Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Before I even start my actual post, I have to apologize! I swear I uploaded these pictures in the correct order, but somehow they are all jumbled together and not where I wanted them. I'm not very good with these things, so rather than delete them and start over, I'm going to run with them in the wrong order! On our first night there, we knew we had to take the kids to the pirate show at Treasure Island. It's always really neat with the singing and dancing and the cannon balls and fireworks and the show this year did not disappoint! We stopped by earlier in the day to make sure we knew what time to go so I got a few pictures of the outside scenery. Lucky for us because when they do the show at night, it's so dark my camera had issues focusing and getting shots with all the movement! All over Vegas are characters that will pose with your kids for 1.00 or 2. We came upon (I think) Bumblebee and he really hammed it up with Treven. I got several shots and we had a good time with him! Back to another day shot at Treasure Island! This is of one of the pirate ships. During the actual show, it moves across the water and has huge sails that come up. There are pirates up in the crows nest and they shoot off some amazing cannon balls. When the cannon balls hit the water, you can feel the water spray and when the cannon balls hit their targets, you feel heat coming off the ships. So cool! This is the shopping district at The Venetian. It's so beautiful and elegant inside with some amazing shops that you just want to look through the windows at! There are stores there that sell things that cost as much as our house! There was one shop that had all crystal things that I'm sure would have left us poverty stricken had something got broken! Here is another one of the street characters. This one was at the Venetian and I swear you wouldn't know he was a real person until you looked at his eyes. He stood so perfectly still until you got close enough to see his eyes moving and blinking. He was really cool. There was another really neat one of John Wayne on Fremont Street, but I didn't get a picture of him. What is a trip to Vegas without a visit to the M & M store? We literally spent hours going through all four floors! So many fun things to pick from and places to pose! Back to the Venetian! Before you go in there are canals going around and through the hotel. They have gondola rides for sale and these are the boats waiting for customers. I kind of would like to go, but I'm thinking it would be money spent better somewhere else! More posing shots at the m & M store. There is one floor that has racing cars and Nascar related M & M stuff. We got some more shots there, but I tried to limit how many I put on the blog! We had lunch at the Harley-Davidson cafe the second day we were there. To be completely honest, it was the best food we ate the entire trip except for Burger king when we got to Tremonton. It was also quite expensive! For lunch, it was $125 including the tip. Ridiculous! Treven loved getting to see something that excited him, though and the bikes are really awesome! This is the outside of the New York New York hotel. We planned to ride the roller coaster, but the price was outrageous. We ended up taking the kids to the Adventure Dome at Circus Circus instead. It's basically a Lagoon and they could ride anything and everything all day for the same price as one ride on the New York New York roller coaster! We stayed at the Excalibur hotel and there was an arcade downstairs where they do their jousting show. Talk about stinky! You could smell the horses and the horse poop all through the arcade. It about made me sick, but the kids didn't seem to mind. They played and had no trouble convincing Gary to try to beat Mikayla at the strong arm contest. Another out of place shot! This was back at the Harley-Davidson cafe! Again, out of place! I wanted this shot last! After we spent the afternoon at the Adventure Dome and the evening on Fremont Street, Treven was so tired, he fell asleep at dinner! I didn't get any shots on Fremont Street, but I wish I had. This was our favorite part of the trip! We had so much fun that I just didn't even get out the camera! Guess it's more important to live the memory than to capture it! The Adventure Dome was really cool. Tons of rides and things to do and it's all inside! The kids went on everything you could think of for $25. Water rides, roller coasters, 3-D shows, etc. It didn't look really big, but everything just wrapped around everything else and every time you turned a corner, there was another ride.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Vegas Bound!

We decided that we needed a little family vacation, so we took Mikayla, Chelsey, and Treven for a few days in Vegas! None of the kids had ever flown before, so it was really fun to watch their expressions during take off and landing! Treven was particularly nervous. He sat in the row with Gary and I and of course, he wanted the window seat so he could watch as we flew over cities and mountains. The girls had to sit in a row by themselves in front of us. I couldn't really see their expressions after take off, but they were really excited before we took off! More pictures of our Vegas trip to come!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Mikayla's 17th Birthday

Mikayla wanted angel food cake with a lemon pudding mix that my grandma used to make. (Again, a cake with no frosting! What is up with my kids!) We picked out some funky spiral candles that reminded me of Mikayla; kind of crazy, but always fun!
Mikayla got mostly cash for her birthday because she is 17 and that's what they like best! We were also going to take a trip to Las Vegas the following week and where better to spend all of your birthday money? It's hard to believe that she will graduate in another year and move on with her dreams. So amazing how fast the time has flown!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Ellie's third birthday

We had a small birthday party for Ellie and Mikayla together this year. Ellie's babysitter, Kim came and brought her this fun Tinkerbell basket clear full of Tinkerbell toys and goodies! Ellie had so much fun going through each thing and she got more and more excited as she went! She also gave her a big girl Tinkerbell back pack that she loves to fill with toys, clothes, snacks, etc.
Each of the girls got their own cake and Ellie picked strawberry shortcake. (Hence, no frosting on her funny looking birthday cake!) Every time I would tell Ellie her birthday was coming and what would she like, she would tell me cake and candles! That's all she really cared about!
Ellie loves to get into Treven's guns and he always throws a fit that she is playing with his toys. So Braquel and Keven got Ellie her very own gun and so there are no fights over whos is whos, Ellie's is pink! Pretty sure Treven won't get them mixed up!
Grandma and Grandpa Wood bought this gorgeous dress for Ellie. She loves pink and she loves to dress up, so this gift was a hit, too! She was really excited to wear the dress to Grammy Stapelman's 90th birthday party a few weeks later and show it off!

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Preferene Dance 2012

Mikayla was super excited for Pref this year. She went to Ogden with her friend, Ciara, and picked out her dress all by herself. She loves, loves, loves the color and the ruffly effect!
Her date, Mathew, has some cows that he is raising so Mikayla made this sign to stick in one of his hay bales. She also put some "cow tale" candy on the hay bale with it. I thought it was a fun and unique idea!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

NOT for the squeamish!

I had Ellie in the tub one day and I had to run into the living room for something. As I walked across the floor, I stepped on something that went into my big toe...I walked back into the bathroom and pulled out part of a toothpick! It still hurt and I couldn't tell if there was still something in my toe, but it sure felt painful! Gary told me there was no way there was still something in there. I suffered for two or three days (8 hour shifts on my feet all day about did me in!) One night, I couldn't take it anymore! I sat on our bed and tried digging with a needle. NOTHING! Finally, I decided my only choice was to squeeze it like a pimple and hope it popped out. Let me tell you, it probably hurt as bad as childbirth! I thought I was going to die! I tried and tried and nothing happened. Finally, I told Gary I would give it one last try. I held my breath and squeezed until tears fell! But, this piece of toothpick, FINALLY came out. Talk about instant relief! I know it's really gross...but I had to share it. I can't believe I walked around for days with that stinkin' log in my toe! And by the way, all of the pictures except for the top one are zoomed in for pity effect!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Valentine Candy Grams part 2

These are the rest of the candy grams I made for the kids for Valentine's Day. I know I'm a lot behind on this blog, but sometimes you just have to LIVE life before you BLOG life! I really have been taking pictures and hopefully I will be able to update a little more often. Between work, home, kids, retreats, softball season, wedding planning (you get the picture!) I just haven't had the time to do anything but stay afloat! I am hoping to get my priorities back in order and get back on track with the blog!