The beach, sun, cousins and family= PARTY!!

I just have to say that though I am posting these pics a few months late, I still love reminiscing about the beach. This year was especially amazing because my nephew Jonathan was there and had just finished his last round of chemo. He was still sick and could not walk very well, but did not want to miss the beach. We had a "NO MO CHEMO" Luau party for him. Of course my sisters and I put on a skit for Jona that was a big hit that will be used as black male on us for years. :) We all laughed and cried that night and just enjoyed being with each other as a family. These are just some of the many reasons I love our annual beach trip.

I LOVE having a contest to see who can see the ocean first when we first arrive.
I LOVE getting to the beach house, having our swimming suits on already and running out to the ocean.
I LOVE that the place we stay is full of sand, dirt, mildew, rust, and has not been updated or worked on since the 60's.
I LOVE that no one minds the beach house (to much :) ) because we are right on the sand and at the beach (not in the house) for the whole week.
I LOVE that we pack in 30+ family members into one house and that we wouldn't have it any other way.
I LOVE our 7 am walks to the donut shop to get a donut every morning.
I LOVE taking my kids down the Pier and letting them watch everyone fishing and then asking if they can touch the fish.
I LOVE watching my kids come out of the ocean all wet and lay in the warm sand.
I LOVE watching my kids catch sand crabs and ask if they can keep them as pets.
I LOVE the adrenaline rush of the freezing cold ocean when I first jump in, and the cramp I get in my right pinky toe.
I LOVE running as fast as I can with my sisters into the ocean and swimming, floating, and acting silly like we are kids again.
I LOVE watching my brother Scott surf.
I LOVE hanging out with my older brothers on the sand and having long conversations with them.
I LOVE convincing my sis-n-laws to get in the water.
I LOVE putting the kids down for the night and sitting with a big blanket on the beach with my hubby.
I LOVE all the beautiful beach houses with immaculate porches that surround our porch, and then looking at our porch that has an explosion of towels, bikes, scooters, chairs, shoes, boogie boards, swimming suits, sand buckets, shovels, and anything else that pertains to the beach.
I LOVE watching my kids with their cousins knowing that they are making memories that will last a lifetime.
I LOVE all of the junk food we have 'O' plenty for all to partake of any time, and anywhere.
I LOVE playing games at night and laughing so hard that I almost wet my pants.
I LOVE that my mom is in heaven and satisfied reading her books all day and knowing that we are in heaven.
I LOVE the proud smile on my dad's face and chuckle as he watches us from afar.
I LOVE the adult night swim we take and how giddy it makes us.
I LOVE just laying on the beach doing nothing.
I LOVE watching my wonderful husband looking for sea shells, sand crabs, and building castles with my kids.
I LOVE the Balboa bars!
I LOVE going to bed at night and seeing bodies asleep all over the place because there is not enough room in the house for everyone.
I LOVE watching everyone with a good book on the beach and calling dibs on who gets what book next.
I LOVE eating literal sandwiches on the beach and not caring one bit.
I LOVE laying next to my husband in our sand filled bed with all three of our children crammed into one small room and knowing that this is what life is all about!

My sisnlaws and sisters, Tracy Tipton, Heather Tipton, Jamie Tipton, Juliette Hess, Tiff Johnson, Cherisse Sarager. My mom is missing in this pic
My bros., brothernlaw, husband, and dad. Scott Tipton, Jay Tipton, Rick Tipton, Adam Hess, Shaun Johnson, Dad

"NO MO CHEMO" party. This was so fun and my nephew looks a little frightened. I don't know why. :)

First day at the beach McKay and Jaden. 4 and 5

Brig and McKay

With Brig and Andrew planning the week

Jaden, Carson, and Brig

Just a little excited to see each other. Brig and Jaden

Look at that smile!

Uncle Scott giving McKay a little ride

Hold on tight

Donut Time! McKay, Jaden, Roxcy

Nothing better than donuts, the beach and dad!

TROUBLE!!

My cute sisters family. Jonathan, Cherisse, Carson, and Cody

Jay and Jonathan. Jonathan walked down to the pier with his walker. It is a long way and we were pretty proud!

The clan

Rick and my dad

More of the clan

That is what I am talking about!!mmmmmmmmm

We need more zinc and sand please!!

Roxcy + marshmallows = heaven

Our little monkey

Our other monkey

Cousins at the fire pit. Malloy, McKay, Truman, Max, Roxcy, Jaden

Malloy and McKay being goof balls together

Max, Brig, and McKay

Shaun, McKay, Jaden, Carson, and Andrew taking turns burying each other

Look at that cute face

What a little beach babe

Give me some love. Jaden and Carson

Rocxy and Andrew with a healthy snack. :)

Sisters. Roxcy 1, Jaden 4

Mckay 5, Roxcy1, Jaden 4

Jonathan, McKay, and Brig

I love this pic. of Roxcy. She not only loved playing in the sand, she loved eating it as well

The Motley crew. These little monkeys decided that Cody needed to wake up from his nap. McKay, Jaden, Malloy, and Carson

Malloy and McKay

I have never seen someone so excited to me buried in sand before. :)

Mimi, Roxcy, Nixie, and the Diet Dr. Pepper she bribed them with to sit on her lap. :)

I love this girl!

