Monterey Bay Aquarium

On the way down the coast from Santa Cruz we stopped by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I went there when I was a kid, but I didn't remember much. It is amazing. I think I could sit in front of the jelly fish and deep water tanks all day long. The fish next to the sea otter is called a sun fish. I don't think I have ever seen one. Maybe God had his eyes closed when this guy was created. The kids had a blast and the big kids aka Cade, my parents and I, also had a ton of fun.

Ano Nuevo

We went on a family adventure to see the elephant seals by Santa Cruz. The reserve is called Ano Nuevo. The trip was so much fun....very hard because the kids ended up getting really sick, but somehow through all the barfing, coughing, and whining, we ended up having a good time. The kids actually still talk about it and learned some things...a trip well worth it.

Ano Nuevo

Waiting for our tour to begin. I love his big puppy dog eyes.

Cooper....sick as a dog, but we still thought it was a good idea to go.....

Carter was on my Dad's shoulders and he said, "I have to barf." The minute he got off his shoulders..well you see what happened. So he got his busisness done and then ran along as if nothing happened. The further we got along the 3 mile hike the more sick the kids became though. (sick I know)

So I carried the craddled Reagan like this the entire way, my Dad carried Carter and Cade carried Coop. Yes my arms were burning like crazy!

If you can't tell this is the worlds fakest smile. Cade had to carry our very heavy 5 year old the entire 3 miles. This was about half way through the trip and Cooper is fast asleep. Over the bushes is believe it or not the elephant seals.

This is the view over the bushes and down the hill. No those are not mounds of sand they are the fat lard elephant seals. Pretty much all the action we saw. The lazy bums.

Grandpa and Carter

My Daddy And I

Mom & Dad with the bebe

Goosebumbs

I love our prophet and am so grateful to have been alive to hear his voice.

Testimony of President Gordon B. Hinckley"I hope that all of you will remember that on this Sabbath day you heard me bear my witness that this is God's holy work. The vision given the Prophet Joseph in the grove of Palmyra was not an imaginary thing. It was real. It occurred in the broad light of day. Both the Father and the Son spoke to the boy. He saw Them standing in the air above him. He heard Their voices. He gave heed to Their instruction."It was the resurrected Lord who was introduced by His Father, the great God of the universe. For the first time in recorded history, both the Father and the Son appeared together to part the curtains and open this, the last and final dispensation, the dispensation of the fullness of times."The Book of Mormon is all that it purports to be—a work recorded by prophets who lived anciently and whose words have come forth "to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations" (Book of Mormon title page)."The priesthood has been restored under the hands of John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John. All the keys and authority pertaining to eternal life are exercised in this Church."Joseph Smith was and is a prophet, the great Prophet of this dispensation. This Church, which carries the name of the Redeemer, is true."I leave you my testimony, my witness, and my love for each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."President Gordon B. HinckleyApril 1, 2006, Sunday morning session of the 176th Annual World General Conference

BEAUTY IS PAIN!!!!!

We finally got Reagan's ears pierced! I was so excited and nervous for her all at the same time. We decided to get her ears pierced at this age because after asking around, many Mommies told me that this is the best age to get them done because they don't pull on them. After going through the experience I would have to agree. She was pretty upset, but only for a minute and honestly I don't even think she realizes they are there.....it's like it never happened. :)

I made sure to remind the nurse to make DOUBLE SURE they were centered. Nobody wants a lop sided pierce.

Ouch!

If you look close you can see actual real tears. It was the first time she had real tears stream down her face......I almost cried.

Big brother Cooper was there right away to comfort his little sis.

Almost immediately after it was all done, she fell asleep. Thank goodness she did, I hated to see her cry like that.

Ode to the McMullins

Summer I totally figured it out all by my little self!!!! I think I'll pat myself on the back a few times!! TEE HE HE!!!!

Brothers with a camera

From time to time pictures magically appear on my camera that I didn't take. Hmmmm wonder how they got there!


I love having boys close in age. They are best buddies....most of the time.

Tagged

Thanks a lot Meg. Actually I do feel special this is the first time I have been tagged in my short blogging life.

