Our Vacation: Days 1-3

Las Vegas, our first stop. We decided not to subject the boys, nor ourselves to the hideous 10-11 hour drive from home to Newport Beach in one day. Luckily we have some friends that live in Las Vegas, that more more than happy to lend us a bed for a few nights. We arrived in Vegas around 4:30pm at our friends Kenny & Melissa's home. I went to high school with Kenny & he was one of my best friends. In fact, had it not been for him & my other 4 friends, all guys, I would have hated my junior & senior years of high school.

After our long drive, the boys were more than ready to get out of the car and play. Kenny & Melissa have two boys that are roughly the same age as ours, so it was great. The boys played really well together, which allowed the adults to catch up & for Matt to get to know Kenny & Melissa.

Unfortunately, both Kenny & Melissa had to work on Friday, so we watched their youngest, Kale, for the day. The boys had a blast together. We took them to a park & let them run hog wild. After that, they all took a much needed nap. In the evening we went to a church event with them & then Kenny & Kale took us to the strip to see the water show & atrium at the Belagio.

Now, if any of you now Nathan, you know he is terrified of loud noises...lucky for us, Kenny had some headphone that he for his boys & let us borrow them.



They worked wonders for Ryan, but Nathan still hated the show & cried through the entire thing. We think it was due to the sudden movement of the water shooting up into the air. Matt ended up holding both boys during the second water show, because they both needed dad...and mom would not do!




Kenny has always been the crazy one of us from high school. His boys are following right in their dad's footsteps. In order to keep Kale from running off,...which he likes to do...like his dad, Kenny put a leash around his waist. Ryan kept asking for one too, but instead he settled for pulling Kale around & keeping Kale from wandering off.



In between the two shows we went inside the atrium. The display was an oriental theme. It was amazing to see the neat things that were done with plants as well as seeing some very interesting flowers.


Kenny, Kale & the Kelley
boys in the Belagio atrium in
front of a water buffalo made
from plants.


This statue welcomed us into the atrium.



I've never been to France, but I can say I've seen the Eiffel Tower, Las Vegas style!

The next day, Saturday, Kenny got called into work before we had woken up. So we spent the morning with Melissa & the boys. After a yummy lunch with Melissa & the boys & in the pouring rain, we set out once again on the road to California.

We Made it...

Home that is. We are finally back from our 10 day vacation. It was a bunch of fun. I will write more later...we have a crazy week in front of us, and I have to clean after being gone. So until a later date... hopefully soon, this will have to satisfy your curiosity.

Vaction here we are!

Well, I won't post for a while...we are on a much needed vacation! Currently we are in Vegas at one of my high-school buddies & are getting ready to go to California for a week!

Our last few weeks have been crazy. Ryan turned 5!!!! Christa has been sick for 2 weeks, & we are refinancing the house. Needless to say we have been crazy busy!

We are taking the boys to Disneyland on Monday, & they are really excited.

I will post pics from our adventures when we get home. But now this, it will be a long, yet fun post.

See ya soon!

Update...Finally

My name is Christa & I am a blog slacker! I have tell me to update the blog...so here it is. It may be a long post, it has been a month you know! Consider yourself warned!

December has been a month filled with fun & adventures. The weekend after Thanksgiving, we started our Christmas decorating. The boys had a ton of fun helping out this year, putting the ornaments on the tree. Each morning when the boys got up the first thing they did was turn on the tree. So we enjoyed our tree fully (day in & day out).

A week before Christmas the boys & I went grocery shopping with GranDee & Papa for all the food for Christmas that we would need. We went to Costco in Sandy, & ran into some people from California that my parents knew. As we were chatting with them, Ryan & Nathan were playing. Ryan was sitting in the cart & Nathan would have nothing to do with the cart. Anyway, Nathan was putting his head between Ryan's feet. At some point Nathan fell & had a fight with the shopping cart. I hate to admit it, but the shopping cart won, & Nathan had a good big black eye for the next week and a half!

