My mom and dad took us to Cornbellies on Halloween and it was so much fun! I think the funniest thing about the whole activity was Riley being so scared of the huge lizzard (kind of like a spook alley inside) and not wanting to go in it again, and Sunny going through it 3 times with my dad because she loved it so much! Wow-they are so different from each other!
There were so many fun activities to do and we had so much fun hanging out with Grammy and Grampy at Cornbellies and Halloween! Thanks Mom and Dad-you are so awesome!
We went to a place in Utah county called Pumpkin Land with Regan's mom and Grandma last week. It was a fun little Garden store full of pumpkins and activities. The only bad thing about the day was that there were a lot of gross mice! I have taught my little 4 year old to be afraid of mice because when he saw a mouse, he started to scream and was running away from it!
We have had a busy October! Between visiting the Witches at Gardner Village, parties at school, dressing up in costumes and carving pumpkins, we have had a fun month! Sunny had her Joy school Halloween Party last week and it was so cute to get all of the kids together and get a picture of them in their cute costumes! While we were carving pumpkins, Sunny wanted to keep eating the seeds, even if they were still attached to the slimy part! YUCK! We have had a busy October! Between visiting the Witches at Gardner Village, parties at school, dressing up in costumes and carving pumpkins, we have had a fun month! Sunny had her Joy school Halloween Party last week and it was so cute to get all of the kids together and get a picture of them in their cute costumes! While we were carving pumpkins, Sunny wanted to keep eating the seeds, even if they were still attached to the slimy part! YUCK!
My friend Danielle took our family pictures and Elle's baby pictures and they turned out SO cute! I actually had tears in my eyes when I saw the picture of Riley, Sunny and Elle sitting so close together! I kept on thinking, Regan and I made these beautiful children-and that is what they all are: BEAUTIFUL!
Here is a picture of my little Diva...Sunny! She is so funny, cute, dramatic and she is a parrot (copies everything anyone says). This shirt she is wearing says "Mom is my Stylist". That is exactly how I feel every morning. After the kids are out of the bathtub, I have to figure out what they all will wear for the day, get them dressed, comb through hair, style the hair, spray the hair, get the shoes on etc. Fortunatly for me, I absolutly love to do hair even though I am not that great at it. That is why it is wonderful that Riley has beautiful locks of curls and now I will have 2 girls hair to do with matching bows!!!
A few months ago, Regan was out of town, and I was left home alone with the kids. When this happens, I sometimes can freak myself out at any kind of sound that they house makes. This particular night, I thought I heard something and started hypervenalating. The 1st thing that came into my mind was a new primary song that Riley has been learning. It instantly comforted me and I was able to go back to sleep without being scared.
I am thankful for the peace that the gospel gives me and the strength that I have because of the knowledge that I have. I am far from perfect--there are still so many things that I am working on daily as a mother, as a wife, as a friend and as an individual, but as I am working through those, I feel like I can grow and grow because of that peace the gospel gives me.
Here are the lyrics to the Primary Song that comforted me so much that night!
If the Savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do? Would I think of His commandments and try harder to be true? Would I follow His example? Would I live more righteously, If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?
If the Savior stood beside me, would I say the things I say? Would my words be true and kind if He were never far away? Would I try to share the gospel? Would I speak more reverently If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?
If the Savior stood beside me, would my thoughts be clean and pure? Would His presence give me strength and hope, and courage to endure? Would His counsel guide my actions? Would I choose more worthily If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?
He is always near me, though I do not see Him there And because He loves me dearly, I am in His watchful care So I'll be the kind of person that I know I'd like to be If I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me.
Last night, my mom and dad had everyone over for the 1st annual McKell Family Halloween Party! My dad said that since our family is growing and growing, we need to start the tradition of a Halloween Party! We had SO much fun thanks to mom and dad! My dad made the coolest spook alley ever. He even made it kid friendly for Riley and Sunny with a Halloween Light Up Mickey Mouse and Pooh Bear. After they went through the friendly one, the rest of us went through the not so friendly one! Let's just say that I was screaming so loud at the end! My dad made a tunnel that we had to crawl through, then made walls and at the end of the spook alley, I saw something that I thought was just pinned to the walls, but all of a sudden, it started to move and then come closer to me!!!!!
It was a 7 foot 2 inch FRANKENSTEIN coming for us! It was SO SO SO SCARY! My dad rented this guy that is really 6'8 in real life, and when he is in his Frankenstein Costume, his shoes make him 7'2! Dad-that was SO awesome-way to go!
We had good food, fun games, and fun costumes! We even painted a Halloween Mural and went to the good old Farmer Rasmussen's house to get pumpkins! I can't remember how long we have gone to his house for pumpkins, but it has been a very long time!
This was such a fun party and something that we will definently look forward to every year as our family is growing and growing!
My family decided spur of the moment to take a long weekend vacation to Midway since the kids had school off. Midway is by Heber, just up from Provo Canyon. It was such an awesome weekend, but unfortunatly, Regan didn't go with us because he was working and spending time with his brother who was in town. Anyway, my parents rented a condo in the Zermatt Resort in Midway which was awesome!! The kids did a lot of swimming, we went to Park City, we did the Zip Line at the Olympic Park (which I was extremely scared to do, but I did it and it was so amazing!), the family swam in the Crater at the homestead, we went to an awesome diner in Oakley, played games, watched movies and had a fun time with each other!
