We had pizza, chocolate chocolate cake and played games that Mariah & Natalie made. Calvin's favorite part was eating the cake.

Christmas & the New Year

2011-01-10T12:32:00.000-08:00

Christmas is one of the top two busiest months for our family. It seems like nearly every night we have a holiday concert or activity. This year we actually went to three work holiday parties for Dan! We aren't really complaining though because the food was great and we got a chance to go out without the kids.

Christmas Eve we had dinner with Dan's parents and Missy & Derek and their kids. It was a fun time for all. Since it was a special occasion, we brought out the china and fancy goblets (pretty brave for a group of 8 dinning children and 6 adults).

After dinner we read from the Bible the story of Jesus' birth. We wore puppets and acted out the story.

The highlight however, was when each kid was allowed to open one gift. This was a tradition in my family growing up. The rest of the gifts are opened on Christmas day.

Our kids got many fun gifts from family and each other.

Natalie got the gold medal for the most creative use of a gift. She took a basket I had gotten with an array of bath pampering items and wired it to the scooter Santa brought her. She enjoys scootering around the house with special things in the basket.

On a sad note... Our good friends and neighbors left to move to Portland on New Years Eve. Here is a picture before dropping them off to leave. These were two very sad girls on New Years Day. We will miss playing with them in the front yard, riding bikes together, going to the park, and our frequent indoor playdates.

Andrew's Piano Recital

2010-12-25T12:02:00.000-08:00

Natalie, once again shouldering the filmmaking, captured Andrew performing "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" and "Walking in a Winter Wonderland".

Mariah's Piano Recital

2010-12-25T11:58:00.001-08:00

Natalie, our budding filmmaker, shot this video of Mariah playing "Jingle Bells" and "The Twelve Days of Christmas" at her recital.

For your Christmas enjoyment...a piano recital!

2010-12-24T10:29:00.000-08:00

Solitude Ski Drama

2010-12-23T18:07:00.000-08:00

Dan took Andrew, Blake & Mariah to ski at Solitude today. After lunch a tree fell which caused a power outage in the canyon. Drew & Blake were stuck on the ski lift for 3 1/2 hours. Fortunately they were in good spirits the entire time even though they were cold and their legs were numb due to the lift pole pressing down on them. One 11 year-old boy wet his pants because he couldn't get to the restroom- poor kid. Drew & Blake had a cell phone with them so we were able to communicate with them the whole time. Ultimately they were rescued with a rope pulley system and then were able to ski down to the car. The rescues were poorly managed and even though they were nearly the youngest stuck on the lift, they were among the final few to be brought down. We are grateful that they are fine and not traumatized by the event! Check out the news link.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=13771540

www.ksl.com

Gingerbread Houses

2010-12-21T14:19:00.000-08:00

We are gingerbread house snobs. We think we are better than those hard, cardboard tasting things you buy at the grocery store that come with only 10 gumdrops. For us building them is a three day process and we take it very seriously. Dan only worked a half-day on Thursday to make and bake the dough for his favorite Christmas tradition. This year we had fun decorating our houses with Grandpa Dave, Grandma Mary Lou (here for cousin Kevin's wedding to Mary Jane), Aunt Missy, Uncle Derek, Kayla, & Jakie.

Here Dan is supervising the decorating. He likes LOTS of candy on them, especially the roof.

Aunt Missy's first time holding Peter even though she was in the room for his birth.

Grandma Mary Lou enjoyed the decorating more than the kids & transported hers all the way back to Cali. See how nice and lined up her roof-candy is....she takes it seriously just like Dan!

Most everyone thinks that Andrew favors Grandpa Dave...here they are together.

Blessing Peter

2010-12-21T10:35:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we had Peter's baby blessing. Although we missed having some dear family members with us, we were fortunate to have many others who were in town for the holidays and for my cousin, Kevin's (& Mary Jane's) wedding. Dan gave a beautiful blessing in which he blessed Peter with health and a hard work ethic among other things. Peter wore the same outfit that Andrew and Calvin wore (Blake wore a cooler, borrowed outfit as we were living in AZ). His blanket was a handmade gift from Grandma Irene, Mary Lou's step-mom, and the hat made by my Grandma Joyce. Our Bishop Wetzel held the microphone during the blessing and commented afterwards that Peter helped to hold it also with a deathgrip on the cord!

