What happens in Vegas gets blogged about...

A couple of weeks ago our group of friends headed to Las Vegas, NV.  It's been somewhat of a tradition for us for the past 4-5 years.  We didn't do it last year because of schedule issues and three of us were having babies.  So this year we were back!

One fun thing that we do is rent a house.  Vegas is getting harder to rent a house in though.  This year we had the largest group with 6 couples.  We found a house that was perfect and fairly inexpensive, only to find out that the sixth bedroom was also the gameroom/loft.  Which isn't very fun for anyone to have to sleep in.  So we found a second house that fit better for our needs. 

A few must have's:

• Obviously a bedroom for each couple.  We try to get bedrooms that have at least a queen in each room but that doesn't happen every year.  This year we had two rooms with Twin beds.
• Pool
• Hot Tub - perferably one that is connected to the pool.  This year we found both but when we got there the pool was HOT.  But really the temp was 105 degrees.  We still wanted to heat the hot tub but because of some lameness on the homeowners part it didn't happen.  But it didn't ruin our weekend!
• Pool Table

See we are pretty easy to please.  Anything else is just cake.  In rating this house compared to other homes the house was amazing.  The layout was really awesome and decorated very nice.  The pool was on the small side, and kind of weird because it was on the side of the house.  But it all worked for our group.  Whoever looks for the house and puts it on their credit card gets the master bedroom.  After that it's just luck of the draw (literally).

So what did we do:

Friday

• Arrived in Vegas about 3pm
• Got situated in the house (checked everything out and drew for rooms)
• Girls went shopping, Guys went grocery shopping (you heard me)
• Girls went to the Rio to see Parade in the Sky (see pictures below)  It was so much fun and only took us 3 years to see!



• Met the guys and headed to the Strip
• A couple of the guys went to pick up one of the couples that had flown in. 

• Once we were all together we went to MGM to have dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe. (ehhh)

• Shopped at M&M Store
• Walked the strip
• Headed home (went to bed about 2 or 3am)

Saturday

• Woke up way to early!
• Had breakfast
• Hung out at the house playing in the pool

• Guys brought us Virgin Daquiri's
• Played in the pool some more (layed out a bit as well).  It was an overcast day so temp wise it was perfect.  Didn't get a sunburn at all!

• Guys made us lunch (hence the grocery shopping).  Had: Chicken/Steak/Brats/Hot Dogs, Salad, Fruit, Corn on the Cob & Chips.  We totally get spoiled Vegas Weekends.

• Everyone got showered and dressed to head back to the strip (this is a 2 hour process... LOL)
• More shopping (H&M & Ross's)
• More shopping (Coke Store)
• Ate at a Mexican place near M&M Store something Cantina.  It was yummy.

• Then headed off strip to gamble.
• Played a little slots, Roulette and 21 at Wild Wild West
• Headed home (bed by 3:30AM)

Sunday

• Woke up a little bit later this time. 
• Ate breakfast
• Started getting ready and packing to head home
• Once we deemed the house clean we headed out.
• Stopped at the Silverton Casino to visit the Bass Store.
• Saw the Mermaid

• Headed home about 1PM
• Stopped to eat in Mesquite (which is beginning to look like a ghost town)

• Got home about 9:30PM

It really was an awesome trip.  We almost need to add another day!  Missed my kids terribly!  They were in Colorado with my mom for my cousin's wedding.  I feel horrible I missed the wedding but totally needed the break and the trip was already paid for by the time I found out about the wedding. 

Family Reunion - Montana

This past week we were able to go to my family reunion in Montana.  I'm not from Montana nor is anyone in my family from Montana, but my dad is from Canada which is near Montana :).  It was nice having the reunion in Montana because it was far enough away that everyone had to drive to get there.  You couldn't just hang out for the day and go back home to sleep.  The camping reunions are such a bonding experience.  I just love sitting around the campfire, laughing at silly things that happened that day and hearing about other people's lives.

Both our kids did really well.  Bob gets stressed not knowing where the boys were every minute, but I kept my eye on them.  And there was a lot of Adults that knew where the kids were at all time as well.

It was a little stressful being near a river and the lake but for the most part the boys stayed nearby.  There was the few times we'd catch Zack sneaking over to the river to throw rocks or Gavin following people who were heading down to the lake.  But they are boys!

