A year ago today

It's so hard to believe that it has only been a year since we left Utah! It seems so much longer to me. Maybe its because we have had two major moves to two different States, two different schools, two different jobs and we have left really great friends twice, and I had the biggest scare of my life in April......and I'm still not settled. Even though we will be staying in this area we are going to be moving houses. I'm dreading the move but I really can NOT wait!  We are all beyond sick of this apartment.

The only thing that is keeping me going is knowing Christmas is right around the corner. I am soooo excited this year. We have some really fun things planned and I just know Santa is going to pull through again this year.

So here's to me. I have survived this last year and actually have really enjoyed (most of) it!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was very different for us this year. Tyler had to work so he didn't get to spend the day with us. My Parents stayed home with Shane and we didn't go with Tyler's family because there again, Tyler had to work.

Thank goodness I have Family close by. My Cousins invited us to spend Thanksgiving with them. The Kids and I went over early afternoon and spent our time visiting and playing. We had a delicious dinner and the kids played non-stop. Shayna even fell asleep on the way home!

Tyler was able to show up at 5:30! He got to eat and visit for a bit. Unfortunately we had to leave early. We needed to get home and get things done so Tyler could work the next day. He had to get up VERY early.

All things considered we had a great time! I am so thankful for my family. Thanks again for being there for us.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Surprise visit!!

My Parents had called me a few days earlier to say that they were thinking about coming for a weekend visit. I really didn't think it would happen but they called me Friday morning to say they were on their way!! They got here in time to have some dinner and go to Shay's swimming practice. They have not seen her swim with the team yet so it was a lot of fun to go watch her. Tyler had to work out of town this weekend so the only time we all got to see him was Friday night. He left at 5:00 AM Saturday morning. Saturday morning Britton had a soccer game. It was a great game, the boys played so well and ended up winning 6-0. Britton got 1 goal and his second goal they called off sides :( Uncle Ron, Aunt Vicky, Rhonda and John all got to come to the game as well. Britton thought it was pretty cool to have so much support!! After the game we all went out to eat at the Cracked Egg. It was SOOO good! Afterwards we spent the day at Rhonda's house visiting.

Sunday we got up and my Parents decided to stay for one more day!!! YEAH! The kids have been wanting to show my parents their favorite park. It was super windy on this day but it was warm so we played at the park for a while. My Mom got me and Dad laughing so hard. She got super dizzy on this little toy and ended up jumping on top of it to quit spinning. When she got off she couldn't even walk. I was laughing so hard I was crying.......

When we were done at the park we went to lunch at subway then headed to lake mead to let the kids play in the water! The kids LOVE lake Mead. We will probably go back this weekend!

When we got home we made a delicious dinner then got the kids ready for school the next day. It was a great visit and we all had so much fun. I can't wait until we can do it again!

Adventuredome at Circus Circus!

We had such a fun weekend. It was very busy. But FUN!!
Friday was a swim meet for the BCH Swim team. Shayna is going to be doing a swim meet in December so we wanted to take her to one to see what it was all about. I am so excited to see her race. I know she will do really well. She had a lot of fun watching it  and it got her really excited. She is still loving swimming. Even though it has gotten pretty cold at night. They swim year round outside here. CrAzY!
Saturday Britton's friend Rylie was here from Utah. They came for his older brother's lacrosse tournament. Rylie's Mom gave me a call and told me they were coming so we planned a fun day for the kids. We went and picked up Rylie and took them to the Adventuredome at Circus Circus.

I still can not believe that these two are the same age. It makes me laugh every time!

 We told Shayna that she could invite a friend too. Her Dad brought her a little later then we got there. We got there pretty early and we were basically the only ones there for a while. We got to ride a lot of the rides by ourselves. It was AWESOME!

 Tyler was Shay's partner until her friend got there. I think he was kind of sad when Salena showed up. He was having fun!

I probably shouldn't allow anybody to see this next picture but I have to prove that I was there and I did go on the rides.

It was such a fun day! I'm glad that we were able to take the kids. It was great for Rylie and Britton to get to hang out again and it was such a good thing for Shay. Her and Salena are even better friends now and we know her family now. I hope that we can always keep in touch with our Utah friends. They really are amazing kids!!
Sunday we took the kids to the swimming pool so Shayna could practice. She is really working on her dive now. She is going to do great next month. I can't wait!

