7 Random Things

7 things I can do:
1. Have patience with 6 crazy kids. Well... kind of. More patience than Brian, at least.
2. Cook - well at least I cook really good desserts, the rest is adequate.
3. Speak in public - but don't tell anyone in my ward. Just because I can doesn't mean I like to!
4. See the bright side of almost any situation.
5. Make a budget - and stick to it!
6. See outside of the box.
7. Read a book with 9 million distractions.

7 things I can't do:
1. Hunt - or kill anything for that matter (besides the stupid ants that keep invading my bathroom).
2. Sing
3. not get frustrated in traffic
4. conform - I like being my crazy self.
5. not miss my girls when I am gone - if even for a little while. Or even when they are mis-behaving.
6. feel good about disciplining my kids - even though I know that I have to because it is better in the long run.
7. Take a shower without being interrupted by Brian or the girls at least ten million times.

7 things I always say:
1. "I Love You!"
2. "Look! It's a baby cockroach!" to Brylee - her nickname is "baby cockroach" because she was obsessed with cockroaches when we moved to Vegas (we don't have them in our house - just outside in the summer).
3. "Chill Out!"
4. “I can't understand you when you are crying. Stop crying and then I will listen!"
5. "What would Jesus and God think about that?" :) That is my way of sending them on a guilt trip!
6. “If you tried your very hardest, then I am proud of you, and couldn't ask for more!"
7. “I am so proud of you."

7 things I always eat:
1. Raspberries!!!
2. Cheese
3. Homemade bread
4. Cheese Tamales
5. Sour Patch Kids
6. Popcorn at the Movie Theatre
7. popcorn shrimp with cocktail sauce

Ulgh. How un-healthy. I don't eat these things often! I just can't resist them if they are placed in front of me!

7 People I tag:
uhhh...
How about anyone who wants to do this?!? Okay, I know I am cheating... but so what?

Christmas!

We chose to stay home this year for Christmas instead of traveling to Gunnison. I miss seeing my Mom, Kirk, Reed, Josie, and all of my brothers and sisters (including in-laws - I consider them my brothers and sisters too), but I really just like to be at home on Christmas. It is too hard to drive long distances with hyper kids, trying to pack presents, then trying to re-pack them, and see every family member in the meantime.

I cooked a big turkey dinner with all the trimmings on Christmas Eve. I tried doing it on Christmas day before, but the kids never eat very well because of all the candy they get. This year we had the missionaries in our area - Elder Beatty and Elder Bitton - over to eat with us. It was really fun. I love Christmas Eve. Probably, even more than Christmas day. The kids are excited, the house is all clean, all the Christmas decorations are up, the tree has tons of presents underneath, Christmas music is playing, and it just feels like "Christmas". We always let them open one gift on Christmas Eve, which is always pajamas, but they get more excited over that one gift than anything else! Christmas day is always a let down for me, because it just feels like it is over way to fast!

Christmas morning was alot of fun. Ady and Alysa both got ipods for Christmas (that was their "big gift") and the also got games for their DS and Leapster, and alot of other little things that they wanted. Brylee got a Bike (which is so cute! She wanted a beach cruiser like mine, only red - her favorite color). She also got a Baby Alive, which she had been asking for for months (I HATE it because it now has peed all over the house) and a baby Snow White. She loves her babies.

We actually got to sleep in until 7 AM, when their internal alarm clock went off (that is when they get up for school). That was fine for me, because my internal "alarm clock" is set for the same time. However, I don't think Brian was to happy about it. He wanted to sleep in! The girls were just so excited and cute! Those few moments make all the stress and scrambling to find the "perfect gift" worth it! Brian and I, got all of the kids Rock Band for our Christmas gift to them. We have probably have more fun on it than anyone. I have a blister on my hand from playing the drums (which I must say, I am really good at). I am excited for the boys to get here, because, although, the girls have had fun with it, I know the boys will love it even more. Austin has already told me to practice up, because he is going to kick my butt when he gets here!

