Las Vegas Day 1

A few weeks ago, my mom mentioned that she was planning a trip to her condo in Las Vegas. I remembered that Dallon & Natalie had seen Phantom of the Opera on their honeymoon, and that it would only be in Vegas through the end of this summer. So I checked online and found out that Phantom of the Opera would only be in Vegas for a few more weeks. I wanted to go so bad! So I decided to invite myself on my mom's Vegas Trip. She agreed to pay the hotel in St. George and the condo fee for the week and I bought the tickets for her and I to go to Phantom of the Opera. I was so excited!

A few weeks later, it was finally time to go! We left the hot, dry weather for Utah to go to the even hotter and drier weather of Nevada. Josh had to work, so it was just me, my mom, my youngest brother John, and his best friend Wyatt. 

On Friday, we drove as far as St. George. We couldn't check into the condo until Saturday, so we spent the first night in St. George. That night, I introduced everyone to the yumminess of Sub Zero ice cream. They all LOVED it!

The next morning, we did some grocery shopping and then headed to Vegas.

I was fascinated with all the power poles!



Following is a few pictures of my mom's condo. She actually had a double one so the boys could have their own side. 

That night, we decided to go check out Fremont Street and watch the light show. But when we got there, we discovered the light show had been cancelled for something else! But it was still neat to see Fremont Street. I had some culture shock that night, but after that, Vegas wasn't so overwhelming. 

Book Club - "The Giver" by Lois Lowry

This month, it was my sister's turn to pick the book. She mentioned she wasn't sure what she wanted to choose, so I told her about the book I was originally going to choose, before my grandma's book came out. It was "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. 

This is actually the 3rd time I've read this book. When I was very young (like 5th grade or so), my mom read this book to us. She told us that one year, my sister's teacher, insisted parents read a book with their child. The only requirement was that it be a Newbery  Medal Award book. My mom loved this book so much, she made sure to read it to each of us when we were young.

Then a few years later (I think it was the summer of my freshman year), I was in a summer program called Upward Bound. Each summer, I would live with my high school peers in a dorm in Provo. To keep us in line, we had an adult supervisor that lived with us. My first year, that "den mom" decided to read us a book. She choose "The Giver". I couldn't remember it exactly, but I remembered it was a good book. Each night, we would read a little bit. As we got towards the end, the suspense was too much! One of my room mates decided to swipe the book one night so we could finish it. She crawled into the room on her belly, snatched the book, and we stayed up to finish it. Then she crawled back in to put the book back. Of course we loved it, but the next night, when our den mom finished it, she was disappointed in our reaction. I guess its like opening your presents before your birthday. Its just not as exciting the 2nd time.

As I read "The Hunger Games" they very vaguely reminded me of this book. But since it had been YEARS since I read this book last, I decided to read it again. I had it chosen as my book, but the day before I told the group, my grandma's book came out, so I choose it instead. I decided I would just wait the 4-6 months until it was my turn again. So when Vanessa seemed stumped, I mentioned this book in hopes she would choose it so I wouldn't have to wait. ;)

Vanessa served us a dinner of kabobs grilled outside on the grill. It was delish. I love book club so much and can't wait for next month. 

August Tuck Swap

This month, our theme was Prim. I'm still not sure what that means, something older looking and lambs, and salt box houses and, well I'm not sure. I had no idea what I wanted to do, so I searched for Prim Bowl Fillers on Etsy. When I saw a few owl things, I decided that would work. Then I found this cute tutorial on Pinterest and decided to use it. 

This is the tuck I gave to Jessica.

The back is actually fabric from a skirt. After getting to work one day, I realized it had some holes in it. I tried to keep my shirt pulled over the worst one, but someone else saw it too. I was going to throw the skirt away the second I got home, but then I remembered, I still needed some fabric for the back of my tuck so I cut it up for that. 

This month, I received Laura's tuck. She does this really cool punch needle thing and I was thrilled to see she used that skill for my tuck. I LOVE it!

This month, I was also in charge of the giveaway. I decided to make some more owls. Then it didn't seem like enough, so I went through my card stash and selected a random few. Then I threw in a notebook, a room spray, and two decorations I wasn't using anymore. 

 I put them all in a Thirty-One bag. Felicity won that drawing and seemed thrilled, so I must have done a good job. 

I decided these owls were too cute to giveaway, so I made double so i could keep some for me.

My owl tuck.  

My mini owl family. 

Josh's First 5K Run

Last Tuesday, I happened to say something about how Melanie was going to run the Altamont Longhorn Days 5K that Saturday. Josh decided he wanted to run it too. He runs off and on, so I wasn't too worried about him. I, on the other hand, decided to skip it since I never run. (My plantar facetious, in my right foot, is doing better, but not that much better. ) In the end, I told him I would do it if I could take Sage, but he didn't think they would let me. When we signed Josh up, they told me it would have been fine to bring my dog, so maybe next year.

