After Christmas Update

Hi everyone. It's good to be back and have enough time to blog again. I love the holidays but it really takes it out of me.

Christmas was great. We went to a cabin with the McKinnon side from the 21st to the 24th. It was fun. A couple of interesting things happened like Abe ending up in the hospital the whole time from a sledding accident. There were a few other things but for the most part, we had a great time! Des was sick most of the time so we spent a lot of time in our room letting her sleep. She is such a light sleeper so once you're in the room, you're stuck!

We came home Christmas Eve and went to my parent's house and had dinner. AnnaBelle was so excited for Santa to visit. She was so cute on Christmas morning. She had many presents (thanks to black Friday.) Des just sat and watched and sucked on a candy cane. She played more with the boxes and wrapping than her toys. She got the cutest interactive learning table from my parents. She loves it and plays with it for hours. AnnaBelle loves her new bike. She rides it all through the house (which isn't much.) I can't wait until she can ride it outside with me. I got a new piano keyboard. I desperately need it. I am losing my piano skills since I don't have anything to practice on. I also needed it for singing lessons. It's pretty impossible to teach without a piano. Thank you to my sweet Santa! Noah got a range finder (golf gadget) but he went to Cabella's a couple of days later and exchanged it for something he would use more, which is great. I would rather he gets something he really wants.

It was a great Christmas. It was one of the first since we've been married where it has been tight so we had to get creative. The best part about this Christmas was that it wasn't about presents or things......it was about being together and remembering the true reason why we have this time of year. I asked AnnaBelle what she wanted to give Jesus for Christmas. She said "a hug." I think that's a great gift. My gift is to be my best self. My new resolution this next year is to give people a chance. Sometimes I have a tenancy to judge too quicky and then it's almost impossible to change my opinion. I need to work on that and sometimes turn my finger around at myself. I also tend to evalutate situations or actions without knowing the whole truth. That is what I am going to work on this next year (and to work out more.) I also need to tell those I love that I love them more often especially my wonderful husband. What is your resolution? I would like to know. Thanks for reading.

Ashley

Commercials

Have you ever noticed that the people who represent companies in commercials are absolutely false? For instance, every time I go to Walmart, I can never find that perfect customer service representative that's featured on their commercial. I never get someone who speaks english at McDonalds, the Homedepot and Lowe's people have no idea what's going on, and the guy that helps me at the UPS store isn't a knowledgeable older man, but a young teen that barely knows how to run the register.

The one that irritates me the most, the Clorox commercial where the mom just laughs when her son spills Kool Aid all over her kitchen because luckily, she has the wipes for it. Ummm, I would not act that calm after trying to scrub the red liquid out of my white (now pink) grout. Weird, I have the exact Clorox wipes that are supposed to make spills not a big deal, but I don't act the way the lady does in the commercial. I don't think it's funny when something spills. Irritating.

Merry Christmas!

The McKinnon Family Top Ten 2007 Countdown

Noah
10 Lots for Sale
9 Stalls Built for the Barn
8 Double Bogeys
7 Soaks in the Hot Tub a week
6 Jazz Playoff Games
5 Back Flips Landed
4 Bedroom House for Sale
3 Emotional Girls
2 Trips to Lake Powell
1 New Development

Ashley
10 Miss Lehi Committee Members
9 Months of Nursing
8 Hours of Cleaning
7 Hours of Labor
6 Days of Round-Up
5th Anniversary
4 Eyelashes left
3 Plays Directed
2 Days at Swiss Days
1 Dear Grandma Lost

AnnaBelle
10 Inches of Hair
9 Pre-school Art Projects
8 New Friends
7 Hours at Lagoon
6 Meals a Day
5 Hours a Day in the Sandbox
4 Days and She's Pottytrained!!!
3 YEARS OLD
2 Trips to Disneyland
1 Girl Anxious for Christmas

Desiree
10 Finger and Toes
9 Falls an Hour
8 Lbs 3 Oz
7 Bottles a Day
6 Hundred Pictures
5 Diapers a Day
4 Wonderful Grandparents
3 New Teeth
2 Dimples
1 Sweet Baby!

Tica
1 Dumb Dog!

It all adds up to
One Great Year!!!

