Peery Family

Mckay's 7!!!

2010-10-07T15:08:00.007-06:00

I seriously don't know how time goes by so fast! Mckay is now seven and is all about sports, hunting, chasing girls at recess, and lately bikes. This year for Mckay's big day we surprised him with a new bmx bike. He was one happy kid!

Mckay was especially excited because his new bike has front and back pegs which he tells me is the only way to go.

Mckay wanted a water party theme this year and I found this cute idea on Family Fun website.

The weather ended up making it a little cold, but the boys were having so much fun I don't think they even noticed.

For the party we played the thimble game, relay races, water balloon toss, and a hot potato water balloon game. PJ helped run most the games and the boys just "soaked" it in.

For desert I made root beer cupcakes and each of the boys went home with "one more squirt".

What a fun day! We love you Mckay!

Back to School

2010-10-07T13:32:00.006-06:00

The fall decorations are out, my house smells like apple pie, but it is awfully quite and even clean. Both of my kids are now in school and preschool. In our perfect little plan, we weren't expecting this until a few years down the road, but we are trying to enjoy every moment. It's funny how sometimes all I ever wanted was a moment all to myself, but now that I have it, I have to admit that I miss having little ones around. Don't get me wrong, having a clean house is nice, but the time with my kids is slipping away, and so I'm determined to treasure each day. With that being said I hope they have a wonderful school year and when they are done with reading, math, and recess, I hope they come home feeling like they are in their favorite place.

Mckay started first grade this year and was very excited to try school lunch where you could just put in a magical number and get whatever you want.

Mckay was in Mrs. Wakely's class this year. He was very excited to have some of the kids from the neighborhood in his class, especially Bryton.

Madi started Preschool with Mrs. Tiffany. To say she was excited is an understatement! She couldn't wait to start school like her big brother.

Madi, Paige, and Stephanie

My stress level went down a notch when Madi found her name. I knew she would be okay.

Summer Fun

2010-09-15T22:10:00.015-06:00

I can't believe that summer is over and the kids are back in school. I say it every year, but it seemed to fly by and although I wasn't the best blogger, I did take a bunch a pictures of what our family was up to. So here's a quick update of our summer fun.

Yard Work and MORE Yard Work
Most of the early spring and summer was spent re-landscaping our entire backyard. We ripped up grass, put in a french drain, built a rock wall, dug trenches, installed sprinklers, built garden boxes, brought in topsoil and a garden mixture, laid rock, planted and then gratefully enjoyed our yard for the rest of the summer.

BEFORE...

Before this summer, every time it rained, the back of our lot looked like this. In some places the water would be several inches deep on our lawn and although we thought our landscaping was done, we knew we had a problem that had to be fixed, so we went to work.

AFTER...

Madi striking her "pretty" pose.

We may lose a kid in that amazon flower pot. One of Andrea's many summer creations.

JULY 4th

Every year our family wakes up early to see the hot air balloon races for part of the Freedom Festival.

My kids were so excited to run into our friends (who we consider family) the Lomenicks.

Madi and Stephanie Lomenick not having any fun.

After watching the hot-air balloons take off, I talked PJ into going to the parade (which by the way was a major accomplishment on my part). Even though it gets a little long (incredibly long according to PJ), my kids LOVED it and I have to admit that I loved it too and felt so grateful for my cute husband being a good sport about it.

Riding Motorcycles with the Asays

Paige Asay and Madi

Our good friends have a little motorcycle that Mckay has been dying to ride. The Asay's were kind enough to invite us over for a family night so Mckay could try it out. He absolutely loved riding the motorcycle, but had one little fender bender into the neighbors fence. I guess we should have taught Mckay where the brake was instead of just the throttle. Luckily the bike, Mckay, and the fence were all okay.

Mckay and Bryton Asay sporting their riding gear.

Mutton Bustin

Last year on the local Spanish Fork TV station, Mckay watch some little kids ride sheep in the Spanish Fork Rodeo. After watching the young cowboys and cowgirls, Mckay was convinced that he wanted to try Mutton Bustin for himself. Early in the summer we applied and Mckay was selected to ride in the pre-show. He was so excited without any nervousness at all (which made is terrified), but he did awesome and it turned out to be such a fun night for our whole family.

Waiting for his turn...

Mckay's big ride

Madison loved being able to sit with Grandma and Grandpa Cutler and especially loved the cotton candy!

This was our family's first time to the rodeo and we loved it! We were so proud of Mckay and grateful to have my mom and dad come to support. Hopefully we will be able to go next year and who knows maybe Madison will be our little cowgirl.

Fiesta Days

I just want to declare that I have the best hubby in the whole world (don't ever forget that Andrea), although he hates (and I mean hates) parades, he put up with one more for Spanish Forks Fiesta Days. The kids loved seeing the tank (your welcome), the pretty princesses, and of course the candy.

Madi's Sweet Moves

Madi just can't help but dance every time she hears music and the parade was no exception. Check out her skills.

After the parade we went up to my parents house to go swimming and have a BBQ and then we met the Coltons at the Owls game for a fun night at the ball park with fireworks.

Fishing and Camping
It wouldn't be a Peery summer without a little fishing and camping and luckily we were able to do both-well if sleeping in your backyard and roasting marshmallows in the the fire pit counts. Yes, we braved the Spanish Fork wind twice this year. Once was in our tent in the backyard and the other time we camped with PJ's family at the Reservoir which is only 5 minutes away. It was great! My feet got dirty while we were up there and I just zipped back home and washed them in my own hot bath and zipped back up. Now that's my kind of camping!

Mckay and PJ also made it up to Scofield with Grandpa Jerry in his new canoe. They had a fantastic day! Of course Mckay out fished both of them.

August-Family Month

August always ends up being the busiest month of the summer, but also one of our favorites. During the month of August our Ward does not hold any extra meetings and encourages us to spend that time with our family. I also take this month off from teaching piano and just try to thoroughly enjoy my family. This August we celebrated PJ's birthday, our 9 year anniversary, Preston's birthday, and Mckay's Birthday. We then filled in the rest of our time with trips to the cabin, fishing, popcorn hair cutting parties (Madi's suggestion), the demolition derby, bike rides, movie nights, archery hunting trips and much more.

Madi and Me at the cabin

Mckay target shooting with the BB gun. He even shot an empty 9mm shell from about 5 yards away.

Demolition Derby with the Lomenicks. Madi loved the pink car.

Can you tell from their faces that they kinda, sorta, liked it?

Such a fun night! I am already picking out my redneck clothes for next year. PJ wants to start working on his mullet. Hey, we need to fit in somehow.

When our summer was all said and done I think we all felt a little like our little Madi Girl. We had such a great summer, but it's good to be back in a routine again and start a whole new kind of busyness. Lots of fun memories!

Boston & New York Trip

2010-07-20T13:10:00.034-06:00

JUNE 16th-JUNE 23rd

It's been about six years since PJ and I were able to take a trip together without kids and when PJ found out that his company had a woodworking symposium out in Hartford, CT, and that he could take me a long to help, we just couldn't pass it by. In return for working, PJ's boss covered nearly all of our expenses and made it possible for us to have an amazing vacation together.

Our vacation started in Boston, MA. I know this is going to sound dumb, but about a year ago I saw an American Idol episode where they were holding auditions in Boston and I couldn't get over how beautiful that city was. After watching that, it left me longing to visit there someday. In addition I have always loved learning about history and I couldn't wait to see one of the oldest cities in America and visit some of the historical sites.

Our time in Boston was very rushed, and we jammed packed every single minute, but we absolutely loved it. We started out trip by quickly dropping our luggage off at the Chandler Inn and then we rushed off to Fenway Park to watch a Red Sox game. Being part of the atmosphere at Fenway was amazing. The crowd's unity and pride for there town was like no other. Listening to the fans sing Sweet Caroline will be a moment I will never forget. At the game we were able to see a home run over the "Green Monstah" and we also were able to take a picture with the 2008 World Series trophy. The Red Sox won that night and you could hear fans enthusiasm late into the night.

After a late night, we got up early, packed our bags, and left them at the front desk while PJ and I headed out to visit the historical Freedom Trail. The Freedom Trail is a 2.5 mile red-brick walking trail that leads you to 16 nationally significant historic sites. We started the trail at the Boston Commons and here are a few pictures of what we found...

This is the Granary Burial Site. This was our favorite site on the trail. Some of the headstones in there are from the 1600's! It was a very reverent place where three of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were buried. In addition Samuel Adams was buried here and had the victims of the Boston Massacre laid to rest in his family tomb.

This is a memorial built next to John Hancock's tomb.

PJ in front of Paul Revere's Tomb

This is where Benjamin Franklin's parents were buried.

Benjamin Franklin Statue at the Boston Latin School. This is America's oldest public school. Four of the signers of the Declaration of Independence attended school here including, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, Robert Paine and John Hancock.

Old Corner Bookstore. I loved the architecture of this building. It was also later used as a printing shop.

The Old State House. In this building many of the basic concepts concerning American government were first voiced. The top of the building once had a lion and unicorn, used to symbolize royal authority, that were torn down and burned after the Declaration of Independence was read to the people of Boston from this balcony in 1776.

This is the site of the Boston Massacre. The balcony above overlooks this site. It was here that five people were killed when tensions were high between the Bostonians and the Redcoats. It looks a little different now than it did then.

Faneuil Hall. It was here that Americans first protested against the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act.

This is the most famous weathervane in Boston. Tradition has it that the golden grasshopper weathervane was used during the War of 1812 to spot spies. Anyone who did not know the answer to the question What is on top of Faneuil Hall? was a possible suspect.

Remember the TV show Cheers? We were surprised to turn the corner by Faneuil Hall and see this famous sign.

After we walked most of the Freedom Trail we had just enough time to take a little boat tour of the Boston Harbor.

This is the beautiful city that we saw from the boat.

I loved being able to spend so much time with my sweetheart!

