Viva Las Vegas!

Randall's cousin chose to get sealed in the Las Vegas Temple to her hubby. This event just happened to coincide with the NFR (that's National Finals Rodeo for all you non-rodeo fans). When we realized we could attend both, Randall immediately declared, "We're going!"

Randall's parents were generous and came to our house to stay with the 3 older kids. Ashlin was lucky enough to take a trip with mom and dad---- she's still nursing. I think she really enjoyed her one-on-one time!

While we were in Vegas we met up with some of Randall's co-workers for a steak dinner at Circus Circus' award-winning The Steakhouse.

And what would a trip to Vegas be without stopping at In 'n Out be? I don't do burger joints very often, but man does In n' Out have a good burger!

The NFR was really fun! We got in on one of the Finals Nights. We were too cheap to pay for regular tickets (over $100 a piece!) so we did what they call the "Mad Dash." You buy a ticket for $49 and then you go find an empty seat. If someone comes and has a ticket for that seat you have to move. We had Lettie and Wayne with us and managed to find 4 seats together, and we didn't have to move a single time! Plus, 2 other guys who had already moved twice came and sat buy us as well- that means there were 6 empty seats together! It was a little nerve-racking everytime someone came up looking for their seat, but all-in-all, it was fun and we saved ourselves a ton of money! Ashlin fell asleep about 40 minutes into the rodeo and stayed asleep the rest of the night. She was such a good traveler the whole trip. I think she enjoyed not having any of her siblings around to pick on her for a few days!


The Vegas temple is beautiful, and I'm so glad we were able to share that special day with Lettie and Wayne. We couldn't be happier for the two of them!

We took a drive up to Hoover Dam to see the bypass bridge (officially called the Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge). The last time we were in Vegas the bridge was still under construction. Wow! That thing is amazing!!!


I really wanted to go see a Cirque du Soleil show or The Lion King. Unfortunately, most of the shows were sold out and they also excluded infants- since we had Ashlin with us that automatically counted us out. So, we went to see Jabbawockeez. It was fun, and definitely kid-friendly, but it wasn't an amazing show by any means. Randall just reminded me that next time we are leaving ALL the kids home so we can be foot-loose and fancy free!

Finally- you cannot visit Las Vegas and not go see the Fountains at Bellagio! My favorite! They also had a really neat winter display up inside the Bellagio. These polar bears were made out of thousands of white carnations. Pretty cool, right!?

Happy Halloween 2011!

The kids had lots of fun this Halloween.  Cooper was Spider Man, Carson was Buzz Light Year, and Laine and Ashlin were the cutest bumble bees you've ever seen!  Our ward had  Ward Harvest Party and Trunk or Treat, complete with carnival games.  It was lots of fun, and the kids received WAY too much candy.  We also attended our community Pizza Party, where they had lots of pizza, loud music and dancing.  And what Halloween would be complete without some old fashioned trick-or-treating?  We only went to 5 houses and still came away with a bucket full of candy.

Carson's Frankenstein jack-o-lantern

Cooper's scary jack-o-lantern

Lainee's sweet pumpkin

ToysRus Wishbook

The kids were looking at the new ToysRus Big Toy Book that came in the mail, trying to decide what they want for Christmas. Lainee was looking at a doll and asked me, "Mom, do you think Santa can help me get this little girl doll out of this book?"

Oh... My little Lainee bug... She's such a cutie pie!

Grape Juice Galore!

A very kind lady in our ward dropped off 2 large bushels of grapes and her juicers.  Having never made grape juice before, it was a bit of trial and error.  The first 2 jars I tried to fill led to a purple kitchen.  I had grape juice everywhere!!!  After that I came up with a better method to avoid getting burned  by the boiling hot grape juice, and ended up with 60 jars of delicious grape juice.  Here's to purple smiles!

A trip to Southeastern Idaho for Spud Harvest

Fall just wouldn't be complete without a trip home for spud harvest!  This year we almost didn't make it.  The kids asked me everyday for weeks when we were going, so we finally slipped away for a quick trip.  The kids always love riding in the tractors and picking up potatoes.

Carson's 1st day of Preschool

Carson has been waiting for his first day of preschool for over a year now!

He was so excited and kept asking if it was his day yet.
His teacher is Mrs. Draper
There are 20 kids in his class, and more are still being added (How did my boys end up in the large classes?)

I'll be volunteering in his classroom as often as possible, but when I'm not, it will be nice to have some girl time while the boys are both at school!

Cooper's first day of 1st grade!

I can't believe Cooper is old enough for 1st grade!

Last Tuesday was supposed to be Cooper's first day, but since we went with Randall on a work trip to Oregon, he missed the first two days and didn't start until Thursday, August 25th.

His teacher is Mrs. Goodman
He'll tell you he doesn't like school, but he really does. He's a quick learner and does really well in school.
He has a large class (I think there are 29 kids in his class! Compare that to the class underneath him- only 15 kids.)

They changed the bus routes this year, and I have to say- I don't really like them that much. Last year the bus came super early in the morning- 6:40 am. So, I just took Cooper to school every morning. Then he rode the bus home. He was the 2nd stop in the afternoon, so he was only on the bus for about 10 minutes.

