Kevin's a Winner!

So I think it is lame that there is so little to say about Kevin's life beside, "He's studying so hard and performing amazingly in school..." blah blah blah, not so informative.  Well, this post is different.

In addition to the blah blah blah stuff... Kevin's a winner!  There was a fundraiser Ping Pong Tournament at his school today and he and his partner, Kelvin, won the Doubles tournament!  The kids and I got to go watch the semis and finals (I love that "semis' makes it sound so serious) and were impressed by his skill.  I guess the Ping Pong Table upstairs at Brookings was worthwhile after all.  Oh, and I have to mention, those of you who knew Kevin's former angry competitive self, he was not there... this competitive beast was replaced by a humble Ping Pong ninja whose skills spoke for themselves :o) He'll be embarrassed that I said that.  But he doesn't usually read the blog anyway, just skims and sees what pictures I post (like most of you I assume).  I guess this is a test.  ANYWAY...  Wahoo!!! For Kevin!

Okay, not so informative still, but better than just telling you he passed another test.

We love Kevin.  He's exhausted everyday but manages to get a second wind just for us.  We're so lucky.

Sorry, no pictures.  I wasn't thinking of this as a major life event requiring photography, but now I wish I had taken it, for the humor of it if nothing else.  But, I know the girls to steal pictures from later anyway.

One more, YAY KEVIN!

Around Thanksgiving with the Millers...

The day before Thanksgiving we finally made it back to Red Rock for another hike. We've been wanting to go but it is hard to take the time and skip the naps and studying etc. Well, we were soo glad we did. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for hiking and although it was busy up there it was still incredibly peaceful, just a little more social than you expect hiking to be. We had a really great time, we didn't lose anyone off rock faces or into canyons, but we did lose Shayne to the Sandman (see last photo).

Then came Thanksgiving. Madi was soux chef for the traditional rolls, and Shayne had green bean casserole responsibilities. And yes, the children were properly sanitized before helping :o) Thanksgiving was just us and we enjoyed having it that way, although next year if we don't have guests I refuse to cook as many different dishes. I love leftovers, but this was a little excessive. This year's star was the new stuffing recipe. We had a good day filled with cooking, football and loads of dirty dishes. Next year we'll remove some of the food and dishes and fill it with more giving thanks. That got a little lost this year. We're learning.

On Saturday we headed over to the District (a fancy outdoor mall) to enjoy the carosel. It was a hit. I think we rode it at least 8 times and the kids would have been happy to continue. It was another gorgeous day so we were thrilled to be out.

Then Kevin and I got a big treat on Monday. At school, Kevin's friend was trying to get rid of two tickets to Blue Man Group that he couldn't use. We gladly helped him out. We felt like young dating kids going to a 10 pm show on a Monday night, well, we FELT like young kids... but now that it's Friday and we're still tired, we FEEL like old folks :o) It was so fun to be out and date my husband. We don't do it nearly enough. The show was fun and we were so close to the stage (4th row) we were among the poncho crew. Apparently I just LOVE theaters. I was so giddy my cheeks hurt from smiling. We need to get out more. The show was fun but my need for real theater is not satisfied. I have to find a way to get to a musical before we leave this fine state.  (PS, if you read this Maraea, THANKS AGAIN for last minute sleepmonitoring/sleepsitting!)

We've had a really great couple of weeks and I'm already starting to get a little emotional about leaving next summer. But I need to be better about enjoying what we have while we are here. There are so many wonderful (and often free) things to do here and so many incredible people that we should be spending time with. Time is flying too quickly, I wish we could pause all the real responsibilities and just play. But life moves on and we're doing what we can. It makes me laugh that sometimes our blog makes it look like we are always busy and playing... I didn't mean to, but I tricked you. We are quite the homebodies actually. Blog readers just get to see the big events so it looks like we do a lot. But whether we are home or out we are a happy crew. We are so fortunate to have eachother, good friends, food on the table, a warm apartment to live in, incredible mentors and examples, and a loving and forgiving Savior. Thank you friends and family and examples for being among the many blessings in our lives.

"Have I told you lately... that I love them.

They fill my heart with gladness, wipe away all my sadness..."

 We took family pictures a couple weeks ago (thank you Groupon! for the deal and Heather Harris for the skill) and just got to see the gallery today. I wish I could have all of them!  If only money grew on trees.  But here are a few that got me singing that song.

