Mckay's 1st day of Pre-K

My sweet little boy on his first day of school.

Mckay and his proud/scary looking dad.
The budding genius and his excited mama.
Couldn't take any pictures without sweet little Lulu!
I can't believe my boy is old enough to go to preschool. Truly, he should be starting 1st grade seeing as he knows as much as them, but that is not how it goes. He was super excited to get dropped off and could have cared left when I left him there. (Gee mom, don't let the door hit you on the way out.)
Mckay will turn 4 this week and the time has gone by so fast it makes my head hurt! My sweet, gorgeous little baby is now a big boy. He amazes me every single day. After I picked him up from school, he was stoked to go home and do his homework. So now every time he has school, we come straight home and do homework. Now if only I can get him to stay like that forever. I loathe the days when I will have to force him to do anything school related. I'm just so relieved that he is excited to learn new things. He wants to know what everything is about. I love that about him. Now if only he could sit still long enough...

Forest Gump it up!

Tyler, Brett, and Jer just after they finished the Half.
Navajo!
Not such a great picture of Jer, but you get the idea.
Nava, Brett, Jer, and Tyler. What awesome guys for running Top of Utah. It was all of their firsts.

So this is how it all started....Jeremy and Jake (Nava) decided they needed to lose a few lbs. and what better way to do it then run a half marathon? Of course there was a bet involved and money exchanged, but whatever it takes! Jeremy had never run or exercised a day in our married life, but he just started running one day. He trained for about 3 months and his time was 1 hr. 50 min. and 22 sec.
That's a pretty sweet time for your first run, so I'm told. He even said he could've kept running after he crossed the finish line. I was and still am so proud of him. He says he is going to run another one down here in Vegas in December with his pals and I am pushing it. I think I might participate on this one too! I have a few days to decide before training starts. I'm kind of a wuss, so I'm still not quite sure. But how awesome would that be if we did it together? HMMMMMM
Good job Jeremy! You rocked it.

Girls Get Together

Who doesn't love cute kids swimmin in their undies? Is that legal?
Some of the gals and some of the kids
The Tire Brigade

Staci, Me, Christi, Katie, and Ashley... Don't we all look pretty dang good for being almost 30?

Mckay just enjoying a little rope swing action.
The kids loved playing in the tires. Just not when they got hot!
Ahhhh.....a boy and his hammock. That's what summer is all about!

So the High School girls (except for Jaime) were all up in Utah for a bit of summer fun at Ashley's cabin. It was a hot day, we had cake, and the kids even swam in their "fundies" in the river. How great that we are all still friends and can get together every now and then! It's crazy to see how many kids we all have. Man, we are gettin old.

Anual Allphin Camp Out

Ashton with no explanation needed.

Shelly and Me trying unsuccessfully to start a motor boat. Work it Girls!
Four wheelers rides were the best. Lauren snoozed in slumber land.
Crazy Cousins playing a matching game. And just rolling around in the dirt.
Melissa, Jill, and Angie just asking for a tip over!
Our sweet little fam out for a stroll on the wheeler.

What a fun time we all had on our yearly Allphin Kids Family Reunion. There was lots of fun to be had, good food to be eaten, horse shoes to be thrown, and four wheelers to be ridden. Most of you know that I am NOT a fan of camping, but I sucked it up and went along anyway. We all had a great time. Except for Melissa when she found the twins and their tent covered in POO!!! Yuck.
I think we learned some interesting new things about one another and still liked each other regardless. I'm still craving the roasted banana split smores. Good thing I had 3 of them! It's just too bad I have to plan the one for next year. I just might have a panic attack in the process. Seven Peaks with KFC for the day, anyone?

Talk about Temples!!!

Mckay has been asked to give a little talk on Temples in Primary tomorrow. I can't believe he is old enough to participate. He has practiced reading his talk all by himself and I just know he is going to do a great job! I am so proud of him and the sweet boy he has become.

Families can be together forever when we are married for time and eternity in the temple. You can prepare to go to the temple with your family. When you turn 12, you are able to do baptisms for the dead. You can also prepare to enter the temple before you go on a mission.
Here are some ways we can all prepare to enter the temple.

