Surprise Surprise

We slept in until 8:30 this morning. My sister Melanie and her husband Keats didn't wake up until  about 12:30 noon. Everything was very frozen this morning, making the time we spent taking care of the animals very annoying. We had the Opportunity  to watch, " Night at the Museum 2," IT WAS SORTA' DUMB!!! I thought it was kind of funny but not really worth owning. Tonight we were eating dinner, and my mother kept looking at the front room windows. We all thought that she was just kidding with us, but a few minutes latter... my Sister Jennifer and her Husband Joshua, ( Josh ) came in the door. We were very happy that they came this early, Originally  they weren't going to be here, until Christmas morning. BUT NOW THEY ARE HERE!!!!! They brought their dogs, Torque,(pit bull/Boxer.) Bently,(Pit Bull/Labrador ) and Miki.(Tea cup Pomeranian ) We, ( April, EmmaLee and I ) all watched G-force. It was funny, but still not worth owning. We're all so excited for Christmas tomorrow. We're all staying up late, to visit as a family. But not too late, so that Christmas morning comes sooner. Grin! I hope that all of you have a really grand Christmas! I don't think that I'll be Updating  this blog any time soon, but if I happen to have some extra time on my hands tomorrow after we've done all the fun stuff, then I think I'll have some pictures of the morning. Again I'd like to wish every one a happy Christmas. OH, and here is our family Christmas card for this year... I hope that you like it. 

The MacKays

 Another year has come to an end and we, the MacKays, are all here on this earth enjoying the bounties of it.  
 Eric: Still working in Show Low and surrounding areas for the local mortuary. Keeps family happy by taking them atv riding on weekends looking for wild animals. Sometimes we don’t have to go very far to find them out where we live.
 Sherie: Working for the local police department as a dispatcher. It isn’t so hard babysitting a small town. Actually spends more time reading and other things than working. Bet you all wish you had that job.
 Rebecca: Working for the county as a county clerk. Finds great enjoyment with some fellow employees (a boyfriend) and great aggravation with others. Lives at home as of now and we love having her around.
 Jennifer & Joshua (Roper): Live in Maricopa, AZ. Happy parents of 3 dogs and a lovely home. They were sealed in the SLC Temple this year.
 Melanie & Keats (Jack): Live in La Plata, NM. Happy parents of 2 dogs. (What is it with dogs, I thought you should have children after marriage, not dogs?)
 Kirstie (19): Lives in Winslow, AZ. Is attending officer academy for becoming an officer at the county jail. Will graduate the last day of the year.
 Amanda (14): Living at home. Still being homeschooled. Eager to get her driving permit this next year since she believes she should be driving all over anyway. Determined to train her Labrador to pull a cart. (Good idea since we won’t get her a horse.) 
 April (12): Living at home. Still being homeschooled. Enjoying babysitting for others because you get paid for it. Has discovered it is nice to have money.
 EmmaLee (7 going on 25): Living at home. Attends AZVA (which is doing school at home). Is going to be the world’s greatest female hunter possibly in only a few years. Also believes she is a cat.
 There are many more cats, dogs, chickens and rabbits that some feel are part of the family and others feel should be part of dinner.
 Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year.

Christmas is close

Christmas is almost here. I'm really excited! We've, at last, finished our Christmas shopping. What a relief! The tree is up the lights are on, and the cooking is being done, and even as I type my sister, Melanie and her husband Keats, are on their way here. My sister Kirstie will be coming soon as well, and my sister Jennifer and her husband Joshua, wont be coming until Christmas. We made fudge the other day, and I swear that it is addictive. We've cleaned the house top to bottom. EmmaLee has lost two teeth in the amount of three days, she bled allot, I wanted to vomit. We don't have that big of a house and are scrambling to figure out were everyone is going to be sleeping, there are going to be 4 people in my room, and it's hardly big enough for April and Me. It'll be April, EmmaLee, Cherokee, ( our old dog ) and Me!!! Sounds cramped? Just wait until every one is here! I finally got the pictures of the house, even though it was 12 degrees outside. They're at the top, the computer was being strange so I couldn't move the pictures. It looks weird because it was very dark outside and the camera takes the pictures strange. I need to go now, I hope to remember to do this tomorrow.

Poor Puppy

In these past days, many things have happened. My sister Kirstie brought her dogs over, after the water pipes in her house broke. Her dogs have a lot of energy and they love playing with my puppy, Charlotte. So that day we say blood on the back porch, and expected it to be Cherokee. But later the next day, we brought Charlotte inside, because it was very cold outside. She kept shaking her head, to get dry, and we discovered blood splats on the wall. It looked like there was a fight in there. We soon figured out that Charlotte's ear had been split open about one centimeter and 1/2. It's healed up some, but not all the way yet.

