Happy Halloween!

The 2009 Theme: BYU!

The oldest represents the crazy BYU fan!

Next we have our Cheerleader!

Followed by an impressive football player!

And last, but never least, our Cougar!

Each year our family picks a theme and designate whom will represent each character. This year was easy as we all love to support our favorite college, Brigham Young University! Being close to campus provides for many fun experiences and good times!

Discussion has already begun on next years theme, will it be cowboys and Indians, medieval royalty, endangered animals or something beyond our imaginations as of yet? You'll just have to check back next year!

Finally... Moving Day!

We know the people in our new neighborhood were excited for our long awaited arrival ( because the house had been vacant for years and they were eager to have someone caring for it), almost as excited as our old neighbor hood was to see us make good on our promise to leave. Hee, Hee. I'm sure a couple of people will miss us, but we were ready to live in one house, not two.

We had excellent help from family and friends moving the big stuff and continue to make trips back and forth for the small stuff. Our home is still in a state of disarray while we wait for mom to paint dressers, organize and construct a new master closet and fill in missing furnishing, but it is fun to be home!

Besides, the cats don't seem to notice the lack of traditional furniture, Glen works just fine!

Thank you to all of those wonderful people out there that have helped to make this possible!

What's Been keeping us Busy...

We have been making progress, though I have failed to take many pictures. When we returned from Florida we had a new stair rail, which has been sealed, but awaits stain and it's final coat.

We have painted all the upstairs bedrooms, bathrooms, and hall, plus the family room, office, and kitchen on the main floor. Only the formal living room and old dining room remain of the main living area, plus the laundry room and bonus area, but we can live with the ugly brown there for a time.
The hardwood floors have been stripped, added to, and re stained a darker color. They wait for their last two layers to be completed. That project sure did make a world of difference!

We haven't had television for five months, but with General Conference being broadcast we needed it back. There are two weekends a year with the perk of going to church in your jammies, we had to do it!

After conference my good friend and talented designer, Sonja came for a visit. We planned out the new furniture arrangement for my front rooms. It looks like a furniture crime scene!

We are still working, nut we have almost completed phase 1.75!

Random fun times!

School started, the renovation continues, life goes on, what a blessing it is to through some good old fun in there too!

One of the first Mondays back to school we took advantage of our "early-out"days and went tubing and water skiing with friends. They were kind enough to invite our family out for some cold, wet, entertainment. The best part was the kids getting cold and wet for the parents entertainment!

A little Ward girls night out! We made these lovely hats, ate delicious food, and played silly games divulging the mysterious contents of our purses for prizes. Such a fun mom and daughter bonding experience!

Back to School

Okay, so school started in August and I'm blogging in October, but at least I took the pictures on the actual first days of school! I did say days because we had three official first days of school this year, starting with Mr. Junior High! He is the first off everyday with an 8:15am start time plus the lovely 15 minute carpool since we haven't moved yet. So far, so good! The the next two set off the next day to their new elementary. The girl child put up a real ruckus about leaving behind her friends but seems to be settling in well. It is a beautiful new school with enthusiastic teachers!

Finally, a week later, the last one was off! My baby off to kindergarten, wow! Her new school has a special entrance, bathroom and play yard just for the kindergartners. She loves it. The best part is Thursdays when their 3rd grade buddies come in for stories and activities, she is lucky enough to have her brother for a buddy! They both think that is pretty neat!

The results of her first day at school...she put herself to bed.

Two new school, three different schedules, but lots of fun and blessings!

New Family Members

We haven't even officially moved into our new home yet, but the family grows.
These two lovely ladies, Stella and Minet, are sisters and two years old. We"rescued" them from homelessness when there "moms" graduated from BYU and returned to their foreign homelands. The kids love them, Bailey (our dog)isn't quite sure yet!

Summer Vacation!!

McBride Annual Summer Vacation: Treasure Island, Florida

August 12-17

After a lovely 4:30am wake-up call, we gathered our belongings, drove to the airport, and boarded our 6:50am flight. On the way our youngest child asked if she would see any of her friends at the airport, we laughed and pointed out that no one else was crazy enough to take such an early fight. Well wouldn't you know it, just to prove parents don't know everything, one of our other children's friend and family were boarding the same flight (with a different final destination). Kid's say the darnedest things!

Above is Glen getting in last minute work (so dedicated!) and the children enjoying a little techno entertainment.
Denver, Colorado Airport, 2 hour layover. Good thing Glen knows all the best places to sit, seeing as this is his home away from home.