We hope that by naming the baby Peter John he will have some of the positive traits these ancestors had. Peter, after my paternal great-grandfather who came without family to Utah from Sweden after he joined the mormon church. He was a faithful member of the church who was a hard worker in the cabinet business. John, after Dan's grandpa who died a few years ago. He was a very determined person who excelled academically while at Utah State University. He was a hard worker and loved scouting. His family was very important to him and he was very proud of his McDonald name & wanted others to be also.

Below is a picture of some of the men who participated in the circle for his blessing.

Our neighbors and good friends Zoe & Abi (with Mariah & Natalie)

Zoe, Lily and Calvin

Aunt Laura & Peter

Laura, Richmond, Peter, Liz, & Irene

William, April, Daniel & Aunt Karen

Karina with good friend & neighbor, Suzanne

Leslie, Peter & Karina

Cousin Preston & Peter

Peter with his second cousins, Keala, Daniel & William

Take 2

2010-12-10T07:32:00.000-08:00

I couldn't get both Natalie's recital & Drew's performance on the same post...so here is Drew's!

Holiday Concerts & the cutest Santa you've ever seen

2010-12-09T20:36:00.000-08:00

This week we started the annual Holiday concerts. Our first one was Natalie's violin concert. She played "Jolly Old Saint Nicolas" with another boy. They did a wonderful job staying together and with the piano. This was no small feat & I was so proud of her! She has loved learning to play the violin and is doing really well at it.

The second concert was performed by Andrew with his school, The Salt Lake Arts Academy. It is a public charter school that uses a combination of arts and academics to teach the students. Drew performed in two numbers. The first used music by Chopin and the students called it, "Water Study". His second number, "Snow" was to a Vivaldi piece and was inspired by the students reflections on snow & winter. They were both fantastic and were choreographed by the teacher & students.

I always enjoy watching my kids perform because I love music and I love my kids. It is also so much fun to see their progress while they develop their talents. Unfortunately, since I don't have a clone and Dan had a night class to teach, I missed Blake, Mariah & Natalie tonight in our church's Nativity play. Blake played "Joseph" and had one line. Mariah was a townsperson and Natalie was an angel. I wish I could've seen them :(

Natalie getting a treat after her concert

I couldn't resist putting this cute Santa picture in here also. Isn't he the cutest little Santa you've ever seen? Of course I am biased!

Note: I could only get Natalie's concert to post so I will try Drew's on the next posting!

Thanksgiving...my favorite holiday!

2010-12-05T18:56:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the food & the simplicity of it. There are no costumes to make, no presents to buy & wrap, no invitations to hand out, and no secret chores parents have to accomplish after the kids are in bed. A perfect Thanksgiving for me would be to go on a long run in the morning with Dan and then eat dinner with family. So this year was a good one. Dan and I drove the kids down to his parents on Wednesday night and spent the night there. Thursday morning he and I ran 30 minutes (that's a long run for us right now) in 5 degree F. It was a shocking start to our fitness program but we figured if we couldn't run on Thanksgiving there was no hope for us ever getting into shape again! Later that day we ate a delicious dinner with Pat and Andy. My favorite part of the meal were the homemade lionhouse rolls, sweet potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry salad (all which Pat made). It was a great day!

Grandma & Grandpa with the kids

Peter is growing bigger all the time. At his 2 month checkup last week he weighed 13.4 pounds. That is in the 90% for weight! He was also in the 90% for height, though I can't remember what he measured. He is smiling and cooing. He loves his siblings and all the attention he gets from them. Mariah in particular will carry him all over the house to "help her" do her various activities, whether it be putting away laundry, doing chores, or getting dressed. Today she insisted he get a bath for church despite the fact that he just had one yesterday. Frankly I thought he was good for another week or until the next blow out whichever came first. However, she helped me bath him and also got him dressed for church. Natalie also loves to care for Peter and we frequently have fights between she and Mariah about who's "turn" it is.

All four of my cute boys!

