L.A. Temple

While on vacation to California, we went to the L.A. temple on Sunday and got to see the newly renovated visitor's center. It was pretty awesome. They really took advantage of the many different technologies available today. One of my favorite things in the visitor's center was the Book of Mormon display. Each Book of Mormon had a chip inside so when you picked it up and waived it in front of the TV it would tell you what language it was in and even give you a verbal sample. There are many features they just installed that are unique to that visitor's center alone. A sister missionary told us they have the video "God's Plan For The Family" just like in Mesa, but L.A. has an extended version. The L.A. temple is beautiful and sits on a hill over looking much of the city. It reminded me of the scripture in Matthew 5:14 which says, "Ye are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hid."

I took this picture. Pretty amazing photography skills if you ask me.

I love this picture of the Angel Moroni. All credit goes to Brittney.

Daddy and Addy.

Together Forever!

Beach Time

i know i keep posting about california, but we did so many things there and i want to include everything! i lived in santa clara when i was young and as a result love two things about cali - farmers markets and the beach. we did see a farmers market on the way to the beach, but unfortunately it was gone when we drove back. just trash in the parking lot to show it had been there, and boy was i sad. but, we had a great time going to the beach. saturday we went and left addison asleep at the house. then on monday before we left to come back home, we went back to get some family pictures. i really missed addy on saturday, but we did have a blast and it was nice to not have to worry about where she was. i don't have a maternity suit, so i just wore my regular one. the usually cute swimsuit made me look overweight and not preggo and i definitely felt stares. all well. we found a ton of sand dollars and cool shells which is so fun for me. kyle said on our honeymoon to las palomas in mexico that i looked like a little girl fishing for shells. he thinks i look like a little girl in a candy shop, but i wasn't the only one looking. i had kirt and jennifer fishing for cool shells as well.

shawn rented boogie boards and everyone had fun riding the waves in to the sand. i just body surfed since i couldn't use a board and was able to ride one wave pretty far. to dry off, the mckay brothers and sisters tried to play a game of volleyball. when they realised they couldn't get two hits in a row, they switched to soccer and had a great game.
monday, we took addison. kyle took pictures of her feeling the sand as she walked around for the first time on a beach. her confused and excited face was so fun. then kyle took her to the water to experience the waves. i remember my younger sisters being terrified when they were addy's age and i expected addison to be scared as well. she really surprised me by loving it! we had to even grab her when she ran into the water with out us holding her hand. we will definitely have to go back soon. above: addison feeling the sand for the first time. below: addison loving the waves with daddy!

this cute pic was actually on the way home to az. addison wanted some of my fire cheetos and loved them as you can tell. for the entire seven hour trip, she only had a 30 minute nap right in the beginning and she did surprisingly great! love that face!

Picnic at the Park

saturday in california was spent enjoying the AMAZING weather, going to the beach, and having a family picnic - something residents of arizona would never try in august. shawn and neesha drove us fifteen minutes away from their home to a great park that we were told is very popular. the park is on a huge hill with a road that takes you all the way up to the top and has side streets along the way. we parked up top and were able to take in the gorgeous view all around. everyone brought blankets and jackets being from arizona and not used to the cold temps of 64 degrees and windy. we got a great spot with tables right next to a playground. perfect when there are three kids with tons of energy to spend!

this is shawn and dad grillin' for the family. we had burgers, grilled chicken, veggies/fruit and dip, homemade potatoe salad, chips, and pop - so great when your starving! dad is a great cook and really gets excited to share new recipes with me. he's like a kid in a candy shop when it comes to bargin shopping and cooking!above: neesha and maeli waiting for the food to be ready to eat. neesha is also pregnant and i am so excited to be pregnant with her. #3 for her is due in late march (she's about eight or nine weeks here). there will soon be five mckay cousins running around when we get together, i can't wait! below: kirt stacking his burger like an artist. above: bundled in cali's unusual cold spell for this time of year - loved it! and below is addison just being darn cute by saying "cheese" for the camera!

I'm Sailing!

have you ever seen the movie what about bob? hilarious - starring bill murray and richard dreyfuss. go rent it, you won't be sorry. the title is a quote from the movie and the first thing i thought of when i heard we were going to be sailing in california. unlike the movie though, no one on our crew had to be tied to the mast. pictures from the boat:
after we found shawn and neesha's home in culver city everyone loaded up into the cars and went to the pier where shawn had rented a cute sailboat for several hours. i volunteered for the short ride and shawn took us out around the pier while teaching us sailing terminology and how to's. i loved taking pictures of the docks and was surprised at how fast you can go without a motor. kyle's father taking a turn at steering and (below) maeli helping daddy sail.after my short ride, i traded with kyle and went back to the house with addison who never went sailing because she was afraid to wear a life vest. silly girl.

