Sweet 16!

August 26, 2010, Tyler turned 16 & I officially will now be known as his sister. I'm not old enough to have a 16 year old, I've decided.


He made the football team, we went on a quick vacation before school started to celebrate everyones birthday's with my family in Kansas, & he was cut from the team for missing 2 days of practice. He was disappointed, but I think slightly relieved. It was a lot harder work than he thought it would be, that's for sure!

He's still very much a kid at heart. He might be a near-giant, but he's still my first baby. :)

He loves to torment me with things like the skin of the copperhead snakes that came in to their camp site. Love this kid!

Jordan Gets Baptized!

Sounds like a great name for a book. Maybe a future joint venture for Jo & I? His new love is writing & I'm not terrible at illustrations, so maybe...

I'm so far behind in the blogging world, I don't know if I'll ever catch up! I guess I'll start with the recent baptism of Jordan.

We were able to have a few family members come to town for the big day, which was really nice. Both my parents, Dave's mom, & my younger brother Grant (just got home from a mission in the Phillipines) came out to witness the special occassion.

Jordan, waiting for the font to fill with water.

My Mom, Dad, & Ty

Dave & Logan, who looks like he's devising a plan of sorts.

Ty & Grant, goofing off.

Jojo & Daddo (as Jo used to call him)

Just before the baptism.

Amazingly, I captured a true Logan-look. He's totally a Mikey & that grin proves it!

Dave & my Dad goofing off. Nice grills!

Watching the water rise.

So handsome in his Sunday best!

Jojo & his Yaya (Dave's mom)

Jo, with the honored mom. :)

Proud parents. :)

My Mom, Dad, & Jordan.

On August 31, 2010, Jordan was officially baptized & confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I'm so proud of him for making the decision to join the true church of Christ!

Jordan's thrilled to be able to go to Scouts, finally. He's been looking forward to it for some time now & it couldn't have come soon enough!

New Toy

I think it's true love. ;)

Soopah-MAN!!

Or Spiderman.

Or both.

Logan is forever dressing up in one costume or another. Thanks to his Mimi & her mad bargaining skills at garage sales, he has a plethora of costumes to choose from. His favorite, by far, is the black Spiderman.

It never hurts to mix & match, though.

Little Poser

Ever since she was about 6 months old, whenever a camera is present, Hayleah is a total ham. It started off with majorly, toothless, cheesy, sloppy grins, & has evolved in to posing. I adore this little princess! She has such a strong sense of fashion & is frequently in trouble for changing in to yet another outfit (I'm not a fan of extra laundry). Head bands are strictly for the forehead, according to Hayleah. And pink boots will NEVER go out of style!

MIA

I intend to try to get back to the blogging world a bit more frequently. We've been crazy busy lately with a move that took us by storm.

About a month ago, an old friend & boss of Dave's called to see how we were doing & to let us know he was just promoted to management at the Wyndham in Branson, Missouri. He wanted Dave to come out & work for him, so he offered to fly him out there after dangling a particular juicy carrot in front of his face. It was more of a carrot for me than it was for Dave. He dropped in the little detail that he looked up how long a drive to Derby, Kansas was & that it was a mere 5 hours from Branson. I grew up in Derby & most of my family is still there, so the idea of being closer to them for the first time in 9+ years was more than tempting.

When Dave told me about their conversation, I cried. I was mad at Jared (Dave's friend) for the tease & the reminder of the fact that I missed being near my family. Until that time, I never thought I was unhappy in Las Vegas, & now that little bubble had been burst. I wasn't about to be unhappy living in Vegas if that's the only place I was going to live in for some time. I'm not in to making myself miserable (mostly), so I've never even entertained the idea of living closer to my parents & brothers & sisters-in-law & nieces & nephews. Ever. Until that moment, that is.

Well there was no way I was going to let Dave go out to Branson without me, so I booked our flights & one for my Mom, too, so she could watch the kids while we were out of town. We've never been anywhere before, sans kids. That part was nice.

