Elsie's 6th birthday coincided with a Union High School football game. She is such a good sport about celebrating at the game.



We brought party hats for all the girls that regularly attend the football games with us.


At half-time a couple of the Union cheerleaders brought "treat tubes" (like the ones they throw to the crowd) up to the birthday girl and her friends. It was a very sweet gesture!




Elsie chose to have her birthday cookie decorated with a pumpkin and a black cat. This is the image she chose to have reproduced on her cake.








After the football game, some of Elsie's friends from the game came over to watch her open gifts and share in her cookie and ice cream. It turned out to be a great 6th birthday for our youngest daughter!

September 16th will always be a special day in the life of Sam McKague because he GOT HIS BRACES OFF!!!! This is his self-portrait in the van on the way to his orthodonist.


Sam with a crystal clear smile!


Sam with Ryan Moses, his orthodontist. Thanks Dr. Moses!

I opened my blog this morning and my son, Ethan, said, "That is OLD!" I can't believe that my last entry was June 15th! I have not been too dilligent about updating. We have had a great summer so far. It feels like it is coming to a swift conclusion. We do still have one camping trip to look forward to before school starts. Today you will receive a number of entries to catch you up on our summer's activities. Enjoy!

Our ward teacher's quorum and priest's quorum joined together for their High Adventure at the Oregon Coast the week of August 3-7.


LaMar was able to jump from Scout Camp with Jarin to High Adventure with Sam. (What a party animal!)



One of the highlights of the week was a chartered deep-sea fishing excursion. Sam shows one of his catches here.




Sam got the "pleasure" of baiting one of the crab traps!

Jarin attended Scout Camp at Camp Merriwether on the Oregon Coast the week of August 3-7. He earned 5 merit badges and got part of one more done.


He came home dirty, tired and happy!



LaMar was able to spend a couple of days with the Scouts.

The last week of July Sage and Elsie participated in a Cheer Camp. These high school age girls put on this camp to earn money for their own cheer/dance camps. The girls did it last year and had a blast so we had to repeat. Their teachers are from left: Cassidy Rushing, Chandler Roberson, Kennedy Rushing (Sage and Elsie) and Kelci Clanton.


Sage demonstrating her "double hook".



Elsie cheering with the Wildcats.

One of the perks of being the bishop is having great adventures with the priests quorum. LaMar hiked to the top of Mt. St. Helens on July 17th. He reports that it was amazing to stand at the edge of the crater. It was an experience he will never forget!

This is LaMar and JR Zundel at the crater's edge. On LaMar's trip down the mountain he lost his camera. He was devastated. He spoke to a woman who had sent a group up the mountain and asked for her help. He also left contact information at a few points where he figured every climber would have to return to. A miracle occurred when a climber returning down the mountain said to the woman that LaMar had spoken to: "You'll never guess what I found!" Imagine his surprise when she said: "Is it a blue camera in a black bag?" The miracle continued when she ended up living here in Vancouver and was able to return the camera just a few days later. The pictures are priceless!

We celebrated our Nation's independence in Mink Creek, Idah at my parent's home. We enjoyed the festivities at the community ballpark and then topped the day off with a dip at the pond.

My sister, Carla, hosted us in American Fork for a couple of nights. Sunday, July 5th we were able to visit with the Ron and Kristiann Hampton family in American Fork. We have known the Hamptons since before our kids were ever born. Sam and Laura have been friends since the day Sam was born (Laura was 6 months old at the time!) They keep in touch via email and chat so it was fun for them to get together face-to-face. This is the whole group of kids, five of ours and five of theirs.

Monday, July 6th, we were blessed to attend the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House with Carla and her boys, Collin and Aidan. It was a very special treat!

Monday, July 6th, we visited the Kennecott Copper Mine. I have known it was west of Salt Lake for years but have never considered stopping by. It was fascinating to see their open-pit mining operation. This huge tire came off of one of their trucks!

Tuesday, July 7th, on our way back home to my parents in Idaho we stopped in Salt Lake at the Church History Museum. Having just recently participated in the Pioneer Trek, everything seemed a little closer to home.

The kids enjoyed giving "general conference talks" from this tabernacle pulpit replica.