Followed by a little
"You are so beautiful to me... can't you see? You're everything I hoped for. You're everything I need."

 Overkill for you, happiness for me.  Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Grandma Came to Town!

Instead of heading home after her Utah trip, Grandma made a Nevada detour.

While she was here we did a few fun things, but you know how it is when Mom comes to town and regular life is just more enjoyable... we spent a lot of time just enjoying enhanced regular life mode. (in other words, I'm lame and like to sit around with my mom). And I love when Mom visits because we get more time with Auntie too.

We did hit a park...


And of course, the Bellagio...

This is just the registration desk... below is the actual display

hmmm... poor representation of the display, it was much cooler than my pictures show.

Thanks for coming Grandma!

October... before I get farther behind

October was certainly not our best month for photos, but we had some fun and I need to post it so I can get on with November...

October 8th we headed to Springs Preserve for a Diabetes Walk fundraiser that Kevin's school was participating in. We spent most of our short time there walking the 3 miles. After the walk we made a brief stop at the playground so the kids could wiggle after the long stroller ride and before sitting still at a dive meet.

Despite the way it looks in the pictures, they actually had a good time :o)

Then we were off to UNLV for a dive meet. Auntie had an awesome meet and qulaified for zones on both 1 meter and 3 meter. Afterward Shayne REALLY wanted to get in the pool, so Kevin humored him with a hair dip.

We love Auntie!

Random pic... this is why Kevin doesn't try to study at home.

Then the 25th was the ward Trunk or Treat. The kids didn't want any pictures, but I caught a

couple of candids to show them in their costumes...

Our apartment complex hosted a party on the 27th. We did a Raggedy Ann and Andy repeat knowing there would be a costume contest and WE WON! I felt a little bit bad about it because I knew how little effort we put into it, but the other adults in costume were even more lame. We'll take best of the worst this time :o)

We also enjoyed a few days of fall so I pulled out the water table for the kids. Here in Nevada this year fall was VERY short. From the day we turned off the AC to the day we turned on the heater was only a couple weeks. Anyway, back to the table. I put warm water in it because it was a cool day and when I went inside to get the rest of the toys Shayne climbed right in.

So I took off his pants and when I got back from dropping them in the washer...

back in. Of course :o)

The 29th we went to our friends house for a fun Halloween party. Madi loved cleaning the guts out of the pumpkin and directed Kevin in all the carving. Both the kiddos enjoyed making masks and also were lucky enough to see our friends' dogs and chickens too. It was a great party and they were tired but very sad to leave.

On Halloween we heard the best place to be was a mall called the District. The kids and I headed over there to see what was going on and it was pretty fun. All the while Kevin was a good sport and stuck with his usual study routine. The kids loved the big ghost and seeing all the other kids in their costumes. I think their favorite part (especially for Shayne) were all the dogs in costume.

Although it was late we had promised a friend we would stop by so on the way home we enjoyed a visit and cookies with our friend Julie.

And the kids were so happy to come home to our "pumpkins." Madi's is a "Potato or a ghost in a party hat" and Shayne's started as a "pppp" (his way of saying pumpkin). After I was done coloring the pumpkin face he requested a "gat" so I worked on transforming it to a cat. Then he screamed for a hat. So there you have it. Pumpkin dressed up as the cat in the hat... almost. (PS thanks Pinterest, you saved me hours of pumpkin carving and mucho dinero.)

And that was our October. Hope yours was fun too!
Thanks for stopping by.

This is How we Roll

I was looking at pictures in Picassa and chose one to upload to blogger. I must have messed up because all these pictures were here. If I don't have to wait for the upload, I might as well share them.

This is how we roll:
This was a couple weeks ago- we walked to the grocery store and Madi wanted to ride her bike (yes, she is too big for her bike, but it'll do for now). The grocery is close (about a half mile) so although it is a really busy street we let her do it. Shayne insisted on pushing her and sometimes she would pull him.

But then Shayne decided he was done with the stroller and needed a ride. Despite the picture he loved it. They do this a lot now and Madi is attentive enough to pull his legs back on her lap when they start to fall. They crack me up.

This is how they like to go when we walk to the mailbox

 

But this is MY favorite way to roll.  Kids in the trailer and we're off.
Saturday we took the wash trail (this time with Dad!!) and headed back to Red Sunset to show him our new obsession.

