HAPPY BIRTHDAY DANNY DAVE!

(Not a current picture, but one of him enjoying himself and being in his element for sure!)

Today is Dan's birthday - 28 to be exact. He is now officially older than me and that makes me happy. There are also lots of other things that make me happy....like him. I hope that he has a wonderful day and an amazing year. I hope that this year brings him so much joy and happiness that he can't imagine what his life was like before. He is such an amazing husband, friend and person and I wish him only the best. He deserves that and so much more.

SPT Challenge - SHADE

Okay... we live in a DESERT here. It is not easy to find shade.

This is not a current picture but I thought it was a funny one that is for sure. This was taken about a year ago when our friends from Sweden came to visit for the 4th of July. We were trying to get all of the SHADE that we could. We have a covered patio but that wasn't quite enough, so after struggling a bit the boys managed to put up the canopy so that we could enjoy some water while we BBQ'd outside for the day. What a difference a year makes. This year we were in Brian Head, UT and were freezing on the 4th of July!!!

WEEKEND WRAP-UP

Well we had visitors again this weekend...this time it was Dan's mom and dad, Mike and Holly. We were really excited to have them come and visit and just be able to hang out and enjoy their company and that is what we did for sure. They got here on Thursday evening and after some catching up we headed to bed since we were going to head to the lake early on Friday.

Here they are out on the lake enjoying the sun? Well there really wasn't too much sun which is good if you are prone to sunburns, but bad if you want to enjoy the lake. We broke them in good with some pretty big waves considering a storm was coming right around the corner. They even took a spill off of the ski and took a swim in the lake. It was a good time though and they are ready to come back for more!

After the lake we decided that we would head down to the strip and see what was going on. We bombed on a few ideas, but we ended up at a fun new restaurant and had plenty to eat with great entertainment. Dad really enjoyed his show!!!!

Saturday was spent shopping for me and Holly, and the boys got a chance to bond over a guy movie when they went to see Hellboy II.... doesn't that just scream boy!

After hoping all day that the clouds would part and not dump rain on us we made it out to the baseball game. This was an event that we had been planning with FSA and it was nice to be able to go and also have mom and dad see what our minor league ball team is all about too. We didn't win the game but it was fun either way.

Like I said before. We had a great weekend and can't wait to do it again. Thanks guys!

SPT Week 2 - WATER

Okay... this week's challenge for SPT was WATER... well, we have sure been getting our fair share of water time this summer. It has been so hot we have had to be in the water or we would not be able to survive.

I could not decide which picture I wanted to use so I put both on here....

This first shot is Uncle Dan with Morgan and McKenna. This is a typical day when they are in town. They want to spend every waking minute in the pool and most of the time Uncle Dan does too. He is such a great Uncle and loves to splash around with those two crazy girls and they love it just as much.

This is a shot of the water show at the Bellagio that I took when Nate and Katie were here visiting. I think it came out great. I love to see this show, I never get tired of it. It is amazing how they do it and I love this casino as well. Still my favorite I think!

Holiday Hiking

Our 4th of July weekend consisted of us packing up and getting out of town to cooler weather. We went with our friends Brian and Cindy, and Daniel F. up to Brian Head and also made a few other stops during our weekend. The trip was great and we have lots of memories to share and TONS of pictures too.

Friday morning the Fire Department in Brian Head was having a pancake breakfast which we attended. It was fun to see some of the locals and just be able to start our doing with a good cause. Brain and I also purchased the T-Shirts so we could be twins for the rest of the day!

After looking around at the Craft Fair that was taking place, and also in the small shops of Brain Head we decided that it was time to head out and do some hiking. We were going to be heading to Cedar Breaks National Monument for their Wildflower Festival that had just begun. We stopped for free snow cones and cotton candy on the way which was tasty and then made our way the 10-15 minutes to Cedar Breaks. We talked through the gift shop and saw the flowers and then decided we wanted more. We took an impromptu hike all the way out to the rim to see the Bristlecone Pine trees. We did all of this with no sunscreen, and no water. Not a smart move and I would not recommend this to anyone, but the trees were awesome!

We came home and BBQ'd some hot dogs and had some lunch/dinner. Then after we relaxed for a while and cleaned up we were ready for some fireworks, but the fireworks weren't quite ready for us. We were not quite sure when they were going to start since the people we asked just said... oh about 9 or 10... So we picked a bench and waited... and waited and waited... Sure enough it got colder and colder as well. This had to be the first 4th of July that I was in jeans, and a sweatshirt and needed blankets to keep warm, and was still cold. We also watched as more and more cars and trucks kept arriving too. They were parked everywhere and there were TONS of people now invading this small town for their fireworks show. The show did finally start about 10 and it was great. The best part had to be when one firework didn't get quite high enough and came down onto the meadow and caught on fire! The fire department had to pause the show to spray some water on it... then the show resumed of course!