The U.S.S. Cassin Young

Old Ironsides also known as the USS Constitution. She had the reputation to out-run and out-gun anything she encountered. During the War 1812 cannonballs fired at the USS Constitution merely bounced off as if she were made of iron, thus the name.

The Garden: Home to the Boston Celtics. While we were visiting, the Lakers and the Celtics were competing for the National Championship. Everywhere we looked you could see T-shirts that said Beat LA. The subways were no different. The was several different times when people would randomly start cheering for the Celtics like you were at a pep rally. It made our whole experience memorable. We were so impressed with the pride and unity of the city.

Overall we absolutely LOVED Boston. I would go back in a heartbeat. The people were kind to us and the history alone was amazing. Oh yes, and their famous Boston Creme Pies really our the best. We made sure to stop by Mike's Pastry on our way out.

After spending less than 24 hours in Boston, PJ and I rented a car and drove to Connecticut. We couldn't believe how green the landscape was and how thick the trees were. It made me realize how much of a desert Utah really is. When we arrived in Connecticut we first stopped by the convention center and set up for the show.

For the next three days, PJ and I worked side by side helping wood turners find tools to beautify the turnings. The days were long and a little challenging because I wanted have perfect knowledge in the products that Treeline was selling so that I could better assist people. But overall I really did enjoy my time serving customers, even if it was mostly spent being a cashier.
Seeing PJ work however, made me appreciate him more. He is so good with people. He sincerely cares about their needs and listens to their concerns. I came away from the
show loving him more and grateful for the opportunity to learn more about what he does. Hopefully I was a little helpful too.

NEW YORK
After we finished working at the Woodturner Symposium, we drove over to New York City late
Sunday afternoon. As we approached the city you could visibly see the stress on PJ's face. It really became apparent as drove smack in the middle of this...

We couldn't believe that the GPS took us right through the middle of Times Square. In fact our GPS only worked half of the time due to the tall buildings. I think we quickly learned first hand what Buddy the Elf meant when he said, "watch out for the yellow ones. They don't stop."

We quickly understood where the stereotype came from about how "friendly" New Yorkers are. After barely surviving driving through Times Square we could not wait to get rid of our car. We finally found the rental car place and drove in to try to find where we should park. As we began to turn a corner we started getting yelled at by the garage attendant to stop the car. We did and tried hard to not let him see our laughter. He yelled at us for not seeing a sign (which we still never saw). He inspected the car while we gathered our belongings. After he looked the car over he went and sat down on his chair without a word and just stared at us. After a couple of minutes of very awkward silence PJ asked him what he wanted us to do with the car. He mater-of-factly said just leave the car right there and he will take care of it. We laughed again and walked away knowing that we were no longer in Boston.

This is what Time Square looked like at night. The streets were constantly packed with people. It reminded me of when PJ and I visited Hong Kong.

We were so happy to be in New York but you can see in our eyes how tired we were. We couldn't wait to find some food and relax in our hotel. PJ quickly learned that a happy wife is a fed wife.

There was always random things happening in times square. Once they were filming a yoga video right in the center and on another occasion we found this handsome young man posing in his red birthday suit. Is that a speedo or reddie tighties.

So many people advised us to look for unique restaurants instead of the well known restaurants, but after wondering the streets of NY, we just didn't care and made our way back for an amazing dinner at Bubba Gumps. Eating at Bubba Gumps in kind of a tradition when PJ and I go on vacation. So far we have eaten at: Maui, Oahu, Miami, Long Beach, and recently New York.

On Monday Morning we got up and took a ferry to see the Stautue of Liberty. It was amazing to see it in person and somehow made me feel very American.

Everyone asked us if it is really as big as it looks on TV. If you look close in this picture you can see several people surrounding it.

PJ and I with the Manhattan skyline behind us.

Ellis Island. Visiting here was one of our favorite places on our trip. We took a 45 minute tour and learned some amazing facts like only the 3rd class people and had to stop at Ellis Island for paperwork and health checks. The 1st and 2nd class were briefly examined on the boat and sent straight to Manhattan. Another interesting fact we learned was that 1 out of every 5 Americans can track their ancestors back to Ellis Island.

Looking at Manhattan from Ellis Island.

On Ellis Island there is a monument that lists families and individuals who had to stop at Ellis Island in order to come to America. We found this list of Cutler names. One day I hope to spend some time to see if any of those names our ancestors of mine.

We also found several Rowley names.

After visiting our visit at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, PJ and I took the subway to Canal Street in China Town. PJ was in heaven! It brought back so many memories of his mission in Hong Kong. We were able to eat several foods that he has not had since Hong Kong and he was able to speak Cantonese at nearly every store we stopped at. The store employees were fun to watch when they heard PJ speak and understand their language. I also loved China Town because of the shopping. I left there with a new purse, sunglasses, sword for Mckay, Backpack for Madi, and $2 I LOVE NY t-shirts. What a deal!

After our visit to China Town we headed back to Times Square and down Broadway to the David Letterman Studio. A couple months before our trip to New York, PJ and I applied for tickets to The Late Night Show. Two days before we left, PJ received a phone call from the studio saying that we could watch the live show as long as he could answer a random trivia question about the show. Here's what he asked: "Dave has a friend named Rupert who owns a nearby store, what kind of business does he own?" PJ wasn't quite sure so while he stalled, he quickly googled it and answered the question correctly. We were so excited!

Being a part of the live audience was amazing experience. We were told to laugh and clap at everything-even if it wasn't funny. (Basically we were suppose to give a courtesy laugh as needed.) We were a little disappointed when we found out the guests for the show were Jay-Z and Eminem, but it was still hilarious because Dave acted like he was scared to death of Eminem the whole time.

After the Show we went to Toys R Us in Times Square to see if we could find something fun to bring home to the kids. This toy store was amazing! They had a life-size dinosaur, Barbie House, Transformers, Spider-man, Superman and many others located throughout the store. They also had Lego models of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State building that Mckay would have loved.

The Star Wars Display

The Next Day we woke up early and visited Ground Zero. On the other side of the fence is the location were the two twin towers fell on September 11th. They are currently rebuilding and making a memorial plaza.

Across the street from Ground Zero is St. Paul's Chapel. It was here that the Policemen, Firefighters, and other rescue workers would find refuge and a place to rest between shifts.

Bell of Hope. This bell was a gift from England that came from the same foundry as the Liberty Bell. The bell is rung every September 11th, and was also rung after trains were bombed in Madrid, and after the London subway and bus attacks. It symbolizes hope over tragedy.

Inside St. Pauls Chapel. During September 11th and the months that followed, family members and friends who had lost loved ones would leave missing pictures, letters, gifts, and memorials for those who were victims of terrorism. Letters of support were also sent there to support the firefighters and other rescue workers.

Badges left behind from those who aided in the rescue work and clean up of 9/11.

George Washingtons Pew. He prayed here after is inauguration as the first president of the United States.

Firefighter coat and boots. If you look at the pews you can see the scuff marks left behind from the rescue workers. They would sleep and rest on the pews and as a result they were severely marked up. In remembrance of 9/11, they decided not to refinish the pews.

If you look closely at the picture on the right you can see what the memorial will look like. They are going to use the existing foundations as a memorial with water flowing into into it from the sides and surround it by trees.

Memories from 9/11
Visiting Ground Zero, brought a flood of memories from that tragic day. Even though we are obviously not from New York, I don't think there is an American that was not touched in some way or another. For me it forever changed the way I feel about this country. I've always had a great love for this land, but after that day I have tried not to take it for granted. Things like singing the national anthem, saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and seeing soldiers serve selflessly are certainly more meaningful.

The morning of September 11th started out to be a good one. I had been married for exactly 1 month and 1 day. I was happy and love with my high school sweetheart. I was also very excited because I was in the middle of my student teaching at Mapleton Elementary. I couldn't wait to see my cute bunch of 2nd graders. On the way to school I heard about the first plane crashing into one of the World Trade Towers. I couldn't believe it! At that point I thought that it must have been some crazy accident. A few minutes later I arrived at school and we turned the TV on in the teacher's lounge to see if there was any more news about the crash. It was there that I watch live as the second plane crashed into the other Twin Tower. Now we knew it was no accident and my heart hurt. That pain grew through the day as we tried to tactfully explain to 2nd graders how such a horrible thing could happen in the land of the brave. I really didn't think it could be any worse, but then we heard about the Pentagon, and the heroic passengers that took over the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania, and then we watched with the rest of America as the towers fell.

Witnessing the attack on America was like watching a horror movie, but it was real. It was such a sad and solemn day in America history, but there were a few positive things that I can remember too. When you turned on the radio, you would here songs like I'm proud to be an American. When you went on a drive you would see the streets lined with Old Glory flapping beautifully in the wind. Homes, windows and businesses would proudly display red, white and blue. For the first and only time in my entire life I felt like our country was completely united. It was touching and made me feel proud to be an American. After seeing Ground Zero and touring the museum we again felt proud to be Americans.

After our visit to Ground Zero, we went shopping to the most amazing clothing store. It's called H&M. The clothing there is off the charts cute, but the prices are similar to Old Navy. I seriously was on cloud nine. (PJ felt like he was in seventh $%*# while he waited almost 2 hours for me to shop in one store) If you ever have a chance of visiting a city with a H&M in it, it's definitely worth the stop. On the way out we saw the famous Macy's building and a little down the road we saw the Empire State Building. We did not go to the top, but it was fun just looking at it.

After our eventful day, it honestly just got better. We went back to the Roosevelt Hotel (which by the way was an amazing place to stay) and rested and changed for our big date that night. For dinner that night we started walking around the streets by Broadway to see if we could find a nice place to eat before our show. We ran into this little Italian restaurant called Maria Pia. The atmosphere was amazing. We shared a fantastic dinner over candlelight. PJ still to this day is craving the food we had that night.

