McAlister Matters

  This is Paul. He turned 6 this week! Sarah made him a lemon cake with green frosting at his request and we had a party for him on Thursday night. The cousins came over for a party. Paul got a cool birthday hat at school. He wore it the whole day! Paul is a cool kindergartener! He's a really good reader and is learning to play the piano. He loves books on cars and bugs. He loves dinosaurs too. Paul is a good big brother to Penny and plays with her and she looks up to him. He is already taking inventory of the plants in our backyard. He loves to count things and keep track of things like days and hours and plants. He's good at building Legos. He's good at math too and memorizing things like scriptures. More pics    

  It was Spring break this last week and we took the kids once again to Moab to do some hiking. This time we braved the Delicate Arch hike with all the kids. They did great and we had a fun time doing it together. It was nice to hike without a kid carrier. The second day was a little more chilly with high winds. We went to Canyonlands National Park in the morning and did a few hikes with amazing canyon overlooks. It was fun to try something new and the kids liked it. The Double Arch is always fun to climb around underneath. The last day was windy too but the kids were troopers. Penny put the wind in 'time out' several times. We went to all the favorite spots including the Devil's garden. We only had a couple bathroom emergencies on the trip but no accidents this time or sickness in the car. :)   We hope everyone had a great Easter! Last Saturday the kids enjoyed the annual egg coloring and hunt party at the Musser's. We also celebrated Grandpa Musser's retirement to...

  Penny counted down the days for a whole week and finally turned 4 on Monday! She was excited to get a daily vitamin now like the other kids and play PBS kids on the computer. The cousins came over on Monday for a birthday party. Penny wanted a strawberry cake with orange frosting. For her birthday lunch we took her out to her favorite restaurant Penny Anne's Cafe in Bountiful. We enjoy the breakfast there. They have things like 'Penny Puffs' and 'Heavenly Hotcakes' that we love.  Penny is always fun to play with. She is the master of the game Zen Battle. Somehow she almost always wins. She still loves her llama stuffy who is a constant companion. Penny loves puzzles and can do 100 piece puzzles on her own. She is also very good at Dot-to-Dot and coloring. Penny is great at riding a bike and scooter. She has the cutest laugh. Penny has a funny sense of humor. Lately she likes to ask 'Remember that time when... something funny happened...'. She exclaims ...

We made the big road trip to California for Christmas this year and stayed until New Years. We opened Santa's presents the day before we left. The drive was good. We encountered some fog but only had one incident of vomiting. We enjoyed t-shirt weather in Turlock which was a nice change. We played some 90's dance music in the car and the kids loved the ' Everybody Dance Now ' song especially Penny 😆 We took the kids ice skating in Turlock. Heather and Stephanie came too. It was Penny's first time and she wanted to do it all by herself of course. She got the hang of it pretty fast. All the kids had a good time. It was so nice to be able to stay with Grandpa Bob and Mormor. We enjoyed crêpes, French toast and pancake breakfasts. The kids spent hours on the trampoline and time at local parks. I had to work for two of the days. We also got to spend time at Devon and Mimi's house. Granma Mimi got a new kitten! We went with Stephanie's family and aunt Emily to th...

  Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year! We are getting ready to head out to California for Christmas and New Years. Santa is coming early to our house today after the kids get out of school so it is an exciting day. Luckily we have connections to Santa to arrange this kind of thing! The kids got to even see Santa at the ward Christmas party. Juni made a special letter and bracelet for him. Do You Hear What I Hear 2023 Sarah and I finished another Christmas song this year. It's becoming a little tradition now. Hope you enjoy it! Some of our other jams are on our  music jams page . We enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving in Utah with Sarah's family. Congratulations to Dave and Brenda Musser on their senior mission call to Spain! We are excited for them. The kids have all had a dozen colds each since Halloween. Paul had a fun Christmas-Around-The-World kindergarten program yesterday. Hope everyone is well! Click for pics

  The kids had a fun Halloween this week. Penny was a little Elsa. Paul went as the transformer Bumble Bee. Juni was a Minecraft llama rider and Kahlan was Velma from Scoobie Doo. Paul still has his arm wrapped for his broken collar bone. There was a costume parade at the school and Paul's class had a program for the parents. We took the kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. It was a chilly night in the low 40's. Everyone was cold and ready for bed by the end. We exceeded our candy quota but we let the kids pick out their favorites for the next week. When we stopped by our neighbor Kayleigh's house she was super excited to see Kahlan as Velma and had us come inside to show us the Mystery Machine she had once made. So we had to get a photo. Click for Halloween Pics  

  Paul took a fall at school last week and broke his collar bone. It should heal up in a few weeks the doctors say. He's been a trooper and doing pretty good with it. It's a good thing he's all done with soccer now. Penny can now ride her bike like a champ. She isn't quite big enough to get on by herself. She says to just 'help me up and give me a push'. So that's what we do and off she goes. All the kids are doing good in school and are getting ready for Halloween. Sarah made 38 jars of grape jelly on Saturday. She's also been doing a lot of crochet lately and has made Christmas gifts for the whole family. The kids have been helping us de-stem the grapes. The juice is so good! Sarah and I recently went on a very enjoyable bike ride up City Creek Canyon. The Fall colors were amazing! I went on a overnight campout with the deacons recently also.  Click for more pics!