Memorial day...

My thoughts on Memorial Day automatically go to my Dad. He served in the US Army and he served well. We were the fortunate ones whose father came home from the wars. He was able to retire from the military. He had military honors at his funeral. My heart swells with gratitude when I think of his service, and the service of all the men and women who have served, many of whom gave their lives for our freedom. It is a sobering day, to remember and to give thanks. When you fly your flag today, remember them...as you enjoy our day off and festivities with your families and friends, remember them. Thank you Dad, for your sacrifices of home and family. We will never forget.

Dad (center) with his Liason team

Happy Birthday Joel!

15 years ago our lives were blessed again for the 5th time. At 1:21 in the morning we had our biggest baby ever! 10 lbs. 6 oz and he was a beautiful baby! We waited a long time to get him in our family and he was worth the wait! Joel, you are a huge blessing in our lives and we are so grateful to have you in our family! You are strong and valiant, loving and kind, helpful and fun. You are a wonderful example of a Believer, a Scout, a friend, and a son. You honor your priesthood and are an asset to your priesthood quorum and your scout troop, as well as to our family. We cannot imagine our lives without you! Your old parents are glad to have you around a little longer, as all the rest of our kids leave the nest...we love you, we are grateful for you, and we wish you the happiest birthday today!! You are one cute boy! And if you get any taller you will have to become a professional basketball player! Congratulations on winning the scripture mastery last night too...that was so cool!! You are amazing - and you light up our lives!

Did you think to pray?

"I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time - waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God - it changes me." C.S. Lewis

I saw this quote on Lauren's facebook this morning and I HAD to capture it. I love that I can pray anytime, anywhere to my Heavenly Father. And believe me, I'm sure I weary Him some days with all my praying! But I am so grateful that the communication lines are ALWAYS open and He is ALWAYS there to hear me. I am grateful to parents who taught me this early in my life, knowing I would need it more as I became a wife and mother. I also appreciated Susan's blog this morning with the quote on PATIENCE. That one I still have to work on!! When life gets to hard to stand, kneel. That is my motto and this New Era Mormonad captured that for me...Don't forget to pray!

Honor...

HONOR: high regard or respect; good reputation; adherence to principles considered right; integrity; chastity; high rank; to respect greatly; to show high regard for

We attended a Court of Honor this month. Our fine young son received his LIFE award in scouting. It is always a pleasure to see these young men receive the awards they have so dutifully EARNED. I am grateful for the scouting program and all it does to enhance the lives of these young men. I especially love being pinned as the MOM of such fine young sons, although they have done all the work and I don't feel the need for any kind of recognition. I am simply behind the scenes cheering them on.

Joel receiving his award...
and the congratulations after the pinning...

Great job Joel! Can't wait for the EAGLE award which will be next. I HONOR the scouting program.

Birthday Bash in Elk Grove...

April 30th, Dave's sister Susan turned 60. We had a big bash in Elk Grove on Saturday, May 1st. Susan flew in from Idaho and as many McKinneys as possible drove up or over for the celebration. We appreciate John and April McKinney hosting the party and hosting us (we stayed in their lovely home). We were able to meet some long lost Kloss cousins (there whereabouts were unknown for over 50 years!) and it was just a wonderful day! The food was delicious, the company was enjoyable and the weather was perfect. Here are just a bunch of random pictures of our fun day. Happy Birthday Susan!

Terry and Barbara with 6 of their 8 kids! Kodak moment!!

Susan, April and Margie...gift time!

Cake time! Kristen, Kathleen and Tina (Kloss cousins) in the back. Kristen is Kathleen's daughter, Kathleen and Tina are sisters (their dad was Darrell Kloss) and the little red headed boy is Tina's grandson. The little girls are Coral and Kami (John and Mark's granddaughters).

Love this picture of my boyfriend. That is new cousin Bob in the background. (we all had to wear name tags for the sake of our new cousins, there are just too many McKinneys to learn them all in one sitting!!)

John and April with grandson Royal. Our gracious hosts!

Stephanie, Aaron and Terry

the birthday girl Susan, with Dave and Joel. Notice how brother and sister sit the same way, of course Dave is left handed. (so is his mom and his wife!) Sus looks great and it was fun to visit with her.

Margie, Gail, and Mike. They are from AZ but Mike is living in CA right now for his job. So Margie flew over to meet him and drove up. We were happy to see all of them.

Joel in the game room, we played wii when there was a little down time.

Some of the kitchen help. That's Barbara working on the yummy meat!

And of course Terry's job is decorating with balloons...he IS the pro!! Have helium tank, will travel!

This is John's bookcase. I took a picture of it because someday when I have a nice big house with a "library" in it, I want Dave to build me one of these!

Wanted...local Deseret Industries

We just returned from a trip up to Elk Grove/Sacramento. We had a wonderful mini-reunion/60th birthday bash which I will blog about later. Knowing the party wasn't going to start until noontime, I asked Dave to drive me to the Sacramento DI so I could shop. He obliged and I had so much fun! Wish I'd have had more time to look at EVERYTHING. But I started with the books...bought 11 book! The most expensive one was $3, the cheapest was 50 cents! I also wanted a denim skirt, found one! $4. Then I got some ties for my boys, $3 each, some old fashioned canning jars, 25 cents and a wooden YW with all the values in balloons (she was a buck...worth it as a pattern anyway!) Needless to say I was THRILLED. I sure wish we could have a DI close by. It's like a huge yard sale all in one place! And NEATLY organized, reasonably priced, normal shopping hours (don't have to get up at the crack of dawn and drive all over kindgom come) just a whole lotta fun!! I got all of the above for $30. Maybe someday we will get a DI here, (I can dream!) but in the meantime, I think I will need to find a few more excuses to travel to Sacramento! Thanks honey for taking me there. (He picked out some of the books too!)