Reno part 2

The next morning my kids were up pretty early. I was so happy to see Nicole and she and I laid on her bed talking, while Cortney went with Tyler to see what it is that he does for a living (tyler has a carpet cleaning company...he is a great business man and a super hard worker...it is my belief that he can make any company flourish). I love talking to Nicole. We believe in the same things. We talked the day away and still weren't showered or ready when the boys came home.

Nicole had a couple of hair appointments in the afternoon so she left to her salon. Tyler then showed us around town. The thing I love the most about Reno is that you can live on the outskirts of town and totally live in the country with wide open spaces...but five minutes later you are in town and have whatever store/restaurant you could want. Orem is definitely laking on wide open spaces and places like Moses Lake and Rexburg are definitely laking in the restaurant/ store department. It was a nice mix. Cortney said he could move there in a heartbeat.

That night we actually hired a babysitter and we went to eat at one of the casino buffets. I love all you can eat food. Hmmmm....I could really go for some of that cheesecake right now. Of course we took no pictures the first day.

The next day we woke up and decided to go to Tahoe...Nicole's hometown.

First we stopped at Red Hut for a delicious breakfast.

Then we ran over to look at the lake. The kids loved it. We were going to go on a boat ride but it was 46 dollars per adult and 20 for kids...um no thanks. Plus, it was 2 1/2 hours. That would be torture for the little ones.

Now I am going to post a bunch of pictures. I am sorry but I want all of these in my book someday.

I will post the pictures in stages because there are tons.

Me helping Rob put the 100 toothpicks he took from the restaurant into his pocket. I spend a lot of my life doing stuff like this.

Oliver is just learning that he can't skate everywhere he wants. See nicole in the background...she ran soooo fast with the stroller to see how much the boat rides cost.

The beach!!!

We luckily were able to borrow a stroller from one of Ty and Nicole's friends. My stroller is out of commission....and I can't lug that kid around he is HEAVY.

Yeah...we didn't do Rob's hair that day.

Pretty Tahoe...this was my first time ever being there. I loved it.

I had to post this picture because this is Tyler telling us all about where he lives.

He loves to show people around, I love it.

Rob never wanted to leave.

um...are these two related?? I love how their hats are tilted exactly the same and they are practically wearing matching outfits. hahaaa.

Ty, showing us he could probably be a male model if the carpet cleaning thing doesn't work out.

Rob and Cole running back to the car. (Rob loves nicole and Rob is also A LOT like Tyler so Nicole pretty much loves him too.)

I have more pictures to post of Tahoe but Henry calls.

Reno part 1

There are probably going to be a lot of posts on our Reno trip. I have a lot to blog about but my life seems super hectic right now and I don't have a lot of time.

So here we go...part one.

We left Orem after school on Wednesday. They boys were both excited to go but not looking forward to a long trip. The car drive started off so good.

My boys are seasoned car trip veterans. Especially if they have a show to watch or the Beatles to listen to they barely make a peep.

It was so nice to have them all spaced out and not touching each other.

Henry quickly fell asleep and stayed that way for a good hour or so. Oh...this day was also his actual birthday.

He loves to watch movies in the car too...No, I don't have him wear headphones Robbie had put them on him and I couldn't resist the picture.

Henry quickly went from happy and sleeping to this...

He was so ticked off that we wouldn't let him out of his seat. He cried so hard he puked. I will say however that he was getting two teeth (isn't that what new parents always say when their baby is being bad??)...no though for reals he was getting new teeth :). Since this baby has been alive my parents have been on a mission. So he hasn't learned to travel. All of our kids have to have their little spirits broken at some point (when it comes to car trips and realizing that, No, mom is not going to get them out of their seat). This trip was that for Henry. He was TICKED off. He finally fell asleep around 10:00 p.m. and stayed that way for most of the way there. It was pretty horrible though.

My other boys slept the whole way.

We got to Reno around midnight. Ty was waiting up for us (Nicole teaches early morning seminary) and we were all so excited to be there.

They have a beautiful house in Reno and we really loved their town.

So that is post one...horrible car ride. Stay tuned for part two...Reno is fun.

Reno

We've been in Reno for the kids fall break. I need to upload the pictures and do a LONG post. I will get to it tomorrow hopefully. We had a GREAT time.

Guess who's turning one!

OHHHHH boy get ready for a ton of pictures. Wow.

Cali and I decided to throw a big ole shin dig for Fiona and Henry's first birthday.