Now, the bus comes at 7:20 am, but he rides a different but in the afternoon and doesn't get home until 5:10 pm! Crazy! So, I'm trying to get him up and ready so he can ride the bus in the mornings, but I'll probably end up driving him in on the days Carson has preschool. And there is no way I'm letting him ride the bus for that long in the afternoon, so I'll be picking him up from school as well. So, on days that Carson has preschool, this is what my day looks like:

7:55 am: Drop boys off at school
11:50 am: Pick Carson up from preschool
3:50 pm: Pick Cooper up from school

I don't know how I'm going to get anything done this school year!

A trip to Grandma's

While Randall was in China for work, the kids and I ventured over to stay with my mom and dad. The kids had fun playing with cousins and aunt Shalani, and it made the time pass quickly. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, because Randall took my little camera with him, and I forgot to take our other camera.

Some fun things we did while we were there:
Visited my friend Emily and her kids
Went to the zoo for cousin Abby's birthday
Played with all the Raymond cousins at Jera's house
Went to the Terreton fair parade and Abby's birthday party
Picked raspberries at Great-grandma Wilcox's house and met her "new pet"- 'Henny Penny'
Ok. I have to explain that last one. My grandma is 90 years old, and she looks amazing! She still gets out and about, takes care of her garden, etc. Anyway, a chicken randomly took up residence at her house. She says she doesn't like it 'cause it makes a mess in her garage, but she lets it follow her around the yard and calls for it, "Come here Henny Penny." It's pretty funny. She has been adamate that she doesn't want a dog or cat to keep her company, so everyone teases her that she has a pet chicken now.

While we were picking raspberries Cooper said, "Mom, these raspberries need to shave, because they have whiskers." I couldn't stop laughing!

Anyway, we had a fun week and I'm glad we were able to see so many of our family and friends during our visit!

My husband, the world traveler

Randall had an opportunity to go to China for work. Of course, this work trip just happened to fall on our anniversary. This is the 4th year in a row that Randall has been out of town for our anniversary, so every year that we have lived here. Don't worry, though... I'm saving up for something big!!!

It was a great opportunity of Randall. He learned a lot about the Chinese culture and was able to do a bit of sight-seeing as well. And, he was totally spoiled. He was able to take the corporate jet from Boise to San Francisco, then he flew first-class on a non-stop flight from San Francisco to Beijing. Totally the way to travel, if you ask me. (Not that I would really know...)

Randall's hotel room

My kids' gifts from China

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A typical dinner meeting

Remember the olympics?  Here's the Bird's Nest!

A Chinese Dairy

I think they need some updated farm equipment

The Great Wall.  And that is smog making the picture blury.  Randall said it was smoggy everywhere!  So much pollution that there was only one day that he was able to see the sun.

6 months!!!

Today Ashlin is 6 months old. I have no idea where the past 6 months went, but one thing is certain... my baby girl is growing up. I'm not sure I like it!

She has 2 bottom teeth now. She smiles, giggles, rolls over, makes the cutest little noises, constantly sticks her tongue out and rubs it on her new little teeth. She shakes her head, sleeps through the night most nights, won't take a bottle anymore- (yep- she is very spoiled), but she is the happiest most content baby ever! Randall had some meetings in San Diego last weekend and we took Ashlin with us. She was the star of the conference. She was so cheerful and easy going- aside from everyone wanting to be near the adorable baby girl, you wouldn't have known she was even there most of the time. She even slept for most of the time on all 4 of our flights. When we were getting ready for take-off on one of our flights, she started smiling and bouncing up and down when they revved up the plane engines. It was so funny and cute!

Today is also Randall's birthday. He is 33 today! Unfortunately we didn't get to spend it with him, but we're going to celebrate it this weekend. Randall is the best husband and father, and I am so grateful to be married to such a wonderful man. He works so hard to provide for our family, and he always puts forth his best effort in everything he does. The kids all adore him and literally fight over whose turn it is to go with him for some one-on-one time.
Happy Birthday Randall!!! We love you.

Look who has her first tooth!!!

For weeks now Ashlin has been chewing on her fingers incessantly. She has also developed a fondness of sticking her little tongue out--- it's pretty darn cute!

Well, last night I checked for a bottom tooth again, and lo and behold, there it was! I can't believe my little 5 1/2 month old baby girl has her first tooth. Now here's to hoping she's not a biter like her older brother Cooper was. So far he has been the only one to really bite me while nursing, and I certainly hope he was the last!

Pretty little girls!!!

My friend Trina took these pics for me about a month ago.  I feel really bad that Ashlin was 4 1/2 months old before I had any professional photos taken of her.  But Ashlin is adorable!  And so is Lainee.  I'm not sure they look that much alike other than they have the same cheeks, and they make a lot of the same facial expressions.  One thing is for sure... I sure do love my little girls!

And of course, we just HAD to have "pretty toes" for the picture! Whenever Lainee puts sandals on she inspects her toes, and if they're not painted pretty pink she yells, "My toes are not pretty, mommy! We have to fix my toes!"