It's a go!

Well, one more down. We officially have another wedding coming up in our family. We are so excited, we have all really liked Brian from the beginning. I think Amily & Brian are great together. We are not certain of the date yet, but it looks like April. She is brave, her wedding and birthday will be in the same month.

Amily and Brian have been dating almost seven years now. It took her a year to convince him to date her, he was her flight instructor and almost 10 years older than her. I loved listening to her stories of how she was so in love with him and all the things she was doing to get him to cave. I think she was only 19 at the time.


I have to say I am green with envy because she somehow convinced him to buy her a 2.25 carat diamond. I guess I should have dated Ryan longer and I would have gotten a bigger rock.

Maybe one day.....When we were dating Ryan kept telling me that he would buy me a new diamond for our ten year anniversary- I never would have asked at that point. I keep reminding him that we don't have that much longer to go before our 10 years is here. What is his response? He says he bought me a bigger house instead. What do you think? Is it a copout?

So, now in our family we will have a Brian Collins, Colin, Brian and Ryan. I figure it goes with all the A's we have. It fits. Poor Phil, we figure he probably feels left out so we tell Allie she has to marry someone with the last name of Phillips to complete the utter confusion.

Chicken Enchiladas

One of my favorite dinners to make is Chicken Enchiladas. We love them in my house & the great thing about them is that if you are craving them but happen to be out of corn tortillas you can easily convert the dish to Chicken Crepes (we are super ethnic in my house). If you don't have flour, milk, and eggs on hand then you have a great excuse to not have to make dinner. Hence the reason I often conveniently "forget" to get eggs. (Sad, I know)

Madison's first real dinner was Chicken Enchiladas (obviously not the night this video was taken) and when I made them for dinner last night it became Hunter's first dinner. He isn't talking yet so I just got some pictures of him. He really dug them, I couldn't get him to look up at the camera he was so focused on dinner.


The night we took this video my sister Allie was in town. Madison kept saying "ummm, yummy" after every bite, we were cracking up. So of course we had to get a video. Madison gets a kick out of watching it now and we love it still. I hope you think it is as cute as we do. She was 2 when we took this and it is crazy to see how much she has grown.

Want to make them yourself? Here is the recipe.

filling:
2-3 cooked chicken breasts. I boil them or get a roast chicken from the grocery store. Chop in to chunks.
1 can diced green chilies
1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup of sour cream
if you want you can add some shredded cheese to the mixture

topping:
1 can cream of chicken
3/4 c sour cream
shredded cheese

I fry the tortillas in oil to soften them up a little. Otherwise they will tear apart when you fill and roll them.

Put mixture in a tortilla (makes about 20 corn tortillas)
Pour topping mixture over the enchiladas
Top with shredded cheese

Bake 375 for about 20 min or until the cheese is all melted.

Enjoy! They are not healthy, but they are yummy.

Things that rock, My top 10

We love music in our house. Madison and I are always rockin' out in the car. Here are my Top 10 (new) reasons that I get in the car each day, in no particular order. Enjoy them on my sidebar. Make sure you turn on your sound so you can rock out with us too.

Shattered (turn the car around)
I love O A R. They Rock! (pun intended). No song gets louder playtime in my car than this one. How can you not love this song?

Don't think I don't by Darius Rucker
Who knew Hootie could rock out country style. I love this song, and his new single is really good too. I wasn't a huge Hootie fan, but I totally dig this.

Lovebug by the Jonas Brothers
Yeah, I think we established that I am a total dork a few posts ago. This song is always in my head! It starts out soft and then rocks out in the end. I'm not a huge fan of their other stuff, it's good, but I LOVE this song.

Hot & Cold by Katy Perry
I know I shouldn't like this song on principle, but I love it. I still won't listen to her "other" song, I don't care how great people think it is, I just can't stomach it-I'm not even going to start. However, this song rocks.

So What by Pink
She has such a sense of humor in her songs, I love her stuff. Anyone remember "Don't let me get me"? That was an awesome song. Her Missundaztood album was really good, pick it up if you haven't ever heard it. The only song I didn't like was Get the Party Started.

