It's the 27th of the month...

...and that means a day of thought, a day of tears, a day of joy, and pain and .... I could go on and on with what this day of the month means, EVERY single month!! If you notice on the sidebar, Mac would be 8 months old today. What does that mean? It means this little boy would have let the world know who he is with his own little personality. He'd be able to sit without any support and if he wasn't crawling, he sure would want to! In fact, he may even be standing while holding onto something - probably with my help, but then again, he could count on me being there! He'd be jabbering all the time; maybe even saying 'mama' and 'dada'! I, of course, would be teaching him how to say 'nanny' since that's so vitally important! And he would have at least 30 signs. OK, maybe only 25, but we'd be working toward 30.

Why do I think about him every month? It's getting to be that as the day draws near, I think more and more about him. I miss him. I miss him because I don't know what I'm missing! All I know is I ache inside. And not just for myself. I ache for Josh and Cali; for their pain. I ache for Grandma Mingo who didn't get to hold her first great-great grandchild. For my parents and Mike's parents, for Josh's family, and for my family. I know we all miss him. He was a big part of our lives for someone who spent such a short time with us. I ache for Colby and Kierra's baby - although I shouldn't because that little one got to spend more time with Mac than any of us. But at the same time, I think their baby is a little girl, and I would have loved that she had an older boy cousin that could look out for her. I guess that just means I'll have to take extra care of any future grandchildren, for McKallister's sake.

He's 8 months old. He's perfect. And I'm so happy - yes, happy even though I have tears running down my face - that I know we have the chance to see him again.

I better get my act together!!

Check out this web site!

I just got off of Cali's blog - which, by the way if you need a good cry it's incredible - and on one of the comments someone mentioned a web-site. I checked it out and it's beautiful! It's a site where you can give them your child's name (if they have passed away) and they write the child's name in the sand and take an amazing picture of it. Check it out and tell me what you think.

www.namesinthesand.net

Al at the dentist.

So most of us don't look cool at the dentist. Alex does! He had to get some teeth pulled, and this is him right before they started pulling.

Is he cool, or what?!?

A few odds and ends....

I have finally figured out how to download pics from my Christmas camera (Thanks Lou!)- so here's a small showing of the last few months:

This was Al - all day! All he asked for was a DS. Good thing he was good enough that Santa brought it. Now it's only used for special occasions when Alex needs to go to 'his happy place'

We were lucky enough to have ALL our kids with us for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, but I wasn't able to get my camera operational until after Colby and Kierra were gone to visit her family. But this is what Cali and Taylor did all morning - made hats!

Mac and his Christmas decor. Notice the new plaque that Santa gave him. Much nicer than the 3x5 card he used to have and will be great until his actual marker is in place.

A beautiful, winter sunset to end the day.

Ice skating for Family Home Evening. (Notice Mike and I are not skating. We're getting too old!!)

Alex went from punk...

... to priesthood holder overnight!!

All the men in my family;

Al with dad (aka George, Papa Joe)...

...with Colby (I must say, 2 good-looking brothers!!)...

...cheesing it with Josh!...

...and then there's Moose. He thinks he's the manliest of them all!

AWWWWW!

Alex's 6th grade Valentine Dance! This is Alex and friends doing the Macarana. (The cards attached to their wrists are their dance cards. They filled them out the day before. Alex had a line of girls waiting to sign up to dance with him while other boys never got their cards filled up. )

Slow dance # 1. The teachers had worked with the kids for a few weeks to teach them different dance styles. It was great to see them doing the different dances. (You can almost see Alex counting... 1,2,3...1,2,3)

He was CONSTANTLY surrounded by the women!

Swing Dance #1! Yes, that is the shortest 6th grade boy dancing with the tallest 6th grade girl. She was kind enough not to get on her knees to dance with him, even though it probably would have been more comfortable for her.

Slow Dance #2 with his favorite Valentine...

...Nicole (or as Alex calls her 'ma-coe') Nicole has been Alex's friend since the 1st grade and has always treated Alex with respect and kindness, and even been stern with him when he deserves it! Thanks Nicole for always having a special place in Al's heart!!

After the dance we took balloons to Mac. Take a close look at both pictures. Notice Mac's balloons are 'blowing' around while the balloons in the background aren't? There wasn't a stitch of wind, yet his balloons were going crazy!! He must have been there playing with them!!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! (And thanks for looking at such a long blog!)

Just a bunch of stuff...

WOW! Look at this stud. I've been promising pictures of this good-looking young man for a while now, and here they are. This is him at home before his first day of passing the Sacrament at church. He was very proud and he has done a fantastic job.

This should definitely tell me who looks at my blog!

Yes. These are ultrasound photos.... meet Blob Maughan. Colby and Kierra are pregnant!!! Only 9 weeks along, so still early, but we've known for about 8 weeks now, so it's about time I can let everyone know!! They went for their first OB/GYN appointment today and both mom and Blob are doing fine. For a blob, I think 'she's' kinda cute!!

Geese at Wheeler Farm

This is a little boy I babysit everyday (Brendon) and one of my nieces (Mallory) trying to stay away from the geese at Wheeler Farm, but feed them at the same time. There were geese everywhere, and as soon as one realized we had food he HONKed a goose signal and even more came from near and far!!

I love feeding the geese at the farm. I can't even tell you why; all I know is I just giggle while I'm feeding them. And this guy in the very front of the bottom picture; the white goose just staring at me? I think we bonded because he nipped at my pants while we were feeding them and then followed me around the rest of the time we were there - even over to the sheep, pigs and cows! Cute, huh? We called him Honker while we were there, but I think I'll re-name him George because he's cute, I fed him and I love him.