Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving day was so perfect! The weather was gorgeous, the food was devine, and the company was so fun to hang out with! We really didn't do anything special, but that's exactly what made it so special. We watched football, ate, and ate, and ate, and did our favorite thing when were together, played card games. It was one of those days that when it ended you wished it was just beginning again.

Playing tourist.

I'm usually not a big fan of taking the family down to the "strip", but while we were in Vegas we decided to take advantage of some of the free things the strip has to offer and get the kids out of the house as well! First stop, FOA Schwartz! The kids loved seeing all the toys and picking out a little treat too! It was really fun walking around and I think their fav part was the "sky" inside the forum shops. They kept looking up and saying "wow". Then we took them over to the lion habitat at the MGM Grand. Kinda funny to walk through a casino to watch lions sleep when we can drive 20 minutes to our Zoo and spend all the time we want staring at lions, but again it was something to do! Our second venture to the strip included the atrium at the Bellagio. It was decorated for fall and it was worth it. The kids loved the trees with the faces and the miniature Bellagio. We also took in the beautiful fountains just outside. I was really surprised when Mom said that that was the first time she saw the fountain show! Just shows you how much locals try to avoid the strip. All in all it was really fun being a tourist for a couple of days in my own hometown!

Grandma

A visit with my Grandma is always a must when we visit Vegas. It makes me a little sad to think that we moved to CO right after she moved back to Las Vegas. I was looking forward to my kids being around their Great Grandmother a little bit. My Grandma and I have lived together a couple of times throughout my 33 years...once when I was 5 and she was living in Hawaii. I went to visit and loved it so much that I ended up staying and starting Kindergarten there. I have the BEST memories growing up in "Paradise". I remember walking to school in my bathing suit, a pair of shorts, and my flip flops and then going right to the beach after school, everyday! We also lived together later in life when Corbin and I were dating. It was so good seeing her again. She has been in and out of the hospital and to see her healthy is such a blessing. I truly cherish these short little visits and make sure to take pictures!

Vegas Baby!

A good friend of our family was getting married the Saturday before Thanksgiving in Las Vegas, so we thought this was the perfect opportunity to go to the wedding and then stay for the week of Thanksgiving with Corbin's parents. These are a couple pictures of us after the sealing outside the Las Vegas Temple. It was so neat being back in the same sealing room where Corbin and I were sealed! It was like a trip back in time. I love the Las Vegas Temple! It certainly holds a special place in my heart and I loved being able to go back!

Elise's Special Day

Elise was Baptized last weekend and it couldn't have gone any better! On Friday night we picked up Grandma & Grandpa from the airport and the kids were over the moon of course! Friday night we spent making and decorating sugar cookies to bring as refreshments. We had so much fun coming up with cute ideas. Corbin's Mom has a church cutout that was so cute for cookies. Saturday was a GORGEOUS day! My Mom and sister, Lori arrived just in time to leave for the church. Elise was very nervous and very excited! It just so happened that there were 5 other kids in our ward getting baptized too, so there was a great turn out. I was so proud of her and Corbin. Corbin did a great job! I kinda forgot that he had a big part to play too! He was awesome with both the baptism prayer and the confirmation and gave Elise a beautiful blessing as well. Later that night we headed over to the Smith's for a Cafe Rio themed dinner and cake of course! We sang "Happy Birthday" again to Elise, giving the Grandparents a chance to celebrate her special birthday a little late. Sunday was also a fun day. Grandpa and Elise sang "A Child's Prayer" in sacrament! Wow! It was amazing, so beautiful! There was not a dry eye in the house and so many people came up to me and just gushed over how well Elise did! I was such the proud Mama all weekend! The kids spent the rest of the day playing every game imaginable with Grandma and fixing things around the house with Grandpa. The kids were so in their elements. The weekend was such a great memory that I will treasure forever. My testimony grew so much just realizing that I am so lucky to have been lead to the Gospel and that my kids have the opportunity to learn the Gospel in our home. What a blessing!!!

Trick-or-Treat

We had so much fun this Halloween! Elise was a snow princess, Ella was a witch, and Easton was Buzz Lightyear! We went to Elise's Harvest Festival at her school, our ward Halloween party, Ella's school program, that was THE cutest thing ever, Elise's school program, and trick-or-treating of course! On Halloween night we ate dinner with friends then hit the neighborhood and ended our evening visiting our awesome Bishop and hanging out with family! It was such a fun night!!!

Carving Pumpkins

Our kids love to carve pumpkins! We always do it for family home evening the week of Halloween. This year Corbin and Easton teamed up to make a bat that turned out more like a spider and I helped Ella carve a cat. For the last two years Elise has done it all by herself and has done such a great job! They were so excited to put them outside and see them all lite up!

Birthday celebrating continued...

On Elise's actual birthday we took her to her favorite place to eat, Olive Garden! We love being able to take time to do something special for her. Elise is such a sweetheart! She is always very helpful to me at home and is such a great example to her siblings. I am so grateful that she was sent to our family and we just really enjoyed being able to go out to dinner as a family!