No spash pad here, but sprinklers will do

 This is the top of one of the awesome slides... a little fast, but really fun when they have the courage.

And below are just three of the reasons that I LOVE THESE KIDS!

yes, it is on. (Why spend $20 on a toy vac when you can spend $8 and it will partially clean my floors?)

Glinda the good witch is into scuba and western wear

Walkin' to the library... the kids love this place as much as I do.

Mom, you should blog this

You might think the Las Vegas heat killed us and that's why I'm not blogging.  Actually, that's not it.  The truth is we have just had so much fun that I am ridiculously behind and have no interest in catching up.  I'm not patient enough to upload all the photos to fill in the gap between now and the last post.  But, I will give you a brief post about the last few days and maybe (read: probably not) I will fill in the gap later.  And the reason I am finally back is funny to me.  After I took a picture of Madi in her dress (you'll see in a second) she said, "Mom, you should blog this!" "Blog what, Madi?" "Blog my dress because it is so beautiful and special to me!" So, here you have it...

Today:
On most Wednesdays we go to our wonderful friend Jan's house.  Today was one of those days and it was particularly exciting because today was a finishing day.  Jan is an incredibly talented (and extremely patient!) woman that we met through church.  Every Wednesday she opens her home to all the women of the ward to join her in crafting and sewing.  Recently she was working on Princess dresses for her granddaughters and Madi got a little jealous.  She has previously never cared about princesses (my fault for lack of exposure) but just this last week the concept clicked and she has been dying for her very own princess dress.  Today was the day.  I cut it out last Wednesday and then have been sewing this week and finished it today (Okay, really Jan finished it because she did the last step- the zipper). Madi insisted on wearing it home over her clothes even in the 100 degree weather.  Here is Madi in her new Purple Princess dress... (don't look too closely, its for dressup.)
Oh, and it might be her Halloween costume too, so don't think less of me for showing it off twice.

Yesterday:
 I've been wondering lately if the pool water is still warm enough for swimming so last night after dinner we headed to the pool to find out.  It was a little on the chilly side,  but Madi still got right in and Shayne wasn't far behind her.

 

Monday:

No pictures here and this tidbit is more for the locals (if there are any locals that read my blog :o)

Monday we headed out for a bike ride and rode from our apartment to the Pitman Wash (we got on at Green Valley and Windmill) and the rode to the Arroyo Grande Sports complex and park. (*JILL... I found a way to come see you!! Call me!)  It was such a fun ride and the kids were awesome in the trailer!  I haven't been enjoying biking around here because every street seems so busy, it is hard to get anywhere, and it is really tough to squeeze by the bus stops that are every 100 yards on all the streets near us.  But, if we take the wash trail we only have to endure 4.6 miles on roads like that and we get access to 10 miles of trail (roundtrip).  We road between 8 and 9 miles and I LOVED it!  I've missed being on a bike.  Oh, and for the locals, that is a really fun park too.  They have the fun big slides like at the Mission Hills park and it doesn't seem as dirty as a lot of the local parks seem.

Overall the kids and I have had a not very productive, but pretty fun week.  And all the while poor Kevin is killing himself studying Nephrology (I don't know if that is even how you spell it, but Kevin could certainly tell you).  Kevin is super stressed and studying extra long hours.  He is amazing because even after a tough day of studying with minimal breaks he always comes home and is thrilled to see us and a ball of energy for the kids.  We are so lucky.  (Sorry, I had a little Ilovemyhusbandblog moment... so unlike me.)  Kevin's schedule doesn't vary much, he studies hard all day everyday and tries to make it home for dinner and then often studies again after his hour with the family.  We're trying to squeeze extra fun in on the days he is off to keep him sane, but his weeks feel pretty long.

Since I probably won't post back (at least not now) here are a couple pictures from last weekend... These are my shout out to an awesome Dad who is incredibly committed to all the things that matter most.

Monday the 12th Kevin didn't have school because he aced his Friday test so we went to the park and splash pad where he was a big kid with the kids...just like they like him

Shayne went with Kevin and Madi came from behind to help when he "got stuck" in the tube slide :o)

I'm no photographer, but this was a cool moment.  And sorry to Kevin for not doing it justice.  He was launching this big boy but I always caught the pictures at the wrong moment.

 

Thanks for reading the blog even though we go on such long breaks! (and then I post such long posts.)  

Rest assured, we are still alive.