We hope 2008 is a great year for you!

Merry Christmas!
Love, The McKinnon's

Where's Daddy?

AnnaBelle: "Mommy, where's Daddy?"

Ashley: "He's in the bathroom."

AnnaBelle: "Okay." (she starts toward the bathroom.)

Ashley: "Don't go in there." (Of course, I am ignored.)

Two minutes later.......

AnnaBelle: "It stinks in there. I gotta get outta here."

Jingle Bells

AnnaBelle's version of Jingle Bells:

"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh McFun it is to ride in a
one duh slopin day, HEY!"

Good Ole Boy

Okay. (Natalie will appreciate this post.) There's an old man in our ward named Rulon. He's a funny old man. I want you to imagine how he talks. Act like someone just punched you in the stomach and you can hardly talk and it's really breathy. That's how he talks. It never fails that on fast Sunday, he bears his testimony (which is actually a great thing seeing that nobody in our ward wants to bear their testimony and we all sit in silence until the High Councilman Bro. Beck gets up.) Every Sunday, he usually tells one of 3 stories by either bearing his testimony or he speaks up in Sunday School or 5th Sunday meetings. Here are the 3 stories.

"When I was in the Navy, I was the only member of the church....."

"It always brings me comfort to know that the Prophet will never lead us astray. If that were ever to happen, the Lord would remove them."

"Back in 1939, it was the worst snow storm in Cedar Fort's history. I was prompted to go left instead of right, and I found my parents and another couple stranded on the side of the road. If I wouldn't have come, they would have froze to death because we didn't see another car for 3 hours."

One time, I attended a Relief Society/Elder's Quorum combined 5th Sunday lesson. It was about finances and mortgages and such. Somehow, the lesson evolved into tough-love for your kids (you need to keep in mind that 75% of my ward is 75 or older.) Basically they were saying that you need to teach your kids to work so that they can be self-reliant. It was then that Rulon told my favorite story of all time. I thought that it would be about one of the three stories listed above but this time, he told a different story that made me and everyone else go red. This was the "gist" of his story. (Keep in mind the voice.)

"When I was a young boy, I lived in Jackson Hole, WY. One time, a couple moved up from SLC because they were trying to get away from their son that was using them for money to pay for drugs. They thought that they could move away and he would get better. But the son followed them to Jackson Hole and he killed them. He murderded them by shooting them in the head." (you should have seen the Stake President's face at this point.) "Then he took their bodies and threw them in the garbage. Then someone came by and smelled them and looked in the garbage and found their ROTTEN DEAD BODIES."

Yeah........

My second favorite.....(remember the voice)

"They say that Jesus was circumscised. I never was myself.............."

WOW!!! Never a dull moment with Rulon in the ward.

Oh Good......

Look what I found. What a little stinker!!!!

Check us out!

Go to this website and check us out!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9636480122

My newest pet peeve

I have decided that I hate hate HATE fruit flies. Does anyone else have them right now? I think it may be the apples I have in my laundry room that are attracting them. What do you do about them? I know they only live a day but really..........do they multiply that quickly too? SERIOUSLY!

I am thankful for....

Our sweet little Desiree

My little family on Thanksgiving. Why does Noah have that look on his face? Maybe because we're all squishing him?

This is what I get to wake up to every morning. A snot covered sweety that always has a smile for me.

