Colby's 5th Birthday Party

Colby, the little boy I babysit, turned 5 on the 14th & had an Indiana Jones themed birthday party on that Saturday. I took Blake & Sonny to join in on the festivities. It was a fun party & pretty much all boy except for a few girl cousins sprinkled in. There were water balloons, an obstacle course with snakes & they even got to throw water balloons at Adam (Colby's dad) at the end, a pinata & of course cake, ice cream & presents. Kylie was upset because her balloon popped all over her & she was super tired. The kids sure had fun on the obstacle course & of course tackling Adam at the end. And who doesn't love swinging blindfolded at a pinata to get candy? It's always fun & dangerous too. Breanne (Colby's mom) made a really cool treasure chest cake & it was delicious. I wish I could've had more. I'll have to ask her for the cake recipe. And Kylie finally had some fun eating cake while I was making funny faces at her. When it was time for presents I had a surprise of my own. Sonny had disappeared into the house & I thought I heard him crying so I got up to go see. Breanne had gone in too & said Sonny's a little bit messy. Well...that was putting it mildly!!! He was crying because...yup...you guessed it...he pooped & it was all over his legs & even got onto the carpet. Oh what a joy!!! So I spent the next 1/2 hour cleaning him up & the carpet. Oh what a joy (did I already say that?). Well I did my best to not get angry & to keep my emotions in check...I was so close to crying & I was embarrassed too. It's one thing to clean him up at home but a completely different scenario at somebody else's house. NO...he is not doing well at going to the bathroom when it's time for #2...he is excellent at peeing in the potty...but not the other. GOSH!!! What am I supposed to do??? Anyway, we cleaned up & Sonny in his undies, I apologized & off we went to give Sonny a bath & then go swimming at Grandmother & Grandad's. I then proceeded to have a mini meltdown at home because I feel like I'm failing at this #2 business & I've been reading more & I've come to the conclusion that I can't be mean...I just have to keep trying & be loving & he'll get it....hopefully sooner than later.......

Anyway...Happy Birthday Colb & thanks for inviting us. You are a great kid!!

CH Spring Fun Run

My stake had a Spring 5k a week ago.  I thought it would be a great way to start on my 5k's for the season.  Besides it was totally FREE!!!  I called my friend Sarah C. & let her know (she's my 5k buddy) & we planned to meet eachother there bright & early.  I was also lucky enough to have Blake & Sonny spend the night with Grandpa & Naunie so I didn't have to find an early morning babysitter.

Me, Sarah & Melissa

Here's Melissa with her dad Jerry (they're from my old ward)

The Colvins (old ward)

My good frien Robin who we tortured & made jog with us. 

She did great!!

Here's sidewasy Sarah with her husband Josh & dog Gus.

(couldn't figure out how to rotate it & I didn't want to spend an hour trying to figure it out.)

Here's another longtime friend...Darlene...after we were done.  She's so awesome...I believe she came in almost 5 minutes before me.  She's doing this awesome training.

(ok, seriously....my boobs are freaking huge in this picture...oh-my-gosh!!!)

Anyway...Sarah had her trusty watch with her & we did 1:1 intervals.  1min jog...1min walk.

I think we did great.  When we were almost done Melissa's dad Jerry came back to find us & made her run the rest of the way (he is like a professional runner) & then I thought I can do this so I told Sarah I was off & started to jog almost the rest of the way. 

I made it with a time of 42 minutes flat. 

 I believe that's my best time so far. 

 I guess we'll see how I do at the next one which is on Memorial Day. 

I'm so excited & can't wait.  I never thought I would ever enjoy jogging/walking for exercise but I really do.  Ever since I trained last year for my 1/2 marathon.  I just need to keep it up all year.  I've been trying to walk outside or on the treadmill @ the gym for at least 20 minutes every day.  I'm hoping I will shed these unwanted chubby spots that I have acquired over the last year too.  It also helps that Blake & I can walk to school now that the weather has been nicer, & I've almost completely given up soda.  It's going on 3 weeks & I've only had 3 sodas.  I'm drinking a lot of water now.