Mariah just started swim team on Tuesday and had her first meet on Saturday. She competed in the 25 yard freestyle, 25 yard breaststroke, and 25 yard butterfly (in that order). She was very brave to compete as she has never received stroke instruction! She did great in the free but didn't like that she got 2nd place out of 3 swimmers. So for the breaststroke she decided to just book it across the pool as fast as possible. She wound up getting first place, though she swam under water the entire length of the pool doing a Mariah original combo of doggie paddle and breaststroke. I convinced her to actually attempt to properly do butterfly and she looked quite good in that heat although she was disappointed with her 3rd place win. Overall she told me she loved it more than soccer! I was glad she had so much fun.

Uncle Nate came to visit this weekend with his cute girlfriend, Katie. The kids mobbed him as usual as you can see from the photo. We all loved Katie and can't wait to see her again!

He's an Eagle Scout...almost!

2010-11-14T12:21:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday Andrew completed his Eagle Scout Project with the generous help of awesome family members and friends. Under the direction of a city worker Greg Archuleta (yes he IS related to David-he is his Dad's cousin), the group labeled storm drains in the Avenues. Greg is in charge of the city's program, "We all live downstream" to promote awareness of ways to keep our water systems clean. Last year someone dumped paint and cement mix into the storm drains in the Avenues and City Creek turned white for an entire day! How awful! Andrew's group affixed 20 city approved labels to storm drains in the Avenues and also passed out fliers to homes there to educate people. We are so proud of the results and think it was a great project that will really make a difference in our city. If everything goes as planned he will be an Eagle Scout soon!

Xander, Evan, Collin, Andrew, Dan, Uncle Derek, Jake, & Uncle Bill (below)

Not pictured: Grandma McDonald who came up for the day to help with Peter!

Fall sports are over!

2010-11-09T12:01:00.000-08:00

I have mixed feelings about the fall sports season being over. Usually after 2 1/2 months of Saturdays being full of sports games I am overjoyed for them to be over! However, because of the new baby, I wasn't able to make it to many games and I feel like I missed out a little.

Mariah just finished her best season ever of soccer. She is really learning the sport and getting more assertive on the field. I saw a huge improvement in her confidence also. She looked forward to each game and practice and was disappointed if there was a cancellation.

Blake also had a fantastic season of football. He played running back and made around a dozen touchdowns over the season. He plays his position really well and is learning the strategy of the game. I am proud to say that I also learned more about football! It was really fun to watch him play so well and with so much confidence. I still don't like the aggression in the game but the boys on his team are really nice kids and the coaches were fantastic so that made up for it. His team made it to the playoffs and did a great job there.

The biggest fan of both the soccer and football games was Calvin. He LOVED going to each game!

Halloween

2010-10-31T16:41:00.000-07:00

This year the kids dressed as...

Peter the Pumpkin & Hobbs

Two victims of crime

Tinkerbell, Bob (& the boys)

Dad and the kids (minus Blake & Peter)

Recitals

2010-10-28T20:50:00.001-07:00

These videos will be most enjoyed by the grandparents.

Andrew is wearing the grey shirt and black pants. The modern dance was performed at the Downtown Library. It was choreographed by the students and a professional dance company.

Natalie had a Halloween Violin recital today. She played "Tucka Tucka Stop Stop", a variation of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".

Peter is 1 month

2010-10-28T20:17:00.000-07:00

One thing about having a baby that doesn't change even with your 6th is:

1. You will be woken up every couple of hours to feed the baby (more often if you are unlucky)

2. You will feel tired all the time (see#1) and wonder if you will ever feel "normal" again

3. You will be visited by grandparents who you will help you with whatever you need!

Grandma Mary Lou at her post. She spent most of the last week here preparing meals, cleaning up after meals, and scraping & cleaning off my cabinets which we realized still ARE white underneath all the crap.

Grandpa Dave and Grandma Mary Lou with their little buddy, Calvin and baby Peter (below).

The McDonald Clan

Mariah is 9

2010-10-28T20:09:00.001-07:00

Mariah turned 9 today. Some of the festivities over the past week included: Going to Boondocks with Grandpa Dave and two of her friends, eating Blue (we had no red food coloring) Velvet Cake, eating her favorite dinner (chicken, rice & peas), having chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and getting some new stylish brown boots.

