Vegas Baby!

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to take a girls trip to Vegas with friends from my Provo Ward.  It was so fun and nice to get away for a little bit!!  My friend Laura and I were the only ones coming from Utah so we rode together to meet up with everyone there.

 Doug was amazing and watched everyone while I played.  I got these snapchats from him one morning. 

 He cracks me up.  We didn't really do much down there.  The first day we slept in, worked out, relaxed in the pool and hot tub for a long time and then finally decided to get some lunch around 3.  There was a Shake Shack in New York New York that I was excited about.  It was yummy!

 Here's another snap I got while I was away.

 We did a little bit of shopping and

 and then headed to the Monte Carlo to see Blue Man Group

 They all kept making fun of me for trying to take a picture looking like them.

 The show was bizarrely awesome.  It was pretty lively and entertaining and then it was totally wild at the end.  This was before the show.

 And here's during part of it

 And then at the end they dropped these huge balls from the ceiling.  They were probably 8 feet across.  They were like giant beach balls that we passed back and forth. They kept changing color and there were streamers and confetti flying everywhere too.  It was nuts but pretty fun.

After that we walked down to Carlo's Bakery in the Venetian and had a delicious cream filled lobster tail thing. 

 Then we had dinner and walked through the Bellagio on our way back to the hotel.  The display in the conservatory was amazing!! It was all Chinese New Year and was awesome.  The night before we walked through and there was hardly any of it up.  It was amazing to see it completely finished the next day!! I really wonder if they worked all night long. 

This little person was made entirely of mums and carnations.  Amazing.

 We couldn't figure out what the goats were all about and then we realized it's the year of the goat!  So we had to take a picture of the moms with the kids.  Hahaha...

 The next day we slept in again and then went to Into the Woods.  The theater we went to had recliners for all the seats.  It was amazing!! I don't think I can go to a regular theater again.  JK.

 Last pictures before leaving the hotel.

 It was seriously such a fun trip and I'm sooooooo thankful to Doug for letting me go! It was definitely something I needed and that I'll appreciate for a long time!!!

The Latest with the Kids

A few Sundays ago Lilly went to the Stake Baptism Preview and came home with this huge cookie.  She was pretty excited about it.

 This is the latest and greatest from her school work too. 

 Lewis has been expressing his artistic side on the furniture lately....

 A few weeks ago I went on a girls trip with some friends from my Provo ward. The girls built a snowman while I was gone.  I'm not sure if it's supposed to be me or not.

And apparently there was a wardrobe change.

 They have been really into dress ups and making their own costumes lately too. 

 Love this little man. But boy did he need a haircut.  And boy did I need to clean my house!

 Doug sent me this one a little bit ago.  I love those little legs!

My brother-in-laws grandma passed away last week so my sister came to town for the funeral.  It was sooooo fun to see her!! We went to lunch, the movies 

 and Zumba!! I miss having my sisters close!!

Lilly and Sophia had fun with the split pic app again...

 Last Friday there was no school for a teacher work day.  We went to the Orem Rec center to swim and pretty much had the place to ourselves for awhile.  It was so fun!

 Lewis was there with his ladies which made it fun too.

 On Saturday we got out of the house and took advantage of the warmer weather! We took a trip to Yogurtland

 and the park. 

 Finally, my kids borrowed some of my brothers legos last time they were at my parents and Mabel built this spaceship with Doug. She was pretty proud of it. 

Happy New Year!!

We pretty much spent the few days after Christmas being sick.  We played a lot of games to pass the time.  Lewis loves to take part in Headbanz!!

Last Monday I went to lunch with friends from high school.  It snowed a ton that morning and I had to take Doug to work in order to have his car to go (side story - our "new" car started making a funny noise and funny smell a few weeks ago.  We finally took it in and discovered that it needs a new transfer case and that part of the transmission broke.  Hooray!! Luckily it is all still under the factory warranty and so we're getting everything (including a new transmission) for free!! Now here's the real hooray!!  They also gave us a loaner car in the meantime but we didn't actually get it until this weekend).  Anyway, it took me 2 hours to take Doug to and from work.  If I had known it was going to be that bad I probably would not have gone.  I was pretty desperate to get out after being cooped up for a few days though.  I was going crazy!! Luckily I have the best in-laws in the entire world who took my kids at the last minute.  It was such a fun lunch and so good to see these girls again.  Just the laughs and conversation I needed!!

On New Year's Even we went to my parents with 2 of my brothers for some delicious fondue.  It was so fun and so good!! We rang in the new year at 9:00 pm and then headed home.  We watched the few different Rockin' New Years eve programs and let the girls see if they could stay up.  Mabel (and Lewis) were the only ones who didn't make it.

 I barely did!!  I rarely stay awake but I made it this year! It was fun to ring in the new year with sparkling cider (and really tired eyes!)

 And here's a random snap chat from Doug and Lewis from the other day.

On New Year's Day Sophia went to her grandparents camp for Gramp Camp.  It was for all the cousins 9 and older. They talked about "staying in the boat" and they each put their names on their own ores.  They also got journals with a bunch of neat prompts to encourage them to write. They also did some fun things like the Curiosity Musuem at Thanksgiving Point and the Savior of the World play complete with a Lion House dinner in Salt Lake.  They are spoiled!! They have some pretty great grandparents and she wouldn't stop talking about it all weekend.  I think it's safe to say she had a good time!!