What was even nicer is that everything fell in to place. One thing after another, beginning with finding an amazing home the first day we were here. We signed papers with the owners a few days later (after looking at some serious duds in between), went home to Vegas & began packing all our belongings.

It's now three weeks later & here we are, happy to be in Branson. It's incredible here! We've had a few adventures since we arrived, but I'm just so thrilled to be here, none of that even matters. :D

Triple 7's

While at a support group meeting the other night, one of the parents mentioned something about triple 7's. I had no idea what that meant, & we're not supposed to interrupt, so thankfully the group leader brought it up afterward & had another parent clarify what this meant.

This man's Stake President made promises to the people of his Stake that if they followed these "triple 7's", their troubles would seem to ease & their ability to handle the trials that came their way would increase.

Triple 7's means you must do 3 things a day, 7 days a week. Those three things are, personal morning prayer, scripture study, personal evening prayer.

Such a simple way to put something that can have such a great effect on people's lives! I was impressed with its simplicity & wanted to always remember this. It's something that's become habit for me over the past year, so I know that there is most definitely a difference many aspects in my life, from my testimony, to my faith, to my love of those around me. So much good can come from those 3 simple things!

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

I entered in a contest a few weeks ago over at U create (one of my fav blogs to follow... tons of great, crafty ideas) & I actually won! I get $50 worth of merchandise from The Ribbon Retreat, which also happens to be one of my favorite ribbon suppliers. Needless to say, I'm thrilled!!

Now I just have to figure out what to spend it all on. :D

New Calling

I'm sad to be leaving my sweet little Sunbeams, but I'm excited about my new calling as the ward Provident Living Specialist! This is my first calling outside of Primary (other than being a Visiting Teaching Supervisor while I was also a Nursery worker, so I'm not sure if that counts). Ever. I'll be out of my element, for sure!

I still kind of see Relief Society as the place my mom goes, but not so much me. It's funny because I'm certainly old enough to go, yet I think it will take some time before I feel like that's where I'm supposed to be. What in the world am I going to do without a gaggle of kids vying for my attention!?

I don't have much of a food storage, & I'm terrible at rotating. I don't know much about emergency preparedness or survival should a serious emergency arise, so this opportunity is exciting to me. I'm always up for learning new & helpful things. I've been so involved with learning about the various uses of herbs & essential oils for the past decade, so now it's time to expand my brain a bit & gain more knowledge to share. Hopefully I can do that in a way that doesn't make me seem like a know-it-all (I fear I come across that way sometimes), & be able to get others excited about learning & implementing what they learn into their homes & families. :D

Exciting times!! :)

Spring has Sprung!

There are cherry blossoms everywhere in our little community.

Around the corner from our home is a business park, sporting a "lake" with real whales in it. They like to hang out in the same place all day, spouting off (at their mother?). For the longest time, every time we would pass this corner, Jordan would diligently search for the sharks he knew were in there.

Checking out the "floaters" they spotted. They were much more interesting than trying to spot sharks!

Of course, what's a nice Spring day walk without posing in front of whales?

There was much drama to get this pic, so even though 3/4 of the people in the pic have their eyes closed, I'm posting it! It was sunny & Jordan was counseling everyone to close their eyes for the picture so they won't have to complain about mom making them pause for this shot.

And of course it isn't Spring without a little kite-flying at the park.

Apparently I missed getting a picture of Logan with his Super Hero's kite. He was pretty mad at the kite though, after it didn't magically take off like he had planned. He's all about the Super Heroes right now. I can barely get him out of his black Spiderman costume long enough to wash it. It needs a serious patch job. The neighbors think we're crazy & are unsure if he even owns anything other than a Spiderman costume. I'll have to try to get some pics up of him, as Spidey, once I get the thing fixed.

Overall, we had so much fun trying to fly kites that day. I smiled, laughed, & ran so much I was sore from it all the next day. Fun times!

Toof-less & Some Visitors!

Jordan sporting a new grin.

Jojo lost another tooth, but this time the Tooth Fairy was nice enough to grant him his request to keep it. We made a little pillow box to put it in & wrote a note to the TF to please leave the treasured tooth. She left him a 5-spot (NICE!) & was swiftly on her way.