She Wouldn't be Gone by Blake Shelton
I really like Blake Shelton. I fell in love with his music when "Austin" came out. I still have that song on my play lists.

Love Story by Taylor Swift
Great new single. I was a little worried about her sophomore album, but so far so good. I still love "Picture to Burn" that was my favorite from her first album. Who doesn't want to do that when they break up with a guy?

Johnny & June by Heidi Newfield
Hello, lead singer from Trick Pony? I knew I would like her stuff.

Check Yes Juliet by We the Kings and Let it Rock by Kevin Rudolf
These songs have really grown on me and now I dig when they come on.

That Darn Duck!

This has been one of my favorite presents to Madison. I think my dad got it for her just to annoy me, but it has been a great toy. She takes it each year to preschool on "Feathered Friends" day. The kids love it.

I babysat a friend's kid once and she was not happy that her mom left her. Madison was trying to comfort her and pulled out the duck. As long as the duck was going she wouldn't cry. If it turned off for more than 15 seconds she would start screaming. I heard this for about 2 hours before the batteries died. Thank goodness or I would have......

I love how Hunter is trying to mimic Madison with the clapping and stomping of feet. It was a fun little moment.

Yummo!

I love food. Anyone who knows me for more than 5 minutes figures that out. Heck, you can probably figure that out by looking at me. I am a well fed girl.

Anyway, the other night Ryan was taking the kids to the gym and I was headed to a mini girls night. I had to grab dinner so I thought to myself, "Oh, I haven't had Capriotti's in forever! I don't have both kids to drag in there while I wait for food and Ryan isn't here either (he is not as much of a fan as I am)." So I go.

And wait.....

and wait some more....

As I am waiting for my Capastrami, (not my usual, I totally dig "The Bobbie." You just cannot beat thanksgiving dinner on a yummy roll) I did some people watching. As I people watched I realized that of all the 20 people or so that came and went that evening that I was the skinniest of them all. Now, I do not say this in a vain way, I know I am not skinny-not fat, per se, but definitely not "skinny"- I realized this in a way that taught me a lesson. Maybe there is a reason I do not eat Cappriotti's often. So I thought to myself, "Self, we aren't eating Cappriotti's for dinner anymore." Then I ate my SMALL 7" yummy sandwich and thought, "Maybe I will just start working out again."

Check it out....I LOVE Cappriotti's and you will too. I recommend getting the 9" medium and splitting it with someone. It ends up the perfect portion size. And did I mention that they carry the individual size "Nothing Bundt Cakes" there in the fridge?

Hmmm, maybe that is the reason.......

Disclaimer: I did good and passed by with only a sigh and some drool. Same with the Chocolate frosted brownies. Now, if they had not been out of Tastykakes (http://www.tastykake.com/) I would have been all over those. Any Janet Evanovitch fans out there? Reading her books makes me want to try all the Tastykakes.

Check out locations here:

http://www.capriottis.com/Locations.htm

(Anyone want to teach me that cool trick on how to put here underlined and then the link shows up when you click on here?? I am a technical whiz, huh?)

Caution: Little Rascal on the loose

Stairs scare me when it comes to little kids, heck, let's be real here, they scare me for me. Have you noticed my lack of coordination? I am lucky I haven't broken anything, I am constantly tripping over my own two feet. Do you remember the Britney clip they showed over and over when she was carrying her baby and her ankle turned? That happens to me almost every day. I am so grateful I haven't dropped a kid or two. Anyway, Hunter just has had an insatiable curiosity regarding the stairs. From the first day we moved into our new house he has climbed up on one or two steps. The other day he got away from Ryan and I for 2 minutes and we couldn't find him anywhere. Where was he? Upstairs by himself. He would play in the toy room all day long if I let him. But, "mean mommy" actually has to get things done and most of them are downstairs.

We are now officially a "gated" house.

The other thing he has learned to do is open my cabinet door and climb in. He will get in and then start crying because he can't get out. So of course I go over there and get him out. What does he do? Opens the door and climbs back in. So I thought, okay, I'll just let him figure out how to get out on his own it's not like he can hurt himself, right? Wrong. There was a splat involved.

