Activity Days 80's Party!!

Bring on the Neon

For Activity Days they did an 80's Daddy/Daughter party. Since daddy was out of town Uncle Alex took Madi and his little girl Acaylia. (I know my husband is always out of town. It is better for our marriage. Ok-That is a total joke!! I miss him way too much. More than I should, but that is because he is my everything. But starting next week he wont have to go out of town anymore! HURRAY!)

So they had to dress up like the 80's. It was really cute and they all had a great time. They ate, played games, got awards, and I think most of them ended up in the pool towards the end. (Fully clothed)



Daddy sent Madi some flowers because he felt bad that he could not be there.


Madi and Acaylia in their 80's outfits. They were so cute and had a blast!

Grandma and Grandpa come to visit.

Grandma and Grandpa Ashby came to visit. They stayed Oct. 9 - Oct. 12. We had so much fun with them here and were so glad that they came to visit. We have not seen them since we moved to Nevada and have really really missed them.



While they were here they took the opportunity to take Maxx out to lunch for his birthday. (Which was Oct. 24 - he turned 5) They went to McDonald's and then took him to pick out a birthday present. He picked a coloring book where you color the pictures with water and color appears. Then it dries and the color disappear. He also got some learning workbook and a book of mazes. (He loves workbooks and learning.) He had a great time. Grandma and Grandpas are the Best.


We also had cake and ice cream while they were here to celebrate his birthday. We probably could have pretended that it was his actual birthday and he would have been fine with it.



We took them to Red Rock Canyon on one of our favorite hikes. It was a little cold but we bundled up and kept warm. It is a beautiful hike.




After the hike Grandma and Grandpa took us out for the best pizza ever. It was so good and warm!! We were a little cold. (Weird to be cold in Vegas - because now the weather is up to the mid 80's and it is the end of October.)

3 Generations of Fixing Toilets!!!!

Grandpa also helped us fix a broken toilet. Sam (our nephew) flushed a few things down the toilet. After much plumbing and snaking, they ended up just replacing the entire toilet.

Thanks for coming to visit! It was so much fun and we were so sad to see you go!! We love you so much. Come sooner next time!!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PICTURES MIGHT BE FRIGHTENING TO ALL AUDIENCES!
(I seriously look scary in these pictures, but it was my Birthday and I had a great day so I am going to suck up my pride and post them. Also, I realized from these pictures that my nose gets longer every year. I am turning into a witch! HE HE HE.)



My birthday is Oct. 7 and it is my favorite holiday because it is all about me. (I am not selfish at all!) So my mom with my sisters help went all out for me. Even though my mom lives in Utah. She always takes care of me. So she and my sister planned this awesome day for me.

Here goes the day: I woke up to breakfast in bed. Thanks kids.

Then I got this card that said, "If mom were here she would clean the house for you. She is not so I will. Just sit and relax for a fun day awaits you. I will take care of everything."


Once I woke up and headed down stair, I found this: the kids had decorated the house for me. This is just as you come down the stairs. The whole kitchen was decorated with crepe paper and streamers and balloons. It was too cute. I am wearing my birthday hat. The kids wear it on their birthdays. It sings Happy Birthday and the candles light up.


Then I got note #2: If mom were here she would take you on a shopping spree. Yippee~!!! I was so excited. I really need some new clothes.


When I came home from taking Matthew to school I found these: My love was out of town but he sent me these beautiful flowers! Thanks love. He also had a present from the kids ready. He is so on top of things. He is the BEST!!



As we were in the car driving to go shopping I got card #3: It says, "I mom were here we would probably not go to Sonic for drinks, but we will go anyways and get something to build up our energy." Diet Limeade with Cranberry flavoring- my favorite.



Here we are at Kohl's getting ready to do some shopping. It was a lot of fun. That is amazing for me to say because I HATE shopping but I so enjoyed myself. (Even with the crying kids.) We just laughed and giggled and had a great time. I am sure I heard applause when we left because they were glad we were out of there. We might have been a little silly!!)



Note #4: If mom were here she would take you to lunch. She is not here so we will go without her. I was so surprised when I got this note. I did not think that there would be more. I was so spoiled.



After lunch I got note #5: If mom were here she would make sure you had your favorite birthday cake. Lets head to Chili's to get some Molten Cake. (If you have not had this you must try it. A friend suggested it to me and I love it! Can't you tell- I scarfed it.) I also got to wear this pretty crown all day because I am the Princess. You can ask anyone in my family. It's our family joke. I got a lot of stares! But I just figured they were jealous!! (I might have looked a little silly, but it really didn't bother me. I think most of the time I forgot that I even had it on.)




After Chili's I got note #6: If mom were here she would party with us until sun-up. She is not, so I will. Lets head to Red Box get and movie and some treats. The party will continue after the kids are in bed. (We actually skipped the treats part because I'd already had Molten cake and was stuffed!! I totally pigged out today and I loved every minute of it. I think we partied until about 10:30 pm and then I was dead. I am getting old.)

