Fashionistas

Knits hats & Sophie's skirt purchased at the Beehive Bazaar.

The Bella Saga

Where to start. We received Bella from Joseph's mom this past summer. We instantly loved her. She is sweet, cute and clean.

She wouldn't leave Emma's side when Emma had the flu:

Of course, we already have a cat as you know. Sammy is sort of sweet, kind of cute and honestly, not that clean. He tries, but due to his size, he has a hard time reaching everywhere when he's cleaning himself.

At first Sammy & Bella weren't too sure about each other. But eventually, much to our delight, they became friends!

Enter the evil neighbor cat I like to call "Hitler". Hitler started showing up in our backyard toward the end of the summer. I would chase him away and so would Sammy, but Hitler kept showing up and taunting my two kitties.

As this continued to go on, Sammy's demeanor around the house started to change. He wasn't so nice to Bella anymore. In fact, he started chasing and pouncing on her frequently. He even starting "marking" his territory around the house. Ewwwwwww. He had NEVER done that before.

We took Sammy to the vet to see what we could do, and $300 later our answer was "Get rid of one of your cats."

We were debating what we should do, when suddenly one night, when Joseph got home from work, he opened the front door and before he could stop them, Sammy chased Bella out of the house, down the street and around the corner. Joseph went running after them, but could not find Bella.

We called Bella all night and morning, but she didn't return. We put up signs around the neighborhood, checked the animal shelter several times a week, but no sign of Bella.

More than two weeks had passed and we had all just about given up hope for her return. All of us except Emma that is. She prayed every night that Bella would come home. I did too, but the reality was starting to sink in. It was COLD at night. Bella was tiny. It had been weeks. It didn't look good.

Then, on Thanksgiving weekend a miracle occurred! Emma looked out the front window and thought she saw Bella running across the street. We all ran outside and called her and searched for her, but no luck.

Then about 30 minutes later we received a call from a neighbor saying he had our kitty! And he did!! Almost three weeks to the day, Bella came home. Really tired, very dirty, extremely hungry and thirsty, but she's home! Emma calls it a Thanksgiving miracle.

All is well again in the McRae house.

WOW Sophie!

I know, I know. I've let the blog go lately. Those in my family should cut me some SLACK though, since we've been playing ring around the rosy with sickness lately. Anyway, I'm recommitted, so today will be the first of my "catch up" posts.

At Westridge Elementary each month, they hold a "WOW" assembly. This is an assembly where the school recognizes the "Westridge Outstanding Wildcats" for the month. Sophie won the award last month which was great! If you win, your name is entered into a drawing for an iPod shuffle and guess who won?

It just so happpened that on that same day, she won a gigantic chocolate bar for being the best fundraiser in her class. Sophie calls it her "Best Day Ever".

(By the way, if you click on the Westridge Elementary link, you'll get to see a picture of Jake & Kevin on the ski lift at Sundance!)

Name That Logo!

I took this corporate logo quiz this morning. I got 33/36 correct. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Give it a try and let me know how you score.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the McRaes!

2nd Grade Halloween Party

Do you know what it's like to be the room mom for your second grader's Halloween party? Here's a crash course:

And trust me, this video does not do justice to the actual decibel level in the room.

A night full of horror.

The night began with the most delicious dinner at P712. There are some new appetizers on the menu for fall that are to die for. Roasted potatoes with chimichurri sauce... they were so good that after sharing two orders, we ordered a third! Outrageous! Plus, there is a new roasted squash with pine nuts and braised bacon. Yum. Not to mention the pizza. Eat there soon.

Courtney is our favorite host at P712 and he joined the girl's table for some riveting convo. They can always spare a moment to mug for the camera though. All smiles:

Eating pita & hummus:

Mom's reaction to tasting an experimental anise seed soda:

Suzy's reaction to the aforementioned soda:

and Jake's:

The kids nearly being eaten by the carnivorous "Audrey 2":

The star of the show:

Fun times.

We're so excited to see this tonight!

Go Bulldogs!

Last night Emma & Sophie were able to cheer at half-time for the high school football team. They went to cheer camp all week to get ready. Emma has done this twice before, but this was Sophie's first time.


Arriving at Provo High:



Annie, Olivia & Emma:

Emma & Sophie:

The Provo Bulldog:

Just before half-time:

Audrey & Sophie, watching their big sisters do their cheer:

I have some cute video of them both, but blogger doesn't seem to want to load it. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.

Into The Woods

Last night was great. Mom & Dad treated us to tickets to see "Into the Woods" at the Scera Theater, and in return, we treated them to a fabulous dinner at Communal. This was dad and Jacob's first time at the new restaurant, since Jacob came down with the stomach flu on opening night and couldn't go :(

The first thing we noticed is that the stained glass windows are almost done! They are beautiful. Colton's dad is painstakingly making and installing every one. They are amazing.

Dinner was delicious. We got to sit in the private dining room. It's great for people with kids. There's no anxiety about bothering the other guests.

The private dining room has a window that looks right into the kitchen. The kids had fun watching dad cook.

As we were finishing up, guess who walked in? Ann & Garry! We had a nice visit with them. The kids were happy as clams to have BOTH sets of grandparents there!

Then it was off to the play. Our good friend Lara Johnson is the lead and she was fabulous. It's really not fair that one person is so talented. Couldn't she spare just a little for the rest of us.

This is a picture I took as we were walking into the play. Utah is so beautiful.

The play was great. There was an on-stage accident about 1/2 hour into the show though. It really scared Sophie & Emma. The actress playing "Little Red" got her foot caught in a huge, rotating tree and she started screaming. We all thought it was part of the show, but then the house lights came on and some yelled for a doctor. 911 was called and she was taken to the hospital. They were able to get her understudy, but it took them about 45 minutes. Needless to say, the play didn't end until about 11 p.m. We arrived at 7 p.m., so Sophie was getting pretty tired. She did great though, and I'm so glad we stayed. It closes tonight, so if you have no plans, you should definitely check it out.