Monday, October 6

She Thinks We're Getting Married...Again!

Kids Say The Darndest Things: The other day I had put on a dress and was getting ready to go.
Ella came in the bathroom and said, "Mommy, where are you going?" I said, "To the Temple with Daddy and you get to stay home and play with Grandma McCrary." Ella got exstatic and said, "Oh Mommy, you are going to get married to my daddy. Yeaaaaaaaaaaah!" I quickly added,"No Ella, we are already married."
She said very matter of factly, "No Mommy, you are going to the temple to marry my daddy." I tried to explain but there was really nothing I could say. We were going to get married.

My Jake





It's not very often I actually get his real smile. And this night he was in his pajamas and it just worked out. We had our own photo shoot. He's so cute!

Family Home Evening


Last week for Family Night we decided to take the family up the mountain for a short hike before it got dark. It was beautiful! We had made congo bars and stuck them in the trunk so we ate one before we left and another when we got back. Mmmmmm! A McCrary Tradition!

Sunday, September 21

My First Cake


Katelin baked her very first cake today all by herself. It turned out really good as you can see by their faces.

The Seasons Are Changing





Our Beautiful Utah Color

One, Two, Three...


Ella was practicing her counting to ten. It works especially well when you have daddy's big toes to work with.

A Bountiful Harvest...


This year our garden sported some of our favorites: Carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, cantelope, watermelon, pumpkins, crook-neck squash, two types of eggplant, two types of green beans, yellow pear tomatoes, big beef tomatoes and roma (salsa) tomatoes. Mmmmm Mmmmmm Good! We had to pick veggies every 2-3 days for a while.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN




Saturday, September 6

The Biggest News of the Year!

Katelin got her ears pierced. Look closely and you can see them.
She told me that she couldn't believe I actually said "Yes" to her getting them pierced. After all, she has been waiting forever and all her friends already have their ears pierced and she is the last nine year old on earth to get her ears pierced. Just as she got finished her friend Ellie Putnam showed up so she was the first one to see Katelin with her new earrings. What a GREAT DAY!

Happy Birthday Katelin

We started the day out by taking the family over the mountain to play in a creek we like to go to in North Fork. On our way back we talked about BBQing our hamburgers and going to the fish park. So we did and as we were loading up we saw the Farnsworths taking all four of their kids to the park for dinner. So we had an impromptu dinner together.
John had a hard time lighting the candles becuase of a slight breeze, but he did it and we sang really fast and out they went.
All the kids on the playground equipment

Shelby's Surprise



Katelin's friend Shelby was going out of town for Labor Day weekend and they left really late so just before they left Shelby came over and decorated Katelin's bedroom while she was sleeping. So when Katelin woke up on her real birthday it was crazy fun!

Jacob and Katelin on their First Day of School

Jacob is now a big 2nd grader and Katelin is in 4th grade. All of their teachers are really good.

Look at these Beautiful Girls

Thanks for making Katelin's party so much fun!

Party

This was her Hannah Montana Cake
Blew out the candles!
Jumped on the trampoline with the water on.
They Played with Balloons

Presents, Presents and more Presents

She got a cute stuffed animal Dog from Katie
DVD Nim's Island from Nicole
Beads and a Summer Backpack from Ellie
Art and Shower Supplies from Rachel
Shower Radio from Shelby

They did girl stuff...You know Hugged and Talked and Laughed
THE GIRLS DANCED
THE GIRLS SANG AND LAUGHED
THE GIRLS TORE DOWN ALL THE STREAMERS

The Surprise - Katelin is 9 Years Old Now

The girls had come early and decorated her bedroom so when she came in they all jumped out and surprised Katelin and Nicole.
Instead of tearing down the T.P. they crawled under.
The girls had toilet papered Katelin's door entrance.

Surprise Party for Katelin - One Week Early

This is Katelin and her friend Nicole. Nicole's mom took Katelin for a couple of hours before the Surprise Party. They went and Katelin and Nicole got their hair cut together and then got Happy Meals. So this is the picture just before they came in the house. I told Katelin that Ella was in her room and trashed it and was listening to all her Hannah Montana CD's. Katelin and Nicole took off running down the stairs to her room.

Ella and the Giant Tomato


This is the first Big Beef Tomato out of our garden. What a Beauty!

17th Wedding Anniversary


I can't believe we have been married for 17 years. I love being married to my best friend. We had such a relaxing day on our Anniversary this year. We had it all planned out and we got a wonderful neighbor to watch our kids for us. We decided to just go up to the mountains and go hiking for the day. It was so peaceful and beautiful and the perfect weather. We took some snacks and water bottles and just walked and talked and spent quality time together. On our way back we took a nice scenic drive through the hills. When we got back to town went to Deseret Book and baught a book for each other. One from Spencer W Kimball and the other by Gordon B Hinckley. It was just a great day getting away together and spending time in the great outdoors.

Just Married ... 17 years ago!

Our First...

Our First Date: We went out and saw the movie "Ghost" There are some very suggestive adult scenes and John was cracking jokes and we laughed through those scenes. The people all around us were shushing us.

Our First Kiss: We were watching the movie "The Little Mermaid" We were at Shar's grandparents house and Sharlene was with us. She went to the kitchen to pop popcorn just before the song came on. Guess which song?
"Kiss the Girl" ha ha ha I still laugh. Kind of lame, but it worked for him. At least it was a clean movie this time.

Our First Halloween: We went to a Young Adult Dance dressed up as Mickey and Minnie

Our First New Years Eve Party: We were definitely together. A thing. A couple. We went to the Annual Fashion Fair Mall New Years Eve Dance. It is a mall in Fresno that the church used to rent after hours every year for the members of the church that were age 14-99. For both of us that was one of the first times that many of our extended families had met John and I together. I felt like I had little spies (younger cousins) all over the place watching us. It was a ton of fun going with John that year.

Our First Valentines Day: By this time I had moved in with my Grandma Boggs and she was on a vacation for a month in Europe so Sharlene came to stay with me for a month. John came over early that morning and made me breakfast in bed with a flower and a heart shaped gift box filled with candy. That night we went to the Valentine's Dance together. Everyone kept looking at us all night. I found out later that all of our friends thought for sure he would propose that day or that night at the dance. They were so disappointed. John and I had fun though.

The Proposal: March 1, 1991 It turns out that that was the same day I got baptized when I was eight years old. He had no idea. John came over to my grandma's house and I had no voice. By this time we were reading scriptures together daily and so we did that and then we read the chapter in D & C about marriage and then he proposed and wipped out the ring box. I had no voice so I just nodded my head and cried. He actually wanted me to say the words so I said YES and I sounded like a frog croaking instead. He just laughed at me and gave me a big hug. But now 17 years later we were reading his journal and found out that he had the same cold just four days earlier and gave it to me. So it's all his fault I had no voice when he proposed. Then he played a song for me that he had found called "A Long Line of Love" It is an old song by a country artist that talks about coming from parents and grandparents that loved each other and stayed together. That's what he wanted for us. It was sweet.

Married: in the Oakland, California Temple

The Dance - September 22, 1990


So yes, we met at that Young Adult Dance on September 22, 1990. John was anxiously on time and Sharlene and I were the casual thirty minutes late. When I walked in the door, John was the first person that I saw and our eyes locked. I remember thinking how cute he was and why all of a sudden was he at this dance when I had never seen him before. Within five minutes John came over and asked me to dance. We danced almost every dance the rest of the night and sat down and talked when we got tired of dancing. It was wonderful! Although, my friends thought I had deserted them. He got my number before we left that night and as they say...The Rest Is History!