Thankful Thursday

This may seem an odd one to anyone who doesn't know us well. But today i am Thankful for my car. I LOVE my car!!!

People can say what they like about it, "it looks like a toaster, or a school bus" but I LOVE so many things about it...

-good gas milage

-the color

- it's really roomy

- it's paid off

- it just looks cool

I am SO thankful that we have a car that is reliable and gets us to where we need to be with no worries. I LOVE this car!!!

Easter Morn

So, I emailed the Easter Bunny and told him that Kira would be down at her cousins this Easter and he didn't fail to deliver!!!

We headed down to Cali on Friday, luckily Jacob got out of work early and we were ready to go, so we headed out about 2:30ish....

We got down there in good time about 6:30ish and meet and the house. And then off we went to Miguel Jr's. (our new California tradition)

We enjoyed our "Mexican Food" and then Sabrina and I decided to help out the Easter Bunny a little and hit Kohls and Toys R Us.

The cousins playing a home-made board game

On Saturday the guys took the kids to their ward's Easter Party. While Sabrina and I hit Zumba.

Before breakfast

On the "hunt"

Scavenging for eggs (her first real egg hunt)

Reaping her spoils

Rinny-Rinny (Corinne) only wanted the bright pink eggs and according to the story passed EVERY OTHER egg just to get the pink ones, frankly, I like a girl who knows what she wants and goes for it!!!



The rest of Saturday was filled with the boys going to their BIG 4 concert, the kids hitting baseball games and then afterward the girls having some girly time (pedi's (Val got eyelash extensions, they look so good I'm contemplating it, shopping and dinner) Sabrina and Val (my sister-in-laws, and my good friend Korie were all there and we all had a great time...

Thanks to Grandma Jetta who is a miracle worker!!!

Sunday morning we woke up to Easter Baskets left by the Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny got her this princess backpack and she LOVES it!!

Then off to church with Grandma Jetta and then we ran over to my Papa's house. We were so surprised and lucky to see everyone there.

Afterward we went back to Grandma Jetta's for a fun lunch and another Easter egg hunt. A couple of hours of playing and we were on our way back to Vegas again...

As always, the weekend went by too fast and we hope to be down again soon... Our niece is getting baptized in August so we look forward to that trip for sure!!!

Thankful Thursday (a day late)

It maybe a day late but it's a two-fer so hopefully that makes up for. It may sound odd but I am really thankful to be living in Las Vegas. It's not secret that I have had my share of trials here (my ward for one) and there will ALWAYS be some things I miss about Cali (family) but Vegas has been really good for us.

*it's close to Cali and closer to Utah so we can see family more often

*it's close to Cali and closer to Utah so people come and visit us either on the way there or home

*cost of living is cheaper (except for car insurance - dang foreigners)

*good weather most of the year (summers do get hot but anything over 100 feels pretty much the same)

*there is alway something to do and everything is relatively close (i realized the other day that I sounded just like a native when I said blah blah blah was ALL the way on the OTHER side of town - in Cali terms it's NOTHING)

*Despite the general problems with my ward I have met some great people

*Kira is growing up here and those memories are inextricability connected with Vegas and so it will always have a soft spot in my heart

People can say what they want about Vegas being dirty, "gross", sin city. I will venture to say that most big cities have these elements in them somewhere, Vegas is just more open about it. And as we look for a new place to live I am reminded that Home is where you make it and finally after 3 years here I can say, Vegas is home to us!

Sports Class

I have been trying to get Kira into dance class for a while now and I just can't seem to make that happen and so when the classes filled up before I got to the website a couple of weeks ago I signed her up for Sports Class. She has been talking about playing soccer for about a year now so I thought Sports class would be just the thing.

We didn't know what quite to expect when we showed up Wednesday morning but she jumped right in with the warm up, was all about "running the bases" and had fun kickin the ball. Week one was kick-ball and she can't wait to see what this week will bring.

Thankful Thursday

We have a lot of names for this girl.... Boppa, Kira-Bo-Berra, Pumpkin Face & Pokey-pokey

This girl keeps me on my toes. She's funny, she's smart, she's beautiful, she's pretty fantastic!!

I LOVE this girl a million, million million!!

Thank you Heavenly Father for giving her to me to raise.

Thankful Thursday

3 weeks in a row... it's like a miracle.

Today I am thankful for :

Jacob is a pretty fantastic guy, he's sweet, he's the BEST Dad a girl could ask for! I love him more and more everyday!

Flash Back Friday

Check me out - 2 in a row......

I think today I'm gonna flashback on some friends photos.

I often think that I'm a pretty solitary person, I don't have TONS of friends I don't have anything resembling a social life BUT the friends I do have are pretty fantastic. I don't have photos of all my great friends (some of them I haven't even meet in real-life - the magic of the internet huh?)

But these are some of the photos I do have...

My Jo - we have been friends for 17 years now and only get to see each other every 5 years or so. (It's my turn to go to England - one day baby, one day!) The Internet has made our friendship better, we can talk to each other whenever we want now, instead of trying to figure out time differences etc. This is us at Temple Square, Jacob was taking pictures of her little Livvy who is now like 7 or 8 (man, time flies!)

It is my belief that the Lord trekked us to England in 1994 just so I could meet Jo and spend the best summer of my life sleeping in tents (it sound's weird but she gets it). No other reason makes sense. I am thankful for that and grateful to Jo for always being there for me no matter what.

Annette - AKA Franseca Louise!! We have been friends since I moved to La Mirada in 1998. We meet at my "uncle's" house, (I say "uncle" cause he's not really my uncle, just known him my whole life) She used to babysit for his kids... I don't even know why I went over there, except maybe I was bored and needed something to do... She had just gotten home off her mission and we were talking about the singles ward, I offered to drive since she didn't have a car yet. We have been friends ever since. I have some pretty fantastic memories of Annette. I would list them but most of them are inside jokes (Dan, Dan, the UPS man, "You're gonna marry him, You're gonna marry him) She was right, I did marry him despite my many statements to the contrary. I don't get to see her much either, she moved to Boise the month after "Him" and I got married but we try to meet up from time to time. I miss ya sista! We need to get our rollerblades working!!

Korie - I could write a novel or two about Korie. Korie is just about a good a friend as anyone could ask for. She is 1000% supportive of me, we have some pretty fantastic memories too (like a spur of the moment over the weekend trip to Utah, England, Ohio, craft trips to Michaels, Target trips, walks around the block... which ever block, we don't seem to be that picky about it. One of the things I love BEST about Korie is that it doesn't matter what we are doing, we are having a good time... we had a fantastic day in 2004 just going to the DMV and the Social Security Office together... it was just fun because we were together! Thanks Korie for being the best friend a girl could ask for.

Krista - We are not as close as we once were - again because we hardly see each other but she is still one of my closest friends. I met her through Jacob and then I recommended her for a job, she got it and we saw each other every day for like 18 months, until she and Mike started "truckin", which is kinda my fault too.... Anyway... I love that she and I can talk about the same old things and still find it entertaining... Miss ya sister!

Honorable Mentions (cause I can't find pictures of them) - Shelly - thanks for making my time in Vegas so far not horrible, My SOS sisters (you know who you are), Janelle (burning and storing pics makes it hard to find them later) and I'm sure there are some I'm forgetting........ Valerie (my sil, who I love!) and my other sil, Sabrina.... I'm glad to call you and Val my sisters and my friends... we should really take a girl photo sometime....