War Bonnet Roundup Rodeo

The last few years we have made it a tradition to go to the War Bonnet Roundup Rodeo the first weekend in August. It's always a lot of fun and pretty entertaining. This year we got a babysitter so Jason and I could go by ourselves. Jason had been golfing all afternoon in the MelaMasters tournament for work so he looks like a golfer in our picture. It's always fun to hang out with the hubby and do something fun. Love you, Jason!

Second Chance Prom

In April, a local  radio station put on a "Second-Chance Prom" for our area. It was basically an adult prom. I convinced Jason to take me and he gladly agreed. We got all dressed up for the occasion and headed out for our fun night! We had lots of fun. I even learned that Jason can do the robot!! It was hilarious! The dance was supposed to last until 11pm, but by about 9:30-10:00 we were ready to go to bed! Plus, it was getting a little crazy out on the dance floor. I guess that is one thing different about an adult prom - the drinking! We had a few good laughs at some people and headed home. It was a lot of fun and we even got prom pictures at the dance! It was all free, which was even better.

Now we have one more dorky prom picture to add to the collection - this time it's with each other!

Is it Spring yet?

This time of year is probably the hardest time to live in Idaho. Everyone is so done with Winter and ready for warm weather, but we are still getting snow. Carson has been a little pill lately (more on that to come) and I know a lot of it has to do with him being ready to get some energy out. We try and keep busy around the house to make the time pass quickly.

Apparently spaghetti night was a success....

Sometimes we will venture out to a store just to get out of the house. This is me wishing Spring was here......I turned Brooklyn into a flower.

Brooklyn loves to play with my phone. In fact, she throws a fit if she can't have it when she wants it. I was looking through my pictures the other day and found these beauties. Brooklyn knows how to work the camera!!

Jason and I have been switching babysitting with another couple and it was worked out really well. Every other week we get to go have a date for a few hours. Most of the time its all I see of him all week and he goes right back to doing homework. I sure do miss having my hubby around, but I'm grateful I get to see him when I do. :)

I have been switching babysitting with a few of my friends so that we can take turns going to the temple during the day. It has been really nice to go, even if it is by myself, and I have truly felt the blessings of the temple come into our home. Carson loves having his friends come over on the days its our turn to babysit.

Carson and Hallie

Picnic in the living room

We have had our fair share of sickness the last few months. The kids got really bad colds and Brooklyn was pretty miserable. I'm so glad they are better now!

Aunt Carly bought Carson some new shirts and he loves them. I snapped this picture of Carson looking like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. :)

Brooklyn is at the stage where church is extremely difficult. She wants to move and go and 3 hours is a long stretch to not have a nap. I feel like I spend a lot of time out in the hall or in the foyer. If she wasn't so darn cute.....

We got to go to the mall with Ashley and the kids one day and the kids had a blast playing on the toys. We fit all 5 of them in the school bus and turned it on, which they thought was great! Going to the mall is always and adventure. By the time we left I'm sure everyone was glad we did. Screaming kids, cranky kids, noisy kids.....

Hurry up, Spring!! We are ready to play outside!!

Mommy-Son Date Knight

I love Chick-Fil-A. They have family nights once a month with different activities and this month they had parent/child date nights. I took Carson to the Mommy-Son Date Knight and we had a blast. We got there and were escorted to our seat at a table decorated like we were in a castle. A waiter came and took our order and brought us the supplies to make our own shield. After we were done eating, Carson got to get a dragon tattoo on his arm and pick out a balloon sword. He got to talk to the cow and even got an ice cream come. He was so excited about every part and we had so much fun together. My favorite part of the whole night was us skipping in the parking lot. He thought that was hilarious, and his laugh just melts my heart. I sure do love my little boy and he is growing up too fast.

Donuts, Dates, Bathtime, and Friends

 Jason and Carson have started going to get donuts on Saturday mornings for their "Daddy-Son" date. Carson loves it. He only lets his daddy have 2 donuts and then yells at him if he tries to eat more. Carson really looks forward to it and is always asking if its the day he gets to get donuts.

 

Brooklyn is getting so big and she loves her baths, just like Carson. My mom found a little bathtub at a yard sale and Brooklyn thinks it is the coolest thing ever. She loves to kick her little feet and play and play and play. It's so fun to watch her.

  

The weekend before Christmas, my friend Hannah came to visit us. She and I were roommates in college and I love her to death. She lives in D.C. now and has such an exciting life. I tell her that I live vicariously through her because she gets to go and do so many things that are on my bucket list. It was so good to have her here and to visit with her. It doesn't matter how long it has been since we've seen each other, the instant we are together it's like we were never apart. I realized something as I thought about her visit after she left. Hannah and I get along so well because she is like an extension of me. We have the same goals, the same hopes, the same beliefs, the same core values, the same outlook on life, the same taste, the same political views, the same....everything. It is so nice to be around someone that understands COMPLETELY. I don't feel like I have to explain myself or leave anything out. She gets it. I hope someday we live close to each other again.

Mommy-Son Date

Saturday night, Carson and I went on a date in our PJs. We ate dinner, put Brooklyn down for bed, took a bath, and then went out! Carson wore his "Cars" pajamas with his matching slippers, and off we went!

 Our first stop was the Orange Leaf, where we shared a big cup of frozen yogurt. By shared I mean that Carson hogged it. I let him put whatever toppings he wanted on it, so it was basically a cup of gummy worms, gummy bears, sprinkles, sour patch kids, and white chocolate chips. He thought it was pretty cool.