Saturday was our day to head to Bryce Canyon to explore there. When we arrived we were a little nervous because it was cloudy and beginning to rain, and cold. By the time we checked out the Visitor's Center and drove to the place where we wanted to start our hike the rain had stopped and the weather was perfect. We were able to get out at almost all of the overlooks and enjoy the view and then we did our main hike as well. We hiked to Inspiration Point.

After a long day of hiking we were ready to come pack to the condo and just hang out. We once again had some dinner and hung out while we waited for festivities to begin. Tonight they were having free smores and a bonfire and added entertainment of a marching band from Canada! It was fun to have smores since I honestly don't remember the last time that I had had any.

Sunday morning we had to pack up all of our things and say goodbye to the nice weather and to Brian Head. We were sad to leave but we had one more stop on our way home. Zion. We were going to be hiking one more time on this trip.
Our first hike after arriving was to Weeping Rock. It was very cool up there and fascinating to see 1200 year old water falling from the rock. We decided that we wanted more so we hiked the Rim Trail back to the Narrows and then did a little while in the Narrows.

The water was freezing, but actually refreshing on your toes and a neat way to hike up the mountain with awesome sights.... We headed back down the mountain and just in time. As we were getting to the truck to have some lunch we saw the clouds roll in and heard the thunder and.... RAIN! Yes, we were glad we had turned around when we did. We would not have wanted to be stuck in the Narrows during a rainstorm and been washing away in a flash flood or been struck by lightning.

The weekend was great and we had great weather and great company. We hope we are able to go back again, or maybe have the same company and go somewhere different. Hope everyone else enjoyed their days off and their 4th as much as us!

First SPT Challenge

So... I came across a blog with a fun idea.... SPT (she photographs on Tuesday) and even though I am a little late I decided I wanted to play along anyways. So here are the rules....



It's definitely that time of year when blogging becomes sort of secondary to all of the other stuff that goes on. It may be extra challenging to fit in SPT posts this summer, so let's go easy for the month of July. Our routines can seem out-of-whack in the summer and it's more important than ever that we funnel our energy into the hearts of our families. Not so easy to do when there are more snacks to prepare, more laundry to do, more trips to the store/movies/museums/gas station... we must strike a balance between pool time, library time, travel time and quiet time!! To help channel our personal chi, let's take time this month to focus on the 5 Elements Of Summer: SUN, WATER, SHADE, GRASS, and ICE CREAM!!


these can be as easy or as challenging as you want them to be...just get out there and take some pictures!!


July 1 sun
July 8 water
July 15 shade
July 22 grass
July 29 ice cream



So to follow along here is my photo for the first week - SUN..... We definitely get plenty of this in Las Vegas and I have seen my fair share of it lately as well.

Here we are. It is Dan and Marvin at the lake applying SUNSCREEN in the SUN to avoid too much SUN exposure. I think that pretty much counts as a SUN picture. This shot is funny because we didn't really want to help either of them so they decided they would help each other with the process and then we grabbed a camera to capture the moment, of course!

WIZARD

Last night we got tickets to go see the show "Wizard". The show was about the music from the Wizard of Oz and other songs that the composer Harold Arlen had done. It was a lot better than it sounds.

The weirdest part about the entire night was the casino that the show was in. We pulled up to the place ( just off of the strip) and I already had second thoughts about going. The place was tiny and SO OLD! We talked in and anyone in the place could have been my grandparents - honestly. We thought we would be troopers and go ahead with the show.... Well we were surprised by our pre-show entertainment. There were like 15-20 old (I'm talking like 65+) people doing karaoke. It was the funniest thing you have ever seen. These people were regulars too. They all knew each other and were clapping and cheering each other on. It made the time fly before the show that is for sure!

Saturday - Shopping, a Show and a Smarty

After we finally got ourselves together on Saturday morning and decided what we were going to do for the day we headed out to do some shopping. Maria and Crystal can't make a trip to Vegas without going to the outlets - IMPOSSIBLE!

Dan was a great sport in keeping Arianna entertained while we were shopping. She loved it too. It just makes me more sure of what a great dad he will be and how wonderful he is with kids!