My mom and Kirk got all the kids a bag full of balls and sports equipment. And not just regular balls - thanks to Kirk's connections - but, the nice red and yellow balls we had in school, as well as a football, volleyball, basketball, frisbee, jump rope, a nice mesh bag to put it in, and more. Each of the kids got a bag of all of that!!! They were so excited, and I was so excited. They have been playing with those more than anything all weekend! I promised the girls that as soon as the boys got here, we would get all of our "balls" and go to the park. I am probably as excited as they are about it. We are going to have so much fun! And because we have a million (well, six) kids, we are going to be able to play alot of fun games!!! After they opened all their balls, Brian was complaining about how it was going to take him all day to pump them up, so he had better go find his big air compressor in the garage, under all his tools. Then, we opened OUR first gift from mom and Kirk - a mini air compressor! Lol! I was excited because it is perfect for pumping up, not only the balls, but the kids' mini boats, and our air mattresses! Our other gift from them was a food dehydrator. I am super excited to make dried fruit - Brian is super excited to make jerky!

Brian is leaving today to pick up his boys. I hate that we have to have two different Christmases every year. I just have to ignore my itch to clean and put up the Christmas tree for a few days longer! I am so excited for them to open their presents, though. I just know that they are going to love them!!! The boys are staying through the new year, so I have a big party planned for us. We are going to watch movies, have a Rock Band competition, play board games (thanks to Mike and Misty who game us them for Christmas - we LOVE them!), eat alot of snacks, and watch the ball drop on the big screen. I am excited! I have spent New Years Eve in Vegas (when I was in college), and in Hawaii with friends (a couple of years ago), but nothing compares to having fun and spending time with your kids - and we are lucky enough to have all six of them on New Years Eve!

Anyway... we had a GREAT Christmas! Christmas time makes me feel so grateful for all of my family: Brian, my girls, my boys, Mom, Kirk, Reed, Josie, Mike and Misty, Steve and Tina, Kiersten, Doug and Rhonda, Craig and Erika, Maren, Sammy, my Grandma Sorenson, and all of our great friends - who are just like family to us. The holiday's mean nothing without family and friends. I am also so grateful that Brian has steady work, and that I am able to be a stay-at-home mom to my girls. I have so much in my in my life! I am grateful for all of it!

Santa!

Last Friday, we went to Barnes and Noble for our elementary school fundraiser. The kids had alot of fun! They got to make crafts, hear some stories, and visit Santa!

Snowmen!

It snowed all day! I think that at least an inch stuck to the ground. It all quickly went into three little snowmen! It was really wet snow... perfect for snowman building!

It's snowing in Vegas?

Yep... it's true. I moved here to get AWAY from the snow. I guess it just followed me. It looks a little weird to see palm trees in my front yard covered in snow!

Trimming the Tree!

After listening to the girls beg non-stop, for a week, we finally broke the Christmas tree out last night! Each year they get a new ornament for the tree (although, I haven't bought this years yet - I am a slacker). They love hanging their ornaments! But their favorite one is my Baby's First Christmas (1980). They think it is soooo old! lol. Here's some pictures:

Thanksgiving and Ady's Baptism

Oh, I don't even know where to begin. ALOT has happened in the last week or so. Lets' see...

Our friend Jeff (our girls call him Uncle Jeff), had his parents visiting from Durango, Colorado, the week before Thanksgiving. So, Sunday, we had Jeff and his parents over for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner! It turned out really nice! We love Jeff, and it was really nice to get to meet his parents. They are really interesting people. They just got back from a trip to Africa, and showed us all of their pictures. My girls have decided that we need to go to Africa for our next family vacation. I'm not sure that will happen... ever!

Sunday morning, we took my niece, Kelsey, to the airport. We were all really sad to see her leave. The next morning Brylee woke up, and went downstairs to snuggle with Kelsey like she usually did. She started to cry when she realized that she wasn't there. We all really miss having her here!!!

We made the long trek to Gunnison for Thanksgiving this year. We left Wednesday night, and didn't make it to Gunnison until around midnight. The next morning, we went to Reed and Josie's house for Thanksgiving. We had alot of fun, and lots of good food! The girls love to see all their cousins!