We now have to cover the door with the Elmo toy you see in the right side of the picture. He tries to move it over but thankfully there are grippies on the bottom of the legs. Now instead of hearing him whine all day long I hear "Nose, to help you smell and sneeze, smell and sneeze. Ears, they help you hear this song, hear this song." Yeah, and I wonder why I get headaches every day?

I'm thirsty!

To drink or not to drink

I was pondering recently on the "Great Debate" we often have with ourselves over whether we should drink caffeinated drinks, addicted or not. Then I shook my head and realized that if there was one thing that would supposedly keep me out of heaven (which I know caffeine won't) Coca-cola would not be reason for me. I figure I have plenty of other things that would hold me back. So I say Drink Up!

Any time is Sonic Time

Madison and I have this little thing we do. When we go to Sonic she gets to sit up front with me and eat her lunch. Ryan hates it, it just drives him crazy. Why? Well, she usually orders a grilled cheese sandwich. Busy hands covered in butter tend to leave prints all over the car. She likes to touch the dash, get in the middle console, maybe point to something thru the window and accidentally touch the glass, and she also loves to play with the radio/nav system screen (it is touch screen after all). Anyway, it has become such a fun thing for her to do she now requests Sonic for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Sonic. It is my happy place, I cried when they finally opened one in Utah and I convinced my husband to leave LA and move to Vegas because they have Sonic here. But even I can only have Sonic on occasion.

The finger prints drive me crazy too.

To find a Sonic near you click http://www.sonicdrivein.com/locator/viewSearch.do

The sounds kids make!

This video is totally goofy of me, but it encompasses two things about Hunter that I have not been able to get on video any other time. First, his squeal. That was the original reason for the video. All day long I hear him squealing, it's cute at first, but then when all you want to do is watch Jon & Kate plus 8, it gets annoying. As soon as the TV comes on so do his squeals. Enjoy...Second, his awesome laugh. He giggles so cute! I thought you might all get a kick out of it. Madison is a master at making him laugh, I have yet to find a more joyful sound than the laughs of my kids together. Those times make being a mother rewarding.

Mother of the Year award

Let's just be clear here, I am not getting any award any time soon. Today's date is October 21st and I am only now getting around to posting Madison's first day at school photo. It has been on my list of postings for oh, say two months now. Some days I don't feel like I can even stay on top of my own two feet much less the craziness of my life. Anyway, here is my darling, wonderful, beautiful little girl. She has started her 2nd year at Ms. Joy's preschool and absolutely loves it. She is so much more developed with her skills this year than she was at the end of last year. She is writing her name on all of her worksheets, her lines are straighter when then match up items, and she is actually learning how to sit still. There has only been one day so far this year that she has been disruptive and not gotten a sticker. I am so proud of her!

Every morning she gets up and gets an activity book or a blank piece of paper and a pen and does her "homework." It is about the most darling thing. She loves practicing her letters and pretends she knows how to spell things. You know how as a parent you spell things so your kids don't know what you are talking about? We do it all the time, nothing gets by her. Lately she is talking to me and she starts "spelling" things in the conversation. "Mommy, jgbml spells dog." Something like that. I get a kick out of it. I also tell her that d o g spells dog. I roll my eyes and smile inside. At least she already loves learning, hopefully that will never change.

On a side note, one of my favorite stories about her from the last few months happened when we were in Utah while I canned and we went camping. Her Gigi bought her a little purse with a wallet. She is Ryan's daughter so therefore she loves money. Let me correct myself, LOVES money. She doesn't quite understand completely how it works, but she loves having it in her hand, playing with it, washing it, etc. Anyway, so she got a little purse and wallet, cute right? Right. She takes it in to show her Papa how neat it is and everything. She shows him the picture on the purse, opens it us, takes out the barbie wallet and then shows him it is empty. She says to him, "lookat my wallet, do you want to put money in it?" She got all his quarters and even a few "paper" monies.

Smart girl....

As an FYI, it doesn't work with Ryan, he just looked at me funny when I tried it.

Ryan got tagged!

