A Fun Weekend

This weekend my mom, my sister and her two girls, Rylee and Taylor, and my brother, Marcus who is on his mission, his girlfriend Maria came down for a visit. Maria had never been to Las Vegas before so we obviously had to go and show her everything there was to see. Actually we saw very little as it is a little hard trying to get out and about with four kids but we did see some. We were also those crazy people who had kids out on the strip until late on Friday and Saturday. I always hated going up to the casino's and seeing people out at like 10 or 11 p.m. with their kids in the strollers. If felt so bad for the little kids and I swore I would never be one of those people. But sure enough I was. I was the one pushing my kids around that late. But we didn't want to leave anyone out by having to stay home with the kids so we brought them along. You should have seen the looks that we got pushing around a double stroller as well as two umbrella strollers. One night we even had a kid make up a rap as he walked by us about having babies out on the strip past 10 o'clock.
Anyway they got here on Thursday night. On Friday we got up and went for a swim at the Ladera swimming pool. The kids had a ton of fun. That night we went and ate at the Rainforest Cafe in the MGM. Maria also wanted to go to the M&M Factory so we did that. Dinner took forever so other than that and the M&M factory that was all we got done that night. Maria also wanted to go shopping. So Saturday morning me, my mom and her got out and went shopping. First we hit the new Town Square shops and of course we had to go to the outlet mall. I believe Maria enjoyed it and had a lot to show for her day of shopping. Then on Saturday night we had big plans to get up to the strip early so that we would not be there all night. But like normal plans go with our family it didn't quite work out. First we went to New York, New York. Maria, Gary and I rode the Manhattan Express. It was obviously Maria's first time but me and Gary have rode it a few times. It was still as fun as ever and it never fails to knock the wind out of me. We went to the Bellagio and looked at the flower gardens and watched a water show. We also walked over to Caesar's Palace and walked through the shops and got Cheesecake at the CHEESECAKE FACTORY. We then went home somewhere around 11. All the kids fell asleep in the stroller and were so good about just riding around. We had hardly any whining or crying which does make it a little easier.
Then we were sad to have them leave today. Rylee was even asking as the pulled away when they were going to come back. Hopefully soon. I am glad you guys could come and hope that you had fun.
Here are a few pictures of our weekend.
Preston at the Pool

Me and Boston getting cooled off in the pool.

Gary, Boston, Me and Preston in front of an elephant at the Rainforest Cafe.

Me, Boston, Rylee. Rainforest Cafe

At the Rainforest Cafe they had balloon makers come around to the table. They could make anything you wanted. Rylee got a monkey and here is Preston with his lion and Boston with his duck. They loved the balloons.


Maria in front of all the M&M's.

My mom, me holding Taylor, Maria, Erin and Gary.
We got several odd looks from people. We think people may have thought we were Polygamists since there was Gary, 4 women and 4 children. Gary was always kind of out in front leading the way.

Maria and I in front of the Excalibur.

Here is the Manhattan Express Roller Coaster

Gary and Boston at the water show. This is kind of a weird picture. All the lights of the street and hotels are blurry but Gary and Boston aren't. I was trying to catch the fear in Boston's eyes as he watched the water show. Him and Preston didn't like it one bit. He looked away though so you can't really see his face. It was just kind of a cool picture and a cute one with Gary and Boston so I had to add it.

Gary, Boston, Me and Preston in front of a train made out of flowers in the Bellagio flower garden.

Paris Hotel

My Little TV Watchers...

So I kind of hate to admit this but my kids are TV Watchers. The minute they get up in the morning they are begging for the TV to be turned on and if I don't they get the remote control and turn it on themselves. Right now they are loving Little Einsteins. Every morning Preston sits in front of the TV and says PAT PAT, because that is what they say to get Rocket to take off. I have really tried hard up to this point to try not to let them watch too much TV, every now and then I would turn on Baby Einsteins for them to try and get something done, but now they are hooked. I try to justify with excuses like its educational(maybe?), its TOO HOT outside to do anything out there, but some part of me kind of likes it too because I can get a chance to do my own thing for a little while the TV entertains them. I am hoping that it is just a phase and they will get bored with it. Who knows. If any of you have ideas (other than the swimming pool) of things to do to get out of the house but also stay out of the heat, please let me know. Also I would prefer free or somewhat cheap as we all know money does not grow on trees. I say no to the swimming pool as well since they are both very inexperienced with it and it gives me anxiety to go there by myself. Anyway I know my rambling is getting long and boring. I just wanted to share this picture of the boys. Again watching TV. But we just though it was so cute we had to take the picture. Gary and I were trying to enjoy our own movie downstairs so Boston and Preston were upstairs watching their movie. It was a little quiet, so we went to check on them and this is what we found.

