Dear MVT 20 Year Reunion Committee,

I am so sorry to say that I won't be attending your upcoming reunion festivities. You see, my husband has been insistent that I develop the perfect gluten-free pizza recipe so that he can make his millions marketing it to local establishments. Boy, have we eaten a lot of pizza! What does this have to do with my attendance, you ask? Well, I am no longer able to button my skinny jeans, and as we all know, this is the reason we attend these types of events, right? I am still certain that my children are the most adorable and gifted, and my husband the hottest of all the competitors, but that is meaningless if I don't look better now than I did in high school.

Regretfully yours,

Kara McDonald

My, how time flies!

So... I've been toying with the idea of actually doing a new blog post for a while now (okay, over a year if you're going to be picky about it). I'm guessing no one even bothers to look anymore, but it's about posterity- right? Quick recap: over the last year, we have survived the expiration of our Disneyland passes, an entire school year homeschooling a 7th grader, finding out officially that I can no longer enjoy my life (I'm allergic to gluten, duh!), and the transformation of an angelic 2-year-old into a somewhat less angelic but no less adorable 3- year- old, and most traumatic of all, the beginning of my first born's senior year in high school. Not to mention the baptism of my precious 8 year old. Wow, now I feel even worse than I already did. Here is a smattering of photos to bring us all up to date. Hopefully it won't be another year before the next post. No guarantees.

In order from most recent:

Not to spill any confidential info, but Jason turned 41 (yikes!)

The cake was his brainchild carried out by me. Note to self: never again attempt rolled fondant on an ice cream cake.

Number 17 for an amazing boy! Seriously, he just knocks my socks of every day with his goodness.

Aforementioned 3rd bday. This family party was preceded by a princess dress-up party.

Yes, those are Stacy's Naked pita chips in her hand. That's how we roll.

One of the best mom moments so far...

Thirteen hasn't been so bad...

It IS great to be 8!

Dad's 80th birthday surprise! Boy, was I tired at the end of this day, but it was totally worth it!

Saying our last goodbyes to Mickey after a lovely, full year of Disneyland joy. I tear up just thinking about it.

First time at the monster truck rally. You can bet Jarom will be back!

Lucky girl surrounded by incredible people!

A Glimpse...

I always feel bad when I don't post for a while, I guess it's the guilt of imagining the 2 or 3 people who read my blog getting anxious or something...anywho... life just keeps rolling along at what seems to be a never-ending fever pitch. Does that make sense? Probably not.

Happy Birthday to Me!!! I'm so old that I need 2 cakes.

Of course I always have to throw in the gratuitous adorable Mia photo!

Jason survived the week long scout camp as scoutmaster, and Jacob survived his first scout camp! Hooray!

This is my favorite scout camp picture... just out of bed!

This photo represents one of the more liberating evenings I have spent in a long time. ROCK ON!!!

P.S. Living in So Cal= AMAZING!!! sorry, Mesa

Chef Jarom

First, big shout out to Tyler and Wendy for hooking us up with this incredible experience!

Next, giant shout out to Jason Knibb, executive chef of Nine Ten restaurant in La Jolla!  

Jarom has been a total foodie for a long time, and has dreams of retiring to Hawaii and opening his own restaurant.  For his birthday, I was able to arrange for him to shadow this AMAZING chef at a swank La Jolla restaurant.  He was there for about 7 or 8 hours on Saturday.  Chef Jason gave him a chef coat and showed him the ropes.  He had a total blast, and can't wait to get back there.  He actually worked... plated food, cooked a few things, total once in a lifetime experience-except they invited him to come back and do it again whenever he wanted!!!  He is already trying to figure out when he can get back there!  Jason and I went in before closing and Jarom made food for us.  He was on cloud 9 and couldn't stop talking about what an incredible day he had.  I can't stop thinking about how much I'm going to enjoy letting him use his skills to cook for the family from now on!!  

This is before he went in.  He wasn't sure what to expect... I think he thought they would make him mop floors and wash dishes, but he was still stoked!

Jarom and Chef Jason.  This is one seriously nice guy.  He is also a seriously skilled chef.  If you are near La Jolla, save your $$ and go to his place!  You will not be sorry!

Still smiling after a full day in the kitchen!  I love this kid!!!

Sweet Sixteen!

Although it seems like only yesterday that he was a funny looking little cone-headed newborn, my Jarom is SIXTEEN!!  Yes, that's what I said... sixteen years old!

An occasion such as this calls for multiple celebrations...

Party #1:  The family.

He seems pretty impressed with his cake!

Can we get some heat in here?

Party #2: Dinner and disneyland with mom (aka: first date)

The big surprise!!!

I know... super lame there is no sound.  Also, keep in mind that it is 5:40 am so the "Price is Right" reaction didn't happen.  I think he was actually in shock!  By the time school was out it had finally clicked in his mind that he had an awesome truck to drive!

Party #3: Bonfire at the beach with friends

Sorry... no cool pictures, but I'm sure if you use your imagination you will get pretty close.

More Birthday!

More photos of the birthday girl!!

Grandma and Papa gave her some much needed bling!

Princess Mia Turns 2!!!

The signs have been there for a few months, but now it's official:  Mia is two!!

What better way to celebrate this momentous occasion than to head for Disneyland!

Grandpa Andrews sent her some fancy dress ups, and she decided that this was the perfect opportunity to show off her Tinkerbell costume!

Wherever she went people kept stopping to tell her how adorable she was!

The first characters she encountered were Chip and Dale.  Unfortunately we had video camera issues, so we couldn't capture her jumping up and down and shrieking with delight when she saw them!

She REALLY wanted to share her granola bar with them, so they had to keep ducking their heads so she wouldn't rub slobbery granola on their noses!

Then it was on to pixie hollow to meet Tink

Tink was not nearly as exciting as the giant squirrels.

Daddy making the fairy fly!

The next day, I left Jarom in charge of Mia and Jase while Jacob and I went on Twilight Zone.  This is what we found when we returned:

Time to go HOME!!!!