After dinner we walked down the street to the Gershwin Theater to see what I've been dreaming about for months. To say I was a little excited to see Wicked was an understatement. I had properly prepped myself by listening to the CD, reading the lyrics, and reading a little about the storyline for months, but I had know idea I would like it so much.

The set of Wicked. The whole night was truly magical. The scenery, set, actors, and music was absolutely fabulous, but I fell in love with the storyline. It will forever change the way I looked at the Wizard of Oz.

Even PJ enjoyed Wicked which is saying a lot for a guy who really just doesn't like musicals (at all). That night ended up being one of the my favorite nights in my life.

The morning we would be flying home PJ and I rented some bikes and rode around Central Park. We had a couple of guys meet us outside the subway and offer to rent us some bikes. We almost said yes until we found out it was their own person bike (or recently stolen bikes). Yikes. We found this little shop just outside the park and had a very pleasant experience. There was no way we would have had time to tour the whole park in the little amount of time, but the bikes were perfect.

It was amazing to feel like we are in the mountains but when we looked up we saw the skyscrapers. It took a solid hour to bike the perimeter of the park. I would do this again in a heartbeat.

We took this the morning we left. We were having a lot of fun but we certainly missed our kids. Our hotel was right along Madison Ave. We looked hard for a Mckay Blvd but to no avail.

Finally a sandwich PJ couldn't eat by himself. We had a friend recommend we try the Carnegie Deli for lunch. We waited in line for about 20 minutes and was greeted with the customary New Yorker kindness when it was finally our turn. We were asked what we wanted but their menu was terrible. I have never felt so foreign in an English deli. We asked for a ham sandwich but I didn't realize we would be getting half a pig. Look at the meat on that thing! The whole sandwich was over 6 inches thick. The meat alone was about 3". Luckily we decided to share this beast but the food was wonderful.

In Summary I remembered just how handsome my husband is. I never got tired of him even for a minute. Between being in the heart of American history, cruising around on boats, eating some wonderful food, reliving part of PJ's mission memories, attending an amazing Broadway show, seeing David Letterman entertain a crowd, and soaking in so many sights and sounds of a lifetime, this turned out to be a trip I will never forget.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It! The Peery's FINALLY Updated Their Blog

2010-07-14T12:42:00.016-06:00

This post is for you Mel! I was kindly informed last week at volleyball that I've been a major slacker in the blog department over the last couple of months--okay several months, but I'm here to say I'm back. Here's what you've missed....

JANUARY

Lego time with Friends

Jazz Camp with Ronnie Bewer---before they traded him =(

UPS invited a few clients to attend this special camp with Ronnie Bewer. Mckay was 1 of 35 lucky kids who was had the opportunity to play at the Jazz Practice Arena and be coached by Ronnie Bewer. We came home with a Jazz shirt and basketball and smiles from ear to ear.

FEBRUARY

Hot dogs in the back yard

Yes there was snow outside, but it still made for a fun night with the fam!

More Lego creations

MARCH

Mckay taught his class how to build a rocket

Fun with friends at the cabin

Princess Time: Madison and Audrey Powell

Ward Easter Egg Hunt

YIKES! Beam Museum with Sister Hatch

I can't believe Madison was brave enough to do this. I had to leave the room. Just looking at these pictures gives me chills!

Sister Hatch, our ward primary president, invited us for a FHE at the Beam Museum. Her dad is a director there and gave us a private tour of some special rooms and showed us a few exotic animals.

Mckay got a cup in the mail from Grandpa Anderson after he had heard that Mckay was in tears one day after visiting Funfinity. At the store they have a display of fun cups with a variety of popular kids names. There was a cup with Madison's name on it, but not Mckay's. He felt devastated! When Grandpa heard this story he went online and had this special cup made just for Mckay.

APRIL

I saw these cute bunnies in a Taste of Home Magazine and had to make them. The kids loved them!

Easter Morning. The kids loved their surprises from the Easter Bunny.

On Easter Morning it had snowed about 6 inches so we decided to make a snow bunny instead of a snowman.

MAY

Flying Kites

After a long, cold Spring, our family couldn't wait to be outside.

Spring Soccer. Mckay was quite intense...hmmm... I wonder were he get's that from? Mckay was a scoring machine on the Crocodile team and loved being able to play with his friends.

PJ and Adam Asay were the coaches this year. This was the first time PJ has been head coach of one of our kids teams. He was very energetic and the kids loved him.

OH BOYS!

Mckay's Kindergarten Graduation

Mckay and Mrs. Wall

OUCH! Poor little Madison knocked her front tooth loose at Mckay's graduation. It made for quite the dramatic day. To top it off her dance recital was that night.

Madison was a snowflake is the Wizard of Oz

Mrs. Amber with her little snowflakes

We were so worried after Madison had hit her mouth that she wouldn't want to dance for her recital that night, but she was amazing! She was absolutely beautiful and loved being in the spotlight.

Our little princess after the show.

Bridalveil Falls

For my birthday we took the kids and rollerbladed up to Bridalveil falls. It was the start of a perfect day.

JUNE

Homemade pizzas

Fishing at the Reservoir

Slip and Slide Fun

Madi's Birthday

2010-01-24T15:26:00.006-07:00

I'm just getting around to posting pictures from Madison's birthday. Madi could not wait for Christmas to come because she knew that only a few days after it was her turn to have balloons, blow out candles, and be sung the doo da doo birthday song. For us, her turning 3 and ending the terrible 2's was a blessed day! The terrible 2's were a little rough on us with everything from unplanned haircuts to braking a whole container of eggs in our entry way. Despite all the "fun" we still feel extremely blessed to have our little Madi Mei in our family. She gets cuter by the minute and fills our lives with laughter, hugs, babies, dancing, and the color pink! We love you Madi girl! Happy Birthday!

While Madi was sleeping, PJ and I decorated her door. She felt so special when she woke up. I honestly have never meet a little one as excited for her birthday as she was. It made the whole day especially fun.

That morning we had pink waffles, pink buttermilk syrup and pink milk!

Madison loved her new baby that we got her.

For her special day, I took Madison to Build-a-Bear and we came home with this beautiful bunny named Cinderella bunny (pretty original) with glass slippers and panties because "she is a big girl."

That night we had both of our families come over for cake and presents. (Madi, Hailey, and Aunt Julie)

Madison with Grandma & Grandpa Cutler

Hurray for sticker books! All the stickers would soon end up on one page.

My favorite little princess

Blowing out the candles

December 29, 2003
The day Madison was born was one of the happiest days of our lives. She was absolutely beautiful and continues to be more so every day. We love you Madi girl!

Christmas

2010-01-17T16:57:00.005-07:00

Our Christmas mornings always start the same with PJ and I not sleeping because we are so dang excited! It's kind of funny, but we really are the two biggest kids of our family. We are always up and showered for the day before our kids even pop out of bed. When our kids finally wake up we like to torture them to some extent by either making them rub our backs (thanks Grandpa C for the good idea), or making them do silly tricks like jumping on one foot and spinning around (thanks Grandpa P) before they can see their presents. It's kinda humorous at least to us! When our kids are finally allowed to see their presents, they are always excited and this year was no exception.

Madison couldn't wait to try our the new bike that Santa gave her.

Mckay loved the power miner legos

Of coarse our little princess received a helmet too!

This is a picture of the aprons I made for Madi and her baby.

After spending the morning at our house, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's house for some scrumptious waffles and presents.

Kim and PJ

What would a Christmas be like without Nerf toys? I have yet to find out. I guess it is part of being a boy. Of coarse Mckay loved it!

Grandma & Grandpa gave Madi this fun digital camera for kids. She has had so much fun taking pictures of the floor, the wall, her feet, the ceiling, my stomach, and PJ's nose. Thank goodness for the delete button!

After spending the morning with PJ's family, we headed up the street and spent the remainder of the day with my family. While we were there, we were able to talk to Elder Cutler. That honestly was the best present of the day. He is serving in Chile and is such a good example to our whole family. We miss him so much, but we are proud of his willingness to serve.

This is Mckay's "I'm so happy because I got another nerf gun face!" By the end of the day we all felt extremely blessed. We had such a wonderful Christmas season and feel so grateful to our family and for all the Savior has done for us.

Our Christmas Eve Adventure

2010-01-12T22:39:00.004-07:00

Six Stitches for the Six Year Old!
Every year for Christmas Eve we go over to Grandma Cutler's to read the Christmas story, write a letter to Santa, and open a special gift from my mom. Our night was pleasant and pretty uneventful until our little Mckay wanted to see how silly we would look with a big Christmas bow on his head. As he propped himself up to look in the mirror he suddenly slipped and hit his chin on the bathroom sink. We knew instantly that he would need stitches so we headed on over to the emergency room.

Before...

After...

Mckay was a little nervous, but after a priesthood blessing and a little sedation he felt calm and was even smiling and laughing as he waited for the doctor. As we left the hospital that night we felt so grateful for the kind doctor, nurses, and receptionists that were willing to work on Christmas Eve. By the time we got home it was 12:30am and luckily Santa did not catch us staying out late!

December Fun!

2010-01-07T12:54:00.014-07:00

I love everything about Christmas time! I love the music and decorations, the activities and parities, I even like the shopping! Our December was so busy, but it was filled with doing good things with the people we love. Here are just a few of the fun things we did together as a family.

Sledding

Our kids love the snow and beg to play in it almost every day. Their begging paid off and we were able to spend a day sledding and playing in the snow at the local golf coarse.

This is how Madi "walked" back up the hill.

Of course the boys had to try some extreme sledding.

Christmas Piano Recital

Oh how I love these kids! Teaching piano lessons really is the next best thing to being a mom. It was so much fun for me to be able to listen to them play their beautiful pieces at this year's Christmas piano recital. 13 out of my 14 students were able to make it and they all did a fabulous job!

