My History Trip

5/21/09- Our first stop was Kirtland Ohio. Lauren, Luke and I went to the Kirtland visitors' center. It is here that we realized that we forgot Luke's suitcase with all his clothes, diapers etc., it is also here that we got permission to buy him new clothes, diapers etc.., it was such a sacrifice (NOT!):).

We went into the visitors center and were quickly invited to go on the tour. The man told us that we would be done in time to take the Kirtland temple tour as well.

It was a great experience to see the history and feel the spirit of all that had transpired there. I took lots of pictures, but won't be able to fit all of them so here are just a few of my favorites.









Later we were able to get a tour of the Kirtland temple. It was quite an experience seeing the temple where such great church events happened and the grounds were just beautiful. It was also fun to have Lauren's father-in-law Dennis join us and help with Luke while we toured.

Read more...

" How Lucky Am I ?"

I got really lucky a month or two ago and was able to find a cheap ticket online to go visit my little sis and my adorable nephew...oh and Andrew. :) (just teasing Andrew). I was so excited to see them and be able to spoil my nephew. My sister emailed me and told me she thought it would be fun to see some church history sites while we were there. I agreed since I had never seen Kirtland or Palmyra.

I arrived on Wednesday night. By the time I arrived there, Luke was already sleeping. I had to wait till morning to start hugging and playing with him.

I got my chance Thursday morning and let me just say, Luke is just so sweet and fun and adorable to no end.






I think we bonded pretty quickly.

Read more...

Duct Tape Fixes Everything

You will have to forgive me for the flood of updates that I will be doing! I have lots, so you're in for some fun reading!!!

A few weeks ago my sister Carol and I and her kids made a trip back to our hometown of San Jose, California. I was really nervous about driving my car. You see it is on it's last leg. The brakes aren't too good, the shocks are pretty much gone and my windshield seal is separating from around the edges causing air to seep in. I knew that we needed to be there and so I said a prayer that all would work out. I even prayed with Trestyn, Dakota and Jaxson the next day just to be safe.

So off we went and my car was doing fine till right before Lovelock. I could hear air seeping in getting louder and was in fear the windshield would come flying off. We stopped to get something to eat and my sister asked me what was wrong with my windshield. I looked and the rubber seal was coming off. I pressed it down and hoped it would hold on, but about 10 minutes after we started driving again, it was coming undone and I had to stop to put it back. I called my sister and asked her to stop in the next town that had a auto shop or repair place so we could see about fixing it.

So as we are driving along, I am thinking how much is this going to cost and how long will it take? I was worried that it would delay us, when all of a sudden a thought popped into my head! "Duct Tape!" "Duct Tape Fixes Everything!!" I got this clear vision of just sealing my window with duct tape! Memories of my dad using it to fix broken appliances, as a quick fix for broken toys, to wrap up a broken bone...o.k. that last one is not necessarily right, but he really did use it for lots of things!

I called my sister to tell her the news! We decided to just pull off at the next town (which was Lovelock) and find a store with the tape. We took the exit and within a couple of right turns we found an ACE hardware store!!! I mean how cool is that! I parked my car and hurried in the store and asked for a heavy glue and the ever wonderful super DUCT tape. I bought it and ran out and ripped over the package of glue and sealed the rubber down and then cover both sides of my windshield with the duct tape. After finishing I looked at my sister and said "Dad would be proud!"

We were on our way again and never had a problem after that. I made it to California and back with windshield intact!

I told Trestyn that Heavenly Father was listening to our prayers and provided a way for us to get where we were going and it was in the form a amazing, silver colored tape.

Read more...

"A Night to Remember"

I tell you, kids grow up so fast! Last Saturday, my sister called and asked if I could help take my nephew Alek and his girlfriend Heather and their friends to dinner before their prom. I of course said "YES!" I had a blast chauffering the kids to the resturant and giving last minute dating tips to the guys(open doors, chew gum etc). The best part of the evening was seeing Alek and Heather together, all dressed up, walking towards the car! FUN! FUN! FUN! I do love the perks of being an Auntie! :)

Read more...