So one of our friends got tagged on one of the blog tags that go around and her hubby did it and then tagged some of his guy friends. Ryan was one of those guys. I told him about it and he told me that blogs are a girl thing (Spencer you have my permission to give Ryan a hard time) and he wouldn't do it. So, I decided that I will do it for him, using "his" answers. Hey, a girls got to find entertainment somewhere and since my hubby ditch me for the boys on a Saturday night, this time it is at his expense. Enjoy his answers, I think they are what he would say!

3 Joys
1. My wife
2. My wife
3. Have I mentioned my wife? Seriously, forget football, have you seen my wife? She is hot

3 fears
1. Making my wife mad enough that she would accidentally put the remote in her purse for an all day shopping trip. I know that day will come sometime.
2. Bugs, I just can't help it, they make me squeal like a girl. My son takes after me.
3. Missing an episode of Gossip Girl, What is going to happen with Dan and Serena? And Chuck and Blair? The suspense is killing me!

3 current obsessions
1. Gossip Girl & 90210
2. My wife
3. Gossip rags, seriously, I need to know what is happening to Britney!

3 regrets
1. Leaving my wife on a Saturday night for a football game. She would have been so much more fun to hang out with.
2. Dating girls before I met my wife. What was the point?
3. Not listening to my wife. She is always right.

3 facts about me
1. I love chick flicks and musicals, my wife digs that
2. My wife is a better driver
3. I still don't know how to text message using T9, it scares me.

I'm not tagging anyone, but I would love to hear husbands answers from the wife's point of view.

Playing catchup

I know I have not blogged in forever! I have been so busy that I haven't even sat at the computer for about 3 weeks until today. Needless to say I have also not been great with my emails (big suprise there, huh). Thankfully my phone gets them so I know that I have not completely ignored anyone!

I have added so many fun things that have happened over the past 2 months, including something new. I have decided to do shoutouts to the special people in my life when they have special occasions. I wanted to start with Madison's birthday, seeing that it is Sept. 2-something (I don't even know the date today) and I didn't do it, I decided to start with Ariane's graduation and Aunna's birthday, both in August. At least I am only a month late with these. Sorry! I am simply a huge slacker! I put songs on both of their slideshows so make sure you stop one before starting the other. If I was more technically talented I might know how to delay one or something. Since I am not you will want to make sure only one plays at a time.

Our family has had lots of changes the last month. We rented out our old house and moved to our new house. We love it! One day I may actually show pictures from the inside, but since I still have a few items that I just don't know where to put so they are out in the open, that day is not right now. Come visit us and I will give you the grand tour (our master closet is droolworthy, trust me). Right now I will settle showing a picture of our old house and our new house.

Happy Birthday Aunna!

My second shoutout is to my favorite soon-to-be lawyer. I can't believe you turned 25! Congratulations! August 28th is a special day on my calendar. Every time we hear Big Girls Don't Cry we think about you and Navy Pier in Chicago. Here are some special pictures for a special sister. I dedicate this song to you and added your favorite picture ever to the slide show and just by itself. I love you and miss you like crazy!

Congratulations Ariane!

Congratulations my sweet Ariane! You finally graduated college, I am so proud of you! Only 3 more years to go, then you will be a pharmacist! Madison came up to me the other day and said "Mommy, I like Ariane because she picks me up from school." She loves Ariane coming to get her when she goes to mother's day out in Memphis. She only wants to be picked up by Ariane. It is so sweet. Ariane always plays with her and she loves that so much. Here is a special shoutout to a special sister, I love you and I miss you! See you soon! I picked the song just for you! Enjoy! I know it is your favorite!

Caution! Domestic Goddess ahead

Yep, that is me. Let me explain why I have given myself that title. Over the Labor Day weekend I drove myself and the kids up to Utah for a week. I needed some time away from the stress of not moving (that is right, I said not moving. I can't stand messes and I could only pack my house up so far in advance of the move in date. I was going crazy not being able to pack. I caught up on all the season's of House. Great show, by the way.) Anyway, since it was full season for corn, tomatoes and peaches I decided to do some canning this year. Actually, I begged my mother-in-law to help me. I love canning, I just don't love doing it all by my self. It is a lot of work.