We dropped by to visit my Grandma, Jessie Erickon, at the nursing home where she lives. She is amazing! She remembers all her great grandchildren and can even come up with most of their birth dates! That is pretty incredible at age 95!

We took a day and, accompanied by my mom and my sister Laural's family, went to Lava Hot Springs to swim. We had a blast! I even recognized one of my college roommates, Gina Grayston Knorr. She just happened to be down for the day from Utah County.

On our trip back to Vancouver, we stopped at Zoo Boise in Boise, ID. It was a great way to capitalize on our Oregon Zoo membership and take a fun break in the long drive home.

June 24-27th--LaMar, Sam, Jarin and I participated in our stake's Pioneer Trek. The three younger McKagues went to Idaho Falls with LaMar's parents. Those of us who participated in the trek had an awesome experience. Pictures LaMar took can be seen at this link http://picasaweb.google.com/lamarm1. There are two albums. One with kids from our ward and one of our trek "family".

This is the VIDEO from Sage and Ethan's baseball team - the Random People. Yeay, catchy team name, huh!

Slideshow from Ethan and Sage's baseball team, Random People, coached by LaMar.

This picture serves as the"before" picture for our house painting project.

LaMar did all the prep work--power washing, caulking, taping off the windows, etc. Then we hired Charles Buchanan from our ward to come over and spray the main body color (gray with a green tone) on Saturday, May 16th.


LaMar is painting the black trim and , later, he will paint a copper color in the eave and on the door for an accent. The McKague family is blessed to have such a handy guy around!

Sage and Ethan performed in their elementary school talent show on May 1st. They did great! Christy Dustin does such a fantastic job teaching them to play the piano.

This is the McKague family submission for our Harmony Ward "Lip Sync 'n' Lasagna" evening held March 27, 2009. We had a great time coming up with ideas, filming the pieces and LaMar used his editing skills fabulously. The other ward members submitted an amazing variety of videos and we had a memorable evening together. We came home with big smiles on our faces!!!

Last week LaMar came to me with a proposal for a Valentine's ski trip. I was a little apprehensive because I haven't been skiing for about 17 years. Last night, Friday, February 13th, we travelled with our friends Jon and Nicole Jackson and Scott and Elizabeth Watson to Mt. Hood Ski Bowl, according to the signs, "America's Largest Night Skiing Area". I had an awesome time! I think we all did! The skills (what little I had) came back to me right away. There were a lot of runs available that suited my skill level. It was very peaceful--in a reckless, speeding-down-a-mountain sort of way. Snow fell heavily from the skies for the first half of the night. We were so grateful to have borrowed goggles! After our dinner break, the falling snow ceased and we got in a few more great runs. By the end of the evening my legs were ready to give out! In a way those aching muscles are so rewarding! What a great Valentine memory!

I am so grateful for the "family" that I have through my membership in the Church. Wednesday night I was sitting in the foyer of the church, waiting for a meeting to begin. As I sat there, I saw members of the Harmony Ward (and a few I know from the Lacamas Creek Ward) entering the building for Mutual night. I was welcomed by teenagers and adults alike. I had a blast seeing so many of my "brothers" and "sisters". I felt such a strong sense of "family", brightening up my evening.

Yesterday we went sledding at Old Man's Pass up towards Mt. St. Helens. Following are some pictures from our super fun day.


LaMar likes this shot because I caught air. You have to love the grimace on my face!

Jarin

Ethan

Sage

LaMar--He knew Sam was shooting pictures so I think he gave the facial expression just for that!

Sam

Elsie

Sage was baptized on Sunday, January 18th. Sage was baptized by her dad. Her friend Alice Schmid was baptized by her dad, Grant.

Due to my lack of skills in french braiding, our friend (and my hair stylist) Callie Hill agreed to do her hair. It was perfect! It kept her long bangs out of her face and left her looking fantastic even after the baptism.

Last Monday, January 5th, was Sage's 8th birthday. She has been such a joy to have around lately. I hope it is a new phase that will last a very, very long time! She keeps commenting on all the new things this age brings to her. She will be baptized next Sunday, January 18th. She has her own copy of the scriptures. She has already attended one Activity Days. She is feeling quite mature!