Vegas Baby!

Last weekend we met our friends, the Christensens, in Las Vegas. They live in Phoenix and we figured that it was a good half-way point. The added bonus was all of the fun, free things to do.

We got into Las Vegas around 9:30 Friday night. Sara was so excited to see Ellie that she had to wait up until they got there. The next morning we were off to the strip. We started out at the Forum Shops in Ceaser's Palace. The girls were in awe at the fountains and the mural of the sky on the ceiling.

We went into FAO Schwartz hoping to get some Christmas ideas for the kids. They had so much fun looking at all of the toys.

Of course we all had to have a turn playing on the giant piano. This is my favorite picture from the whole weekend. Fatherhood has sure changed these guys!

Then we took the kids to see the aquarium and the "Greek Gods" show. The girls were terrified...too loud! Blake absolutely loved it! We had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and the show started again as we were finishing up. He was ate his pizza while staring at the show from behind. Bryan and Cody had to take the girls elsewhere because they were scared. Next, we went to the Bellagio to see the "Dancing Water." Sarah and I sat down to rest while we were waiting. You've got to love those double strollers!
We went to the Coke Store and the M&M Factory to buy some deliciously overpriced M&Ms. Then we headed back to the hotel for naps. We went to the outlets and rode the carousel. Back at the hotel we put in a movie for the girls, put Blake to bed, then played games and ate ice cream. Dr. Cody also showed us some of the muscle treatments he is learning about in school. Thanks Cody!
The next day we attempted to watch the Treasure Island pirate show . . . they only perform at night. Then we went to Circus Circus. The Dads played games to win prizes for the kids. This was the hit of the trip.


We went to a shopping center with a play area for the kids to run around before getting in the car for the drive back. They had a blast. When it was time to go Ellie didn't want "hugs and kisses" from Sara. This did not go over well with Sara. She threw an absolute fit. We had a great trip and can't wait to see them at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

A special thanks to Sarah for posting these pictures. I forgot to take my camera.

New Hair Cut

First Snow

On November 4th we woke up to a few inches of snow. The kids were so excited. It was quite the ordeal to get them ready, but they just had to go out to play. Blake hated his mittens and prefered frozen fingers. They had lots of fun and we look forward to more snow-filled fun this winter.

Sara's favorite snow activity is eating it! I could kill Bryan for teaching her that.

Snuggle Bugs

We love to snuggle with Daddy first thing in the morning!

Who Loves Dirt?

While I was working over at the neighbor's house Sara, Blake, and Mariah played outside in the back yard. They found a flower bed that was left empty this year and used it as their sand box. Everyone was dirty, but Blake looked like Pigpen. He had been throwing the dirt in the air. This picture really doesn't show how absolutely filthy Blake was when I found him. When I ruffled his hair there was a cloud of dust that surrounded him. He had on a onesie and jeans, but he still managed to get about 1/4 cup of dirt in his diaper.

Happy Halloween

This year Sara chose to be Snow White and Blake was a monkey. At first he hated the hood, but he got use to it once he realized that he was getting candy.

Look at these cute cousins: Little Bow Peep, her lost sheep, my cute monkey and Snow White.

I dressed up and now Sara thinks she should be a punk next year. We'll see about that.

He was so cute walking from door to door. At one point he gave his bucket to Bryan and just held hands with Sara.
One door was all it took for Sara to remember how this "trick-or-treating" thing works. I had to tell her several times to slow down and wait for us.

Side note: Those red shoes are about 1 1/2 sizes too big, but she insisted on wearing them. They did turn out really cute.

Dean, Alena, Sienna, Afton, Sammy, Luke, Wyatt, Max, Sara, Blake, and Benson

Earlier in the week we went to a Halloween party with some friends. This is the only picture with Benson. Christian and Kanyon were there as well.

We had so much fun. We had navajo tacos and scones, practiced going trick-or-treating, and danced outside with our glow bracelets. Thanks to Ben and Lori for their great ideas.

Max was not very cooperative for pictures.

Sara decided that she needed a picture with Sienna.

Cute kids

I love this picture of Luke and Wyatt.

Blakey Blake

Blake loves baths. He will usually come running when I announce that it is bath time. The other day I was not fast enough and he pulled a Cami, climbed in fully dressed. Blake is a big helper. The other day I asked him to carry the laundry detergent down the stairs for me. He picked up the bottle and paused at the top of the stairs to plan his strategy. As he scooted down the stairs on his bum, he discovered that he could drop the container a few stairs down, scoot down to it, then do it again. He was so proud of himself when he was all done.
He loves, loves, loves the broom. He pulls it out of the pantry probably at least twice a day so that he can sweep the kitchen floor. Blake's current favorite book is Where the Wild Things Are. He absolutely loves for Bryan to read it to him before bed.

His favorite place to be is on top of anything . . . the kitchen table, the end tables, the desk, the kitchen counter, the bathroom sink, and did I mention the kitchen table!Blake loves toilets. Now that he has learned that it is naughty to play in the toilet with his hands he likes to get out the toilet brush and play with it in the toilet.

He loves Pablo and Elmo, although he does not have the attention span to watch more than the opening songs.

Mister Mister loves music. Whenever he hears music, even a cell phone ringer, he starts to dance. He has so much fun dancing with Miss Sara.

He is also a big time Daddy's Boy! When Bryan goes out the door without Blake, he stands at the door bawling and saying "Daddy, Daddy!" Pretty much as soon as Bryan is home for the day Blake becomes his little shadow.

Blakey has learned to throw a fit from one of the best, his big sister. When he gets upset he will do his fake cry and run away (either down the hall or to a corner). When you do not follow him, he comes back out to the living room and dramatically throws himself on the couch. Sometimes he will even hit it a few times. When his steam runs out he gets on with life as normal and usually comes to give me loves.

Blake is such a sweetie. He loves to give hugs and kisses. Anytime I'm sitting on the floor he will come up and wrap his arms around my neck. He is my little monkey.

Lately whenever I take him to the sink to wash after a meal he wants to drink out of the faucet. I'm not really sure where this came from, but it is so funny. In our storage room is our baby swing and infant seat. Blake has discovered them and loves to crawl in and out while I am doing laundry.

Unlike Sara, Blake loves loud noises. When I vacuum he stands directly in front of me. Even if I threaten to run over his toes he just laughs in response. Usually he ends up helping me, which I find hillarious. Sara was so frightened of the vacuum and would run and hide in her room. He also loves the mini-ex. He sat in it for 2 hours with Bryan the other day and was as happy as could be.

Whenever he hears a loud truck he runs to the window and calls out, "Daddy." He loves to watch the cars drive up and down the street.