The Hunt

Here is Jeremy all dressed up to go hunting. Isn't he so cute!














He flew down to Missouri in November to go hunting with Jim, my twin's husband. They were hunting for turkey, pheasant, or duck. Sadly Jeremy did not get anything that weekend, it might have been the dogs fault. He looks kind a' sickly to me.

Happy Birthday Elle!

I can't believe it! Elle, my beautiful little niece, turned 1 yesterday. This picture is a couple months old, but it is my favorite picture of her. She is having a huge birthday bash tonight in Utah that I wish I could attend. It is amazing just how much I love her. I don't get to see her much, but I do think about her and wish I could steal her kisses more often. Jess you better get some good footage of her and her 1st birthday cake.

New Countertops

We have officially started the Kitchen remodel. Here are some shots of the counter tops. At first I was unsure on whether or not I liked them, but I just needed a day to get used to them being a lot darker than our old sunshine yellow counter tops.

I tried to get out of the pictures, but Jeremy was determined that I be in every shot. Next we will tackle refacing our cupboards and then laying tile.

Jeremy was so proud that he fit all of the old countertops including the old sink in one garbage can. You can see what a beautiful yellow the countertops were and how it complimented our honey toned paint on the walls.

Happy Halloween

I must say that this year for Halloween we really outdid ourselves. Our costumes were quite extensive and even required me sewing some leather vests and designing a pair of chaps for Jeremy. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment because this was my first sewing project using a pattern all by myself with the help of my assistant Jeremy of course. So in case you can't tell we are supposed to be Bikers. At work there is a bonafide biker who coached me on several points of my costume. Those are real leather pants that I am wearing that I borrowed from my friend Brittnay, she only has 5 pairs so she decided that she could spare one for the evening.

We took about 50 pictures because everyone at work wanted to see what I came up with. Jeremy actually found this Sturgis shirt at DI which was perfect for the costume. You can't tell but Jeremy has a little hoop earring on. He loved wearing it.

My mom and step-dad came up for the weekend. They had a lot of fun at our ward party. We had a lasagna dinner, carnival for the kids, and then followed that up with a trunk or treat. We had a fun weekend with them. We went to a local aquarium at Redondo Beach and then Mom and I worked on our 72 hour kits. So we are now ready for a natural disaster. Raggady Ann and Andy are our friends Mark and Brittnay.

This is one of my favorite pictures. We really tried to get in character.

Fall Stake Dance

This is our gang at our Stake's Fall Dance. I told everyone to dress western so Jeanne went to DI and bought western shirts, huge belt buckles, and she wore her boots. Needless to say I was in trouble because my pigtails and shirt weren't western enough.Left to Right: Brian & Brianne, Me & Jeremy, Jeanne & Bryant

We caught Brianne singing her heart out to Brian. She turned beet red when she realized we were all watching her. I can't remember if that was this exact moment. Brian always makes the best faces. I am taking voice lessons from Brianne so I know Brian didn't mind her belting.

The Dreaded Candy corn Vampire

This is John & Pat. Pat is the Young Women's Pres. who I talk so much about. I love her, she is great to work with. Her husband is hilarious.

Bryant is showing his bull riding number. Bryant had some pretty sweet moves. We had such an awesome time at the dance. They played the lamest music and when I asked to request a song because I wanted something faster I got an earful from the lady in charge who informed me there were old people here too. So we danced to all of the songs anyways and as Jeanne said in church the next day "we were the floor show."

Phantom

We went to see Phantom of the Opera on Friday in Seattle at the Paramount Theatre. It was so much fun. First we got all dressed up and went to a seafood restaurant in downtown Seattle. Then we had an adventure and rode the bus to the theatre. We did have to do quite a bit of walking as the bus didn't take us right to the place we needed to be. It was raining really hard, but luckily I got a cute new blue raincoat from Nordstroms Rack last week so I was fine to walk in the rain. The only annoying part was that I was wearing a knee length skirt with nylons and the dirty water kept splashing up on the back of my nylons. It did wipe off, I just had to do it a few times during the night. The theatre was so amazing it was built in the 1800s and it felt like you were back in the regency era. There was beautiful gold paneling and the stage and sets were amazing. The theatre seating was so steep you felt like you could fall. The special affects were awesome and the singing was wonderful. We did fall asleep a little in the show because of the lateness of the hour and not because of a bad performance. Man we are getting old.

