McKenzie

Italy, Croatia, and Greece 2009!

2009-06-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

So in May/June of 2009 I got the opportunity to go to Italy, Croatia, and Greece and spend 23 days in really amazing places! I visited Rome, the Amalphi Coast/Sorrento, Florence, Pisa, Assisi, Ravena, Milan and Venice in Italy. I went to Split, Croatia. In Greece I went to Corfu, Athens, Mykonos, and Olympia. I had the most amazing experiences sight seeing! The first week we had a rental car, the second week we went on cruise, and the third week we rode the Eurorail train. We had the overall transportation experience. In Milan and Florence, Italy we got the privledge of staying with LDS Italian families, we stayed in hostels, hotels, and the cruise ship. I met a lot of fun people on the cruise from all over the world! It was fun trying to communicate with people in so many different languages. The first day of our trip we were in Rome we left our car in daylight and came back to the car in daylight and our car had the side window smashed out and all of our luggage was gone! So that made for a traveling trial! We lost so much; however, we got through it and bought the essentials to get by the next 22 days. We could of let that ruin our trip but it didn't! Ya we lost cell phones, an ipod, every piece of clothing we liked, shoes, make-up, etc. but we moved on and had a great time in Europe. It was hard to narrow down the pictures because I took so many! Below are some pics from every place we visited in order! I'm so happy that I got to go on this trip! It was amazing! First pictures are from Rome.

Amalphi Coast/Sorrento, Italy

Florence, Italy

Pisa, Italy

Assisi, Italy

The Cruise Ship

Split, Croatia

Corfu, Greece

Athens, Greece

Mykonos, Greece

Olympia, Greece

Venice, Italy

Milan, Italy

Biggest Loser Finale!

2009-06-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

I was invited to go to the Biggest Loser Finale on May 12, 2009 in California. I had a great time. I got to go to my first live television shooting and see Dane and Blaine show off their hard work through their awesome weight loss! After the show I got to go to the after party and meet all of the season 7 contestants as well as past people that were on the show. I also got to meet Bob which was really fun! I got to go with my parents, Carli, Cotter, Quinci, and Cruz. The next day we got to tour the ranch and then went and played at the beach! I got to see so many places of the ranch but my favorite was the 24 hour fitness gym! I loved it. Below are just a few pictures from the trip! I'm so happy Dane and Blaine were on the show! It was a great time for them and our family. Good job guys!

Spring Break

2009-03-30T15:47:00.001-07:00

March 16-22 I got to take a wonderful spring break to California starting with 3 days at Disneyland with Courtney then going to San Diego to go on a cruise with my Aunt Jan, Mom, Dad, and Courtney. It was just the break I needed! I had a lot of fun at Disneyland of course....and the cruise was sunny, warm, relaxing, and of course had amazing food! The cruise went to Ensenada, Mexico. Court and I had a lot of fun in the car. It was just the two of us for the first three days at Dland and driving to Cali, around Cali, and home from Cali. Below are some pictures of my break!

Portugal here Elder Cotter comes!

2009-02-18T14:18:00.000-08:00

Benson left today 02/18/2009 to the MTC in Provo, Utah. He will be there until the middle of April and then leave to the Porto Portugal Mission. I'm really really really gonna miss him; however, I know he is where he needs to be and I'm exctied for this experience he is going to have! These are some pictures from activites the week before he left. Elder Cotter will be a great missionary!

New Years Get Away!

2009-01-07T21:36:00.001-08:00

Well New Years weekend was a must for my family to go out of town because Casey was headed back to Boston a couple days after, Benson leaves on his mission in about a month, the Jude and I all started full time teaching this last Monday, Court was starting school again and my dad can always use a break from work. So my family went out of town to spend time with each other. We of course did the Disneyland trip..why not? There was still Christmas up, the firework show is amazing, and we got a nice time share over there that was way relaxing. We left Disneyland the second day, went home, and watched The Office for like 5 hours...we stopped to go swimming...then back to the office. I love going out of town; especially with my family! They are so fun. Yes the horse named Brownie or Bronson came along to. My dad thinks he is hilarious (which he is) and he brought the horse along for the trip. Brownie/Bronson had his own seat at the Aladdin show. Here are some pictures from the trip!

2008-12-30T09:36:00.000-08:00

Biggest Loser starts January 6th! Here is a little profile preview of Blaine Cotter (cousin) and Dane Patterson (Brother in Law)! http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/video/clips/dane-and-blaine/904105/

Christmas 2008!

