This is a post just for the people who made this trip possible for us! First of all George and Myrna for allowing us to invade their space and stay in their timeshare with them. Also for putting up with our shopping, touring and my picture taking on the trip!!
I am really grateful for my parents and for my brother and sister in law for taking the kids while we were gone. The kids weren't on their best behaviour as I understand, so it makes me even more grateful that they put up with them for us!
We had a great time but couldn't have done it without you guys!!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
VIVA LAS VEGAS!!
So we had a great time in Las Vegas! It was super hot but you didn't even notice the heat because most of the time we were indoors in the a/c. I would say I spent more time shivering from the cold a/c then sweating from the heat. Go figure. That probably explains the nasty cold I have right now. That's what I get for leaving the kids for 5 days I guess.
I took so many pictures I won't post them all, but I selected a few to put in the online album for anyone who wants to check them out.
We started our trip by driving to Great Falls with Jeff's parents to fly with them to Vegas. It was a long drive, but I wasn't the one driving, so it was ok with me. The flight was short and sweet. We arrived at our hotel around 9 or 10pm, I don't remember really. I just know we hopped on a shuttle bus and headed to the strip. Jeff wasn't into going, but I pushed for it anyways. We went to New York, New York first. It was so cool to see all the lights, but it was a reality check the first step we took into the hotel. I realized it is not the life for me in Las Vegas. All the smoking, drinking and gambling. It was crazy. There were parents walking around with their kids that had to be around Clara's age at 11pm, carrying a beer in one hand and holding the kids hand with the other. It was crazy to me that some one could be so selfish. Those poor kids being drug around a casino 3 hours past their bedtime. It was very sad.
The next day I spent shopping with Myrna at the outlet mall. Why Jeff wanted to stay at the hotel is beyond me, but I was happy to have a shopping buddy. It worked out quite well. Though we spent a little too much time shopping, the boys were pretty hungry when we got back because they were waiting for us to go for supper. Oops. They will never understand why it was so important to us to spend an hour in a shoe store, but we were happy that we found so many pairs of shoes.
Jeff got to visit one of his mission companions. Heath Smith and his wife had us over for dinner on Sunday night. It was an amazing dinner and it was so nice to visit with them. It gave Jeff the itch to go back and visit his mission. That trip will have to be put on the back burner for now, but one day we will make it there.
Basically we spent the days sighseeing or shopping, and the evenings wandering around the strip. We spent a day at Hoover Dam, which was amazing. It was HUGE! It is pretty neat to see in person.
We went to a show called ICE.
It was a cirque de soleil type show, but on ice. It was pretty neat. We probably should have splurged for the cirque de soleil tickets, but I was happy with the show. They did some really neat things.
We visited as many hotels as we could, but there were a lot we weren't able to see in 5 days. My favorite hotel by far was the Bellagio. It was just stunning. They make the fountains dance to the music, and they do a different show every 15 minutes.
One night we went on the roller coaster at New York, New York. That was fun. It was shorter than I would have liked, but it was still fun. Even George joined us on that adventure. There was no convincing Myrna though. She was happy to stay on the ground and wait for us to be done. That same night we spent some time playing in the ESPN game zone at New York New York. That was a good time. They had all types of sport arcade type games. We visited the real ESPN game zone when we were in New York, but we had Donovan with us, so we weren't able to play any of the games. This time we were kid free, so we took advantage of that and had a great time.
Our last day there we went to
If anyone went to the Calgary Stampede Grandstand show, they say this guy. He is a ventriloquist and he is really good at it. It was so fun to see his show.
So that is our trip summed up as short as I can make it. I decided not to bore anyone with my great shopping finds, but I will say it was a successful shopping trip among other things. It was bound to be when you are close to Target and 3 different outlet malls. We feel very satisfied with our Las Vegas trip, so much so that we will probably never go back. It's nice to feel that way, we feel like we spent just the right amount of time there. Now we can plan our Disney Cruise with the kids!!