Finally Here

we made it into culver city around 1:00 pm friday afternoon and we are loving it here. i want to move. neesha told me no one has a/c here because it hardly ever gets hot enough to need it! can you imagine?! they just leave their doors and windows open for a cool breeze when they need it. kyle thinks it's cold, but i love it. being here has made me so happy and reminds me of memories when i lived in santa clara as a young girl. i would move here in a heartbeat if housing wasn't so ridiculous. shawn and neesha will probably live here for at least five years which means we will be vacationing here at least once a year... hopefully. above: shawn and neesha's home with cameron playing out front. below pictures: we took a walk in the neighborhood to enjoy the weather and look around.

addison had never seen anything like this tree (above) and seemed to be very awed by it. so cute.above: each street is lined with trees, at least one in front of each home. doesn't it just make you happy? this blue flower (below) is one i associate with my memories of california. these and vines grow everywhere. beautiful.

kyle's parents are leaving tomorrow afternoon, but we will wait to leave until monday so we can take addison to the beach. oh i can't wait!

Impromptu Vacation to Cali

this picture has nothing to do with the post, i just wanted to show you how much i am already popping out with sweet baby girl #2. i am 20 weeks 6 days here. finally i can wear maternity clothes! yeah!

yesterday kyle's parents left to california with colin, heather, and jennifer to visit his oldest brother shawn and his family. shawn and neesha moved to culber, california (near santa monica) in january of this year, and grandma and grandpa have already visited i think fives times. it is so nice to have them closer than indiana! it happens that kyle has a two week break from school right now and kirt is driving from florida all at the same time. so when kirt is rested -either late tonight or early tomorrow - the four of us will drive together to join the rest of the family in california! woohoo! today is cleaning, shopping, and packing day all rolled into one. can't wait for the beach!

Havasupai Adventure

Havasupai... Arizona's paradise! When my Dad said he was going down and offered to take Brittney and I, I was so excited. As the days were approaching we started making a list of supplies and food we would need down there. It was decided that I would carry the big backpack (weighing it at 45 lbs.) and Brittney would just carry her camelbak (10lbs if that) with water and snacks. We left Memorial day in the afternoon and got up to the rim later that evening. This was my third time going and memories started coming back and I told stories of my previous trips. We camped up on the rim and early Tuesday morning we began the decent into the canyon.

When we got to the Indian village, one of the girls was struggling with her pack so I had Brittney carry our pack while I carried hers. It was another 2 miles from the village. Brittney wasn't sore yet from the 10 mile hike we had just completed from the rim to village, but after those two miles, she became pretty sore, but she was a tough girl.

** note from brittney: i would like to clarify some things here. my camelbak was about 20 lbs with all my water, food, and other necessities - not 10 lbs like kyle says. plus our shared backpack was atleast 50 - 60 lbs not 45. so i was carrying 70 -80 lbs down a 3.2 mile hike (yeah the havasupai website will back me up on the mileage) again not like the two miles kyles stated. no big deal you think? well, when you got up at four am and started hiking ten miles for several hours, your already tired when 55 lbs gets added on your back. not to mention, kyle and i did nothing to prepare for hiking the grand canyon ( i assumed i would be fine since i was only carrying 20 lbs - or so i thought.) so the only reason that i pulled my groin, rotated my ankle, and basically did the havasupai shuffle every time i stopped moving for ten minutes was because of that dang backpack i had to carry 3.2 miles. thank you.**

We got to camp about mid morning and we rested, ate, and then got ready to go to Havasu falls. After the flood in 2008, the fall now only flows to the one side, but it still is as beautiful as ever. After hanging out there we went back to camp, rested, ate dinner, played cards, and got cleaned up in the river flowing next to us.

The next morning our muscles had stiffen up, so getting up was a real "pain." We ate breakfast and then got ready to go down to Mooney Falls (my absolute favorite). Mooney stands around 200 feet high (higher than Niagara). To get down you literally have to climb down a the cliff face with chains, latters, and stakes driven into the rock for hand grips. Being terrified of heights didn't work out in Brittney's favor, but she did a good job going down.

"DESCEND AT OWN RISK"

Exercise Extreme Caution!

Brittney descending down the cliff to Mooney FallsMooney Falls

About five miles down from Mooney Falls, is another fall called Beaver. We hiked through the river, jumping and sliding down from little water falls.

Mooney Falls in the Background

Fall hopping our way down to Beaver Falls

I think I'll name this "Garden of Eden" or
"Heard it through the Grape Vine"

Just Chillin'

Hanging Out

One of the best parts of the trip is that we didn't have to hike the whole way out. Dad paid for all of us to fly the helicopter out from the Indian village. It was a flipping awesome experience! The best part was when the we flew out and above the canyon. The pilot was heading right toward a canyon wall then the helicopter went straight up and over. It was intense. It was good to be in a car on the drive home, but I was already starting to miss our great adventure. Needless to say, we were both missing our baby very much and it was so much fun to see her.