Playin' together...

Scenes like this warm my heart...

... all 5 girls playing together...  ahhhhh.

(I will point out that the mess behind them doesn't warm my heart quite as much...  but it's reality... so I posted it anyway... :))

Baby chicks...

I couldn't believe it...  Jadyn did this at preschool...

Without any coaxing and no freaking out at all!  Thanks Mrs. Lee for letting us bring the whole family to see the baby chicks.

Now Jadyn thinks that chicks are, "the cutest things ever".  And that, "we totally need one."

And therefore was completely appalled when we had chicken for dinner that night.
She refused to eat it.
After all chicks grow into chickens...
(and no she's still not eating corn dogs at our house now that she knows they are pigs.)

I had to resort to the...  "if you aren't going to eat dinner then you won't get any dessert" argument.
I asked her what her favorite dessert was... and the smart little stink said, "Why?  If I tell you what it is are you going to eat it without me??"

I said, "Maybe".

So she replied with, "well then I'm not telling you."

She was then sent to her room until she would come out and eat (only a couple bites) with us...

which she finally did with some prodding from Lisa who happened to be over.

... the food thing isn't going so well at our house...

but holding a "baby chick" was definitely a big step in her life!!

We love you Jadyn you make life pretty awesome!

Soccer...

The weather's all crazy and unpredictable in our neck of the woods...

so I guess it's soccer season.

It's Jadyn's first year... she's trying really hard...

But her little legs are shorter than the rest of her teammates... and it's harder to run when your shin gaurds come up over your knees...  (she's #1)

Jadyn's really more into the "treat" and sittin' on her Poppa's lap...

and she would LOVE to be able to play on the playground when she's not in.

Kenna is a little more aggressive...

She wants to score a goal really bad...

and doesn't mind getting a little dirty trying...

It's been snowing off and on today...  Can't wait for the game tonight!!

Vegas... Part 2...

Our Vegas Adventure continued... and Wednesday we were joined by the Astle's...

YIPPEE!!

All week we tried avoiding the "grossness" of Vegas the best we could...

we didn't walk down the strip... thus avoiding all handouts.

And we did have a few good "teaching moments" with our girls about "modesty"...

and learned that it is better to say nothing than to say... "don't look to the right"...  because for someone reason EVERYONE has to look to the right when you say that!  

All in all I think we were able to pick and choose the best activities in Vegas to make it the most family friendly possible...

...but there was a still a little of this going on...

We all enjoyed visiting M&M World though...  :)

...as you can see Jadyn is not in this picture...

nor would she even look at... "yellow".

After driving past spiderman on the street, she had already had enough of "dressed up characters."

She was freaked out to even get out of the car and we were parked about 4 blocks away from said "Spiderman".

I finally told her that if she wouldn't get out we would, "have to leave her in the car".  Her reply, "well, will you ever come back for me, because if it's not too long I'll just wait here." 

She is one nervous child...  pretty sure Joe carried her all the way to M&M World.

So we were pleased when she was OK touching the "plastic M's"...

After our M&M adventures we headed to the World of Coca-Cola... where we were greeted by the Coca-Cola Bear...

...Jadyn didn't really like that Bear any more than the M's and Spiderman...  :)

Joe and Lisa treated us to a taste testing of coca-cola products from around the world.  We HAD to do that since one of them was from MOZAMBIQUE where their awesome son Josh is serving his mission right now!!

(We love you Josh and wish you could have been with us!)

I went against my better judgement and {gasp}...

swapped spit with every.single.one of our friends on those cups.

It kind of grossed me out...

seriously... 

...glad that I am still alive to tell that tale!

Some drinks were pretty good, but most lacked the sugar they needed.

 And some... were down right NASTY!!

Josh's wasn't awful...  but I wouldn't drink it by choice either. :)

After all that fun... the kids (which generally includes Shane, Joe and Lisa...)  REALLY wanted to go on the roller coaster at the New York, New York...  and everyone REALLY wanted me to go too...  

...I was able to withstand that "peer pressure" and therefore get this shot. :)

(our group is the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rows from the back...  Shane is that loony one with his hands up!)

The rest of the day/evening/night was filled with shopping, food, fun and games.

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Thursday we did the main thing that Lisa came to Vegas for...

We ate at In-N-Out Burger...

It was yummy of course and the kids all "debuted" their "Las Vegas 2011" shirts that we made before we left.  (We placed vinyl on the shirts and then sprayed with a mixture of H2O and bleach, let dry and then removed the vinyl.)  They were cheap and easy and the kids were all happy with the results... although Lydi doesn't look real pleased in that group shot.  (Probably because her shirt was all stretched out and falling off her shoulders all day :)

After lunch we headed to Circus Circus...

Upon parking at Circus Circus... 

Jadyn said to me, "Are there clowns here?"

