1. I lived in Pocatello, Idaho for 8 years and really miss my friends and neighbors.
2. I married someone who is so much better than I am.
3. I am so grateful for having a daughter. Now I have a little buddy to do girl things with! I can't wait for her to be old enough to go to the Nutcracker with me! Go girl power!
4. I live for warmer weather! There is no place better to be than enjoying the outdoors! Especially when I am waterskiing!
5. The greatest place on earth is Lake Powell!
6. It has always been my dream to visit Italy. I really want to see the Sistine Chapel. Amazing!
7. My biggest pet peeve is when people are late. I think people need to respect others time.
8. I love helping my son with his scouting! It is a great way to spend quality time having fun learning together.
9. Forget the American Chocolate! Swiss chocolate rules! Got to love that Lindor!
10. My sons are named after LDS prophets. McKay and Hunter- great role models for them to follow after.
11. Can't stand long drives (my husband loves them!). Just put me on a plane and then I can enjoy the trip by exploring instead of sitting for hours on end! This is especially so when there are three kids in the car. I remember when we liven in Pocatello, Idaho and my husband wanted to visit the graves of some relatives in Chili, Idaho (which doesn't even exist anymore). We had two very young boys and the drive was probably 3 hours each way. Finally when we got to where Chili use to be there were probably only 3 houses. We found directions to the old cemetary. I have never seen a cemetary like that. It was all dirt in the middle of nowhere. My cute McKay started bawling because he missed his Great Grandma Coates. The funny thing is, she died so many years ago that my husband had never met her, but my son was a reck because he missed her so much! Then we got to enjoy the lovely long drive home.
12. Traveling is one of my passions! Especially abroad. I love to see how other people live and experience their culture. I have had the opportunity to serve a mission in Geneva, Switzerland (which is in France also), study abroad for 6 months with my brother in Israel (visited Jordan, Egypt and surrounding areas) where I loved riding a camel into Petra (go Indiana Jones), Korea, Japan and I really want to go to Africa.
13. While on my mission I was able to experience the "romance" of France. After my first month, my trainer was going home so we took a train to the Gare de Lyon. We talked to some girls to be sure we were going to the right place which was the train station in Lyon. Who would have known that the train station in Paris was called the Gare de Lyon. We found ourselves in Paris with no money and unsure of what to do. While my traveling companion was calling our mission president I stayed with our luggage. Out of the blue a young frenchman came up to me, handed me a long stem rose and walked away! That made my day! Fun experience!
14. My favorite saying and thing to live by is "Here am I, send me." Isaiah 6:8
15. I can't watch too scarey of movies! When Sixth Sense came out I couldn't go into the bathroom for months at night because I knew that a scarey dead guy was behind the door! I watched the Ring and had nightmares of a dead woman crawling on the ground to get me!
16. I love the rush and excitement from roller coasters, suprises, traveling and experiencing something new.
17. I started waterskiing at age 6. I hope I am still skiing at 64 like my parents!
18. Speaking of thrills! It has always been my dream to go sky diving! It can't get any scarier than that! I'm willing to try most anything once...I did say once...I did the ride on the needle in Vegas. I won't do that again. My brother Steve had to push me in my seat and pull the bar down because I thought I was going to die! I screamed bloody murder the entire time!
19. I feel lucky to have the family I have. My Husband is amazing, my children are sweet, my parents are the example of what I want to be, my brothers and sisters are my best friends! Who could ask for anything more!?!
20. When I was young I couldn't stand to read! My dad would pay me to read and tell me to do something constructive like...read a book! It always made me so mad when he said that! Now my favorite thing is soaking in the tub with a good book. I am currently reading the Prelude to Glory series about the revolutionary war! Love it! I also loved the Kite Runner, Life and Death in Shanghi and of course Twilight (and no, I am not a fanatic).
21. I can't imagine what I am going to do with my self in a year and a half when Sydney enters Kindergarten. I can only clean so much in a day!
22. In college I dressed up as a bum for Halloween. There was a party at the 49th street Galleria and I sat outside with a sign that said "will work for food".
23. At age four my twin sister and I would cliff jump off 25 foot cliffs at Lake Powell!
24. When I was a little girl I always dreamed of having 100 babies! Now I am content with three!
25. Life it too short! Take advantage of every moment!
Congrats Mckay on earning your Bear! What an amazing night his leaders put together! It wall full of "Bear Attacks", potato sack racing, roping bulls and fun family photos! We are so grateful for all the hard work and dedication his leaders put into their callings! McKay loves to learn all the new things for earning his awards! Great activities for off-track!
After California, Dad dropped Mom and the kids off at Grandpa and Grandma Tates home in St. George for a few days until he could come back after working for 3 days. Grandpa drove down to meet me so I wouldn't be without a car! Dad, you are the best! I think he enjoyed it because he went golfing each day with his buddy Brent West! We went to the Sand Dunes, Zions, the park and fed the ducks...or should I say the gold fish boil. The rest of the Tate clan, except Anna's family, came down to celebrate Thanksgiving! We loved having "Bolt obstacle courses", swimming, bowling (except when mom tore another tenden in her ankle while bowling for Tater), eating at Chuck-A-Rama so no one would have to clean up the mess and just being together! Mom and Dad are so kind to always open up their St. George home to us all so we can get away! Rachel, Jamie and Sarah had interesting experiences shopping the morning of Black Friday! We will always remember Jamie browsing and Sarah faceplanting!!! Got to love the Black Friday experiences! At least we all got amazing deals on what we wanted!
It was so great to see and spend time with family in California. Uncle Gary and Aunt Sue talked us into cancelling our hotel by Sea World and opened their home to us! Our children love them to death and couldn't get enough of Buster! They miss you all so much! Uncle Chuck had us all over for lunch...even with Aunt Kathy out of town... and we loved catching up with him and all his kids! They have grown up so much! They gave us many ideas and game plans for Disneyland! Aunt Dar (not in photo which makes us sad) had us over for dessert and our kids were able to play with Rachels kids. We can't believe how they have grown also! We had many laughs and were able to catch up! Uncle Matt and Aunt Lucretia came over to Uncle Gary's and we chatted, laughed and went down memory lane. We love you all and are very grateful for your hospitality! Hopefully it won't be another 8 years before we come again!!!
