intro: Misty

hey everyone, I'm Misty and Katy invited me to be part of your great group! I know the McKinney's from when they lived out here in Modesto, Ca, we went to church together and it's been fun finding them again! 

A little about me: My husband Ryan and I have been married for 6 years, we met while we were at school in San Diego and we were married a short 7 months later. We lived in San Diego for 4 years and moved back up to Modesto right before we had our daughter. So now we have 2 kids, Dylen who is 3 and Max who is 18 months. My husband is a Paramedic and also in the National Guard and I work a couple mornings at my Dad's office and get to spend the rest of the time with my two cute kiddos. I love being a mom and I look forward to getting advice and great ideas from all of you! Thanks for inviting me Katy.

Heather "McKinney" Campbell

Well, to start off... I am Amber's little sister, Kirsten and Katy's cousin, and one of April's niece's. I have lived in California all my life and hope not to move to far from it. A little back ground about me: Turning 28 yrs old tomorrow, I've been married almost 7 months and I am 32 weeks pregnant. (yes... a honeymoon baby.... SURPRISE!) This is my second marriage and I have a 6 yr old daughter named Kami.

My husband's name is Jason and he is the answer to so many prayers. Right now I am working part time at a DDS office close by, I am an RDA and have been working in Dentistry off and on since high school, however I am hoping to join the ranks as a full time mommy once I deliver. If you want anymore info about the fam.. you can check us out at http://www.hjcampbell.blogspot.com/

Amber "McKinney" Beck

Howdy, I was instructed to intro myself so here it goes.




I am Katy's cousin. I grew up in Sacramento. I went to BYU and lived with Kirsten, Katy and Tara (sort of). I could tell some stories about those times, but I will save that for a different post. I will label it : "Remember the time when...." j/k

Any who, I'm not good with the telling about myself so I will make it easy.

Name: Amber
Married: yes How long: 7yrs Where: Oakland, Ca
Age: old
Residence: Lincoln, CA (Sac)
Education: BYU Degree:BS Marriage, Family and Human Development
Employment: temporarily retired (1yr) Former employment: Management sales (8ish yrs)
Children: yes, please Quantity: 2 (for now) Genders: male Age: 5 & 3 years
Activites: potty training Hobbies: landscape and entertaining Guilty pleasures: shoes, eyeshadow and swimwear Favorites: T.V.- "So you think you can dance", LOST and the Office Food-Mexican and BBQ Games- Rockband, Ticket to Ride and Settlers
Hopes: To survive more child births Dreams: Get my food storage complete
Pet peeves: movies where animals talk, when my child insists on wearing Halloween pjs 24/7/365 and Twilight (sorry). Favorite Quote: "It is what it is.."

That's it. Thanks (Katy) for the invite.


Weston (yes, he has red hair) Joshua (his father's clone)

Intro: Robyn

My name is Robyn and I've known the McKinneys from the time they moved next door in Modesto, when we were little girls and would spend summer nights playing games like horse, memory on the trampoline, radio theater, british bulldog, sardines, little orphan Annie, and try-to-hit-the-street-lamp-with-a-rubber-ball. Actually, come to think of it, we weren't all that little. And did we ever actually hit the street lamp, Kirsten? I seem to recall that we had to hit the lamp off a bounce, and the circumstances where we did manage to hit it weren't in accordance with the rules of the game. Ah, technicalities. We would also have acrobatic stand-offs with the drug-dealing Filipino neighbors across the street. Katy always dazzled them with her gymnastic skills and they would request (i.e. shouted from their lawn) for Katy to "do da flip!" which meant a roundoff back handspring (or several in a row, talented as she was). Good times.

I live now with my husband and our three daughters. I am a cellist and teach about ten students from my home. My husband is also a musician. We love going to the beach. I love to sew, read, bake bread, sing, watch movies, swim, and anything else that will give me an excuse to not do the dishes. It was nice of Katy to invite me to this blog and I've already enjoyed reading the posts from all you incredible supermommies.

Mical Henderson

So I was thinking today after I put my first post on here that I should probably introduce myself to you guys who don't know me. My name is Mical and I know Tara (Collin was my husbands trainer on their mission) and I have recently been getting to know Katy. Ollie and my little boy Caden are in the same class at school. So that is how I fit in here. We live in Las Vegas and have for the last 6 1/2 years. We have 4 kids. Madison is 6, Caden is 4, Callie is 2 and Cole is 6 months. My husband is a concrete GF for Marnell Corrao which is a commercial construction company here is Vegas. He is currently over at Caesars Palace as they are putting up a new tower. We love it here, but we have our home up for sale and think that Utah may be calling us back. Never thought I would want to go back, but I have learned to never say never. I am excited to be a part of this blog. Thanks for the invite Katy!