Peter John McDonald

2010-10-02T07:42:00.001-07:00

We are thrilled to announce the arrival of Peter John on September 22 at 3:13 PM. He was 8 pounds 2 ounces, 21 inches long and healthy in every way. He has been treated like a movie star in our house with lots of kisses and hugs and fights over who's turn it is to hold him. Here is the last week chronicled in pictures.

On the way to the hospital

Yipee he is here at last!

Double yipee from Karina who is happy to not be pregnant any more and for labor to be over!

Aunt Missy, Karina & Peter

Andrew and Peter

Blake & Peter

Natalie, Peter & Grandma Chatterley

Proud big brother Calvin, Peter & Grandma Chatterley

Mariah & Peter

Grandpa Jim and Cal helping Dan finish putting in our sprinkler piping & steps to the tree fort

Grandma McDonald, Peter & Calvin

When you're 9 months pregnant with your 6th, life doesn't slow down for you....

2010-09-11T13:21:00.001-07:00

Another week has gone by and though I am due on Wednesday with our baby, life has not slowed down at all for our family. You would think some of the busyness would have put me into labor.....alas you are wrong. When you inherit the cervix of steel, you have a superpower like no other.

We had a party for Blake yesterday to celebrate his 11th birthday. It was a dodge-ball party with 16 boys. I think it included everything boys that age like: lots of noise, aggression, sugar, more sugar, pizza, and lots of yelling. Drew claimed the kids at his parties "were never like that when (he) was that age." Actually, I am quite sure it was when Drew was right around that age that Dan banned "at-home" birthday parties!

Today I took Andrew, Mariah and Natalie to a charity bike-ride to earn money to build a hospital in Haiti. Natalie and I walked/ scootered 2.4 miles and Drew and Mariah rode 11 miles. I was really impressed that everyone went as far as they did (me included). Mariah may have been the youngest kid who rode that far and still finished looking really strong. Drew was nice to stay with her the entire ride. Each of the kids won a raffle prize since there were so few participants.

Dan, Blake, and Calvin went to Blake's football game. Blake intercepted the ball and scored his first touchdown! We are very proud of this accomplishment which helped his team go on to win the game.

Sunday I managed to snap this cute photo of all my boys dressed up in their Sunday best. The picture really captures Calvin's personality. This is the same boy who learned to open the car door today while driving on the freeway. Heaven help us when this baby comes...

Back to School & Violin Concerts

2010-09-02T09:29:00.001-07:00

School started up again last week and it was quite a whirlwind! Andrew and Blake are both now at the charter middle school and Mariah and Natalie are full-day at the elementary school. Calvin has really missed his siblings and he and I have begun going to library story-time twice a week. He will also start a toddler music class which will meet once a week.

Andrew & Blake

Natalie-1st grade

Mariah-3rd

Natalie had her first violin concert the first week of school.

She plucked to "All around the Mulberry Bush"

Zion Ponderosa

2010-08-19T08:56:00.001-07:00

We just returned from a Lund family reunion at Zion Ponderosa Resort. We missed having Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Gordon with us but thought they would have been impressed by the quantity of food our large group ate at the buffet. They hated to waste food and I don't think we disappointed them! We also missed having Mark & his family (who couldn't make it) and Dallas (on a mission) but our group still had over 30 people. Favorite memories of the trip included seeing Bryce Canyon, hiking to "slippery rock" at Zions Canyon to cliff dive and swim, playing Beatles Rock Band, playing Mafia & Werewolf, singing with the Karaoke, & playing at the pool.

Cousin Slumber Party before we left for Zion.

At Bryce Canyon Museum

Andrew, Natalie, Victoria, Karissa, Calvin, Jake

Bryce Canyon National Park

Starting the hike to "slippery rock" (as Blake nicknamed it). The hike was a 1/4 mile scramble over rocks, boulders, by toads, and streams. It was a real adventure with me 8 months pregnant and 5 kids under 4 years-old.

Beach lifeguard Derek braved the murky water first and declared it safe to swim in.