Thanks mom and dad for always having fun things planned for our family! I have so many amazing memories of family trips all because of my mom and dad. Riley and Sunny absolutly love spending time with my siblings, and this weekend was no exception!
Call me crazy, but I just think I have the cutest kids in the whole entire world! Am I just a little bias...probably, but common, they are just super cute!!!!
Grandma Fackrell sent the kids this fun Halloween Craft and we had fun putting it together last night! The little Halloween kids are so cute and this was a fun craft to do. Thanks LeeAnn!
Last Saturday, we received the news that Regan's Grandpa who lives in Wyoming passed away while hearding cattle on the mountain side. He was 86 years old and you might ask, why was he hearding cattle at his age? Well, that is exactly the kind of person he was...never wanting to stop working and always living life doing what he loved, farming. I think if he had his choice, this is how he would have wanted to leave this earth.
We packed all 3 kids in the car on Tuesday morning and drove 8 hours to the great town of Burlington, Wyoming. I still am in amazement of how Ellie did in the car both ways. She slept most of the way and was so good-come on, she is only 2 1/2 weeks old! Anyway, it was great to be at Grandma's house all week and spend so much time with Regan's family. Regan and his brother spoke at their Grandpa's funeral and afterwards, people said it was the funniest funeral they had ever been to. More like a celebration of life than a mourning. I played a piece on my violin called Ashokan's Farewell and it was perfect for his Grandpa. A westerny, twangy piece that suited him very well.
We came home on Saturday and braved the scary Wyoming roads. There was a point where Regan and I were just driving along at the speed limit when all of a sudden, we started sliding all over the road. WE had hit a patch of black ice which we obvoiuslly couldn't see, and fortuanatly, Regan pulled out of it calmly and didn't jerk the wheel, otherwise we would have flipped our car! It was so scary and so needless to say, we were so grateful to be home and to be safe!
Here is the mother coming out of me, but honestly, it really made me just think-it is not worth going fast or trying to get to your destination fast when the weather is bad, and now that it is snowing in Utah today, it really makes me want to drive so safe and slow since I have 3 little ones with me!
Anyway, we are glad that we had such a great weekend being with family this week and reflecting back to the life of Ferrel Riley. He is the reason why we named our little boy Riley. He was such a hard worker and a great guy!
While we were there, we went to Cody for a day to visit the Buffalo Bill Museum! WOW-it had 5 museums all together and the kids loved it. Here are some pictures of our trip!
My little Sunny LOVES to Dress up so when we were at my parents house for General Conference last weekend, let's just say she was in heaven when Chrissy showed her the bin of old Halloween Costumes! This year for Halloween she will be Cinderella which comes to no surprise since she is going through a Disney Princess obsession lately!
Here are the 2 sisters. Sunny loves to hold little baby Ellie, but I don't know if Ellie likes it too much! Here are some cute pictures of my little girls! About the last picture...does anyone have potty training advise for me? I don't know if it is just my little girl, but it seems like she is WAY more stubborn in potty training than Riley ever was!
Happy Fall! Honestly, did you think I could pass up the cute Halloween Bows in Sunny's hair? Just another thing to look forward to with 2 girls! Twinner Outfits and Bows-these girls don't even have a say in the matter!
Here are some awesome pictures at my sister's wedding. Regan was the crepe chef and had his very own crepe making table and wore a real chef's hat. He was a great sport for making crepe's for 3 hours straight and mingling with a ton of people at the wedding. I think I mentioned this before, but I don't know of too many husbands that would agree to this, and I just think Regan is so awesome-not only for doing this at the wedding, but just for having a husband that is so outgoing and a take charge type of person. He can do whatever he sets his mind to do and he is incredible; did I mention he is hot too?
The other picture is my favorite picture of all of my siblings! I think everyone looks great in it and I just love how close we are: in life and the picture! Anyway, I am glad that I have 5 other siblings to share life experiences with and to hang out with. Since I am the oldest of the group, I feel a huge responsibility to be an example to them and to do the right things at all times! I love them so much and I am lucky to have them in my life!
This is totally my fault, but I got 2 hours of sleep last night!!! I forgot that what I eat affects the baby, and so when I was enjoying some homemade salsa that my friend made me for lunch yesterday, little did I know that it would make me get 2 hours of sleep because Elle's tummy didn't like the onions and peppers! Note to self: do not eat anything spicy or hot while nursing!
Let's just say that with 2 other kids at home, Mom needs her sleep and so just wish me luck today! It might just have to be a movie day today!! Fortunatly, my friend and old college roommate called me this morning, Emily, and that honestly just made my day to talk to her! Thanks Emily-you are so awesome!
Regan & Andrea were married on June 29, 2001 in the Salt Lake Temple. Marrying Regan and having my 2 kids are my greatest accomplishments and I want everyone to know how blessed and grateful I am for my family. I have an eternal marriage with my best friend, and I am the mother to 2 amazing children, Sunny & Riley. I am such a blessed person and I am grateful for what I have.