Called to Serve

Jeremy and his 2 younger brothers looking sharp in their Sunday best. Matt in the middle just returned from his mission in Illinois. We are so glad to have him back and to see the growth that occurred on his mission. We are doubly blessed because Michael, on the right, is leaving for his mission on Oct. 1 to Denver, Colorado. I wish we could go to the MTC with him. I loved going to the MTC with both of my brothers. It is such an exciting time. I know that he will be such an awesome missionary. We will miss him.

Pictures from Utah

Alright I can't get the slideshow to show on my blog like Kaylene's does. To view the slideshow click on this link.
http://s481.photobucket.com/albums/rr173/jerlara/?albumview=slideshow

Peek-A-Boo

We traveled to Utah for Mike and Kaila's sealing. All of my siblings were there and we had such an enjoyable weekend. We had so much fun with Elle. This is one of her new tricks. She is very talented and we love her so much. Her cheeks must have been raw by the end of the weekend from all of the stolen kisses. I made a slideshow on photobucket of all of the pictures from Utah and I can't figure out how to put it on my blog. It was a hard blow to my self-esteem. Anyone know how?

The Party

We had all the right ingredients for a wonderful birthday party!

Great Friends . . .

A Handsome Birthday Boy . . .

and A Huge Feast.

Mark sadly came without his spouse. We tried

really hard to not make him feel like a fifth wheel.

The BIG 3 - 0

Happy Birthday to the best husband around. Last night I had to convince Jeremy to leave early so that his coworkers could decorate his office. They did an awesome job. He is holding a cookie bouqet in the shape of balloons. I had it delivered to him at work so he would feel extra special. You only turn 30 once so I have had to pull out all the stops. I woke up early this morning and made waffles with strawberries and whip cream. I also decorated the walls at home with 30 hearts that each had a reason why I love him. We are having a pary tonight with some friends so there is more for him to look forward to.

Fun Weekend

On Friday Jeremy and I went to Golden Gardens Park, which is on the beach, and had a BBQ with Jeremy's project team . It was a ton of fun. We got to leave work early at 12:30pm and we ate some really good food. The highlight was playing Volleyball for 2 hours straight with no little kids.

Saturday I awoke early because I could not stop thinking about Breaking Dawn and wondering if pre-ordering meant I would receive my book on Saturday. I was tempted to just buy two so I could start reading on Saturday, but to my surprise my book was on the front porch Saturday morning. I tried to have some restraint and I spent time with my friend Jeanne and her kids while Jeremy took a load to the dump with her husband. I finished the book on Sunday and it was so not what I expected. I did love it, but it is definitely for adults only.

Sunday we had a great day at church and then went over to Jeanne's house for dinner. I love her house because it is always crazy there and Jeremy and I both get to play with the kids and practice parenting skills. I do get teased mercilessly by her husband for my addiction to the Twilight series, but I can deal with it.

Weeds

I am sure that Lara has told many, if not all of you, about all these lame flowers that were planted in our yard and how she wants to rip them up. Well we have had some of them bloom recently and I wanted to show you what they looked like.






















The white ones are Cala Lily's and yellow are Tiger Lily's













These are called Peonies. We're glad we didn't rip them out.

July 4th Weekend

This was a busy and fun Independence Day weekend. The 4th of July is huge for the pyro's in the McMullin household. Attached are some photos and videos of the days events and a typical 4th of July BLAST (pun intented). Now remember, don't try any of the following activities at home. These were done by trained professionals and should not be attempted except in a safe and controlled environment.

