theMcMurray's Blog » Toby

Proud Mom!

kristy — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 04:24:02 +0000

My two boys, Scott and Toby had their first meet of the season on Saturday. Scott is currently competing Level 6 and Toby is competing Level 5. It is Scott’s second season as a L6 and Toby’s first season as a L5. They both looked absolutely awesome. Polished and perfect as they could be. Scott ended up with 1st place all around with an outstanding score of 89.1. Toby came in 5th place all around with a 1st place on vault and a total score of 80.1. Their teams placed 1st as well and Toby got to be the trophy taker because of his consistent performance at the meet. What fun it was to watch them both focus and concentrate so hard on each of their events. They were disciplined and gave their all on everything. How can I not be proud of such outstanding boys. We got it all on video and got to show it off to our extended family the next day at Scott’s 11th surprise birthday party. I can’t help but brag about them, but they earned it all on their own. I can’t take any credit, I just get to be sooooo PROUD!!! Way to go BOYS!

Great Children!

kristy — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:18:04 +0000

Yesterday was crazy and I had a lot to do. The kids were locked into what I had to do and not able to do much of what they wanted. We created this little giving tree for our family. It consists of a cut out tree and slips of rolled paper with things we can do for each other to bring the spirit of Christmas into our home. After they complete the action listed they put a colored star (each color representing a different child) on the tree to show something special has been done. When I returned home last night from a long day of gymnastics stuff it was later on and the kids were all hungry. Scott quickly jumped in and helped me make the chocolate chip pancakes. He was able to make them pretty much all on his own while I cleaned up the kitchen. The other children played nicely together and let us get it all ready without complaint. Scott continued to help out by picking things off of the giving tree and doing the things that were listed, which in turn inspired Toby & Alyson to join in. By the end of the night, they had read the girls stories, told each other what they like about each other, Aly surprised me by cleaning the play room, and brought true joy to our crazy disoriented home. We had some treats before bed and shared our favorite Christmas memories and it was truly special to me. These are the moments that make me so proud to be a mom of such fabulous children. It is these moments that help me to realize what life is all about and what this Christmas season is all about. Thank you: Scott, Toby, Alyson and Fiona! You are all wonderful!

Precious Moments

kristy — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:34:24 +0000

I was lucky enough today to have one of those spiritual teaching moments with my boys, Scott & Toby. They had just asked their dad today a question about some extended family members they were concerned about. Scott wanted to know if they would get to be in the celestial kingdom or not? Well, on the way to my niece’s baby blessing today we talked about that subject most of the way up there, which led to missionary talk. They both wanted to know all about missions and were very determined to serve one. We spoke about the purpose of life and why we want to share the gospel with others. We also spoke about respecting other people and how we should love everyone no matter what they believe. It was awesome to answer there questions and hear their responses to such important subjects. What it all boiled down to is what is this life all about! How can we make this life the best possible? They were so receptive to my answers and it was incredible to bear my testimony to them over and over again during that 30 minute ride! These are truly precious moments in my life!

Arduino Fun – Science Experiment #1

Ian — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:37:18 +0000

The Arduino Duemilanove board is such a fun little thing to play with.

Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software.

Both Scott and Toby helped out in creating a visual and audible light detector.
We used:

8 Light Emitting Diodes
9 resistors
1 photo resistor
1 piezo speaker

here is what our Arduino experimental board looked like:

We ended up creating the following C file to upload to our Arduino board to test it out. We found that in total darkness, all the LED’s are lit and there is no tone emitted. Whereas walking outside turned all the LED’s off and the speaker output a high note.

Indiana Jones and the Lost Brother!

Ian — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:52:39 +0000

Granpa Marc wrote about a recent adventure over the Memorial weekend.

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/268273/

Indiana Jones had some help from his Granpa to find Toby, who was the lost brother

Students of the month!

Ian — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 01:58:50 +0000

Way to go Scott and Toby! They both were awarded the “Student of the Month for October 2007″ at their school (The Ranches Academy).

What fine examples you are to your Sisters.

Student of the Month

Ian — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 15:23:33 +0000

Toby received the ‘Student of the month’ award for October 2006 at his new school. He’s only in Kindergarten and has already charmed his way to the top. The Ranches Academy is a local charter school supporting 9 grades of which Scott is also attending in their 2 grade.

What surpises me the most is how amiable Toby is. Looking back I always saught the attention of my teachers, but now I can see it more than ever in Toby. I chuckle to myself as I see it all happening again. I don’t remember writing little love notes to my teachers though, so just maybe that comes from Kristy. Haa Haa.

But Good Job Toby

Holiday Blues

Ian — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 16:27:36 +0000

I hope you’ve had an enjoyable Christmas and that the New Year will greet you with much success. For us it’s been a family sick time! Kristy got a Sinus infection, Alyson and Toby both got colds with fever and Ian got a sinus infection with infected tonsils too! The bad news is that Fiona is now also starting the fever thing. However Scott has walked through all this untouched (at the moment). So if you’re wondering why I haven’t blogged for a while – this is why.

Fiona Clair McMurray

Ian — Sat, 20 Aug 2005 03:20:15 +0000

We’d like to announce the birth of our new daughter ‘Fiona Clair McMurray’.
Born Aug 19th 2005 @ 7:52pm MST in Orem Utah. She weighed in at 7 pounds 4 ounces and is 18 inches long. She scored a 9.9 on the apgar test and has red hair. She’s opened her eyes and is eating well.
Scott and Toby are over the moon, however Alyson thinks this is Daddies baby though.
Both Mum and Fiona are doing well.

Tooth Fairy makes a visit.

Ian — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 04:50:33 +0000

My Cousin, Jonathan, wrote a poem when he was very little entitled "My Wobbly Tooth". I still remember it till this day, not the actual contents but the way at which he expressed his poem to us. "My tooth began to wobble" will always stick with me.

Scott lost his 1st tooth over the weekend and I don’t think I’ll ever forget the way he described finding his token of appreciation from the ‘Tooth Fairy’!! Even Toby got in on the act as was as excited to recall the nights events as his older brother.

It’s good to see the ‘Tooth Fairy’ is still around and even keeping up with inflation. Scott was thrilled to get $1 for his first tooth, but he’s hoping his second tooth will give him more.