Christmas Date

There is something so romantic about Christmas time. Holding hands and taking a walk around the town all bundled up. I love it. Nick found out that the Luxor was giving locals a great deal on their rooms and we decided it would be so fun to spend a night on the town. We dropped Scarlett off at her aunt Tiffany's ( thank you, thank you) and we headed out. We wanted good food and lots of it. So what better than a Vegas buffet. A great new hotel just opened called the Cosmopolitan and we wanted to take a look at it so we went there for dinner. It is a beautiful hotel with a modern meets Great Gatsby feel. After dinner we watched Tron:Legacy and it took us half the movie to figure out what was going on. I suggest watching the first one first. Best part... sleeping in and knowing the baby crying down the hall was not mine. It was a prefect night!!

All the deserts at the Cosmopolitan buffet. My favorite was the square cheesecake with the berries on top.

View from our hotel room. Our check in lady saw that we were only staying one night and bumped us up to a 3 bedroom suite.

The Cosmopolitan chandelier. Even more beautiful in person

Scarlett's Parties

It's her party...

Birthdays are a big deal in our house. Nick hates it, I love it. I win!! She was a lucky little girl and got two party's. So I am summing them up in pictures.

I made her this onesie. This is amazing for me as I can not sew. But after making my sister a birthday banner for Christmas I have gotten much better!

( she would not touch the cake until I broke it up in pieces...sheesh)

Scarlett 1 year!!

(her funny "no upper lip" smile)

Of course I remember the day she was born. I remember being nervous and excited. I remember holding her and thinking she looked like her dad. Of course I could not fathom her being anything but a newborn. And of course she grew up. How did it happen? Is that how life goes? You can not imagine the time passing or your kids getting older or life moving on and then it does. It makes me want to hold on to her tight and give her tons of kisses. Scarlett, we love you so much. Looking at you crawling around at my feet and digging in the trash makes me more happy than I ever thought. You make my life better!

Here is what she is up to...

- waving bye

-loves reading books and turing the pages

-giving kisses with puckered up lips

-becoming a picky eater and throwing food

-loves playing with musical toys and dancing

-clapping for herself

-walking around with her new push toy

-not growing hair

- not wanting to go to people

-loves, loves playing with older kids

Thanksgiving 2010

Lets see ... we had 12 grandkids (all under 11), 11 adults (just as rowdy as the kids), like a dozen cars out front and 1 motor home. That was my parents house over Thanksgiving. It was a memorable time, probably one of my favorites. It had nothing to do with the food, even though it was fabulous, or the great deals on Black Friday. It had everything to do with family. Growing up my parents raised/forced us to be friends with each other. My mother always said "your siblings will be your best friends". That's hard to believe when your sisters are stealing your clothes and your little brother is eavesdropping on your phone calls. But it happened. There is no one in the world that I would rather be with than my family. Especially at 4 am running into Target,Walmart, Toys R Us, and Khols to get screamin' deals on everything from baby princess dolls to digital picture frames. Did I mention Emily and I almost got mauled by people at the Walmart electronic sale and that I had no voice for 2 days. It was a crazy time!

(Boys before their Thanksgiving bike ride... it was freezing!)

On Saturday we went to the Shark Reef

(little boys loving the freaky sharks)

(my favorite... the lion fish)

After all the company left we decorated our house for Christmas

(Scarlett loves Christmas)

A LOT!

Harry Potter and 4 cute kids

My red lipstick wearing sister came home today. She left for BYU-I in August and has not been home sense. I missed her. In celebration of her arrival we went to Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part I (that is a mouthful). It was fabulous and I want to read it again ( I have read them all twice). Harry Potter is almost perfect (Dumbledore did not have to die). It is amazing that J.K. Rowling was able to make the seventh book just as intriguing as the first, never once letting the plot or characters get away from her. I plan on reading everyone to my children!

(About to watch the movie)

We also watched my nephew and nieces this weekend while Tiffany and C-Jay hit the town for their anniversary. We fed ducks in the ran, played at McDonalds, and watched like 4 movies. Scarlett of course loved it and fit right in.

(feeding ducks in the rain)

(The babies. Don't worry Centri got the blanket right after the picture:)

Scarlett 11 Months

She has been eating a ton of food, which is excellent cause she is so small. These days she is loving eggos, easy mac, cheese, and green beans. I have the hardest time getting her to eat any meat but it will come. I swear she is growing an inch a day. 6-12 month clothes are starting not to fit. I look at her and she is not even a baby even more. She stands all on her own and will walk soon. I can not wait for her to walk, crawling is filthy. The knees of all her pants are stained black or completely worn. She loves, LOVES crawling around the house and up the stairs. Some days I feel like she is just doing laps around the living room. She is loving to beg at my feet. If I stand for longer than 10 seconds she has found me and crawled up my leg. It is hard to reseat her outstretched arms and toothy grin. So her first official word is "Hi", which is so her since she is super social. She loves saying it to little kids. "Hi, hi,hi" she says while waving. Oh, it is adorable. My mom and sister watch her while I work two days a week and she loves it. She has the best time playing with her cousins and all of their toys. I feel bad she was the first born and has no siblings to play with. When Nick gets home from work they always get the mail together. She loves to be with her dad and push the garage door opener. Before I go to bed I have to pick her sleeping body up and snuggle with her. One day she will not be so small and I have to enjoy it while I can. Scarlett, you getting so big and smart. We love you!

With her cousins and great grandparents from England

4 years ago today...

Nick took me to Vivaldi park in Seven Hills and asked "Jill Allison Camp with you marry me?"

I said yes and cried. It was dark but I like to think Nick shed a tear or two. I spent all night writing in my journal and looking at the ring Nick picked out. Nick, that was the best decision you ever made!

I got pretty lucky too