The MacDonald's

One of the eggs hatched! Jaidyn was so excited! We were on our way to school this morning and Jaidyn began speed talking, (like normal, it's hard to keep up with her sometimes). This is how the conversation went: J:"Mom" Mom's in her morning daze thinking about all the things she needs to do today before Dad gets home, J:"mom" now mom's worried about getting a ticket because it's a school zone and we're running late and so she's concentrating on slowing down and still getting to school on time and doesn't hear Jaidyn again. J:"mom" (a little louder this time) D:"what?" J:"did you know that one of the little birds in the nest fell out and died?" D:"no, did you see it?" J: "yes", D:"did grandma show it to you, or did you find it?" J:"no, I found it all by myself. I thought it was a tree branch and then I said, oh, is that a tree branch or is that a little birdie? Then I...

For Family Home Evening Jaidyn wanted to go to the Arboretum at the Ranch San Rafael Park. We packed up a picnic dinner, loaded up the family and arrived at the park about 7:30 p.m. After eating our dinner Jaidyn (the tour guide) took us on the trails. The kids really enjoyed being out in nature and seeing all the plants and animals. Oni especially had a good time, she kept giggling and laughing as we walked down the paths. As we came around the corner, John was standing underneath this arbor and this huge Hawk flies over and lands on top, almost directly above John's head. He just stood there long enough for us to get a picture and then flew off. This got Jaidyn really exited and she kept saying that she was seeing little animals and animal's eye's inside burrows. When we got to the creek, Grandma said "oh, I see an alligator". Jaidyn said "oh, you don't want to get bit by an alligator, because then you'll have surgery". At about 8:15...

This is momma bird, she never left this nest. We are in the process of planting our garden and it didn't seem to bother her when we would get a little too close. The few times that she did fly away she didn't go far in order to keep a close eye on her babies.

Last month we had a wild wind storm (it seems like we have a lot of those lately). We had just planted a few Leland Pines and one in particular got hit pretty hard. What once was a perfectly planted straight tree is now planted at a 45 degree angle. John went out to begin replanting it and straighten it out, when we noticed a little nest with eggs sitting on the branches. Of course we couldn't move it then. John was pretty upset, "oh great!, now we can't move it until she has the babies and who knows how long that will be!!"

So lately I've been having an addiction to Costco and Sam's Club. It use to be that I would go to (my favorite store) TJ Maxx and load up on decorating items for our home, and then come home with a pile of stuff in the back of the Suburban, unload it into the Living Room and realized that I had just spent too much money on more decorating items for our home, which was something I clearly didn't need. But I couldn't help it, them minute I would walk in, I would find things and say "oh, man that would look really good in our house". Granted there were some times when I would take items home and realize that they were just not the right color or size and end up taking it back, but it was so worth it when I found that perfect item that look just right in a particular spot. So I have gotten over that whole shopping for our home phase. But I now have a new obsession! Since Mom has become the new Food Storage specialist in our ward, I have been reading up a lot on...

It's been awhile since I last posted, so I thought I should do a little update. It's been a crazy week, although I don't think there is ever a normal or uneventful week in the MacDonald household. Last Saturday we went to John's mom and her new husband (Jim's) wedding reception. They were married last month in North Carolina. Jim's a really nice guy and is actually normal, unlike many of the others that Sharon had dated previously. They met on Harmony.com, apparently you really can find your perfect match online. Their reception was pretty large, there were a lot of people there from California, Jim owned a gun shop there for many years and has many friend from the Bay area. There was a live band and they had bbQ'd a whole pig for dinner. So Jim and Sharon are a happy newlywed couple, they live in the mountains and seem to really love and care for each other. We are so happy that Sharon finally found someone. Luis and Luhanie (our Foster kids) still h...