That is the joy of dry ice. No wonder it is not recommended to put in mailboxes.

This is a very simple yet effective way to have fun. Please do not try this in mailboxes or at school. Yes we know someone that did and this individual is no longer allowed on school grounds.

The picture below is an example of what it does to the container it is put in.One of our favorite fireworks are called mortar shells. They are like the ones you see in real shows but at a smaller level. Here is a video of one of them going off.

Here are a few great photos that Lara took during the show.

Notice the smiley face on this one

We had a good time on Saturday. We had planned to have a party with some friends in the evening so we came home early and finished getting the house prepared for the festivities. It was a cloudy day, as others have been recently, but it had not really rained and we maintained hope that it would not. Well the party was supposed to start at 5:00 and it started to rain at exactly 4:30. It wasn't a heavy rain but we had planned to have everything out side because our house is too small to have so many people (kids) inside. We kept praying and our faith never waivered and sure enough, right at 5:00 the rain stopped and it was nice the rest of the evening and had even cleared up by the time it was over. It was a great blessing. We had decided to have Shish-ka-bobs for the main course since we figured everyone had hamburgers the night before. They turned out great but take a long time to cook. We also played volleyball and kickball with a beach ball.

Raccoons

Well I made it back safe from Girl's Camp. One night I thought I might be eaten by raccoons, but apparently they only like chocolate marshmellows. Wow, camp was really hard and a ton of fun this year. This is my 4th year going as a leader in two seperate states and I must say that I love the way they do camp in Federal Way. The leaders actually get free time each morning while YCL's take the girls to their different certification classes. One of the highlights was teaching the girls the proper way to play Big Booty. They didn't know about the cool dance moves that can be added for everyone's viewing pleasure. Camp was a lot harder this year mainly because there was only one other leader for our ward and because the girls were all 12 and 13 years old and a few of them were used to someone else doing everything for them. The weather was perfect for camp. It was even warm enough on Friday to swim in the lake and go canoing. I prayed very hard that there would be no rain, since June can be a very rainy month in the Seattle area.

Twilight Book Club

So all of you Twi-hards will appreciate this. For my book club we read Twilight. It was my month to host, so I was in charge of the discussion, treats, and having the meeting at my house. There is a lot of pressure on the treats because everyone tries to make food that was mentioned in the book or have the food mean something in relation to the book. All in all the evening went well. I was worried about cramming 12 ladies into my small living room, but it was fine. I was surprised because a few ladies didn't like the book for various reasons. It was my first time hearing anyone badmouth the book. I admit it was a little hard to hear, but I still love the book just as much as ever.


I tried to have everything be red and black. I served pizza with 1 bite taken out, mini cheesecakes with cherry topping, red apples and caramel dip, and just 'cause I love it spinach and artichoke dip with chips.



I had to take a closeup of the bite taken out. I joked about me taking a bite, but I used a measuring spoon to make the perfect bite.

Here are some of the ladies from my book club. In yellow is my friend Jeanne (you say it the french way Janae). She is the president and is a ton of fun to be around.

Turner's Annual Dinner

Here are some pictures from our photo shoot right before our company party at the Marriot in Seattle. When we really get dressed up we have to take a ton of photos. It was a fun evening. Who doesn't like a party where the drinks are free and long boring speeches are made! There was dancing there as well. So between dancing and dinner we did find something to enjoy as well.

The best part of the day was that I had my makeup done at the Clinique counter and then I bought this awesome necklace. I have to say that Kaila inspired me to buy the necklace because I knew it was something she would wear and she always looks fashionable.

Skye's Wedding

OK, so as you all know I am way overdue on updating my blog. Here are some photos that have to be posted from my fun trip to Utah at the first of May for my cousin Skye's wedding.

This is my sister-in-law Kaila. I stayed with her and my brother Mike for the weekend. We had so much fun. This picture is taken as we are leaving Target after a successful shopping trip for all between the sealing and reception. Kaila was a great chauffeur!