Day 1: 32 quarts of peaches. It doesn't sound like a lot, but I think it took 2 bushels to get 32 quarts.

Peaches are my favorite thing to can because first, they are beautiful when they are taken out of the water bath.

Second, because my daughter will actually eat them without telling me she doesn't like them first, me trying to convince her that she does, then remind her of the rule of the house is that we take 2 bites of everything before we say we don't like them, and then her jumping up and down with joy and proclaiming that she does actually like them. Who knew!

And third, they are my favorite fruit to eat and can. They are SO easy to can. You can almost do them by yourself without going crazy.

Day 2: two bushels of tomatoes. It came out to about 33 pints. For all of you who know me well know that I hate tomatoes, raw ones anyway. They make me sick, I can't even smell them. This project is torture for me.So why do I do them? I do them because I like stewed tomatoes and they taste so good in my spaghetti sauce and taco soup. The entire time I was cutting them I kept repeating to myself, "it's okay, it is just watermelon." It looks just like watermelon when you cut them up, but does NOT feel like it. I am impressed it did not throw up. The smell was awful! At least I have enough for 2 years (see day 4).

Day 3: Corn. We did 15 dozen ears of corn. It is super easy and didn't take too long, but it was a lot of corn! We got about 90 bags put together and frozen. Tip: use a food saver to store the corn. But, first freeze the corn so the juice does not destroy the foodsaver. And definitely stock up on bags. Corn goes a long way.

This was the first canning experience for my new sister-in-law. She was a little nervous when Kathy and I told her we would be doing 15 dozen ears. Um, I was a little nervous. This was the first corn I have canned/frozen. It was EASY!!! The only bad part is shucking the corn. It wasn't that bad, just messy.

Hunter really dug it, he just gnawed away on the ears. We tried to keep him to just one, but he wanted to see if they all tasted the same. Look at the cute boy!

Day 4: more tomatoes. 3 more bushels to be exact. I was so tired of tomatoes. But it will be nice to have them in my pantry. If I am going to put them in my food they better taste good. Home canned tomatoes are the reason I put them in any of my food at all. I don't think I bought tomatoes the first 6 years of my marriage. About two years ago Kathy roped me in to helping her do some. As a thank you she gave me about 8 or so pints. I honestly didn't think I would ever use them, but what the hey, ask my husband, I can't say no to free anything. Needless to say I did use them. In about 2 months. I then begged to make them again but never hit the seasons right with our trips up to Utah. Until this year. As a result we now have 60 pints of tomatoes to bring home with us in October. We did 83 in all. I was so tired of them, but I will appreciate all of my hard work for the next 2 years. Hopefully by then I will have forgetten the hideous smell and the slimy feel on my hands. Here's hoping....

Here was the dining room table at the end of the week. It was full! The corn took up the entire extra freezer. It's going to take almost the entire back of the car to get it all back in October. Why October? Because Ryan said I could do as much as I want but I was not allowed to bring any of it home until our October trip. Neither of us wanted to move everything twice. I figured it was fair.

Hunter pushing Madison around

I don't know how I ended up getting this on camera. Hunter started out sitting on the ground trying to push the stroller and Ryan came to get me so I could take a look. I grabbed my camera on the way and I am so glad I did. He has never done this before, but it was the cutest thing. I got a few different videos and will share them with all of you. I think it is so amazing that he could pull it backwards and still keep his balance. What a fun trick!

Disneyland

We had so much fun at Disneyland, California Adventure and Knott's Berry Farm this last week. Here are all of the pictures that I have. Enjoy!

4 states in 1 day! Whew, I am tired!

So, I am incapable of actually staying in one place for any length of time, oh, say a week or so. Everyone else knows this, but I never really 'fessed up to it until this trip. A few weeks ago I was talking to one of my sisters and my dad and we were talking about my grandfather's house finally being sold and how the siblings were headed up to Northern MN to clean it out and get it ready for the new owners. I had a half of a free ticket on Southwest that was going to be expired and no where to use it. I figured hey, Southwest doesn't fly anywhere I am planning to go, but they do go to Omaha. Before they went to MN they were going to meet in Omaha (random, I know) and watch one of my cousins run in the Junior Olympics. She qualified for the 400 m and 800 m races. I figured that since SWA actually flies to Omaha why not go and help them, see all my family, let them see Hunter and finally check out Aunna's place in Des Moines (as I flew out of there b/c they had tickets for $100 one way, hard to beat that). I found babysitters for Madison and packed Hunter up to go with me.