Jingle all the way! Hey! was played constantly at our house this last month. My little Mckay joined us for his first Christmas Piano Recital and did a fantastic job! I was so proud of him!

Madi is already planning out what she is going to play in a couple of years.

My Nephew Preston and me

The Polar Express
Santa surprised us this year by sending us tickets to ride on the Polar Expres. It was such a magical night for our whole family. We sang carols, drank hot chocolate, ate scrumptious cookies, read the polar express, and visited with the Jolly Old Man and his Wife. It was such a memorable night.

All Aboard!

From the distance it looked just like the book.

Mckay getting his ticket punched.

Madison was so excited to see Santa. Her little eyes just sparkled!

At the end of the night Santa gave our kids bells to help remember their magical night.

A Special Visitor
A few nights before Christmas we had an unexpected visitor. Santa stopped by to personally answer our letters we had mailed to him. Our kids eyes nearly popped out as he gently pulled out of his sack the actual letters that we had addressed to the North Pole. Then to top things off, he spoke to Mckay about playing football this year, Mrs. Wall's class, and other things that were specific just to Mckay. He then called Madi by name and spoke of her dance class and many of her other interests. By the end of the night our kids were convinced that the actual Santa really was here.

Santa and Mckay

So...I had to sit on his lap too!

and PJ!

Before Santa left he made sure our kids had a little treat! What a fun night!

Making Gingerbread Houses
Growing up we always had a tradition of making gingerbread houses with my mom. So bless her heart, she bought our kids a little gingerbread train that they were able to make with our good friends the Huish Family.

Mckay, Kayla, Andrew, and Madi

Does it look like the Polar Express?

Four messy, happy, kids!

Madison's First Dance Recital

2009-12-29T15:35:00.002-07:00

This last fall we signed Madison up for her first dance class in Provo. At first I was really hesitate about it. I worried that Madison was too young and that she wouldn't pay attention to the teacher. However, signing Madison up for dance was one of the best things that we have ever done for her. She has loved it. Every Wednesday she cheers when we tell her that it is dance day. The little dance studio that she attends is amazing! It's her own special little place where she can imagine, play, and be anything that she wants to be. Her teacher has a gift for teaching little girls. She teaches the kids to dance without them even knowing it. They just think that they are having fun. I feel so grateful that we found this little studio. It has blessed Madison's life in so many ways.

The Nativity
Madison's Christmas dance recital was all based around the Nativity. Madison was a little sheep. Other parts included Mary, angels, magistrates, shepherds, stars, and baby Jesus. I was so impressed and touched as I watched all these beautiful little girls dance their parts as they told the story of Christ's birth.

Madison was so excited to wear make-up for the first time. She felt so grown-up.

Madi practiced walking on her tippy-toes for weeks.

Madi's loved being able to hold her baby wrapped in swaddling clothes.

She kept looking out in the audience to make sure that we were watching.

Her favorite part was being by baby Jesus. She laid her own baby in the "manger" with him.

After her performance was over she received a little ornament from her teacher to remind her of the special night.

We love you Madi! You are one cute little sheep!

Hurray for a New Computer!!!!

2009-12-28T14:42:00.010-07:00

For the last few months it's almost been impossible to blog because loading pictures was an all day event with our old computer, but I'm happy to say I can start blogging again thanks to my parents giving us a new computer for Christmas! Before I post our Christmas pictures, I wanted to try to catch up on some of the fun things our family has been doing the last few months.

Super Bowl

On Halloween day Mckay got to play in the "Super Bowl" for the final game of the year. The Cheifs were able to finish the season with another win. Mckay loved being able to play and was blessed with a great coach and good kids to play with. He's already looking forward to playing next season. Maybe next year his pads will not weigh more then he does!

Halloween Night

Halloween was the first day our kids were allowed out of the house after having the swine flu. They were so excited to be outside and go trick or treating. Mckay came home with a load of candy, but Madi was still feeling a littler under the weather so we just made it to a few houses.

Of coarse Mckay had to be Captain Rex to go along with our Star Wars year.

This Year's Pumpkins....

Disney Princesses on Ice
In November I was able to take our little princess out for a magical night to see Princesses on Ice. Madison absolutely loved it and couldn't take her eyes off the beautiful princesses.

Madi dressed up like her favorite princess Cinderella

We were able to go with Aunt Julie, Hailey, Grandma Debbie, and Grandma Cutler. It was a great girls night out!

I think my kids rather of had a shot....

2009-10-29T14:54:00.005-06:00

Oh the lovely swine flu! Yes, our family got it! My sister-in-law sent me this the other day and it perfectly summed up our week. (Although we haven't quite tied up our kids yet!)

About a week ago now, Mckay woke up with a swore throat that has vanished our family to the house . The poor kid has been such a good sport through the whole thing. Because of it, he has missed a week of school, missed a birthday party, missed going four-wheeling to the sand doons with our family and friends, missed grandma's birthday party, and missed out today on his school Halloween Celebration.

On the other hand we have tried to spoil him with love, movies, games, his favorite drinks and food. (He might start faking that he's sick after this!) Because he missed his school parties today, we are going to have a Peery family party with games, caramel apples, and Halloween activities.

Round 2 of the H1N1 virus hit Madison last night. PJ and I were up with her through the night at least a dozen times. Her fever was almost at 104 and she was just shaking. It's so miserable watching your kids suffer like that. It not only makes your heart break, but also really scary. Needless to say we have spent a lot of time on our knees praying over our kids. Luckily she is about the happiest sick kid you have ever seen. Even when she's coughing and running a fever, she is still bouncing around the house with a grin.

So far PJ has stayed healthy (knock on wood) and I just have a minor cough that I'm hoping will go away soon! We are hanging in there and appreciate all the wonderful neighbors, friends, and family who have called, emailed or offered to run to the grocery store for us. We feel incredibly blessed to be surrounded by so many good people. We love you guys!

Family Pictures

2009-10-21T22:15:00.019-06:00

Right before my little brother Jordan left on his mission, my family got together for a family photo shoot. Here are some of my favorites.

Mom & Dad Cutler

Melissa & Christian

Heather & Scott

Our cute family

My favorite blessings.

Notice something missing? Mckay pulled his first loose tooth out the day before our family pictures. He was pretty proud of that little hole.

Madison loved posing in front of the camera.

I loved this one of our sweet little girl.

Showing our Cougar Blue. My family kinda, sorta likes BYU!

Future Cheerleader

Goofy Boys

This is one of my favorite pictures. It captures the bond between my mom and Madison. My mom is such a good Grandma. I hope that I can grow up to be just like her.

Stamp-a-Stack Fall Pictures

2009-09-29T10:35:00.004-06:00

One of my favorite things to do is get together with friends and create cute projects that they can share with those they care about. Almost every fall for the last several years we have had a huge event called Stamp-a-Stack. On these nights, you can come and make 15 cards for $20. We always have oodles of food and a lot of fun! Here are the projects that we are making this year...

Anyone is welcome to attend. If you have any questions, or would like to know more please leave a comment and I will contact you.

Our Little Dancer...

2009-09-02T12:45:00.003-06:00

Our little princess started dance today and she absolutely love it! She's been walking on her tippy-toes and twirling since the moment we got home. At first I was pretty concerned about starting her so young, but Mrs. Amber has a gift for teaching little girls and Madison was fantastic! After just a few minutes Madison was "holding a basket of fruit" and skipping to the music. Hopefully she will continue to have fun and that this can be Madi's special time while Mckay is in school.

A Star Wars Birthday

2009-08-30T15:10:00.032-06:00

The only thing that Mckay wanted for his Birthday this year was to have a Star Wars Birthday Party. When I tried to convince him to take a few friends to Jumping Jacks or bowling, he said, "That would be fun too, but can we be droids?" He had only one thing on his mind. So, for the last several weeks I have been a Star Wars geek and spent most of my free time looking up fun party ideas on the internet and this is the result....

This was the first surprise of the day. Mckay was so excited to see his cake.

Don't look too close, I'm not much of a decorator!

Ewok, Yoda, and Droid cupcakes. PJ boasted about his mad Yoda drawing skills.

These are the lightsabers that we made out of pool noodles, duct tape, and electrical tape.

Our whole family dressed up including Master Madi, oh I mean Yoda! Don't let that baby face fool you; she was the best Jedi warrior.

We started off the party by coloring StarWars pictures and playing Musical Chairs to Star Wars music. Then the little padawons were off to Jedi-training. They had go through an obstacle coarse to earn their lightsabers.

The kids were so excited to earn their lightsabers. (We also made their little Jedi outfits out of Muslin the night before.)

Learning the proper way to use a lightsaber. (PJ dressed up at the party like a Jedi and Hans Solo.)

After their training was complete, we had a surprise guest show up. At first the kids were pretty nervous. As you will quickly see they soon let themselves be guided by the force to overcome the darkside (ok, I am a geek).

Each of the kids lined up and had a turn battling with Darth Vador.

The best part about Mckay's party was seeing the smiles on all the boy's faces. They had so much fun that it made it all worth it.

The Jedi's conquered! Just in case you can't tell, that is Darth Vador getting the tar beaten out of him by 9 newly trained Jedi warriors.

Mckay loved all the generous gifts.

The boys loved the "training ball" pinata that Grandpa Jerry made. It took the Lightsaber 2000 (aka metal baseball bat with Uncle Scott's mad home run swing) to get the candy out.

It was fun to have Grandma & Grandpa Anderson at the party.

The Jedi's loved the cupcakes and the "Yoda Soda!"

May the force be with you... Can you tell the kids didn't have any fun?

Hans Solo (PJ) Princess Leia (Me), Yoda (Madi), Darth Vador (Uncle Scottie), and Young Padawon (Mckay)

Scott (Darth) and Heather were amazing help and made the whole party. It would not have been successful without them.

After the party was over we quickly changed and rushed over to Mckay's football game. He did so well and almost tackled a kid twice his size. We didn't use any camera tricks, that kid next to Mckay really is that tall.