Julie Larson

Hi Everyone. My name is Julie Larson and new to this website. I'm not related to the Anderson/Mckinney Family but they are awesome! My husband Daniel and I have been married for 4 1/2 Years we have two children, Gwen and Asa and two bulldogs, Ida and Stella. Daniel and I are from the San Francisco Bay Area - Danville and San Ramon area. We are living in Provo, UT where my husband owns and runs a sign shop called Fastsigns. Gwen is 19 months and she has been the most stressful child. She has had many medical issues since she was born but hopefully there is an end in sight! She is just now learning to walk finally! The biggest thing I have learned from her is to have faith. Asa is 2 months. Yep they are 17 months apart. People think I'm crazy and lets face it I am! With all the drama I've had in the past this has been the most chaotic time in my life. Asa is now interacting more and smiling a ton. Our dogs are funny to say the least but I think Stella and April Mckinney were seperated at birth! My hobbies consist of dance, dance and more dance. That's the one thing I do well and not break any part of my body. Off the dance floor I'm a complete cluts! I'm excited for the blog site. I need to know that there are mothers out there just like me that want to run away from my kids sometimes and have crazy days like Kirsten had. Thanks for the invite Katy and I look forward to all of your entries.

Alysia Thomas

Hi gals! I don't have a cute picture of myself. This is the best that I can do. And if I'm being honest, this is what I look like most days. :) I like to think that one day that will change. I hope I'm not alone in my plight to have more than 5 minutes a day for a beauty routine.
But look.....when given the chance, I can clean up pretty well. This is me (with makeup) and my family. Joe D. and I have been married going on 8 years. Kenzi, (the one cheesin' it in the center) is our oldest at 6 years, then comes Will, who is 4 and ends with Sadie who turns 2 next week.
I am blessed to be able to stay at home with my kids and I am also a part-time student in the evenings. We live in sunny St. George, Utah, where my husband works for a logistics company. I met Katy in summer of '06 when we were living in Switzerland, but our husbands attended BYU together before that. I'm not sure how we didn't meet before we did, but I'm glad we finally did. Katy is the ultimate super mommy! I LOVE the idea of this blog. I hope I can contribute something useful and look forward to hearing what the rest of you have to say. I have a feeling this is going to be taking up some of my precious spare time. In fact, I should be doing homework right now. :) Can't wait to get to know you all!

Chelsea Hoopes

Hello all! I am Chelsea Hoopes and I am excited to get some advice and input from other moms, because heaven knows I need it.

Intro: Not related to Katy in anyway, but think the world of her and her family. I was born and raised in Provo and still live here now. I gradutated from BYU and met my husband there also. We have two kiddies-Jesse 3 and Faith 2 in March. I play house pretty much all day, everyday, but I also love to play outside, read, snow ski, play on the internet, ride motorcycles, go on vacation and have recently explored photography (glad to see others have too, so maybe I can learn some more). My husband is from the bay area, works in real estate and likes anything with wheels. The kids think he is a superstar and I pretty much do too. Jesse is a clone of his dad and is extremely passionate about anything with wheels, but monster trucks are his favorite. Faith loves to talk, tease her brother and crack jokes. She is very into being pretty, but won't let me her give any input or pull her hair out of her face.

Well this is us in a nutshell--more at chelseahoopes.blogspot.com. (if it's still blocked, email me chelseahoopes@mac.com and I will send an invite:) I am excited to join the group.

April McKinney

Hi Everyone! My name is April Louise Mansfield McKinney, and I am Katy and Kirsten's mom. Now you see where they get their gorgeous looks! I have 4 grown kids and 10 grandkids... and my greatest joy in life is being with ALL my babies! I am a licensed R.N. but I have not practiced in about 8 years. Right now I stay busy hanging out with my children and grandchildren as often as possible, working out, cooking, reading, and I just got a (very part-time) job at Ann Taylor! That's right girls... my discount is AWESOME! I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I love living in Utah. It will be hard to leave Provo, but we are planning to move back to California when my husband is released from his calling as bishop. Not that I'm counting or anything, but that should be in about 2 years, 2 months, and a few days.

Stephanie "Bald Baby Maker" McKinney

                                                          Me and my sweetie!!

Hi everyone!  I'm Stephanie and I'm married to Katy's other brother Aaron (I love all my in-laws by the way). Aaron and I have been married for almost...oh my gosh, I can't remember.  Let me think about this, hmmmmm????? O.K...... I just got off the phone with Aaron.  We've been married for almost 7 years, BUT we've actually been together for over 12 years.  Yes, we were high school sweethearts.  We started dating when I was just 16. He stole my heart!  I knew he was "the one" right away.  Enough about all that mushy stuff. On to my kids!  

