Viva Las Vegas!!!

This past weekend, we had the opportunity to go to Vegas to meet up with all of my brothers, my sister, their families and my mom and dad! It was such a blast, though chaotic at times with 7 little grand kids running around- and one more on the way:) We all stayed in the same house, excluding Bryan and Wendy who were only able to come on Saturday- but they were soooo sweet to drive six hours to spend the day with us. It was so fun to have the whole family together!!

Here is a bunch of us gathered on the living room couch...
Here are the newest two grand kids, Beckham and Edward- besties already :)We spend quite literally 75% of our time in Vegas in the pool and hot tub... Here's good ol' dad testing out the freezing water...
Jane and cousin, Charlotte, hanging out in the hot tub because the pool was still too cold!!
Jane had a blast with the water guns. We all loved spraying Uncle Jared and having the best water fight ever with him!!
Here's darling little Jane in her swimming get-up!
Charlotte turned three on Friday and we all got to celebrate it together! Here's all the kids (except for Beckham and Mae who were sleeping...) sporting their birthday hats!!
Of course there was birthday cake...
One night, after the kids were all in bed, Ryan, Terry, Christina and I spent a night in the strip! First we went to the Stratosphere and rode on the "Big Shot" ride at the very top. We may not look it here, but we were sooo scared!! Christina even started to cry- haha- we all had a good laugh about it :)
Funny story: After you go on the ride, it is fun to go look at the pics that were taken just as the ride shoots you into the air. Naturally, everyone looks ridiculous and that was the case with us. The lady trying to sell the pics enthusiastically said to us, "Come on you gotta buy one, these pics are classic, just look at this lady!" and she pointed to the pic of ME out of about ten other pics with numerous people in them. We all cracked up as we told her that was me...It really was not a flattering picture of me...hahah
Then we played a few slots at the Stratosphere because they gave us a free fifteen dollar card to play. Ryan won $310.00 on his second time...that kid is sooooo lucky! Not to bad for using free money!

After that we went to the Bellagio, my favorite, to see the Botanical gardens and the amazing ceiling of blown glass flowers!!
Here's Ry in the gardens, they are so cute!!
This was such a fabulous trip and it was amazing to be with my whole family- which doesn't happen enough these days!! families are the BEST!

Hunting for Teasure around Crestline!!

I have managed a mobile home park now for nearly 4 years...I know...it scares me too! And having been here for sooooo long makes it very hard for me to still appreciate Crestline Estates. What with the constant complaints, the begging to get rent in, the accusations of this and that... However, the other day I went on a nature walk with my sweet kids around good ol' Crestline and I was taught a very valuable lesson.

My darling little Jane was so magically enthralled with the random little items (aka treasures...as she called them) that we discovered and gathered as we walked. I mean she acted as if this was the most heavenly place on earth, and she got the most joy and happiness out of this little walk and the little treasures she discovered.

It made me realize what I had been given from this crazy ol' park. I walked past sweet friends and neighbors who I have grown to love and appreciate, who all call me by name and who act so excited to see my new little guy and who all comment on how big Jane is getting. I have a comfortable home where my two kids have been born and grown safely and comfortably, and a secure job where I am able to work for the most fabulous bosses ever!! These little "treasures" are things that I should never let myself overlook as I begin to focus on the negative as everyone tends to do now and then.

All in all, I am amazingly blessed to be here in good ol' Crestline Estates and I will cry many tears when we have to leave...although, I will NEVER understand how every month when rent is due, I manage to get one or two checks that are covered in mystery goop that I can't understand and never want to investigate further...haha! Here are some pics from our walk!!

Jane, Beckham and mama embarking on our journey around the park...
Discovering something exciting!!
This is just a good shot of the park and Jane was not cooperating with pictures...as usual!!
Proudly showing our spoils...

Volleyball...how I'v missed you...

After being prego for a second time, then havign surgery 5 weeks later...I have waited along time for this...
Floor burns from sliding...

Bruises from Diving...Sprained fingers from setting....
Back pain from hitting...

I love this game...it's good to be back!!

Double the fun!!

What a great weekend this was- Easter and Conference Sunday combined into one weekend of awesomeness!! Not to mention that my wonderful husband passed yet another totally grueling test and was able to spend the weekend with us..a rarity lately :( We certainly tried to make the best of it!!

