Dinner Conversation...

A classic game of would you rather always does the family good...

well, it usually does, but not today.

"If you couldn't be in Gryffindor, which house would you want?"

I hard question, but I quickly decided, "Ravenclaw".

"Hey Bryan would you rather fight a dragon or a troll?"

"Do I have a broom?"

"No"

"Do I have a wand?"

"Ya"

"A troll definitely." bugged that he would even ask me such an obvious question.

Then more questions were asked between us such as which we would fight, the big spider, centaurs, more dragons and other Harry Potter things.

Then things went sour when I asked, "Dyl, who would you rather fight, a centaur or Hagrid?"

"Duh Hagrid, he's stupid".

"Did you just say he's stupid??" I replied.

"Ya, he's stupid".

"Sorry but I can't talk to you right now".

"Well then, who would you rather fight______" (can't remember what he asked because I couldn't stop thinking about what he just declared).

"No seriously, I can't talk to you right now".

Wellllll HE started it!

Sophisticated Thanksgiving

As you can see we have a very sophisticated family. Our Thanksgiving weekend consisted of high-class humor, fine dining, and tuxes and cocktail dresses. Only the fanciest for us, thank you very much.

One of the best parts about these videos is that you can hear Leigh in the background outraged about the noises, but yet she can’t stop giggling. Leigh blames calls everyone out by name, blaming them for the noises, but she can’t stop laughing either. AND THEN when mom accidently closes out of the app, she sounds upset.

Good one Leigh.

Some of the best lines from these videos

“oh! I can’t breath” –SAM

“do that one again. Oh I love that!” –DAD

“it’s like asking a question” –LEIGH

“What! Okay that’s diarrhea” –LEIGH

It’s just not possible to be offended by these videos when you see how hard my mom is laughing in them.

Good one Mom.

Just Me

Hottie is in the other room being hot again. Well, technically he's studying, but that's basically the same thing. I've been looking at blogs for the past hour wondering how people can be so funny/clever/witty with their words and still have time to live a normal life to talk about. It's a cycle for me. Pinterest, sometimes facebook and definitely blogs hook me, then get me into a funk. I love reading about others' lives and experiences, but if I don't pull myself away from it, after long enough I get envious. And then I make the same realization that I do every time, people are different. I don't have to be them or have their things to be interesting. I'm me and me is awesome (especially when I'm accompanied by a Dylan). Does anyone else feel this way? In the world we live in now, when there is SO much accessible through the internet that literally a half a day could be spent just on browsing, that it is incredibly easy to get caught up in what we're not, and what other people are.

Just curious if it happens to you too...

p.s. see you in 3 days Reagy goo and Sammy poo.

Books

"No man can be called friendless who has God and the companionship of good books".

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

image

Sometimes do you wish that you could be like the people you read about in books? I get engulfed in books and catch myself acting like the characters that inspire me. Like when I am reading Jane Austen books, my vocabulary gets more sophisticated and I tend to dress in classy clothes. Recently I read Peter Pan and all I could think about was what it would be like to talk to a mermaid, or be a mother that waits for her children every night to come home from Neverland. Now, while I read The Wednesday Wars, I wonder if my seventh grade self could understand Shakespeare and respond to death threats for cream puffs. I am so grateful for books and how they take me out of myself and explore new thoughts and ideas.

How do books affect you?

Not a Typical Saturday...

7:54 wake up and rush to the church to help clean

9:00 go home/eat breakfast

10:00 go out back and start taking down the shed at Cherry Lane

10:00-2:45 Take down shed/take stuff to dump

2:10ish FIND A TRAP DOOR

what?!

Yes, that's right. We have a mystery on our hands here. Yesterday we were taking down the shed in the back yard of Cherry Lane. It was a tin-ish shed with a bunch of pallets and uh other stuff in there *ah hem...Apparently when Brad and Sherry bought this house the shed was there. So no one even knew about this trap door that we found. In case you didn't hear me the first and second time, we found a trap door! The shed was built up with a cement slab as the floor. As we were finishing taking the last parts of the pallets out that were covering the cement slab we uncovered a round secret trap door, with wires going into it. But, this task took us so long that we had to hurry to take the last load to the dump, and by the time we got back we barely had time to change our clothes and rush off to meet the McKinnon's for a movie.

Lest you think we weren't dying of curiosity on what was inside hole of imagination, let me tell you that we came up with quite a list of what it could be.

Some guesses we had

• underground passageway
• bomb shelter
• treasure trove (possibly a skeleton holding it)

What do you think? Vote on it!

thoughts...

Words that are constantly going through my head these days…

Dylan

birds

yellow

babies

white homes

good parents

fall colors

tissues

love

Leslie Knope

arugula

pajamas

candles

San Fransisco

Cousins

blankets

treat yo’ self

witty

Jane Austen

classics

birthdays

curry

sewing

knitting

planner

billy balls

succulents

decorating

friends

travel

just a few…

Story of the Book End...

Here is a little situation that sums up being the last child in a family.