Jo gave his first talk in Primary the following Sunday (amazing, for him, since he is so scared of getting up & talking in front of others!). It was *so* adorable, the way he could no longer say his "S's" quite right.

We were lucky enough to have the space available when a friend needed a place to stay this month. She has two kids who often stayed over as well, one of them being Jordan's age. Gracie was a joy to have around! The kids couldn't wait to get up in the morning to see if she was there, & Grace would always watch out the window of the casita to see when we would open our blinds, signaling we were all up & ready to take on the day.

We had so much fun, having them here. My friend Tami was the model houseguest & I miss her now that she's in an apartment. They were with us for about a month & the kids still ask about Gracie in the mornings.

Jo & Gracie crafting together

Job-front Update

Dave went in for an exit interview & to turn in his pager & time thingy yesterday & met with the head of Human Resources for both Las Vegas sites. Before he even made it in her door, the VP over the Harrah's site (where Dave moved from about 6 months ago) grabbed him & pulled him in to his office. He told Dave he wanted him to come back to the Harrah's site & was confident he could pull the necessary strings to make it happen. Dave tried to switch back to the Harrah's site back in December, but the move was blocked by the VP over the Resort site.

After speaking with the HR lady & documenting everything that had been going on, she was also pretty confident they could get a transfer approved. He hadn't been removed from the computer system yet, so technically he was still considered an employee & wouldn't be subjected to a rehire process & the mandatory 90 day wait.

After telling her he'd think about it & get back to her before the end of the day, Dave met with a business owner we know to talk about working for him. It wasn't the kind of sales he was used to or comfortable with (tele-sales), so he called the HR lady back last night & accepted the offer.

Today he got the call that it's official. His transfer date will be either this Friday or next, which is nice because he's getting a little time off & best of all HE STILL HAS A JOB!!! :D

Thanks for all your prayers & positive thoughts!!

SUPER Underwear Head Boy!

Logan, the unwittingly funny kid, had a conversation with me not long ago. He's even funnier because he doesn't know how funny he actually is.



Logan: "Mom, can I go outside?"
Me: "No, not right now."
Logan: "But I want to."
Me: "I know, but it's too cold out right now."
Logan: "But I won't be cold."
Me: "Sorry buddy, but it's too cold out right now."
Logan: "What if I put underwear on my head & socks on my hands? Can I go out then?"



After that kind show of negotiating skills, he managed to convince me. I think he would've convinced just about anyone with that arguement.

Not the best pic of him, but he wasn't interested in posing that day. I can't imagine why. LOL

Current McKenney News

I know... shocker, huh!?

You know what the word job stands for? Just Over Broke.

Hahahaha

But it's not really all that funny today. This morning Dave resigned from his job of nearly 9 years so he could move on to bigger & better things. Those "things" are yet to be found. It's been a long time coming, but it doesn't change the fact that, at the most, in 6 months from now, we will be just over broke.

Weird thing is I'm not freaking out about it. Yet.

Let the resume updating & job hunt begin! Wish us luck (prayers are even better!).

February is gone!?

February flew by for us. It was a busy month, with Tyler returning home for his schooling. Plus with Logan & Hayleah going to preschool 3 days a week. And we can't forget about Jordan & his schooling (though I think I let a little too much slide with this one).

I'm going to try to catch up on some posts in the next few days, as time permits.

Can you believe Spring is already upon us!?

A Haircut For The Girl!

Princess Hayleah's hair was constantly in her face, if it wasn't pulled back in some piggies or a pony. And even then sometimes it was by the middle of the day. This child plays hard, right alongside her brothers. So, after much pleading from Dave, I took her over to a friend for a cute new 'do. :)

It's such a cute cut on her! (don't mind the blue lips... she's breathing just fine here. such a faker! ;o) ) She's showing off her Princess book her Yaya sent to her. She LOVES this book. So much so, she took it outside with her to "read", only to accidently leave it out there overnight. Of course it rained. And, of course, we didn't discover this for a few days, since it rained for most of the week. And, of course, we're now on the hunt for a new Princess book.