The rules are: Once you have been tagged you have to write a blog with 10 weird random things, facts, or habits about yourself. At the end, you choose 10 people to be tagged. Don't forget to leave a comment that says, "you are tagged" on their profile and tell them to read your blog.

1. I LOVE dark chocolate!!! My fav dark chocolate to eat is the dark chocolate scotchmallow candy from See's Candy. The rare occasion that I get to go to the mall my myself to do a little shopping, I almost always stop by See's and get 4, count them 4, scotchmallows. Then I proceed to eat them ALL BY MYSELF!! I think I only get them when I am alone because I don't want to share.

2. I like to workout. Sick I know. A couple days ago I was running at the gym and I hit "the wall" then a minute or two later I broke through the wall and it was easy and invigorating. The poem about being grateful for dishes because that means you had food to eat etc.... went through my mind and even though it is difficult to get to the gym and work out I am just grateful to be able to do it because that means that I am alive and able.

3. I check to make sure the doors are locked at least 2 times before I go to bed. OCD I guess. (you feel me Summer?!?!)

4. I love to pop zits. My poor children will run from their mama when they hit puberty.

5. I hate it when anything is pointing directly at my eye. ie. a straw, a finger, something on TV, a knife, anything really. My eyes bug out and I have to cover them with my hands. I am a freak I know.

6. I have Gastroparesis. It a stomach condition, and basically it means that my stomach takes twice as long to digest something. A normal stomach will take 4 hours to digest, mine takes at least 8. So if I eat meat or too much of something I feel nauseous and sick and sometimes hurl.

7. I shrunk! Really and truly. Cade doesn't believe me, but it's true. I used to be 5'10" and now I am 5' 8 1/2". It happened when during my pregnancies. Strange.

8. My cabinets, closets etc...are impeccably organized. The rooms in my house get a little messy, but if a closet or cubbard is cluttered it drives me bonkers. Again OCD.

9. I love the movie SAW. We got the first one from Clean Flicks and the darn place closed before I could watch the other two. So now I will be left hanging for the rest of my freakin' life because Clean Flicks closed.

10. I knew that we were going to have a girl 8 months before I got pregnant. It is one of the coolest experiences of my life. I was driving north on the 57 freeway, not thinking of anything in particular. Then clear as day I almost heard the words, your little girl wants to come down to you. It was one of those moments that you could just feel how close our Father in Heaven really is and how much he loves us. It is those moments of tender mercies that make life beautiful.

So now you all know how strange I am and it is your turn:

1 Summer
2Amber Lowry
3Amber Carlson
4Christy Denney
5Kim Denney
6Laura Denney
7Darce
8Stephanie
9Teresa
10Amanda Barron
HAHA

Great advice

My friend Sally had the best blog entry I have ever read and I thought as many Moms as possible should read it to get better perspective on the day to day. I am so lucky to know someone as sweet as she is.

Regrets

So have you ever wished you wouldn't have said something? Whether it be because you have hurt someone's feelings, embarrassed them or yourself, revealed a secret or even contradicted something you have previously said before? I have done all of that. Through the years I have tried to be careful not to reveal everything I am thinking at the exact moment. I think sometimes you don't realize what you say can affect people good and bad. I have tried to right my wrongs and I hope that I have.

But lately I have regretted so many things I have said aloud regarding my kids. I have said in so many different ways that I "can't wait until this or that". For example, "I can't wait until Maggie can feed herself, I can't wait until she can walk, entertain herself, talk, go to preschool, etc." Everything is "I can't wait, or I am looking forward too.." Now that all of that has happened with not only Maggie but Navy and Jack as well, I find myself regretting thinking I wanted them to grow up.

