viva las vegas!

i am usually behind in blogging, but this time i blame Blogger.  it's been totally slow and annoying so, i have therefore not taken the time to blog.  that being said, here is a run down of our trip to Las Vegas.

State Farm had it's national convention in Vegas.  every single agent in the company converged on the town for one week.  we we're assigned to stay at the Wynn!  lucky us!  the resort is among the best i have ever stayed at worldwide.  i loved it!  i guess most the time they are not considered "family friendly", but since many state farm agents were bringing their families, it was a perfectly pleasant place for us. 

we enjoyed many poolside hours.  and i did okay with the 4 kids on my own!

 Dad joined us for a little Venetian time.  and this is how Bubba enjoyed most of his vacation:

 this is the girls' favorite part of Las Vegas, "the singing princesses."  and since I love opera, i am happy to come to as many "shows" as they like.

 i love this picture, Madeline is Bubba's biggest fan and cuddle buddy.  i think it's so cute that the girl who dreamed of having a baby brother named Colin takes so much time to bask in that dream come true. 

 Daddy chose the room at the top of the hotel.  we had a sweeping view!

 on the last night, State Farm put on a massive vegas-styled party for all of us.  we were bused to an arena with a huge carnival culminating into a concert! 

 there were games, performers, photo ops and food galore! 

 and they got to see Lightning McQueen!  thanks to State Farm sponsoring Cars 2. 

 Bubba loved his glow necklace! 

fun was had by all.  i was cracking up at all the stares and comments i got cruising the streets of Vegas with 4 kids in tow.  i was a Vegas freak show.  at first i was taken back, like i should rein it in and keep to myself.  then i thought, you know what we are no freakier than that tatted up, rollerskating Cher look-a-like tranny!  good times!

let's go D-backs!

while Colin and I attended the Relief society Broadcast, the girls had a date with Dad to the D-backs game.  we usually get out to 3 or 4 games a season, but this was the only one for us this year.  fun was had by all!

the little camera was having some issues, apparently we have to change the battery every 2 days!

9 wonderful years!

for the first time in our marriage, Jason surprised me with a babysitter!!!!  that may seem small to you, but to me it was the perfect gift.  we headed to Ruth's Chris with a gift certificate and ate ourselves silly!  it was the perfect celebration to 9 wonderful years with the best husband and father i could have ever imagined!  love you babe!

dad's finger - it's what's for dinner

Colin is a constant drooler and  he loves to put anything and everything in his mouth.  and everything he does is soooo cute.  so, here's  a picture of Colin eating Jason's finger for dinner!  seriously, cutest boy ever!  (and his dad is pretty cute too!)

night swimming

in preparation for a little pool photo shoot i have coming up, i used Avery as a model.  she is such a crack up as you can see!

 since i already had the camera out, i snapped some shots of my family swimming after dark!

blessing - bubba is 3 months!

it's hard to believe that Colin is already 3 months!  why does time always fly when the baby is born, after it has crawled by for the 9 months before!  we were so excited to have our families over for Colin's baby blessing.  Jason gave him a beautiful blessing and we had a lovely lunch!

 the Earls:

 the Beardsleys:

 the grandparents:

 then we adjourned to our bedroom take some family photos with aunt Renee. 

Colin,

you have brought an amazing love and energy into our home.  your parents and sisters adore you!  you love our kisses, smiling and giggling all the time. we can't believe how lucky we are to have you in our home!  i didn't realize how much i wanted a son until you were born.  i can't wait to see what life has in store for you!

i love you,

Mommy

camping

so, our family has a great affinity for camping.  we were afraid that a new baby would make it too difficult to go this year, nothing to fear.  with a little determination, we pulled it off! 

the weekend started a little rocky with a thunderstorm.  we had to pull off the road and park under the cover of a gas station for 45 minutes so that everything we had packed in the jeep wouldn't get trashed.  then, we made it through the sprinkling to Walmart in Payson where i hopped out and bought a tarp.  as we looked at the skies, we wondered if we should turn back;

the rain continued to sprinkle as we hurriedly pitched our tent and threw our stuff inside.  but then, mercifully, it let up and we had beautiful weather for the rest of the weekend!

(the beautiful photos below are courtesy of my budding photographers, Anna and Madeline)

the first thing Jason bought after Colin was born was a bb gun.  he helped the girls shoot, they aren't bad!

there is nothing more fun than hanging out with the family in the middle of the beautiful forest!

bubba was a joy.  he loves the Baby Bjorn and would have probably slept better if i wasn't so paranoid that every sound he made was going to wake the girls. 

after we put the kids down, Jason and i sat by the fire.  we could hear them playing with their Toy Story dolls and looked back to see the action carried out in our own little shadow puppet theater.  i wish we got video, it was the cutest!  "to infinity and beyond!"

jeeping is one of our families favorite activities.  we love spotting wild life, and new spots for future camps.  the girls often take their afternoon naps in the jeep too!

can you stand how adorable my baby is?  i can't!  i have to kiss him every second!

if i had to choose a theme for the weekend, it would be flowers!  the girls showered me with wild flowers.

how beautiful are these woods? every time we're up here, i picture the girls running through these tall weeds in white dresses, dancing around like little angels. 

so, this time, i actually brought some white dresses, and we had ourselves a little photo session in the woods!

i love this shot of all my lovelies headed back to camp!

and lounging before changing back into our grubbies.

my men:

it was a beautiful weekend.  bittersweet to me, because i missed my release as young women's president at church.   but i was able to say my goodbyes the following week.  serving the youth is the best calling!  i hope it comes my way again someday.