This was the year for all my siblings & their families to have Christmas with us. We did Christmas Eve at our house & had a lot of fun. Christmas was then spent at my sister's house. We didn't have to worry about a white Christmas this year. The two weeks leading up to Christmas it snowed & snowed & snowed. It even snowed Christmas day! We spent the day playing games & the Wii at my sister's in Riverton. Around 3:30, we started thinking about dinner when all of a sudden the power went out. We had no power for 4 hours! My handy brother-in-law rigged up his generator so that we had light in the kithcen. We only used that for 30 minutes or so, before the power was back on.

Due to the weather, we decided to spend the night in Riverton. The next day we spent sledding, & playing more games. Oh, I forgot to mention my birthday. It was great! I got a Wii Fit from my family! What a great surprise.

New Years was again spent at my sister's house. We ate, played & watched a movie. Even my cute kids stayed up unitl midnight! Nathan got scared by the fog horn my brother-in-law set off & it took Matt a good 45 minutes to calm him down. Of course our kids were up by 8am!

We have spent the past few weeks working on re-fianancing the house. The rates are down & we figured we wold see what we could get.

One of the things Matt & I got for Christmas was season tickets to the Hale Center Theater in West Valley. We got them from my parents. Well last week was the first play, "Cash on Delivery". It is a great comedy & clean! It was a blast. We are looking forward to seeing many more plays this year with my parents.

Ryan will be five next week! I can't believe it! So we will be celebrating that & then the following week, we leave for California & Disneyland!

A Natural

Today, after we had several inches of snow fall & since I was feeling much better after being sick all week, I took Ryan & we went outside to try his skis for the first time. He has "skated" through the house with them on several times, but never on the snow before.

I must admit, I was a bit nervous, since he is my cautious child & often doesn't like to try new things. Much to my surprise, he is a natural. I had him walk on our grass & down our driveway. He did a great job, so we moved to a bit steeper driveway next door, (thanks Amanda!). He did great down that, so we moved to another driveway across the street from us that has an even steeper driveway. He went down like a pro.! I will post pictures later...but watch out skiers here come Ryan!

So Thankful!

Since today is Thanksgiving, I felt it would be only appropriate to end the day's festivities with a list of things I am thankful for & there is lots!

I am so thankful for my sweet sweet husband. He is such a good example of patience & Christ like love & charity. I am so blessed that I am married to him for all eternity & that the Lord felt I deserved someone so wonderful & special. He is so supportive of all I do & loves me no matter what!

My boys...what else do I need to say?! They are such a blessing in my life & always brighten the room. Both have such unique qualities, but are a bundle of joy.

Other things I am thankful for:
* Matt's job
* Being a stay at home mom
* My Freedom
* My parents
* Matt's parents
* My home
* Feeling so loved by my family
* The great ward we are in
* My calling as primary music leader
* Music & the important role it plays in my life
* The church
* My testimony

Above all, I am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ & ALL that He has done for & given to me. Without the knowledge & beliefs I have of my Savior, I wouldn't be the person I am or strive to be a better wife, mom & person. Everything in my life is a gift & a blessing from Him, & knowing that I can turn to Him when it feels like no-one else is there is one of the greatest blessings.

There is so much to be thankful for not only today & throughout the season, but all year round. I am lucky to be so greatly blessed.

Out of the Mouth of Babes!

Sometime in August my nephew came over for the day, while his mom worked & his sister was at school. We were having a conversation into which Ryan joined in. I can't remember the conversation for the life of me, but Ryan & Dylan's (my nephew) part went something like this:

Me: "Dylan, you're full of it"

Dylan: "No I'm not!"

Ryan: "You're full of it"

Dylan: "of what?"

Ryan: "Coconuts...Dylan you're full of coconuts!"

Of course we all broke out laughing & then Ryan adds... "Dylan you're full of yourself!!!"

I guess it doesn't seem as funny now...but at the time it was really funny!
Thanks for the good laugh Ryan!

It's Over

Aren't Sundays supposed to be relaxing days?

