Happy 12th Birthday McKenzie

Back on February 12th my first Baby turned 12. I know, I know. How can that be? There is no way I am old enough to have a 12 year old! But that is the way of things. Thye grow up before you are ready for them to do so. She has been such a joy in our family. She really is the easiest do deal with. She has the sweetest disposition and really will do anything for anyone. I just love her so much!

Here she is on her birthday sporting some new birthday clothes.


Then she chose to go the Red Robin for her birthday. And lucky for us we were able to have BOTH Grandparents join us!

Cameron and Pa Bob.

Abby and Grandma Cindy

Grandma and Grandpa Stoddart. Yes Jeff and I were both there, but I was taking the pictures and his picture... well lets just say I thought it best not to post that one!

The following Saturday she had her party. She decided on a boy/girl party. Which I was all for. I wanted her to know that you can be friends with boys without "liking" the boy. Anyways, it turned out GREAT!!!
After watching Back to the Future we did a Just Dance dance off. We had two tvs and 2 wiis going. Here are the boys doing the just boys dance.

And here are the girls doing the just girls dance.

We did have them do dances together too. And I was surprised at how good some of those boys were. All in all it was a great way to celebrate a great girl!

Busy Kenzie!

McKenzi has been pretty busy with getting awards and such. Her reflections entry not only won at the school level, but it also won at the Westlake Council level, AND the Region 9 level. So now her picture is moving on the the State level! That is so AWESOME! I have never known anyone to make it there. She is so talented!
Here she is getting her certificate and medal at the Region 9 awards ceremony.

Then McKenzie and her friends choreographed their own dance and perfored it at the Hidden Hollow Talent show. They were by far the best dance performance there!!

Somehow this picture got out of order, but here is her winning entry. She entitled it "Kirby to the Rescue." Way to go Kenz!!

Hyrum Smith Artifacts

One of the neatest things about being a direct descendant of Hyrum Smith is being able to see the artifacts that have been pasted down from oldest son to oldest son. Last month we were able to get together again to see them. I was really excited for my children to see them. McKenzie was only 5 last time she saw them, Cameron was 3 and Abby wasn't even born yet. So I was thrilled for them to get the chance to see some of their heritage.

This is Hyrums vest that he wore. The right shoulder was cut away because it was so soaked in blood that it was eating away at the fabric.

Here are his clothes laid out. We are able to find his height by lining up his clothes and bullet holes. Hyrum was 6'3", quite tall for back them (even now).

Alvin had a box that was given to Hyrum after his death. This is the original box that Joseph kept the plates, Urim and Thummim and the breat plate in.

Here is Lucy Mack Smith's dinner/school bell.

Hyrum's dress sword, rifle, and Lucy's footstool.

Hyrum's perscrition sunglasses, his dress watch (which he took out before Carthage), and his old watch that he put in his vest pocket when he left for Carthage. It was hit by a bullet that came through his back.

This is where Alvin carved his name in his box.

These last two are two more bullet holes that Hyrum recieved after he had died. We know that he was already dead by the lack of blood around the wound.

The newest McCullough

On February 13th the latest McCullough joined the family. My brother BJ and his wife Jenni welcomed little Brielle Jennifer into their home. She is such a little doll. I love new babies. Here are some pics I took while at the hospital.

Whoops!

Mckenzie has discovered the microwavable single serving mac-n-cheese. She is my kid that just loves this stuff (I don't know why, they are nasty!). She has made them several time by herself. Well, this time, she forgot something. It ws almost three minutes into the microwaving process when she says, "It smells like meat." I sniff a little, jump up and say, "No! It smells like something is burning!" And sure enough, she had forgotten to put water into the cup. Our house smelled awful for about a week. And unfortunately the microwave STILL smells when you use it. Atleast she won't ever make that mistake again!!

Grandaddy Turns 106!

I am a bit behind here in my blogging, so I think I will need to play catch up for the next few day! Anyways, back on January 9th my Great-Grandaddy (my kids' Great-Great-Grandaddy) celebrated his 106th Birthday!! He is the most amazing man I have ever known. And although his body is starting to slow down, his mind is still pretty darn sharp. I can only hope that I am doing half as well as he is when I am 20 years younger than him :)

Where did the month go?

Wow! I can't believe that I haven't done anything on this blog for a whole month! It has been busy, that is for sure. But January was WAY too cold! It was a record cold month. So we have been staying inside as much as possible. A few things of interest for the past month: 1. Abby, after taking gymnastics for only 2 1/2 months has been moved up to the level two! She is a real natural. And when she actually works on it instead of goofing around she catches on in no time. 2. McKenzie is getting ready for cheerleader tryouts. She has been taking back handspring classes and has finally mastered her back handspring. Next we have to master the roundoff back handspring and the double back handspring. 3. Cameron is on two teams again this futsal season. Both teams are doing great. 4. I am still working at the school and am really enjoying my time there. Which seems to be a lot. After I am done working I spend 3 of the 5 days volunteering in my kids classes. 5. Pug is busy working. Whether it is at work, with Cameron's soccer team, or with the stake young men's he is always busy! I am hoping that this month goes just a little smoother than last month- heaven knows it couldn't get much rougher! I just have to keep plugging along and take the bad along with all the good. (thank goodness the good out weigh the bad)