Well wish me luck!!!

Safetyville USA

 A few weeks back Blake's 1st grade class went on a field trip to Safetyville USA. I went because I've never been there & I've always wanted to check it out.
Well, we went on a tour & learned all about.....
(drum roll please)
                   SAFETY!!!!
It was fun & good to reinforce all those rules that we as parents are always trying to teach our kids. Everything is minature there & that was so cute. Mini streets, street lights & signs, garbage cans, & places of business (that of course were not real). The kids were disappointed to find out that the McDonald's was fake. We had a fun time & I'm glad I got to go. I got to meet some of the other mom's of the kids that I meet on the morning walk & that Blake talks about. There's a picture of the kids on the ground & at 1st you might think they are doing STOP, DROP & ROLL....but they are actually in "log" position. If you come across a dog & you want it to leave you alone you are supposed to stop & stand like a "tree". If you are already on the ground you are supposed to become a "log"...rolling on your back & clasping your hands behind your head. They say it works so I think I'll try the "tree" one if I need to because I am not a big fan of big dogs. It was a great learning experience with a little fun sprinkled in.

A Night with Friends

While my friend Sarah H. was in town visiting with her girls we were able to get together over at our friend Sarah C's (I know...lots of Sarah's but I haven't met a Sarah I haven't liked yet) house to hang out & have fun visiting.  I decided to venture out without my boys because sometimes it's just nice to go by myself.  I love my boys & they probably would've had fun with the girls but sometimes mom's need a break.  It was fun visiting & watching  Sarah C's husband Josh throw the kids around on the "love sack" (ginormous beanbag).  Before I went over there I was able to finish up some baby bibs & a couple burp cloths that I made for Sarah H's bun in the oven.  Haha. (yes, I really said that).  I am finding that it is a much smoother process if I cut out all the bibs in one day & then sew them up on another & I think I've finally figured out how to sew them w/o the flaw that I always seem to have. Yay!!

Here's Sarah H & her 3 girls with the 4th girl on the way

Here's Josh with the girls.

And here's Josh with the 2nd girl.  He loves those girls!!!

And here's the fronts & backs of the 6 bibs I put together.

It was so nice to see Sarah H. in person. 

I wish we could've had more time but I grateful for the 2 days I did get to see her.

Someday my family will make it out to her neck of the woods & then I could visit my

brother & his family too.  Wouldn't that be nice :)

A Visit to the Park

Last week was Spring Break!!  Yippee!! 

I wasn't sure how everything was going to go seeing as how the weather didn't look so "springy".

And it's always a "joy" to find things for 4 kids to do when it's raining....hahaha.

BUT....I got a text from my friend Sarah H. saying that she was in town & she wanted to get together at a park so the kids could play.  I think it's been at around 2 years since she & her family moved back out to Utah & she & her family have been greatly missed!!  I was so excited & happy that I'd have a chance to see her while they were visiting.  I told Blake & he was excited too!!  So we set up a day & time to go to the park.  I packed lunches for the kids & we set off to go to the park.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was only chilly & not raining outside.  Thank goodness for that.  We had a few other friends join us too....Miss Rose traveled with Sarah so of course she was there & Heather with her family as well.  We had 8 kids there altogether & Sarah has 1 on the way.  It was sooo fun to get together with all the kids again.  We were there for 3 hours & it was a great way to play the day away & for us girls to catch up on what's been going on.
Here's a ton of pictures from our fun day at the park.

Colby on the slides.

Sonny

Here's the whole gang eating lunch....

(adults are...Sarah, Heather & Rose)

Here's Sarah's oldest upside down!!

Colby & Blake strategizing their next move.

Rose & Heather...sisters-in-law.

Here's Kylie & Sarah's youngest....(for now).

Sonny B (that's Kylie's cup)

Here I am again.