I said, "Probably".

Her reply...  "O dang it... I don't like clowns."

I think she is on the lookout for one in this next picture...

We never saw one, but we did see a few cool acts.  I think our family liked the "quick change" one the best.

I'm pretty sure that Jadyn and Kenna's highlight was playing the carnival games that Joe and Lisa treated them too...

They both walked away with 2 prizes and were totally pleased with themselves...

Thanks Joe and Lisa...  my girls are deprived when it comes to carnival games... Shane hates them and never lets them play...  poor kids...

After Circus Circus there was a little more exploring around Vegas...

... then a yummy dinner at the Cheescake Factory in Ceasars' Palace...

and we ended the night with a visit to "Freemont Street".

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Friday we headed to the mall... again. :)

This week involved far more mall shopping than Shane was hoping for...

but Jadyn was beyond excited that she FINALLY got to ride the carousel there!

We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends.  And we are especially blessed that our girls have such great friends in the Carlsen's.  Tayler/Kelsee, Saige/Kaylee and Kenna/Kason can hang out every single day and I don't think that they have ever... one time... had a fight or even been bugged with each other.  That is pretty amazing... and one of the many reasons that we go on so many vacations with the Carlsen's.



And these two hooligans are hilarious.  They are the best of friends and are so happy that they got to be in the same 2nd grade class with the best teacher EVER! :)  They laugh and giggle and play so good together!  Kason is always the first friend that Kenna wants to have over.

I can't believe it has been 6 years since they were little munchkin buddies like this though...

We tease them that if they get married we will have the best wedding video EVER for them with all the pictures they have.  (Actually we try not to "tease" them because their other friends do, and we want them to be friends forever and not think that they can't be.)

But... they are kind of like an old married couple already...  A notable conversation on this trip went like this...

Kason:  "Yes, Kenna that is true, believe me."

Kenna turns to Shane and asks him the same question she asked Kason.

Shane replies with... "Yes Kenna that is true."

Kason:  "Kenna why do you ALWAYS do that...  I tell you something and then you have to check with someone to see if I am right.  Why don't you just listen to me the first time??  It drives me crazy Kenna!"

Kenna:  "Well... I don't know why I do that."

Kason: "Then just believe me next time OK?"

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Then there is Jadyn... she misses her big buddy Kyler who is leaving the MTC for Hungary next week.

And... she misses her big "brother" Josh...

So it is a good thing she has Joe and Lisa who are about the nicest people in the world!!

And Lydia  is buddies with EVERYONE especially Rusty and Joe who make her giggle and laugh all the time.

And who doesn't want one of Lydi's amazing hugs and scrunchy smiles.

When Jadyn was Lydi's age she wouldn't give Rusty the time of day...  she just watched him...  intently... with no expression. :)

Our little Jadyn is a character... 

we will never forget her obsession with using "non-auto flush toilets".  

The story goes like this... when we were driving to Vegas we stopped for dinner in St. George at the Brick Oven.

We used the restroom there... and the toilet she used had issues...

It flushed about every 3 seconds... and unfortunately we chose that one...

it went off about 5 times while she was using it.

Her face showed sheer terror...

she finished... but evidently decided she would... "not use one of those again"...

and when Jadyn decides something... there is NO convincing her otherwise...

(much like her dear friend Lisa... they are 2 peas in a pod... although Lisa isn't quite so picky about potties. :)) 

Anyway...  this issue presented a bit of a problem when Jady needed to go... and only "auto-flushers" were around.

Luckily she has an iron-plated bladder...

meaning... she can hold it for "a very long time." 

In fact, she held it the entire ride home from Vegas... seriously... (that's like 8 hours people) because our stops involved "auto-flushers".

Poor Jadyn did a lot of "dancing" around and "holding herself".

Lisa catered to her the most... going so far as to walk clear across the parking lot at the mall to find a flushable toilet at McDonalds...

and this next episode went above and beyond Lisa's call of duty...

Lisa actually asked a lady in a hotel  elevator if she could use their room toilet!!  {gasp}.

I dare say not many people have been asked that question...

then to make it worse Jadyn wouldn't go there either!! 

Lisa just had her wash hands and they thanked the lady for "saving the day"...

and THEN Jadyn told Lisa to not tell me she hadn't gone. 

It was amazingly strange... and Lisa would now like to travel the world with Jadyn mapping out "auto" vs. "flushable" toilets to write an e-book for other parents having the same issue in their own lives. :)  I would like to come along because I like to travel... not necessarily because I want to check out potties.

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Now... back to our vacation...

We went bowling...

...where I was once again reminded that I am not very good at bowling...

and therefore I should take my daughters more often, so as to avoid the embarrassment that I felt as a teenager while on bowling "dates".

(Except that I don't want to think about them ever dating... so... I'm torn...)

