A Blessing for Nathan!

On Sunday we were able to attend my new nephew Nathan's blessing in Provo. It was fun to be able to meet him for the first time and spend time with the rest of our family. My mom came up for the weekend and we enjoyed having her in our home as well.

Rachel in her new Christmas dress! (Have I ever mentioned that I like having a little girl. They are so fun to dress...kind of like having my own little doll I can play dress up with!)

My brother Danny and little Nathan

My mom and Nathan

Nathan. My kids like to call him Nugget!

My Mom and Rachel who is showing off her preppy side!

A St. George Thanksgiving!

We went against tradition this year and headed down to St. George for Thanksgiving. We met up with my mom, sister, and brother with his two kids, and spent the weekend in a condo. It was a great trip...very relaxing and non stressful! We got to swim in a 90 degree heated indoor pool, eat turkey dinner with leftovers all weekend, spent a day exploring Zions, and found this really cool park that the kids played at for a little. I've included most of the highlights from our trip in this little video.

I'm True to my Blue!

Yes...I know they lost!
Yes... it was not a great game for the Cougars.
Yes... Utah was the better team tonight.
Yes...I only really care if they win or lose when they play Utah. I don't know why, but I feel this deep sense of pride and loyalty when I think of my Cougars playing the Utes.

I always wonder what is it that makes people like one team over another. After all..they are both from Utah! Sometimes I think people just root for Utah just because they don't like BYU.
What's up with that? There should be good solid reasons for loyalty to a team!

For me...it's actually not all about Football. It only has a little bit to do with it. This is why I'm true to my blue:

* 7 out of the 8 kids in my family have a BYU degree, including me. The 8th one graduated from BYU-Hawaii, so that should count as well! I guess it just runs in our blood, although neither of my parents graduated from there! (My mom did go there for a year, but returned back to LA to date my date and graduated from Whittier College. My dad is a USC grad!)

* BYU was a home away from home for 3 years (I went to BYU-Hawaii for 2...and yes, it took me 5 years to graduate!). When you leave all your family and friends behind, it was so nice to be surrounded by people with the same values and religious beliefs. College is not always blissfully happy, but overall I really enjoyed it and loved my time there.

* If it weren't for BYU football...I don't think there would be a Mr. and Mrs. Zac McBride! This really is true! When Zac and I were dating, I bought him season tickets to the games (we met on a blind date through mutual friends and he went to Weber State) Maybe that is why he pretended to like me! At one time, we went through a time in our courtship that I called "broken up". He stills likes to claim it was a "miscommunication". Anyways...since he had a ticket to the game and we were forced to sit next to each other....long story short...he begged me to listen and I softened my heart!

* I guess because of my generous gift to Zac during that time we were dating, BYU has left a place in Zac's heart as well. He has been a fan ever since and roots for the Cougars much more than I do. I don't really have much choice, as well as our kids. They are getting brain washed early...but that's ok..it's the right thing to do! Ben already has plans to start on the 2018 BYU football team!

So there you have it, win or lose, I'm true to my blue!

Can you tell our family are BYU fans? This is get up we wore today as we went shopping and watched the game with Zac's parents.



We'll get them next year! Go Cougars!!!!!!!!!

Twilight: Highs and Lows

I got to see Twilight last night. I've read other's reviews on the movie and thought I would add my own. I am usually not much of a critic....I go to see a movie for enjoyment only. I tend to look for the good in all...even if there are legitimate reasons to critique. I just like a good, clean, entertaining story. Having said that...I'll try my hand at a few movie highs and lows for me!

High: Getting to see the movie with 22 of my friends, all from my ward! I was crazy enough to plan and buy 23 reserved seating tickets for everyone. It was not hard to find that many people that wanted to go. It was a fun girls night out and everything worked out just fine!

Low: Sitting next to the 3 girls on my left (I didn't know them!) who talked and narrated the whole movie. I wanted to Shshshshshshs them about 100 times! Ugh...they bugged...but of course I didn't say anything!

High: Seeing the movie and remembering everything that happened. It's been awhile since I've read Twilight...and have read all the other ones in between so it's hard to remember everything that happened. I thought the movie followed along well with the book..other than leaving out a lot of little details which I'm sure is impossible to capture in a movie.

Low: I didn't like the actor who played Edward. It's not how I pictured him. I didn't think he was great actor. I don't think he's that cute.

High: Having Edward (including the actor) grow on me throughout the movie. I found him to be more charming toward the end.

High/Low: I liked Bella's actress for the most part. I think she fit the part. On the other hand..there were times that I don't think she expressed herself very well. I'm kind of so/so on that!

Low: Having the movie end. I liked it over all. The book is always better, but the movie was entertaining, suspenseful (even already knowing what's going to happen) and best of all, romantic! I would have liked to spent more time with Edward and Bella on screen! (Ha,Ha...I sound like a romantic fool and a Twilight junkie.. which I'm actually not!)

There you go... that's my critique. What's yours?

She thinks she's so funny!

I took this video of Rachel last week. I guess this is her way of communicating with us. She definitely likes to be heard!




I also wanted to point out that yes...we are missing a cabinet door in the background. We can thank Lucas for that. He broke it in half while pulling on it trying to climb up on the counter to get a cup. So....lesson learned the hard way...don't climb up on the counters! I'm sure we've told him a million times. We are still waiting for a replacement...we're hoping they can match the exact color stain because they no longer make it!

McBride Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family website - Family reunion

I don't think these are very accurate..but I was surprised to see that my kids resembled me somewhat. I always get comments that my kids look like their dad. I used some different pictures of Zac and I first..and it said that Rachel looked more like Zac. So..like I said...I doubt it's very accurate, but interesting anyways!

McBride Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family name history - Ancestory

McBride Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Geneology - Family name

A vampire, a cowboy, and a princess!

We had a fun Halloween night...trunk or treating, trick or treating, and a Halloween party for the boys later that night. Zac's mom brought chili over for dinner and we enjoyed spending the evening with them.

Annual Pumpkin Carving

Zac is the master pumpkin carver at our house. He likes any excuse to use his tools...which he's found works much better. This is the latest we've ever gotten our pumpkins carved this year....he was finishing them up on Halloween afternoon! It was just a busy week.



The finished product. He only had time to carve two. The boys picked out their design. Lucas went with the standard spooky Halloween theme....and Ben went with his traditional sports theme (Colts....I swear he is brainwashed but Zac insists that he is not!)