Happy Anniversary Pizzeria 712!

It's hard to believe it's been a year already.

Last week was the pizzeria's first anniversary and to celebrate, they threw a beautiful dinner party for friends and family.

The menu was fabulous. First course: farro rissoto; Second course: pear salad; Third course: wild boar ragu; Fourth course: roasted apple with gingerbread cake. yum.




Our table of family & friends. (left: Sophie, Jen, Jake, Dad, Mom & right: Emma, Allie, Suz, Roy, Marilyn)

Dad, Colton & Joseph:

Brian & Matt:

Busy plating dinner:

Graham:

Timmy & Ethan:

Here's to many, many more successful years!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A little Coldplay & a trip to the ER

Last Saturday was great (mostly). We bought tickets way back in June to see Coldplay at the Delta Center (I mean, Energy Solutions Arena). This was to be Jacob's first ever "real" rock concert. Those of you who know me well, know that this stud was my first rock concert at the tender age of 14:

The concert was fabulous. One of the best I've seen in years. Those Coldplay boys really know how to put on a show.

Walking to the concert:

Waiting for the concert to start:

Did you know John Stockton is the NBA leader in assists & steals? I didn't. But I do now:

One excited litte boy:

Yes, we are responsible parents:

Here's Jake with about 3 songs left to go in the show:

Post concert photo:

Awesome night, until...

We got home late, after midnight. I was just sitting down to relax after tucking Jake in when Sophie came running, in a panic, from her bedroom screaming that she couldn't breathe. This happened last year when she had Croup. I did all the things you are supposed to do. I took her outside in the freezing cold -- didn't help. I sat with her in a steam-filled bathroom -- didn't help. So I was getting very worried, as any mother would with a child who is not breathing, so Suzy & I threw her in the car and drove to the ER at 1 am.

Sophie when we arrived:

Sophie after hours of breathing treatments, medication and a big old shot:

The cool hosptial gift bag seemed to be the biggest hit of all:

So, we arrived home and finally got to bed at about 4:30 a.m.

Never a dull moment with the McRaes.

I'm so annoyed...

Is anyone else as annoyed as I am about these two?






I mean really.... "relations" with your ghost boyfriend???? The only logical explanation is that they are setting Izzie up to have a massive nervous breakdown.

I'm loving Grey's Anatomy this season, they didn't need to bring dead Denny back for ratings. What are they thinking??

Chillin' with Sophie

After school today, Sophie & I were just hanging out on my bed. I bought some cute boxes at Ikea yesterday to store the girl's artwork in, and Sophie found this little "yes/no" sign she made in preschool while she was going through all her stuff. She would only ask me yes or no questions for a good hour or so, and I would have to flip the sign to show the appropriate response.

Then she asked me to photograph her "Yes" face and her "No" face.

Very sweet & cute:





Kind of scary:



Then she wanted me to video her teasing Sammy with said Yes/No sign.

Sammy puts up with a lot in the McRae house.

One Good Egg

Jacob was put in an accelerated science program this year. It turns out, he scored off the charts in the area of physics. Hmmm, not sure where that came from, but whatever.

Today he had to bring an egg to school for the old "drop it from 5 feet and see if it breaks" experiment. We could do anything to the egg we wanted. He decided to bury the egg in a big ball of play dough, then Joseph thought we should wrap the egg with LOTS of plastic wrap.

This is how the finished product looked:

This is how amazed the girls were when they saw the finished product:

This is Sammy not caring at all about the egg:

This is the sign I put on the door last night so we would NOT forget to take the egg to school this morning:

This is his reaction when I asked if his egg won:

(he actually came in 3rd place...his egg didn't break until it was dropped from 7 ft., the winning egg didn't break until it was dropped from 10 ft.)

You know, if schools would make science this fun for ALL kids, and not just the accelerated kids, we just might have a lot more scientists in this world. Right, Uncle Steve?

Christmas is coming...

We're on a tight budget this year for Christmas. Most (all) of our extra money will be spent on our sweet kids. I have seen a few things I love though, and who knows, maybe Santa will see my list!

Cute chandelier earrings:

This beautiful desk calendar:

This coin purse I've been coveting for months:

This planner from Franklin Covey:

You never know when Santa may be watching!

An Arrow of Light, a derby and a love story.

Yes, we packed all of this into one Wednesday evening. Our evening started with Jacob receiving the top award in Webelos, the Arrow of Light. It takes three years and lots of work. We're so proud of you Jake! Jacob has the BEST cubscout leaders in the world. A BIG thank you to the Jensens for all of your hard work and dedication!

Right after his Arrow of Light ceremony, he was able to compete in his last Pinewood Derby. Joseph & Jacob worked hard on their car. It won several heats, but ultimately came in 4th.

And finally, during the midst of all this cubscouting, Emma & I were able to sneak away and see this at the Hale Center Theater in Orem:

It was fabulous. Tom & Derek joined us and a great time was had by all!

Next up for me is the Primary Sacrament Meeting Program this weekend, so if you don't hear from me for a few days, you'll know why!

Telos Turkey Tri

Joseph ran his first TRIATHLON last Saturday!

I don't know how he found the energy to do this, considering he works 100+ hours a week, but he did. Plus, he beat hundreds of people that were much younger! Way to go sweetie!!