Happy Birthday Charlie - The Big 35!

Mr. Neilson turned 35 this year!  Unfortunately his actual birthday was quite a bummer.  He stayed home pretty much the entire week because our kiddos were all sick.  What a trooper though, four days, three sick kids!  That's a keeper if you ask me.

The night of his actual birthday he headed to get a haircut after I got home from work.  Me and the kids decided daddy deserved a little something special so we went and got him balloons, cupcakes and his favorite Italian meal (pesto) from Don Antonio's.  We had a nice little birthday celebration to try to turn his otherwise bummer birthday into something nice.

The following weekend Charlie's parents came to visit as they do every year for his birthday, it has become a nice tradition for him.  They treated us to a delicious dinner at Joe's Stone Crab and we treated them to their long overdue birthday presents, tickets to the Elvis Show at Aria.  What a great night.  Dinner was delicious, especially the Key-Lime Martini (BEST DRINK EVER!!!) and the show was very enjoyable.

The rest of the weekend we spent relaxing and on Sunday we had a big BBQ dinner to really celebrate Charlie's Birthday. 

We topped the night off with cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory and eventually called it a night.

Here is to another great year my love...you are a wonderful man, a fantastic father and truly my best friend.  I count my blessings for everyday I have you by my side!  Happy Birthday!

Fun with Our Cousins

Cindy, Lucas, Kevin, Ari and baby Ian came to visit us for a few days. We were so excited to see them! It was our first time meeting baby Ian...and we were able to confirm our beliefs that he truly is SUCH a cutie!
We had a blast as we always do. A lot of relaxing by the pool and some ventures out to cool attractions that Vegas is famous for!

We hit the Silverton to see the Mermaids and take a tour through one of our favorite stores, Bass Pro Shop.
The kiddos took in the shooting range at Bass Pro. We also hit Fashion Show Mall and of course the girls had to give the "Fashion Runway" a go!We also visited Caesar's Palace Forum Shops so the kids could see the cool statue shows and water fountains.
It was a busy but great trip. We had such a good time and can't wait till they come back!

Event Date: 07/02/2010

Happy Father's Day 2010

Me and the kids were up early like we usually are on the weekends and Kadence asked if we could book Daddy breakfast since it was Father's Day. We got crackin right away so we could serve him his breakfast before he awoke. Kadee insisted that he HAD to have breakfast in bed!

Me and the kids made him a pretty good breakfast, and of course we created quite the mess while we were at it! Event Date: 06/20/2010

Batter Up!

Hey Batter Batter SWWWIIINNNGGG Batter! Cole's first T-ball game was today. It had to be one of the cutest things I had ever seen. Charlie got him suited up and ready to go.

Daddy was so excited, he even bought eye black for Cole...He looked absolutely ADORABLE!

The whole family made it to the game including Grandma & Grandpa Syrros, Aunt Julie, even Aunt Laurie and Ken who were in town from Montana.

Coach Bryan gave the kids a good pep talk and then it was time to get started!Love this picture of him :)Ready and waiting for the hit down the third base line. He played third just like daddy does.Charlie hardly left his side.I loved the fact that there was part of the Vegas skyline (S. Las Vegas Blvd.) in the background.After the game we all headed to T-Bird for lunch. Cole put his eye black on me and told me, "Mommy, you boo-ti-ful!"

Lake Havasu Here We Come...

To go or not to go??? That was the big question this week. It seemed like everything that could go wrong was going wrong. We had planned a long weekend camping trip to Lake Havasu with our friends the Prossers and the Millers. We had been looking forward to it until...Chance came down with yet another ear infection; Charlie hurt his back to the point he couldn't even stand straight (he was hunched over so bad he looked like the hunchback of Notre Dame - he was in MAJOR pain; we lost the keys to the camper (we tore the ENTIRE house apart looking for them and in doing so finally got our garage straightened up a little); and when we were sure nothing else could possibly go wrong my closet fell down on me and Cole while I was packing. All I could think is that somebody was trying to tell us that it was not a good idea to go on this trip. We cancelled our reservations, called the Prossers and told them we just weren't going to make it and were pretty much set on not going until...Charlie found the keys in his jacket pocket. We made a last minute decision that we were going one way or another. We had been looking so forward to it and were pretty bummed about not going. Hey you only live once! I made a mad dash to the store to get food for the weekend. We hurried and packed everything up and pulled out of town late that afternoon. We couldn't get a hold of the Prosser's to let them know we were coming so it was a pretty big surprise when we pulled into the spot next to them at about 8:00 pm that night! We got set up and tried to relax a little!