2008-12-26T10:40:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2008! Christmas came upon us so fast this year! Our family has so many traditions and the family and traditions keep growing each year. We have our Christmas Eve dinner and program with all the extended family at my grandma's house each year. The Christmas Eve extends to my parents house where we do sibling gifts, garage sale gifts (my dad does funny garage sale gifts; we love this tradition), and get our matching pajamas (this year the grrr cheetah Pj's were so funny and so comfortable!) The pictures below show some of the pajamas..I could not show the guys matching PJ's cause my brother in law Dane cannot be in any of the pictures because of his involvment in the TV show Biggest Loser that starts on January 6. I was bummed because I think the boys pj's this year were classic. Christmas morning we do presents and our big brunch which includes some breakfast items that we only eat on Christmas Morning. After brunch we relax and then do Christmas with my grandma and aunt jan and eat left overs from Christmas Eve at their house in the evening. I wrote in brief some of our traditions; however, you can see the fun that we have as you look at the pictures below. I love my family. Christmas time is about the birth of Jesus Christ and his life and love for all of us, service, family, and joy. I love my neices and nephews and how much energy and love they bring into my family. This year was even more special because the next two years we all won't be together because Benson will be on his mission in Portugal. I love this time of year! Merry Christmas!

I Pledge Alligance!

2008-12-23T10:40:00.000-08:00

I love this video. A true American!

Disneyland!!

2008-12-19T11:23:00.000-08:00

Benson Text: Lets do something fun
Kenzie Text: Play ticket to ride?
Benson Text: No try again
Kenzie Text: Go to red box and get a movie?
Benson Text: Getting closer, try again.
Kenzie Text: You wanna drive to disneyland?
Benson Text: Bingo
So we got in the car and went. We went in the cold rain Wednesday which was okay because there was nobody there. We walked on every ride. Thursday was really cold but sunny so it was a good winter day to be at Disneyland. I'm glad we went; we laughed a lot! If you lay the seats down in my Scion and scoot the front seats all the way forward you can make a queen size bed in the back of my car. Don't worry...we were bums and lived in the car. We parked in the Ihop parking lot slept there and then ate at Ihop Thursday morning. We actually slept pretty well. I was tucked in so tight in my blankets I couldn't budge. Before we went to sleep we went to a hotel where my dad owns a time share and went swimming and sat in the hot tub. We wanted to go real cheap and we did. With our Disneyland passes, sleeping in the car, gas only cost me $59 round trip we did really good. I love random trips like this. It just happened that both of us could go these days, so we did. Now it's back to work so I can get some appraisal jobs out by Christmas! We will be going back to Disneyland in a couple weeks with my family; however, this trip was probably the last Benson/Kenzie random trip hooray before his mission. It was well needed; we had a really fun time!

2008-12-10T19:26:00.000-08:00

In Boston we were at the park and this man Robert approached us and wanted to catch a pigeon for us. This is what Robert did to catch the poor bird. He crumbled cookies real slow all the way to the ground than snatched the bird. When I said to him "man that's a talent" he looked back at me and said "it's not a talent, it's love". I love this video.

2008-12-09T14:02:00.000-08:00

This last week I had the opportunity to go back to Boston and New York to celebrate the Christmas season with Casey, Benson, and Becky. I had so much fun wearing all the winter clothes, looking at Christmas lights, freezing my rear off, seeing the first snow fall in Boston, visiting all my favorite Christmas sights in NY (rockefellar center, central park, the statue of liberty, 5th avenue shopping and looking at Christmas displays, China town, etc.), iceskating in the park at Frog Pond, listing and singing Christmas music as I walked around the city, watching Benson turn purple as he ran around with no shirt on at the park in the snow, drinking hot chocolate, playing cards, hanging out with homeless people for at least 30 mintues in the park, listening to street musicians, etc. I had an amazing time. I really felt like it is Christmas time! It was a perfect trip :) Below are scattered pictures from the trip.