After Mckay's football game we headed over to Grandma Cutler's for a family swim party and pizza. (Mckay, Preston, and Braxton)

Mckay was so excited to get some more Star Wars Lego sets.

Hopefully all of Mckay's wishes came true that day.

Then: August 29, 2003

Now: August 29, 2009
We love you Mckay and hope that you had a great day!

First Day of School

2009-08-26T23:28:00.007-06:00

It's official! Mckay is now in Kindergarten. He had a great 1st day and loves his teacher and recess. As for me, I was pretty brave and didn't shed any tears until after I dropped him off. I'll miss having my little boy home, but I sure am excited for him.

What a handsome boy!

Mckay and Justin Cook

Mckay was so excited. He gave us a quick hug and was ready to start. He certainly was braver then I was!

Mckay's Graduation

2009-06-14T16:55:00.011-06:00

I can't believe it! Mckay graduated from preschool a few weeks ago and will be a big kindergartner this fall. Where does the time go? It was bitter-sweet moment, but mostly sweet, watching Mckay's graduation program. It was so much fun to watch him sing the songs that they have been working on all year with unbelievable enthusiasm. Mckay had the time of his life being the center of attention. He can be quite the performer when he wants to be. As for me, I couldn't be a prouder mom. It brought me genuine happiness watching him sing with all his might-literally! We are so proud of you Mckay and love you very much!

Mckay singing his little heart out.

He was so happy that night, it was contagious!

Mckay and Miss Tiffany. We love her!

Our Family with Grandma & Grandpa Cutler. Julie, Preston & Hailey were also able to come.

Our little graduate loving the attention from Grandma & Grandpa.

Women's Conference

2009-06-11T20:18:00.006-06:00

One of my very favorite activities over the last month was going to Women's Conference with my mom and sisters. It was hard to leave my kids for two days, but I came home feeling spiritually and emotionally feed. It was such an amazing experience and left me wanting to be a better wife, mother and friend.

Day 1
I loved the whole conference, but my favorite part was being with my mom. For the first day it was just me and her. We spent the day taking classes about disciplining kids, (something I definitely need help with!) having hope, and learning how we can do all things in the strength of the Lord.

That night we went to the Smith Fieldhouse and participated in a giant service project. There were all kinds of projects from hygiene kits, to making tu-tus. My mom and I tied blankets and met the sweetest old lady who we later found out was a distant relative.

After the service project my mom, our new friend, and I went to a concert put on by various Deseret Book artists. It was such a treat to see so many talented performers in one night. My favorite performer by far was an artist by the name of Dallyn Vail Bayles. He has performed in Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera. He made you feel like you were watching a Broadway performance. It was amazing to say the least!

My Mom and Me

Day 2
For the second day my little sister Melissa and my sister-in-law Heather joined us. It was so much fun to have them with us. In the morning we listened to Sister Beck speak on the importance of protecting our families. We later listened to the former Miss Utah and a young mother share some of their experiences on loving those around you. We also got to hear my favorite BYU professor, Brad Wilcox, speak on turning weaknesses into Strengths. We were then honored to hear Elder L. Tom Perry and his wife speak to us on the importance of missionary work.

Going to Women's Conference was such a worthwhile experience. I hope that it is something that I can do every year.

Melissa, Me, My Mom, and Heather

A Post a Day....

2009-06-10T21:23:00.013-06:00

I'm finally blogging again after a little break--okay a long break, but I'm excited to start sharing some of the things are family has been doing this last month and a half. I figured that the best way to catch up was to create a post a day. Time will tell if I actually do it, but I have high hopes! I hope you enjoy!

I thought that I would start with Mckay's Preschool Field trips. Mckay absolutely loved going on field trips with his class! Here are some of the pictures from our last two trips.

The Farm
For this field trip we just went to a local farm in Mapleton. Although both kids thought that it smelled stinky they loved seeing all the animals.

Petting a baby lamb

This little calf was born the morning of our field trip. We felt pretty spoiled to be able see this cute little cow.

Even Madison loved seeing all the animals and was brave enough to pet the sheep. It surprised me because she is terrified of most animals. Maybe we should have a pet sheep instead of a dog.

Bean Museum
I love going on field trips with Mckay, but going to the Bean Museum is a different story. I don't mind all of the animals and most of the museum is really fun for kids, but I hate the snakes that they show during the reptile show. There really is nothing in the world that scares me as bad as those slimy, sly creatures. I hope Mckay knows how much I love him just to be in the same building with those creepy snakes!

Look at our little model posing for the camera!

Touching the turtle

New Car

2009-04-29T12:57:00.003-06:00

After almost 8 years of marriage, PJ and I finally decided to replace one of our old cars with a newer one. We debated back and forth between the Honda Odyssey and Honda Pilot, but when it was all said and done, the Pilot won our votes. We already love having the extra room and the 4-wheel drive will be awesome for going to the cabin.

Funny!

2009-04-27T22:06:00.007-06:00

A few weeks ago when the weather was bad, I took the kids to McDonald's to play and have a lunch date with their favorite mom--not that it matters that I'm their only mom. Anyway, after playing for awhile, Madison noticed a life-size Ronald McDonald and sat right next to him and said, "Daddy". Apparently, PJ reminds her of good old Ronald! I had a pretty good laugh over
that one!

The kids with "daddy"

Easter Fun

2009-04-24T15:11:00.033-06:00

Easter Egg Hunt #1
My kids definitely got their fair share of Easter egg hunts this year. Between playgroup, primary activity, Grandma's house, and the Easter Bunny we now have a year's supply of candy. That's just as important as wheat right? This first Easter egg hunt was at a neighboorhood playgroup get-together.

Waiting patiently for permission to go...

Mckay quickly found his share plus a little more.

Everyone enjoying the findings.

Decorating Eggs

Check out the concentration. We might have a future Micheal Jordan on our hands.

What a babe!

Easter Morning:
Our kids woke up bright and early Easter morning. It didn't take them too long before they found where the Easter bunny had hidden their baskets.

Princess Madi's Basket

Mckay's basket

Madi loved her princess stuff that the Easter bunny left.

Mckay loved the Legos and new scriptures that he got.

Easter Day
After playing with the stuff the Easter bunny gave us, we quickly got ready for church and enjoyed a wonderful sacrament meeting. Our family certainly feels grateful for the role that our Savior plays in our lives. Because of him, we know that we can live as a family together forever! What a comfort and a blessing this truth is to us. We are so grateful for the resurection and the atonement. It truly is what Easter is about.

My favorite blessings!

Madi in her Easter dress.

Easter Hunt at Grandma's
After church we went over and ate dinner with PJ's family and then headed up to Orem to have an Easter Egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Cutler's house. Instead of candy my dad fills the eggs with change that he has collected over the last year. As you can imagine it ends up being a very competitive Easter Egg Hunt.

Scott, Heather, and Madi

Andrea and Heather

Christian and Melissa

Grandma and Madi

Back row: Jordan, Melissa, Christian, Scott, Heather
Front row: Grandpa, Grandma, Melissa, Andrea, PJ, and Mckay

March Pictures and Activities

2009-04-02T14:13:00.039-06:00

I finally unloaded our pictures from this last month! This should hopefully sum up what our family has been up to this last month...

Bowling with Grandma
The other night we took the kids bowling with my mom. We thought we would score a perfect 300 since we've been "practicing" on the wii the last few months. It ended up being pretty comical. All of us barely broke 100 with bumpers!

David Archuleta Concert
I admit it! I'm a David Archuleta fan. I love American Idol and I got hooked last year, so when my friend Heather Bakker invited me to go to the David Archuleta concert with her, it was a quick yes. Even though the room was mostly filled with young teenage girls screaming, "I love you David", we still had such a good time. Our tickets were amazing and David's voice really is unbelievable! To make it even better Benton Paul opened for him and we got to meet him shortly after he preformed.

Heather & Me. You gotta love self-taken pictures!

David Archuleta

Meeting Benton Paul after the show.

100% Girl!

I caught Madison lying like this one day while she was watching her Disney Princess Sing-A-Long movie. It is the only thing that she likes to watch. Even though she just turned two a few months ago, she knows all the princesses names by heart.

Backyard Campout

For Christmas, PJ got a firebowl for our patio and a new tent that he has been dying to try it out. So when the weather was good a few weeks ago, he talked me into having a campout in our backyard. We roasted hotdogs and smores over the fire and watch Star Wars inside the tent on our portable DVD player. Since we were so close to the house we actually brought our regular mattresses inside the tent to sleep on. Even though we were really comfortable, we didn't sleep a wink thanks to our Spanish Fork wind. It blew so hard that night that it actually broke the tent! Oh well, at least we had fun and laughed about it in the morning.

Madi, PJ, & Mckay relaxing on our mattress.

Madi and Mckay loved our campout!

Enjoying the light of the fire

Terrible Twos

I went grocery shopping the other day and left a bag by the front door. It didn't take long for my little Madi girl to make a big mess!

Sweet Mercydez

One of the heartbreaking and bitter sweet events of the month was when our dear friends Nic and Ashley Haws little girl Mercydez passed away. She was born with a heart condition and several other serious difficulties which caused her constant pain. She was just 14 months old when she passed away, yet her short lived life blessed everyone who knew her. Because of her, my family has been blessed. Our faith has been increased, our temple attendance has been more meaningful, and our hope in our Savior has become surer. Our belief that families can be together forever has been strengthened. Our prayers are now more sincere and we have a stronger desire to make the most of each day and to be better parents. We are a little more patient and our love for our children has been increased. We are so grateful for the Haws family and their examples of faith. We still think of them everyday and pray for them to continue to feel peace and happiness even during this difficult time.

Card Nights:

I started holding card nights at my house again this month. I love having an excuse to get together with the girls. Here are some of the cards that we made this month.

I made this one for a card swap.

Wait....

Surprise!! This card was one of my favorites.