I still don't have any pictures of the house, but I'm going to try and get some. At night it gets down to 12 degrees. So it's not that fun to go out there. I'll have some more things on here tomorrow... If I remember. :) 

New Member

We now have a new member of the family. My sister Rebecca brought home a young kitten, she is white with black patches on her. Here are two pictures of her...

I know, I know, she is quite adorable, but you can't have her she's mine! LOL!!! Our other animals have taken to her quickly, and Cinnamon loves his new play mate. Here is a cute picture of Cinnamon getting a drink with Charlotte.

I've also been wanting to get some pictures of my house lights, but haven't gotten around to it. But just yesterday we got a Christmas tree, and here is a picture.

 Well, I'm going to go to bed now, so this blog entry will have to end here. I hope I remember to make another one tomorrow.

December

I think that December is one of my favorite months, it's the month of Christmas and new year. Two holidays in one month is always fun. We've been getting ready for Christmas this past week. We got our inside decorations out, and set them up. We got out the house lights, but haven't set them up yet. I'll have pictures of them when I do. We also have Christmas dishes, that have bells on them, and some sort of Christmasy plant. They also have gold colored trimming around them. We also have snow men salt and pepper shakers. We have a grand ball at my ward this Friday, it sounds very exciting, but my parents say that you have to be eighteen years or older. So I hope to be one of the servers there. But my mom needs either April or Me to babysit because she and my Dad are going. But April has already volunteered to stay home for me. Then this Saturday I have a dance. A Christmas dance. Well, I hope that you are all having fun getting ready for the holidays.

Thanks Giving

I know that Thanks Giving was quite a few days ago, but I haven't really had time to update the blog. We had a lovely Thanks Giving dinner. My sister Kirstie was able to come and have it with us. Rebecca's boyfriend, Todd, came as well. We had a series of food such as; Stuffing, yams, bean casserole, rainbow jell-o, mashed potatoes, giblet gravy, and of course TURKEY! And then we also had the pies, blue berry, cherry, pumpkin, and peanut butter. Here are some pictures...

This is the bean casserole. 

The gravy. 

The stuffing, I know it doesn't look good, but it was.

The yams, with melted marshmallows on top.

The vegetables, that Rebecca made.

Big parts of the turkey.

The rainbow jell-o. looks good, I know.

The rolls, and they are home made.

The table just before we sat down to eat.

And the island, that we had the food on so that there was more room on the table.

It was all a wonderful Thanks Giving. We had a great time, and even the cooking was fun! I got to spend some time with my mom, and learn how to make pie crusts. I hope that you all had a great time too.

MURDER, and preparation

I know that this sounds like I"m getting ready to kill some one. But no, I'm talking about the terrible murder of my favorite chicken, Pigwidagon, also known as Pig. Our neighbors dogs came into our yard and ripped apart my chicken. I know to some of you it sounds funny that I'm sad to have her gone, but she was more then a chicken, she was a pet, a friend. My parents only knew her as a chicken, but she was so much more. Every morning when we went out to take care of them, she would come and greet us. She'd fallow us around, and eat from our hands. She was beautiful, and all white. Some think white chickens aren't pretty, but she'd make you take those words back in a heart beet. As a chick, she would chase us( or our fingers) around the rug. We kept them in a box in the dinning room. She wasn't a fan for being held but could play all day. But now she is gone, from a terrible habit of killing other animals, such as, our other cats, and one of the owner's other dogs. They also tried to kill my neighbor's little dog. I want to cry for her, but I don't want to be sad, not at this time of year. I've lost so many animals, and I've cried and morned them all, but I don't want to do it again, I'm sure there will be a moment were I shed a tear for her. But I don't want to be sad, I don't want to make other people sad either. But I know that I'll miss her, a lot.

                                            Thanks giving

It's that time of year! Today we have cleaned house and baked pies. Pumpkin, peanut butter, and blue berry. We took out the turkey so it's ready to be cooked tomorrow. We made rainbow jell-o. I'll have pictures of all of the food tomorrow. Well I really have nothing more to say about this subject. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanks giving tomorrow. 

New Moon, Talk, and Dance

I have three very exiting things that I have to tell about. Firstly I'll talk about "New Moon" I GOT TO SEE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last Friday, My mom, EmmaLee, April, and I all went to go and see it. It lived up to my expectations. I wont say much on the subject so that those of you who haven't seen it, wont have it spoiled.

