Park Field Trip

Ashton is a very lucky boy and attends a fantastic preschool. Ashton goes to school four days a week and he just loves his teachers and his class. At least once a month they have a parent workshop. We come to school on Friday with our kids and get to do an activity with them. We have had workshops on reading, crafts, and writing. Last month we took our first field trip, we met at Floyd Lamb Park. This park has a huge duck pond, walking trails, picnic tables, and lots of land to explore. We went on an exploration walk and then had lunch. They played a few games and made bird feeders. We spent several hours at the park and had a lot of fun. I have been so impressed with the program he is in. Ashton is learning so much and just LOVES school. I hope he always feels this way :). I love these workshops and have learned so much myself.

I just have to say that I have the two cutest kids there. Ashton is also getting really good at taking pictures and he loves to take pictures of Kaylynn and I. He is getting pretty good.

Bonnie Springs Ranch

One of Aaron and mines favorite shows is called Ghost Adventurers. These guys are from Vegas so they investigate a lot of places in Nevada. One of these places was here in town and is called Bonnie Springs Ranch. It's an old western town with a train ride and petting zoo. It actually looked like a lot of fun so we decided to take the kids the following weekend.

When we were pulling up to the town we were greeted by a bunch of wild donkeys. They were really friendly and would come right up to your car. We rolled down our windows and they stuck there heads inside our car. They really liked the goldfish we had. Once inside the town we had a lot of fun and no we didn't see any ghosts!

The best part was the train, we probably rode on it at least 20 times. We walked through the town and watched a few of the reenactments. There was lots of land to walk around and quit a few animals to see too. It was a really fun afternoon and Ashton can't wait to go back. A lot of the buildings were closed for renovations, so we will definitely be back to see the rest of the town. Ashton loved the train so we would go back just to ride the train around for an hour. Who would of thought even after almost 2 years in Vegas we are still finding new and fun things to do as a family.

Marine Corps Ball

This past January, Aaron and I had a wonderful opportunity to attend the Marine Corps Ball with our friends Vinny and Heather. Their ball was held in Vegas so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go out with our friends. It was a wonderful evening, although I have a whole new appreciation to the women who used to wear ball gowns all the time! We had to do a lot of standing and sitting during the ceremony and with my puffy dress it made it interesting :). I really enjoyed their program because they showed all the uniforms through the years and talked about each war. We were served a pretty good dinner and then it was time for dancing. We had a lot of fun and we have to thank Travis and Jaclyn for babysitting our kids so that we could go. Thank you thank you. It was fun to get dressed up and we loved being able to spend some time with our friends.

Snow in Vegas

This winter, other than being cold and windy, has seemed pretty mild. It was really exciting to wake up one morning and look outside and see snow! I thought there is no way it can stick because it wasn't cold enough, but to my surprise it did. It snowed for about an hour and built up enough that we had white roof tops and white grass. Once the snow stopped it melted within an hour, but we still had snow at our house. Ashton thought it was pretty cool and Kaylynn loves anything that makes her brother happy. It was fun to talk about the snow with Ashton and show him what it was. Here are some pictures I took of our backyard. I wish the snow would have lasted longer, but we are always thankful for the little pleasures in life. I'm sure I would be singing a different tune if I actually lived in the snow, but for now its fun to see.

Happy New Year

I can not believe how fast this last has gone. 2010 was a year filled with lots of fun, laughter, and wonderful memories. After spending a week in California for Christmas, we decided it was time to get home and prepare for the new year.


Once you have kids, New Year's Eve gets tricky because you never know if you should let them stay up or just put them to bed. Krystle found a fun event for the kids during the day. The local library was having reading time and a countdown to 12 to celebrate New Years Eve. It sounded like fun so we got the kids ready and met at the library. Well we didn't know you had to sign up and it was full so we decided to take the kids to Chucky Cheese to play. The kids had a blast and it was a great way to start the festivities.


For the evening we thought it would be fun to have a little family party at our house. Krystle, Dan, and Luke were our guests of honor. We let the kids play for a little while and then we put them to bed. Then it was time for Game Night. We played clue and life. Surprisingly we barely finished playing life in time for the countdown. We went out our front door and had perfect seats for the fireworks. We could see all the shows and despite the cold it was an awesome sight. There is no better way to bring in the new year than with apple cider and the ones you love. It was a really fun day and a great way to start the new year. Here's to 2011, may it be even better than the last.

Christmas

Ok it is way beyond time to get caught up. This year has already been filled with so many fun things that its time to get them posted. In the next few weeks I will be getting caught up so I can get back to my weekly blogging.

My last post for 2010 is of course Christmas. Everyone knows this is my favorite holiday of the year. This is because there are so many parties and its the one time of year I get to see the most family. Our festivities began with our church's breakfast with Santa. Aaron was gone on a business trip, so the kids and I decided to go get some pancakes and see Santa Clause. I had been talking to Ashton about Santa and was curious to see how he would react when he saw him. The food was yummy and then it was time to meet Santa. Ashton got in the back of the line and kept scooting back till her was practically last. Finally he went up and sat on his lap. He didn't say much, but at least he didn't freak out when he saw him. Next year we will have to go see the Santa at the mall.

The next day after the ward party, we had our ward Christmas Program. Our program was entirely musically and this year I was able to participate. I sang in two small groups (one of which I organized) as well as sang in the choir. It was so much fun to sing again. It was a fantastic program and a great way to remind us why we celebrate Christmas.

Our next celebration was exchanging presents with Luke, Ashton, and Kaylynn. The kids all loved their toys and it was fun to watch them play with each one. The boys wanted Kaylynns' toys and Kaylynn wanted theirs. It was fun to visit with Dan and Krystle and to watch the kids play. After this it was straight to San Diego to spend Christmas with my family. This is a multiple day event as well. Trina and the kids came down to play before the Seymour Christmas party. My mom bought ginger bread kits for all the kids and they thought that was really cool.

Then we had our two dinner parties, one with the Seymour family and annual Christmas Eve dinner. I love seeing everyone, visiting, and catching up. Present exchanging is just a perk of the season. One of our favorite parts is the nativity play that the kids put on. Kaylynn was the cutest baby Jesus ever! She was really good, just sat there smiling at everyone trying to figure out how to crawl out of the cradle.

Then came Christmas day. I love watching everyone open presents. The kids were so fun to watch. Kaylynn could really care less about presents and just wanted to eat all the wrapping paper! Although she did love her toys. Ashton had so much fun opening everything and playing. My children didn't need any more toys, but they LOVED getting new ones. I had a very wonderful Christmas as I got the Silhouette Machine. Now I can finally do my own Vinyl. I have had so much fun with it! Thank you Aaron for getting me exactly what I wanted. I got lots of wonderful presents and am thankful to our all families for a wonderful Christmas, even the ones we weren't able to spend it with. Its a wonderful time of year full of love and giving and that is why its my favorite time of year.