I have a two daughters, Sevrie and Coral.  Sevrie will be four in March and Coral will be two in June. And yes, they're bald beauties! I wouldn't have it any other way.  O.K., yes I would:-) Sevrie is my tomboy in a princess dress and Coral is my baby in boots.  She has this pair of boots she wants to wear ALL the time. I love spending time with them: going on walks, going to the park, and reading them books. Both girls are very active so we are constantly going on adventures so they can release all their energy. 

In my free time (which doesn't really exist) I like to cook/bake and do arts and crafts. Though I like to scrapbook, sometimes it's just too intimidating. I have Sevrie's first year done, and have yet to start Corals.  Typical second child syndrome, huh? My husband is finishing his last year of law school.  HORRAY!!!!!!! He'll be done in May and I couldn't be happier.  He plans on practicing patent law, but I think he's yet to decide for sure.  He has been so busy with work and school so we look forward to his school end.  All-in-all, I'm happy to be a part of this blog. Thank you, Katy, for inviting me. I'm probably the only non-Mormon gal of our group. Don't be fooled though, I could easily be mistaken for a "Molly".

                                

                                                     My sweet princesses

A.K.P.B.

Hello Ladies,
Alyssa Kalissa Prestwich Barlow here. I grew up without a middle name and always wanted one... and somewhere along the line decided that I would make one up. Thus claiming "Kalissa" as my faux-middle name- no one knows why. Prestwich was my last name for 21 years and then I met Jared- the most wonderful guy in the UNIVERSE- just over 7 years ago and he said I could add Barlow to the list. A.K.P.B.
(I love this picture not because it is flattering, but because my son took it and cut off my head. How can you not love 5 year old photography?)


I have two children and and one on the inside kicking my ribs right now. Sam, 5, is a super son - well behaved in public, intuitive, smart, secretly wishes to be Spider/Superman simultaneously, idolizes his dad, and loves climbing rocks. Mia, 3, is a character... full of sugar and spice, angel and demon, and princess fever. She has such a quirky, sweet, and funny demeanor. I love my kids... they make me smile at least 8 times a day. I can't wait to meet the third in 10 weeks, a little boy who has no name yet but is already much loved.

I talked Jared into marrying me and I don't think he regrets it yet. He works in NYC and we live in Connecticut. We just moved here from Switzerland (where I met Katy) a few months ago. During our marriage we have lived in many places and made many friends... we claim Utah Valley, Seattle, Atlanta, San Fransisco, and Zurich as prior homes. Jared is a loving dad, husband, and investor. Sometimes it makes him tired.

Well, I am sure that's more than you wanted to know. Unfortunately, there's much much more from me in the future or if you can't get enough check out my home blog www.familiabarlow@blogspot.com

I can't wait for all your awesomeness to rub off on me. I am intrigued about this cookbook that a fellow poster was talking about concerning butter squash mac and cheese... I have a lot to learn.

Cheers.

KMO

I'm Kirsten, Katy's big sister. My birthday is next month and I'll be 28. I've been married to my sweetheart Dave for 7 years. We have three children, Corban who is in heaven, Kendall who is almost 4, and Gage who will be 1 next month. I'm a stay at home mama and love it. I'm a couch potato and proud of it- I like food, watching tv, reading, and taking care of my family. I'm one of those moms who is obsessed with their children and thinks that every tiny thing they do is adorable and a sign of genius. I'm trying to learn about photography, children's portraits especially, and would love to do that professionally some day. We have two little dogs who annoy me to no end.

Katy McKinney Anderson

I guess I'll start the introductions. I turned 26 last month and I am the youngest of 4 kids. I grew up mostly in Modesto, CA. I played soccer and volleyball since I was little (unfortunately, not so much anymore--I do miss it). I graduated from BYU with a degree in Business Management. I met Justin while at BYU and we have been married for almost 6 years. We have two wonderful kids--Ollie, 4 1/2 and Lily, 2 1/2. We just moved to Las Vegas and bought a pest control company. I love to do crafts and my latest projects have been making baby bows and cards. I also love to cook and try new recipes, especially sweets. I am trying to make photography a new hobby, but I need my dad to help me figure out my camera first. My two favorite foods are chocolate and peanut butter (although Justin says those don't count as real food), especially when they are combined. For more info, check our family blog http://jkandfamily.blogspot.com/
Okay, now let's hear about all of you.


Me and my cuties.