As for our home away from home in Florida we stayed at the Residence Inn by Marriott. It had everything we needed to set-up camp, a kitchen (with dishes), separate bedroom for the parents, and immediate access to the beach, not to mention maid service!
We even had a pet! This cute little gecko and his friend lived outside on the balcony.
On Sunday we found the local ward to attend Sacrament meeting. It's great to know you can find the church so many places you go!

On our little Sunday drive after church we found a special treasure! Our third child has been asking for a coconut ever since we went to Hawaii and didn't bring him one (about 2 years). So he still hasn't actually had a coconut because we wouldn't let him climb the tree, but seeing them seems to have satisfied him a bit.

Beautiful Sunsets, hunky guy!

The rest of the gang!

So even though Disney World brings some major tourist action to Florida, we went for the simple pleasure of sitting on the beach, playing in the water, and soaking up the rays!

Scuba Girl!Lucky parents of Scuba Girl!

Dockside Dave's: Old time beach restaurant, with a specialty for cooking Grouper five different ways. We were even privileged to have Dave reminisce at our table while he rested his tired feet.

Kids making friends with the locals!

Last stop, The Pier in St. Petersburg.

August is not the time to visit Florida, it is hurricane season! But we got lucky and only knew Hurricane Bill as a tropical storm that rained on us several times a day. So we went with the artificial hurricane experience instead. Much faster, cleaner, and safer! The kids really liked it!Fun rides at the airport, just like the Disneyland Monorail, but free!

They even have toys at the Tampa airport. Really we could have just stayed there, but we wouldn't have come home with much of a tan!

Fun family bonding time away from the craziness we call regular life is great! We love exploring new places and making memories as our little family grows.

It's a big world out there...where will we go next?!

More Adventure Awaits......

More House...

More House..of course! Well, if you are following our reno fun you know we had some damage from a blown water valve and when it came time to repair the damage we saw on opportunity to work on yet another of our future projects, making it a current project...so we took out a wall, or at least half of it.

Previously there was a full wall between the kitchen a the sunken family room with a set of stairs on either side leading into it. We cut the wall in half, leaving the necessary support columns, and removed one set of stairs.
With our excellent contractor and crew the newly engineered wall and columns look great! Glen make look smug but the only credit he gets for this work is the excellent job he does selling ultrasound to pay for it!
The entrance to the kitchen was made larger as well, flaked with matching columns.

Or course we couldn't stop there! So when the suggestion was make to replace the stair railing we jumped on it! Before we took off for our summer trip, instructions were given and choices made. This will look very different the next time we see it!

The fun continues!

My Most Favorite Author!

Marcia Lynn McClure is So Fun!

It is such a pleasure to meet the author of your favorite books and find that she everything and more that you hoped she would be!

More than a year ago I went to the Internet to find "clean" romance novels and I stumbled across this woman's name. I checked my local library and found a couple of her books. I'll admit the first I read was not my favorite (The Whispered Kiss), but I had checked out two so I proceeded to read the second and have been hooked ever since! I read all the library had then proceeded to order the ones I couldn't find to begin my own personal collection. These are my most prized books! I introduced my "Book Friend" Angela to them and now she is hooked as well. Being loyal McClure followers, when her website announced her "Meet & Greet" to be held in Orem, we made plans to be there. Little did we know we would wait in line for over three hours to purchase even more books and meet the delightful lady. I now have 14 of her books, all signed and cherished! Marcia was so friendly and full of laughter than it will make reading her books even more fun knowing she genuinely is a great person!

Favorite Books: Love Me, The Heavenly Surrender, The Time of Aspen Falls.....

Fun Times!!!!

Check out her website for more info:http://www.distractionsinc.com/

House For Sale!

It is official! Our house is for sale. Whether we will be moved in to our other house before school starts, or camping in the backyard, we have this one listed.

I have loved this house! It will be six years this August since we packed up our little family and moved from Arizona to begin working for GE. Since then we have added one little girl and a truckload or two of stuff!

Entry:

Master Bedroom:

Master Bedroom, Summer Decor:

Girl's Room:

Boy's Room:

Reading Chair Outside Kid's Rooms:

Family Room:

Family Room, View Two:

Kitchen:

Office (Miracle Picture):

Dining Room (Could Be Formal Living Room, Not my Style):

Basement Family Room (w/ Movie Lights!):

One of Two Basement Guest Rooms:

My Craft Room:

The walls are painted a soft blue. The name of the color is Silence!

As with many other major decisions I've made in my life, I'm trusting in Heavenly Father to lead the way. I adore this house and have had fun personalizing it to what our family needed, but I know it will make a great home for someone new. I'm excited to continue work on our next project and see what is in store for us there. Thanks for letting me share my home with you.