Today was one of the busiest & stressful Sundays. We had our primary program today. A lot of you are probably thinking, "we did ours forever ago." Our program was supposed to be UEA weekend, but was changed when we realized that a lot of people were going out of town!

I will not complain in the slightest that it was pushed back a month. We sure needed it! Our ward was split at the end of June & a new primary presidency & music leader (me) were put in during the month of July. This was the first program that any of us have been involved in...and oh, what a feat it was!

Despite having a so-so practice yesterday, the kids did an AWESOME job today. I had a lot of compliments at the end of the program. Even a few members of the stake primary said how good it was! I am sooo proud of all our primary kids, yes all 128 of them! I didn't realize how big our primary really was until I took a moment & looked on the stand and saw 128 pairs of eyes staring back at me. I was awe inspiring.

Ryan did an awesome job with his part & sang his little heart out, (at least for most of the
songs).

Most of Ryan's extended family came to see his first program ever! All his Grandpas & Grandmas, Great Grandma Kelley, most of his aunts, uncles & cousins. After church everyone came to the house for a wonderful lunch & social hour!

Although it was crazy & stressful, it was a ton of fun too!
I am the luckiest person to be able to do music with the precious primary kids!

Thanks Mom!

So a week or so ago, my mom called & told me about an article she saw in the paper about a website that will help save lots of $$ on groceries. I finally got some time & was able to look the site up! I have to say I was a bit sceptical because it costs $5/per month to use the website. But it offers a 4 week trial for $1. So Matt & I decided to give it a shot. So last night we went through the various stores for Lehi (Smith's & Albertsons) & figured out when we needed to buy. We then went through the coupons that we had on hand & decided to hope for the best.

This morning Nathan & I went grocery shopping. I am actually really surprised with how well we did!

Just at Smith's & Albertsons I spent $38.28 on groceries that normally would have cost $93.84! I can't believe I got away with almost a 66% savings!!!!

This is what I bought:

2 boxes fruity cheerios

1 box trix

2 boxes Cinnamon toast crunch

3 boxes pop tarts

5 boxes stuffing

1 bottle corn syrup

3 boxes ziploc gallon bags

2 apple juices

2 bags frozen peas

4 bags marshmallows

1 box oven bags

3.85lbs of red grapes

Now if I add the things I got at Wal-mart with a few coupons I spent a total of $66.81 for what would normally cost about $130!

At wal-mart I bought:

3 pkgs Jello

2 zucchinis

2 tubs cool whip

1 lrg. Tostito cheese chip dip

4 boxes Chex cereal

1 lrg bag Cheetos

2 jars of cooking cocoa

2 boxes wheat Ritz

1 small bag of m&m's (Nathan's treat)

This is only the first time that we've used this site...but I think we'll keep it up!

Thanks GranDee!!!

Halloween

We had an eventful Halloween this year. It all started a few weeks before Halloween when I took the boys to my mom's ward for their trunk-or-treat! They got a lot of candy at that event. Plus we were able to test out the costumes!

The weekend before Halloween, my brother & his wife took the boys trick-or-treating in the downtown part of where they live! They had a blast!



Since Halloween was on a Friday this year, Ryan was able to wear his costume to pre-school & they had a big party. This is a picture of him & one of his best friends, as well as a few other kids at pre-school.

Ryan decorated these deliciously creepy treats at pre-school.

For those of you who are Disney illiterate, Ryan was Woody from the "Toy Story" movies. He LOVED the hat & boots. For weeks before Halloween he would wear those two things around the house & every where we went. As a result of that, Nathan had to try on the hat!


Here is a cute picture of the boys with Benjamin as "Squirt" from "Finding Nemo". I couldn't resist the cute picture moment.

After everyone was finished collecting a year's supply of candy, my family hung out and visited for a while. My brother-in-law decided to put on his daughter's wig from her Cleopatra costume. This was the result!


Thanks goes out to all their cousins who came & celebrated Halloween in the miserable rain!