Sea World

2008-11-21T09:58:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Carli and I were talking about how she needed to go on vacation with her kids. Four days later I had substitutes for my classes and practices and we were on our way to Sea World! The kids were so much fun! I had many laughing moments because of some of the things the kids did and said. For example, Cotter was playing with my volleyball and it accidently went over the hill rolling down towards the ocean and so I ran after it and when I was walking down the big rocks to get the volleyball Qunci ran up and with her hands by her cheeks said "Careful honey, Careful honey!" She was so concerned. Another Qunici quote was when Carli and I sat down to eat lunch and let the kids play she ran up to me as I was about to eat and said "Kenzie food yucky come on!" as she was pulling my hand so of course I left my food and went and played with her on the play ground. Cotter said some really funny things as we were leaving at 5:00 am and I thought he was asleep in the back seat. I was putting Cruz in his seat and Cotter said with his eyes shut "Tenzie I'm so told" (Kenzie I'm so cold) so I gave him a blanket and he went back to sleep. I got in the driver seat and waited a second to get my seat belt on and get situated and from the boy in the back seat that I thought was asleep said "Tenzie Do" (Kenzie Go). Carli and were laughing so hard at these kids. They are so fun, entertaining, and sweet! Cruz was the best baby to travel with. He is such a happy baby! Sea World was so fun we went to a lot of shows, sat in the soak zone at a couple shows with ponchos, fed seals, played with Sesame Street characters, played in the play ground, went on some rides! It was a good break!

Portugal Porto Mission!

2008-11-15T17:13:00.000-08:00

Elder Cotter is going to be serving in the Portugal Porto Mission! I'm excited that he gets to learn the Portuguese language! He will report to the MTC on Wednesday Feb. 18, 2009. I'm so excited for him; I know he will be a great missionary. Congrats Bens!

2008-11-08T10:03:00.000-08:00

Tatum got Married Friday November 7! I'm so happy for her and Chase. I love receptions because it means all the friends can get together. I love my friends! I'm so blessed to have friends like I do. Congrats Tatum and Chase! I love you guys :)

Halloween 2008!

2008-11-04T11:49:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2008! Halloween was a lot of fun with the kids. Cotter was a dinasaur of course; Gage was Buzz Light Year; Qunici was tinkerbell; Elsie was a princess; Cruz was a monkey; and Callie was a mermaid. I was wonder woman and Benson was Batman.

A family on our street dressed up so cute. The mom was sleeping beauty, the girls were the three fairies, and the dad (who is not in the picture) was prince charming. Their costumes were so amazing that even Cotter, Gage, Elsie, Wrigley, and Qunici sat and stared at them!

Happy Birthday Week Elsie!

2008-10-27T09:39:00.001-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Elsie Cotter! I went to Elsie's birthday party last night. She opened this fairy costume and danced around in it all night. I love Elsie because she is so fun, can body slam, has the cutest laugh, loves her sister Callie and brother Gage, eats as much food as an adult (or more), her smile is amazing, she is so beautiful, etc....... Elsie makes me happy! I love her :) Happy Birthday!!

Dinner with the Girls!

2008-10-18T11:46:00.000-07:00

I love my friends! Sheree was in town so we went to California Pizza Kitchen. I have so much fun when my friends get together. Courtney, Tatum, me, Sheree, Krystle (who recently got home from her mission) and Staci went. Good times.

Planet Orange!

2008-10-09T22:05:00.001-07:00

So it begins! I have been looking forward to this Suns season for a very very long time. The off season felt like a whole year. The Diamondbacks ended in a disapointing way and I have now looked forward to the Suns! I got to go to the first official preseason game at US Airways Center on Wednesday October 8, 2008. I had a great time! I believe this team can do something special and we have to this season for Hill, Shaq (5th ring), and especially Nash! (and the fans of course; we deserve it) I'm excited for the first official game on October 29, 2008. I have my new good luck charm (superstition item) below in a couple pictures. I purchased my suns shoes that I hope to become my lucky suns shoes! I'm so excited for this season! If you know me you know that my favorite thing is watching a suns game with my family, during Christmas time with the tree up and lights on, the weather being chilly, with pillows to throw at the refs (on the projector wall) when they make a bad call. It is all coming!!! :) GO SUNS!

Bridal Shower for Tatum!

2008-10-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

Staci and I threw a bridal shower for Tatum on Friday October 3rd. We had a lot of laughing, chatting, and games! Thanks to everyone that came. I had a lot of fun...I haven't laughed like that in a long long time. Congrats to Tatum!! The big day is coming soon! I'm so happy for her and Chase!

I love boston!

2008-10-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

So this last weekend I went to Boston to visit Casey and tour the great city of Boston! I got a taste of the end of summer and the beginning of fall and it was beautiful!

Stalker Horse!