Aunt Val & Austin

Richard, Ellia, & Celeste

Grandma Chatterley, Natalie, & Victoria(she was unsure about what might be lurking in the brown water)

Aunt Missy & Kayla

Aunt Terry & Uncle Jason

Grandma & Grandpa Chatterley soon to leave on a mission to Geneva, Switzerland.

Richard and Mariah making the climb up the cliff.

Richard ready to take the plunge.....

Blake deciding if he really wanted to jump off the cliff...

Little cliff diver

First kid to brave the cliff jump! Go Mariah!

Glad he did it!

Four person tower (I heard a five person one was later completed!)

BFF's

Mariah, Candace, Keala, & Preston

Celeste, Keala, Preston, Austin, Chelsea, & Joe

Derek, Kayla, Uncle Craig, & Preston

Danielle & Ellia

Karissa, Val & Austin

Aunt Jill, Aunt Terry, Leslie & Keala

As you can see Calvin wants to get chickens just like Mommy.

Mariah

Andrew

Blake

Natalie

Calvin wished he was older and could do some rock climbing.

Mariah

Natalie

Andrew and Blake, soldiers heading out to the Paintball Battlefield.

War wound

The Gordon & Joyce Lund Family Reunion 2010

Campout at Albion Basin

2010-08-08T07:56:00.000-07:00

Several months ago I reserved a night for us to camp at Albion Basin, Alta Ski Resort. It was fun to see our favorite ski runs in the summer. We happened to catch the mountainside during the four days of peak summer flower bloom. Families were coming all dressed up with fancy cameras for photo shoots. Of course we have no real pictures to show for it (big oops!) but you can get a glimpse of the flowers in some of our backgrounds. I will admit having pictures taken of me in particular, 8 months pregnant and after a night of camping wasn't a #1 priority. We hiked up to Cecret Lake (pronounced "secret") before our hot dog roast. We then indulged in gigantic marshmallows for dessert. Though more than a few thunderstorms passed over us, we didn't really get wet just a little scared from the loud noises they made. Calvin was in the midst of potty training and learned some new skills during our time on the mountainside. I loved my blowup mattress and 1 1/2 person sleeping bag and slept better than I ever have camping. It was such a success we decided it should be a family tradition! Let us know if you would like to go with us and we will reserve you a campsite.

We took Mariah's best friend, Zoe with us. If the sun wasn't glaring in the back of this picture you would see the hundreds of blooming flowers.

At Cecret Lake

McCall, Idaho Cousin Fun

2010-07-25T10:41:00.000-07:00

A week after coming home from So Cal (& 1 day after Drew got home from scout camp) we packed the van up again and headed to McCall. July is nice and warm in McCall so there were more opportunities for swimming and digging in the sand than last month.

Hanging out on the dock.

Aunt Kaleen graciously let us borrow her kayaks which were the highlight of the week. They were very speedy!

Uncle Marc & Aunt Andrea heading out on the jet ski.

Blake and Calvin

Aunt Andrea & Cousin Luke (as Calvin affectionately called him).

Uncle Marc, Luke and Grandma at Ice Cream Alley.

Natalie, Andrew, Blake, Alex, Mariah, Luke, Clark & Calvin at the start of his 15 minute fit which he declared over and over, "My ice cream all gone! I need more ice cream!" Out of the entire group he was the first to finish and then couldn't understand why he couldn't eat someone else's cone.

Cousin Luke in the "alley" part of Ice Cream Alley.

The catch of the week, a squaw, caused more excitement than anything else.

Gutting the fish which we froze and Dan promised to cook for the kids at home.

My personal favorite part of McCall was probably dangling my feet off the dock into the nice cool water, or sitting on the steps in the pool. The baby (in utero) liked Grandma's bread pudding.

So Cal

2010-07-13T11:54:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a fun-filled trip to So Cal to visit my parents and see the sights. Before we left on our journey, Dan, Andrew & Blake built a "tree fort" for everyone in our little backyard forest. Dan got the boys started and Drew and Blake spent several days nailing it together. Here is a pic of the final product. Everyone loves it!

Natalie started violin lessons right before our trip. Here is a pic of her tutoring Calvin with her cardboard violin. I will post pictures of the real (& very expensive one) soon.