                       

                                                            Talk

Today I got to give a talk we only had a few days to prepare, and we were busy as it was. I was feeling sick the whole time, but when I got up there, I felt more at ease. I said it with few mess ups. It felt good.

                                                        DANCE

I got to go to my very first dance on Saturday. I had a blast. I met some cool people. And had a good time dancing around. Ashlyn and I would join in and learn new dances.  Here is a picture of me, almost ready to go.

I had my hair in a pony tail. And my face looks sort of funny because the room was totally dark, so the picture depended on the flash. I HAD A BLAST!!!! I even got to dance with a boy!

Cooking the simple way

How many of you enjoy cooking? Well I do. I love cooking, mostly treats, and desserts. Tonight I was in charge of cooking dinner. Originally I was going to cook, Garlic pasta, fried chicken, and peas. But my mother didn't think that I could make the fried chicken, ( even though I've made more difficult things before.) So she bought some of the simple, pre-made tray chicken dinners. I still got to make the pasta, and April made the peas. But the chicken I "made" ( warmed up.) Witch is why I've entitled this entry, "Cooking the simple way." Because it's not even considered cooking... it's just warming up something. Sometimes I'm happy with that, (like when I'm in a hurry.) but I felt like giving a real dinner tonight. Silly mother for underestimating  her talented daughter. But the colors of the food went together perfectly, giving it a good look. Here's a picture.

The camera didn't make it look as good as it truly looked. But it did really look good. And don't make fun of me for taking pictures of my plate. I just thought that it would be nice to have a picture for the blog. I hope I didn't bore any of you. 

Not much, and yet, too much

I have been neglecting my Blog for the past 5 or 6 days, but I haven't had that much time on my hands, to do anything. I've been babysitting Aaron, getting sick, mutual, Church, church meetings, phone calls, cooking, and many more things. We haven't had to do much babysitting lately but there still was some work to do with that. I also got sick from Aaron, leaving me with a head ache, running nose, cough, stuffy nose, anger, and weakness. I've been doing some cooking, but not much, ( since I've been sick. ) I've already told you about mutual, so there isn't much to say about it. I made it through church this Sunday, even though Ashlyn had to continously pinch me, so as I wouldn't fall asleep. We had a night of " Sacred music. " witch was very beautiful, and long. There was a five year old girl who sung like a grown woman. Cinnamon,( our kitten ) got fixed this week, so no babies will be coming from this little guy. He recovered quickly, it only took a day. I've been making scarfs these past days. 

                                                 Sales people

    I've made a game of when sales people call. We have CID ( caller ID ) so we always know when it's a sales person, my mother just doesn't answer. My Dad gets mad at them for " Calling Our Number" but I answer, and have a great time. Here is the conversation from today...

SP, " Hello is Eric MacKay there?"

Me, "No no no no no no, this is the Flognard home."

       Silence

Me, " Are you okay there, wee ickle dumple?"

And then the line went dead. This morning I was in a hurry when the first sales person called. I only had time to say they had the wrong number and that I was babysitting, " On " Mr. Mark's baby. But that is what I do when Sales people call, so if any of you plan on becoming a sales person, then stay away from me. LOL!!!  

         Here are some funny pictures of when we were with Aaron... 

Aaron, grabbing Charlotte's lips, and eyes.

Aaron getting a kissy from Charlotte.

Smile for the Camera!!!

And Cinnamon, recovering from surgery.

PAIN = FUN

Why must people suffer in order to have fun? Tonight we had mutual, and it was a race. We divided into two cars, and had a race to random people's houses to get " Thanks Giving" food. The very fist time that we got out of the car, two girls grabbed you feet, and through me out the door. I landed on a rock, and that really hurt. It was a lot of fun. ( the whole time I was wishing that I had my inhaler.) I also jumped off a porch, and landed, once again, on a rock. With many pains, scratches, and some bleeding,,, WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And our car all got a monster candy bar.

                                   Cinnamon

Our kitty, ( Cinnamon ) is getting fixed tomorrow, so wish him luck!

Fun in past Days

My family and I have had great fun in these past days. Most especially on Saturday. And that is going to be the day that I'm going to be talking about.  

So first off, we had Aaron over again, and he was so happy to hang out with us. Here is a picture of him... You can't help but laugh at this picture!

 That's my hand, holding the towel on. 