Action shot.

Laying on the bridge.

Here's me & my friend Sarah H. 

I tried to fix my teeth in this picture but I couldn't figure it out.

NO!! 

 I'm not missing any teeth...it's a shadow...

or I really need to get my teeth whitened!!!

Blake & Colby in action.

Blake being attacked by 2 girls while Colby just stands in the background watching &

wondering...what the heck!!

And the girls conquered him!!

Don't they look sooo pleased!!

Here's all the kids in a group shot.

Sonny, Colby, Kylie, Blake

& then SD, MD(Heather's girl), SV, & SC

(the S girls are my friend Sarah's & I'm not using their names cuz their mom prefers it that way)

Well it was a really fun day at the park & I got the kids all packed up & ready to go &

of course....

Kylie had a poopy diaper....bleh...so I changed her in the back of my car & we were ready to go.

Not 5 mins after pulling out of the parking lot it started pouring!!!

Seriously!!!  I must say that luck was on my side that day.  Thank goodness it didn't start til

after I was done cleaning up the poopy diaper!!!!

Cabela's in Reno

After Circus Circus we drove to Cabela's.  Cabela's is like a the "costco" for any outdoor adventure involving hunting, fishing, camping, etc.  It's actually a really cool place to check out.  It has everything you need for an awesome camping adventure & then some.  They have 2 really cool displays of "stuffed" animals...exotic jungle type & animals that hunters get from around the states ( I guess).  It was fun to finally check out this "Great Outdoors" store (I have a few coats I received as gifts from there).  We took some pictures & had lunch there.  They serve meats that you wouldn't get at a local place but I stuck with the roast beef & the boys had hot dogs but Brad (as adventurous as he is) got a buffalo burger.  The food was great!!

The lion & his prey...but we all know he didn't kill it...the female lions did.

If you know me...

you know that I ♥ elephants...

so of course I took this picture.

Here's a Lynx...Brad says he wants one of these....

yeah....right!!!

If you're ever in the Reno area & you have kids that like looking at animals,

make a stop at the Cabela's...it's really a cool place.

Circus Circus in Reno

Sunday morning we all ate pancakes in my parents room.  It was fun & sure was nice to not have to eat 1 more meal out.  While we were packing up Blake went downstairs with his older cousin Austin & played games.  When we went to go get him Austin was teaching him chess.  Kind of a big game for a 7 year old but I thought it was nice of Austin to hang out with Blake.  Then we drove around a little bit & then Amelia called to say that everyone was going to Circus Circus & to meet them there.  So we went to go play at Circus Circus.  It was fun & there were lots of games to play...kind of reminded me of the State Fair.  I think my faves are the mini skee ball race where your trying to get your horse to move the fastest & depending on what whole the ball goes in it moves a lot or a little & any of the squirting gun games.  We won lots of little prizes.  But man does it put a damper on things when you sit down with your 2 boys to play & nobody else is there & then bigger kids show up & they win.  Jerks!!!  J/k....sort of.  Sonny got upset at 1st because Blake got a prize 1st but & then Brad took him to cool off but then Blake was so sweet & whenever he won another prize he would say, "this is for my brother".  He is a sweet boy.  Sonny finally realized that we had prizes for him too & finally came to join in.  It was fun & I'm glad we went.

Games, Games, Games

April & Gabreal

Sonny with some prizes

Now it's off to Cabela's to look at the "real" stuffed animals & eat lunch.

Aaron & Jen's Wedding......Tahoe/Reno

!!!WARNING!!! 

!!!THIS IS A LONG POST....BE PREPARED!!!

!!!WARNING!!!