Swim Team

I'm taking a moment to brag. But how could I not. I'm just so proud.
So Shayna started with the swim team. She has been to a total of two practices. Yesterday was her second practice and the coach was having them do the sea-saw. Which is basically the dolphin kick. Anyway, the coach looked at Shayna and said you stay in the water, everyone else out. He made the whole team sit out of the water and watch Shayna do the sea-saw the length of the pool. Then he said this girl has been here for one practice and she is already better then all of you.
When she got out of the pool after practice she told me she was scared when the coach told her to stay in the water. She thought she was in trouble until he explained what he wanted her to do......poor girl was petrified but it turned out good.

Good job Shay. We are so proud of you and we LOVE watching you swim!!

Build a Bear

Both of the kids were invited to a Birthday Party at Build a Bear. It was for Shayna's friend but her brother and Britton are good friends so they asked him to come along.
Shayna picked out a rabbit and named it Pumpkin.
Britton picked out a bear and named in John.......Yah.......I don't know??

HaPpY HaLlOwEeN!

Halloween was a little difficult for the kids this year. This is the first year that we have been without Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Shane. The kids were pretty sad about it. I had plans to take them to the District for a fun Halloween carnival and trick or treating but Tyler had to work and they didn't want to go without him so they decided to wait and go trick-or-treating when he got home.

They were pretty bored waiting for Dad to get home. Thank goodness they had a goody bag from Diane to keep them occupied for a bit. A couple of weeks ago we went to my Cousins house so that I could borrow a dress for Halloween. As we were leaving Diane gave them each a goody bag, but they had to wait until Halloween to open it. It was full of candy of course. And of course they LOVED it!!

 

Shayna was a Zombi this year and I think she played the part well.

Zombi

And Britton was the dark phantom. He did a good job in his role as well. They were both pretty creepy!

Dark Phantom

 

 

 

 

I'm glad we waited for Tyler to get home and go with us. We went to a local neighborhood and it turned out to be so much fun. The weather was absolutely perfect, I actually dressed the kids too warm, they were dying of heat. OOPS! 

Even though the kids were sad at first it turned out to be a great Halloween!

Halloween Party in AZ

Every year our friends in Arizona have a HUGE Halloween party. It is during their Daughters Birthday so they combine the two and it is amazing. They have a haunted maze and a haunted theater.

This is part of the haunted maze

 

This is just a few of the kids that were there. Shayna is in the middle next to the girl in pink. Britton wanted to hang out with his friend so we dropped him off and he didn't come to the party until I picked him up at 9:00 that night. 

Tyler dressed up as a vampire and I was his victim. All of our costumes were awesome this year but I didn't get any pictures. I am so upset now but at the time I didn't want to worry about it. I was just having so much fun seeing everybody again.

Thank you Evie and Louis for inviting us. You guys are amazing, we had so much fun and can't wait for next year!!

Parent/Teacher Conference

On October 24th we went to Parent/Teacher conference for both of the kids. They are doing unbelievably good at this new school.

Shayna has really surprised me. She is doing so good. She loves to go to school, she has great classmates and her Teacher is AWESOME!! This is the first year that we have not had problems with getting Shay to go to school. Her grades are perfect and her Teacher is even getting ready to test her for G.A.T.E. It stands for Gifted And Talented Education. If she passes the test she will be leaving the classroom for a certain amount of time and going into another classroom for higher education. I couldn't be more proud. What an INCREDIBLE little girl I have.

Britton is of course doing really well. He has made some great friends and also has an AMAZING Teacher. His grades are outstanding and his Teacher uses him as a helper if she is busy and someone is struggling with something. Brittons Teacher said that if he wasn't new to the school and in 5th Grade he would be in G.A.T.E. The reason that matters is because he would need to be tested and he wouldn't actually get started with G.A.T.E until the middle of the school year. And since he will be going into middle school next year there isn't much he would do with G.A.T.E. so she has set him and a few other students up in a group and everyday they work on something above and beyond what the classroom is doing. I am so grateful for this because he isn't getting bored with work and he is getting the higher education that he needs.

Good job kiddos. We are so proud of you!!

Shayna's Teeth

Shayna just lost tooth number 5.

She is growing up so fast. I can't even believe it!
We just recently went to the Dentist and she is the only one in the family with no cavities. She has never had one. I hope she can keep up the good work.