Friday morning we woke up bright and early to go shopping at Walmart at 5:00 AM, with Craig, Erika, Kiersten, Tina, and Steve. There really wasn't much that we wanted, but we did get all the kids a coat - they had them on sale for only $8!!! 6 coats for under $50 - you can't beat that! We also got a new scanner/printer/fax (only $29), since ours broke.

Later that day we had round 2 of Thanksgiving dinner - this time at my mom's and Kirk's house. It is really fun to blend their two families together for dinner! I enjoy talking with Kirk's family and getting to know them better. My girls also met his daughter, Mariah's, daughter's who are about the same age. They had so much fun playing with them, and my sister in law, Rhonda's, daughter Mireya. The rest of us had fun playing Guitar Hero on Sammy's new x-box 360 after dinner!

That night my mom, Maren, Craig and Erika, and Brian, Ady, Austin and I went to see Twilight. This was my second time seeing it, and I have to say I liked it alot more the second time! Everyone else really liked it too. In fact, Austin is now a big fan. He is seriously considering reading the books so that he can find out what happens next. That is pretty major for him since he HATES reading. I think I may have to buy him New Moon (book 2) for Christmas, to encourage the whole reading thing. I told him, every girl in his school will love him if he reads the books. I think that is a HUGE motivation for him. :) Also - it was pretty interesting being in a dark theatre with Craig's glow in the dark cast ( he broke his hand in 3 places when he wrecked his 4-wheeler! ouch!). He is like a little school boy with that thing!

Saturday morning, was Ady's baptism. We decided that it would be alot easier to do the Baptism in Gunnison during the Holiday while everyone was around, than it would be to try and have everyone make the 6 hour drive to Vegas. It was a little stressful for me, trying to plan everything while I was so far away, but luckly, I have a great family who pretty much took care of all the arrangements for me. Kirk baptized Ady and Reed confirmed her. It turned out really nice. We only had one minor catastrophe. Brian was ironing his shirt that morning, and burned a big hole in it, and Austin forgot to pack his church clothes. Brian's family saved the day by finding a shirt for both of them! I am so proud of my Ady! I can't believe that she is already eight!!!

Twilight!

So I just bought advance tickets to see Twilight on Friday at 12:01 AM. My niece, Kelsey, and I are going. We must be insane! It is going to be a madhouse! But we are just so excited!!!

TV

A couple of days ago, the news crew came to Ady and Alysa's school to film an assembly that they were having with Rico the police dog (their school mascot). They aired it this morning at 4:00 am. So, we wouldn't forget Ady reminded us about 9 million times. We got up at 4 am to see if Ady and Alysa were on TV. At 5:30 they finally showed the segment about the assembly. They really didn't show very many shots of the kids, and we didn't see Ady or Alysa in the crowd. Right before it ended, they showed a clip of some kids standing in line to pet Rico, and there was a perfect butt shot of a kid. Ady swears up and down that it was her butt. Apparently, she recognized the pants. So, who knows... maybe Ady's butt made it's big television debut!

Air Show

On Saturday, we loaded up the cool mini-van and went the the Air Show at Nellis Air Force Base. Luckly, the weather cooperated, and it was a perfect 75 degrees, and not a cloud in the sky! For Security reasons, everyone had to park at the speedway. From there we had to wait in a LONG line to go through security - it wasn't quite as bad as going to the airport - but almost! Then they bussed us to the base. Alysa, and Brylee were more excited about riding the bus than anything else! First, we walked around and looked at all the airplanes they had on display. Honestly, I don't know anything about airplanes, so I couldn't tell you what we looked at! But they were neat! Then we sat down on the pavement and watched the planes in the air. Again, I don't know anything about planes, but they did alot of really cool stunts. The kids were amazed. They like it alot - although it was REALLY loud, and really bright outside - so we all had a massive headache at the end of the day. But it was worth it!

High School Tag

1)Did you date someone from your school? Yes

2)What kind of car did you drive? I drove a baby blue 1985 Buick Century, named 'ole blue. We had alot of fun in that car.