I made this one in hopes that Spring would come soon. (I'm still hoping!)

Jordan's Court of Honor

My youngest brother Jordan received his Eagle this last month. We are so proud of his hard work and the good person that he is. PJ was in charge of the power point presentation and I helped with the music. It turned out to be a really nice tribute and hopefully honored Jordan for being such an amazing person. Here are some of the pictures from the night.

PJ, Jordan, Me, Madi and Mckay

My Family: PJ, Me, Madison, Mckay, Christian, Melissa, Jordan, Mom, Dad, Scott and Heather.

Preschool trip to Two Jacks Pizza

Mckay's preschool class took a trip to a pizza place here in Spanish Fork and it ended up being pretty funny. One of the workers was asking the class were cheese, tomatoes, peppers, and olives came from. Then he asked the class were chicken came from and Mckay answered, "From a cow!" I think we might need to have a little talk.

Discovery at Gateway

Earlier in the month, my friend Olivia Jarrett invited our family to go with her kids and their home school group on a field trip to Discovery Gateway's Children Museum. It was one of the best places that I have ever taken my kids. The whole museum is hands on and loaded with different learning activities for kids of all ages. Some of the stations included a construction site, play house, water exhibit, grocery store, building center, weather station, helicopter, and many more! My kids loved it! I can't wait to go back again.

Mckay playing with a crane at the construction site.

Mckay learning how to build bridges.

Madison loved this little car.

Both of my kids loved the helecopter.

Captain Mckay

By the water station they had this blower that was Madison's height. After she would get her hands wet she would press the button and just laugh hard. This was her first time using a hand dryer and she thought that it was hilarious!

Our Super Date!!!

One of my favorite days over this last month was my super date with PJ. PJ took a whole day off work and we just played! It started at Sundance where we spent most of the day skiing. Before long we realized that we are not as young as we use to be and called it a day. After skiing, we hurried home and got ready for the Rascal Flats concert. On the way up to Salt Lake, we stopped and ate at Olive Garden and then we finally ended our day by listening to Rascal Flats give an amazing concert.

PJ & I at Sundance

April Fool's Day

2009-04-01T22:40:00.005-06:00

No it's not a joke! I'm actually updating my blog! This last month has been so busy (as always) for our family and I'm excited to share some of the good, sad and funny moments that we have had over the last month, but since it's April Fool's Day I thought I would share a funny story from when PJ and I were in High School.

As many of you know PJ and I met our sophomore year in high school. I was his first date after he turned sixteen and even though we were never boyfriend/girlfriend in high school, we had a very friendly relationship and had a lot of fun playing jokes, flirting, and of course playing volleyball.

It was on a beautiful spring morning—not the snowy kind-- a few years ago when PJ decided to start a war of jokes. PJ broke into our locker and stole our Easter candy. We soon started drafting up notes threatening PJ with his life and all kinds of unmentionables if he didn’t return our candy. Apparently he didn’t feel any kind of threat and the candy remained in his possession. Of course we couldn’t let him get away with this criminal act and so we decided to take the law into our own hands.

On the first day of April, my best friend Bethany and I decided to try and steal the candy back. After school that day, we drove over to PJ’s house and found that no one was home, but the front door was unlocked. We quickly entered and found PJ’s room. There was no candy in sight, but we found something even better. PJ”s country CD’s and a picture of his current girlfriend—blah!! At that time I hated country, but PJ absolutely loved it. We decided that we would take all of his country CD’s and the picture of his precious girlfriend as ransom until the candy was safely delivered to its rightful owners. We left a note stating our terms and quickly left.

Later that night during family home evening the phone rang and my dad answered it. He quickly replied that it was for me and that I needed to hurry since we were in the middle of the lesson. This is how the conversation went:

Andrea: Hello

Lady on Phone: Is this Andrea Diane Cutler?

Andrea: Yes. Who is this?

Lady: This is the Orem Police Department. We have witnesses that have testified that you and another individual broke and entered into an Orem Residence earlier this afternoon at approximately 3:45 p.m.

Andrea: I don’t know what you are talking about.

Lady: There are witnesses who say that you broke into a house early this afternoon and took some items that belong to the Peery family.

(At this point, it finally hit me what she was talking about)

Me: Oh that! That was just a joke. One of my friends lives there and we were just having a little fun.

Lady: Breaking and entering is no joke! We are sending an Orem Police Officer over to investigate further.

(About this time I was almost in tears and my family was yelling at me to get off the phone.)

The officer concluded with: And Andrea, one more thing…April Fools!!!

PJ set me up!!! He talked his mom into pretending that she was a police woman. I have to admit I was scared! Although PJ and I still had a little negotiating to do, he certainly won that playful war.

PJ, Me, and our friend Dane in High School after a boys volleyball game.

Roosevelt Volleyball Tournament

2009-02-25T21:48:00.007-07:00

What a weekend I just had! It was loaded (literally) with a minivan full of girls, Mini Cadbury Eggs, card games, broken toilets, late nights, no sleep, early mornings, McDonalds, laughing at unearthly hours of the night, score keeping, and oh ya…a little game called VOLLEYBALL! We just came back from the most amazing weekend of volleyball in Roosevelt of all places!

For the last several years I’ve been playing volleyball with the same bunch of girls almost on a weekly basis. Whether it’s playing outside on the grass, in a church, or with a city league, we always seem to manage to have fun and this weekend was no exception.

The pool play portion of the tournament started Friday night at around 6:00pm. We ended playing several games that night until they finally closed the gym around 12:45 a.m. We were slightly tired to say the least! All six of us shared the same hotel room with one bathroom and a broken toilet. (We got pretty good at finding creative ways to make it flush!) Although I was exhausted, I must have been too wound up from playing because I could not sleep and apparently I wasn’t the only one. At 4:00 a.m. Misti Loveland turned to me and asked, “Have you even gone to sleep yet?” followed by a “Me neither!”

The next morning we finished pool play and ended up placing in the top seat. Shortly after that, the actual tournament part began. We ended up winning the first team we played in 2 games to 25, but the second team was a whole different story. They were a really good team and although we won the first game, we couldn’t pull together for the second two. So we officially lost and got placed into the loser’s bracket. All games in the loser’s bracket were only 1 game to 25 and single elimination. If we lost again we would be out. We proceeded to play really tough teams, but amazingly enough we kept winning. There was one team in particular that we were playing and we were down 14 to 20. They were stomping on us, and the bad part was that our team is generally not a comeback team. One good play however turned that all around. We came back and won 25 to 15! That game put us in the championship game against the same team that we lost to earlier that day. In order to win, we had to beat them 3 times in a row. They honestly thought that they had it made, and I can’t blame them. They had an amazing team and definitely the upper hand, but our team was so determined. All three games were extremely close, but when it was all said and done our team won all three and ended up taking first place! We were so excited! For our prize we got volleyball sweatshirts and celebrated over pizza at Pizza Hut.

OUR TEAM:
Outside Hitters: Misti Loveland & Me
Middle Blockers: Jenn Boyer & Melanie Partridge
Opposite: Jane Chang
Setter: Charee Neeves

Super Strong Dad!

2009-02-19T23:26:00.002-07:00

So last night at dinner PJ commented to Mckay, "Do you know that there are other people stronger than me?" To which Mckay replied, "Ya dad, only two. Heavenly Father and Jesus." Oh how I love the sweet comments that kids make. I hope that Mckay always thinks of his dad as SuperMan. PJ says he is happy to take 3rd place.

Valentines Weekend

2009-02-15T16:31:00.007-07:00

Our family had a great Valentines weekend, not necessarily because we got showed with gifts, but because we got to spend the whole weekend with those we love most.

On Friday night our whole family, on the Cutler side, meet together and went up to the Draper Temple Open House. Although it was a really late night we had such a good experience walking through the temple with our two kids. In our Family Home Evening lessons, we have been talking about the importance of the temple and it was really neat for us to watch the reverence which our kids showed as they walked through the temple. Madison kept saying, “Jesus House” and Mckay without us telling him, kept his arms folded the whole time. It’s amazing that at such a young age they can feel the importance of this holy house. For me, it was another witness of how close children are to our Heavenly Father and how we should be more like them.

Draper Temple

The next morning for Valentines, we made our family’s favorite breakfast-crepes. At breakfast we gave each other our little Valentines. Mckay made a cute card for Madi, and PJ and I got Mckay Lego Star Wars for the Wii. For our Valentine gift to each other this year, PJ and I decided to get Rascal Flats concert tickets. The concert is on February 26th and I can hardly wait! PJ has never really liked going to concerts, but I absolutely love them. For him to do this with me is a real act of love! Thank you Sweetheart! I love you!

Later that day, PJ took me to see Confessions of a Shopaholic at the Spanish Fork movie theater. Although it’s a cheesy girl movie, I really liked it. (PJ teased that’s because I can relate!) After the movie we picked up a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy’s (Mckay’s request). PJ’s mom and Judd joined us for dinner and brought dessert. For the rest of the night we enjoyed a fun night at home playing Star Wars on the Wii, Go Fish, and watching another chick-flick—I really am loved! PJ kept asking when we are going to have a boy’s movie night. Poor guy! Maybe he can finally watch the new Batman movie while I’m playing volleyball in the Roosevelt tournament this weekend.

What's New with the Peery Family

2009-02-11T14:18:00.009-07:00

After this last month we are convinced that we must have the most patient kids in the whole world. This last month has certainly been a busy one for our family and our wonderful kids have still been smiling through it all. Here is just a glimpse of the happenings around our house.

PJ:
PJ’s life can be summed up in just one word: GMAT. For the last year, PJ has been studying for this test with hopes to get into BYU’s MBA program. Studying for this test has consumed nearly all of his free time and has taken a lot of sacrifice from the whole family. He finally re-took the test a few weeks ago and is now in the process of applying to BYU’s MBA program. We are hoping and praying that he will be able to get into school this fall. With work, Young Men’s, and applying for school, he amazingly enough still puts us on the top of his priority list. We feel so blessed to have such a wonderful guy in our lives.

