Sunday Boredom.

Today, my brother Garrison really needed some attention. We all get home from church at 11:30 and have the rest of the day to entertain ourselves. It's not uncommon to find everyone asleep in the most random of places. Today, as 3 of my brothers along with my parents took their Sunday naps, I was trapped with a bored 11 yr old. When he got tired of asking me to play hide and seek, he decided to entertain himself. I couldn't even focus my camera I was laughing so hard!
hahahahahah I still can't stop laughing. And if you can look at that 2nd one and not at least giggle, there is something wrong with you.

Anyways... I was bored today as well. So here are some pictures I took...

When Life Gives You Lemons......

Some of you may recall from THIS post of our recent adopting of Big Tom. Well it turns out Tom is just a worthless rooster that likes to start preparing for sunrise starting at about 2 am. (Or so I'm told... I sleep right through it!) Now what's a rooster without any chickens? As I said. Worthless. So last week, my family added 7 little chicks to our apparently new farm of a home. I took the responsibility of naming all of them, but we have all claimed one as our own.

(I promise we don't keep them in the house! Dad and Jake had just finished building that and we just got a picture really quick before they went back outside.)

First we have Big Marge (Dad's)
Ralph (Matt's)
Miss Peggy (Mom's)
Geezer (mine)
Ali (Jake's)
Jock (Keaton's)
And last but not least....
Lil B (Garrison's)
(sweet shot huh! haha Mia is dying to eat one...)

Unfortunately, this morning began in tears. Lil B had died during the night and little Garrison was devastated. (Here we go again) But he made it through the school day, and when he came home, he decided that when life gives you lemons....make lemonade! Or something of the sort...

Garrison and his cousin/best friend Joely got right to work. They began by squeezing a variety of citrus into a bowl (using a pasta strainer of course).

Next, they added a pinch of sugar....or two...
.....or fifty
Then after adding a little honey and some hose water...
Joely gave it a good stir with her hand... and they were set to go!
Should I warn the neighbors?
Whatever it takes.....
We'll miss you Lil B.

ALSO Fotos by Flint (and Kacey :D) just redid their entire website! Feel free to check it out! www.fotosbyflint.com

"The GIRLS are back!"

My sophomore year of high school was by far my favorite! All thanks to my 3 best friends, Kari Pett, Morgan Miller, and Chelsey Walbeck. Every day with these girls was so much fun! We spent countless hours making ourselves look retarded and cruising in our mom's vans. I made this collage sophomore year, and it's finally time for another one.After sophomore year, Kari and Chelsey moved away, and after graduation, we all went our separate ways. This weekend, for the first time in 4 years, the "turtles" were ALL together again! We all had so much fun! It was like nothing had changed, and we were back to sophomre year... thus we acted like we were indeed 16 years old. We met at pizza mart where it all began. We did nonsense at Walmart. Dressed up ridiculous. Went cosmic bowling. Went to Mi Amigos. Went to QT! Watched old videos. Got maybe 4 hours of sleep. Watched Anchorman. So many traditions. And of course took a million pictures. The weekend went by way too fast, but I'm so glad I got to be with my girls again.

Sneak Peak 4 AMY!

Young Simba... aka Baby Garrett!
And the Leglers!

Calling All Chefs

My missionary in Ecuador is requesting fast/easy recipes! So far I have.....

haha So... if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to email me at kaceyshaker@yahoo.com. Thanks!

Just your average Sunday....

I guess before I tell about our Sunday afternoon, I should introduce our main characters. First, we have Miss Zoey. She's not so tough with a diaper on.... hahaha all I can do is laugh at her, and I know she's embarrassed...
Then we have Mia Girl....

Mr. Burns... aka Petey.

And our newest addition... Big Tom.
Now Big Tom is not to be confused with Tommy....our previous chick. You see, in this great state of Arizona, we have something called Lehi Days. Lehi Days gives young lads the opportunity to chase a chicken. And if they catch it...they keep it. Nice. Well this weekend, Jake once again successfully rounded up a new pet for us. But let's go back to the first time. Jake was very young... I'll guess 1st grade. He caught his first baby chick. And he named it Tommy. He put Tommy in a box. Jake and Tommy were best friends. For a whole day. We were watching a neighbors dog, and when little Tommy hopped out of the box, the dog began to chase Tommy.... and.... ya. 6 years later... Jake has been able to move on and let another chicken into his life.