When we were done eating our ice cream he asked to go to Walmart. Silly kid. It cracks me up that he knows what Walmart is. We went and I bought him french fries from the McDonalds inside. He picked out a new shirt (Thomas the Train) and new jammies (Batman, which he pronounces "NatNam") and he helped me pick out some jammies for Brooklyn. When we were headed out I let him ride the airplane in the arcade, which he loved. By the time we got home it was 10! Spoiled little boy! We had a lot of fun and I got lots of hug and kisses for it. He was so excited to show his Daddy everything he got and tell him everything we did. I love my little man.

Staying Busy

The last week and a half have been busy around our house. Jason and I went on a date last Friday and got to see the Avengers. It was awesome! Jason has been waiting for that movie to come out for months and has watched every trailer for it the day it comes out. We got matching shirts and went and saw it while Carly and Will watched Carson. We were not disappointed!

The next day we went shooting with Chris and Keira. Jason shot Chris' 50 caliber gun and was pretty excited about it. Keira's family has ducklings and Carson got to pet one! He loved it! It was really cute and he kept saying "quack quack". He is so good with his animal sounds!

Jason shooting the "Big Gun"

Carson petting the duckling

Waiting for Daddy to shoot

Shooting Jason's Pistol

Jason was supposed to be at convention this week but got to stay home and take care of some issues in the office. I was glad since I'm only 2 weeks away from my due date with the baby. He went into work early and stayed late everyday, but it was still really nice to know he was in town. Carson and I played outside a lot this week and spent time with friends. Ashley and I spent an entire day making jam. We made strawberry, strawberry peach, strawberry apricot, strawberry raspberry, and triple berry. It was a long day, but we got a lot of jam out of it.

Jason and I worked in the yard all day yesterday and I really hoped it would send me into labor. I even mowed the entire back lawn....which did nothing but make me sore. I also canned salsa and made blackberry apricot jam this weekend, both of which turned out great!
On Friday, Carson went #2 in the potty! We have had a potty sitting out for a while now and he will sit on it and pretend to go potty. He had just gotten out of the tub and I could see the face starting, so I told him to go sit on his potty. He did and he used it! Yay! Later on that morning, however, he decided to go #2 in his bedroom and then stepped in it and got it everywhere. A bottle of Sol-u-Mel and Sol-u-Guard later his room was finally livable again. Haha!
Jason was called to be the ward Sunday School President and I was called to be the Young Women's Secretary. We are both really excited about our new callings!
Other than that we are just trying to get things ready for the baby. I need to finish putting her room together and pack my hospital bag.... Hopefully she will give me just a few more days.

The Wheels on the Bus

What makes this little boy happy? Riding the "trucks" at the mall. Good thing he doesn't care if they are on! He would use all my money!

Vegas, Baby!

For Christmas, I surprised Jason with a trip to Vegas!! He has never been and we wanted to get away before the baby comes. I set it up for his Spring Break from school, which happened to be at the same time as Leslie's Spring Break. She was kind enough to come stay with Carson for the week so we could go have fun. Thanks, Leslie!

We got to do sooooooo much while we were there! We stayed at the Excalibur on the strip. They messed up on our room when we got there, so they ended up putting us in a suite for no additional charge! We had a perfect view of the strip and had a hot tub in our room. It was really nice!

 The first night we were there we went to a Cirque Du Soleil show called "Beatles Love". It was a Cirque performance set to the music of the Beatles. It was good, but both Jason and I agreed that we probably would have rather watched a different Cirque show. It was still fun to experience though!

"Beatles Love"

We walked the strip during the day and we got so see a lot of stuff doing it. Jason got to try the cokes from all over the world at Coca-Cola world. He loved it! He has always enjoyed trying weird drinks, so this was right up his alley. There were a few good ones, like the apple and the watermelon, but there were also some GROSS ones.

We found this awesome restuarant outside the Paris hotel called the Sugar Factory. We originally went in to try their crepes, but ended up finding this amazing sundae! It was a red velvet sundae with bits of red velvet cake, fresh raspberries, white chocolate pieces, whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, all drenched in white chocolate, hot fudge, and raspberry sauce. It was AMAZING! The best part was that it was right across the street from the Bellagio fountains so we could watch the fountains go off while we ate our sundae. Talk about heaven for a 7 month pregnant woman!

We got free tickets to see the wax museum, which was kinda cool. We took lots of pictures, but of course I had to jump in with Will Smith and Jason had to jump in with the Beatles.

 Right outside the wax museum there was a gondola ride where they sing to you and you get to take a ride in their boats through the tunnels. It was pretty cute. Our guide had an amazing voice.

 My favorite part of Vegas was "The Phantom of the Opera." I have always wanted to see it performed live, and this show was amazing!! Even Jason was impressed, and I don't think he was looking forward to it before we went. :) We sat right under the chandelier, so when it dropped that was pretty cool. I had a hard time not singing along the whole time we were watching. I love the music!

We got a bunch of tickets for free drinks from the bar of our hotel, but since Jason and I don't drink we didn't use them. The last day Jason decided to try a non-alcoholic beer and put a quarter in the slot machine. Of course I had to take a picture of him being a rebel. :)

 Our last night in Vegas we went to the Tournament of the Kings at Excalibur. It was so much fun! They put on a show while you eat with your hands and cheer for the country you are assigned. Jason loved it. I think it was his favorite thing that we did while we were there.

We had a great time and were sad to leave all the fun, but also excited to see our baby again after 5 days without him. Until next time, Vegas........

Jazz Game

We got blessed again this year to get sent to the Jazz game by Melaleuca. This time, however, our seats were the best in the whole place. No, really.... they were. We sat RIGHT. NEXT. TO. THE. JAZZ. I'm talking - in the seat right next to the coach. Can't get any better than that.