We play a game at my parent's house on Thanksgiving called "I am Thankful for...." We take a jar of cream and and we pass it around and shake it while we say what we are thankful for until it turns to butter. I recieved the jar around 5 times. The following is what I said I am thankful for......chemotherapy, electricity, my wonderful husband and beautiful daughters, my parents, my siblings, and all of my family, my 110 year old house that rattles every time the train passes by. Those are just a few of the wonderful blessings I have in my life. I neglected to say that I am thankful for the gospel. Luckily, someone in my little family said that on her very first try without any help. AnnaBelle recieved the jar and without hesitation said, "I am thankful for Jesus." Tear......what a good little girl. There were many things I didn't get to say before the cream turned to butter. I am so grateful for the sweet little snotty hands that are reaching for the keyboard as I type and somehow, she keeps hitting the caps key so I have to re-type. My girls.....their little smiles, and their health. For food on the table and warm beds at night. I am so grateful for my absolutely wonderful, hardworking husband who works so hard for us to have everything we need. For my wonderful parents that never cease to amaze me. For my friends, that make everyday better. For extended family. For Noah's good parents and family. For garbage disposals, DVR, and central vac. There are so many things I am grateful for and I don't think there is any way I can show the amount of gratitude I have to you or to my Heavenly Father. I guess the best way we can show him is to do what he asks of us. I try to live the gospel the best that I can but I know that I can do a lot more and do so much better. I substituted in Primary yesterday and I forgot some of the basic principles I was taught as a child. There are so many things that can make us doubt or wonder because we need proof or we look too far into it. The basic principles are all we need to remember. The ones we learned in primary. I am a Child of God, I know my Father Lives, I'm trying to be like Jesus, Popcorn Popping :)

I just wanted you all to know how thankful I am for the many blessings I have and for each of you. Wow, I was actually serious for once in my life. This is groundbreaking.
Really though, Thank you all!!!!

Black Friday

I never really knew why they call it Black Friday. I just figured it was because of the poor people that are stuck working that early in the morning and dealing with crazy people. So, we arrived at Wal-Mart at 5:45 a.m. I casually walk in with my sisters and mom, hoping to find a good deal. Little did I know that I would be ran over by a crazy, bald man in a tank top. I also didn't know that reaching for a $5.oo Barbie could get you trampled. What I hate admitting the most is that I didn't know that I was one of the crazys. I fit right in. Oh well.

Happy Thanksgiving

We just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! We had a great one. We went to my parent's house for dinner, and then we went to the movie "Enchanted." It was really cute. Then we went back and played games and watched "Christmas Vacation" (it's tradition!) We are heading out to the after Thanksgiving Day sales. It should be really fun. I will post if I get beat-up by some crazy shopper or ran over by a cart. Last year, someone stole my cart when I left it un-attended. People are nuts! We only go for the good times!!!

Cabella's

Yesterday we went to Cabella's for AnnaBelle's pre-school field trip. She was so excited to go meet Cabella. For some reason she got it in her head that Cabella was a person. I guess because I kept saying"tomorrow we're going to Cabella's. It's going to be so fun!" She was asking if Cabella could come over and play. She wanted to know if Cabella had a mommy. I kept saying "no, because Cabella's is a store." She was so concerned that Cabella didn't have a mommy. Finally when we got there, she figured it out. It was so cute!

With the fish
With their guide Lee
Listening to the presentation. They got some cool stickers!

Check out my Slide Show!

October Update

Hey All! Sorry I've been out for a while. October was CRAZY! I have a few fun updates though. First of all, right after my last post, we left for Lake Powell. It was such a fun trip! It couldn't have come at a more perfect time. I DESPERATELY needed a vacation. Most of my family made it so that was fun. I will post a few pics.

I was the Assistant Director of the Lehi Children's Theater this workshop session. We finished Cinderella last night. I am glad it's over but it was a lot of fun. I helped sew over 80 costumes for it. That was crazy!

Halloween was last week. We had so much fun. AnnaBelle was a cow and Desiree was a horse. She didn't like her costume and she kinda got too big for it so she just wore a cute Halloween outfit on the actual holiday. AnnaBelle loved trick-or-treating. Our niece Khloe spent the week with us while her mom (my sister Wendy) and my mom went on the Miss America Cruise. It was a funny that she was a cowgirl. She fit right in.

Lastly, it was election time. My brother, Johnny was going for re-election. To make a long story short, I got a little involved and in a little deep water with the challengers but the incumbents won in the end. Actually, they KILLED them! It was great. I am SO glad that's all over but I am sure we'll have to deal with some contraversy that they will come up with. Anyway, October was great.

