Easter Fun

We kept debating where we would take the kids for an Easter Egg hunt and to see the Easter Bunny. We are lucky here in Vegas because there are soooo many choices. Charlie had batting practice in the morning so we decided we would meet at Town Square around noon so Kadee and Cole could participate in the Easter Egg Hunts. Unfortunately by the time we got there it was so packed that the last toddler egg hunt was already closed and we couldn't get Kadee into an egg hunt until 1:30! We thought we would take the kids to the park there to waste time until it was time for Kadee's egg hunt. Wow! There were a lot of kids there! You literally could not stand without someone shoving into you. Finally after about a half hour of letting the kids play I suggested that maybe we should go to The District and settle for their Easter activities. It took a little convincing to get the kids out of their but soon we were on our way.

We got to The District and right away I sighed from relief, it was not nearly as crowded! They didn't have as much going on, carousel rides, face painting and pictures with the Easter Bunny was pretty much it. Unfortunately the line for the Easter Bunny was ridiculously long and me and Charlie took turns standing in line for about an hour. It wasn't so bad though because the kids got a few rides on the carousel while we waited for our photo op!
Charlie had to take off to take the puppies to the vet so me and the kids mosied over to Panera for lunch. Kadee and Cole love the Broccoli and Cheese soup there. After lunch we thought our day needed to be topped off with none other than Ben and Jerry's. After that it was time to head home. Mommy and Cole were in desperate need of a nap. The crowds and lines wore me out.

What to Do, What to Do???

So the boss came in today at about two o'clock and said everyone gets to go home at three o'clock. Gotta love these Federal Fridays. Kadee had been on spring break this week and I really wanted to do something fun with her but was limited because I was trying to save my time off for when Baby #3 comes along. On the way home we started planning a surprise for the kids. We decided that bowling would be fun. We got to the babysitter's and told the kids we had a surprise for them. Then started the 100 questions...where are we going, what are we doing, etc, etc...

As we headed to the SouthPoint Kadee was able to guess where we were headed. "Yeah, Bowling!" she exclaimed. They were so excited. We got up to the bowling alley only to see a sign on the counter, "No Open Bowling till 9:00 pm". Okay, that was out! We were still in the mood to do something so we thought the movies were right around the corner, we could go see Aliens vs. Monsters, we convinced our disappointed kids that this would be fun so we headed over to get our tickets. "Two adults and two children for Aliens vs. Monsters please!" The bill came up to $40. I expressed my shock to the cashier and she informed me there was an extra charge because the movie was in 3-D. Wait a minute...3-D was not going to work with Cole, he can hardly sit still through an entire movie much less wear 3-D glasses the entire time. Okay, strike two! Charlie got a refund and we started getting desperate. We promised the kids something fun and we were striking out big time. I remembered seeing Clarice's blog about their trip to the indoor miniature golf and since we have one right around the corner from the house, I thought Bingo, this should work.

So we headed over and didn't hit a single roadblock! Kadence got the hang of it right away and she even got a hole in one! There were even several witnesses that cheered for her which made her beam. She later asked me if I thought Tiger Woods had ever gotten a hole in one. I informed her that he probably had but hers was pretty special because she doesn't golf as much as he does!
Cole just wanted to pick the ball up and put it right next to the hole so he could hit it in. Mid-way through the round though I think daddy was able to convince him that he couldn't pick the ball up to move it closer to the hole! He actually had some pretty good shots once he got the hang of things.
After golf we dropped Charlie off, he was suffering from a major allergy attack! Me and the kiddos headed to Pei Wei for Crab Wontons and Asian Coconut Curry Shrimp...YUMMY! All in all it urned out to be a fun evening regardless of the roadblocks we hit at the beginning!

The Loss of a Wonderful Lady...

I remember first showing up to the office in Las Vegas, a little shy, a little hesitant, and very nervous. Within a couple of weeks I would be shipped out to Quantico to spend seven weeks in training...all alone. My coworkers reassured me not to worry that another co-worker from the office was already at Quantico and would help show me the ropes. Upon my arrival to Quantico I first met Linda. She had to be the most friendly, outgoing person there. I remember her coming up to me and saying, "you must be Kristi!". I thought to myself, this has got to be Linda, and sure enough I was right.

I have spent ten years knowing Linda. She was always was so friendly and boisterous and always had a hello and how are you doing every time you saw her. When I was pregnant with Kadence, Linda's sister was pregnant with her first child and Linda would often share her sister's stories about the pregnancy with me and boy could I relate. She always had a tendency to make you just feel okay, I think her positive, friendly attitude just rubbed off on you every time you encountered her.

It wasn't until a few weeks ago that we learned that Linda was suffering from cancer and that things had not been going well. For over a year and a half Linda was going for treatments everyday at the Air Force base prior to coming to work. A year and a half and none of us knew. All I could ask myself is how could she hide this from everyone. Obviously her family knew and I think she had a strong support group of friends but why would she hide this from us, her work family who would help her in anyway possible.