So to take a look at our photos just click on the one below. Please note that often we had to have random people on the street take our picture. I am not sure of some of their condition to be taking a picture when they had to put their drink down so they could hold the camera, but at least they captured our moment for us. That's what photoshop is for I guess!!
I took so many pictures I won't post them all, but I selected a few to put in the online album for anyone who wants to check them out.
We started our trip by driving to Great Falls with Jeff's parents to fly with them to Vegas. It was a long drive, but I wasn't the one driving, so it was ok with me. The flight was short and sweet. We arrived at our hotel around 9 or 10pm, I don't remember really. I just know we hopped on a shuttle bus and headed to the strip. Jeff wasn't into going, but I pushed for it anyways. We went to New York, New York first. It was so cool to see all the lights, but it was a reality check the first step we took into the hotel. I realized it is not the life for me in Las Vegas. All the smoking, drinking and gambling. It was crazy. There were parents walking around with their kids that had to be around Clara's age at 11pm, carrying a beer in one hand and holding the kids hand with the other. It was crazy to me that some one could be so selfish. Those poor kids being drug around a casino 3 hours past their bedtime. It was very sad.
The next day I spent shopping with Myrna at the outlet mall. Why Jeff wanted to stay at the hotel is beyond me, but I was happy to have a shopping buddy. It worked out quite well. Though we spent a little too much time shopping, the boys were pretty hungry when we got back because they were waiting for us to go for supper. Oops. They will never understand why it was so important to us to spend an hour in a shoe store, but we were happy that we found so many pairs of shoes.
Jeff got to visit one of his mission companions. Heath Smith and his wife had us over for dinner on Sunday night. It was an amazing dinner and it was so nice to visit with them. It gave Jeff the itch to go back and visit his mission. That trip will have to be put on the back burner for now, but one day we will make it there.
Basically we spent the days sighseeing or shopping, and the evenings wandering around the strip. We spent a day at Hoover Dam, which was amazing. It was HUGE! It is pretty neat to see in person.
We went to a show called ICE.
It was a cirque de soleil type show, but on ice. It was pretty neat. We probably should have splurged for the cirque de soleil tickets, but I was happy with the show. They did some really neat things.We visited as many hotels as we could, but there were a lot we weren't able to see in 5 days. My favorite hotel by far was the Bellagio. It was just stunning. They make the fountains dance to the music, and they do a different show every 15 minutes.
One night we went on the roller coaster at New York, New York. That was fun. It was shorter than I would have liked, but it was still fun. Even George joined us on that adventure. There was no convincing Myrna though. She was happy to stay on the ground and wait for us to be done. That same night we spent some time playing in the ESPN game zone at New York New York. That was a good time. They had all types of sport arcade type games. We visited the real ESPN game zone when we were in New York, but we had Donovan with us, so we weren't able to play any of the games. This time we were kid free, so we took advantage of that and had a great time.
Our last day there we went to
If anyone went to the Calgary Stampede Grandstand show, they say this guy. He is a ventriloquist and he is really good at it. It was so fun to see his show.So that is our trip summed up as short as I can make it. I decided not to bore anyone with my great shopping finds, but I will say it was a successful shopping trip among other things. It was bound to be when you are close to Target and 3 different outlet malls. We feel very satisfied with our Las Vegas trip, so much so that we will probably never go back. It's nice to feel that way, we feel like we spent just the right amount of time there. Now we can plan our Disney Cruise with the kids!!
So to take a look at our photos just click on the one below. Please note that often we had to have random people on the street take our picture. I am not sure of some of their condition to be taking a picture when they had to put their drink down so they could hold the camera, but at least they captured our moment for us. That's what photoshop is for I guess!!