Andrea:
For me this month was a busy one mainly because I got asked to speak in church and that stresses me out! A few weeks ago PJ tattled to the bishopric that I haven’t spoken in church since before Mckay was born. Being the kind bishopric that they are, they didn’t want to deprive me of that privilege. Needless to say, I was pretty happy with PJ. (I still think that he should owe me backrubs every day for a month!) Sadly enough, preparing for this talk consumed all of my spare time because I’m such a worry wart. Like most things however, when it was all said and done, I felt blessed to be able to study so much about the temple.

Besides studying for my talk, my spare time has been consumed with practicing the piano for our ward choir. Although this can be stressful at times too, it also has been a blessing to continue to develop one of my talents. On top of this, the last few weeks have been jammed packed with volleyball games, playing with kids, cleaning up messes, teaching piano lessons, helping with reading and homework, working out, playing house and Star Wars, dressing up like princesses and helping PJ apply for BYU. I’ve decided it’s a blessing to be busy.

Mckay:
The other day Mckay was spot-lighted at church and received his favorite candy bar. Instead of eating it all by himself, without us saying a word he split it into four equal pieces so everyone in our family could have a bite. His maturity amazes me! He is so kind and thoughtful and is such a good brother. He has such a desire to do what is right and already has a strong testimony. A few days ago PJ and I bought him one of those big bouncing balls from Old Navy and he lost it. Without us prompting him at all, he said a prayer. A few seconds after that, he felt like he knew where to look for his ball. He quickly found it and came up the stairs with tears in his eyes. When we asked him what was wrong he said, “I just feel so happy that Heavenly Father answered my prayer.” He then went on to relate the whole story.

Besides being a genuinely good kid, Mckay has been busy with pre-school, playing with his friends, reading new books, and playing on the wii.

Madison:
Madison is certainly our little princess who keeps us on our toes. She loves to dress up in princess clothes and play house. Her language has really developed over this last month. She tries to copy almost everything that we say. It’s nice to be able to actually communicate with her. Madi is my little buddy and still my baby! We think that she gets cutter everyday. We love her so much!

For Fun:
Despite all the busyness, we have still tried to make time to do fun things together as a family. The day after PJ took the GMAT he took Mckay on a special date to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate. We have also made time for weekly date nights, tennis on the wii, game nights playing Go Fish and Skipbo, and sledding.

All dressed up for a fun day in the cold

Mckay, Madi & Daddy having a good time sledding

Can it be Christmas again?

2009-01-05T21:55:00.039-07:00

What a fun crazy month we just had! It was jammed packed with shopping, parties, family and friends. Since there were so many things going on, I thought I would make a Top 10 list of our favorite events of the month.

#1 Christmas
We had such a wonderful Christmas. The festivities started on Christmas Eve at Grandma & Grandpa Cutler's house. All of my brothers and sisters were there and we enjoyed some of our favorite traditions including reading over the Christmas story, opening a special gift from Grandma, and writing a letter to Santa. We made sure to thank Santa for sending Scott a wife this year :-)

Mckay opening up Grandma's gift. This year she gave the kids pajamas and some books. They loved them.

Madison couldn't believe that she was actually allowed to open the presents after being told "No, No" all month.

Mom & Dad Cutler

Our Family. We were glad to add a few more faces this year. We love you Heather & Christian!

When we got home on Christmas Eve, Mckay begged to sleep out by the tree so that he could catch Santa. After about 5 minutes of staring intensely at the wall he was out cold.

As a joke, PJ and I switched Mckay's stocking out for this giant one. Mckay thought that was fantastic!

Princess Madi all dressed up! She loved the dress up clothes that she got for Christmas.

After opening presents at our house we zipped over to PJ's mom's house for an amazing breakfast. We had such a good time visiting and sharing presents.

Pj's sister Julie & her family. (Julie, Hailey, Jon & Preston)

Grandma & Grandpa Anderson. We were so happy to have Grandpa home for a few days.

Grandma took Mckay shopping to look for a present for Grandpa this year. Mckay was determined that Grandpa really "wanted" a new tractor and of course Grandmas can't say no. Grandpa loved it and we all had a good laugh!

After a morning full of fun at Grandma Debbie's house we headed back over to the Cutler house for the rest of the afternoon. We had a wonderful time playing the wii, opening presents, playing in the White Christmas snow, and enjoying my mom's traditional steak & shrimp dinner. Mmmm....

By the end of the day we felt so blessed and spoiled! We love you family! Thanks for making it such a wonderful day for us.

#2 Christmas Cakes

For Christmas Eve dinner, PJ whipped out these Christmas cakes. The kids thought it was pretty fun.

#3 Madison's Birthday

On December 29th my baby girl turned 2! I can't believe how quick the time has flown by. She is growing up so fast and is already into everything that is pink and girly. She loves her babies, princesses, and dressing up in pretty dresses. She insists on having a bow in her hair and loves talking on the phone, wearing purses, and high heel shoes! She makes us smile every day and melts our hearts when she randomly dishes out hugs and kisses. She is such a blessing in our lives and we love her very much!

For her birthday we had both of our families over for cake & presents. PJ & I got her a kitchen set and she loves making us mi-mi's (macaroni) and oatmeal. (Staples in our home)

Opening Aunt Melissa's gift.

Julie gave her this winter set. She didn't want to take it off.

Madi knew just what to do with the candle, but almost burnt her little nose in the process!

#4 Playing the Day after Christmas

One of our favorite things about Christmas break was being home the day after Christmas. It was so much fun for us to be home and just play with our kids.

PJ & Mckay playing dart tag.

#5 New Years at the Cabin

For New Years Eve and day we went up to our family cabin and played in the snow. It was fun to go snowmobiling and sledding. We were also able to find some time to relax with a few games and movies.

Mckay rode a little snowmobile all by himselft. Grandpa Cutler couldn't be prouder.

Mckay and Grandpa

#6 Madi and her Babies

This is one of my very favorite pictures taken just after Christmas. This is how Madison wants to sleep every night. If she has her babies she is one happy girl.

#7 One sided snowball fights

The other day Mckay wanted to have a snowball fight and this is how it went....

1. I made a snowball for Madison

2. Madison would give the snowball to Mckay

3. Mckay would plaster me with the snowball

4. Repeat

5. The End

They thought they were oh so funny.

#8 Carving Snowmen with Dad

Over the Christmas break PJ took a break from studying for the GMAT and just spent time with us. We loved it! During one of those frosty nights, PJ taught Mckay how to carve a snowman out of balsa foam. It actually turned out really good and Mckay now thinks that he is going to grow up to become a professional carver.

The night after this project we went to a Christmas Carving party where Mckay stole a carving knife in a White Elephant game. He was so proud of that knife and no one had the heart to steal it back from him.

#9 Here Comes Santa Claus...

Our kids had the chance to meet Santa at our ward Christmas party. Mckay was absolutely amazed when he knew his name. Madison on the other hand was scared to death! We finally convinced her to give him a high five.

Mckay's Christmas wish this year was a Nerf Longshot and Battle Helicopters. It was a good thing that he was such a good boy.

#10 Piano Recital

One of my very favorite things in the world, next to playing with my kids, is teaching piano lessons. I absolutely love it! This is a picture from our Christmas Piano Recital. All of my students did such a great job! I was so proud of them and I'm already looking forward to our Spring Recital.

Back Row: Sarah Harris, Alisha Boyack & Me

Front Row: Elizabeth Phibbs, Katie Phibbs, Ashley Norris, Seth Jones, and Preston Bridges

Madison's First Haircut

2008-12-15T15:06:00.007-07:00

It's official. Madi has now had her first haircut. Even though mullets are pretty cool, it just had to go. My friend Misti Loveland cut Madison's hair for us. She ended up cutting 3-4 inches off the back. Madison did such a good job holding still. She was so cute! As she was getting her hair cut she would look in the mirror and say "pretty."

Before...

After.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-12-14T13:59:00.008-07:00

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving this year! It had a the neccessities of a good day: football, family, and food! The day started out with PJ being able to meet his old buddies for their traditional Turkey Bowl. While the boys were getting dirty, I meet PJ's mom and sister for an awesome breakfast at Villiage Inn. It was fun to have a little girl time and of course pour over the Black Friday Ads! After breakfast and football PJ and I were able to spend a little more time over at PJ's mom's house. She is such a blessing to us! We love her so much a truly cherish any time that we are able to spend with her.

After lunch, we meet up with the Cutler family and headed up to our family cabin. We always love going up there. It's only a hour drive away, but when you are there it feels like you've escaped from the world. It's always beautiful this time of year with plenty of snow-except for this year. Somebody forgot to order the snow! This was the first Thanksgiving that we were able to drive our little car all the way to the top.

We had a great time playing at the cabin. We stayed until Saturday afternoon and had plenty of time to watch movies, play games, play duets on the piano, and make gingerbread houses. This year PJ and Mckay made an outhouse gingerbread house! was pretty funny.

On a serious note, our family has felt very blessed this year. We feel so lucky to have so many wonderful friends and family. In a time where many our losing their jobs and homes, it really makes you think of all the little things that we take advantage of. There are so many countless blessings that our kind Heavenly Father grants us each day. One of my goals for this upcoming year is to show my gratitude for the simplest things.

Our Little Indian- Mckay's preschool made Indian costumes for their Thanksgiving Feast. He had a lot of fun playing around the house and howlering Indian calls.

Family Pictures

2008-12-03T21:33:00.036-07:00

It's that magical time of year again when it's time to update the family photo. These are just a few that our friend Annalisa took. We are still trying to figure out which one we should send with our Christmas cards this year. Any suggestions?

This is how Mckay really felt about taking pictures.

