June Pack Meeting

I'm not a big Scouting fan, but we have some great people involved with our boys.  This Pack Meeting was held in the backyard of a neighbor and included all kinds of goofy games.

Opening exercises were held and then the hilarity began.

Not pictured here, but my partner and I won the three-legged race!

Such a beautiful day after a long, wet Spring!

The Girls Answer to Father and Sons...

With the boys away from home the girls wanted to do something fun as well.  So we painted our nails, ate out at Dickey Barbecue, and rented "Never Say Never". ( A cute film I must admit.)

On Saturday we purchased treats for our movie viewing and a special selection of frozen entrees for Sunday,

so no had to cook or clean up. 

Left over Italian soda fixings (from the Birthday party) completed the easy meals. 

While the boys were gone we had fun and look forward to our turn for a trip away from home...next year maybe!

BYU Father and Sons Basketball Camp

Memorial Day weekend Brigham Young hosts the Father and Sons Basketball Camp.

The BYU team is there and around the clock activities are planned.  They play many sports, not just basketball, watch movies, hear from inspirational speakers, and visit religious church sites on Sunday.

I know Cosmo, but the rest of the guys I'll have to add the names of later: 

It is a fun adventure with close friends, the group keeps expanding. 

Boys and their games!

End of School Progams

The end of a school year is always a little crazy with the culmination of every class wanting to show off their efforts.  It is fun to see the result of a years progress, and can be enjoyable if time management is applied!

First was first grade and a cute musical performance sharing the attitudes and manners we should all have to enjoy a happy community.  Very cute!

Her teachers: 

Another day we were entertained in fourth grade by traveling "bands".  They went "on tour" through the counties in Utah (Social Studies)

and shared their "karaoke" style songs with us. 

Last, but not least, sixth grade presented "Macbeth" and our star was a murdering servant. 

A variety of entertainments!

A Pizza Party for the Big Man

It had been a while since this guy had a party for his birthday, so a party we planned!

After looking through a party supply catalog for inspiration one thing drew his attention; big, fuzzy, mustaches!  So I was given the task of designing a party around this strange choice. 

The answer...an Italian Pizza Party! 

Upon arrival all were given a tie-dyed apron, a chefs hat, and the piece of inspiration, a mustache. 

After each creating a personal sized pizza we played a couple games while they cooked.

First, an updated/themed version of darts with a pizza target and a Nerf gun.

Then the messy stuff...15 seconds to collect as many "meatballs" out of the spaghetti without hands.

(Although still gross, the "meatballs" were actually red golf wiffle balls.) 

We had a tie, so a tie breaker was called for to decided the ultimate champion! 

Happy Birthday was sung, presents were opened, fun was had, but the hit of the party...The Mustaches! 

Happy 10th Birthday!

What's So Special?...

 Grandma came for a visit, a while she was here, she did what she does best...

Helped us add to our pet collection!

We now have 6 little chicks that are very cute and entertaining, but hopefully useful someday as well.

We have five different kinds of chickens, all unique in color and size.

We have named them after flowers and hope to paint flowers on their coop when it arrives.

We will keep you posted on their progress.

Oops..I missed a Couple Birthdays!

Okay, so we didn't miss celebrating them, just blogging about them!

April 30th is always a full day, but this year beat all!

It started with a 7:00am wake up call so I could be first in line at the Highland Tree Sale.  (I was third, but still in a good position!)  You know how we love our trees and we ended up buying 13 more in two trips.

Then we had to head back to prepare breakfast for the Elders Quorum Shooting activity.  Dad and son plus about ten other men of our Ward spent the next several hours shooting rifles and other weapons of not-so-mass destruction in a local rock quarry.

Upon their return we traveled to Provo for a soccer game.  The sun was out, so we counted our blessings!

After a tie game we attempted dinner at Tucanon's but because of Prom the wait was about 4 hours.  We travelled back to American Fork for another Brazilian Steakhouse and walked right in.

Finally, after driving around with his presents this whole time the big man was allowed to open them!

Yes, we are in the car!  He couldn't wait any longer and we didn't make him... 

I received my iPhone the night before, so his iTouch made this an Apple of a day!

Our Creative Dancer

This is the final year of Brigham Young University Creative Dance for our girl.  After five and a half years of making the weekly trip to Provo (a 35 minute drive, each way, without traffic or construction) we are calling it quits.  It was a wonderful time for original thought and instruction with fewer limits, something this child needed in her life.  She has grown so much in these last years! 

The adventures will continue as she heads off to middle school next year and we experiment with other extracurricular activities.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday to a Great Guy!

Where Does the Time Go?

When there is a void in the blog submissions, you know the McBride's have been busy!

Our Spring has been long and wet, but this has not stopped our progression (or attempts at progression) on the yard and home projects!

As is usually the case with us, destruction comes first...Glen and his sledge hammer.

We are removing this back porch and door to replace it with a large picture window. 

More dirt was hauled in and shaped into a second set of berms to border a walkway around the perimeter of the yard. 

We took a break from the spring yard work to celebrate Easter.  What a remarkable gift and miracle provided for all!

Then back to the Spring Cleaning: 

We started with a trip to our local thrift store, Deseret Industries after parting with some memorable objects.  This bassinet was a gift for this very child 10 years previous.  I think he has grown a bit! 

Then the back yard clean-up was inspired by our cities free dumpster days.  They set up some rather large dumpsters that we were allowed to deposit anything non-toxic in at no cost.  The girls took a little spin in the pots from our large pine trees planted last year.  Adios Garbage!

More Projects to come...