Movie Trivia

Since we've returned from California Myla and I have been sickies...confined to the house...driving Cade stir-crazy from cabin fever...and poor Kevin coming home to a houseful of grumpies. And we have watched Thomas, Nemo, Cars and Polar Express more times than I care to count. So today we dug into our VHS pile to try a new-old movie that we haven't seen in a while. Cade has joined the sickie club and we are all taking it easy today as well. We came across one of my all-time favorites with one of my all-time favorite quotes. What movie is this from?

"It is no concern of mine whether your family has...what was it again?"

"Uh, food."

"Ha! Well, you really should have thought of that before you became peasants."

The San Diego Zoo

This past weekend we went on vacation with some of Kevin's family. We had so much fun! It was hard to come back. We went to Southern California and stayed in these awesome condos right next to the Oceanside beach. It was so fun to play with cousins and spend time with Papa and Grandma and Uncle Ryan and Aunt Aubs. I took 363 pictures during trip. Don't worry, I'm not sharing all of them! :) Thanks Papa and Grandma for an awesome trip!! We miss you already.

The first day we went to the San Diego Zoo. Here is everyone waiting to see the panda exhibit.
We don't have the pandas at the Phoenix Zoo. It was fun to see them.
They were cute.
But they are cuter.
Checking out the gorilla.
Cute boys.
Cute men. Can you see the resemblance?
Myla and Grandma. Grandma was wonderful. She chased the kids all over the zoo so that I wouldn't have to.
Ryan and Aubs checking out the birds.
No explanation needed.

Legoland

If there was heaven on earth, for Kevin it would be Legoland. We spent two wonderful days at Legoland. There was so much to do and see and discover. It was perfect for the little people too!

The whole crew taking a cruise around Legoland Lagoon.
Grandma, Papa, and Oliver
Aubrey, Oli, and Myla building their lego masterpiece.
Myla "helping" Daddy with his bridge
The McMillan family
Myla and Daddy shooting water.
Oliver and Papa
This was my favorite part of Legoland. All of those instruments are made out of Legos (just like most things there) and when you stand on a circle in front of the instrument it squirts water and makes music. If you look close you can see the McMillan clan stomping on the circles creating a musical masterpiece. :)
Aiden, Kevin and Cade running laps around the musical fountain.
No trip would be complete without checking out the Lego Thomas. It was a hit with Aiden and Cade.

Is that Christie and Myla...or not? Kevin sure looks happy with his Lego woman. :)
Aubs and Ryan
Cade and Kevin checking out the dinosaur made out of Legos.
Digging for dinos.

Sweet girl!

Legoland Day 2

The second day at Legoland was lots of fun too!

Kev and Cade at the helicopter ride.
Kev and Cade driving the car.
Ryan and Aiden on a safari drive.
Kevin scared out of his mind. :)
This was the highlight of day two. Aiden and Cade got to drive cars--by themselves! The adults got a kick out of watching them figure out how to drive the car and run them into everything. I think in another 13 years we might try again. :)

The Beach

If Legoland is Kevin's heaven on earth, the beach is that for me. Although the weather wasn't super warm, we went to the beach and really enjoyed it. The kids loved exploring the sand and wading in the cold ocean water. Cade was so excited to see the boats at the marina. I'm thinking a trip to the beach is in order every year!
Grandma and Myla
Cade running away from the water.
Daddy and Myla building sand castles. Actually, Daddy is building and Myla is...un-building.
Kevin the Karate Kid

Myla pointing at the helicopter
Mommy: Cade, where are you right now?
Cade: I'm right here Mommy. (Probably thinking: Duh Mom!)
Isn't he hot?! Yeah, he's mine. :)
Exploring the sand.
I love this picture. Myla running to Daddy.

The Boys at Sunset

Cade and Kevin at Oceanside Beach

Eats, Shoots & Leaves

A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.
"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.
"I'm a panda," he says at the door. "Look it up."
The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.
"Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."
So punctuation really does matter, even if it is only occasionally a matter of life and death.

I first read this book when I was working in the library of a charter school. My boss kept suggesting I read it...but really, why did I want to read a book on grammar and punctuation? I had been through my mandatory 13 years of school and even managed to get a bachelors degree. I'm glad I did. This book is hilarious...and so very helpful! Since I've read the book I've been more aware of how I write.

I know what you are thinking: Christie, I've read your blog. Maybe you need to read that book again. Or maybe repeat a couple of those years in school.

You're probably right.

So what brings this up? In my blog surfing today I happened upon The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks: Misinterpreting Bad Punctuation Since 2005.
Check it out. It's pretty funny. It chronicles little quotation mishaps like this:

It kind of reminds me of the Friends episode where Joey doesn't understand when to do the air quotation marks, so he just puts them in "randomly."

Kevin and Christie

Here is a fun tag.

How long have you been together? 6 years

How long did you date? About 6 months. We met on the mission and started dating shortly after Kevin got home.

How old is he? 28

Who eats more? Kevin

Who said I love you first? I don't really remember. I think Kevin did. But it was pretty mutual.

Who is taller? Seriously...do I need to answer that question. :)

Who is smarter? Hmmm...I would say we are smart in different ways. But whenever one of the kids do anything smart everyone says, "He's just like Kevin." Kevin is a smartie-pants.

