Sneak Peek of the House

We have had several people request some pictures of our new house...so here is just a few of the rooms -a sneak peek if you will..until you come and see it in person!!!  We are still working on getting everything put away and situated, but we love it here. We are so happy.  Laura is having a great time decorating, rearranging, and redecorating and rearranging!!  Happy times.

Sweet Surprise

When we first moved in, there was a small little plant by the front door that was about to die...and didn't think much of it. Well, it had a growth spurt and started to fourish...we figured it just needed a little love to start itself going. Well, after a few weeks...some cute yellow flowers appeared on the plant...oh, that is cute we thought!! And then...waa laa, low and behold - WATERMELON started to grow...we have one rather large one, one medium size one, and several small ones just starting. We are thrilled...our very own little watermelon plant! Who knew?

Sleepin' on the Trampoline...

The boys had a night out in the backyard...and they loved it.  They asked Laura and Aparri to join them, but they preferred their beds!!  So, it was just the men on this campout!  They had such a great time, they want to sleep out there everynight!  Poor Clay, said he didn't get very good sleep (the boys were up for this and that all night) so Clay wasn't too excited to do it every night...but maybe every other night - one good night sleep inbetween!!!

The Las Vegas Wards

We are enjoying our warm FALL weather!!!  Swimming in the pool in October!!!!  Wow.

Exploration on Mr. Charleston

Clay got home!!!Yipee... So to celebrate, we went exploring to Mt. Charleston.  Preston  kept saying that he wanted to hike a mountain, so off we went in search of the mountain. We found a hike called Mary Jane Falls and decided to take it.  Well, when we left Las Vegas it was in the 90s, so we didn't think much about jackets, pants, etc.  Well, when we got to the base of the hike, it was a little chilly...60-70s probably with a little bit of a breeze, but we thought..we will warm up as we hike...and we did (for a while)...the kids started to loose interest up the hill, and we decided we would give it 5 more minutes....well, after 5 minutes, the kids got excited because they started to hear the waterfall...and then they were the ones that wanted to keep going...so up..up...up this mountain we climbed.  We finally reach the falls...(which is small, but the rock cavern was incredible and it really was a neat place...but we unfortunately were there at the wrong time....as we took Aparri out of the pack...she was sooo cold she was shaking...we hugged her and tried to warm her up.  The boys explored for about 5 minutes before the rain started to fall..yes, rain...just a little at first, and then a lot....we were on top of this mountain - with no trees for shelter, no jackets to keep us dry, very little food, and getting colder by the minute....we we start our descend as quickly as possible....but Preston starts crying because he is now tired, cold and wet and doesn't want to walk any more...his crying started as a whimper and then became down right hysterical screams, which lead to Aparri starting to cry, or scream too, and then last but not least...yes, even CJ joins in.  Well, Clay and Laura are now looking at each other and in a moment such as this..you can either laugh or cry...there is no other options....well, we chose to laugh...but that didn't go over very well with the children...they got made at us!  We tried to explain to them that they would laugh at this someday too, just not right now and they were convinced that was NOT TRUE...Well, long story short...we made it down the mountain (several hikers took pity on us and gave us their shirts and jackets to shield the kids...what nice people) and the kids have sworn never to go back to THAT mountain again...but I think we will!!  Time is a great healer!  Oh...welcome home honey!! PS...Laura really wanted to take a picture of the wet crying clan at the bottom...because it was such a funny picture...but it was literally dumping rain and the kids were not about to have it.....so, try and create a picture in your head...it is probably pretty accurate!

1st Day of School 2011-2012

The first day of school was a little rough...a lot of new changes; not knowing anyone; new school; etc.  But, both CJ and Preston were brave boys and did a great job!!!  We are excited for the new year.

Toothless Wonder

CJ just keeps loosing teeth!!!  First one, then another and then yet another.... he has several large holes - but we can already see those front teeth coming in...it won't be long.

Kids Entertaining themselves

 While Laura continues to unpack the house, the kids play in the backyard and create their own entertainment...here are a few random shots of the kids "play"......since it is so hot here in Vegas, the hose is a common source of playtime fun!!  We also take frequent visits to the pool....

 Don't worry...I know this looks bad, but it is just blackberry juice....he ate a whole pack of blackberries when Laura wasn't looking.....and made quite the mess with them too.

Taking a Break and Eating Chocolate

 Laura and the kids took a much needed break from unpacking the house and visited the Ethel Chocolate Factory in Vegas.  The kids had just watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, so when Laura mentioned going to a chocolate factory the kids were extremely excited...now, the factory here in Vegas is interesting and all - and they did give us a taste of chocolate in the end - but the kids were highly disappointed....it was definitely not "Willy Wonka's factory" but outside we did find a neat cactus garden!!  The kids LOVE to point out cactus everywhere - on the side of the road, in people's yard, on tv, by the freeway, etc. therefore the garden was a hit.  On the way home, we found a McDonalds - disappointment solved...it's amazing what those golden arches can do! 

 The kids were more interested in watching the "making chocolate" video tutorial that way playing on the wall then saying "cheese" and looking at the camera....I tried several times to get a shot, and then just gave up!

Killin' Trees

Moving boxes & paper, EVERYWHERE...I wish we would have taken pictures of all the boxes and paper...it was ridiculous....but unfortunately, we didn't.  The kids favorite daily play time was when they took the paper and made a huge mountain in the hallway.  It was huge - we couldn't even walk down there....wow.  I think we killed a lot of trees today.....

Favorite Park in Utah Co.

 We stopped in American Fork on our way down to Las Vegas.  During our visit, we went to our favorite park!! It has a great little "river" that runs through it that the kids can play, splash, dance, etc. with a waterfall to watch on the end; plus a fountain that is perfect for running through and getting wet.  The kids had a great time splashing around with the cousins.