Golden Nugget Revisited

Last time we went stayed at the Golden Nugget hotel & casino it was FREEZING!!! Click Here to see the first visit.  The kids didn't get to swim much last time so we went back when it was guaranteed to be really really hot - last week.  The Hancock family came with us and got a room on the same floor.  We hung out at the pool, went to eat dinner at the California Casino downtown and walked up & down Fremont Street, where they have street performers, artists & plenty of awkward people watching opportunities. Kami was running a fever so I took her back to our room and Sarah kept the others to see some more of Fremont Street.  The next morning we went to the breakfast buffet & played in the pool again for a couple of hours.  They have an awesome pool with a three story slide that goes through their shark tank.
The kids had a blast.

Fathers Day

This time of year is rough on our family. Sam is gone a lot at work. Fathers Day was great because we had him all to ourselves, and he had CANDY all to himself. The kids made these candy-grams and brought breakfast in bed. We had one of Sam's favorite dinners, homemade lasagna & watched Sam's new favorite movie "John Carter" ha ha, that was a joke, he didn't really care for the movie but we did have fun watching it together as a family.  From the minute the kids gave Sam his candy-grams they were asking for some of his least favorites.  Sam still has candy from Easter in his side table so I think it'll be a while before he hands over all these new candy bars.  We love him so much.  Sam is a hard worker, dedicated to everything he does.  He's a great Dad and husband.  He's smart & funny.  He's the best thing that ever happened to me, besides our little darlings of course!

Donny & Marie x2

I got promo (free) tickets for the Donny & Marie show from LVAC where I teach. The first time I went I took some crazy ladies from my ward....ma gurl furends! What a memorable night. It was the night of the E.D.C. (electric daisy festival) so some of the people we saw were dressed....well  actually they may have forgotten to get dressed and I had to cover my eyes more than once! eeekkkk! Scary, scary! We on the other hand were fully clothed and had a blast, as if you can't tell from these pictures!

A few nights later Amanda, her cousin and miss Baili came with me again. The show is great. Clean & entertaining. I was floored at how well Donny & Marie sing, they are truly talented. Marie sang "Pie Jesu", an operatic, beautiful song dedicated to her son who died last year. They sang some of their most famous songs as well as some Broadway hits. They have been performing for 50 years!
I think all that clean living is serving them well :)

Elders Take the Win!!!!!

Every year our ward has an Elders (younger guys from church) VS. High Priests (more "mature" gentlemen from the ward) softball game. This year Sam is the Elders Quorum President so he took the challenge VERY seriously.....hee hee. He did a lot of organizing and prepping. It turned out great. They had hot dogs, chips & cookies as well as a bounce house and obstacle course for the kids, that's Jacob at the bottom of the pile of kid bodies. It was hot outside but the "FANS" were shaded so it was perfect to watch the game. Sam didn't play but boy did he keep everyone organized, rotating players and keeping score, as a true auditor should! I heard, from our Bishop that there was a lot of smack talking going on before the game. I guess the Sunday before Sam referred to a "storm of elders" coming on Friday, as he pretended to check what the weather was going to be likes. The Sunday after the game, he gave a tube of BEN GAY to the poor losers as their award, sad........

2012 School Year - First and Last Days

I thought it would be fun to see pictures from the first and last days of school side by side.  The kids really have grown a lot over the school year but you can't really tell with them sitting down.  I do think its kinda funny that they're so put together for the first day of school and the last day, they're all relaxed and chill (Jacob with his new Elmo hat, Baili shoeless, Ryans overgrown hair.....haha!  I guess by the last day everyone is just done with the year, ready to relax!  Bring on the pool parties.

Memorial Day Tradition

Baili & Niamh Floating

Sam cooks a MEAN hamburger

Kami Cutie

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

I got my 80's glasses and I'm ready to go!

Look at these guns!

Lucy & Kami play on the splash pad

ah the volleyball game....
We missed Grandpa Bainbridge at the "tight game"

Kami as GEORGE WASHINGTON!

2012 Pinewood Derby

Pinewood derby is always an interesting time around our house.  Its bang smack in the middle of busy season for Sam so he is M.I.A. which leaves me and the boys to figure out how to create a totally RAD derby car.  This year both Jacob & Ryan are in cub scouts so we had to make two!  Yayy.....
The boys picked out the designs they liked and we got started.  I think we did pretty good.  In the past years, Val our friend has helped us out ( A LOT ) but it didn't feel right to call him two weeks before the race and start prying for help.  He was already making three for his kids.  We decided to go it alone.  I think we learned a lot this year, like 1. start early 2. paint actually weighs a lot 3. drilling multiple holes in your car does not mean it will weigh less  4.  do not use super glue to attach  weigh to your car, you may regret it 5. prayer always helps 6. the older man at the post office was an angel in disguise when I was about to fling the boys cars into the desert and he came to my rescue and finally after weighing in THREE times overweight, we might invest in a scale ourselves.  The boys suggested we have Sam come in on the action for next year by making their cars during off season (in the fall when we have nothing but birthdays, holidays and chaos) at least he would be around to ENJOY the pressure....ha!
Anyway, in the end we were all pleased with the outcome.  Because I'm the Cub Master, we had a little pre-race party at our house the night before the big race and watched DOWN N DERBY, a hilarious movie about a derby race were the Dads turn completely psycho to win their sons race but in the end they realize its all about the boys and them having a good time.  We had popcorn and candy and the boys were wild!

Theresa was in charge of pinewood derby night and showed up looking like Poncho Villa (hilarious)  The boys each got a certificate and a Twinkie derby car for participating.  We didn't win but we had fun and that's all that matters, until next year when Sam and the boys blow everyones car out of the water......but please don't hold your breath....................

A little funny....

I subbed in Kamis primary class today.  The kids were pretty entertaining.  I only had 5 but one or two wanted to crawl under the seats, lie on the floor, look at my phone, tell me about the cat/dog/lizard or brush their teeth with a little toothbrush that was the handout from sharing time.  We played a game where I described a scripture scene and the kids had to tell me what story I was talking about from the scriptures.  One of the stories was about when Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights.  I described that "someone bad" tried to test the Savior by telling him to use his divine powers to save himself.  When I asked the kids who the person was....Kami raised her hand and started yelling in excitement.....SATAN SATAN.....eh ya....."you're right Kami"  Then she made that face she makes, a little squint to the side and said, "well I don't mean "yay satan", "I mean LIKE....it was Satan"
I just thought it was funny and a little inappropriate!  eeek.....