A few weeks ago Dylan and I were discussing our Thanksgiving plans. Initially we were going out to visit David, Emily and company in New Orleans, but tickets were expensive. So, we were looking over our options. I thought of a brilliant idea and we proposed it to my parents. Hey, why not drive out to San Fransico and spend Thanksgiving with Reagy and Sam. My mom is obsessed with China Town and dad likes a good car trip. Even though the plan was flawless all my dad responded with was a big fat shoot down of my idea.

Come with me now to two days ago. I'm at work and Dylan calls, "Hey I have something exciting to tell you..."

Me: "what"

Him: "your dad just thought of the best idea for Thanksgiving, we're going to San Francisco!"

Me: "seriously?"

Him: (while chuckling) "yes"

Me: "this is ridiculous"

Apparently my dad has no recollection of my brilliant idea.

But hey, at least we're going to Reagy's house, apartment, shoe box!!

Year year year

Last weekend Dylan and I celebrated our first anniversary.

No way, where did the time go? So many people say the first year of marriage is the hardest, but what about the happiest? This past year I have made some of my best memories and they’re all due to Dylan.

Through our fist year of marriage I’ve learned a lot things about life, but my favorite things to learn were about Dylan. Getting to know him better than I did before has been so fun! Until this year I didn't know such a compassionate, sensitive, silly, handsome, loving person. For how much I have loved this year with him, I cannot wait to see what the future holds for us. Thank you honey!

Although this year has gone by so incredibly fast that we almost can’t believe it’s been a year, Dylan and I were amazed at all the places we went in that year.

England, Park City, Las Vegas, Italy, Skagway, Juneau, Yukon Territory, Oregon, Texas

I can only hope we’ll get this many adventures in the next ten years…if that.

I LOVE DYLAN.

(suckas)

Glassblowing

This was something fun we did in Alaska this summer. Almost everyday we drove people on tours to this little place just right on the outskirts of Skagway called the Jewel Gardens. In the full bloom of summer it was a breathtaking piece of land with a quite little café and a fun little shop. People who go there for garden tours, lunch or to glass blow. I thought the gardens were beautiful, but personally I would never spend $150 + to look at them or a whopping $200+ to glass blow there. Luckily, the locals are treated like gold in Skagway as long as you weren’t a day visitor discounts were incredible. So why not right? We picked our colors and designs and hit the floor. It was cool to watch the glass melt down and become all one color, and then as it would melt the brilliant colors would shine through again. We had so many fun experiences in Skagway and it was home to us for a short little while. Thanks Skagway for being so….cool (brrrrr!).

The Good Kind of Weekend

General Conference

When it comes along is there anything that is more of a prize? I love how this biannual conference ALWAYS kicks me back into shape and makes me see how my priorities should be. Every time we get the experience to listen I remember why this gospel is so right and so incredible. Some things that I have gained and want to yet realize in my life after this weekend,

• talking about the gospel to anyone, anywhere and make if feel like casual conversation

• being a parent (someday, not now)

• living a life more conducive to the spirit

• having a million baby girls for Dylan to protect

• remembering how many batches of our biannual cinny rolls to do (is it 3.5 or 4.5 jo? I’ve already forgotten)

• becoming more acquainted with the Book of Mormon

I feel like with every new general conference I watch the more and more specific talks are, and the more I feel like they are talking directly to me. Anyone else feel that way?

If you don’t know what general conference is, check it out here!

Football Season

And so it begins, another wonderful season of BYU football. For me this is a unique experience that thankfully is only seasonal. I've found only a few women who can understand and relate to what life becomes for me once football season has begun (and let's not forget to mention basketball season following right on it's jersey tails). Most of the women happen to be in the family I married into and have lived with the men's enthusiasm (read: consuming obsession) for many MANY years. One of these great, patient, enduring ladies is my mother-in-law. So as this season approaches I was brought back to an email she sent me at this time last year with an article that couldn't describe the experience any better.

She wrote: "My life. I laughed so hard when I saw this. If you are not a McKinnon or married to one, it may seem impossible to fathom that it can actually be like this. We, McKinnon wives, can vouch for the authenticity of this obsession. Even as I write, two McKinnon boys are talking about "the game" in the background on the phone! We love them so! That is what makes them them! Love you all! Sherry"

Confessions of the wife of a college football fan. If you even slightly know what I'm talking about when I say life is literally put on hold when it's game day, read that article and you'll be able to relax a little, realizing you're not alone in this crazy world.

Farah

I am back from the summer of working long hours and days strung together of never endingness. So what do I come back to? More work! Seriously I'm really excited about this. You see folks, I don't have just any ordinary hum ho kind of jobto come back to, I have Farah. Farah is one of my best friends and is such a light in my life. When I left she was sick and consequentially unhappy quite often. I was worried about her all summer. Now that I've seen the lovely girl I am happy to announce that she is back to her good ole happy beaming self again (Farah is a true summer baby). She makes so many people happy and has blessed countless lives. She teaches lessons through her happy optimistic demeanor. How did I get so lucky to find her?

We’ve had some really good times together and I am so blessed to know this remarkable person.

How bright our future is...