So little Jake and Big Tom are now getting to know each other. Jake has been working hard to make Big Tom "comfortable" so we will be blessed with an endless supply of eggs. (Hmm... it just dawned on me that Big Tom is indeed a lady Tom.) So Jake decides he will let Tom get accustomed to the yard. He's no dummy though. He had a well thought out plan. He tied up Mia to a sturdy pillar on the porch, pinned in Zoey, and let Tom be FREE. Moments later... As I was getting some sand paper out of the garage for my latest craft, I heard, "Oh. Oh no! Kacey!! KACEY!!! Oh my gosh!! MIA NOOOOOOO!! Kaaaaacey!" As I sprint out back, I find a Jake flailing his awkward junior high body around to and fro trying to use his brain for lack of muscles to save his new friend from the super excited German Shepard on the hunt! Feathers are flying and so am I! Right on top of Mia! Garrison, who was just seconds behind me suddenly has flashbacks from 6 years ago and covers his face with his hands and begins to cry. I now have Mia pinned to the ground and hook her to a nearby bike for any extra help I could get. Trying to calm Garrison down and direct Jake what to do, I snatch up a frisky chihuahua going in for the kill as my mom races for her camera.
Meanwhile, Petey is sleeping. He does that.
Jake finally recaptured Big Tom and made him a cozy home safe from all of our dogs.
So after I saved the day, I had a pretty big bruise on my shin. But other than that, things were pretty much just like any other Sunday...
Garrison made a fort/new hiding place for Petey.

And Keaton and Mia took a nap.

For another version of this story... click here!

I am a WOMAN!

Apparently, when one becomes of age, you receive your first hammer from Grandpa and Grandma McKinnon. I am officially a woman with her own pink hammer!

Now this isn't just ANY pink hammer. It's got your stainless steel head with a no slip grip sleek black handle. Not to mention the classiest pink you've ever seen. (I just made all of that up. But it sounds like I know what I'm talking about huh! haha) But it is very special because my grandparents gave it to me, and because it says "Hammer Out Breast Cancer" so I can remember my aunt Kristi Lee who was the most strong, independent woman I know. (Who I am sure had her own hammer!)

So my new hammer along with my first visit to this treasure chest....
The Hobby Lobby! has me more than ready to be crafty. I don't know how I've gone 20 years without this place, but stay tuned for future masterpieces!

A Happy Birf-day!

I had such a great birthday! Austin's mom the lovely Kay Hatch started it off Friday night with these beautiful flowers and a target gift card. (She knows me oh so well) I guess we will give Don some credit for "investigating" when my birthday was.
Then at midnight, I was on a happy birthday call from Kari Pett and Chelsey Walbeck when Keaton and his little friend came in with all kinds of birthday wishes and began taking pictures of my new 20 yr old self.
Keaton "Doesn't this one just scream 'I'm 20!?'" hahaha

Bright and early the next morning, I was greeted with plenty of birthday calls/texts... some I wasn't so awake for... sorry Grandma. haha I don't remember anything you said but I'm sure it was great.
Then my mom and G were super anxious for me to open my present from my mom. She truly outdid herself. She created a book of all mine and Austin's pictures. My own little fairytale! And on the back it says 'to be continued...' Get it? Because we are to be continued! haha I love it!

My mom also snatched all my mail this month so on my birthday I had letters from my friends on missions :D
My favorite letter of course... was actually an email from Elder Boyfriend. It was so fun to be able to hear from him on my birthday.
Miss Meagan Douglas took me out to breakfast at Crackers and Co! Once again we got asked if we were related or twins.
And they gave me the largest brownie known to mankind.


Then this little beauty Rachel Rashelle planned a whole dinner at BJ's for a bunch of friends.

My brothers are always VERY thoughtful on my birthday.
Matt got me a movie and a SINGING High School Musical Card. How did he know!?
Keaton added this lovely butterfly he made in his stained glass class to the flowers from Kay. I don't think I'm allowed to keep it though. haha
Jake gave me an autographed picture of himself. I'm the luckiest girl ever.
Little G made me this cake!

(No frosting? No problem. Garrison knows where we keep the food coloring!)

AND he made me the cutest little card that had 20 reasons why he's glad I'm his sister. It's much better with his handwriting and spelling.. but I'll give you the list.
1. You're fun
2. You're funny
3. You are smart and have good ideas.
4. cause
5. You help me when I need
6. You cheer me up
7. You love me
8 . Good photographer
9. Stays up with me when I'm scared
10. You play the wii with me and Jake
11. You're nice
12. You're active
13. is good at picking out boyfriends
14. You drive me where I need to do
15. You buy fun movies
(no 16...)
17. You make good dinner
18. Helps Dad feel better
19. Helps Mom when she's sick
20. I'm your favorite brother and I love you being in my family
I think my favorite reasons are 4 and 13. haha

It was such a fun day and thanks to everyone who had a part of it!