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.