A Day with Family

I have a lot of cousins on my dad's side of the family and growing up my family didn't see them very much, so it has been fun to be able to catch up with them while living in Utah. We even went as far as to get us all on facebook, so we can get together more than once a year! The coolest thing about getting together is that we just laugh and laugh because, well, we are McCanns' and we're just pretty flippin funny!!! :) This is just a few of the cousins and aunts that got together for Mom's and Carols' birthdays!

Read more...

Yup, that's Ryland for you!

My nephew Ryland is pretty hilarious (it runs in the family!) I called him on Sunday to wish him a Happy Birthday and this is how the conversation went.


Auntie Erin "Happy 7th Birthday Ryland!"
Ryland "Thanks"
Auntie Erin "Did you have a party?"
Ryland "Yeah, my friends were there, some couldn't make it though"
Auntie Erin "So what did you get?"
Ryland "I go GI Joe action figures!...I got lots and lots of presents!"
Auntie Erin " What else did you do?"
Ryland "So I have just been playing with my toys and my back and neck are really sore, and I have this pain in my neck and so do you want to talk to Brayden?"
Auntie Erin "Uh...o.k."

Some of us are phone talkers, some aren't! Love you Ry!

Read more...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POOKY!

So since this is my blog and it's my little sister Lauren's birthday today, I get to spend a few minutes and share with you all, why I love her to death!!!!

I can't begin to tell you how excited we all were when Lauren was born, I mean the girls finally dominated the family now and would for the rest of their lives!! :) j.k. sort of.

I was so excited to have a baby sister. I loved it when she woke up in the morning with her cute smile! I loved getting her dressed, I wished at times that they had made bigger girl dresses so her and I could match...(yeah, they do that now). I loved bouncing her to sleep. We would put a pillow on our knees and she would be on her stomach and we would just bounce or rock her until she sleeping (they don't encourage people to do that anymore!)

As she got older, my mom put her in the same room with me. I think then that I made myself her second mom...she has 3 sisters so we all had our chance. But Lauren was my buddy and I loved dressing her up and doing her hair, she was like my little doll! She was soooo cute and even though I did get out of hand every once in awhile and her lovely red locks did at times be in the style of a beauty queen's hair in the 80's, we both loved it, it was our time to spend together, at least for me, it gave me the chance to dote on her!

I was very protective of her and I can remember the time I chewed her best friend out because she was making Lauren feel bad...course her friend was only 5 at the time, but it didn't matter, you don't mess with my Pooky. I even punched my brother Greg in the face because he was teasing her(and I'm not a violent person!) There was the time she got bite by the neighbor's dog and I got to lay by her on my mom's bed and hold her hand and try to make her laugh so she would forget how much her bite hurt.

Lauren and I shared a room till I think my senior year! I potty trained her, I found her first chicken pox! (it was on her back.)

When I would be watching t.v. Lauren would just come up around me and give me a big hug and then we would both look in my parents mirror and say how cute we were!! lol!

It was hard to move away and not be around her all the time and be a part of her teenage years! We shared a lot. I remember when our cat died. I called Lauren and we cried together over the phone. We were the only two that really understood how much we both loved that cat!

I look at Lauren today and she is the most amazing individual! Such a sweet and loving wife and mother and overall, wonderful human being! I wish I could take credit for how she turned out, but I think Lauren is just a special soul and Heavenly Father knew our family needed her and he knew he could trust that we would all give her our love unconditionally! I feel so lucky to call her my sister and am so proud of all her accomplishments. I joke that she is made up of all the good parts of her parents and brothers and sisters, so that almost makes her perfect!! he he. So Happy Birthday Pooky! I love you always! your sis. Erin

The picture above is my dad's and my favorite of Lauren, because it just seems to capture all her goodness, sweetness and of course cuteness!

Read more...

Her Name is Malia Loo (and she takes after her auntie Erin :) )

I truly believe that everyone is born with some kind of talent and since this is my blog, I can brag that my family has lots of talent!! The following is cute little Malia showing us one of the reasons she is meant to be in our family!!! It is sideways, sorry I couldn't figure out how to fix it.

Read more...