The first day in So Cal we ventured off to Will Rogers Beach. Here is little Kayla on one side of the beach.
Here is Jake on the other side of the beach. I love the telephone poles and ghetto look of the city! Not exactly what you think of when you think of the beach!
Dan, Calvin, & Natalie
Grandpa Dave and Blake
All my kids plus Jake & Kayla with Grandpa Dave & Grandma Mary Lou
Grandma Chatterley and the kids at the berry patch
Aunt Missy, Uncle Derek & Kayla in our first line at Disneyland
Grandpa & Grandma Chatterley and Jake

Nattie & Calvin on the merry-go-round
Calvin talked about meeting Mickey for weeks before we got to Disneyland. He wore the same Mickey shirt for days (I had to wash it when he was in the pool). This was his reaction when he finally met the famous mouse.... (he is the one crying in my arms)
Winnie the Pooh & Tigger were much bigger hits!

Natalie with her Kayla buddie
At the Hollywood Bowl 4th of July concert
The curler girls
Picking fruit at Grandpa Oscar's house

McCall, Idaho

2010-06-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

No summer is complete without our annual trip to McCall. This summer we are lucky to be able to go twice. Once in June and once in July! Here are some highlights...

Berchdorf Hot Springs- It was snowing, sleeting & raining during the 45 minute drive north and we were having our doubts about going. However, the sweet smelling, mineral water was worth every minute of the drive. We nearly had the place to ourselves and all thought it should be an annual tradition!

Making s'mores on the beach

Kayacking

Grandma McDonald took good care of us making her famous omelets and delicious dishes!

Ice Cream Alley

May- the busiest month of the year!

2010-06-23T08:38:00.000-07:00

May is a very busy month at our house. I have decided it is the busiest month of the year!

The last Webelo Outing

Mariah's last 2nd grade show

Natalie's birthday party-Grandma Chatterley did the whole thing! It was "Natalie's Olympics" and everyone had a great time! Thanks Grandma!

Crazy hair day

Natalie's ballet show

Drew's annual Gala (School Show)

A fun visit from a good Tucson friend, Vicki. She was a good sport to follow me around town to Urgent Care & various kid activities (a regular week). We did make time to see a few sights though such as Temple Square, the Lionhouse Cafe, City Creek canyon, and Gateway Mall.

Okay so my birthday isn't in May but it is the first of June and we were still recovering from May!

PS Does anyone know why sometimes my font gets automatically underlined? When it does this I can't get it to stop!!!

Ironman St George 2010

2010-06-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

At the end of April we traveled down to St. George to watch our good friends do the amazing ironman race and also see the sights. The race covers at distance of 2.4 miles swimming, 112 miles biking, and 26.2 miles running.

Kris & Jane looking good at the start
Hiking at Zion's National Park
Playing at Snow Canyon State Park

Award Winner!

2010-05-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

Dan was recently awarded the Marvin J. Ashton Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching at the University of Utah! It is an annual award given to one of the professors in the Business Department. There are over 50 people in the Business Department so the competition is fierce. The most impressive part about it is that it is chosen by the students....and we know how picky students can be! We are so proud of Dan. He has only been teaching full-time at the University of Utah for three years and has been given new/different classes almost non-stop since he started. He rarely has a textbook to use and so creates almost each class from "scratch". He also has very large classes and most of them are night classes. I think anyone that can receive an award for any class that lasts from 6:00 until 10:00 on a week night definitely has a talent for teaching and engaging the students!

Catching up with life

2010-04-29T11:53:00.000-07:00

I am finally starting to feel less nauseated and catch up with my life! So here is a little update of some fun events we have experienced.

At the end of March was our neighborhood's annual Cub Scout Pine Wood Derby. I am Blake's WEBELO's leader but being that the event was held at nighttime (my sickest time of day) Dan took the kids while I stayed at home in bed. This year each of the kids (minus Drew) wanted a car so Dan made four of them. Dan and the kids cut, sanded, and painted them and then put the wheels on them. When the big night came and one of the boys from my den was absent, Mariah asked if she could race her car in place of his. As luck would have it, though Dan made all four (& paid extra effort to Blake's) Mariah's car placed in the top four! Blake was disappointed since this was his last year in the derby but such is life!

