Girls Trip

Sometime in November, I got a group text from one of my old roommates, Carissa.  She was suggesting a roommate trip to Vegas in the spring.  When she first mentioned it, I didn't think we could pull it off, with four families and 11 kids to work around, but a little over three months later, we were all flying to Vegas! 

Bethany and I were on the same flight and enjoyed great conversation. We met up with Cheryl and Carissa in the Vegas airport and got our rental car for the weekend (a tiny Chevy Sonic - that only fit our luggage because Carissa didn't have real luggage, just a backpack). :)

The first thing we did (even before we got to our house) was to get pedicures and manicures.  We have our priorities straight.

Our next stop was obviously Cafe Rio. Funny enough, we ate at more "Utah" restaurants than Vegas restaurants, but I suppose we did all live in Utah together so that makes some sense.

After dinner, we headed to the house and chatted our hearts out (this was a common theme of the trip) until too late, then crashed for the night.

The next morning, all of us tried to sleep in, but I think you are just so trained as a mom to get up that we never made it later than about 8 a.m. We had a lazy morning and then headed down to the strip for the day.

Driving in the subdivision of our house.  Carissa's parents have a vacation home in Vegas and were very generous to offer it to us to use while we were there. 

First stop?  The Rio Buffet for lunch.  Delicious.  We were there for hours and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Then we enjoyed all of the craziness the strip has to offer.

Night-time was a repeat of what we love most - talking!

Another lazy morning and we headed for the Las Vegas Temple.  Such a wonderful experience with these ladies that I love so much!

Dinner at another Utah favorite, Zupas, and then our last night together.

I feel like I can't adequately describe how wonderful this weekend was for me.  Rejuvenating, relaxing, fun and fantastic.  Great conversations with women that I respect and admire.  I can't wait for the next get-together, when we will have at least 14 kids between the 4 of us, maybe more. :)

I flew home to weather that was a little bit different than Vegas:

And flowers and cards from the entire family.  I missed them like crazy and it was wonderful to be home (even if it was back to reality!).

Thanks to my mom, family and Ronnie for all of the childcare and "overtime" so I could get away.

*Almost every picture taken by the talented Bethany

February 2014 Random Catch Up

You know, the pictures that don't have anywhere else to go.

Easton is quite the Broncos fan.  He would deck out like this for every game.

Kendree was very intent on laying out her clothes for the day.  I just love this sequence of pictures.

Easton excersizing with mom.  This picture missed how into it he was.  He is quite the workout partner.

Kendree worked on this master piece for quite some time.  I have a picture just like this of my mom's hair that I worked on when I was about four.

Devynee enjoying pizza at Kendree's Chuck E. Cheese party.

Easton enjoying the party as well.

Who knows why this is comfortable?

A blurry picture of cute Devynee.

An Interview with Kendree

We're a month and a half late on this, but it needs to happen, so here is Kendree's "birthday" interview.

Favorite Color: Pink
Favorite TV Show: Dragon Tales
Favorite Movie: Frozen
Favorite Food: Grapes
Favorite Treat: Any candy
Favorite Game: Candyland
Favorite Sport: Soccer (she will start playing in the fall)
Favorite Team: Broncos
Favorite Toy: Dorthy, her stuffed elephant
Favorite Subject at Pre-School: Art projects

And now a look back.

4th Birthday:

3rd Birthday:

 

 2nd Birthday:

 

 1st Birthday:

Newborn:

 

Kendree is FOUR!

This lovely, spunky, gal turned 4 on February 17th. We celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese the Saturday before her birthday with Grandma and Grandpa Wyo, Jord-man, and Sarah. She had the time of her life and wore her "Birthday Girl" button the entire day.

Riding on the carousel (she prefers the rides at Chuck E. Cheese over the games where you earn tickets).

Opening presents.

Then, on her birthday, we were able to travel to Laramie for mom to work for the day and Grandma spoiled her with cupcakes and other fun birthday activities.

When dad got home, we went to McDonalds for dinner (the BEST when you are four) and then came home to open more presents!

She had lots of sibling help:

And could barely wait the 15 minutes it took me to get this doll out of the box!

Of course, we had cake.

And I think it's safe to say that this one was spoiled. Thanks to everyone, she was beyond thrilled with everything.

Frugality Boot Camp

Over the President's Day weekend, my mom, Erica (sister), Alicia (sister-in-law) and I traveled to Utah to attend a Frugality Boot Camp put on by www.funcheaporfree.com. My dad agreed to be our chauffeur (actually, he went to visit his mom and be our chauffeur). I originally saw a post about this website by my good friend Nicky, (Hi Nicky!) and began following the blog.

Everyone budgets so differently and I've never found a system that I could get behind (I refuse to do cash-based because all I can think about is the points/bonuses I'm missing out on from my credit card - which I pay off every month, by the way).  Jordan (the girl behind this website) has a system that has worked for me for over a year now.  It can be cash or credit card based and it just makes sense to me.

Anyway, we were able to score tickets to the boot camp for super cheap (after all, it is a frugality boot camp) and we made a girls trip out of it.  Thanks to all of the husbands, aunts and uncles who made it possible!

Here's a few links to the things she talks about that I have implemented successfully:
The Envelope Budget
The 3-month Rule
Multiple Bank Accounts (I don't actually have 7, but more makes things surprisingly simple)

Anyway, like most things in life, you have to use what you can and take other things with a grain of salt. :)

During the weekend we were able to eat at some of our favorite restaurants (Zupas, new pizza place in Pleasant Grove, Baskin Robbins) and spend plenty of quality time together.

It should be noted that on Sunday morning I SLEPT (as in actually slept and not just laid in bed) until 10:10 a.m. My mom and dad were taking bets and my mom thought I was asleep, but my dad was sure that I was just reading in bed.

It. Was. Glorious.

Later that day we were able to travel to Morgan, Utah to listen to my cousin's homecoming talk and visit with more family, then we hit the road for wonderful Wyoming.

The weekend was fantastic.

I only took out my camera for three pictures.

At the boot camp.

And of course, at Baskin Robbins.