Christmas Ornaments & Nativity

This year I got the kids ornaments in Vegas while we were at the M & M store. I couldn't believe I found all their favorite colors. It wasn't until I got them home and really looked at them that I realized they were for babies. Oh well! I was trying to be sneaky and not let them know I was doing it. I thought they would be a great reminder of our vacation. These are Nathan and CJ's. Ann's is blue.

Here is my new nativity this year. Very simple, but pretty I thought.

Christmas Day

Traditional picture of the kids coming into the room on Christmas morning. I know that they are getting big, but can't seem to stop.
Santa Clause brought both of the boys mountain bikes this year. Ann wanted one too, so Thomas and Jer and we both went in and got her a purple mountain bike. Nathan's is red and CJ's grey. They were really surprised I think.
CJ had given us a list of several things that he wanted, but Nathan kept saying that he didn't want anything. Nathan lost his DS on the trip to Virginia last year. I finally suggested that we get him another one. Chris thought that he had grown out of that stage, but didn't have any other ideas. Nathan played on it all day and seemed to love it. Score! I love it when that happens. We were glad that it wasn't a dud gift.
Shadow got a bone, which he chewed on all day and took everywhere with him in the house. I guess he was afraid we would take it away.
This is what the living room looks like on Christmas Day. Other than picking up the paper, no one has to put anything away. One of my gifts to my family.

Christmas Eve

Our annual Christmas Eve dinner is starting to be Chinese food. A little different, but the food is good.

Each year on Christmas Eve we drive around and look at the lights. Last year we found the best house in town. It is out in Bloomington Hills. They go all out. My friend at work says that they add something new each year.

Although we are commanded in the scriptures not to covet. I would love to have the nativity that they have in their front yard. It is almost life size and the pieces are beautiful. I wonder where they got it.

This was on the hill going out to Bloomington. It was new this year, and quite cool. Out in the middle of an open area, it had a little of the feeling of Bethlehem.

Thanksgiving Day

When I got up this morning mom and Chris were already in the living room. They said that they had been watching the leaves fall off the trees across the street at Smith's. Yesterday was shirt sleeve weather. When I got up at 8am it was 20 degrees.

I got bundled up and went out to take pictures. I found some frost designs on a couple of cars that I thought were really cool looking.

Came back in and started our Thanksgiving meal. Many things to be thankful for this year. Grateful for our home and jobs. Grateful for the gospel and our family. Although from the expressions in this picture, not very grateful for a picture taking mother!

Here are pictures of the back porch and driveway. I don't think that the guys were real grateful for the falling leaves today either. :)

Here are the trees across the street almost barren at the end of the day.

Pardoned Turkey

Mom and I were in the living room this afternoon putting a puzzle together when CJ came running in. He said "Mom, get your camera and come outside. The Andrus' have a turkey in their yard.". I replied "What". He said, "They have a live turkey in their yard.

I got my camera and went next door. Sure enough in the back yard surrounded by playing kids was a hugh turkey walking around. A took a few pictures and started to go home. One of their married daughters drove up. I asked her about the turkey. One of her siblings had bought it for dinner, but no one had the heart to kill it. They are going to donate it to a farm after Thanksgiving. I wouldn't be able to either, but it made a great photo shoot for the holiday.

Halloween

We were all party poppers this year. None of us wanted to dress up except Nathan. He decided to go as a nerd. He looked the part perfectly, except not having a pocket protector.

He borrowed the plastic glasses from a friend and put masking tape on them. The shirt was his from last year. Best of all, those jeans were a pair if his old size 12's. They still fit his waist, but were perfect high waters for the costume.

Nathan's Birthday

Today was Nathan's 15th birthday. He asked for a strawberry cake with strawberry frosting. I baked it in a bunt pan and added extra strawberries. It held together for a while and then fell apart. It must have added too much moisture. The guys loved it though. May not be pretty, but still tastes good.

Fresh Peach Pie

One of the girls at SkyWest offered fresh picked peaches to those who wanted to buy them. Her Father-in-Law owns an orchard out in Hurricane. A box was $22.00. It is about 50 peaches.