The beautiful lake we were near (picture by Janae Smith)

We tried to leave Thursday afternoon/Evening.  Bob got home about 2:30-3:00.  By the time we got everything packed, rearranged and picked up my dad; I think it was close to 5 or 5:30 before we were on the road.  We stopped at a Rest Stop near Brigham City because Zack said he had to go potty.  False Alarm.  When we headed back out on the road our car started to act up.  It would loose power but not die completely.  But by the time we made it to Tremonton, UT it was doing it on a regular basis.  We made the decision to head home and borrow someone's car.  We finally decided to borrow my Mom's car and had her meet us in Roy, UT.  When we got off the off ramp our car completely died at the light.  We barely made it to Arby's.  It just kept dying.  My mom met us and our car was finally not dying every time we turned it on.  But we had a roof rack on our car and it didn't fit on my Mom's car.  So it didn't work to use her car right then.  We made the decision just to head all the way home and get things so we could put the rack on my mom's car and unload everything and reload into her car.  And it was a good decision because our car would not hold the power.  Bob figured it out so when it did die we were able to get it started quickly and finally got home.  So we didn't leave for Montana until 3:00AM the next morning.

It was a good drive.  The boys slept most of the morning.  We stopped in Butte, MT to let the kids out of the car for little bit and have breakfast.  We then drove to Lakeside, MT and had lunch.  FYI, Flathead Lake is Beautiful!

We got to Whitefish about 4 or 5:00.  We quickly found a spot to set up camp and unloaded.  The day was spent catching up with family, and just hanging out.  My Dad and Kelly got lost trying to get back to camp when they went into Whitefish, MT.  Deanna and I were starting to freak out a bit.  Plus they had all the food for dinner and we were getting hungry.  Luckily they made it back safe and sound.  Our dinner may have been late, but it was yummy!  And we feed a lot of people.  And Deanna made Cobbler which was delicious!

Saturday was a very busy day.  We started the day with Breakfast. 
Volleyball Tournament
Lunch
Amazing Race
Swimming at the Lake
Dinner
Minute to Win it Game (which Deanna and I did)
and Campfire fun.

Everyone joining together to watch the Volleyball Tournament

2 of the Teams that played each other.  I think Bob was on the other side of the net
(Picture from Janae Smith's facebook album)

Minute To Win it Games - Chocolate Unicorn

Minute to Win it Game - Hanky Panky

It was so much fun watching Zack playing with his cousins.  They all got a long so well.  Of course there was never enough Volleyballs or spray guns for everyone but as a whole they did really well together.  Gavin also did well with his cousins, he just mostly watched.  But a few times he had to fight for the ball he was playing with. 

Saturday - Sunday night a wicked thunder/lighting storm rolled in.  It was amazing at how quickly it started and how fast it moved on.  At one point the lightning and thunder went at the exact same time.  Which means it was pretty close.  My Uncle Reed actually was watching the storm and said the lightning hit the mountain we were pretty close to.  SCARY!

Sunday we had a meeting with the family since we weren't able to make it to church.  We had most of the past missionaries share a missionary moment they had.  It was fun to hear all the places people in our family have served and a memory that stood out to them.  After our meeting a few people had to leave.  We had quite a few goodbyes.  But there was still a good amount of people who stuck around.  We had potluck lunch and Dinner.  It was nice knowing we had gotten ride of a lot of food!  We played/watched Kubb and  then sat around the fire and roasted marshmellows.  Again it was a wonderful night to just relax and hang out with family. 

The next morning we pack up camp and was on the road by 10:00.  We got home about 10:30pm.

The boys did amazing there and back.  I was really worried about them, but they were troopers.  We had so much fun at the reunion and can't wait until the next one in 2 years.  I loved that so many family members were able to attend.  I'm not sure on the exact numbers of people there but I think it was more then 150 people (I could be way off).  Oh yeah Gavin won a quilt in the Raffle.  It was so cute because when they called his name I took him up to get his quilt and he grabbed it right away.  He totally knew that it was his blanket.  And got mad if anyone tried using it.

Thanks to my Aunt Andrea for her hard work in putting together such a great reunion.  It was so much fun!  The place was beautiful even if we got eaten by misquito's.

Camping

This past weekend we went camping with a group of friends in our neighborhood/ward. It's been kind of a tradition for the past few years with us (minus 1-2 years because of babies being born). This year our group headed to Flaming Gorge Resevouir. It's about a 4 hour drive for us. The boys did very well on the ride there and back. They both slept for a little bit. Our next big road trip (to Montana) we will definitly be bringing car activities for the boys. Guess I'll have to get started on a activity bag for young kids, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I'm sad to say I only really got pictures of the 2nd day of our camping trip.  But to be fair the first day we got there, set up camp, then Marie and I started cooking dutch oven pizza's.  Which took a whole lot longer then what we planned.

Picture taken off Facebook by Michael Powers

With our group of friends we try to split up the cooking between families.

Friday Dinner  - Williams and Us

Saturday Breakfast - Powers

Saturday Lunch - Waldrons

Saturday Dinner - Thompson's and Hadfields

Sunday Breakfast - Pot luck style (we all pitch in)

Zack didn't want to sleep in the tent the first night, he wanted to go home.  We tried to explain that home was far away and he said that it was okay we could go home.  He finally calmed down enough to realize that camping was fun.  Even though we had to let him sleep inbetween us.  Gavin didn't sleep very well and ended up sleeping with us as well (imagine 4 people on a queen blow up mattress...not fun). 