I flew in to Omaha on a Friday afternoon. Hunter had so much fun on the plane. He got to stand up in his carseat and eat the handle. He was so happy! Only problem now is that every time I buckle him in to go somewhere he sees the handle and wants to stand up. Doesn't take long for them to get spoiled! I got in to the airport and we went straight to dinner with my cousin Sammie and my Aunt Sarah. Let me just say, Omaha is gorgeous! There are green trees everywhere and a great downtown. We ate at Cascio's steakhouse for dinner. It was so yummy! We love steak in my family and definitely love places that have been around forever that are not chains! After dinner I left my sister to put Hunter down for bed and went to see one of my old roommates. Her parents live in Omaha and she was visiting them for a little bit. It was so nice to hang out with her and catch up. I kept her up until 2 am! Sorry Sarah! I haven't seen her for a few years and I couldn't go to Omaha and not visit with her and see her cute family! We both lamented that we miss Becky and can't ever get her home number to work! We figure if neither of us can get through it can't be a user error, right? The three of us had so much fun together in college.....I often think how funny it is that the three of us bonded so much. We all came from such different backgrounds and lives, yet something clicked with us. All I can say is that I am so glad!

Saturday we got up and went to the Winter Quarters temple for a session. That was really special. We didn't have time to tour the grounds or even grab a picture :( But I am so glad we found the time to go. As much as I love going with friends there is something special about sharing the experience with my family. Someone asked me recently if I ever get tired of traveling so much. I told them yes and no. Yes, traveling so much exhausts me to no end and constantly throws off my schedule, but I love my family so much that I will take every opportunity to spend time with them even when I spend more time traveling to see them than I get to spend with them. One of the many blessings of having a family is having people in your life that love you no matter what. They take all your good with your bad and just roll their eyes and love you more. I love all of my friends so much, but there is something different about a relationship with a family member. I noticed how at ease my dad was with his siblings this past week, he was just so relaxed and that is something that I don't see often with him, and realize now that I am probably that way as well. Anytime I got really stressed out in college I would go home for a weekend just to re-center myself. It made the biggest difference and I always came back refreshed and better able to handle the pressures and trials there. I am definitely less uptight with my family than I am normally!

We spent the afternoon at the Junior olympics watching Sam race. She did AWESOME! She took 3rd in the nation in her age group. My dad said 5 more yards and she would have taken 2nd. Not bad considering the winner of the race set a record. 2 min 5 sec for the 800 m race. I don't think I could have gotten around the track once in 2 min, much less twice. Actually, I probably couldn't have even done a half a lap, so I really admire her and am so excited for her. Go Sam! I was trying to get a picture of her crossing the finish line but I couldn't see the screen with the glare of the sun and had to settle for this one. The field that they had the JO's at was amazing! It was just a public school, but it was so nice I had to grab a picture! Hunter was so great the entire time. He sat on my dad's lap and just hung out. I love seeing my kids with family members, it just warms my heart!

After the JO finals we took off for Bemidji, MN. Most people don't know where that is. It is 2 hours south of the Canadian border, smack dab in the middle of the state. It is about 4 hours north of the Twin Cities. From Omaha it was a 8-9 hour drive. We got in at 1:15 am. Not too bad. We listened to a book on tape by Jon Krakauer called Into Thin Air. It was amazing, I highly recommend it. It is written first hand about the 1996 disaster on Mt. Everest. It definitely made the time fly as we drove through Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota and finally Minnesota. It was all worth it, but it was long!