I have a funny story to share. Last Sunday, Noah and I were fasting and the day was dragging on....you know how that is. Anyway, we were looking for stuff to keep us occupied to make the time go by faster. Noah suggested that we all go outside and play. So we all went outside. Noah, AnnaBelle, Desiree, Tica, me, and the new kitty. Yes....we got a kitty. Don't get me started on that! Anyway, Noah and AnnaBelle were playing baseball. The way they play is kinda interesting. Basically Noah waits for AnnaBelle to swing and then he throws the ball. After a while, he suggested that I throw. So I tried a couple of times but AnnaBelle would miss because I would throw it a second too late. After 3 or 4 times of missing, AnnaBelle said "Mom....you're not very good at this, I want Daddy to throw it." I said "Hey, gimme a chance." So I tried a few more times and missed again... and she said "Mom.....you need to sit down and just watch." That was the end of my pitching. Oh well.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!

Happy 40th Anniversary!!! Wow, that's awesome!!

We love you guys!!!!

8 months old

Oh, I don't even know what to say! My sweet little baby is 8 months old. I swear it was just yesterday that she was born. She is crawling now and so cute to watch. She also threw her first fit today. It wasn't pathetic or anything. It was actually funny. I just laughed at her. She's had an upset stomach lately, and she gags herself . On Sunday, I was holding her after I fed her, and she started to gag like she has been. She didn't throw-up though and I was glad. Then I lifted her over my head to adjust and she threw-up all over my face and in my mouth. It was in my eyes, in my hair, and it poured down my neck. It was so disgusting!!! I finally forgave her later that day and then during Elder Dallin H. Oaks' talk, I looked down at her on our rug (of course it had to happen on the rug right where she had thrown-up earlier in the week and not on the hardwood that would be easy to clean) because I had heard a little squirt and there was a pile (yes, a nasty little pile) of suprise for me that squeezed out of her good-for-nothing diaper. YUK!!!!! It took a little more time to forgive her for that too. Man, she's a stinker. Then of course, in pure AnnaBelle fashion, she had to point out to me "Mom, it's diarrhea!!!" Thanks for the info sweetie! Of course later that night, (after I decided to forgive her......again,) while I was feeding her..........again, she decided to bite me HARD......OUCH!!!!! Wow, now that's a pain I've never felt before. It shot all the way down to my toes and felt like someone was yanking off my toenails. I think it might be time to stop nursing. If it was up to me....it would have happened months ago.

Happy Birthday Papa!!!!! We love you!!!!

Tica

Last night after we put the girls to bed, Noah and I were watching "The Office." I wondered where our little chihuahua, Tica was. She is usually snuggled up next to one of us on the couch (usually Noah since I am the one that punishes her when she does something bad, so she prefers him.) Anyway, I called her and I heard her bell ring on her collar in our bedroom. She usually comes running when someone calls her, but she was hesitant this time (she never just walks, she is always running around crazy.) Soon I heard her drop from the bed and slowly make her way into the living room. It was night so the only light was coming from the tv. Finally she came in and we looked at her and died laughing. She had a pillow attached to her collar. (It's a crocheted pillow that got stuck on her bell.) She wouldn't move because I bet that the pillow weighs more than her. I finally took it off of her when I stopped laughing and she acted like she had been freed from prison. She's a dumb little dog.

Check out my Slide Show!

Where's Heaven?

Last night, we were eating dinner and AnnaBelle brought up how Heavenly Father is Jesus' Daddy. Noah and I said "yep, that's right." Then she said "I lobe (she doesn't say love) Heavenly Father and Jesus." It was so cute. Then she asked "Can I go see them." Noah said "Heavenly Father lives in heaven. It's up in the sky far, far away." You could see AnnaBelle's little mind was turning and then she said "Is heaven in California?" We have obviously told her that California is far, far away (because she asks every morning if we can go to Disneyland today.)

Fun Facts

Well, I visited my cousin's blog and she had this fun little "about me thing" that I wanted to post myself so here are some fun facts about me.

10 FAVORITES:
1)Favorite Color: Pink
2)Favorite Foods: Yellow cake with chocolate frosting or chocolate cake with white frosting (mom's homemade is the best)
3)Favorite Month: September
4)Favorite Song: Too many!!!
5)Favorite Movie: Comedy-Sweet Home Alabama, Drama-Count of Monte Cristo, Disney-Mulan,
6)Favorite Sport: To watch-Basketball (GO JAZZ!!) To play-Soccer
7)Favorite Season: Fall
8)Favorite Day of the week: Sunday
9)Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Russell's Mint Chocolate Chip (I am my daddy's girl)
10)Favorite Time of Day: 10:00 a.m.