2008-09-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

This horse is following me everywhere! So the other day I was talking to my sister and I look behind her and the horse was looking at me through a plant. The next day It was on a shelf looking at me as I read the paper. Finally, yesterday I went to the fridge, opened it, and the horse was looking at me by the lunch meat I was getting to make myself a sandwich. Benson I know has something to do with it, however, my dad thinks it's pretty funny as well. So this is the horse on my dad's desk, on top of his monitor, with a note saying "neeeee!!! Well Hello Ben neeeee!!" I hope he likes it! This horse is amazing! Benson tells me that he thinks toy story is real now because he marvels at how this creature gets from place to place. To this day he says he has nothing to do with it! haha

The Artistic Cotter Patterson

2008-09-22T22:04:00.000-07:00

Cotter came to visit me at work today and he drew some pictures for me! This one below is of Kenzie on the far left than, Carli (mom), Papa (Grandpa), Juju (grandma), and than he didn't think it was complete until he added himself on the end. His ears are bigger than his head! haha. I have giant hands and scary teeth! I love his creative side...he certainly has it.

The artist himself!

He never leaves a drawing session with out drawing a T-REX! He is obsessed with every kind of dinosaur right now. I love how fun and creative he is!

Webster Family Reunion

2008-09-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

The Webster Family Reunion September 12-14, 2008. This last weekend the Webster Clan had our reunion at a bed and breakfast in Lakeside Arizona. We had a blast with fishing, playing many games, volleyball, croquet, eating, bike riding, conoeing, watching old family videos, church, sleeping under the stars until bats were spotted above my head (then I went inside), playing with the neices and nephews, Quinci's 3rd birthday, and just hanging with the family. My favorite story....Benson and I were conoeing and we went back to the dock and Benson got out first and thought it was funny to rock the conoe that I was in to try to get me to fall in; however, he lost his balance trying to push me and fell in himself (fully clothed, head all the way under) I laughed so hard. He totally deserved it! The reunion was a lot of fun! I love my family!Cotter fishing...all we caught were weeds but he thought it was cool. Everytime we reeled in and had weeds on the hook he would say "hey kenzie weeds". Cotter learned to cast, reel in, and that the fish that day were not hungry.
Qunici fishing with Uncle Benson
Cotter and Uncle Benson5 hours of fishing and I caught nothing! However, I had a lot of fun not catching anything!
Carli, Kember, Elsie, and Quinci came to see us on the fishing boat.

Benson didn't catch anything either.

Gage was a professional fisherman with his own pole. Look at him here just chillin, sitting on a rock, and fishing in the great outdoors.

Benson got bit by a dog; I had to show this.

Quinci loved that she had her special day! She walked around all day saying "birthday me!"

Cotter is trying to act like the bear in the picture below....he did pretty good!Cotter and Gage are the funniest little boys! These pictures show how fun they are! I love them :)I love Baby Cruz!

The spontaneous weekend!

2008-09-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

Labor Day weekend...So late friday night at was at my house and my mom, benson, court, and I decided to go to California last minute. We packed and left at 4am on Saturday. We arrived around 10 am and went to the orange county swap meet. Through out the weekend we got to the Knotts Berry farm restaurant and theme park, church, the beach, and Disneyland before making it home monday night right before midnight. I love that some people would plan a trip like this for weeks and we planned it in literally 5 minutes. We went cheap...gas, food, and a discounted $25 ticket to knotts is what we payed for. Other than that we stayed with our awesome cousins, had our disneyland passes, and ate cheap. It was a great weekend!

This video is from Knotts Berry Farm on my favorite ride there....Supreme Scream!

He had no choice once he was buried.......I have to say that is a pretty good looking mermaid...This is my favorite picture of Benson. We literally played with these sand toys for a long time. We were either boogie boarding, playing volleyball, or playing with these beach toys. His ankles make me laugh so hard.

Disneyland makes me so happy! Every time I go I love it. I have a new obsession with their new ride Toy Story Mania. It is probably in my favorite ride tied with Soarin over California in California adventure. Go to California Adventure!...you need to experience this great attraction!

Oh how I love monsoon season!!

2008-08-29T11:21:00.000-07:00

So Last night was the coolest monsoon storm I have watched all season! There was a ton of rain, the lightning was nonstop, and the thunder rolled and rolled continuously. This video shows from my backyard what I saw with the lights on and the lights off. The storm went forever! Oh how I love monsoon season!!

Crazy crazy Bee's!