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| Las Vegas |
Thursday, August 16, 2007
August Long Weekend
We spent August long weekend this year at my Aunt's cabin in Shuswap. The drive was just a little too long for us, but other than that it was a great trip. The weather was perfect, it wasn't too hot. We enjoyed the company, it is always nice to visit with family. The kids loved the freedom. Their yard is huge and the kids had so much fun just running around the yard. Clara spent all day swinging on the swings. She would hurry and eat her breakfast every morning so she could go play outside on the swings. Then she would buckle herself into the swing and cry for someone to come help her get out. It was really cute. Donovan was happy just running around. When it came time to play in the lake, Clara was too chicken. She got about knee deep in the water before screaming to get out. Donovan was all over it, he probably would have walked right off the dock into the water and it wouldn't have phased him. It was nice to spend some time away from home with the kids. The next post will be about the time we spent away from home without the kids in VEGAS!! I am so excited, so stay tuned!!
Donovan loved these chairs, he played with them a lot.
Walking on the dock with Auntie Dawn
Clare enjoying herself swinging
I was trying to set the kids up so I could take a nice picture of the four of us. I sat the kids down and took a couple of shots and was getting the camera set up for the rest of us and Clara started screaming really loud and out of control. She threw something on the ground and when we looked down we saw that it was a wasp. She was stung 3 times. Poor girl. Needless to say, I made sure I took care of that wasp, it wasn't going to sting anyone again.
She handled it really well, but it was really sad. I think I was almost as upset as she was. I just felt so bad to see my little girl so sad. They swelled up a little but by morning there wasn't much left of her stings and within 24 hours you could hardly tell they were there. I am grateful for that.
She handled it really well, but it was really sad. I think I was almost as upset as she was. I just felt so bad to see my little girl so sad. They swelled up a little but by morning there wasn't much left of her stings and within 24 hours you could hardly tell they were there. I am grateful for that.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Clara and the Firetruck
Well, this post is dedicated to George. After he told me he was disappointed in not seeing me post about this, I figured I better do it, even if it is not funny to me yet. Hopefully one day it will be.
We had a nephew get baptized last weekend so we were all at the church for that. We were all standing in the hall chatting as we were preparing to leave. All of a sudden the fire alarm is going. Jeff looks at me and says, "That was Clara". I looked over at Clara, who was no more than 4 feet away from me, and sure enough, she was standing under the pulled fire alarm. She was hysterical, or maybe that was me. I was told I could do nothing to stop the fire department from coming, so I let it happen. Thank goodness the baptism was over. Jenn took Clara outside for me because I was not impressed and I was really embarrassed that my child would do such a thing.
I must say it took a while before the fire department showed up, it was a good thing that there really wasn't a fire because I can't imagine how much it could have spread in that time.
Anyways, I guess when they got there Jeff told them it was pulled by a kid. They had to go inside and check, and while they were inside all the kids were getting their picture taken in front of the firetruck. I had Jenn take a picture of Clara, although I was not sure I wanted to remember this experience.
I found out the other day that Anthony, the nephew who was baptized, was thrilled and had his picture taken in front of the fire truck. I am happy to say that at least my child made his day more memorable.
We had a nephew get baptized last weekend so we were all at the church for that. We were all standing in the hall chatting as we were preparing to leave. All of a sudden the fire alarm is going. Jeff looks at me and says, "That was Clara". I looked over at Clara, who was no more than 4 feet away from me, and sure enough, she was standing under the pulled fire alarm. She was hysterical, or maybe that was me. I was told I could do nothing to stop the fire department from coming, so I let it happen. Thank goodness the baptism was over. Jenn took Clara outside for me because I was not impressed and I was really embarrassed that my child would do such a thing.
I must say it took a while before the fire department showed up, it was a good thing that there really wasn't a fire because I can't imagine how much it could have spread in that time.
Anyways, I guess when they got there Jeff told them it was pulled by a kid. They had to go inside and check, and while they were inside all the kids were getting their picture taken in front of the firetruck. I had Jenn take a picture of Clara, although I was not sure I wanted to remember this experience.
I found out the other day that Anthony, the nephew who was baptized, was thrilled and had his picture taken in front of the fire truck. I am happy to say that at least my child made his day more memorable.