They had laid here together on the pillow and were watching the movie together. It is so cute to see them with each other and how much they love to be near the other one.

New Blog List

I saw this on a couple of friends blogs and thought it was pretty neat. It is a new way blogger has set up to do blog lists. It shows when you last updated your blog. This will save me lots of time going through every blog each day to see if yours has been updated. So keep updating so your name can be at the top of the list. And just to let everyone who has been blogging I love looking at each of your blogs to see what you have been up to. Everyone does such a good job. Keep up the good work.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day. I just wanted to wish all the dad's in my life a Happy Father's Day. First I need to wish it to Gary. He is such a wonderful dad to Boston and Preston. He loves to play with them and will do anything to make them happy. When he walks in the door everyday they are so excited to see him. He is always willing to do his share in taking care of them. He has never been afraid to change a diaper. In fact he was the first one to change their diapers and did all the diaper duty for the first few days. Thanks Gary for all that you do for the boys and for me. Gary is always willing to watch the boys when I want to get out for girls night or anything that I want to do. We love you so much. Have a great day. Here are some pictures of Gary with Boston and Preston. They are a little old but I didn't have any recent ones. I need to do better at taking pictures of him with them. Gary is usually the one taking the pictures.




Next I need to give thanks to my dad. He is such a good dad. He has always been there for me and all the members of our family. He was such a good example of what a parent should be. He was also just a good example of how to live the gospel and to do what is right. I hope that I can be as good of a parent as he is. Thanks dad for always being there and for all that you do. Thank you also for being such a good grandpa. The boys have so much fun with you and love you so much. Hope you have a great day. We love you. Here is a picture of me, my dad and my sister when we were all a little younger.


And then next I would like to wish my father-in-law a Happy Fathers Day. Ernie is a good man and I am so thankful for how he has welcomed me into the family. I am so grateful to have such good in-laws. He is also a great grandpa. He is so good to Boston and Preston. We hope you also have a good day. We love you. Here is a picture of Gary with his dad and family.
Gary, Sean, Ernie, Jean, Laurie, Paul and Steve


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
I also wanted to wish my sister Erin a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope you have a great day. I am so glad you are my sister. We always have so much fun together. Thanks for being a good sister and a good friend. I love ya. One more picture remembering old times.
Me and Erin at the beach.

Too Tired to Eat

So last night we were out late and the boys did not go to sleep until about 10:30 so this morning they didn't wake up until about 8:30. I knew that they would not be taking their usual morning nap at 10:00 but also knew Gary would be tired when he got home from work and would want a nap with the boys (Gary gets up at 4:00 am, I would need a nap too if I got up that early) so I tried to keep them up until Gary got home. They did pretty good. There was no grumpiness or anything. Well I put them in their high chairs to eat lunch and then got a phone call from my sister. When I turned around to check on them this is what I found.
Two sleeping boys. Not sure what Gary is going to do now as far as naps this afternoon since it was 1:00 when they took this nap and they won't be taking another afternoon nap. I have to go to work so he will have to figure something out. Good Luck to him. Hopefully I come home with my house still in one piece and not torn apart while Gary falls asleep when he should be watching the boys.

Calling all Amanda's

Ok really just calling one Amanda. I think it was Amanda Mitchell, but she didn't leave a last name, but I think she is the only Amanda that I know. Anyway, my friend Amanda from High School left a message on my blog a few days ago stating to email her so we could catch up. Well I was so excited to hear from her and so glad that she found my blog, but one small problem, I DON'T HAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. I also cannot link to her blog as I think it is a private one or something, anyway it won't come up when I click on the link in my comment. So if you come back to my blog or anyone clicks on my blog and knows how to get in contact with Amanda please leave another comment with your email or a way to get in touch with her. Thank you so much. Hope to hear from you soon.