After his mother came to pick him up, we went out on a 4-wheeler ride way out in the  Holbrook area. It used to be a race track, and it had the most awesome bumps. We drove real calm and careful for the first part of the ride. Soon we came to this little pond with a large herd of cattle, EmmaLee had fun taking the pictures. Here are a few.

There were a lot of cattle. April, EmmaLee, and I ran along the fence trying to get a better look, then I found one of those really big ant hills. And I picked up a stick and began to dig it up. They soon all came running out, ( and they were huge! ) Soon they discovered who was killing there home, and started to come closer to me... that's when I dropped the stick and ran.

Then I had April as my passenger, and wanted to show her how to really make the bumps fun. I'd hit them at full speed, and even with the little bumps, we left the ground, and went flying through the air, ( still on the 4-wheeler though ) One time I hit a huge bump, and April and I had to fight as hard as we could to stay on. IT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!! We didn't even get in truble for doing it, My Dad, and Mom were doing it too. We were all having way too much fun to be mad, or even scared, when we would almost crash. Here are some pictures of us taking a brake.

Me, April, and EmmaLee, ( left to right. )

My Dad

Amanda, ( Me ) Do you like my helmet?

April, getting a drink.

Dad, and EmmaLee.

April, Me, EmmaLee, and Dad. It was very cold outside when we went there. We all have on our jackets/sweat shirts. The sun was in my eyes, and that is why my hand is covering up my face. We didn't get any pictures of my Mom, because she insisted that she take them.

 We had lots of fun and hope that we can go back there soon.

Not much

Not much happened to me these past few days. We had a thirty minute FHE, ( family home evening. ) And that was Monday. Tuseday, was just a mong day od schoolwork, and EmmaLee's bad attitude. Wednesday I had mutual, and painted brown blocks brown. Thursday, ( today ) I took a walk with Cherokee, and Sadie. The smell of smoke was really strong, because there is a control bern. We also watched, "monsters vs. Aliens" and we have desided that we really liked it.

I have suffered from the shoes that I wore on Halloween, I should have posted the pictures when they were fresh, but I didn't think about them until I had healed quite a bit. Here are some pictures.

When it was new, it was a big sore. It still hurts

Another Sunday

Little Aaron, got to go to church today. It was another baby-siting day and he had a blast. We only had to take him out one time, through Sacrament. Then he went to the nursery, and didn't even cry. But close to the end of the Sunday school class, he pooped in his diaper. So after I changed it, he cried when I took him back, but it only lasted a second, because they were doing treats. 

                                               The St. Bernard that I had some pictures of, finally found a home, with my sister Kirstie, and her boyfriend David. We discovered he is a gentle giant. But we hope that this home is the one he has been looking for. So all you followers,,, keep your fingers crossed for him. 

A Great Halloween!

Today was, (of course) Halloween! We had a blast,,, staying out late, getting candy, talking with friends, getting candy, eating corn bread, getting candy, and also getting candy. EmmaLee decided to be an angel-dancer. And April decided to be a "Country Queen." And then I was a dorky high school kid. Here are some pictures.

Kirstie, ( my sister) did all of our make-up. Alot of people asked April if she was Bell from "Beauty and the Beast." But no, she wasn't. With our make-up done, we all look so different, it's funny for me to see myself in these pictures, I usually don't use make-up.

This year we also decided to do some pumpkins. We had some fun with them, and these are some pictures that we took.

The one on the far left is April's pumpkin, the on in the middle is EmmaLee's, and the one on the far right is mine. They looked better with the porch light off, but the flash on the camera is so light that it didn't make a difference when I turned them off.

Baby sitting

We have been baby sitting this one little boy, his name is Aaron. My mother works with his Mom, and they were looking for a good baby sitter. And today we got a really cute picture of him. He had just got his diaper changed, and didn't want his pants back on, and he wanted to go outside.

Isn't he cute!? Those are my Mom's shoes, and he has no pants on. We couldn't let him out like that, because it was 40 degrees outside, and there was still some snow on the ground. 

A BIG DOG.

Firstly I have some pictures of the snow, that finally settled last night. After measureing the snow it was about 4 inches deep.

But we had the dogs out with us, and they really love the snow. I did also roll around in it, like I've been planning on doing since the begining of this this years Summer. 

                                            Big Doggy.We went to the animal shelter today, because they said that they had a Saint Bernard, and we love those sort of dogs. So we got there. And the man pulled the dog out of the cage, and this is what we saw!

Isn't he beatuiful?! We would have gotten him, but they eat alot, and with our older dog, ( Cherokee) it wouldn't be the best time to get another dog. But the good news is that a member of our ward are going to think about geting him.