The sea lions we saw on the Harbor cruise

Jaden on the Bungee jump who wanted to go higher

McKay had the best laugh on this thing

Daddy time. McKay, Dad, and Jaden

Papa with Jaden and McKay

YES......... they all got in with thier clothes on

Roxcy feeding Cody sandy grapes

This was the favorite hang out of the trip for the kids

Limbo anyone

My brothers are dying in this pic. Scott, Rick, Jay, Adam, Jamie, Tracy, Heather, Tiffany, Juliette, Cherisse

McKay and Carson

The fam at the bottom of the pier

Love this

Love this even more

And more sand crabs

My favorite pic of the whole trip

Shaun loves going on walks with the kids when we are at the beach. He is such a great dad

A favorite hiding spot for our little squeaker!

McKay, Jaden, and Roxcy were being so quiet the other day, and I could not find them anywhere. Of course I should have thought of looking where the pots and pans go, that is usually where I stick the kids. :)

POOR NEGLECTED BLOG

This is for all you family and friends...... I am finally posting again after way to long. I really thought that with me not teaching preschool in the summer that I woud be so on top of things in the blogging world. On the contrary....... just the opposite. Trust me, there were many days I thought, "today is the day to update!" Then I found myself either passed out asleep in my kids room while putting them to bed, or after putting my kids down, on a date with my couch and my dvr wanting to use absolutley no part of my brain. And though I have so much catching up to do, I have to say, I enjoyed every moment of my evenings of going to bed early and vegging.:) Seriously though, for those of you out there that happen to pop in on my blog still,.... I am still alive and would love advice on how to best schedule the blog updating in. When does everyone update? After the kids are in bed? When they are napping? When they are watching a movie? Please tell me some tricks so I can repent of my non blogging ways. :)

Kindergarten...... Yikes!!!

Seriously mom get out of here..... You are embarrassing me!

Camby and McKay. When we got to school, the first thing McKay asked his teacher is if he knew Camby. He then told her that he was his very best friend in the whole world.

In McKays class, their are seven boys from our ward. Their teacher is in for a big surprise. I hope they don't drive her into an early retirement.

As you can see from the other pictures, that is hard for my son to make a normal or semi normal face when I am taking pictures. He thinks it is funnier to be crazy, so I was so excited when he smiled in this shot at school right before he went in to his classroom.

I have to put down some of the funny questions and statements that McKay made today. As we walked outside to go, he proclaimed, "Mom, this is the best day of my life. It's raining, it's my first day of kindergarten, and I get to go play at Quinn's house." He asked me when the bus was picking him up and if he could eat lunch at school. I think my favorite one though was when he asked me in how many days was I going to pick him up? When I informed him with a no to all of his questions he was disapointed. :) When we had meet the teacher he drew a picture for her and then told me that he thought he might be shy at school. Inside I was laughing so hard at that statement and I was thinking in my mind..... Yes, I wish you would by shy sometimes:). When we picked him up from school he had a big grin on his face and I asked him what he did at school. He said, "I don't know, but I have a new girlfriend." This also surprised me because I was not aware that he had an old girlfriend. I definetly need to get with it. I asked what her name was and he said he did not know but that she thought he was funny and he said he kept making her laugh. He said he loved school and that he did not get sent to the principals office ( relief ). The best thing he said was regarding the blessing that Shaun gave to him. After we got home he said, "Mom, after you and dad left today I wasn't even scared. That prayer helped me.

So I was looking through a family circle magazine a couple of days ago and found this advertisement for The Childrens Place and thought it was so cute and so appropriate for me since McKay just started Kindergarten today. Plus, I cried my eyes out when I read it.

There will be bigger hallways and bigger kids. There will be new sounds, new friends and new teachers whose names might sound scary at first. He'll line up, look back and file inside and at that moment you'll realize this is your first day of school too. Value every moment.

So cute! So today was McKays first day of Kindergarten and I thought that I had better post. I really want him to know how incredibly cute and hilarious he was on this day. I really thought I was going to be a mess today. On the way to his school I got a little misty eyed, but by the time we got there he was so excited to see his teacher and friends that all I could do was grin from ear to ear. When I got home Jaden wanted to play polly pockets and barbies with me. It was so fun having one on one time with my girls. But, after an hour and a half I wasn't sure if I was more sad because I missed McKay or because I had been playing Polly Pockets the entire time that McKay was at school. :) Shaun took the morning off and we all walked McKay to school. Shaun was so proud of him. Shaun wanted to give McKay a Fathers Blessing and Mckay informed him that he didn't need one because he already knew he was going to like school. Shaun still gave him one and it was so special. When we walked McKay to school I think Shaun was more nervous than anyone. He said that when he was a kid he used to feel nervous and a little sick on the first day of school. Shaun said that as we walked McKay to school he started to feel that way again. Regardless, he still felt well enough to video McKays every move all the way to school. :)