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!!

How to peel a hard boiled egg!!

You have to check out this video. My aunt emailed it to me and I thought it was awesome. It shows you how to peel a hard boiled egg without peeling it. it is amazing! I haven't tried it yet, but I hope it works. Let me know if any of you try it and your outcomes!! (This video does say a bad word-the "a" word once. Just for your knowledge.)

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/07/24/how-to-peel-hard-boiled-eggs-without-peeling.aspx?source=nl

The first week of August we went to St. George and stayed in my families condo. (David had to work in St. George that week, so we went along for a vacation.) We had a blast. On Friday David did not have to work so we were able to spend the day having fun as a family.

Our first stop was to the Johnson's Dinosaur Discovery Museum. It had so many dinosaur tracks. The museum came to be when Mr. Johnson was excavating on his property and as he dug down he came across dinosaur tracks. They are said to be the most complete group of dinosaur tracks anywhere. (I think that is what the guide said. I could be mistaken. Maybe it was just in Utah.) They really were cool.

Next, we hit the park for some lunch. (Good old PB and J. When I was growing up I always said that I would never pack a lunch when we were going out, that I would just take my family to McDonald's. Well my attitude has changed a little.) We had a lot of fun. David was so silly with the kids all day long. (I have pictures to prove it!)

Then we toured Brigham Young's Winter house. That was mostly for Mom and Dad. But the kids were so good. It was awesome. One of the pictures in the slide show is where lightening has struck a tree on the property of the house. They actually did surgery on the tree by putting a metal rod in the middle to hold the two pieces together. This is the only tree that was actually standing when Brigham Young lived there. They did not want to lose it. They would use this tree to grow silk worms on. The house was gorgeous.

Our last stop was Snow Canyon. (Actually our last stop was Arctic Circle. Yum!) We went to the sand dunes. It is all this sand with hills. It was like a giant sand box. (Except with ants) It was really cool, especially the ants! The wind was blowing too. We all know how sand and wind mix so well. Seriously, not our best experience. However, David loved it. I think he felt like a kid again. He said that as a child they came here with Grandma and Grandpa Ashby. So as David ran off to live out his childhood, I dealt with crying kids. Sounds like fun!! I am making it sound a lot worse than it was. Once the kids saw daddy they all joined in. They just needed some help in seeing what to do. They ran up and down the hill, which were HUGE!

After the sand dunes we found the Volcano on the map they had given us. Which was cool. The kids were amazed. They thought Volcano's were for the dinosaurs. They were a little afraid that it was going to erupt. We had to explain that is was an0 extinct volcano. We did not hike it just admired it.

On our way out we hiked a gigantic rock. (David saw it of course and we just had to stop! He is a nut. I love to watch him in nature because he really lets loose, and totally cracks me up. He is such a boy. Our kids, especially our boys, are so lucky to have a Dad that is going to help them experience nature. Because I can barely even go camping. The dirt makes me crazy!! Plus kids always have runny noses. I swear when my kids see dirt their noses just start running. Runny noses plus dirt is awesome. It becomes like plaster on the face that you have to scrape off! It just can't stand it. The Lord gave me three boys so that I would learn to love dirt, bugs, farts, burps, hitting, snot, spit, climbing, wrestling, and all those other lovely things.

Anyways, back to the subject!! We had a fantastic time together. I love when we get these times together as a family. All your cares are gone and you can just have fun. (And then you remember you have kids!! I really am just kidding. We had a blast.)

David, Come Home!!

So the love of my life has been out of town for almost 2 weeks with work. It has been the longest two weeks of my life. It is amazing how a person could miss someone so much. The other night Micah (our 3 year old) was talking to David and he said, "Daddy you have to come home from work it's bedtime." It totally was so cute, but broke my heart. I know babe that you probably will not read this, but I want everyone to know how much I love you. I do not know how I ever lived without you in my life. You are my everything. You are sooo good to me and are truly an amazing dad. Thanks for all your hard work for our family. You are "FABULOUS!!" WE LOVE YOU!

Congrats Whitlocks

Amy and Alex finally closed on their gorgeous new house. (I'll have to post some pictures when I get some.) I am so excited for them!! So we move on Saturday which is so exciting. I can't wait. I just wanted to tell them congrats and that they are the best. Thanks for letting us crowd in on your special occasion by moving with you. (Really if I was in your shoes that would kind of stink. You get your first house and surprise - your sister is living with you. You don't even get your own space to do whatever you want to with because your sister and her kids are taking up much needed space for your family. Amy you did not think that I could read your mind did you. Just kidding.) You are too good to us. And SO giving! What would we do without you. We are so blessed. They have really helped us through this adventure we decided to take. We have already been here in Vegas for 2 months. The time really has flown. Congrats again!!!