I got my box today. He picked them off the trees this morning. They are perfectly ripe and sweet. I am going to use the large majority in making peach freezer jam, but couldn't resist making a fresh peach pie. Top with whipped cream and you have a small piece of heaven.

County Fair

Went to the county fair today. My favorite part is the art and home art displays. The guys all like the vendor booths.

We went to the art exhibit first. This was one of my favorites. I thought the woodworking on this was amazing. Beautiful piece.

This was my second favorite photography entry. Simple but beautiful. I want to enter one of my photos next year.

In between the art building and the food building they had stilts for the kids to try. Nathan got up and took a couple of steps. Definitely something you have to practice for.

Skimboarding

The Teachers went skimboarding tonight for a YMs activity. Neither one of them had ever done it. Their fearless leader had to be first.

Here is Nathan on one of his first tries. Losing your balance is easy.

Here is a better try.

All of these good looking guys before going home.

Goodbye

This morning we got up and got dressed. We checked out of the hotel. We went down to the atrium and looked around and took pictures. We had someone nearby take a family picture of all of us. We headed for our cars. It was really hard to say goodbye to Ann. We don't see her enough and we had such a good tome this weekend.

Dinner and a Movie

We decided to go for a walk after dinner. We walked around an inside mall. They had the coolest water feature. It looked like a pier with warred around it. About every 20 min a storm would come up and it would rain. Cool!

Went by Baskin Robbins and we all got ice cream. Yummy!

Back at the hotel we sat and watched the fountain and light show for about an hour. It is so amazing. We ended the evening with a movie. "Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief".

Yolo's

We debated for a while tonight what to do for dinner, keeping in mind that we were walking. We finally decided on Mexican food. Across the street, in Planet Hollywood, was a restaurant called Yolo's. We decided to try it.

We started out with chips and salsa which was good. Loved that. After looking at the menu we realized that they were more of a fancy California Mexican. Chris and the kids all ordered enchiladas with rice and beans.

I got fish tacos with a mango salsa. They said the enchiladas were okay, but not like home. However, the tacos were fantastic. Ann tried them and liked them more than her dinner.

Life's Irony

Chris and I had to laugh. We got back to the hotel and all three of the kids crashed like they were exhausted. We were the ones still awake and ready to go some more. Who's old???

BLT Burger

On the way out of the Mirage we stopped at BLT Burger. It was some of the most expensive burgers we have ever had, but they were good. Takes the idea of a gourmet burger to a new level. Nathan tried the chili and really liked it.

Mirage Hotel

About midmorning we ended up at the Mirage Hotel. We spent several hours going to the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. We watched the dolphins swim and tried to get pictures. We also watched the trainers work with them for a while.

We went to the Secret Garden which is a zoo for all the large cats. Unfortunately they were all sleeping. Too hot to move in July heat.

Vegas Strip Exploration

We got up Friday morning and walked down to the Excaliber for their breakfast buffet.After breakfast Chris needed sunglasses. He had lost his a couple of days ago. Nathan didn't bring any and Ann found a cute pair for her. CJ said he was fine. We had to take a picture of all of us stylin...

We had planned on walking back down the strip and just be tourist. This is in front of theMGM.
After four takes we finally got a picture of us together with my eyes open. It was really bright outside.

One of the first stops was the M&M store. The boys had never been there. Unfortunately they were remodling the theater so we couldn't watch a movie.

Chris and Ann had to pose in front with the red...

The next stop was the Coke a Cola store. They have remodled it since we were in there last and got rid of the big white polar bear. We wanted to have our picture taken. Oh well. Hit the t-shirt and hat shops. CJ had only brought one shirt, so we wanted to get him another one. Chris always gets a hat when we go anywhere. He was looking at a Las Vegas one and then found one that said "No Pain, No Gain". We all outvoted him and told him that was the perfect one for him.

Went to the other side of the street and went past Ceasar's Palace. There was this little shrine in front. I thought it was kind of pretty.

Here is a statue of Ceasar in front. (I realized after I got home that I had a large smudge on my camera lens. Blast!)

This fountain was inbetween Ceasar's Place and the Mirage. Really pretty.