We don't usually make a big deal about baby parties but we thought it would be the perfect time to have all the family over. Plus we haven't had a baby for a while and since they ALMOST share a birthday (they are 16 hours apart) we thought it would be fun.

We had a celebration of fall and babies at Cali's house on Sunday. We made a potato bar with chili and all sorts of other toppings, cornbread with honey butter, hot wassail, molasses cookies and pumpkin pie. It was delicious. I don't think there is ever a more delicious time than the fall for a dinner party. just sayin.

My family all came (minus justin, he was in California at Josie's blessing)...and then Cameron and Leah!!! I was so happy they came, we love them. The kids all played outside, they are working on "digging a big hole". Which is awesome. I am not really sure what they are doing but they are out there for hours. Hours and hours.

And now for the pictures...

Linh hooked the babies up with these BEAUTIFUL cakes. She is one of the most talented people ever.

aren't they amazing?

Here is Linh (with grace) in all her glory. She helped out the whole night.

Henry and dad. Begging to be picked up.

Cali, me and Linh getting all of the food ready. We had 28 people. It is very stressful to feed that many people. And exhausting.

Cali and I bought the kids matching birthday/halloween outfits for the special day. Then we snuck outside and took a couple pictures really quick.

(henry in the middle of wheels on the bus)

Happy nona.

Sisters with twin babies...pretty cute huh??

henners

We thought it would be funny to make Fiona ride Henry like a horse. He didn't think it was that funny.

Fi just eating a stick.

Ummmm, does that make you want to just die??

Then we went inside and got our cake on...

The babies were pretty tired at this point.

blowing out the candles.

mmmm.

Abby...that girl is hilarious.

Funny picture of us sitting around talking at the end of the night. I love my family.

Thanks so much for coming!

We had a great day, I am so thankful for Henry. He is the light of my life (all of our lives really)!

ahhhh yeah baby!

First off...Rob did great at school on friday. He kept telling me he wants to try again and be good at school. After further investigation (talking to him) the threat he made with his pen was; he told a boy he was going to poke him in the eye with his pen. Yikes. Then the reason he ran away was, he knew the teacher had put his pen on her desk and he was trying to get into the class some how. He found the door but it was locked so then he ditched his plan and just went to the front of the school. Crazy kid.

Saturday we got the good tickets from Cortney's work. My sister Linh watched all of my kids and Cali's kids. CRAZY. I really appreciate her, it isn't easy to find someone who is willing to watch a bunch of kids...and trust me we have tried. She made cake pumpkin suckers with all of them which means she is one brave lady. We OWE her BIG TIME.

People keep asking me "what, you are still cheering for BYU even though they lose every week??". The answer to that question is, and will always be, yes. I am a BYU fan ran or shine. And then of course I can't keep myself from singing Journey's song "Don't stop believing"...to whom ever it is that is asking me that ridiculous question.

When we entered the stadium there was a crazy feeling in the air. I felt nervous and giddy but I kept almost starting to cry I was so happy.

Self portrait of Cortney and I with Cali jumping in...on our way into the food tent.

Getting ready to get our food on, yes I take it very seriously.

We ate ourselves sick. Cortney said "oh my gosh" when I made him take this picture, too cheesy for him I guess.

Joe and Cali on our way into the game.

Cort and I same place, Cali tried another shot to get a good picture of Cortney...this is what she came up with...

Would you look at that...she got a little smile out of Cortney.

Yes...I actually was this happy during the game...such a horrible picture but I had to include it because this is JUST how I felt.

The game was awesome. The team was so pumped up...more than usual and so was the crowd. We were on our feet most of the game and I yelled so much my throat killed when it was over. The weather was PERFECT football weather.

We started off the game with a trick play that turned into a touchdown. It was the best way to start the game and Cali and I couldn't stop jumping...we were high fiving everyone.

The good thing about losing is it makes you remember just how great it is to win. Not that I want to lose, but the last few years I expected to win. When no one thinks you are going to win it is the best feeling ever.

Bronco was wearing the "band of brothers" t-shirt for the game. It is the teams theme this year but the first time Bronco was wearing it. He was sending a CLEAR message.

The game was awesome, there is nothing quite like being surrounded by blue, hearing the crowd loud and watching the team win. I love it.

To top things off Linh had things totally under control and cleaned when we got home which just means she is amazing. She said "it's what I do". hahaha.