Thursday, December 20, 2007

Dallin's Birthday

Dallin had his birthday on the 1st of this month. He turned 7 years old! I can't believe it. That seems so grown up to me. He will be 8 years old next year and getting baptised. Wow, time does fly!


He had a fun day. We invited two of his friends over for a few hours in the afternoon, for a little party. Jackson Edgar, and Lucas Sampietro. They are both very nice boys. And goofy as all boys tend to be. lol






We played some party games. Musical chairs, sock mania, balloon catch, and a scavenger hunt. Then we had Dallin's cake. An icecream cake, yummy!



After that it was present time. We got Dallin a Nintendo Gamecube, and the video game Mario Kart Double Dash. He was so excited. He has been wanting a real nintendo game system for awhile now. Both he and Sierra are only allowed an hour a day playing video games of any kind. That way we make sure they are not stuck in front of the TV all day.


Jackson got Dallin a cool hotwheels car. It lights up and makes sounds. And Lucas got Dallin some Castle Legos. Dallin's first Legos set. :)
Once the presents were all opened it was Legos playtime for the boys. Then it was time for them to go home.


Dallin had lots of fun and enjoyed his birthday quite immensely. :)

Early Christmas Present...

Danny got me an early Christmas present a few weeks ago. Let me see if you can figure it out...

Disclaimer: these pictures aren't the greatest, but you'll get the idea. ;p

BEFORE...



AFTER...


Any ideas?

WELLLLLLLLLLLL............

I had LASIK surgery. No more glasses or contacts. YAY!!!!!!

My eyes are doing great. They have healed really quickly. My eyesight in my left eye was already 20/20 the day after the surgery. And my right was 20/30 at the time. It has now adjusted to about 20/25, so almost perfect. My doctor said as my brain adjusts to the change and my eyes continue to heal my right eye could catch up to my left. Plus I have been drinking my MonaVie, which is chalked full of nutrients, so I am not worried. I'm feeling great. It has been such a blessing. Thank you again my Danny Boy.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Gobble Gobble Gobble

Last weekend we went to visit some friends and family. First we traveled to Edwards Airforce Base to spend a little time with Brian & Myrna Mace and their two cute girls; Kristy and Katy. While we were there Myrna took some professional pictures of us. They turned out so cute. One of them in particular will be used for our Christmas card. Prepared to be dazzled come Christmas! It was so good to see them again.

After visiting Brian and Myrna, we drove on to Apple Valley to visit Joey, Sabrina, and their three kids; Kayla, Danny, and Jenna. We had a very nice visit with them. It was fun to get together!



For Thanksgiving this year we spent a quiet day at home. Just the four of us. It was nice. We miss all the family, but we'll see everyone at and around Christmas time. So this was like the calm before the storm. lol I got food poisoning the day before Thanksgiving, from some baklava I made. :( I was in bed all day, when I wasn't in the bathroom anyway. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to enjoy any of the Thanksgiving goodies. But thankfully my tummy was OK yesterday. Enought to eat a little bit of the yummy-ness.




We made ham, and pineapple chutney, candied yams, corn, peas, rolls, and had sparkling cider to drink. We didn't want to overdo it with too much food, since it was only the 4 of us. What we had was perfect.






Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Fun Family Time

Here are just some fun shots of various times. First is a couple of Danny playing pirates with the kids. The bed is their ship, and Dada is the scurvy pirate trying to shanghai it!



Next are some shots of the kids with Grandpa and Grandma Cranston. We visited them in their new home in Salinas. We were also able to visit my brother Ian, his girlfriend Sharla, and their new baby Chloe. But while we were there I completely forgot to take pictures. It wasn't until after the fact that I remembered. Darn it! Anyway these pics of Dallin and Sierra, with Ganma and Ganpa are cute. Enjoy.



Our Special Pumpkins

Dallin had to make a pumpkin into a favorite character from a book that he reads. So he chose Thomas the Tank Engine. He and I had a good time painting his pumpkin to look like Thomas. He then took it to school to share with his class, and all the other 1st graders in his school. The paint is already starting to peel off, by the time I took pictures, unfortunately.