My step-brother Aaron & his Fiancee Jen decided to get married in Tahoe & then have their family celebration in Reno.  The wedding was a little over a week ago.  We decided to drive up on Saturday morning to attend the wedding while the rest of the family drove up to Reno on Friday & then to Tahoe on Saturday for the ceremony.  I know...kinda crazy but it wasn't my wedding.  My parents are part of Worldmark so we were able to stay at the Timeshare in Reno too.  Well....we left to head up to Tahoe but we had to make a  few stops on the way.  1st...the clownfish Brad got for the tank was not doing so hot so he took it to his brother's to see if his tank was a better environment than ours.  Then off to McDonald's for breakfast.  Then we were finally off.  The drive was nice & the boys were sleepy & quiet pretty much the whole time.  We got up there way early so we decided to walk around.  It was beautiful outside & a bit on the chilly side & I was so glad I took my coat & the boys had their sweaters. 

It was fun seeing all the people walk around in their snow clothes & snowboard/ski equipment while I walked around in my nice outfit & High heels.

So...I should've brough 2 pairs of shoes because walking in heels is seriously no fun after a while.  My feet were killing me!!!!  Lesson learned!! 

We took the kids to play games in Harveys/Harrahs (I can never remember which one it is) & we played too.  I love getting tickets.  It's so fun.  Then we ate lunch at Cabo Wabo's which is funny to me because the last time we ate there it was actually in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico  about 8 1/2 years ago on our honeymoon.  Lot's of memories but I won't go there now.  The nachos we got were really good too.  So now it's time to go to "Chapel of the Bells" & we need to get there a little early because my dad forgot the camera he was supposed to take the wedding photos with.  Well.....needless to say we were there before anybody else.  I guess they put an earlier time on the invites to make sure everybody got there ON TIME!!  Since we had some time to kill.  I took pictures of....what else...my cute boys.

Ye olde outside chapel.

The boys kept wanting to play with the snow even though it was really dirty.  I know that they were tasting it too...bleh!!!  But what was I going to do...chase them down...NO!!...it was cold out there.

Sonny came to me & said my hands hurt...my hands hurt.  I asked him if he was playing with the snow & he said yes so I took his hands & warmed them up in my (cold) hands so they wouldn't hurt anymore.  He got better...it was cute.  Guess I need to take them to a snow park to really play in the snow.

And here's Blake just making a goofy face.

Ohhhh...LOOK!!  There's the Bride running in to put on the finishing touches!!!

She looked so pretty!!

There's my Step-mom Dawn & my Step-brother Aaron the Groom.

Now this chapel was on the small side.  It was quite cozy to say the least but it served it's purpose for Aaron & Jen.  I'm just glad they didn't invite more people than they did because then the chapel really would've been bursting at the seams!!!

(Here's only a couple pictures I took.  As you all know I'm STILL trying to figure out my new camera & the other one is MIA for the time being.  Thank goodness I wasn't the professional.  I'm learning that it doesn't really take good inside pictures & it was really crowded so it was hard to get a GREAT picture, but I still wanted to share a couple.)

Lighting the Unity candle.

AND.....they're FINALLY Married!!!!!!

Congratulations Aaron & Jen!!!

After the ceremony we all went outside to wait & blow bubbles & pop streamers as they headed to their car.

Erick, Mason & Amelia with the bubbles

Brad blowing bubbles.  The bubbles were fun for everyone.

Then we all took family pictures & we were off to meet everyone in Reno at the suite Aaron & Jen had at the Peppermill.  On the way there we stopped at Johnny Rockets so we could eat.  It was fun to hang out there for a little bit.  Then we got to the Peppermill & in their suite is where they did their toasts & had appetizers & cut the cake.  It was nice & cozy!!  Their suite was actually really nice & the bathroom was soooo awesome!!  I like when the bathroom is really nice.  Then we went to the timeshare & checked in & went with everybody to the "hot pool".  That was so nice to sit there & relax & play with all the kids.  No pictures for that one...don't have a waterproof camera.  When we got out it was funny to see all of our "white as snow" kids with their legs so pink from the water.  I really need to make sure my kids are in swim lessons this summer. 

I think we all had a nice time relaxing & thank goodness I took our bathing suits.

~Shannon