H is for Honor Society.....

A while back H was invited to apply for Honor Society. He was accepted and his school had an induction ceremony. The hubs and I had to divide and conquer - you know - that thing where you can't be in two places at once :( I am glad he got some pictures though!!!










Congratulations H!!!!

Rain Boots!!!

Little K has been wanting rain boots for a long long LONG time :) C has these black polka dotted ones, and Little K has had boot envy for years ;) Soooo - while we were on vacation she came across these ones....









and it was just our luck to come home to rainy days - so she could wear them!!!! She loves them - can you tell?

Brady's first Pinewood Derby!!!

We were barely home from Vegas, when we realized it was pinewood derby! We asked Brady what kind of car he wanted to make and he said "Lightning McQueen!" sooooo off to the internet we went to try and find a design to copy. Lucky for us - the internet is a pretty dang handy invention and we found one we could kind of copy. We found a bunch you could send away for and buy the designs, but since we are such procrastinators - that wasn't exactly an option :( So the hubs printed off a picture and we got straight to work!

Carving and cutting - I admit - Brady is not too good at that part - so Daddy helped....


a little spray paint :)


The finished product!


Our cub scout pack!


Pinewood derby treats - they were soooo cute!

Spring Break in Las Vegas!!!!!

Spring break - it's always such an adventure to find something to do that fits into our budget, but is still so fun for the kids :) This year I really really REALLY wanted to go to Disneyland, since it has been 3 years and this is the year we were supposed to get annual passes again. But, alas, it didn't fall into the budget, and with the hubs job so up in the air with his company being bought, we decided to do something cheaper. I looked at different options for weeks on Expedia, until I found a screamin' deal on a cheap hotel in Vegas :) I heart Expedia - we have found such good deals on there for different vacations :) So we booked it, and off we went! The kids had never really been IN Vegas. We had shopped there, and driven down the strip once or twice, but we had never stayed there before - so we thought it might be a fun experience, although we wanted to shelter them from the "what happens in Vegas, stays in vegas" mentality ;) So we researched other things, besides the 'usual' things people do there, to do :)

Our first day we just went to church and chilled. The kids thought it was pretty cool that the ward building we went to had palm trees and a red tiled roof - it was a pretty nice looking building - cool desert landscaping and all :) We played some games, watched some cartoons, and just hung out together :)

Day 2 found us at Valley of Fire State Park :) The red rocks were sooo amazing - I just love them! I think it is the beautiful contrast between them and the blue blue sky - I think it is just beautiful!

We saw some cool petroglyphs.....

Played on the rocks!





and IN the rocks :)

















Saw these cool rock cabins that the forestry service built almost a hundred years ago for travelers passing through - they were really clever!


tried not to disturb the petrified wood - although I think it would take a lot to disturb it ;)

Day 3 was our first day on the strip. I was a little worried to take the kids down there because there is sooooo much porn being pushed there now. Vegas used to be so much more family friendly - but it has really gotten entrenched in the gambling/sex trade these days :( But I have to say - the porn pushers were fairly considerate of my family and did not shove any brochures into my teenage sons hands and moved away from us. I think it was an eye opener for my kids though. They saw a lot of poverty and people down on their luck - more so than anywhere they've been, except maybe in Belize - although they didn't see too many people begging there. It was a good lesson for them too, in never starting drugs, because they could see what they do to your life :(

First stop was Circus Circus for the midway show......

New York New York!!!


Excalibur.....


The little Statue of Liberty - wait - I thought Gru stole this one ;) The kids went on the roller coaster here and thought it was awesome!


Can't go to the strip without a stop at M&M world!!!!








A statue of Liberty completely made out of Jelly Bellies!!!


We finished the day with dinner at the Rainforest Cafe!!!!

The Luxor......

The Paris!!!


The Palazzo!





The Venetian!














Gelato at the Venetian......





Caesars Palace.....





We watched the show and it terrified Brady :(


The coool circular escalators at Caesars - Brady was a total fan!!!


More Paris!!!


We thought this shop was right up J's alley - except candy wasn't the only 'sugar' they were marketing :( They did have 5 lb gummy bears that the kids thought were cool!


The Bellagio....














Little K's treat - we looked all over for french pastries and found some, but she chose cheesecake instead!


The kids went and did baptisms at the Las Vegas temple.


After our strip days - we needed some down time - the weather was so nice - 90 degrees - so a pool day seemed in order. We pretty much had the pool to ourselves for the whole day - the kids had a blast!

They had a few tube wars ;)

Can you do this?


Caught some rays......





Poor Daddy was stuck inside working :(

Our second to last day was H's 14th birthday - so we HAD to celebrate in style.

It's a 3DS - thanks Grandma and Grandpa!!!





yup - sucked right in......


We went to Rio and Rango.....


We thought since it was opening day for Rio that we would have to be there early - apparently in Vegas, not so much ;)





Passing the time :) Pockets are cool!





Too soon it was time to go home :( But we did manage to gather a few souveniers to bring home :)

Little k's treasures :)

M&M treasures for J ;)


and H too :)


Brady and the Chipmunks :) ohhh - and scooby doo too!!!!