3)What was your most embarrassing moment? I would probably say when I tried to chop of Brother Hall's head with the ceiling fan in Seminary. He was so tall, and he was standing on a desk right under the fan. My friends dared me to go flip the switch and turn the fan on so it would hit him in the head. I tried to be sneaky, working my way slowly across the room to the switch. It took every once of nerve I had to flip the switch. I did it - and the lights went out. It was the wrong switch. Everyone laughed - and Bro. Hall wasn't too happy with me.

4)Were you a party animal? Yes, a little. But not as much as my mom thinks! :)

5)Were you considered a flirt? Oh no. I have never even known how to flirt.

6)Were you in Band, Orchestra, or Choir? Yes. I was in Cantus (show choir) for a year, then quit. I didn't really like it all that much and I just had to much on my plate.

7)Were you a NERD? meh. I wasn't really "nerdy" but I wasn't really "popular". My friends and I just sort of did our own thing.

8)Were you on any Varsity Teams? Ha ha ha. Me and sports don't mix. I even got a doctor's note so that I wouldn't have to take P.E.

9)Did you get suspended or expelled? No.

10)Can you still sing the fight song? I didn't even know it when I was in high school.

11)Who were your favorite teachers? Stella Hill - my speech coach. We all loved her!

12)Where did you sit during lunch? I didn't eat lunch at school. Before I got my driver's license I just didn't eat. After we always went to Shellie's (fast food) across the street.

13)What was your school mascot? Bulldog.

14)Did you go to Homecoming? I never went to the homecoming game. I think I went to the homecoming dance once.

15)If you could go back would you? No. I was to busy - I don't have the energy to do it all now.

16)What do you remember most about graduation? I remember crying through the whole thing.

17)Where did you go for your Senior trip? My senior class went to California - Disneyland, Magic Mountain, the Beach. We had alot of fun!

18)Were you in any clubs? Speech, Drama, Model UN, FFA (for one year - me and Mr. Burrell didn't get along), and Cantus.

19)Have you gained weight since High School? Not until I had my third child (Brylee). It took me a long time to lose the baby weight. Now I am only about a size bigger than I was in High School.

20)Who was your prom date? My sophmore year I went with Landon Sorenson, and my Junior year I went with Eric Ludvicson. I didn't go my senior year.

21)Did you go to your 10-year class reunion? No. We were at Disneyland with my girls that day. I went to our 5 year though.

22)Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? Don't worry about what other people think. Just be yourself and have fun.

23) What year did you graduate? 1998

Earrings!

I forgot to mention in my last couple of blogs that Brylee got her ears pierced. She has been begging me to get them done for quite a while now, so I finally gave in. My niece Kelsey and I took her to Claire's. She picked her earrings out (cute little flower ones) and she jumped up on the chair. She kept saying, "I'm so excited! I'm so excited!" She had a whole crowd gathered around watching her. She gave a good show. She jumped a little when they pierced them, but she didn't cry at all! As soon as she saw them in the handheld mirror, she had a HUGE smile on her face. I don't think she stopped smiling for three days. She shows EVERYONE her new earrings. All of our friends, her church teachers, the walmart checker... Here are a few pictures of her showing them off.

Differences Between Utah and Vegas

We have lived in Las Vegas for about eight months now. I have never before lived outside of Utah. Make that, I have never lived outside of a SMALL town in Utah.

I never in my wildest dreams thought that we would end up here in Las Vegas, Nevada. Whenever we would visit here, I would wonder, "Why would anyone want to live in Las Vegas?". I really didn't want to move here, but I had to do what was best for my family. I was SURE that I wouldn't like it.

Much to my amazement, it has turned out that we LOVE it here! There are much fewer differences than I thought there would be, and most of them are not that bad.

I have to say I LOVE the convience of living here, that there are 2 Walmarts, a Target, Kmart, Kholes, Fashion Bug, 2 Ross Dress For Less', 5 grocery stores, Old Navy, Borders, Barnes and Noble, Little Ceasars, Olive Garden, and MUCH more, within 5 miles of our house. At the same time, we live in a GREAT neighborhood. As weird as it sounds, we feel miles away from the "city".