Luckily for us Saturday was a beautiful day!  We pretty much hung out at our little corner of the lake all day.  I got a little sunburn on my back but I kept sunscreen on the boys!  Zack loved the water.  He was so excited to wear the life jacket that Grandma and Grandpa Visser let him borrow.  He didn't even mind the cold water.  And he was so daring.  He went out furthest then a lot of the older kids did.  Gavin he didn't like it AT ALL.  I couldn't even get him to dip a toe in the water.  He pretty much just hung out on the shore near me and played in the dirt.  That boy LOVED playing in the dirt. 

Zack venturing further in to the water

Hanging out in our little corner of Flaming Gorge

Bob and a few of the other men went fishing early in the morning on Saturday.  One of our friends had bought a boat so they went fishing in that.  Then around 8 they got the boat that they rented for the other guys.  They came back just in time to eat Breakfast then headed back out fishing.  We didn't see them again until almost 3. 

I took the boys out on the Jet ski seperatley.  Zack was fine on the jet ski until I used the throttle.  He was a bit scared when I went fast (which wasn't fast at all).  Gavin on the other hand didn't have a problem with me going fast.  In fact it made him fall asleep.  So there I was ridding around Flaming Gorge with a sleeping baby.  LOL.  He needed the nap!  Later that Day Bob and I took both boys for a little ride in one of the fishing boats. 

Sleeping the second night wasn't so bad.  Both boys fell asleep as we were sitting around the fire.  Gavin slept through the night and didn't have a problem in the play pen.  It was a much warmer night as well. 

Sunday we packed up rather quickly because of the rain storm that started about 6 am.  There was no stopping in sight, so we quickly took down camp, made sure everyone was packed so no one was left behind to clean up anyone's mess and headed home.  We were one the road by 11. 

We had a great time with great friends! 

Slip N' Slide

This summer my mom and I went to Pocatello ID for my Grandpa's Family reunion. They only have it every two years and each year I've brought a new child with me... weird! This was also Gavin's first time out of the state of Utah.

On the flyer that was sent to each family we were told to bring our swimming suits because there would be a water slide at the park. I pictured a large slide that would go into a pool. Knowing that Zack doesn't like to get his face wet I figured he wouldn't want to go on the slide. When we got to the park the family was setting up a HUGE slip and slide. I still figured Zack wouldn't be interested so I wasn't too worried. We watched some of the kids and a few of the Adults go down the slide. Zack started playing at the bottom of the slide in the water. Once the adults broke the sprinkler on the bottom half of the slide Zack was ready to try sliding. I didn't think he would like it but once he tried it he wouldn't stop!

Here is a video of Zack going down the slide by himself.

And a few pictures.

Slip N' Slide

This summer my mom and I went to Pocatello ID for my Grandpa's Family reunion. They only have it every two years and each year I've brought a new child with me... weird! This was also Gavin's first time out of the state of Utah.

On the flyer that was sent to each family we were told to bring our swimming suits because there would be a water slide at the park. I pictured a large slide that would go into a pool. Knowing that Zack doesn't like to get his face wet I figured he wouldn't want to go on the slide. When we got to the park the family was setting up a HUGE slip and slide. I still figured Zack wouldn't be interested so I wasn't too worried. We watched some of the kids and a few of the Adults go down the slide. Zack started playing at the bottom of the slide in the water. Once the adults broke the sprinkler on the bottom half of the slide Zack was ready to try sliding. I didn't think he would like it but once he tried it he wouldn't stop!

Here is a video of Zack going down the slide by himself.

And a few pictures.

Updates, because I'm a slacker

I've been really slacking in the blog post area. I know I've said it before but being a part time working mom is hard work. When I'm home I love to play with Zack which also makes me a bad housekeeper.

So here is a quick overview of our past month...

The first weekend of November Bob, Zack and I went to the Wyoming/BYU game in Laramie, WY. It's great going to this game because we have family in Rawlins which is about 1 1/2 from Laramie. We left Friday after Bob got home from work. The drive to Rawlins is just over 4 hours. It was nice driving later because Zack slept for most of the ride. The only problem was when we actually got to Rawlins he was wide awake! Which made sleeping that night really hard. Normally we put Zack to bed in his own room and he does great. That night we tried to all go to bed in the same room at the same time. Zack wanted nothing to do with that. He knew we were there and he wanted out of his play pen. We tried to sleep in the same bed with him but he just wanted to sleep. Finally he fell asleep with us, which made horrible sleeping for me. Zack moves and kicks like no other. And there wasn't enough room on that bed for the three of us. I was very happy when morning came!

