The Beach, A Party, and a Talent Show.....

We had a great Saturday together! This weekend was VERY warm, so we were excited when some friends from our ward called up and invited us to go to the beach.

All the kids really enjoyed digging in the sand.....

and playing in the water. The first time we went to the beach Donovin didn't want anything to do with the water, but now we can't seem to get him out, even when his lips are blue from being so cold! Halle is also a brave little thing and dives right in. They both love the ocean!

So, after we got back from the beach it was a little after 2 and Halle had a B-day party to go to for a boy in her class. The poor kid got sick and had to sit out for most of his own party :( Poor guy.

So...then we had to go home and make some brownies for the ward activity which was a talent show. Tyler signed up to show one of his old college short films, and dazzled us all with his wit and charm as the MC. He was really funny! Great job Ty!


The ward missionaries (us included) signed up to do a pie eating contest to promote the ward mission plan P.I.E. which stands for Prepare, Invite and Excitify! We're really trying to get ward members excited about sharing the gospel with others, and had a whole sacrament dedicated to the new ward mission plan and thought this would be a great way to promote it. The Elders even got in on the action!




So, I didn't win, but had fun anyway. I couldn't stop laughing and was afraid pudding was going to come out of my nose at some point. I was SO sick after and don't think I'll be able to look at, or eat chocolate pudding for a long time!


Nice huh? Thanks Jen for taking the pics for us!

So...it was a busy and really fun day for us. I love it when the weekend comes and we get to spend time together.

Man Hunt!

Ok, so something crazy happened last night around 1:00 am. Tyler and I were just getting ready to go to bed ( I know, we stay up WAY too late) and we heard the police search helicopter fly over, which is no big deal, we hear that all the time. But, then we notice that it sounds really close, and it's not going away, so we peeked out our blinds, and saw the spotlight shining on the building right across the street from us. The helicopter kept circling around our area, but finally focused right on that building and hung out there for a good 20 minutes. During this time we start to see a lot of cop cars driving by and officers running to the back alley of the building with their weapons drawn. Not much happened for another 10 minutes or so and the helicopter left, but it must've been getting low on fuel or something because about 5 minutes later another copter took it's place. We saw more cops surround the building and there was a lot of movement in the alley. So like the hillbillies that we are Tyler and I sat at our window the whole time and watched what was happening. Tyler even pulled out the video camera. How pathetic are we? Who could sleep with a chopper circling your home anyway? It's SO loud! So, about 30-40 minutes into it we heard the megaphone from the chopper telling the person in the building that they were the LAPD and had the building surrounded and to come out into the courtyard with their hands up! We don't know what happened next, we saw a lot of movement and cops running around, but about 15 minutes later the chopper left, and the cops and fire engine and ambulance left shortly thereafter. We can't figure out what happened. We don't have cable, so we couldn't turn on the news. We didn't think to turn on the radio until everything was over, and we never found anything. I can't find anything on the web about it either. Probably no big deal around here for everyone else, but we felt like we were in the middle of a scene out of Cops or something. It probably sounds like we live in the ghetto, but we really don't. It's like one of the nicest neighborhoods in LA. I guess if no one gets shot it doesn't make the news around here. Luckily we never heard any gunfire. So anyway, the whole ordeal lasted about and hour (1:30-2:30) and I was so tired this morning that I slept through my alarm and had 5 minutes to get Halle to school so she didn't miss her bus for her fieldtrip to the aquarium. She made it thank goodness!

Life in LA

After living here for almost 2 months we finally took our first trip to the beach back in February. This is at Laguna beach. Yes, it was kind of cold, but we had a good time anyway.

The Los Angeles Temple
Only 3 miles from our house. Who would have thought that moving to California would bring us closer to a temple than living in Utah?

When my mom and Kevin came out to visit we decided to take a drive into Hollywood to see the sights! Hollywood Blvd is where it's at! All down the Blvd is the Star Walk. This is the front of the Kodak Theatre where the Oscar's are held every year.

Here's the back entrance to the Fox Studios Lot. Tyler used to drive by the big lots and dream that one day he would be able to work there. This truly is a dream come true for us. Although Tyler doesn't actually work on the Lot (he works in an office building in Santa Monica) he gets free access to all the perks of working there.


This is the outside of our building. We love the area! Tyler's work is 1 mile away in Santa Monica, so he doesn't have to battle traffic and gets to come home for lunch. Halle's school is 1 1/2 blocks away, so we get to walk to and from everyday. There is a great park 2 block away, and our church house is right across the street from the park. It's so great to be so close to everything. In LA to say something is far away means it's like 2 miles. Things are so packed together here that you can find pretty much anything you need in that 2 mile radius. We're on a bottom unit, so hopefully we'll stay pretty cool this summer. If not, the beach is only 2 miles away, so we could live there for most of the day.

I'm it!

My sis Kimberley tagged me, so here goes....
This is about my husband... this fine looking man right here...................................................>

What is his name? Tyler Jay (he hates it when I call him that)

How long have you been together? Since February 10, 1997- we were 14! Can you believe it's been 11 years already?

How long did you date? Almost 5 years before we got married

How old is he? He'll be 26 next month....we're getting old

Who eats more? He eats more at meals, but I snack more

Who said "I love you" first? He did, like 2 days after we met. I didn't really know how to respond, so I just laughed.

Who is taller? He is by 2 or 3 inches

Who is smarter? We have very different minds. I can read something and retain it really well and have always been a great test taker, so I've always had good grades, but he gets good grades in practical things like applying what you have learned to life. He can figure out how to do and/or make just about anything, and he definetly has more street smarts than I do. He has taught me so much about living in a big city.

Who does the laundry? I do, he'll help me fold it though

Who does the dishes? Me, but he often helps and will even occasionally load and start the dishwasher

Who pays the bills? Tyler makes the money, I try to keep us from spending it all.

Who mows the lawn? Ha! We've never had a lawn, but if we did, it would definetly be up to him to take care of it.

Who cooks dinner? I do. I love to cook and feed people.

Who drives when you are together? I'm glad to always let him drive

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Tyler does. I've always been the left side sleeper.

Who kissed who first? He kissed me.

Who asked who out first? He asked me. Of course at 14, we couldn't really go anywhere.

Who proposed first? He proposed to me at our favorite restaurant over a candle light dinner. The waitress brought out a beautiful boquet of roses and he took out the ring we picked out together a couple of weeks before. His hands were shaking so bad he almost couldn't get the box open. I knew it was coming, but it was still really sweet. The people at the table next to us thought he was so cute and asked to see the ring. I'll never forget that moment.

Who has more siblings? He does. He has 2 brothers and 3 sisters, I have 2 older sisters. We are both the baby. Tyler is the baby by 8 years!

Who wears the pants in the family? Tyler wears the pants, I like to wear skirts!

Now I am tagging Jen, and Venice -I heard through the grapevine that you need to post more ;)

Disneyland

We got to go to Disneyland on March 20 with Grandma and Grandpa McBride. We had a great day, but I'm not so sure about Grandma and Grandpa :)

Donovin was Buzz Lightyear for the first half of the day......

and Woody the second half. Halle stayed Tinker Bell. It was fun for her to wave at people as they said: "Hey, there's Tink!"