Later that afternoon we went to a show at the Flamingo.  It was "Nathan Burton's Magic Show".  It was really good and the kids were amazed!  I would recommend it as a fun family friendly Vegas show!!  Even Lydia "loved" it... although you can't tell from the photo below.

Unfortunately... all good things must come to an end... 

so after dinner and games...

and an especially heated game of yahtzee...

it was time to pack up.

We left for home at 4 AM the next day in order to make it for Shane's sister Judy and her great husband Bob's sealing.

What a special day for them and we were so glad that we were able to be there to support them.

Before we went to Vegas everyone asked us what we were going to do there with a family...  we really didn't know.  But we had such a fun memorable time, and I think all of us will remember Vegas very very fondly!!

And we are very glad that we missed a few large snowstorms while we were gone too!!

(And this post is like the longest ever...  which obviously means that for our family...  What happens in Vegas... DOES NOT stay in Vegas!!")

Spring Break... Las Vegas Style... Part 1...

We spent the entire last week... Spring Break... in VEGAS... and we had an awfully fun and exciting time...



Our week started off at a dance competition for Tayler and Saige in Ogden... after which we headed straight for Vegas.  Our van was loaded to the brim, including the luggage box thing on the top of the car (which Shane refused to believe would NOT fit in parking garages all week... haha)

It was after midnight when we finally made it.  We stayed at "Tahiti Village"... which was a fabulous choice of accommodations in Vegas.  No casino and a great pool + a lazy river pool and 1 1/2 miles off of the strip. 

We spent Sunday watching conference in our room and were excited when the Carlsen's made it there for the last couple of talks.  The rest of the afternoon was spent playing games...  and listening to the girls beg us to swim. :)

Monday we headed to Red Rock Canyon for a hike, exploring and lunch.  It didn't start out great...  the 45 minute detour that we took due to Shane freaking out that the GPS was wrong, me refusing to be the navigator and the Carlsen's being too nice to tell us that we were going the wrong way until we had gone about 20 miles in the wrong direction...  That's why we love the Carlsens' so much... we never disagree about where to take our vacations, or what we are going to do, or where we are going to eat.  They just let me plan it all and make all the decisions and it works out quite well for all of our personalities!!

But when we FINALLY arrived at Red Rock Canyon (which if you go to Vegas is totally worth checking out and only 20 minutes away if you go in the right direction...)  we had a great time!

This just might be the best picture ever... it pretty much needs no explanation other than that we told Jadyn not to jump... we were nervous for her to fall of course... and she did not like that request!

It was a perfect beautiful day...  and the kids were extra excited that we went swimming when we got back that afternoon.

 Lydia loved playing in the shallow, shallow part of the pool.  She was a hoot and everyone thought she was totally adorable of course.  She looks so funny running around since she is such a shortie.  About 10 people asked me if she was a year yet. :)

And we know that our girls are getting older when they want to spend as much time out of the water "laying out" as in the water.

The next day Shane and I woke up bright and early and headed to the Las Vegas Temple for a session.  Shane proposed to me on the Temple grounds 17 1/2 years ago... while on a family vacation with my parents.  I don't know if my mom has ever forgiven my dad for knowing that Shane was going to do that and not telling her!!  She might have stopped him, I was after all far too young to be getting married.  And I totally agree with her now...  what were we thinking???

But he's a pretty great husband, father and son-in-law... so... I guess it worked out...  but I don't even want to think about my baby girls getting married at 19!!

When we got back we headed to Hoover Dam... (of course Kenna was concerned that she shouldn't say that word... and Saige was totally appalled when I said we were going to the damn dam.  haha) 

We walked across the new bridge...

...and then opted NOT to go to the visitors center.  Maybe we were wrong, but everything that we could see online said that the visitor center was about $15 for adults... and not much less for kids... and since Kenna and Kason thought Hoover Dam was about this exciting...

we opted to save our money. :)  Ironically just this morning Kenna's piano teacher told me that Kenna told her... that her favorite things she did in Vegas were Red Rock Canyon and Hoover Dam...  hmmmm  wouldn't have guessed the Hoover Dam part!!

While there the girls wanted pictures in front of the "state" signs.  Tayler and Kelsee have decided that they want to visit all 50 states together...  big dreams girls... so far we have got about 8 in. :)

It was another beautiful blue sky day so were all excited to get back to the pool for more sun time. :)

Up to this point we had been in Vegas 3 days and had yet to drive or walk down the strip at all.  But Wednesday morning Joe and Lisa flew in... and then our fun really began!! :)  Unfortunately they brought a little bit colder... cloudier weather with them.  They knew we would point that out... and were sure to tell us that they were pretty much like the sunshine... because when they are around it's always bright and sunny.  We totally agree with them, it's just that much more fun and adventurous when Joe and Lisa are around!!

To be continued...