9 CURRENTS:
1)Current Mood: happy, lazy
2)Current Taste: roast and mashed potatoes (it's Sunday)
3)Current Clothes: t-shirt and pj bottoms (pink of course)
4)Current Desktop: my family pic
5) Current Toenail Color: bright red
6) Current Time: 9:14 p.m.
7)Current Surroundings: family room, toys, family
8) Current Thoughts:my girls are going to be up all night because they both had extremely long naps today and I am going to pay for that.
9)Current Job: Mommy, Baby Chicks co-owner, assistant director at Lehi Arts Council, Miss Lehi Pageant Director. (none of them make money by the way)

8 FIRSTS:
1)First Best Friend: JD Frisby
2)First Kiss: Jake Terry (YUK!!!!)
3)First Screen Name: uh......
4)First Pet: Baby the Dog (oh I miss her still. We had 17 great years together...tear)
5)First Piercing: My ears when I was 8 (last piercing:tounge....bad choice)
6)First Crush: JD Frisby (akward, he's a cousin)
7)First CD: Janet Jackson (Ad, Cyd, Maxi, and I would make up dances)
8) First car: Chevy Camaro (I was stylin)

7 LASTS:
1)Last Cigarette: college (jk mom)
2)Last Drink: water
3) Last Car Ride: Coming home from church that is 2 blocks away. LAZY and LATE.
4)Last Kiss: Noah 2 minutes ago :)
5) Last Movie Seen: Chuck and Larry (don't go see)
6) Last Phone Call: Cyd, always
7)Last CD Played: Cinderella (arts council's latest production)

6 HAVE YOU EVER?
1)Have You Ever Dated One Of Your Best Guy/Girl Friends: yep
2)Have You Ever Broken the Law: all the time
3)Have You Ever Been Arrested: Does juvi court count?
4)Have You Ever Skinny Dipped: yup
5)Have You Ever Been on TV: One time I was on 3 times in the same week. Weird?
6)Have You Ever Kissed Someone You Didn't Know: no, I didn't really like it

5 THINGS You've Done Today:
1)made yummy breakfast
2)gave girls a bath
3)went to church
4)ate dinner with family
5) had 3 hour nap with the family (lazy trash)

4 ThingsYou Can Hear Right Now:
1) AnnaBelle and Daddy playing a game
2) heater
3) Tica's nails on the hardwood
4) crickets outside

3 THINGS YOU CANT Live Without:
1) DVR
2) central vac
3) yellow cake with chocolate frosting

Thing You Do When You're Bored: Watch TV, play on computer, play in my garden that is now dead

2 PLACES YOU'VE BEEN TODAY
1) Home
2)Church

1 PERSON YOU CAN TELL ANYTHING TO:
Noah of course (mom is next)

CHOICES
1) Black or White: Black
2) Hot or Cold: Hot (I HATE being cold)

1THING YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE: There are lots of things. I would love to get my nursing degree, have Baby Chicks go global, be on Oprah, be on American Idol, or be the star in a Broadway show. Good thing there's lots of time left.

Oh the joys!!

Well, it's Sunday night and my sweet blessings are asleep. They are so super sweet. Desiree is the greatest blessing. She has made me appreciate everything I have even more than before we were blessed with her. She just makes everything happy! It's so funny how we have changed from AnnaBelle to Desiree. With AnnaBelle, we wanted her to sit-up quickly, crawl early, and walk and talk as soon as possible. Everything was rushed. With Desiree.....we are still not encouraging crawling yet although she is a curious little one and is starting to scoot to reach things. We don't want her grow up. "If they could just stay little." We spend the first 3 years of their lives teaching them how to walk and talk, and the rest of their lives telling them to sit down and shut-up.

