Tucanos!

One word: YUMMMM!!!  

Seriously folks- awesome restaurant!  We went with Dan's family to celebrate his brother Sam's birthday!

The singing in Portuguese

  

Almost the whole gang!

Us

There was this fan blowing right by our table so we let McKenna enjoy the breeze a little. :)

With cousins Emma and Reed

Motorcycle Grandpa

My parents came to visit from CA a few weeks ago.  My dad has always had a way with babies.  He knows how to cheer them up, make them laugh,  and keep them entertained.  Well, with McKenna, it's no different.  She was getting fussy one evening (as she often does before bed time) so dad disappeared with McBaby for a good 15 minutes.  When it really was time for bed, this is where I found them.   

Grandpa was introducing her to his Gold-wing! 

Is she a motorcycle babe or what? 

She loves her Grandpa!

Video catch up...

These videos are from a couple weeks ago (hence the helmet).  

She figured out her helmet makes a clunking sound when she bangs it against things.  Funny girl.    

Sometimes she gets a little distracted when we're trying to feed her.  

In her defense, we were at a loud, busy, restaurant.  :)

First Pickle.  Not even the slightest bit of a funny face.  You'll notice at the end of the video, I had to pull pretty hard to get her to let go.  She would make her grandpas so proud! :) 

Dan and I support each other in our choice of schools even though we're rivals.  So, one Christmas I got Dan this pen which plays the Utah fight song.  Well, to my dismay, McKenna likes it quite a lot... 

Just for fun-Park

We took McKenna to the park the other day.  She went down one of the smaller slides "by herself" and this is what happened.  :)

"Mommy, this feels weird."

Sadly, she had ZERO reaction to going down the biggest slide there!  Oh well, at least one of us enjoyed it.  Good times!   

(Sorry, I don't know how to rotate this video...)

4th of July

I like to be different and post about holidays when no one else is. :)  (Aka- two weeks late)

First, we enjoyed the annual Nelson family gathering in Midway!

"Daddy's Little Sparkler"

McKenna with cousin Whitney (2 months apart)

The whole Webster crew (almost).  We were missing Dan's sister Brynn and fam. 

The fun and games included: the bike parade, basketball shoot out, hula hooping...

horseshoe tossing (he was the only one in our group to get a ringer)...

water balloon racing (it's between his knees)...

and water balloon volleyball!  Good times!  Then there was the delicious dinner of course! 

Then Dan and I headed to the Thompson family gathering in SLC.  We got there in time for the street fireworks.  

This picture was just before McKenna totally flipped out!  (Which I'm kind of sad I didn't get a picture of.) :)  They were much too loud for her liking.  

She enjoyed them much more from inside! :)  

We kept her up late to see the big firework show later that night.  She stayed awake the whole time and actually watched them!  

We love our country and are so thankful for our freedoms!  Happy Birthday America!  

Chatter Box and Dancing

Babbling LOTS + Learning to dance to ANY music she hears = CUTENESS! 

"McPod" update:  We had a check up this week.  The doctor said her head is pretty much "normal!"  So, just night time and nap time wear for the next month, which means you'll be seeing less of the helmet.  :) YEA! 

Funny sleeper

McKenna has become quite the squirmer in her sleep. Every night I put her down in the same position and every time we check on her she's in a NEW one.

For example, here she's almost 180 degrees from where I put her.

Just using the bumper pad to help her relax a little. :)

It may be time to lower her crib. Apparently, she can reach her mobile and pull hard enough to make it do this-

After a long day of helping mommy pack up her classroom, Kenna had to "brace herself" for sleep.

LOVE her!

Change of Employment

As many of you know, I (Laura) have recently had a pretty major life change. For the past three years I've been employed by the Davis School District teaching First Grade.   I made the decision back in January to quit at the end of the school year. Read on for the reason...

I'd like you to meet my new full time employer.

Isn't she cute?!?!  Instead of a yearly salary, I'll be getting paid daily with hugs, kisses, smiles, and giggles!  I'm SO lucky!

I am now, officially, a stay at home MOM and I couldn't be happier!  Sure, I got a little taste of this job already from Oct.-Jan. (maternity leave) and then every time I had a three week break. However, during those times I always had in the back of mind other things I needed to do and get done for work. And that stuff always hanging out in the "back of my mind" was pretty distracting and stressful!  Now, ALL my focus can be on McBaby (and Dan still of course).  I know being a mom won't necessarily be easier. But, I'm pretty sure it WILL be easier than trying to juggle BOTH working and mommy-ing.

Ending the school year was great fun and pretty surreal.  A great time of reflection and anticipation for my future plans. 

We had our First Grade Program

(In case you were wondering, they're singing about a "monkey in the treetops, swingin' with ease.  Scratchin' his back and pickin' at fleas...")

I received many generous gifts and cards from parents.

I said good-bye (but not forever) to some WONDERFUL co-workers.

My First Grade Team!  

I packed up my classroom!

And now I'll be spending my summer (and probably longer) organizing my things and deciding what to keep and store, give away, or leave out for McKenna to use in the near future.  

It's official!  I'm a Level 2 teacher in the state of UT.  (This means I'm not a "rookie" anymore.)  Now I'll just keep this license current by substituting and taking classes here and there.    

Wish me luck on my new life adventure!  

I would like to go back to teaching someday...  Who knows if that will be 5 or 20 years down the road??

Late, late, late...

Happy (late) Father's Day and Happy (late) Birthday to DAN the man!!

You're the BEST father and husband (also uncle, brother, and son) anyone, especially McKenna and I, could ask for! You're my best friend and I love you! Enjoy your "late" twenties. ;) xoxo

To celebrate, he took the day off from work. Went out to eat for breakfast with his dad, lunch with his mom and some siblings, and dinner with ME! He got lots of awesome new clothes and the 4 Indiana Jones movies!

Speaking of brothers- :)

Dan's youngest brother just got called to serve in the Stockholm, Sweden mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Congrats (late) to Adam!

He reports the middle of October.

Sewing Projects #3 and 4

#3) A soft block with princess pictures on it.

(Don't mind what looks like a forced smile on McKenna's face. She really does like it. :) You'll notice she's touching it with her pointer finger. She touches everything she likes with her pointer fingers!)

Snow White and Cinderella (and a not so good corner).
Belle and Aurora (and a much better corner) :)
The top and bottom of the block say Princess in fancy writing. :) I realized, after the fact, that my first block should have been made with fabric that didn't need to be exactly centered in order to look good. Oh well.

#4.) More cloth baby shoes! MUCH easier and faster to make the second time around.

Finally! Here's the pattern for the cloth baby shoes!