That night the kids each gave me a card with coupons in them for things they would help me with around the house. They are the Best. Plus I got the game Would You Rather... It is a fun game. I loved my cake because it had 19 candles and then a #3, a #5 and a #1. For a grand total of....... 28 candles if you add up all the numbers.


I truly love each year. They just keep getting better. I have been so blessed in my life and the blessings get better each year. However, every year I get older my kids do too. Even though I tease that I can not wait until they move out it truly breaks my heart to think that one day they will move on to families of their own. (I have actually started crying at every Birthday Party of my kids. They are too precious. I do not want them to grow up.)

Note 7: If mom were here she would watch the kids so I could take you to get a pedicure and lunch. She is not so we will have to wait until next week, then we will go! (She took me out the next Thursday and we had a great time. We actually got manicures and we looked HOT!! I choose a nice bright pink color, and my boys loved it. It is amazing how much they notice.)

Thanks to everyone who made my day the BEST ever!!! It was so wonderful. Everyone was so giving and thoughtful. Plus I got tons of calls from people and emails. I also got a couple of gifts from friends and family in Utah- so I was surprised all week long. You are all the Best.
Thanks a million!!!

Nevada Hotels

So Madi had to do a state report on Nevada. Which she did a fantastic job! She put so much time and effort into it. Great Job Madi. One part of her report (one of the sides that you can't see) was on the hotels of Nevada. So one night we thought that we would take her onto the Strip and show her those hotels. So we were driving and all the kids were just fascinated with how big and amazing all these hotels were. (Here is a little side note: when you are on the strip there are large advertisements for one of the shows, and it shows the back side of a women in a thong.) So we finished looking at all the hotels and we were asking the kids which one they liked best. Madi loved the MGM Grand, Maxx loved the "Castle" which is the Excalibur, and then Matthew was not with us. When we asked Micah our three year old what his favorite hotel was he said he loved the women's BUMMIES!! That goes to show you how much kids actually notice. We laughed so hard. We are going to have to watch that boy.

Mad Scientist!

Alex decide to play mad scientist on everyone's hair. Braydin was told that if he cut his hair (and it was really shaggy) he could dye it. (The color of choice was red.) So Braydin went first and there was a lot of dye left.

So my hotty honey lined up!! Why waste any of the dye. However, David does look like he is enjoying himself a little too much. Hey I like my hair dyed too. So they finish with David and there is still dye left so who will be their next victim?

My BABY!!! Micah was so excited to have red hair. He looks a little scared here, but he loved it. (I had a more frightened expression on my face.) He just sat there. So after Micah there was still dye left...

So we decided that the mad scientist need a little himself. I squeezed the tube while Alex rubbed it in.

Can you imagine my horror when I saw this color taking over my beautiful blonde boy!! (David does want him to be Flame Man or whoever from the Fantastic 4-we can't find the costume, but at least we have the hair!!)

He did fine until they tried to wash out the dye. I told them to tilt his head back so they were not drowning him. However, a mothers advice is never taken seriously. Poor kid. They were trying to "toughin' him up." I call it torture.

There is the finished product. He is so proud.

He loves it. He could not wait to show his brothers and sister in the morning. All the other kids were asleep. The next morning they were in shock. Maxx was so mad that he did not get red hair.

This picture does not do justice to the red heads that are now my husband and son. Lets just say that I am glad that we are not red heads. (And I always wanted a red head.) It does not look good on them. I will be glad to have my boys back. (It has been 2 weeks and I still am shocked everytime I see Micah. He just isn't the same.)

Birthday Cake!!

Micah (3 years old) helped me make a birthday cake for Ruby's half birthday. It might not be the most sanitary birthday cake but it was delicious. (I believe the germs are cooked out of it.) He did most of it by himself. He did a great job!!

LUNCH!!!

I told the boys it was lunch time. They beat me down the stairs by a couple of minutes and this is what they decided they would like for lunch. Nothing like ice cream and frozen muffins. DIG IN!!!

Sam and Micah (firehead!!)

The Butterfly Park!!

This park is called the butterfly park. It has these huge butterflies and flowers all over the park as you can see. It also has 3 of the funnest slides. They are fast and the kids loved them. I also loved them. I always have to try out the slides with my kids. (There are some benefits of being under 5 feet.)

They had alligators, catepillars, frogs, and other creatures that the kids could play on.

Micah just coming out of one of the slides. The middle one was the funnest by my vote because it was so fast.

3 silly boys in a tunnel.

This is my favorite picture because I had just told Maxx that we were not going to play in the water. The next thing I know, he is drenching himself in the water. Even though he did not mind me I still laughed! (I know bad parenting.) But it was pretty funny. Within seconds he was totally trenched and it looks like he is enjoying himself. Maybe it felt like a massage.

Boy Meets Bedpost!!