With Elizabeth, every new thing she does makes me a bit sad. Knowing she is our last is a bitter pill to swallow. How I wish being pregnant was an easy road for us. Yet, despite all the drama, we have 4 kids so I can't feel too bad for myself. So every new tooth, a word, crawling, standing anything and everything is a step closer to Lizza growing out of her baby stage. I won't deny it is great to get out of diapers, especially when I had 3 in them at once! Every stage is my favorite. Now that Maggie is in kindergarten she comes home with things she hears and learns from other kids. Sometimes I laugh, smile, stare in shock and sometimes I get mad. She is my best buddy and I enjoy her more than I can say. I do wonder if I spend or have spent enough time playing with her, reading, going to the park (although I loathe parks so I don't feel to bad about that one!) all these wonders I have. I was so busy waiting for the next thing, I worry I ignored the present. Do I give each child the attention they need and deserve? I hope so, I am trying.

I used to swear off blogging, just because I looked at it as a "pick and choose" peak into my life and others. Like any of us will post ourselves at 6 am or when we just got done yelling at our kids, or each other! Will we? Probably not, but at the same time, it is a way to document our lives and indecently we see how fast time flies. I love to blog for my own satisfaction of scrapbooking which is another thing I never got into.

I graduated from high school in 1997 and think about how much has changed in 10 years. Cell phones for everyone, texting, instant messaging, blogging, etc., it is so convenient and helpful, so normal now, it just validates how fast things change. It kindof scares me. I actually liked the big brick of a cell phone!

I need to enjoy today for all that it brings, because soon enough the kids won't be asking me to do something every second of everyday, they will soon be talking and spending time with people other than me. Right now they need us; they have no idea how much Brandon and I will always need them. We are trying and hoping to raise our kids into people that are better people than us...So bring on the whining, tattling, clean-up, diapers & sick babies, laughter, smiles, make~believe, coloring, fingerpaint, laundry, breakfast, lunches, suppers and snacks, and bath time~ all too soon it will be over.

socalmcmullins

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Green

You're green, the color of growth and vigor. Good-hearted and giving, you have a knack for finding and bringing out the best in people. Green is the most down-to-earth color in the spectrum — reliable and trustworthy. People know they can count on you to be around in times of need, since your concern for people is genuine and sincere. You take pride in being a good friend. For you, success is measured in terms of personal achievement and growth, not by status or position. Rare as emeralds, greens are wonderful, natural people. It truly is your color!

Take this test >

Printing Blogs

One of my good friends Christy, found out how to print blogs so I thought all of you would like to know. Now you can really count this as journal writing.

The first is Blog2Print (http://blogger.sharedbook.com/)This one is in Beta right now so it may have some bugs but it is REALLY easy to use. This one also allows you to include your post's comments if you want. It allows you to choose all posts within certain dates to include in your book. It starts out at $19.95.

The second one is www.blurb.com
(http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook)This lets you download software for free that creates a blog book for you. It starts at $12.95 for 40 pages to print a book. I like this one because it allows you to easily deselect posts like this one that you wouldn't necessarily want in your book.

Firsts

First time at Disneyland



First time in a stroller facing forward without her car seat

First time in a swing at the park

GO LAKERS!!!!!!

Every year my Dad gets season tickets to the Lakers. It is sooo much fun to go. We always get a pastrami sandwich before the game starts and then at half time we get a mcflury from McDonalds. I don't think we could get through the game with out our fixes. This year we had to take Reagan with us since I can't bare to leave her with anyone, except Grandparents. She was a perfect little angel and we still had a blast. Thanks for such a fun night Dad and Mom. It is one of my favorite things to do.

Grandma's girl

We are having way to much fun.


I had to take a pic of this. Here is this big giant Man with this little pink puff peeking over his shoulder.

First time swimming!!!

Reagan loved the spa. She is a girl after my own heart.

Sexy mama!

Sledding

Cabin Fever

Every year we go snowmobiling the week after Christmas. This year the Lodge finally is complete. The other Cabin is to the left of the lodge. We had so much room and had such a blast.


Snowmobiling with Grandpa Mack


Cade and Coop on the Man trip. The Man trip is a snowmobile ride that only the men (and a few tough women) go on because they go where it is really hard to ride. I am proud to say that I go on the Man trip when I can. I know it is an honour and a privilege. :) Cooper was so proud. And yes it is all white because it is snowing. I don't think it stopped snowing the entire time.