1. Pray
Pray that when the time comes, you will be worthy to enter the temple.

2. Count your Blessings
Counting our blessings helps us remember all that Heavenly Father has given us.

3. Study Scriptures
Studying the scriptures is another way to learn about God’s teachings.

4. Sing Hymns
Spiritual music helps open our hearts and minds to feel the Spirit.

5. Think and Say only positive things
Heavenly Father is happy when we say nice things to others.


Heavenly Father wants all of his children to return and live with him again. By going to the temple, we are doing what He has commanded us to do. I know that if we prepare while we are young, we will be ready to enter the Temple one day.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Good Advice

Good Advice, originally uploaded by The World Without People.

I am always looking for good advice and today I saw some quotes that I fell in love with . Here are a few of my favorites that I need to start living by.
1. "When a person shows you who they are, believe them the first time."

2. "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." -Eleanor Roosevelt

3. "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." -Plato

4. "You have two choices in life, you can choose to be happy or you can choose to be unhappy."

5. "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you mad them feel." -Maya Angelou

Do you have any favorites?

Grandpa's Little Helper

We were so lucky last week to be able to stay at Grandma and Grandpa Allphin's house for a few days. It was great for the kids to spend more time with their grandparents. For those of you who don't know, Mckay's grandpa had polio as a child and so he walks differently than the rest of us. Mckay is so observant and noticed that grandpa was walking silly. So this is what he told grandpa...
Mckay: "Grandpa, let me show you how to walk."
Grandpa: "Oh, okay. How am I supposed to walk?"
Mckay: "Like this" (Mckay slowly walks across the room.)
Grandpa: "Okay, Let me try." (grandpa held onto the railing and walked a little more straight)
Mckay: "That's it grandpa, I knew you could do it!"

In Mckay's sweet little eyes, he was helping grandpa to walk right and I just love that he is so observant to his surroundings. After Jeremy and I were retold the hilarious story I asked Mckay how he thought grandpa walked. He thought about it for a minute then yells, "Like a Penguin." We all got a huge laugh out of it and I know Grandpa Allphin thought it was funny as well. What a silly little guy Mckay is.
We explained to him that when grandpa was sick, the germs attacked his muscles and that he had to learn to walk all over again. Then of course Mckay wanted to know which muscles were hurt and got decayed. I swear I can't explain one thing to him without him going off on something else all together. I love how his little mind works and that he is inquisitive about EVERYTHING!!! I am so lucky to have a little smarty pants who wants to know it all. Plus, I'm glad to know he is always watching and learning. Silly little penguin.

Little Stinker

My sweet little girl Lauren has officially started throwing temper tantrums. I truly don't recall her big brother Mckay having major fits, so this is all new to me. We decided to change her nick name to Miss Piggy because she makes a high pitch squealing noise that makes you want to head for the hills. When she starts in, I want to laugh and cry out of frustration at the same time. Little Stinker. It's a good thing I love her so much because I have been tempted to sell her to the Circus. Sheesh.

You can pick your friends...and Raspberries!

We have been doing so many fun things this summer and we took yet another trip up to Mt. Charleston for a little hike. There is a little canyon that opens up and a little waterfall spills forth out of the cliffs. We hoofed it up the trail and spotted some wild raspberry bushes along the way. So of course we had to stop and partake!!! We plucked fruit for half and hour and the kids loved it. Lauren was eating raspberries like it was her last meal ever. We gorged ourselves until the Heavens opened and a downpour was upon us. It was so fun to walk/run down the mountain in the rain. After safely making it back to the car, we headed over to the Lodge to further stuff our faces with their delicious pizza. We sat in the car and ate in the rain. Lovely. So good to be together!
Mayor of Raspberry Town

Mom and her favorite little girl Lulu! What an oinker. Seriously Girl!
Mom and Lu. Good thing mom stepped in a fire ant bed and got bit like a thousand times.
The Family Shot heard round the world.
Mom and the sweeties. Er-maybe not Mckay. He's kind of a stinker.

Homemade Oreo Delights

Oreo Cookies, originally uploaded by Don Juan Tenorio.

I got this recipe from my good friend Kellie so I decided to share it with all of you. These are so delicious and simple to make.