Our campground was Awesome. There was nice big shade trees and the lake was just a few yards away!
The next morning we rented a pontoon with the Prossers. Everyone else had their own boats but we figured the pontoon would be the best for all the little ones. We enjoyed Wayne's DELICIOUS bloody mary's and then headed out on the boats to find a nice cove to stop and play in. Chance hung out in the boat where he practiced his "Look how cool I am" look.The girls had none other than an Oreo eating contest.Cole worked really hard to make a sandcastle.And we played and we played and we played in the water!Kadee trying out the boogie board.Kadee and Cole and the girls ventured over to the island not far from us.
Our misfortunes seemed to follow us on the trip unfortunately. It was pretty windy on the lake and while we were cruising along the shade cover of the pontoon snapped in half and whacked Charlie right in the head. I joked with him that whoever had a voodoo doll of him must have been pretty angry and really taking it out on him!

Regardless, we had a lot of fun. There was a lot of relaxing time. I snapped this cute pic of all the kids hanging out in the camper watching a movie. It makes me think of how times have changed, when I was their age the thought of watching t.v. while camping was crazy!I am so glad we didn't let our string of bad luck get in the way of going. It was worth getting out of town and just kicking back a little.

Happy Birthday Charlie!

My honey tuned a whopping 33 today! He loves those two weeks in March when I am actually three years older than him. He never fails to remind me!

We had a great birthday celebration. Charlie's parents came to visit from ABQ. On Friday night we took them to Brio at Town Square. We had been dying to try it out for a while. It was delicious. There calamari was delicious, they fried it with peppercinin's...YUMMY! And they had the best dessert ever, it was a sampling of nine different desserts (all in little itty bitty dessert cups - the perfect portion so you didn't feel too too bad!).

The next night we headed to Hanks at Green Valley Ranch for a fancy-schamncy dinner! It was delicious. We made it just in time for 1/2 price Martinis. It is absolutely gorgeous in this restaurant, talk about swagger!

The next night Charlie decided he wanted ribs for dinner. He makes the best ribs, seriously! He boils them in beer for about two hours and then grills them. They are FABULOUS. Of course this meant he had to cook his own birthday dinner, but he never really minds grillin.


I got him his favorite Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake (Pineapple Upside Down Cheesecake) for dessert.
And my mom made homemade lemon meringue pie to supplement the cheesecake! Cole of course helped put daddy's candles on.

It was a great weekend and I hope Charlie has a wonderful year! I consider my self ever-so grateful to spend another year with my honey.

Happy Valentine's Day

Every holiday I try to get the kids a little something as a gift to celebrate. After a couple years of throwing away little gimmicky toys and candy I have decided to only get them gifts I know they are going to use. This year we got them bean bags. Cole already has a baseball one so I got Kadee and Chance each one so there would be no fighting. Since Cole already has one I got him a skateboard. Kadee got one for Christmas and he loves the thing. He already knows how to flip the front up! The kids were awfully surprised when they came downstairs in the morning.
That afternoon my mom came over so the kids could help her decorate the heart shaped sugar cookies she made for Valentine's day. Kadee loves to help her ice and decorate them and Cole is totally loving it now too!

Unfortunately, I think Chance got too much fresh air fishing the day before and was up all night coughing, and coughed pretty much all day long. We canceled our plans for Valentine's dinner and instead decided to cook something ourselves. All of the stores had fantastic sales on steaks and crab legs so we indulged ourselves. It was Valentine's Day!

It was not the most romantic Valentine's Day I have had with a sick baby and all but boy did I count my blessings to still have the same Valentine I had 18 years ago! I don't care how we spend the day, as long as it is together!

A Beautiful Day To Go Fishing

We have had a lot of rain this winter. Combine that with Chance being sick with pneumonia not once but twice and you can imagine how excited we were for a nice day. Chance was feeling better. It was going to be over 70 degrees so we decided to go fishing for the day.

We went to Nelson's landing which is on the Colorado river just east of the Hoover Dam. Every time we travel over the dam I try to catch pictures of the new Hoover Dam bridge by-pass so I can track its progress. It is definitely getting there. Again, these pictures just do not do it justice. This thing is a monster and is soooooo high, I think the first time we drive over it I will definitely have to close my eyes!The kids loved getting out into the fresh air. Chance was all decked out in his fishing gear.Cole and Kadence spent most of the time feeding the ducks. They each threw a line in the water but it was up to Daddy to keep an eye on it the rest of the time.

Charlie, Pete and Cody found their fishing spot and didn't move from it until it was time to go. They insisted there were fish in this lake however, I didn't see any of them even get a nibble!

My little fisherman was all dudded it out in his official fishing hat. It is official because it is from Bass Pro Shop and has a big fish on it!

We had a wonderful, quiet day with fantastic weather to boot. Mom, Dad, Julie, and Chance and I hung out at the picnic table shooting the breeze while the boys fished. I love these kind of days and am so looking forward for the Spring!