We rented a boat the next day and trolled around Lake Bemidji. It was a georgeous day and we had so much fun! We bar-b-qued before we went out and and Hunter tried watermelon for the first time. He loved it! Then we just sunned ourselves and enjoyed a relaxing day on the water. I figure a day on the water is better than a day anywhere else. Hunter even got a nap in! I thought he was so cute! He absolutely loves the water and dug being on the boat all day. He got passed around from aunt to aunt to uncle to cousin to grandpa, I even got a few minutes in with him. He loved the attention! We cleaned out the house that night and finally got everything taken care of. It was a big job and my aunts did a great job of taking care of everything. We got to see all the sights in Bemidji, there aren't that many, and got Hunter's picture with Paul Bunyan and Babe. Bemidji is where the Mississippi River begins so there are tons of lakes and a great state park called Itasca. I used to go up there every summer and for many years spent a week with my grandparents all by myself. I looked forward to that week every year. I would go have a doughnut with my grandpa for breakfast and go to work with my grandma at Bemidji State University. She worked as a receptionist in one of the departments. We had so much fun together. We would go to one of the parks that had a swimming beach and play and swim. Every year for the 4th of July they had a little carnival that I would go to. My Uncle Steve would win me a toy playing the games and would ride the Tilt-a-whirl with me over and over. It was my favorite ride! I really enjoyed going there and have so many great memories. One of the things we got to do this trip was see my grandparents headstone. That was really special to me. It was a really fun trip and I am so glad I went.

Madison turns 4!

Madisons's birthday was July 8 and we had a party at Bounce U to celebrate. Her party was 2 weeks after her birthday, I know, I just am not that on top of things, but to celebrate her actual day we had so much fun together just the two of us (well, 3 with Hunter).
We went out to lunch at Pick Up Stix, she LOVES Chinese food, and then went to ColdStone for ice cream. She rarely gets ice cream so it was a big treat for her. She picked chocolate, big surprise there, with sprinkles. Yumm. Once Ryan came home we took her to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. She loves pizza and we love the free birthday pizza for the kid's club there. California Pizza Kitchen is located in this new outdoor mall Vegas has. The best part is the kids play area. There is a big tree house fort with a maze and (drum roll please) a sprinkler park. She LOVES playing there, so for her birthday she got to play for 1/2 hour or so. She loves the park and all the fun things to do and she always finds a little friend to play with and runs around with the biggest smile on her face. She had all her favorite things that day! I even let her wear her favorite dress. Why is it her favorite you ask? Well, since she has been watching all the Disney Princess movies she is all about "twirling." The dress I let her wear is her favorite for the same reason it is my least favorite, because all she will do in it is twirl (refer to her preschool graduation movie, she does the same thing in it). She won't sit down or pay attention. All day long she twirls. She won't let me tie the strings in a bow because then they don't flare out when she "twirls." My mom bought it for her when we went to Memphis for my dad's canoe race. We took her to church in it and what a mistake that was. When she went to primary instead of sitting down like all the other sunbeams she got up for every song and danced and twirled. My dad was in there and was so embarrassed! Poor Dad! Neither Ryan nor I can sit still so I can't figure out for the life of my where she gets this horrible habit!

Her party was so much fun. We invited all of her friends and just had a great time! They got to bounce for 75 minutes and then we had cake and ice cream and opened presents. It was a great party, and the best part was that I did not have to clean my house, come up with party games, chase down kids or clean up. I love location birthday parties. The girls that worked the party were awesome too, they played with the kids and made sure all of them had so much fun! It was great!

Madison got this birthday crown for her first birthday (thanks Kathy) and she wears it once a year on her birthday and that is it. It has been fun to have something special just for the one day a year. I pulled it out again this year and her friends loved it. One of her little boy friends was playing with it and I got a picture of him putting it on while trying to be discrete at the same time. I also found these awesome cupcakes at Costco, they have cake and ice cream in one cupcake. It made cleanup easy and only required hands to eat it! Whoo Hoo! I am all about easy. Madison's favorite part was the sprinkles. The girl adores sprinkles!

When the party was over we were starved, none of us had had dinner yet. So Ryan asks Madison where she wants to eat. When you ask her what her favorite restaurants are she says Costco and Burger King, so Ryan was expecting one of those two answers. What does she say though? Cheesecake Factory! I think this girl is spoiled rotten!