Cookie:
2 boxes Betty Crocker Devil's Food Cake
4 eggs
2 cubes softened margarine
2 or more Tbls. flour
Roll into small balls and Bake @ 350 8-10 min.
Cool completely on metal rack. Makes 6 dozen single cookies/ 3 dozen oreo's

Frosting:
1 8oz package softened cream cheese
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups (more or less) powdered sugar to taste
* Double frosting for more*
Frost one side of cookie then place another cookie on top. That's it!! ENJOY!!!

"High on the Mountain Top"

Since it is Death Valley here in Vegas, we decided to try and beat the heat and head out of town. Mt. Charleston is a meager 29 miles from our front door and we couldn't wait to get up there and out of nightmare Vegas. After Jeremy was frying his face off in 110 degrees at the Lake, he wanted to cool down in the Mountains. Boy did we get cool, fast. After eating lunch at Mt. Charleston Lodge, we went on a scenic drive to the Ski Resort. All of a sudden, the skies parted, the thunder rolled, and lightening struck all in one huge force of nature. It was Awesome! The higher in elevation, the gnarlier it got and the temperature cooled off to 50 degrees. It was so delightful. The windows were rolled down, we were getting wet, but we did not care one little bit. We have decided that we are going to take a weekly drive up there and spend some quality family time together. While Jeremy, Mckay, and uncle Brian were exploring, a sleeping Lauren and I sat in the car. I was studying my Primary Lesson and reading my scriptures. I looked out the window and I got such an amazing feeling of the Spirit. I realized how lucky I was to be there with my little family in such a beautiful place that Heavenly Father created for us. Not that I didn't know it before, it was just nice to get a little affirmation. I take things for granted sometimes and it's alway good to remember where we came from and why we are here. All in all, it was a fabulous day and I enjoyed myself immensely!!!
Squeeze shot. Obviously Mckay did not want his picture taken. Too bad, so sad.
It's all fun and games until Mom sees the pictures.
"Why isn't this lift working? I want to go up."

King of the World right now.

Extreme sports start early in this here family.

Buddy the Bride

I love this picture of Mckay. We were in New Harmony at Trent and Tara's house and Mckay was having a grand old time playing dress up with his cousins. He busted this little number out and I couldn't resist! Jeremy used to get tortured by his sisters and put in drag also. Like father like son?

Revamping?

Let me know what ya'll think of my newest Blog design. I was up til 12:00 am trying to figure everything out. It is still a work in progress. I haven't blog forever and I am really needing to keep up on it. It has been like a journal for our family and I need to make it into a book. Keep checking up on us and leaving your sweet comments. Then I'll know I'm doing something right. Thanks a Bunch!!!

Strike, you're out!

It's official. Mckay and I are serious Ballers!!! We had an awesome Mother and Son date today at the good ole bowling league. We did this last year together with our play group and we couldn't pass up having fun bowling again. I didn't actually bowl because I don't like to embarrass myself if I can help it. I truly am the world's worst bowler. It is gutter ball for me every time. I think I'll stick to the chairs. But Mckay did great and actually won his second round with a whopping score of 80! Maybe there is hope for him yet.
Lining it up just right on our trusty ramp.

Mckay and his little lady friend Lola. She is GORGEOUS!!!

My Date! What a fun day we shared together.

I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy

My Sweet Kiddos showing their Patriotism. Brings a tear to my eyes.
Mckay and those Romer kids. They're the Three Amigos.
Little precious Lulu. I can't get enough of her.

The whole Fam Damily at the Layton Parade.


I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy, we love the 4th of July!!!! This is our favorite Holiday to celebrate. We so enjoy showing that we love this beautiful country and that we are honored to live here. We are so grateful for all those that have fought and will continue to fight for our freedom. We truly are a most blessed Nation.
Every year we eat a huge breakfast with the Allphins then head to the Layton parade and carnival. After that, we went to Grandpa Mead's house for a delicious Bar-b-Que. Later that evening we went to Jill and Nate Pickett's house for some fireworks extravaganza!!! Long live the Funkadelic!!! It's just too bad my sis in law and nephew got burned by some illegal fireworks the neighbors were displaying. Off with their heads!
All in all, it was a great 4th and we loved that we could spend the time in Utah with our wonderful friends and family. Awesome.