We also, as a family, did the normal jack o lantern for one of our other pumpkins. By the time I took these pictures, he was in a state of decay. Scary isn't he?! ;p

Pumpkin Patch Pics

These are pictures from when Sierra and I went to the pumpkin patch in October, for a Mommy & Me activity. Here are some pictures. October was actually full of pumpkin patch trips. Field trips from schools, mommy groups, and family times. I guess pumpkin patches are popular places for us. lol


Sierra found her pumpkin.



Pulling the wagon, with some friends of ours.



A HUGE sunflower.



In the corn maze.




Playing in the corn boxes.


Halloween

I have been sorely neglecting the blog. But it has been so busy around here. Especially with our Mona Vie business, that we are now a part of. Here are some pictures from Halloween.



Dallin was a Luke Skywalker. The coolest Jedi Knight in a galaxy far far away.




Sierra was Cinderella. The prettiest and sweetest princess there ever was.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Finally Vegas

Ok I know this is two months late, but at least I am finally getting around to it right?! lol

Dan and I had a wonderful trip. It was about a 5 hour drive to get there. We arrived on a Thursday at about 2 pm. We stayed at the MGM Grand. It was nice, but not anything really to be impressed about. The room we had was a bit disappointing. It had a retro feel to it, which was kind of cool. But it was small and the bathroom could have been a lot nicer. It just had a shower and toilet and a small sink area. Dan and I love spa tubs, so just a shower was a let down. Next time we go, we will stay at either the Bellagio or the Venetian. The Venetian is actually where we spent most of our time anyway on the trip. And we were told that their rooms are very nice.



After checking out our room we got ready for dinner. We had reservations at a restaurant in the Venetian, near where they have the gondola boats. We made the mistake of trying to walk from MGM to the Venetian. What a haul that was. The distance didn't look that long on the map. So by the time we got there we were hot and tired. After that jaunt, the rest of the trip we pretty much took a taxi everywhere.



Before dinner, we went and got our tickets for The Phantom of the Opera, and Blue Man Group. Both shows were playing in the Venetian. So that made it very convenient for us. We were seeing The Phantom that night, and then BMG on Friday.



Dinner was nice, but not the best I've ever had. It was an Italian restaurant. We had a yummy appetizer, that were seafood raviolis. Then I got a pasta dish that had squash in it. Very rich and good. And Danny got some sort of meat (I can't remember now exactly what it was.. I am thinking beef..). He really liked his. I liked his meal as well, hee hee. Overall the meal was good, but we probably won't eat there again. We made last minute reservations, so all the really good restaurants that we wanted to try, were already fully booked. Live and learn. We know to make reservations really early next time. :)



When dinner was over it was time to go check in for our show. The Phantom of the Opera is one of my favorite musicals so I was very excited to see it up close and personal. And let me say that I was not disappointed. It was superb! The actors were fantastic. I cried. Dan, who is very anti-musical, even said he enjoyed the show. That is how good it was! We definitely recommend it to anyone.



After the show, we had reservations for dessert at the Stratosphere. The Top of the World restaurant. So we wisely took a taxi over to the Stratosphere. This hotel is shaped similar to the famous building (the name escapes me) in Seattle. It is like over 200 stories tall, and the restaurant we ate at is at the very top floor, before the open top patio where they have all the scary amusement rides.




The view there was amazing! The floor rotates 360 degrees about every hour or so. As you are sitting and eating you are very slowly moving. So you always get a different view of Las Vegas. This is especially pretty at night with all the lights. Our food was so so tasty. Dan and I weren't very hungry, since we were still pretty full from dinner earlier. So we just got their famous lobster bisque soup, which was to die for. And then we shared a dessert. The dessert was shaped like the Stratosphere and was made out of white and dark chocolate. And it had a chocolate mousse in the middle with a raspberry sauce around it. Oh my goodness, just thinking about it makes me ecstatic!



While we were there a lady was walking around asking if people wanted their pictures taken. So we got our pictures taken, with the lights of Vegas in the background. They turned out nice. And made a nice souvenirs. After dessert we headed back to our hotel. Time for night nite. ;)

On Friday we started the day a bit late. It was so nice to be able to sleep in, and not have to get up for anything. We ordered breakfast in bed. Dan got a fruit and yogurt parfait, and I got eggs benedict. After getting ready for the day, we went and did some sight seeing.

We wanted to ride some of the amusements rides. Since both Danny and I are scary ride lovers. First we headed to New York, New York. This was just across the street from the MGM, so we walked. We rode the rollercoaster there. It was ok, a bit too jarring for my taste. But it did have a couple nice loops. Then we got a taxi, to go to Circus Circus to the amusement park they have there.