Who does the laundry? Kevin does most of it. I load, he folds and puts away. He is sweet!

Who does the dishes? Me. Kevin will help put away because I hate that part.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Kevin does.

Who pays the bills? We just made the change-over. Kevin now pays the bills. Hopefully we'll say money better that way. I'm the first to admit...I'm not the best with money.

Who mows the lawn? What lawn? Hee hee.

Who cooks dinner? I have the best deal in town. I am part of a dinner swap, so three days a week three of my friends make dinner. The other days I make dinner.

Who drives when you are together? Whoever wants to.

Who is more stubborn? Neither one of us is very stubborn. We are both pretty easy-going. If I had to answer I guess I would say I am.

Who kissed who first? Kevin kissed me

Who asked who out? Hard to tell. It was a long-distance relationship.

Who proposed? Kevin did. It was very sweet and romantic...under the stars at the lake. Kevin was so nervous I could hear his heart pounding. He picked out the ring all by himself and it was absolutely perfect! It was a perfect night.

Who is more sensitive? That's hard to say. Again, we are sensitive about different things. I was pleasantly surprised at how sensitive Kevin was when we married. Every girl's dream.

Who has more friends? Me...but just because we live in AZ. If we lived in UT he'd have more.

Who has more siblings? I do.

Who wears the pants in the family? Depends on the day. :) We both share a leg.

I tag Maren, Jill, and Crystal.

Tuesday Tidbits

I just thought I'd give a bit of a McMillan update, since I've been such a blogging slacker. Here are some tidbits:* Myla is talking so much now! "No" and "Down" and "Ma Ma" and "Da Da" are her most common words. She will try to repeat anything we say. She is growing so fast. And totally thinning out. She runs around after Cade and they love to wrestle and play with each other. Her favorite game is Ring Around the Rosie and she'll hum the tune while she's playing. She started nursery in December and loves it! She is our happy, independent, sweet little girl and it is such a joy to watch her personality develop.

* Cade is learning so fast! He loves preschool and is always excited to tell us what he learned and did that day. It amazes us the things that come out of his mouth. Sometimes he seems much older than his three years. He still adores his trains and spends hours every day playing with them. Recently he wanted Kevin to paint one of them black to look like Polar Express. Kevin did and Cade was delighted! He is a very gracious, smart boy. He's always ready to help Myla and makes sure we don't leave her out of anything. Cade just started primary and loves his new Sunbeam teacher Sis. Harding. He has done very well with the transition from nursery to primary. I was worried that no toys, no snacks, and no "fun" would be hard...but it seems he still has plenty of fun.

* Kevin is working hard--both at work and around the house. He is the sweetest husband and father a family could ask for. He has picked up the slack that I dropped when becoming a prego. He comes home from work and plays with the kids and throws in laundry. Life is always happier when Daddy comes home. Kevin got released from his primary calling and is now exclusively in the Elders Quorum presidency. He had two callings there for awhile. He is playing church b-ball and staying busy.

* Christie (sorry for the lack of a picture--I am the picture taker) is doing well. The pregnancy is going very well. I had an ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and the baby looked great. We won't be finding out the sex of the baby--so we'll all be finding out together! The apron club is still in full force and I am loving my new sewing machine that Kevin surprised me with for Christmas. I am most definitely looking forward to spring coming. I realize that we live in AZ so it doesn't get that cold, but my body does not like temperatures below 70. I am a wimp.

Christmas in UT

Christmas night found us in Utah with Kevin's family. Ryan and Aubrey were so kind to put up with us for 5 days. Aiden, Cade, Myla and Oliver were able to play and get to know their cousins again. It was a lot of fun. Thanks Ryan and Aubs! And thanks Ron and Lynn for flying us up! Cade loved flying on the airplane. Myla--not so much. But it was nice to not have to drive for 12+ hours and we were able to spend more time with family.

Here are some Christmas pics with grandparents. We were all very spoiled. Thank you for everything!

Grandma Pat got all the kids matching outfits. We were actually able to get a picture of them all!
Myla and her cute new backpack.
Grandma Pat showing the kids the coloring books she put together for them.
Kevin opening presents from Papa and Grandma McMillan.
Oliver with Papa McMillan

And then came time to play in the snow! The kids L-O-V-E-D it! I wasn't such a good sport. I really don't like being cold. I stood by the window and took pictures. Kevin was a trooper and took the kids out in it, with Aubs and Grandpa to help.

Is she not the most adorable girl in a snowsuit?! I love it!
A handsome little man enjoying the snow.
Cute Aiden showed Cade and Myla the ropes when it came to the snow.
Cade and Aiden took turns pulling Myla around in the wagon.
Again, so cute!

However, all snow experiences aren't wonderful. This is Myla after visiting Gardner's Village where she fell in the snow and got her hands cold. She didn't like that at all.
Cade didn't like getting his hands cold either. But they wouldn't keep their gloves on! What to do?
This is Ryan, Kevin's brother and wonderful host.
And Aubs, beautiful hostess. Thanks for EVERYTHING!
Me and Lynn at a dinner with most of the McMillans there. It was a lot of fun.

We had such a great time. I wish I could post all the pictures but I took 160 of them, so I won't bore you all to tears. We wish you all a very blissful new year!