What great smiles! This is my younger sis Jessica (in pink) with baby Elle and my cousins Gracie and Lindy and her baby at Skye's reception.


Here is Elle again with her adoring dad Zach. I can't get enough pictures of Elle so I am posting them for all who enter my blog.

Busy Week

This has been a really busy week. As you know we have been working on the house so I (Jeremy) had a goal to paint the laundry room on Saturday so that meant that there was a lot to do to be ready for that. Well we were sitting down for dinner looking at the living room discussing how to stop the paint line between the 2 rooms, as they are open to each other with no break as you can see in the picture.

Well we finally decided that we wanted to add an archway in between to break up the monotony of it. Then of course I had to add one between the kitchen and dining room to match. This is what it looks like now between dining and living rooms.

With all this fun work we were able to paint the laundry room yesterday. Now I need to get the cabinet doors back on and we will be good in there until we do the flooring. This week our goal is to get the dining room and the new part of the living room painted, as Lara set up a game night on Saturday.

Friday night was exciting as well. We got tickets to go see a Mariners game. The young mens president in the ward is a season ticket holder and he was going to be out of town this weekend so he gave us his tickets. These were GREAT tickets. We were in the 36th row right behind home plate. I have never been to a major event like that where the people still actually looked like people. It was an exciting game and the Mariners won 8-5 against the Angels. Here is us at the game.

Lara's favorite part about the game was during the 3rd inning stretch the grounds crew came out to rake the dirt and make it pretty again. They got in a nice line and raked until they got to 2nd base and then they dropped their rakes and started to dance to "I'm Bad" by Michael Jackson. It was very entertaining. After seeing that Lara is considering a career change.

I also wanted to show all those who have not experienced the pride and joy of the northwest what a rhodadendron bush looks like. They bloom only around this time of year and are spectacular.

Kitchen Remodel

We have told many of you about our kitchen remodel so here are a few pictures to show you where we are at.

This is what the kitchen looked like before. It is impossible to describe the true ugliness of the wallpaper but the next picture shows a close-up. They say a picture tells 1,000 words but this still leaves me speechless.

This is where we are at now. Yesterday, Lara helped me finish stripping the ugliness off the walls. I have been surprised that underneath all that, the walls actually used to have a decent white paint on it. Plain, yes, but not ugly. Soon we will be texturing then painting the walls.

Yesterday we also went and saw the BYU Folk Dance Ensemble group. It was a lot of fun. They are all talented "kids" (dang we are old), and Lara likes to dream about what she wishes I could do.

Stars on Ice

This is us at Stars on Ice in Seattle on Feb 1, 2008. Jeremy won tickets on the radio and tried to surprise me with them. He kept saying save the 1st. It was really funny that when I guessed that he was taking me to Stars on Ice I didn't believe him at first because I knew he would never pay money to see ice skaters. Then when I found out he won them I believed him. We went to a really good Indian restaurant beforehand and had such a fun time. I was really surprised because Jeremy liked it as well. We were so proud of ourselves because we found parking and a good restaurant near Key Arena. Some day soon we will be Big City people and know our way around Seattle. We do know our way around Federal Way so that is a good start for now.

Christmas Photos

Hey Fam,

We took a lot of pictures at Chrismas time and have been trying to figure out how to get them out to everyone. Jessica and Zach introduced us to Blogspot and we thought that this would be the perfect way. Hope you enjoy.

Every family gathering needs at least one good picture (Signed - Mom)

Gametime

Christmas Morning

Other Random photos that make no one look good.

I don't remember anyone taking pictures of Elle so here are a few just in case :)

We all have to show off all the hard work we did on the gingerbread houses. After all, Mom and Greg are still eating them.

Last, but certainly not least, the Redneck Christmas will be a fond memory for many of us (OK the guys) for years to come.

Thanks to everyone, especially Mom and Greg, for a great time!