We have been down to the strip only a couple of times since we have moved here. There is just no appeal. It is so weird to watch the news or read the newspaper and hear about celebrities going to red carpet events or night clubs that are literally 15 minutes away. It is just so surreal. It feels like the strip, tourism, and all the visions people have when they think of Las Vegas, are a world away.

And have I mentioned the weather? I LOVED that my girls could go trick or treating without having to wear a snowsuit under their costumes. And while it is now to cold to swim in the pool without the heater on, we can comfortably sit outside at night. We haven't even had to break out a light jacket yet.

Being Mormon outside of Utah is a little weird. Here, everyone doesn't just assume your a "member" like they do in Utah... and no one really cares if you are or not. Only two other houses on our street are occupied by Mormon families. It is funny when we go to church and hear them talk about how big their ward is. It is small compared to our past wards. Especially the primary. There are 4 kids in Adalyn's primary class, and 4 in Alysa's. They each make number 4. It is really nice, because you feel like you really get to know everyone.

We have full time missionaries assigned to just the boundaries of our ward. It is weird to us because they are at our church every Sunday and really get to know each member of the ward. They come over to our house often. Probably once a week. We feed them dinner alot, and they just stop by to say, "hi" when they are in our neighborhood. They are so cute with our kids, and the girls just LOVE them.

AND there is so much to do... Museums, Orchards, a zoo, many parks. We LOVE the library next to our house, and the water park at the YMCA. It is really hard to get bored here.

There are some downsides to living here too. Someone tried to steal our van a couple months ago. We HAVE to lock the doors EVERY time that we leave the house. I have to take the girls to school every morning, because they don't bus and it is just to dangerous for them to walk. I can't go out after dark by myself, whether it be jogging or to grab some groceries.

Overall, we really love it here. But I think that we would love it anywhere where we are together as a family. I just thought it would be fun to list the differences. And to let everyone know, living in Vegas is a whole lot different than vacationing in Vegas!

Halloween and Random Excitment

So I haven't written a blog in the last couple of weeks, so I guess I should update everyone.

Last weekend, we went to Phoenix to visit Brian's brother Mike and wife Misty. We had alot of fun. We didn't do anything particularly exciting, but it was just nice to get away, relax and visit! We ended up bringing my 18 year old niece, Kelsey (Misty's daughter) home with us. It has been so fun having her here! We all just love her!

We all dressed up for Halloween last night! Ady was Hanna Montana, Alysa was an "Aly" cat (she came up with that on her own!) Brylee was Snow White, Kelsey was Strawberry Shortcake, and Brian and I dressed up 50's - me with a poodle skirt, neck scarf and pony tail and Brian with a 50's bowling shirt. Of course, Brian and I forgot to take pictures of ourselves though.

We (or should I say, I?) carved pumpkins the night before. Brylee wanted a scary one, Ady came up with her own design that had a snake tongue, and Alysa wanted a cat - of course. The turned out really cute though! We noticed when we lit them last night, that Brylee's glowed in the back too, from all the extra cuts and stab marks she made. It was cute!

We took the kids to our ward trunk or treat. Actually - since there are not alot of kids in our ward they combined it with another ward. It was the perfect size - not to big, not to small. We had alot of fun! The missionaries even got special permission to stay out late and come. We took a bunch of pictures with them - the girls LOVED that! So somewhere out there, our family will be a part of a two missionary scrap books. :)
After the ward party, we took the kids to Taco Bell. I had a read a poster about a week before saying that they would be handing out candy and having fun games for kids. It was really cool! They had the whole store decorated and all the employee's were in costume. The girls played a fun game, and won a prize (a Halloween cup filled with candy). It was alot of fun!

After that, we came home and had a few friends over. We decided not to do a full on BBQ Halloween party since I have been sick the last few days and didn't really have the energy to get it all ready. So everyone just brought some kind of "finger food", and they adults sat outside and visited (it is still warm here in Vegas :) ) and we had dance revolution, games, and a scary movie set up in three different rooms for all the kids. It was really fun!

