McArthur Family Pictures

Here are some pictures from the McArthur families Christmas pictures. They were taken by my good friend Mikki and as you can see she is amazing, i would highly reccommend her for any event! When i look at the ones of me and liz it almost makes me cry to think that in a few months she won't be here!

Thanksgiving at the beach

 

Thanksgiving was so fun! This year we took my family down to the beach house. We woke up every morning, went for a long walk, then played sand volleyball for like 2-3 hours, went and walked on the beach, then usually ate something and surfed, played games, or read until it got dark! Then we usually played the WII or went somewhere fun for dinner. We had Thanksgiving dinner catered which was so nice not to have to make and clean up after and did plenty of shopping at all the good spots! I am very thankful for my husband and the wonderful person he is. I am also very grateful for my wonderful family, I can't imagine what life would be with out all of them! Happy Thanksgiving...now its officially Christmas Time!!!!!!

Japanese Friends!

A little while ago we had some of Kade's Japanese friends from his mission come and stay with us. It was so fun to watch them experience Snow Canyon, the sand dunes, and one of my sisters volleyball games. These were all things that were totally foreign to them and things we all take for granted everyday. They couldn't stop talking about how beautiful the mountains are and how the sand felt between their toes. I remember how strange everything was for me when I went to Japan, so I knew how they felt. The older man in the pictures is Imy Kiori (a.k.a. Brother Imy) He lived in the Atsugi ward where Kade spent a whole year of his mission. Brother Imy was the first bishop in all of Asia! Is that incredible or what. He was also one of the first Japanese missionaries, the first Japanese stake president and the first Japanese Mission President. He is such an awesome dude! He even got to be President Hinckley's chauffer when Pres. Hinckley visited Japan. He carries a picture of him and President and Marjorie Hinckley around with him in his wallet. The girl travelling with him was his nurse. She was also a return missionary so she had a wonderful spirit too. We took them to the temple and got treated like celebrities because of Brother Imy. Everyone wanted to meet him! They also LOVED Zoey so that is why she is in every picture. They never wanted to go anywhere without her. It was so fun having them visit!

Consecutive State Championships!

So maybe some of you will think that I am a little obsessed with my lil' sis but I can't help it that she is INCREDIBLE! On Saturday she led her team to their 2nd straight State Championship. Last year they played Dixie for the championship in the 3A class, this year they played Dixie in the 4A class. She played amazing the whole tournament but in the state game she had 24 KILLS! For those of you who are not volleyball savvy, that means when she hit the ball it hit the floor. She is so good and athletic. Last year she was awarded the 3A State MVP award and though there have been no official announcements we are pretty sure she will get the same award in her 4A victory! It was an amazing weekend and my whole family had a blast. After all was said and done we all felt sick. We were soar all over from the tension and adrenaline and our throats hurt, but dang it was worth it. I screamed so loud and cheered those girls on all the way through. I feel so blessed to be able to share in their joy in this awesome accomplishment. If you see any of the awesome girls from the Snow Canyon Volleyball team tell them congratulations because they all deserve it! WARRIOR NATION!!!!!!!!!

Happy Halloween

 

Here are some pic's from our AWESOME Halloween party! It was so incredibly fun to have all our friends over. We had some crazy food and played some fun games! These are just pic's of all the couples and sorry for those of you who got your head chopped off, I don't know how to fix it. Anyway, everyone went all out on dressing up and it was really cute! We had a pirate and a witch, evil spiderman and spongebob, some cowboys, a nun and a priest, some runners from the Dunder-Mifflin crowd (The Office), Victoria and David Beckham, a cow and his milkmaid, and banana. Blake and Bre are at the top after just losing to Kade and I in the "Mummy wrap." We are so grateful for all our wonderful friends who came to celebrate with us. And I have to give a shout out to Bre who made all this possible. We love all of you and hope that everyone has a Happy Halloween!

Wedding Tagged!

 

Ok so I guess I'm it! I got "wedding tagged" by my good friend Mikki so here are some of my bridal pic's. Any of you who have used Nick Adams knows that you don't get a CD with your images on them so all of my favorite bridals are only on my walls or in my wedding book so these are some done by "Portia" which was a bridal package I won at the bridal fair. They aren't my favorite but you have all already seen the pic's from my wedding day so I figured these would be fun! Kade and I did our real bridals on the beach in San Diego so I liked these cuz they have the red rock in them which is totally who I am. St. George FOREVER! Ha!

Moving On...

