Mom's mission call

It's finally here! After almost 40 years of waiting, my Mom is finally accomplishing her dream of serving a mission!!! She reports on Sept. 8th to the Provo MTC and will serve for 18 months in the Toronto, Canada East Mission. She couldn't be any more excited. She's already got her suitcases packed, I think she's had them packed for months! We are so proud of her and her decision.

If you have a few minutes to spare, watch the video of her opening her call. It's really heartwarming (did I really just use that word?).

My Mom will be speaking in church on Sunday, Aug 31st at 11:00 Am at her church building if anyone would like to come. Then there is an open house at her house at 5 pm that night.

My Mom & Me

Lake Pleasant with the Mundall Family

Our good friends, John and Kim Mundall, took us out on their book to Lake Pleasant last weekend. The only boat the boys had ever been on was my brother's fishing boat which they had a blast on! The didn't understand why we couldn't go fishing off the Mundall's boat, they even pouted a little bit. But I think they were pleasantly surprised to realize what they were in for.
I first want to ask, who was the first person to think it was a good idea to be dragged from a boat? To me, it doesn't sound like the brightest idea, when you put it that way. But we sure did have a great time "being dragged from a boat!" The boys also loved when the Mundalls would park the boat for a few minutes and we all got out and swam. Everyone was impressed by Bradley's flip off the side of the boat. Even Jared wasn't afraid to jump! Here's some of the great pics we got!





Then it was Scott's and my turn. Boy were we in pain the next day!! We tried knee boarding. It's pretty tuff for someone who does it once every 3 years!! I did actually get up on my knees a few times for a few minutes. Scott was a lot better than I was, he was even doing 360's. Sorry, I do have some pics I could show you, but their not pretty.

When we asked Bradley on the way home what was his favorite part he said it was when John did the air chair. I think that's what it's called. We loved watching him! He's pretty amazing what he can do on this thing. Here's some pictures, I hope he doesn't mind.

My husband is a genius

Here's our drama over our microwave these past 2 days. Sunday night we came home from having dinner at my brother's house. I'm in my bedroom and hear a "Pop." When I come out to see what happened, Scott informs me he just broke the microwave. Just like that! It's 9 pm, he had no reason to use the microwave, how in the world is it now broken! Turns out he was looking at the filter thinking that maybe it needed to be cleaned (he was on a cleaning kick all weekend, I couldn't complain too much about the microwave because the house was spotless, thanks to him!). So he took it apart, found the problem, but didn't think he was going to be able to fix it. I thought for sure we were going to buy a new microwave. But last night he went online and looked at a few things. Then checked out the microwave again and found a fuse that had popped. I then received a lesson on what a fuse is and how it works. After a trip to Home Depot and a replacement fuse, my microwave works again! Yay!! $3 expense instead of whatever a new microwave would have cost. I wanted ask him if I could take a picture of him with the microwave for my blog, but I new he'd roll his eyes at me, so sorry no picture. I wasn't brave enough to ask. But he is a genius! I'm a lucky girl! Here is a pic of him on his motorcycle just because.

"Jackie"

My baby boy is a year old! It's so amazing. There was a time when I wondered if I'd be able to have any more children. I'm appreciating motherhood more this time around. I had to work while Bradley was little and I feel like I missed out on a lot. Jack is my little buddy. I actually find myself missing him if he's been napping for too long. Crazy, I know! He's very sweet. When Scott or I get him up first thing in the morning, he always gives us a good morning hug. Jack loves to sing, dance, wrestle with his Dad and brothers, unload the dishwasher and eat! Man that kid can eat! He also loves to point his finger and yell. We love our Jackie and would never trade him for anything, not even a girl!

Mt. Graham

The McBride family packed their belongings and said "Goodbye" to the heat of Phoenix and made the trip up the mountain to beautiful, long-sleeved shirt and sweatshirt weather! Oh, man it was so nice to be outside in the sun and not be baking! Bradley and Jared loved the weekend with their cousins! On the way home I told Scott I felt like I hadn't seen the older boys all weekend! Bradley shared a bed with his cousin Trevor who is his age and who knew sharing a bed could be so exciting! The kids hunted for worms all weekend and were devastated when we told them we couldn't take them home. Poor Jack had a fever all weekend and didn't feel good most of the time. Thankfully, I remembered to pack the Motrin and his weekend wasn't totally horrible! Scott's family has a lot of history on Mt. Graham and I think we're all a little happier when we're on that mountain. Even Scott's Dad was a little "giddier" that weekend. Nothin like some quality time with the extended family! Here is a pic of all the grandkids:

Me and Jack. He's at a really fun age. He's getting better at walking and falling a lot! But he loves playing with his brothers and it is so fun to watch him try to keep up with them!
After each meal, the Dad's took the kids for a short hike. It's a lot easier to clean up when you don't have a 1 yr old begging at your feet!

This is Scott and Jack, John (Andrea's husband) and Katie, Randy and Linc. These 3 babies all turned 1 in the past 3 months!

Thank you Uncle Reuben and Aunt Sondra for letting us stay in your cabin for the weekend! We really enjoyed the warm beds and hot water!!

Bowling with the Lunt family

We went with our good friends from our ward, the Lunt family, bowling last week! We had so much fun! Thank goodness for bumpers or else the kids would have gotten nothin but gutterballs! The kids did pretty well. Although anytime Jared would try it on his own the ball would go half way down the alley and stop. The attendent had to come help us a few times! But we had a great time! Here are some pics:

Jack loved the air blower at the end of the ball dispenser thing. (I'm not sure exactly what it's called!)