My only regret was that, my mother-in-law Josie (have I mentioned how much I love all my in-laws?) sent me the CUTEST Halloween cookbook in the mail, and I was really looking forward to making some of the cute desserts in it for our party. Unfortunately, I didn't. I didn't think all of our guest would enjoy the added ingredient of the cold virus. I am thinking I am going to make a bunch of them this week though, and let my kids celebrate the Mexican Day of the Dead this weekend. We could have the scary desserts, read about the Mexican traditions, maybe watch a not-to-scary scary movie. I thought it would be fun and a little different. Who knows, maybe it will end up being a new tradition!

KayLyn and Jessica unleashed in Vegas

My friend KayLyn and her four kids (Miranda, Ethan, Gabbi, and Collin) came to visit us from Cedar City last weekend. They stayed Wednesday night thru Monday morning. I haven't seen them since we moved in March. It was so good to see them, I have missed them so much!

My kids still had school Thursday and Friday (we don't get UEA break in Nevada), but it worked out okay because she had other friends in Vegas that she visited while my kids were in school. The kids had alot of fun swimming and playing. It was really nice just to visit and catch up - and have a little bit of random fun with masks! I was sad to see them go!

Roberts Look-alike Meter

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1960

You Belong in 1960

You are a free spirit with a huge heart. Love, peace, and happiness rule - oh, and drugs too.

What Year Do You Belong In?

Swap Meet

Since we went camping last weekend, we decided that we would spend this weekend hanging out at home. The girls had Friday off this week, for "staff development day", and by Sunday we were all a little stir crazy. So we decided to go to a swap meet across town that we heard was pretty cool. It was HUGE! Ady was a little confused - everyone spoke Spanish, almost all the signs were in Spanish, and there were Spanish bands playing. She thought that we were in Mexico. It reminded her of Juarez and Nogales. It really was pretty similar to the border towns we have been too - except there was not a pharmacy or dentist every few feet. We just kind of wandered around for a couple of hours - they had some interesting booths - everything from clothes and shoes to dogs (chihuahuas) and parrots to fruit and nuts. There was even a clown and a cute little monkey in a dress that would take change out of the kids' hands. The only thing we ended up buying was some pistachios that Brian wanted - which I really questioned the safety of. The stands did look all that sanitary. But I didn't eat them - and so far Brian isn't sick. Overall, we had a fun time and it was nice to get out of the house!

Valley Of Fire

We went camping this weekend in the Valley of Fire fire, next to Lake Mead. It was alot of fun! The trip didn't get off to a great start. We got of out town later than we wanted to, and halfway there our dog, Makayla, threw up all over Taylor and Alysa. We didn't get there until after dark, and we had a hard time finding a spot. When we finally got everything set up, we all went to bed and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow! I couldn't believe the view that we woke up to the next morning! Very beautiful!!! Since we arrived in the dark the night before, we had no idea! The red rocks were so neat, and there were indian petroglyphs everywhere - even in our campsite!!!

Saturday, we went on a couple of short hikes. We went to Atlatl Rock (that is where the picture to the right is from), and to Rock Arch. It was really to hot to do much else. So we went back and hung out at camp, and BBQ'd some hamburgers. It was really nice just to get out of the house, and let the kids run around! The older kids were having fun climbing on the rock hills looking for caves. Eddie and Brylee were keeping themselves entertained by trying to catch Lizards. Brian finally caught a lizard for Brylee, and she gave it a kiss before letting it go. Eddie climbed all the way up a big rock wall chasing a lizard! I have no idea how he got all the way up there!

Sunday, I got up early so we could hike a little before it got to hot. Brian, Brylee, Alysa, and Michael were being lazy and wanted to sleep in, so it was just Taylor, Ady and I. We went to see the cabins - they are some stone houses the the state build in 1936 for travelers to stay in when they were passing through. They were really cool. Then we went on a hike to see Mouse's tank. Which is a hole in the rock, that holds water during the hot summer months. It is named after an indian fugitive named Mouse, who just to hide out there. We hiked down through a rock canyon. It was really pretty, and there were indian petroglyphs pretty much everywhere we looked!

When we got back from the hike, we packed up and came home. We were all tired and dirty - especially Brylee who didn't wear shoes most of the time. Her feet were caked with dirt. Yuck! I think every one was looking forward to a shower and their own bed!