So here it is, the picture that proves that my child is in fact, not perfect.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Some new pictures
We have been needing a new camera for a while now, but I have been holding off because I wanted to buy a good one, not just another camera that we will have to replace again in 2 years. Thanks to Heather I started getting serious about it and the next day a good deal came along and we did it.
It's so much fun, I just love having it, but I have so much to learn!! A lot of my pictures are much worse than they were with my little point and shoot camera, but I hope one day, with a little practice, they will get better. There is just a little bit of a learning curve.
Anyways, here are some shots from the last couple of days. Of course they are all of the kids, although I did take some other pictures, I just don't think I will post them. I figure no matter how bad the picture is, it is cute if my kids are in it!!
Donovan likes to copy his big sister. Today we went to the zoo and here they are checking out the flamingos.
Donovan loved having his Aunt Dawn pick him up and show him everything there was to see.
Clara and her Aunt
Clara attempted to climb a tree but took a couple of steps up the trunk and started crying to get down. She is not my risk taker, that's for sure.
This is more like Clara, just hanging out on the grass.
Donovan with a knife and a car. He is such a boy.
The kids love reading books. I get so tired of reading them all day that I tell them to read them by themselves, this time they actually listened to me and did it!! (Notice how Donovan's book is upside down)
This is my innocent Clara....
Now this is my attitude Clara, telling me what to do!!
I just have to say, I would never have captured this picture on my other camera, she would have been done yelling at my by the time my camera actually took the picture! I am sooooo happy to have a camera that takes pictures when I want it to, and not on it's own schedule!!
It's so much fun, I just love having it, but I have so much to learn!! A lot of my pictures are much worse than they were with my little point and shoot camera, but I hope one day, with a little practice, they will get better. There is just a little bit of a learning curve.
Anyways, here are some shots from the last couple of days. Of course they are all of the kids, although I did take some other pictures, I just don't think I will post them. I figure no matter how bad the picture is, it is cute if my kids are in it!!
Donovan likes to copy his big sister. Today we went to the zoo and here they are checking out the flamingos.
Donovan loved having his Aunt Dawn pick him up and show him everything there was to see.
Clara and her Aunt
Clara attempted to climb a tree but took a couple of steps up the trunk and started crying to get down. She is not my risk taker, that's for sure.
This is more like Clara, just hanging out on the grass.
Donovan with a knife and a car. He is such a boy.
The kids love reading books. I get so tired of reading them all day that I tell them to read them by themselves, this time they actually listened to me and did it!! (Notice how Donovan's book is upside down)
This is my innocent Clara....
Now this is my attitude Clara, telling me what to do!!I just have to say, I would never have captured this picture on my other camera, she would have been done yelling at my by the time my camera actually took the picture! I am sooooo happy to have a camera that takes pictures when I want it to, and not on it's own schedule!!
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Sunshine and Summertime
We have been having so much fun the last couple of weeks. Jeff is on holidays and it has been so nice having him home. We have taken trips to Calaway Park, the zoo, Cardston and Lethbridge and pancake breakfasts. We will head to the Stampede for his last day off and then we will have to try to get our lives back to normal. I think the kids will have such a hard time when he goes back, they just love having him around and they have so much fun together.
We have gotten a lot done around the house as well. We finally have most of our baseboards nailed to the wall, only one year after moving into this house. All the remaining baseboards are almost all cut, so by next weekend it should be complete!! I can't even begin to tell you how nice that feels, I can't wait until this house is completely finished. I knew it would take a long time, but I didn't realize it would take over a year, but really it shouldn't be a surprise.
Here are some pictures from our summer so far, there are lots. All of the kids of course, I just love taking pictures of them, they make everything in life so much more fun!!
