Artsy Fartsy

We went to the Mission City Opera last night and saw: 

I love going to see operas, plays, musicals you name it.  I absolutley  love "the arts."  One of my favorite things about attending school at BYU was all of the awesome productions you could see for such little cost.  I saw "Oaklahoma" the musical for like 5 or 10 bucks and it was spectacular (remember Larkie)!  I also loved  watching the ballroom dance team productions.  Oh my goodness; what a show!  My husband prefers the cinema arts; also known as going to the movies over all of the other arts, but will attend other shows with me when encouraged.   My friend Lacie and I are quite a team at convincing our husbands to go to various shows with us.  We all went to see the mucical "Wicked" and to some Christams concert together and we had a good time.  However, we could not convince them to go to an upcoming ballet with us.  So, we're leaving them behind to play non-violent video games together and we're off to the ballet!    

It's not just a game

Johnny and his team won their Softball tournament :) I love how happy he looks. Trust me he does not look very happy when he or one of his teams (The Lakers etc.) loses. I always think it's kinda funny how mad men get when their sports team is doing poorly or they lose.  But hey let's face it; who doesn't like to win? Welp, here are three hurrahs for the champion: Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah for Johnny!

Mom came to visit!

My mom came to visit last week!  It was nice to see her and do some fun things together. She stayed three days and this is what we did...

My mom and I shopped till we dropped (although we only actually bought about 3 things) on President's Day and got some great deals on jeans from Gap. Always a pleasure. I took her to some of my favorite places to eat, "White Shallot" and "The Counter" during her stay. We also saw the movie Valentine's Day--it was kinda sorta cute.

We went to Alcatraz and thought the whole experience was fascinating.  We took this 1 hr. long audio cell house tour and got to explore the prison cells and prison grounds.  We listened to quotes with the actual voices of the correctional officers and inmates about what it was like being in Alcatraz. 

"If you disobey the rules of society, they send you to prison; if you disobey the rules of the prison, they send you to Alcatraz."

Alcatraz and history go hand in hand. Once home to some of America's most notorious criminals, the federal penitentiary that operated here from 1934 to 1963 brought a dark mystique to the Rock. The presence of infamous inmates like Al "Scarface" Capone, and the "Birdman" Robert Stroud helped to establish the island's notoriety. To this day, Alcatraz is best known as one of the world's most legendary prisons.

After the tour we walked around Pier 39 and each got a bread bowl clam chowder soup.  Delicious.  San Francisco is so much fun with soooo so so much to do!  I wish we could have spent more time there, but there just aren't enough hours in a day.  I'm just glad we didn't get lost and found a place to park (reasonably priced).  Those have been my biggest worries since moving out here lol :)  It helps to have a GPS.  The parking is just sheer luck a lot of the time.

Johnny and I tried to get my mom hooked on watching the T.V. show Frasier, but she thought it was a bore and fell asleep like clock work every time we put it on haha.  It's an aquired taste I guess-- I used to think it terribly boring as well, but pressed forward watching because of Johnny's loyalty to it and then something clicked and now I truly adore that show-- it's so funny. 

I forgot about my camera the whole time!  My mom forgot hers too of course :)  I wanted to bring it to Alcatraz especially.  However,I am my mother's daughter and I'm much more of the live and experience with out worrying about holding things and capturing the moment with a camera type girl.  I seem to forget my camera half of the time when we do something fun, or I'll have it, but not take any pictures because I am too caught up in the fun to actually pull it out and take a stinkin' picture! If I ever have a buch of pictures of some event or party it's because someone else took them.  What a shame :( I need to work on that because I'm a firm believer in the saying, "a picture tells a thousand words."  Blast.  Anyway, I love my momma and we had a good time. 

Happy Birthday Johnny!

Yesterday was my sweet husband’s birthday. To celebrate his 28th birthday he and I went out to eat at Wing Stop for dinner, one of his very favorite places to eat. The first time I was introduced to Wing Stop I thought it was gross, but I'm growing to love those uber zesty/flavorful chicken wings.

We also had a birthday gathering last night with some friends. Johnny loves his birthday and his friends so it was fun to see him have such a great time. About 20 of our friends squeezed into our tiny apartment and enjoyed root beer floats, socializing and the famous McKeon family game "Who Sir Me Sir." We also played a few rounds of catch phrase--guys vs. girls. Girls won 2 out of 3 (Muwahahaa :)

We are so blessed to have lots of FUN friends here in San Jose. We do all sorts of things with them and we're as happy as clams. A few weeks ago for example, we went to this AWESOMEST trampoline jumping place with our friends Lucas and Lacie! It's a place with trampolines EVERYWHERE. You can jump off the trampoline walls and jump into a giant foam pit! There are also super intense dodge ball competitions that you play while jumping. It's very fun and competitive. Johnny and I were in heaven. I never knew I liked dodge ball so much. You play with a whole bunch of people you don't even know, and a guy that works there just divides us up on different sides and then blows a whistle. Johnny was always the last one left dominating everybody. I'm continually amazed at his athleticism. He is a SUCH a good athlete and people are sometimes surprised including me by the absolute force, precision and power that comes from this skinny man's body. He is truly amazing and I love him. I love him not only because he is an awesome athlete, but for other reasons too. Here are 10 (sorry, not 28) reasons, in no particular order, (in honor of his birthday--sorry, I went on a tangent about the trampoline place) we're glad Johnny was born:
1. His corky sense of humor

2. The great love and loyalty he has for his family and friends

3. His baby chick fluffy blonde hair :)

4. He is the best prayer giver ever

5. He's an incredible missionary and because of his example and efforts everyday several people want to find out more about The Church of Jesus Christ of LDS.