The BYU/Wyoming game was a lot of fun (for us, not the wyoming fans). BYU killed Wyoming. Which made it so I was able to focus more on Zack then the game. I also wasn't too worried about Zack being a distraction to those around us because let's be honest the Wyoming fans pretty much left after the 3rd quarter. Zack and I played on the bleachers. We ate hot dogs and popcorn and had a blast entertaining those around us. Nathan, Eric, Brandon (my cousins) and Evan (Brandon's son -- my second cousin) also were at the game. It was fun to hang out with the family for an afternoon. It was funny trying to get Evan and Zack to interact with each other. They pretty much just ignored one another the entire weekend. After the game we drove to Colorado to visit the rest of the family (my mom's sister -- my aunt Connie and fam).

We had a great weekend with my family. Sunday was a nice relaxing day for us. On Monday Bob, Connie, Evan, Zack and I went to Red Rock Canyon. It was really neat to see the amphitheater and to let the kids play on the stage. We also had a nice picnic. That night we went to Nathan's apartment clubhouse to watch the Bronco's game. It was fun. The guys pretty much got to watch the game in a room with comfy arechairs and a projector screen. The women all stayed out in the main area to let the kids run. It was fun because other families were there and Zack and Evan had a blast playing with the other kids.

This is a picture of Red Rock Canyon -- it was very cool and the amphetheater was built in between two of these type of rocks!

Tuesday morning we headed back to Utah. The drive was actually very nice. We went home through Veil so most of the drive was very mountain'ist (unlike the Wyoming drive which is pretty flat). We stopped in Grand Junction to let Zack play and to eat at a park. Zack did great on the drive home. He barely fussed, we are very lucky to have such a mild tempered child.

The next few days I'll try to post more...

What to expect -

Pregnancy update

Snow pictures... I actually might like this snow season!

Updates, because I'm a slacker

I've been really slacking in the blog post area. I know I've said it before but being a part time working mom is hard work. When I'm home I love to play with Zack which also makes me a bad housekeeper.

So here is a quick overview of our past month...

The first weekend of November Bob, Zack and I went to the Wyoming/BYU game in Laramie, WY. It's great going to this game because we have family in Rawlins which is about 1 1/2 from Laramie. We left Friday after Bob got home from work. The drive to Rawlins is just over 4 hours. It was nice driving later because Zack slept for most of the ride. The only problem was when we actually got to Rawlins he was wide awake! Which made sleeping that night really hard. Normally we put Zack to bed in his own room and he does great. That night we tried to all go to bed in the same room at the same time. Zack wanted nothing to do with that. He knew we were there and he wanted out of his play pen. We tried to sleep in the same bed with him but he just wanted to sleep. Finally he fell asleep with us, which made horrible sleeping for me. Zack moves and kicks like no other. And there wasn't enough room on that bed for the three of us. I was very happy when morning came!

The BYU/Wyoming game was a lot of fun (for us, not the wyoming fans). BYU killed Wyoming. Which made it so I was able to focus more on Zack then the game. I also wasn't too worried about Zack being a distraction to those around us because let's be honest the Wyoming fans pretty much left after the 3rd quarter. Zack and I played on the bleachers. We ate hot dogs and popcorn and had a blast entertaining those around us. Nathan, Eric, Brandon (my cousins) and Evan (Brandon's son -- my second cousin) also were at the game. It was fun to hang out with the family for an afternoon. It was funny trying to get Evan and Zack to interact with each other. They pretty much just ignored one another the entire weekend. After the game we drove to Colorado to visit the rest of the family (my mom's sister -- my aunt Connie and fam).

We had a great weekend with my family. Sunday was a nice relaxing day for us. On Monday Bob, Connie, Evan, Zack and I went to Red Rock Canyon. It was really neat to see the amphitheater and to let the kids play on the stage. We also had a nice picnic. That night we went to Nathan's apartment clubhouse to watch the Bronco's game. It was fun. The guys pretty much got to watch the game in a room with comfy arechairs and a projector screen. The women all stayed out in the main area to let the kids run. It was fun because other families were there and Zack and Evan had a blast playing with the other kids.

This is a picture of Red Rock Canyon -- it was very cool and the amphetheater was built in between two of these type of rocks!

Tuesday morning we headed back to Utah. The drive was actually very nice. We went home through Veil so most of the drive was very mountain'ist (unlike the Wyoming drive which is pretty flat). We stopped in Grand Junction to let Zack play and to eat at a park. Zack did great on the drive home. He barely fussed, we are very lucky to have such a mild tempered child.

The next few days I'll try to post more...

What to expect -

Pregnancy update

Snow pictures... I actually might like this snow season!