Maxx decided to fight a bedpost. Take a wild guess as to who won! He was goofing off in Braydins room and hit his eye on the bedpost. The pictures do not do it justice. That bump was huge. He could not even open his eye for a while it was so swollen. Then over the coarse of 2 weeks it continued to improve. I felt so bad for him. I was surprised it took so long to heal. It left a little scar and his eye is still a little bruised on the eyelid. I think that once it stopped hurting he thought the bruise was cool. He had to show everyone. However, this is not Maxx's first shiner, and I am sure it won't be his last.

Dad came to visit.

Our dad Ron came to visit us form the Philipines. He had been in Utah since August visiting with his sons. They went hunting. He decided that he would get on a plane and make a stop in Las Vegas for a visit. He brought Grandma Aston with him. It has been a while since we have seen either one of them. The visit was so nice. I need to be better about keeping in contact with those I love.



We went to the Golden Nugget Buffet for dinner. The kids were amazingly good. I think it was the fact that it was a buffet. It kept them busy going back for more. It was wonderful food. More of a high class buffet.


After dinner we went to Freemont street where they do a little light show. The kids loved that. They had a great time with Grandpa.

Micah really liked grandpa!!

The next day we went to Applesbee's for lunch with dad and grandma and then they came over to the house to visit. It was nice to catch up on how everyone in the family is doing. (We don't see alot of my dad's side. Once again something I need to work on.) Thanks dad - we are so glad that you came to visit. We love you.

Time Out For Women

Sept 19th and 20th. We were able to go Time Out for Women. It is a seminar put on by Desert Book. Amy signed us up to be volunteers so we did not have to pay anything to do it. Plus we got special seating because we were staff. It was so much fun. It was all day long Friday and Saturday. But it was well worth the time. We were able to hear some fantastic speakers and came away with a more enlightened attitude. Me and Amy were the timers so we had to hold up signs for when the speakers had 15, 10, 5, and 2 minutes left. That was fun. Check out the website and see if it is coming to a town near you. It is worth the time. You get away from the worries of life, are spiritually uplifted, and make some wonderful friends.



We met Sherry Dew. This woman is hilarious!

Sister Nelson (Russel M. Nelsons wife)
and Virginia (Hinckley) Pearce. (President Gordon B. Hinckley's daughter.)
Plus a ton of other awesome speakers.

My mom came to Vegas for the event. It was nice to spend time with her. I love my sister and mom so much. It was nice just to be us girls.

My cousin who lives in Vegas also came.

There were also singers. Hilary Weeks and also, the Jason Deere band. You have to check out both of these singers. Amazing songs!!!

This event was so spiritual and just taught us how to be better individuals and mothers. I am so grateful for this opportunity. I also need to thank my brother Alex Whitlock and my Dad Dave who selflessly gave up their time to watch all of my children so that I could attend. (David was out of town.) Thank you so much!!!

*This is just a side note because I get all the luck. Only things like this happen to me. So I needed to use the bathroom and they had special bathrooms in the back for helpers and the speakers. So I went to use one and guess who I walked in on. Virginia Pearce!! We both just laughed. She is so cute. She just said I guess I should lock the door next time. What a cute lady.

Catch up!!

Life has been crazy lately and I have been the worst blogger!! So here are some highlights in our lives lately:


Canned 7 bushels of peaches. That is 184 jars.


Celebrated Davids 31st Birthday!! Happy Birthday Sweetie. Doesn't he look HOT in that hat.

David with Micah and Sam on his birthday. He got a hot wheels car from Sam. The only gift he got. Yeah right!!

Micah...

Maxx...

and Sam- made shakers for their Music Maker class.

Found the sharpie markers.

Struck a pose!!

Attended Braydins football games.

Asked the cheerleaders is I could join their squad. Apparently I am too old and fat.




Attended Madison's 4th grade field trip. Missed all of it because I got stuck assisting the child who came down with the stomach flu in the bathroom. (Truthfully I did not mind. I would want to know that my child was taken care of if they were in the same situation. Madi was a good sport and understood.)



Declared Micah's blanket trashed. I already cut off the other side and sewed it up. So I had to cut this part off too. Grandma we need a new blanket. We only have a small strip left. (Maybe this is a good way to break the blanket habit, piece by piece.)


Started school. Madi is in 4th and Matthew is in 1st. (Matthew teachers name is Mrs. O'Neal and at first he kept calling her Mrs. Oatmeal. He really thought that was her name. We had to work on that a little. They both love their new school and have made several friends.)

The crew at the bus stop the first day!! I love the BUS.

Maxx grew some curls.

And then he built the temple. He was so excited about this.

Plus cleaned the house, did the laundry, grocery shopped, canned tomatoes, made peach jam, bandages skinned knees, helped with homeowork and projects, blew noses, helped with piano, bathed kids, fixed dinner, read books, gave big kisses to my honey... well you get the point. Life is busy!!