6. In the words of Hank off of Father of the Bride, "He is a genius of the mind." He is very, very, very smart and loves to learn. He also has a gift for explaining complex subjects with simplicity so others can easily understand. I love it.

7. He is a hard worker and loves a challenge. These qualities in particular have blessed our lives in many aspects.

8. His totally unique laugh.

9. He gives great advice. I've seen many people come to him for council and advice.

10. And finally, the love he has for Pink Bubble Gum Ice Cream. What a guy. Who the heck asks for pink bubble gum ice cream in place of a birthday cake? The one and only- John Timothy McKeon.

My name is Bob

This is my new hair cut.  I like it a lot, except that I can't wear it back in a ponytail when I'm too lazy (which is quite frequently) to style it.  I was just getting so dang bored of my long hair so this is a nice change.  Johnny says he misses my long hair, but thinks my new style is pretty cute.  He says that I look like a mom haha!  That's okay, I was going for a more mature look :)  I keep telling him to just wait--soon it's going to be a pixie cut like Hali Berry's.  He has forbidden me and I just laugh at him.  Seriously though, that's next on my list in the hair department-- boy hair short.  So excited ;)  What do you think? 

CTR: Choose The Right

Today at church we taught the CTR 6's.  We were asked to subsitute for another couple in our ward that was going to be out of town.  I told Johnny that this sister in our ward had asked me if we could cover for them and I said that we'd love to.  Johnny was so worried at first and kept telling me that he had never taught little kids before.  I still find his anxiety quite humerous because he and I have a million nieces and nephews that worship the ground he walks on!  Kids absolutley LOVE Johnny.  He is great with them and they just think he is the most fun and exciting guy on the planet. 

We went to "Sharing Time"  first-- it was awesome.  I really admire all of our primary teachers and leaders--  they do such a great job catching the kid's interest and getting them excited to participate.  One of the leaders is a sister that I visit teach and it was fun seeing her in action : )  We learned a song about Jesus visiting the Americas and blessing all the little children.  Then we played a puzzle game with questions about the message of the song.
 
Next, we went to our classrooms and Johnny and I taught the lesson: "I am a child of God." We had three boys and three girls in attendance.  We had a ball!  It made me wish that we'd be called to team teach in primary together. We sang, we played a game of tossing "Cosmo" the stuffed Cougar around and answering questions about the lesson, we drew pictures of things that helped us to know that our Heavenly Father and Savior love us and then shared them with the class.   All shared a story about a time that they had lost something and prayed for help to find it and then miracously found it!  We concluded with a quick round of head, shoulders, knees and toes and a closing prayer. They totally forgot about the bathroom/water break they always take half way through class. Success!! P.S. Johnny was an excellent teacher and the kids thought he was the coolest guy they'd ever met.


From the whole experience, we were all entertained, uplifted and edified.  Teaching and interacting with these little ones warmed my heart so much because I got the same feeling that I'd get when teaching investigators of the LDS church on my mission.  That wonderful feeling is the pure love of God and of Christ .  You can feel how pleased our Heavenly Father and Savior are with these young learners.  They are coming to know the very basic and beautiful truths of our Heavenly Father's plan for us and the happiness that comes from following the gospel of Jesus Christ. When asked a gospel question, their replies are simple and pure.  It is a blessing to be able to witness their sweet and humble prayers and  feel of their growing testimonies.

Oh, and on the subject of teaching--who LOVEs the new Gospel Principles manual?! I DO! So simple and clear, yet engaging and profound.  This dandy little book makes teaching and learning in Reliefe Society a joy.  Love it.

Christmas 2009

                                                 

Our apt. in San Jose and our first little tree :)

 Christmas was wonderful.  Johnny and I had about 1 1/2 weeks off of work for the holidays and we spent that time with our families.  We drove down the day before Christmas Eve and stayed until the 3rd of Jan.  It was so nice-- we loved loved loved it :)  I also flew to UT and went to my good friend Jody's wedding!  This is what happened in a nutshell:

 Our nephews and nieces were adorable as always and so fun : D

Johnny and I hope that our babies are just like Chubs.  Fat and Jolly.  He is the cutest, most easy going and happy baby we've ever seen.  And he's a cuddler :) Oh so cute!  Here he is modeling his new jogging suit.           

             
                 Santa Came to town!  Christmas Eve:

Shane and Santa are BFFs.  He wouldn't stop talking about Santa and what he was doing at the North Pole these days--it's so hilarious and cute.


                             We got new jammies

We opened presents

It was Golden

We had a delicious Christmas ham and turkey dinner, and then my brother took us all to see the Sherlock Holmes the movie.  We had a a great time!

AND, a couple days after Christmas we visited with SEAN, ERIN and RILEY Williams!!! We haven't seen them in a while and had never met Riley so that was happy.  Riley is a beautiful and chubby baby. I'm sad that I didn't take a picture :(

I made a very quick trip to UT to be with this cute couple on their wedding day.  Congrats to the new Mr. and  Mrs. Sitati!!  They are adorable.

While in UT, I got to see Larkie! This is the day before she had her baby boy! 

It was so fun to see her and her family for a night :)

I got back from UT and we did more of the same.  We ate good food, played lots of games, drank hot cocoa, lounged around and talked with fam and saw 2 more movies... good times. 

It was a great break and we miss you all!!!

Cheers to 2010!  Woohoo!