Last night my dad's sister Julie passed away. She was only in her 50's and still has 2 children in middle and high school. She has been suffering with cancer for over 3 years now but it didn't spread into her brain until recently. 2 days ago me, my dad, and my mom went to visit her, we figured she still had a few months left, but with the brain tumors spreading we knew she wouldn't be herself. I am so grateful for not procrastinating. We got the call around midnight last night and it woke me up, it just felt like a bad dream or something. It just made me realize how we need to live in the moment, because you never know when that moment will be gone! We need to show love to all those around us ALWAYS, because that may be the last time you see them. I know she is in a happier place seeing her parents and all the other relatives that have passed before her, but it is still hard for those of us left here.

Beach House Fun!

 

For Labor Day weekend we took some friends down to the beach house for some VERY fun times! First you can see Hurst's beautiful body in his speedo that was his constant companion for the entire weekend. The boys had a great time surfing while the girls got some tanning in. Hurst turned my back into hamburger when he tackled me in the shallows. We had so much fun we had to crash on each other! On Monday the girls had a Temple day at the San Diego Temple. I had to drive so even though it is only like 30 minutes from the house, I have never driven in California freeway traffic before so we were all happy to get there in one piece. Me, Bre, and Suzanna had a beautiful time! It was so much fun and I want to thank all of our friends for all the good times. We sure love and appreciate all of you!

Sister of Mine!

Any of you that know my family know that we are REALLY close, sometimes it seems like we may be a little too close. Anyway, I love my sister and she has had some exciting things going on in her life so I just thought that I would give a shout out to little Liz! She is a freakin' monster on the volleyball court and after long talks and some serious contemplation she decided on a college to attend. Liz is going to Utah State University next fall on a full ride volleyball scholarship. It is so fun to watch her play and I can't believe how old she is getting, what does that make me?!? Now my entire family has become Aggie fans! We just went up there last weekend for one of Liz's volleyball tourneys and my dad dropped like $500 bucks on Aggie gear for the whole fam! Haha! Well congrats Liz and I love you! GO AGGIES! These were the only pictures I had of her. This was Homecoming a couple of weeks ago. One pic is with her date, and the other is with Zoey, her "niece" as Liz likes to call her.

Japan

 

Here are just a few pictures of our many adventures in Japan. It was so much fun and the people were so kind and giving. It was one of the best experiences of my life. Kade and I can't wait 'til our next visit to our friends in Japan!

I love to travel!

Russia #2

Here are the pic's from the second half of our trip. More Russian food, here we are in St. Petersburg - Cathedral of Spilt Blood in St. Petersburg - This is the Temple of Kazan - These are water fountains and Peter the Great's Summer Palace, they are run strictly by gravity still today - More fountains at the Summer Palace the statues you see are pure gold - This is one of the 2 Da Vinci's at the Hermitage Museum, there are only 12 in the world so apparaently its a real treat to see one - Our boat cruise in Sweden - This is just a pretty building in Sweden - I love mentos and other countries have rad flavors!

Finally...RUSSIA

So everyone can get off my back now cuz here are some pic's from our trip to Russia, Denmark, and Sweden. This is just the first half of the trip, we took so many pic's so it was hard to narrow it down. I will make another post with the rest. Ok, now for some explinations. Starting top left to right... Russian "rubles", their $$$$ - The Christus in Copenhagen Denmark. It is the plaster model, the first Christus statue ever made!!! The church actually bought the rights for this exact statue, that's why you seen it in all the temple visitor centers. - Cathedral of St. Basil, I think this is like one of the 7 world wonders or something, I don't know I just know that it is really famous! - This is another building/cathedral on Red Square, this is also the place where we saw Lenin's actual body, it was kinda creepy. - Russian food, it was edible - This is me and another lady from our group with some kids from the school for deaf and blind we visited, it was awesome to be able to help them but it was hard to see - These next 2 pic's are from a monestary enclosure. The women have to wear scarves over their heads the entire time you are in the monestary. The tower in the first picture was built by Catherine the great in the 1500's and the building in the second pic was built in the 1400's! Crazy! - The sleeper train. Oh my, what an experience that was, let me just say I am glad I came home free of disease. Sorry to bore you with all these details. Needless to say it was an incredible experience.

America the Beautiful

Well, after traveling to so many different countries it really makes you appreciate the land of the free and the home of the brave. Our trips were awesome and we had some incredible experiences...but at the end of the day I am very proud (and grateful) to be an American. Things have been crazy since we have returned but I promise some pictures in the near future!

Bye bye St. George...Hello WORLD!