After our shopping trip we had to hurry home so that Crystal and Jesse could get ready for their show. (One of the main reasons for the entire trip was because Crystal and Jesse are both now finally 21 and able to hang out in the casino and don't have to be the babysitters anymore. They wanted to celebrate Jesse's b-day by going to a show. They decided on Blue Man Group - which is fabulous)

While Crystal and Jesse were off eating dinner and seeing their show the rest of us decided that we would go have some dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. The food was good but the service was horrible. I mean really BAD. I have never had such bad service in a place like this and I was really annoyed....

After getting past our rough dinner we decided that we would try to pick a movie that all of us could see, two guys, two girls and a 7 year old... this ended up being a little harder than expected since it was already 8pm... but we went with Get Smart. I think everyone liked the movie. We know it would not have been Arianna's first pick but it was okay. It had some funny parts but I think if you knew the original TV series it would have been a lot more funny!

All in all, another busy day.... After the movie us girls went home and the guys went back out to pick up Crystal and Jesse from their show. They dropped Crystal off at the house and then took Jesse to the Casino so that he could experience being 21! I guess it went okay because they did not come home until 5am!! We didn't ask many questions... we didn't want to know how much money the lost (or maybe won- yeah right!)

Friday Fun at the Lake

Everybody came to visit us this weekend and we were all so excited to get out to the LAKE! They got here late on Thursday night and after going to dinner/breakfast we came back and went right to bed so that we could get up early and make a full day of Friday out at the lake, and we sure did.....

Morgan, Arianna and Crystal

Marvin getting ready to be pulled by Dan

Robert taking a ride on the jet ski


Dan and Aranne swimming in the middle of the lake

All of the girls playing on shore... McKenna, Arianna and Morgan

The day was perfect. We managed to not get too sunburned even with the sun shinning brightly overhead. We had hot dogs for lunch. Everyone loved the jet skiing. Dan got an early b-day present from Marvin when they decided we NEEDED a tube and went and bought one. That did provide hours of enjoyment though! Maria, Jesse and my Dad were all there too but I guess they managed to not show up in any pictures. We are all trying to get the next trip planned already.

Visiting Teaching Overload

I have definitely gotten my fill of Visiting Teaching over the last 3 days! On Tuesday I went visiting teaching in the morning to one lady. Then on Wednesday I went to the other three ladies that I teach. Then today the two ladies who come to visit me just came by to see me! Wow... that is a lot of visiting going on.

It is funny actually because I have lived in the same ward for over 6 years and NEVER had consistent visiting teachers. Right when we moved in I had an awesome visiting teacher, but she moved out of the entire ward (state) within about 6 months! After that I have not seen a visiting teacher (or home teacher for that matter) in our house but maybe 2-3 times. I mentioned this to my companion (because she happens to be the Relief Society President) and told her that I really like the older ladies in our ward better than the ones my age (I am weird I know) and what happens... I get the two oldest ladies in the entire ward... HONESTLY! But... beggars can't be choosers. They are the sweetest things ever and they are consistent and come! They are really sweet and really do care and I love them. But I think I have had my fill of visiting teaching for the month.

WEEKEND WRAP-UP

No real pictures... just a quick run-down of the weekend's events.

FRIDAY: We ditched work and headed out to the lake for some jetskiing. The weather has just been too hot to avoid it. And you don't want to go on the weekend because that is when everyone else is out there... So Friday it is! Dan spent the afternoon resting because Friday night/Saturday morning he was out doing restaurant systems at McDonalds until about 5am... He loves those kind of nights!!!!

SATURDAY: We just did some shopping and errands during the day. That evening we had a pre-show snack at the Hard Rock Cafe before going to see an all-ages show of Sarah Silverman's with some friends. Besides her being almost 30 minutes late to start, the show was pretty good. After the show we got some dinner at Buca Di Beppo's. More great food and wonderful dessert.

SUNDAY: Church in the AM and then a family BBQ after church at Mom and Dad's house.

That was about all we could pack into the weekend. Now we have to work during the week... do some visiting teaching, clean the house, go to scouts and get ready for our guests that are going to arrive on Thursday night.....

Pregnancy Pact

I read this story today and was shocked. I could not believe that something like this was actually going on and that it was happening in a high school and that people knew about it and that nothing was being done.....

17 teenage moms at one high school.... all planning to get pregnant and have their babies together...!!! That is absolutely crazy right?! Not unless you go to this school and are part of their pact.

I know I graduated 10 years ago, but come on I don't think I am THAT old when I say what are these kids thinking? I knew a couple (and when I say a couple I really mean A COUPLE) of girls throughout my entire high school career who got pregnant. And when they got pregnant it was a BIG deal and not something that people were overly excited about either. I don't know what our school, my friends, or anyone else at the school for that matter, would have done if 17 girls all at once would have been walking around pregnant - AND ON PURPOSE! This world really has lost their minds.