2008-08-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

Bee's aren't fun! So I had an issue with a few bee's getting into the house every once in a while. I thought it wasn't a big deal...I was wrong. More and more bee's kept coming so I had 3 different companies working on my bee problem. Two companies killed the colony...yes a colony...tons of bees were in the walls of my house (creepy). The next company came in and scooped the honey and bee's in the walls out. There was 30-40 lbs of honey removed!! Honey was coming through the interior walls and out the bottom of the house (pictures showed). My brother and I actually tried the honey coming on the interior wall (just a little taste cause we were curious); it is really sweet. The other pictures are of the actual hive and honey. I had no idea it was this intense. Luckily it's all over with. The bees and honey are gone, the holes are sealed up so no future bees can get in, and there is a chemical now in my wall so bees will stay away! Not only was this annoying it was really expensive! I finally got the email this week saying that my builder is going to pay for everything! It's a new home and I bought it only 1 year prior so the bees most likely were there before I bought it. I learned a lot through this whole experience. Bee's are aggressive!

Boston here she comes!

2008-08-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

Case is officially moving to Boston today! I'm excited for her and I'm thrilled that I can go visit Boston and have a tour guide and a place to stay! Travel safe, have fun, still cheer for local teams (suns, dbacks) first; then Boston teams if necessary, meet cool people, nanny away, substitute away, and get to know the city so when I come you can show me around :) Adventure Away! I'm gonna miss playing and beating you in ticket to ride; play over there so you can attempt to beat me when you get back for Christmas. Have fun! love ya

Tribute to Chico

2008-08-12T21:55:00.000-07:00

Chico (Cheeks) is the dog I have known most of my life. I remember Christmas day when my family was playing a game called boola boola (where you look for a present) and I found Chico in the back of the family car. He was so excited to have a new family. Ever since then we have loved Chico. Unfortunately today August 12, 2008 Chico had to be put down because he can't see, hear, or walk so we thought it was time. He was fine for a while but when he started to whimper when he attempted to walk recently we new it was time. The only thing he really still understood is "Chico want a treat" but you had to scream it and put the treat in front of his nose in order for him to understand. You can see in the eye balls of the second picture that Chico is blind. My brothers have joked for a long time that when Chico died they were going to bbq him and then eat him. It's not gonna happen now you sickos! Chico rest in peace. I love you Cheeks!

Groovy Grandma

2008-08-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

GrOoVy SeEtA!

So for family home evening my family went to my grandmas house to move some furniture and it turned into a dance party with my grandma. Here is some classic footage of Seeta my groovy grandma who can still dance and get her groove on. I love my family...so funny.

The second video is other classic footage in the Clegg family reunion parade. Grandma always wears this costume and plays her accordian in the parade. This parade doesn't make sense but always gives us a good laugh.

Happy Birthday Carli!

2008-08-11T12:34:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Carli! Casey made an amazing coconut cake that I had to display. Cotter is pointing at the cake and making an amazing face in the bottom picture!

To Infinity and Beyond!

2008-08-11T12:25:00.000-07:00

When I went to Utah one of my trips I went to my favorite store (Disney Store) and saw that they were having a very good sale so I brought back all the babies a prize. Cotter and Gage are modeling their buzz light year tshirts, sunglasses, and flipflops. They are sooooooo studly.

My first official post

2008-08-03T22:00:00.000-07:00

I have started a blog! Many people thought this would never happen...but here it is! My first official post is of my summer. I graduated in the spring so I wanted to play this summer so I did! Here are some of my adventures from Utah three times to Disneyland and the beach to Wyoming to Las Vegas....
I love love love Disneyland! It really is magical so I spent 6 days at the Magic Kingdom with my family and of course loved every moment of it. I know Disneyland and California Adventure like my own home. The third picture down explains my childish love for Disneyland.

I went to wyoming with my family for a reunion and here is my brother and I dressed up for the parade. The thing about our family parade is that it doesn't make sense...people just dress up with whatever they find. This picture is an example; I have a basketball mask with butterfly wings with a shirt that says red hot lover...its so random.

So we were driving from Wyoming to Midway and I saw Bear Lake so I stopped, put my swim suit on, jumped in, and started swimming...it was so pretty! My little brother and sister saw how much fun I was having and finally joined me.

A lot of people hate the drive to Utah and would think that I'm crazy that I drove there and back three times this summer....but I did it and it was worth it. Park city, Provo, Midway, Orem, Salt Lake, and of course the Canyon. I had fun with my family and friends!

To end the summer we went to Vegas on the way home from Utah and I played with Court and Bens at Circus Circus while my mom went to a home furnishing show. Lets just say I won a stuffed animal for $20 bucks...haha those carnival games get you. It was a great way to end the summer though!
Now it's back to work in Mesa! My motto! Work hard play hard!