Every Conference Sunday I make a big breakfast including: breakfast cake, eggs and orange julius (an old family tradition that I love...) Here I am working away :)
The cooking didn't end there, however. We got to go over to my sweet grandma's house for Easter Sunday this year to have dinner and an egg hunt with all my family (I have been doing this ever since I can remember, so fun) I made the best cookies ever to bring...carrot cake cookies! Thanks again Kira for the recipe!!!Jane got her very first Easter basket this year, too!! She had so much fun with all the fun little treasures she received...not to mention, it kept wonderfully entertained during Conference so Ryan and I were able to enjoy the wonderful talks. My favorite was the one on mothers during the Sunday afternoon session. It was truly amazing!A walking egg and an airplane launcher were her favorites...On Saturday, we decided to have our own little Easter egg hunt. As you can see Jane was simply ecstatic that the Easter bunny had visited our house this year!
She searched so diligently for every egg...and had MUCH success!!
Jane was even more thrilled to see that there were treats inside just for her!! She thanked the Easter bunny many many times that day!Earlier that week, we also managed to decorate some Easter eggs with Ryan! Jane thought this was the coolest thing ever...
This was supposed to be a smile...nice try Jane...we still need to work on that...The eggs ended up looking really good!And of course, I need to add in some adorable pics of our darling little Beckham! I can't believe he is already 5 months old. He is so smiley and sweet!!
I love our kids sooo much!
So, some more wonderful memories have been made this weekend...life is good!!

Things that I love lately...

**I love to listen to Beckham experimenting with his voice...going as high as he can possibly go.

**I love how Jane will randomly throw her arms around my neck and so sincerely say, "I love you mama."

**I love how Beckham holds my finger when I feed him a bottle and how every now and then, he will reach up and gently touch my face.

**I love to watch Jane's face as she excitedly watches Sleeping Beauty while wearing her Aurora dress.

**I love how Beckham gives me the biggest smile every single morning without fail.

**I love how Jane will break into song at least seven times a day, singing the songs of the Disney princesses, asking me to sing along with her.

**I love to hear Beckham laugh, though I have to look like a complete idiot to get it to happen and I love how Jane laughs hysterically at any tiny silly thing I do.
**I love how no matter how aweful the previous day may have been, I always look forward to seeing my sweet kids in the morning.

**I love being a mom!!

Another St. Patty's Day...

I love St. Patrick's Day for several reasons. One, it means that Spring is well on it's way. And Two, I come from an Irish Heritage and my family has always celebrated it!!

Here's a funny memory, my whole extended family used to have an entry in the Irish parade up in Salt Lake. We would ride on a trailer with a banner proudly displaying HORRIGAN (my gma's maiden name) pulled behind a truck. Sitting on bales of hay, and wearing oversized green hats, we would sing songs to the sound of my sweet grandma playing her accordian. A few of us rollerbladed along side handing out candy. Embarassing? Yes, but that has become a very fond memory and I will always have a love for St. Patty's day.

For the four years of St. Patrick's days I have had with my own little family, we have celebrated by having the traditional Irish dish, Cornned Beef and Caggabe Soup...sooo yummy. This year we started another St. Patrick's Day tradition... Jane and I made a leprechaun trap!! Jane had been hearing about and talking about how sneaky leprechauns are all week. So, she was very excited to finally try to catch one the night before St. Patrick's Day. Here is Jane with our trap! Obviously many long hours went into the making of this trap...as you can see!!

Here is our trap all set. Cute Jane thought it would be smart to put the picture of a leprechaun which had been hanging on our fridge inside the trap, so as to lure the leprechauns into it...what a genious!!

The next morning Jane was very excited to see if we had caught one... The leprechauns got away this year, but as evidence that we had almost caught one, we found gold coins inside our trap that the leprechaun had left behind...Oh how Jane loved it!

She loved it even more when she discovered that there was chocolate inside...:) Oh how I love my little family and making new memories together!!

Perhaps we'll catch a leperchaun next year :)

Cooking Curry and Eating Rice

Jane always HAS to help me cook. This used to be somewhat nerve racking and needless to say...annoying. However, lately it has become super fun because Jane is just such a doll :) Here's how the conversation went...

*As Jane is pulling a chair over- "Wanna help, wanna help mama cook!"

*I begin to put veggies into the pot and stir when Jane says, "Let me do it, Let me do it!"

*As I am cutting the onion- "Watcha doin mama?"

*I tell her I am cutting an onion for the curry. Jane excitedly says, "Good idea mama!!"

*As she stirs- "Sorry pot, hahah, I'm cookin ya!"

*The pot begins to sputter and sizzle- "Ahh, I'm getting sprinkled! Oh no!"

*As I am busily cooking away Jane says so sweetly, "Great cookin mama!"

I have never had so much fun cooking before!! What a sweet little gal I have :)

Beckham started rice cereal just a few days ago and just plain loved it! I can't believe how big he's getting and what a large appetite he has...

So I've got daughter who loves to cook and a son who loves to eat...my job is going to get very easy!!