I went to the library last week to see if they had a copy (by some miracle) of Twilight which is being read by everyone and their dog (I have a friend that has a dog that can read.) I went to the search engine and it said that they have 15 copies and they were all checked out but that they had one in the hold section. I thought I would check if the hold was off or if I could get on the hold list. So I asked the girl at the front desk (who was wearing the cutest necklace and I asked her where she got it,) if I could check out the one on hold if the hold was up, or if I could get on the hold list (thinking that I could get it when the other 14 copies were due.) She told me I could do it myself by putting in my info at the search computer or she could do it for me. I told her that she probably needed to do it because it would take me an hour to figure it out (I just don't get it,) and she asked what book. I told her Twilight and she said, "um......I think we have a lot of people on hold for that." Still not realizing that how much demand there was, I asked to still be on the list. She then told me that I was number 58 on hold (which basically puts me at May 2008.) I then said nevermind and that I would just borrow my mom's copy when she is finished (which will probably be today since she started it 2 days ago and is the miracle speed reader.) That was my exprience with the library that day.

Our website

I am very proud of our website. We have worked really hard to get it to this point. Check it out www.mybabychicks.com

Desiree

This is our beautiful Desiree at 2 weeks old. She is now almost 8 months and I haven't taken any "professional" pictures of her since. So sad. I did buy some cute fabric to make outfits for the girls to get their pics done. Someday we'll get to it. Eeew, I could just squeeze her!

Videos

Okay, so I tried to upload a video of Desi laughing but it was taking FOREVER so I thought I would just give the link on YouTube. That way, if you wanted to view it, you could.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdHThRHecfM

Such a sweet little baby!

My Family

This is my family. L to R, AnnaBelle, Noah, Ashley, and Desiree.

We are a happy family. La la la.

My sweet girls

This was taken on AnnaBelle's first day of school at pre-school. I love Desiree's snot infested face and shirt. They are both SO SWEET!

Well, it took me this long to figure out how to post. I am so dumb sometimes! This has been a crazy month. We finally got Swiss Days over with. It was so awesome. We won a display and presentation award which is awesome! I was so excited! I actually cried when they gave it to us. We are automatically in next year which is awesome! Business has been crazy since SD. We've had a ton of traffic to our website.

Cinderella started last week. It's very exciting. We have a cast of almost 100. We need a new Arts Center and additional funding. Maybe this reception will get the city's attention. Which brings me to Johnny's re-election. He won the primary's on Sept. 11th but we still have the main vote in November. I can't stand the other guys that are running. I acutally got in a fight with a lady at the meet the canidates night a while back. It was pretty exciting seeing that I'm not a confrontational person. It's nice to know that when it comes to protecting and defending my family, I will step up.

I got a new calling in my ward. I used to be the Laurel advisor. Now I teach Sunday School to adults. I about passed out when they called me. I am a terrible teacher! This is definitely for my benefit. Hopefully what I am trying to get across is getting there. I am getting help from the man upstairs for sure!

Anyway, now that I have figured out how to post, I will be better (hopefully.)

Asha

First timer

Well, this is the first post for me on my new blog. I was inspired by an ebay listing that I read. I will post it. I was crying I was laughing so hard. It is great to know that there are people out there just like me. I have decided that this might be a good way to keep a "journal." You know how they are always telling us to write our history. I hate the actual act of writing. Have you ever noticed that once you got out of school.....it hurt to write for long periods of time? I can type all day long but to write a few simple things in Desi's journal....I hate it! I usually put it off until Sunday and then I write everything that happened that week but seriously...the days all blend together and sometimes I can't remember what I did one day to the next. Anyway, I thought this might be fun so we'll give it a try. I will probably be the only one that visits it but at least I can let my thoughts out right? This should be great fun!

The reason I named my blog what I did is because all day, everyday I am asked a million questions by my lovely 3 year old, AnnaBelle. Everything is why mommy? It has made me think why things are though. The funny thing is that she knows most of the answers, she just wants to know what I think or she wants my attention. I have found something that works though. If she asks me a question, I say "what do you think?" Then she answers it herself and it usually ends there. Today she was asking daddy something and he was able to ignore her the entire time I was brushing my teeth (I know what you're thinking, I don't brush them very long), but really....how can he ignore her so well? I have tried and tried but found that it is so much easier to answer her the first time. Then she stops. But no more then 2 seconds later, she has another question. Oh well.

Here's the ebay item that started this....just get ready to LOL. May I suggest using the potty before reading. :)

://tinyurl.com/2jflbz