This was a disappointment. It was so run down and dirty looking. A few of the rides didn't even work. We went on one ride and that was all. It was a fun rollercoaster though. Better than the NY, NY one. After that we decided to leave. But first Danny played one of the Midway Games and won a Bob the Builder pillow to give to Dallin when we got home. We wanted to try the Stratosphere rides, but I ended up being too chicken. Something about them being up 200 feet in the air to begin with makes me nervous. I love thrill rides, but I prefer them to start on the ground, and not hang off the side of a 200 story building. lol



We left CC by taxi again, and decided to do some shopping. We headed to the huge mall they have there on the strip. I got to go in my favorite store, Janie and Jack. Which was a highlight for me. lol I usually have to do all my shopping online, since there is no store close to me here. We went to some other places there. I got myself some new sandals from The Walking Store. Ones that won't hurt my feet, and I can wear them to Disneyland without the pain I had on this past trip.




Once done with all our shopping, we walked across the street to the Wynn hotel. We were going to go to the big Buffet they have there. Dan wanted his seafood buffet. It is one of his most favorite things in the world to do. I am not a huge buffet person myself, but I like to accommodate him at least once in a while. ;p



The food there was ok. I have had a lot better buffets. Dan liked it. We probably won't ever go to that buffet again. It did have a nice dessert selection though. We were planning actually on eating at the buffet at Mandalay Bay. Which was recommended to us by someone at Dan's work. But it was all the way on the other side of the Strip, so we decided it would be easier to just go to the one that was close. Oh well.



When we were finished with dinner, we walked to the Venetian again. We shopped a little bit more, and then went to check in for the Blue Man Group show. This show is hilarious and awesome! If you have a chance to see it, do it! It is hard to explain it. It is music, technology, comedy, and quirkiness all rolled into one. Dan and I were rolling. One thing I must say is you have to have a good sense of humor to "get it". So those that take themselves & life too seriously probably won't like it. I cried again, but this time from laughing so hard.



After the show we went back to our hotel to relax a bit, and get ready for some dancing. We were going to go to Studio 54 night club that evening. I had been looking forward to dancing all trip. Unfortunately it ended up not happening for us. :( Something I ate at the buffet made me sick to my stomach. So although we got ready and got in line to wait. I got to feeling progressively worse. The line wasn't moving at all, and my tummy was not to have any of it. So we decided instead to get a midnight snack at Rainforest Cafe, which I just nibbled at. And then went back to our room and stayed in bed watching Shrek the Third instead.

Come to find out, you can buy VIP tickets for the danceclub ahead of time. So you don't have to stand in line for an hour or more, waiting to get in to dance. Next time we will most definitely do that. See we learned so much this trip, that we are 10 times wiser now.

Saturday we woke up late again. We had plans to go to the breakfast buffet at the Paris hotel. We had a friend recommend it to us. Unfortunately since we were so lazy, we weren't going to be able to make it there in time for breakfast. Instead we went to the buffet right there inside the MGM. It was good. I was pretty impressed. I always love breakfast food, so I was happy.

After breakfast we checked out of our room and put our luggage in the car. After that we bought a couple souvenirs for our family. Then we decided to go back to the Venetian to ride on a gondola. Once there the wait was too long though. We had to be leaving soon for home, and the wait was 1.5 hours long. So instead we got some gelato. I got mint chocolate chip and Danny got chocolate. It was very yummy. Gelato has a lot smoother texture than icecream does. Otherwise it pretty much tastes the same.

When we were finished with our gelatos, it was time to say goodbye to Las Vegas. Except for a slight detour at the Bass Pro Shop, that they recently opened in Vegas. Dan was in heaven. It was his first time in one of their stores. It was like seeing a kid in a candy store. :)

A couple things we will do next time that we didn't get to do this time are dancing of course, but also go to the Las Vegas temple and do a session there, and also they have on the outskirts of Vegas a place where you can race Nascar cars. Dan really wants to do that next time. I don't know if I'll be brave enough to drive, but I'd like at least to ride in one while someone else drives.

Dan and I had a wonderful time together. It was nice to get away for a little bit. All in all we had a great trip. Next time though there will be better food. lol