Out of all of the semesters going to BYU I've learned some things, and i'm not talking information from my books and teachers. It's those kind of life lessons you realize you've learned after the fact. One of those happens to be how HARD school is. Not homework, staying focused, tests and ignoring the pencil tapper behind me. School is hard because the decisions that have to be made, specifically what to study. I am now going in to my 5th year of college and I've just declared my last and final major (hopefully). Yes definitely. Yes, for sure.

It shouldn't have been majorly difficult for me because secretly I hope I can settle down with a family and apply the things I've learned from my major to motherhood and not a full-time job. But what about those people who do need to be concerned about liking what they do in school because they could be doing it for 30+ more years. HARD HARD HARD things.

Dylan is going through this right now. He's taking his time because we really want him to find something he loves and is excited about. He has taken just about every intro to whatever class out there and has been exploring his options endlessly. Finally he has stumbled upon a class this semester that we're hoping will give him the answer. It's a career exploration class. I wasn't trying to get my hopes up, but today they took a million of those career tests that will tell you what you should be and Dylan finally discovered his calling in life.

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet your next nanny in the world, Mr. Dylan McKinnon.

Juneau

So after our adventure to Whitehorse with Chase, Jen and Val, we decided this getting out of Skagway thing for a few days was a good idea. So, a few weekends ago we decided to take some time off work and enjoy what Alaska had to offer. So first off we headed over to Haines on a 4X4 tour with Chase, Jenny and Goo.

It was a pretty fun time -- the views were beautiful, the company was great, and everyone got a chance to drive.

Early the next morning we left the Browns behind and headed for Juneau, and had an awesome ferry ride to get there. Here's the prettiest thing we saw on the ferry:

We spent a few days in Juneau and slept at the youth hostel there. It was sad not being able to spend the night together, but we couldn't pass up $10 a night.

In Juneau we rode up the Mt. Roberts tram (and took some sweet jumping pictures)

We went on a whale watching tour and saw sea lions and humpback whales

Ate some really good King Crab at Tracy's Crab Shack

Hiked out to the Mendenhall Glacier, and even up onto it

Then did a puzzle we found on the ferry as we came home to Skagway

It was an awesome weekend, and we loved spending it together in such a beautiful place. We tried to do as many things as we could that you can only do in Alaska (or at least that you can't do in Utah) and I think we did a pretty good job.

Also, you just got duped into reading a blog post by Dylan, and you probably didn't even know that he wrote it until now!

Welcome to our life

Basically this is what we see every day of our summer. If you're jealous, it's alright, you can come visit. PLEASE?

The other day, when Dylan and I were finishing up work we got a call from Jenny. She was in Whitehorse (the next town away from Skagway, about 2 1/2 hours away) visiting Chase while he was on tour. She invited us to drive up and spend a day with them. We stole a car and we were off. I was especially excited for this spontaneous rendezvous. Why you may ask? SKAGWAY DOESN'T HAVE A MOVIE THEATRE. Normally that's not a big deal, but when THE VERY LAST MOVIE OF HARRY POTTER (meaning the end of my childhood as I know it) CAME OUT WEEKS AGO AND I STILL HADN'T SEEN IT, it becomes a very big deal.

And we saw it, and I cried, many times. Many many times. Tears of joy and sadness.

The drive to Whithorse is beautiful. We get to do half that drive on tour about once a week, but being able to do it without crazy tourists and lugging a big bus up the mountain was a totally different experience.

This is Dylan and Valerie planking together on a bridge. It was all Valerie's idea and since Dylan can never say no to her, he had to give in.

It's not that I want you to see my face all the time, but this is the only picture of Jenny I got on the whole trip. And Goo's face is always priceless.

Oh ya and did I mention all the friends we met along the way.

Alfred the porcupine.

A bear that looks like a gorilla.

and my very first spotting of a MOOOSE!!!

and this is Chase, jumping off a bridge. Again, it was Valerie's idea, and no one can refuse her. Obviously.

Need I say more?

What we've been up to...

Dylan and I are in Alaska for the summer driving big busses around chuck full of tourists. I know, you're jealous already.

I was really worried at first to come to a new place and most importantly to be away from everything that is going on at home. Needless to say the couple days before we left I was having a very bad attitude about the whole thing.

But I'm happy to stand sit before you today and say I am loving it here.

We're living in a small town Skagway in the inside passage. It is so small there aren't any stoplights and the next town by road is over 2 hours away.

We work a lot, but when we're not working there is so much to do. We've been ziplinning, hiking, swimming (more like a polar bear plunging), and hanging out with family and friends. Jen and Chase are here with little Goo, and Dyl's cousin Seth and wife Elise are here as well. LUCKY!

Sorry to post such a revealing picture, but really, how can you get enough?

Need to finish this paper but I can't...

Why you ask?

• We leave for Italy in 2 weeks (2 weeks people!)
• can't stop looking at Reagan's blog and drooling
• reading through 30 minutes of a facebook thread trying to catch up on all my friends lives
• drooling over Heathers recipe's on her cooking blog (check it out! Sugar Betty)
  
• wondering how i'm going to catch up to Reagan and her tan lines
  
• feeling much more snuggley than scholarly
  
• and there is a cute boy in the next room over...

oh ya and the video of Maggie (4th video down) on this blog post.