Vegas Beauty

We took the kids hiking at Calico Canyon a few weekends ago. We went with out friends and neighbors, the Dijkmans. Their boys are Blake's and Keaton's ages. I love going here because I can backpack Nash in and then he can get down and explore while the kids scramble around. We don't have to go far- Calico and Red Rock are like an extension of our backyard. I feel lucky to live close to all of this stuff!






The sunset was awesome for a few days in a row last week. Keaton came running in to the house to get me to show me this particular night. The picture doesn't do it justice!

Nashers

This gorgeous boy is nothing but happiness... Hearing him, seeing him, smelling him (most of the time) can make me smile and forget about everything and anything for a while. He loves to cuddle, look for and call doggies, play with the boys, and be outside. He is our best cheerer at basketball games, our best bath splasher, and our best boogie maker. Nash is especially skilled at finding small objects and crumbs. He is the world's cutest giggler and has a very sweet cheesy grin. He turns 1 in a few weeks... more pictures and bragging to follow. ps- His eye isn't usually smaller and slanted like that. The hat was just doing it's job! :)

The Happiest Place on Earth- Christmas 2009

You Can't Go Wrong if you plan a trip to DL at Christmas time. The Happiest Place on Earth gets even more gleeful this time of year...


FAMILY SHOTS:

In order- by the reindeer forest, by the ginormous tree on Main Street USA, with santa in the Grand California Hotel. (Check out Nash in the family photos. He's having a great time, eh!)





A SNIPPET OF EACH BOY:

Ethan on his newly acclaimed favorite ride- the Maliboomer. Do NOT get him talking about this unless you have a few hours to spare.


Blake and Darren on California Screamin'.


Keaton on the tea cups. I spend part of the day with Keaton and Nash doing Fantasy Land rides while the older boys go on rides that Keaton isn't tall enough for. But, we hit a few new DL milestones with Keaton. He got to ride splash mountain, big thunder railroad, the jelly fish, and soarin over California. We couldn't get him to go on Hollywood tower of terror.


Nash is my sweet parasite. What I mean is the poor kid has to stay with me all day in the baby bjorn. He actually seems to like it. Plus, it gives me a chance to stretch his neck a little without him even noticing. He is super easy-going and enjoys the fun chaos that DL provides.





I had to include this picture. Keaton was having a panic attack in the back of the boat because he thought we were being swallowed by a whale. This is one of those rides that you do once every five years. Can you say "boring"?!

Christmas 2009

Christmas morning was exciting and fun this year. Santa was right on with fulfilling the wish lists... what an amazing guy.

The crew as they were walking into the gift zone:


Nash was super pumped about his doggie that he got. Too bad we had to retire it early- he kept biting the fur off.


The top two things on Ethan's list this year: a remote control airplane and LEGO city.



Keaton asked for a race track. We now have the complete collection of all shake-and-go tracks. Enough is enough.



Blake asked- for the second year in a row- for a claw machine. He also wanted golf clubs. Check. He got a sweet set, if I do say so myself.




Christmas Day was so relaxing! The kids were content to play with all of the gifts that were given. I had to beg them to come outside with me. The weather was gorgeous. Enjoy the "after" pictures:

Soup's On...

The other night Keaton went to the kitchen to get a drink of water while the rest of us finished getting our teeth brushed. I swear that he was only in there for 2 minutes before I went to get him and found the little rascal on the counter top "making soup" (picture him making a stirring motion with big, innocent eyes). The recipe follows:

1 bottle of Mexican Oregano
1 bottle of almond extract
1 bottle of rosemary
a dash of minced garlic
a dash of cumin
3/4 bottle of onion salt
1 cup (of so) of water

Mmmm.

Stinky Cheese Man and other December Stuff 2009

Blake and River after a basketball game.


Keaton outside Ober ES. This statue is irresistible for a cutie his size!



Blake was in two plays the day before Christmas break. Here he is pictured as Jack Horner in the Run Away Pizza play. The poor little guy sat in a corner eating a plum pie. Then he was chased by a wolf...all the while holding onto his precious pie and that plum on his thumb. It was pretty funny. We made the plum out of play doh. (Look closely at the picture for it!) For anyone who knows Blake, you'd expect him to ham it up. Nope. He acted shy. Shy! SHY! Ha Ha.



Blake was the little boy in the Stinky Cheese Man play.


Nashers enjoying the left-overs of the box of gifts that Grandma and Grandpa Bailey sent.




A fun day at the park. Las Vegas is just now enjoying the fallen leaves. And there are lots of them!

Christmas Funnies 2009

A few Christmas funnies to send your way...

Blake has been obsessed with the gift-giving this year. He has wrapped and unwrapped many-a-presents...AKA: toys from the playroom. He has even done a dry run of the stocking placements this year. (Where we put our stocking on Christmas Eve so santa will know where to leave the loot.) Once he noticed that Nash's stocking wasn't there (Grandma Bryan is working on it), he decided to take this yule-tide matter into his own busy hands. Check out the results...



Keaton has a great time with the nativity scene. Always rearranging it "just so". Usually Mary and baby Jesus are tucked behind inside the stable. I totally missed the part of the story that includes a chubby yellow duck in the nativity. I stand corrected.


I need these pictures to look at and realize that even though we have our moments, for the most part life is just fun and crazy in a GOOD way!