Outback Steakhouse

One night my mom was nice enough to take us all out to eat. We are quite a gang when we all get together.. (and it's not even all of us!)...so we had to eat on the patio. Luckily they had heaters and we brought blankets!

Lucas is ALWAYS being silly!

Ben and Paige

Rachel being way too cute!

Aunt Ally and Lucas
D. Max, Max and Lucas sneeking into the picture
Grandma Mary with Kate and Lauren. This is probably the only picture I've ever taken of them where they are both smiling!

Sea World

Santa Claus was nice enough to get us from free tickets to Sea World. We've been there a few times now but always have a great time when we go. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I was so happy to be there instead of cold snowy Utah! We left Rachel home with my mom and had a great day with Zac's parents and my brother Donnie.

Chargers vs. Colts

Everyone in San Diego is a Chargers fan. There is no exception in my family. I have 6 brothers and they all love the Chargers. Zac, on the other hand is a big Colts fan. He feels a strong connection to Peyton Manning because he played for Tennesee in college while Zac was serving his mission there. He's also converted Ben to be a die hard fan as well. Zac and Ben like the Chargers as well....except if they are playing the Colts.

The 1st Sunday we were there the Chargers played in a play off game (I have no idea who it was against.) Everyone rooted for the Chargers....they won...and all were happy. They were going on to the next round of playoffs to meet up with the Colts. Zac at the time was silently happy that we would be home in time for the game so he could happily cheer for his Colts....however because of the funeral we ended up being around for the big game. My brothers gave Ben a hard time for wearing his Colts shirt (they even made him wear a sweatshirt over it when we went out to dinner). Zac was pretty much out numbered and luckily for the majority...the Chargers were victorious. Too bad they lost the next week and didn't make it to the Super Bowl.

I really don't care about any of this but I wanted to show this picture of the two Chargers fans!

Lucas was loyal to the Chargers and his Uncle Donnie!

Happy Birthday Uncle CJ!

We celebrated my brother CJ's birthday at his new house in Vista. They just moved in the end of November and it was fun to see their new house. He got a new barbecue and Lacey let him break it in as he cooked us all hamburgers!

The birthday boy..turned 28 ...I think?

Max trying to give Rachel some loves

Sisters: Paige and Cami

My SIL Erika with a dressed up Kate (or Lauren?)

The I-Phone fascination. All of my brothers have them...it was tempting to have one but I'd already opted out of getting it.

Christmas in California

After a long December of shopping, parties, taking care of many RS president responsibilities, packing up our Christmas gifts and driving to California, celebrating Christmas and New Year's, going to Sea World, learning of my grandmother's passing, extending our stay in CA for 2 weeks to be able to attend her funeral, and driving home....I finally have found some time to catch up on all of our activities. I've got a lot to catch up on so I'm sure I'll be doing it in many posts.

We had a great Christmas. It is our tradition to go to California. We asked our kids if they'd like to stay in Utah this year, but both of them were adamant that we spend Christmas there... they love visiting Uncle Bob on Christmas Eve, and having Christmas morning at Grandma Mary's house. This year we were lucky to have Zac's parents drive down as well to spend Christmas with our family. It was great to have them there.

Christmas Eve wouldn't be complete without being able to open a present...they are finally catching on that mom get's to choose which present to open and it always has new PJ's.

This next picture is a long time Christmas morning tradition. Everyone has to wait until everyone is ready and sits on the stairs to take a picture before going to see what Santa brought. I love this tradition as it reminds me of the great anticipation I felt just wondering what great surprise was awaiting me.

From bottom to top: Rachel, Lucas, Ben, Uncle Donnie, Zac, me, Aunt Ally, Grandma Bonnie, and Grandpa Steve. We always sit youngest to oldest...note: yes, I am sitting above Zac because I am older (& wiser!) than him!

I've included a video of this classic reaction to Santa's gift. I think they were a little excited.

Santa was nice enough to bring a Wii. It's been a hit in our home. Even I like to stop my house hold chores and join in once in a while!

The kids had a great Christmas morning. We were joined by Todd, Erika, and the twins bright and early to open presents with us. The rest of the gang came throughout the day...some for breakfast and all for dinner. 6 out of the 8 kids in my family were there with their families. We are grateful for Grandma in hosting great Christmas celebrations that make us want to come back year after year.

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!