The winners!!

April has been a busy month for our clan. It started with a fun Easter at Dan's parents house watching General Conference. There was lots of yummy food and treats and of course, snow.

The middle of the month was the Salt Lake Marathon. Originally 6 of my family members (including Dan) had signed up. By February all but three were injured. By March, all but two were injured. By April everyone was somewhat healed except for one cousin. Dan was the most injured still but I managed to talk him into running the half-marathon instead of the full. So my brother and cousin's wife April (4 months post-partum) ran the full marathon and Missy (Derek's wife), cousin Michael, and Dan ran the half. It was so much fun to watch them all as I also had quite a few friends running in it. It goes right by our house so I cheered for them all there and then literally raced home to get Calvin and head for the finish. Calvin and I had barely parked and were rushing to a mile from the finish when who to our amazement did we see?? But Dan! The person I had to convince the night before to do it at all! Due to an injury, he hadn't been running for the past month and a half (other than the slow trot with me which isn't really much of a run) and yet he finished 7 minutes faster than his last half-marathon! I was so proud of him! Unfortunately I didn't get pictures of Derek's wife Missy-sorry Missy :).

Last but definitely not least, we celebrated Natalie's 6th birthday. We love having her in our family!

Natalie's pink eye shadow is her latest "after school" trend

If April showers bring May flowers what do April snowstorms bring??

2010-04-29T11:22:00.000-07:00

This is the view from my front door today. Look at my sad tulips. They can't seem to understand what is going on! I just hope it means we will have a cooler summer also:)

The McDonald Clan will be adding a new member

2010-04-16T08:49:00.000-07:00

The McDonald Clan is expanding (along with my waistline) once again. It is a boy and he is expected to come in September. Some comments from the kids:

Drew, "I thought it was a girl but I am excited."

Blake- no comment but a HUGE smile.

Mariah, "I thought it was a girl but was hoping for a boy!"

Natalie, "All the boys are going to KILL me! They will all have BIG muscles!!"

Calvin- doesn't get it at all. Blake said to him the other day, "Calvin, mom has a baby in her stomach." Calvin responded, " Let me check." He walked over to me, lifted up my shirt saw nothing, lifted up his shirt & saw nothing and then said something to the effect of, "Nope!"

We are excited for the little guy to come!

Watch out teen in the house!

2010-04-11T11:14:00.001-07:00

Andrew recently turned 13. It is hard to believe he is already a teenager. He wanted a lemon cake with lemon filling. I think it was the fanciest cake I have ever made! Dan helped to assemble it. It was a yellow cake with lemon filling and lemon icing. It was really delicious. Drew celebrated with three of his friends and Blake by going to Laser Quest and eating pizza. I think it was a success!

Joyce Lund

2010-01-18T14:11:00.001-08:00

My Grandma Joyce just passed away on Monday. Natalie and I flew out to Dallas for her funeral over the weekend.

We have many good and funny memories of her. When I told Blake of her death he said to me, "Is she the one who told us if we drank the milk at the bottom of our cereal bowl we would go to heaven?" Yes she was! She lived her life by the adage, "waste not want not." She also loved to have a good time. Grandma loved to dance and watch live dancing/singing shows. On our family trips she would go straight from dinner to save seats for the show. She also loved people and was known for her ability to make a friend with anyone no matter what their circumstances.

While her larger than life personality will be missed, it certainly won't be forgotten.

Mark, Craig, Pat, & Terry (Grandma's four kids)

Birthday Celebration!!

2010-01-18T13:47:00.000-08:00

Calvin just turned two! At breakfast we celebrated with two candles in a piece of toast which he thought was so fun we lit them 10 times! Our night time celebration was complete with our family tradition of pizza and then cookie pie.

Caught Red-Handed

2009-12-31T10:16:00.000-08:00

This morning Calvin decided since the holidays were coming to a close he would take the gingerbread house matter into his own hands....

The Holidays are very busy around here. We had fun with visits from Grandma & Grandpa Chatterley as well as Uncle Nate. Our past month has been filled with holiday concerts, skiing, treats, Heritage Park, movies and more treats. Here is a short picture review...