We have gotten a lot done around the house as well. We finally have most of our baseboards nailed to the wall, only one year after moving into this house. All the remaining baseboards are almost all cut, so by next weekend it should be complete!! I can't even begin to tell you how nice that feels, I can't wait until this house is completely finished. I knew it would take a long time, but I didn't realize it would take over a year, but really it shouldn't be a surprise.
Here are some pictures from our summer so far, there are lots. All of the kids of course, I just love taking pictures of them, they make everything in life so much more fun!!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Mid-week adventure
We drove up to Edmonton for the night, with one purpose in mind...the Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert. I have to be honest and say...it was AMAZING!! They are so talented! I loved it so much that I wished I could have gone the next day!! I wish we could have afforded better seats, but I am just so happy we got to go. They put on such a great show and they are just so entertaining. I have to admit that Tim performance was a little better to me, but it was all still fantastic! I loved seeing them in concert together. My absolute favorite was the very end. They had done their encore and everyone around us was leaving. I was sad because they hadn't sung my favorite song. Then they came up on stage and they were sitting very close to each other, face to face. They were sharing a mic and they sung I Need you. WOW!! I loved that song before, but now I love it even more. It brought tears to my eyes to hear them sing that to each other. If you haven't heard the song yet, you should check out their new video. Now this isn't anything like it was on stage, but you can get an idea about how nice the song is by watching this.
Here is a picture of them singing It's Your Love, which was also an incredible performance.
So Jimmy and Alysha watched the kids for us while we went to the concert, and we are so grateful for that. Thank you guys! I had to take them so we could go to the waterpark the next day. What a mistake that was. Jimmy and Alysha put them to bed at their house and we had to wake them up to take them to the hotel when we go the their house. I know, we are mean parents and we totally deserve what we got. So at the hotel, Donovan is still screaming at 2:00 in the morning, he just didn't want to go to sleep. I felt so bad for people in the rooms around us. I hope he didn't wake everyone up. Donovan finally went to sleep at 2:30, and then Clara woke up at 6:30, waking all of us up with her. That was a good night sleep! We decided to still go swimming though, I wasn't dragging the kids all this way just to go home when we woke up. Lucky for us, they were so good, even with their lack of sleep. We shopped for 2 hours before the waterpark opened, then we went swimming for an hour. I think we all had a good time in the end, but it was a hard drive home working on no sleep. We made it home just in time for me to get in the car and drive to work. I was so tired my whole shift, but it was SO worth it.
Donovan kept clinging to his daddy. It was so cute. For some reason he was scared to go stand in the water by himself at first, but eventually he got better.
Clara was very adventurous and after 3 times going up the stairs to this slide, and coming back down, she decided she was going to try it. Then we couldn't get her off of it!
Here is a picture of them singing It's Your Love, which was also an incredible performance.
So Jimmy and Alysha watched the kids for us while we went to the concert, and we are so grateful for that. Thank you guys! I had to take them so we could go to the waterpark the next day. What a mistake that was. Jimmy and Alysha put them to bed at their house and we had to wake them up to take them to the hotel when we go the their house. I know, we are mean parents and we totally deserve what we got. So at the hotel, Donovan is still screaming at 2:00 in the morning, he just didn't want to go to sleep. I felt so bad for people in the rooms around us. I hope he didn't wake everyone up. Donovan finally went to sleep at 2:30, and then Clara woke up at 6:30, waking all of us up with her. That was a good night sleep! We decided to still go swimming though, I wasn't dragging the kids all this way just to go home when we woke up. Lucky for us, they were so good, even with their lack of sleep. We shopped for 2 hours before the waterpark opened, then we went swimming for an hour. I think we all had a good time in the end, but it was a hard drive home working on no sleep. We made it home just in time for me to get in the car and drive to work. I was so tired my whole shift, but it was SO worth it.
Donovan kept clinging to his daddy. It was so cute. For some reason he was scared to go stand in the water by himself at first, but eventually he got better.
Clara was very adventurous and after 3 times going up the stairs to this slide, and coming back down, she decided she was going to try it. Then we couldn't get her off of it!
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