Our Fourth of July

We celebrated the fourth with Kyle's family by swimming and having a great BBQ. Shawn and Neesha came down and we packed up our stuffed and walked a couple houses down to the King's home to use their pool and grill. 

 Because it is so hot here in the summer, we decided to go around 5:30/6:00 pm to avoid the glaring sun. It was perfect since most of the pool was in the shade.

 Addison is pretty terrified of the water and stayed near the edge most of the time, but towards the end the realized the small donut floaty really did work. After that her and Maeli had tons of fun racing around the pool and swimming away from the monster (Kyle).

 Skinny Shiloh is three months younger than Charlene. They will be best friends.

 Kyle's dad ran the grill. We had Hawaiian Burgers (one of the only kind of burgers I like), drank Brazilian Lemonade in hollowed out lemons, red white and blue cheesecake bars, corn on the cob, and hot dogs. I stacked my burger so big it was hard to get my mouth around it. thinking about all the yummy food makes me hungry again!

Easter 2011

both sides of our family got together for easter. unfortunately, i only got pics of the brown/ stradling dinner. we met at clint and debbie's around three pm with our food. we were missing quite a bit of the married grandchildren, but we all had a great time.

isn't this just the sweetest?

addison stopping for a second to smile for me. she had a blast, running around and playing with the other kids, most of whom she didn't know.all the stradling/brown aunts and uncles talking and having fun.

addison playing with her second cousin sophie. love those cute curls!the older cousins played flag football with carson and todd as referees. the game got quite intense when brian and allison trotter's little zeke - 15 months- took off with the football to the playground. it was so funny. watching the game and talking:

earlier i took some easter pics of the girls. it didn't go as well as i had hoped. charlene cried much of the time, addison picked up and dropped my camera, it was nap time, and it was hot. plus i did this shoot without kyle to suprise him. i did get some cute shots of addison, but she wasn't really in a listening mood. next time: cooler weather, napped kids, kyle, and bribes - lots of them.the sun was a bit bright for my pics, but these are sure cute huh?i couldn't get a shot of charlene looking at me, she was too interested in her bright dress.had this pose worked like i'd had it in my mind, it would've been beautiful. charlene cried the whole time and addison just wanted to throw her down. all well.i love addy's adorable smile in this one. she's such a good sister.

Ending 2010

we rang in the new years at my parents' home where my sisters were hosting a party. they had a lot of fun food made when we got there and i took the opportunity to eat as much of the homemade spinach dip and salsa as i could. all the furniture had been moved from the family room and into the living room to create enough space to play their xbox connect. the living room was made into a movie theater where the new release inception was projected onto the wall.

at midnight everyone at the party followed my parents to light their fireworks on top of their black barrel. a few other neighbors on the street did the same thing, but not too many people were outside surprisingly. after my dad had lit all of his fireworks, (not the most amazing display, but the stores aren't allowed to sell the good stuff, bummer) porter mclaws asked my dad to light his firework - a cherry bomb he smuggled from mexico. of course my dad did, and as he was quickly walking away from the cherry bomb it exploded, sending out a huge aftershock that pushed him forward. the noise was huge and i was shocked that such a small thing made such a big bang.

after everyone left, kyle and i were too tired to leave so we spent the night. addison of course loved every minute of it. the next day michelle and jesse came over with their puppy jet whom addison loves. so cute to see them play together.

some goals i have for myself this year are:

1. organize my time better. i have so much time that i waste everyday with things that aren't productive. if i prioritize my list of to do's i will be successful with the rest of my goals so this is the most important one to me.
2. lead a healthier lifestyle. while i have an idea of how much weight i'd like to lose, i'm going to focus more on preparing healthier meals and exercising several times a week.
3. going along with preparing healthier meals, my next goal is to come up with a meal plan for dinner every week so we can eat a healthy dinner as a family. family dinner is important to kyle and i, and making this a habit now will make it easier when my kids are grown to keep it up.
4. exercise. specifically, running. right now i am a couch potato. i wasn't active at all while pregnant with charlene but i hope to change that. as a senior in high school i ran cross country and our meets were always three miles long. i hope to work up to jogging three to five miles several times a week. this will prepare me for a half marathon i want to run at the end of the year.
5. play with my girls and go on more dates with my cute hubby. spending quality time with my family all together and one on one with each of them. kyle gave me a dating jar of ideas for christmas in 2009 and we hardly ever used it. i would love to change that. of course i will try to document as much as i can with my lens.

this is gonna be a great year.

A Very McKay Christmas

we woke up and spent the first part of christmas morning with great-grandma mccleve. it was so fun to watch addison open up her presents that santa got her. she was so excited about everything.

we gave grandma a picture of our family with my parents and siblings - (for the picture we took that red couch she is sitting on and posed around it. very cute.) addison checking out her walking and barking dog with daddy. all her pants are too big on her and we constantly tell her to pull her pants up:

then we went to my parents' home to open more presents and eat breakfast. charlene had a blast and was quickly tuckered out so jalee was first to hold her. i think charly looks very comfy here. makes me want to cuddle with her so bad.addy ripping the wrapping paper off (of course she was the center of attention) ...

and daddy assembling her new bike from grandma and grandpa.christmas breakfast: dad's famous french toast made from italian bread and fried with so much butter (or love as he calls it) that your arteries start to clog while you watch it cook. homemade buttermilk syrup and fruit top it all off. best breakfast ever.daddy and addy in her "hippo house". she LOVES it. she is into building forts right now and this present could not have come at a better time!great-grandma charlene brown-stradling holding baby charlene mckay. love it. trying out her new bike. we love that daddy can push her right now until her legs can reach the pedals a little bit better.we left around late afternoon and went to kyle's parents' where the whole mckay clan was gathered for food, a movie exchange, and tons of laughs. babies were passed around and pregnancy stories were exchanged. some fell asleep from full tummies. it was perfect.

after extended family left, we opened presents.

below: addison and her cousin cameron eating together christmas night. love cameron's cute little dimple!unfortunately this is where the pictures stop. i got a few more repeats of addy and cameron but, if i don't take the pictures, none get taken. charlene made it clear i was not to put her down for the rest of the night. i feel terrible about not having more pictures to document to fun, but i will get better at juggling the camera with everything else!

one thing's for sure: christmas is so much more fun when you have kids!