October Pictures

2008-11-30T10:09:00.021-07:00

October was such a fun month for our family. Besides going to Disneyland we also were able to do a lot of fun things together as a family including Preschool field trips, carving pumpkins, costume parades and of course trick-or-treating!

VISITING THE PUMPKIN PATCH
One of my favorite parts about being a mom is being able to go on school field trips. The pumpkin patch this year was no exception. For this trip, we went to the Big Red Barn in Santiquin. The kids had such a good time riding on the hay ride, picking out their pumpkins and eating doughnuts.

Having fun on the hay ride.

Silly pumpkin heads!

Best Buddies-Jace & Mckay

Mckay's future car

Carving Pumpkins

Mckay couldn't wait to dig into his pumpkin. PJ banned simple pumpkin carving the first year we were married. We downloaded pictures from the internet...enjoy!

Mckay carving a scary Winnie the Pooh face.

Me and Minnie

The final product!

Are you scared yet? (Left to right- Mckay, PJ, Andrea)

MCKAY'S PRESCHOOL TRICK-OR-TREAT

Captain Jack (Mckay) at his preschool Halloween party.

Trunk-or-treating with Miss Tiffany.

Mckay with his loot.

Only about half of the kids are dressed up. The rest are wearing their regular clothes.

HALLOWEEN NIGHT!!!

We have been looking forward to Halloween for a few weeks. Mckay couldn't wait to wear his Captain Jack Sparrow costume he bought in Disneyland. Nothing was more fitting than a princess costume for our Madison. PJ and I were saved with last minute costumes from our friends Nic and Ashley Haws (PJ's will be explained later). It didn't take Madison long to figure out she could walk up to somebody and mumble something remotely resembling "Trick-or-treat" and people would give her candy. She always tried to get as much as her little hands could hold. Mckay loved the four wheeler rides, haunted house, and Disney movie all arranged by the ward. When we got home that night Madi bolted for her high chair, hid underneath, and began the sugar feast. We have never seen Madison get possessive of her things until that night. We almost had to use pliers to get her basket out of her hands to check through her candy. When we did pour it out on the floor you would have thought her life was about to end because of how upset she got. Being the loving family that we are all we could do was laugh as she pitched her fit. The kids had a couple of pieces and we made sure they had a good teeth brushing before they went to bed.

The only time Dad will let me wear makeup.

Mckay protecting Princess Madi.

Hippie Andrea!

Can you tell PJ is dressed up like a white trash, beer belly, redneck dude? At the ward trunk or treat everybody thought he dressed up like a pregnant lady who couldn't keep her belly and chest in. The looks we got that night were either of grand elation or utter discust. His hippie date (ME!) was totally embarrased.

Ready for a fun night!!

A Magical Week

2008-10-24T14:02:00.051-06:00

We're back after a truly magical week. We had such a good time and made so many unforgetable memories. It was a nearly perfect trip. The kids were great, the weather was wonderful, and I’m already ready to go back to Disneyland. Here’s the breakdown of our trip…

Day 1:
We left on a very cold, snowy Sunday afternoon and headed down to Vegas. It was nice to run away from the bad weather. We made great time and were able to relax that night in the Vegas Condo. PJ’s mom cooked us an awesome steak dinner and later that night we checked out the strip.

Day 2:
The next day we hit the outlet’s in Primm and drove the rest of the way to California. We meet up with Vicki and Andy (Dane’s parents-our adopted parents) for dinner. They treated us to Bubba Gumps in Universal Studios. We had such a great time and our kids loved walking around all the stores.

Waiting for dinner...

Scary Shrimp Guy

Dinner with Andy & Vicki

The closest Mckay & Madi will ever get to having a real dog.

After dinner we drove to Anaheim. Mckay was so excited for Disneyland that he could not sleep.

Day 3-Disneyland
Disneyland was absolutely amazing. There's a reason why it's called the happiest place on earth. Honestly, it took self-control for me not to skip and break out in song as I walked through the gates. We had so much fun and the kids were so good. The lines were amazing. On several rides we were able to walk right on. Everything was decorated festive for the holidays. I highly recommend going in October. It was by far the best trip to Disneyland I've ever had.

Disneyland Gates

Beautiful Madi

Waiting in line to see Nemo. Madison adsolutely loved all the fish. It was one of her favorite rides.

Mckay was so excited to meet the "real"Buzz Lightyear. He was Mckay's favorite character.

PJ, Madison, Mckay, Hailey & Julie

Goofy was the friendliest of all the characters and made us laugh.

Exchanging kisses.

Poor Madison was scared to death of Mickey!

Waiting for captain Jack! We waited for almost an hour for him to show up.

Captain Jack Sparrow holding Madison's baby in a loving way.

Mckay, Jack, and Peston. Mckay loved going on Pirates of the Caribbean ride and after meeting the "real Jack" he decided he had to be Captain Jack Sparrow for Halloween. It was a fun suvenior to take home from Disneyland.

Wild Toad Ride

Madison loved the carousel in Fantasyland.

The end of an awesome day.

Day 4-Disneyland
For our fourth day, PJ's family took Madison down to the Oceanside Condo and PJ and I were able to spend a whole day with just Mckay at Disneyland. We were so grateful for them being willing to do this. We had such a good time with Mckay. For the first half of the day we spent it over at California Adventures. Mckay was fearless! He went on every ride that he could. After going on the Tower of Terror, Mckay said, "That was awesome!" When we asked him if he was scared, he said, "only a little." (I was still shaking!) We also loved going on Soarin California and the Toy Story ride. We were also able to meet a ton of characters in just a few minutes.

Cruella Devil was just as witchy in real life. When we asked her to sign her autograph in Mckay's book she said, "If I must Darling!" I think that she was scarier to Mckay then the Tower of Terror.

The Queen of Hearts LOVED PJ!!!

Mr. Incredible & Mckay showing their stuff!

Handy Mandy

Waiting for the Bugs Life movie

After the Bugs Life 3-D Movie, we had some lunch in a hanger by Soarin California and headed back over to Disneyland to catch the Woody's Round Up show.

After the show we grabbed some fast passes for Splash Mountain and went on the safari ride. The whole time we were on the Safari boat ride Mckay kept asking over and again, "Is that real?"

After a few short hours we headed back over to California Adventures to ride the Toy Story ride one more time and catch the parade. Unfortunately the lines were too long on the Toy Story ride, but we did get to go on the Grizzy River Rapids. A lady in line gave me her pancho. I felt like such a dork--but I did stay dry!!

Poor Mckay and PJ got soaked!!!

Moral of the story.....It's worth looking like a dork!

Later that night we ran back over to Disneyland to go on Mckay's favorite ride Splash Mountain. We also able to hit a few other rides and to pick out some souvenirs.

The end of a long, fun day. Mckay was so sad to go he couldn't hold back his tears. We couldn't blame him. We are already hoping to make the trip again in a few years.

Day 5-Oceanside
This was such a relaxing day. We were able to sleep in, hit the pool, and play tennis. Later that day we walked to the beach and had so much fun playing in the sand and water with PJ's family. That night we went out for Red Lobster and enjoyed being lazy.

Mckay Boogie-boarding

Beach Babes!

One sandy bum!

Day 6-SeaWorld

Sea World was a lot of fun too, not quite as magical as Disneyland, but our kids had a good time and we definitely got plenty wet!

Feeding the Dolphins

Madi was not quite sure what to think

I even got brave enough to touch one.

Madison looking like a California babe in my sunglasses at the Dolphin Show.

We are not quite sure what Mckay is doing here....

Shammu & the trainer. The kids insisted that we sit in the splash zone, and everyone got soaked. The kids thought it was halarious!

Not just a warning.... (Mckay, Andrea, Debbie, and Preston)

This ride is similar to Disney's Grizzy Rapids but you get a lot wetter. It was my favorite ride at Sea World because of Debbie. She was laughing so hard it was contagious. Every ounce of us dripping wet. We had a good laugh over it!

Jon & Julie

Mckay Debbie, and Andrea

Preston & PJ

The Sea Lions show had a Halloween theme and was one of our favorites.

Silly Madi

Preston & Debbie

Our family after a very fun & wet day!

Day 6 and 7-On the road again...

The next day we packed everything up and hit the beach for one more time. Our drive to Vegas seemed a little long, but luckily we were able to break it up with some outlet shopping in Barstow. That night in Vegas we just relaxed and had short cake from one of the casinos.

The next day we woke up earlier and spent most of the morning looking for a church to go to. We finally found one close to the Las Vegas temple. The ward members were so kind and inviting. It was a good example to us of how we should treat visitors. After church we drove the rest of the way home and read the 3rd Fablehaven book aloud.

Overall, it was such a wonderful trip. We felt so blessed to be able to go and hope to go on many more like it in the near future.

2 Days Left!

2008-10-10T19:48:00.009-06:00

Since the beginning of the year, we have been planning and saving for a trip to Disneyland. Our whole family has been so excited. Mckay can hardly sleep at night as he is constantly thinking about what it will be like to go on Splash Mountain and the Buzz Lightening Ride. For the last week and a half we have been counting down. We made a chain link that Mckay diligently cuts daily. We will be spending a week in sunny California and hopefully miss all the snowy weather in Utah.

Counting Down the Days!!

Intentions...

2008-10-09T23:07:00.002-06:00

All summer long I have been full of good intentions to get our family blog up and going and I finally decided enough is enough---I'm going to do it! Life around the Peery house never seems to be dull and we are so excited to share some our treasured (and most of the time downright halarious) moments with you! We hope you enjoy!

Idaho!

2008-04-12T15:39:00.001-06:00

Hurray! We are finally creating a family blogspot! We are up in Idaho right now with our good friends Marci and Nate Bigler and Marci's been kind enough to help me start our first family blog. We came up here yesterday to celebrate my little sister's graduation and my cousin Spencer's wedding. We have been having so much fun as we have been able to spend time with family and catch up with Marci and her family.