Well, as many of you know, Kade and I are leaving for our Russia trip tomorrow. I am way excited! So I just wanted to let you know that I probably won't have a new blog for like 2 weeks and thats why. When we get back from Russia we are home for a week and then we head to Japan, where Kade went on his mission. Needless to say we have a crazy summer planned, but it should be really fun! Goodbye everyone! I love you and I'll miss you!:)

Angels Landing

If you haven't ever hiked Angels Landing in Zion then you are missing out on an awesome experience! We hiked it a couple weeks ago with our good firneds Pascal and Suzanna and Matt and Ashley. The hike is very long and quite strenuous but once you get to the top and see those amazing mountains and canyons you realize that it was all worth it! I must say if you have a fear of heights at all, then this probably isn't the hike for you. While hiking the last leg of the trip there are just narrow strips of rock to walk on with like 1000' drop offs on either side. When we went we didn't bring enough water so while we were going up this last scary part I got really dehydrated and passed out. Luckily we got an area where they could lay me down and no one got hurt but Kade was a nervous wreck the entire rest of the hike.

Update on Zoey

Well, today brings better news than the last post. Zoey has actually improved dramtically in the close to 48 hours since her accident. The swelling on her brain has gone down significanly and she can now recognize people. She can't walk yet but when she hears someones voice that she knows her little tail starts to wag. She can also eat soft foods and drink on her own. She gets really squirmy when she needs to use the bathroom so we take her over to her litter box and she squats and goes! The Vet said to give her a week and if she isn't moving around better then we might have to have "the talk" but the vet said that she would be surprised if she doesn't make a close to full recovery so keep your fingers crossed and Zoey in your prayers. I appreciate all the love and support from all of you through this rought time in our lives. Thanks!

The Worst Night of my Life

Well, last night was officially the worst night of my life. The day started out just fine, went to work and then we went to the lake with some friends after work. We took Zoey to the lake with us, as usual, and she alaong with the rest of us had a good time. When we got back from the lake we were washing the boat out in front of our house and Zoey was running around the yard like she usually does. After we were done we couldn't see her and we had to take the boat up to the hanger so, not thinking too much of it, we took the obat and asked Jon to find Zoey and take her home 'til we got back. When we got to the hanger I just had this sick feeling lin my stomach, a few minutes later Jon called us and said that he found Zoey in the road and she had been hit by a car. They rushed her to the Animal Emergency and we met them there. She spent the night there and this morning the diagnosis was that she has some swelling in her brain. She didn't brake any bones or sustain any other injuries. The vet said that only time will tell if she will make a full recovery so we will just have to wait and see. To some of you this may seem wierd to be this freaked out about a dog, but Zoey is our baby. She means the world to Kade and I so keep her in your prayers and I will update this when I know more.

Random PICASA

These are just random pictures I put together while
trying picasa for the first time. Picasa is fun!

Zoey on the Slide

This is Zoey's first time down the slide. As you can see she is severely frightened. It was so funny in real life. She doesn't really like the water very much but Kade still wanted her to experience going down the slide with him. Poor Zoey!

M & M Cakes

Here is the first cake from me and Mick's BIZ! We want to start decorating cakes on the weekends just for a fun side job. This was for a graduation/birthday party. It was our first tiered cake but it turned our pretty good. Making it was hilareous! It's amazing we are still friends! I love you Mick!

Encinitas

I know its been FOREVER since I have put up a new post but I have been waiting to get my pics on the computer so here they are. Here are some fun pic's from another fun trip down to the Beach House. The one with the lights is just something funky our camera did-but we thought it was cool! We went out to dinner at a really nice restaurant that sat on a cliff over the ocean. It was a neat experience. And everyone that knows Kade and I very well knows that we both have an insatiable sweet tooth!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Well Since it was our 1 year anniversary on Saturday I thought it would be fun to post some of our wedding pictures, for old times sake. These aren't our real wedding pictures, these were just taken by some friends but they are still fun. Great memories!:)

Family Pictures

Kade and I decided that every year around our anniversary we would get family pictures taken so here is Chapter 1 of our lives...

Cakes!!!!!!

Well, Since Micklee got to brag about the last cake we made in class

I figured I could brag about my very first fondant cake! I was

actually quite proud of myself. Hopefully with a lot of practice I

can get pretty could at this cake decorating thing. For now I'm

just an amateur having a good time! What do you all think?

Zion

So my dad has always tried to enforce a sense of appreciation on me of nature and the beautiful world we live in. As usual, I didn't really care throughout my growing up experience. Now, however, I truly love how wonderful and beautiful this place we live in is. I can see why people who have never been here freak out when they see our mountains, blue skies, and red dirt. I feel very grateful for such beautiful surroundings and hope I can grow to appreciate them more as I get older...and wiser. We went on a little hike, Me, Kade, my dad, sister, and brother, and of course how could be leave behind ZOEY! It was so fun to just chill out and let the busy world leave our minds for a while. I also made me realize how lucky I am to have such an awesome fam! I guess this post is a post of gratitude! :)