 Josh and Dallon before the race.

All the runners lined up at the start of the race. I'm not sure where anyone is. 

Josh said right as he turned the last corner, Dallon ran past him and waved. Josh tried hard to catch back up, but ended up finishing 2 seconds behind Dallon. I was on the sidelines yelling at him to not let his younger brother beat him.

 Melanie waving to the boys at the finish line.

Natalie is the 3rd person back.

Josh finished 19th place at 26.30. I'm so proud of him.  

Book Club - "The Litigators" by John Grisham

Last month, when we discussed my grandma's book, we invited my mom and sister to join us since they had read the book too. Then at the end of the night, we invited them to join book club permanetly. Our book club had started to shrink, but I was not ready to see it end.

We invited my mom to choose the next book. She choose "The Litigators" by John Grisham. I was excited! About 10 years ago I was hooked on John Grisham. I was a part time janitor at the junior high and during my breaks, I would go to the library and read one of his books. About the time I left that job, I had read all of his books that had been printed, up to that point in time. After that, I didn't stay caught up on his newest books as they came out. Reading this book had me ready to dive back into all of his works.

My mom decided to serve us dinner. She made a potato bar and home made ice cream. We had a great time discussing the book. I'm glad we were able to get a few new people to join book club.

My sister picked the next book, which I read this weekend. Can't wait to discuss it with everyone. ;)

July Tuck Swap

This month, our theme was 4th of July. Last month, I had promised myself I would do my tuck earlier so I wouldn't get stressed and start to hate it. So the night after June Swap, I decided I wanted to make a couple firecrackers. I started them the next weekend and then finished them the next weekend. I was right, it was a lot more fun that way. Another thing I decided was that from now on, I want to make 2 sets so I can keep one for myself. This month, that meant a little more work since I had decided to make a few small fireworks vs. one tuck. In the end, I made 10 firecrackers total. 

The firecrackers I made for Felicity.  

 The firecrackers I made for myself. 

Before heading to swap group, Jessica and I decided to stop at Marion's for dinner. I was thrilled to see my grandma's book behind their counter. I couldn't resist taking a picture. 

This month, I received Lewaina's tuck. I LOVE it. The cross stitch detail is really good and I love the ric rac around the edge. Maybe someday I will get that brave in my sewing. She also knew I don't like the coffee staining, so she didn't do that part. 

 The cute cake that Trina made. 

This month, Naomi was in charge of the giveaway. She put together a great tribute to America. She found a few cute things at the DI and then also decided that going to the movies was an American tradition, so she included 2 movie tickets and a variety of movie candies. I was so excited when my name was pulled out of the basket! 

Next month our theme is Prim and I already have an idea in mind. And because I won the give away, I am in charge of doing it next month. No ideas there yet, but I'm sure I'll find something.

Blog Book 2011

Each year, my blog book seems to get bigger and bigger. 2011 was not the exception. This spring, when I went to order my book, I was given an error message that said I was over the alloted pictures. They would only allow up to 1,500 pictures, I had 1,834. I debated doing two books for the year, but had my heart set on keeping to just one book a year.

So I went through my blog and deleted 354 pictures from 2011. The thing is, while looking through my book, I can't even remember what most of them were. I had taken like 300 pictures at the parade, so it was easy to elimate some there. Then I just went through it post by post and took out pictures. Then is when I decided I don't need to post every single picture I take. Now I just post the best ones and my favorites and don't worry about the rest.

Naples Splash Park

Thursday night, I posted a question on Facebook: "What was on every one's summer bucket list?" Friday morning, it became a chat session between myself, my sister and our cousin Heather. We are determined we are all going to go the rec center in Lehi this summer. But Heather's kids are just coming off of an illness. So then Vanessa mentioned the splash park in Naples. Thirty minutes later, I was headed down the road. 

When I got to her house, she had a picnic lunch packed. We put the car seats in my car, buckled the boys and headed down the road. First, we stopped at the park right next to the splash park. I left my camera in my car, but wish I hadn't because the boys are always so cute. Vanessa chased Valex, who was more interested in playing then eating, while I ate. Then chased Valex while she ate. 

After that, we went to the splash park. 

Unfortunately, the wind started to blow shortly after we got there. So we snapped a few more pictures before getting Daxsen wrapped up in a towel. I followed Valex around for a few more minutes. I'm pretty sure he wanted to stay and play some more, but he was shivering. 

I can't wait to go again. ;)

Summer Bucket List 2012

A list of things I hope to do this summer, with a few goals scattered in there also.

1) Take the older nephews fishing.

2) Go swimming with the younger nephews.

3) Lots of horse riding.

4) Go camping with the hubs for a weekend.

5) Loose 10 pounds.

6) Finish deep cleaning my house.

7) Buy a house.