Christmas Traditions

we just got back from kyle's parents house. addison is loving that maeli and cameron are in town and is so worn out from all the "cousin plays" as kyle likes to call them. we watched "tangled" in the theater while grandma and grandpa took care of cameron, addison, and charly. later for dinner we of course went to the mckay favorite - texas roadhouse. we will have a movie gift exchange with all the mckays tomorrow night.

kyle took several pictures and heather made me crack up looking at them because she is making a different face in each one. addison and maeli are around the tree playing with toys. cameron is also on the other side of the tree passed out on the floor like grandpa on the couch and shawn who already went to bed. colin is playing the piano and everyone else can be seen in the picture. it was perfect to unwind next to the christmas tree, listening to music.

we had our annual christmas parties this year with both sides of my family too. we always eat first (a potato bar with the mccleves and soup bar with the browns) and then gather around for the fun gift exchange. friends were invited to both family parties and we had a great time with everyone.

this year, before we started opening gifts we heard funny christmas formal stories from jalee and devin who are both going to mesa high, and each had horrible dates. it was so fun to hear the stories from them - i'm glad they can laugh about them!
above: dad trying on the gift he went home with. amazing! below: santa leaves gifts for the grandchildren under eighteen. always one of the highlights of the night.addy opens her santa gift - books, her favorite!i wasn't thinking and forgot my camera so i grabbed these photos from alison's blog. the brown party was at clint and debbie's this year, my favorite place to have it at. new this year was the fire pit in the backyard. it was a big hangout and addison loved it.

above: cute grandma and grandpa! it's their first christmas together and we couldn't be happier to see them so happy too! below: the gift to steal this year. matt and celeste ended up with it, they're lucky!

(braiden, celeste, dylan (cj's baby) and matt's dad.)

some of the cousins having a fun time together. thanks for the pictures alison!

Happy Holidays

i made this christmas card on our computer. unfortunately it's too late to send it out now. hopefully i get around to it sooner next year. have the merriest!

Thanksgiving Feast 2010

thanksgiving this year = perfect. i got to sleep in until 11:30. the house was already clean in anticipation of family coming over (well coming up stairs), and all the food i was in charge of was already cooked as well.

above: L-R: jalee, heidi, kerstyn, casey, elissa, darwin, chad, mcall and caden. opposite: mom, dad, kinsey, loren, logan, connor, connie, brookie, and jenell. below: grandma, kevin, and jenell gather around the food.

the mccleve's ate at 1:00 on our back porch. the weather was perfect - even getting a little chilly once the breeze started. of course the food was great - yams (look forward to those every year), turkey, green bean casserole, rolls, salads, mashed potatoes and gravy, ham, and cranberry relish. i just learned this thanksgiving, that cranberry relish was for your turkey! who knew? i always have eaten my relish with my rolls and i guess kyle's always done the same too. relish on your turkey? that sounds so weird!

kinsey - still toothless

of course addison wasn't much of an eater until dessert came. cookies, cupcakes, chocolate delight, and a pumpkin pie were among our choices. i assumed everyone would bring a pie, so i made chocolate delight because who doesn't need a little chocolate. turns out everyone thought like me and there was only one pumpkin pie from darwin - thank goodness my mom brought a second just in case and i made a sweet potato pie the day before.

above: michelle and jesse concentrated on their food. below: kinsey, my dad, and my mom finishing up. mom wasn't too happy getting her picture taken.

after everyone one was full on good food, we started digesting in the living room and soon there were three ipads being played with and passed around. about that time, kyle and i left for his parents' home.

as always, kyle's dad showed me all the food they had and told me to help myself, but i was already having trouble breathing from all the food i had already eaten. so kyle and i sat down in the living room and started talking with the family already full on turkey. kyle's cousin emily and husband spencer came down from utah. i loved talking to her about her pregnancy. she is due in early april with two twin boys dallin and monson - love those names! i'm so excited for them!

the mckay feast with kyle's dad and cousin robert looking over it.

everyone was impressed with addison who is completely potty trained now. she is doing great, i just hope she doesn't go back to diapers once baby mac comes - which i hear is not uncommon. addy's favorite person was probably uncle kirt, who she was so excited to see. she yelled "DTURT!" all day and mostly just wanted to be on his lap. i think kirt was secretly pleased with this."DTURT!" addison is getting so big!

dil, exhausted from eating the turkey. cousin leroy won the weight-gaining contest this thanksgiving by eating 7 lbs worth of food.

stephanie and bobby taking yummy leftovers home

when i went to bed i found a thankful note from kyle on my pillow. i love how thoughtful he is. not only is he handsome and has the cutest babies, but he also is so sweet and caring and i know that those things aren't always packaged together!

mckay family. november 25th, 2010

thanksgiving has been perfect. this year i gave thanks for:

• kyle: husband and father extordinaire


• addison: most adorable and quickest learner


• healthy pregnancy: can't wait to meet this baby soon


• healthy moms: both our moms have been told this year that they are in COMPLETE remission from wegner's disease and ovarian cancer, two miracles.


• country and freedoms: and all those that lead and protect us


• gospel: the one thing that never changes and makes me happy no matter what happens
  
  

hope you had a wonderful day of thanks with the ones you love!