In February, Linda got worse and was admitted to the hospital, then to assisted living, then to Hospice and finally home where she could rest in peace surrounded by those who loved her. Her daughter had come into work last week and stated that Linda's cancer had spread from the lymph nodes into her brain and had now reached her spinal fluid. Those close to cancer who were familiar with terminal cancer indicated that unfortunately, Linda did not have much time left here on earth.

Her daughter had invited everyone to an Open House for Linda on April 11. For some reason, I just didn't want to wait to visit her and myself and a coworker, Joe, paid a visit to Linda last Wednesday. I was surprisingly shocked at how well she looked. Her face was slightly bloated and she had obviously lost her hair from her treatments, but she still looked like Linda. She had thrush from all of the medication so she couldn't speak real well and had to whisper but she was in great spirits and was jabbing jokes back and forth with Joe. We spent about an hour with her, learning about the last two years of her life, her struggles and everything she was trying to overcome. When we asked her why she didn't want anyone to know she explained that she just wanted some normalcy in her life. What a courageous woman. When we got up to leave she asked that we please come to the Open House which we reassured her that nothing would keep us away. She insisted that I bring my babies with me, she wanted to see them.

When I got to work this morning my supervisor called me into his office and informed me that Linda had passed away last night. Shock, sadness and disbelief overcame me. All I could say was, "she didn't look ready to go." This was all so sudden, so unexpected and so unbelievable. She left a husband and two beautiful daughters behind. But Linda is in a better place, a place that will suit her well for her smile will surely help light up the skies. We will miss you dearly Linda.

A Busy Birthday Party Kind of Day

Wow, today was busy. We had two birthday parties to attend. First was off to Layla's 1st birthday party at 1:00 pm. Layla is absolutely adorable and had a great 1st birthday party. The theme of the party was bugs, specifically ladybugs. When we went to Phoenix with Layla and her mommy and daddy we realized they had the same nickname for Layla as we do for Kadence...Kadee Bug and Layla Bug. She was decked out in the cutest ladybug dress with a ladybug button.

We left Layla's house a little after three and drove to the other side of town to the Mountain Edge park to attend Malachi's birthday party. His mommy threw him a Superhero party that was too cute. All of the kids were dressed in their favorite superhero costume. Chi was a really cool Batman with muscles and all. Kadence and Cole went as Batgirl and Batman. We were able to use Kadence's old Halloween costume for her and for Cole we used the cape from his old Batman costume and then I bought him a Batman shirt on sale at Target.

We got there just in time for the games. Charlie and Kadence teamed up for the three-legged race and needless to say Charlie's competitive spirit came out. Kadence lost both flip flops in the process but they finished anyway. Then it was time for the orange race where the kiddos had to race back and forth holding an orange under their necks. They all did surprisingly good! The kids had a blast playing with all of their friends on the playground, it is a great park and has a ton too do.

All in all it was a busy day but a day full of fun!

My Little Man is Finally Bigger Than His Backpack!

Over the last year Cole has desperately been trying to wear his backpack. It always seems to outweigh him and he often gives up. This morning he insisted that he had it. He got it on all by himself and looked so darn cute walking out the door with this thing that is half his size hanging on the back of him! He is getting so big!

A Fun Day at Bass Pro Shop

We decided to meet my parents at the Silverton for lunch and to browse around Bass Pro Shop. We ate at the cafe, I had their yummy Chicken Fried Steak and Eggs! Charlie made fun of me because I ate it all...it is a really big serving, but what the heck, I am eating for two right! After lunch we wandered over to the aquarium and were lucky enough to get there just in time for the mermaid show. Kadence absolutely loves the mermaids, so we hung out for a while so the kids could get their fill of the underwater creatures. Cole thought he was pretty cool and decided to give the mermaid "knuckles" when she came over to him. We then headed over to Bass Pro. We had to have been in there for at least an hour and a half. It is such a fun store! The kids had a blast climbing on all of the ATV's while us adults perused the Pontoon Boats. We have joked about all pitching in to buy one and then reality hits us! Megabucks, where are you when we need you!

Tag...I'm It

A while ago I was tagged by Carol to display the sixth picture in the sixth folder of my pictures. Sorry it took me a while to get around to this but here we go...

I like everyone else am in dire need to get my photos organized. I actually have two layers of photos saved on my external drive, the first set is before Adobe and the second set is after downloading Adobe. So I decided to post both:

Before Adobe

This is a pic of Kadee and our friends little guy Brett who was actually out here in Vegas a couple of weeks ago. We had gone to Albuquerque for Christmas and took a two day trip down to El Paso to visit Adam, Nicci and Brett. Wow, look at those pigtails...she is going to kill me when she's a teenager and I pull these pics out to show her friends!

Post Adobe

This picture was taken of Cole in December 2007. I actually had taken the kids to get their shots, they both had to have a couple. Our pediatrician's office at the time was attached to St. Rose Sienna Hospital (where I had both Kadence and Cole, and God willing will have Chance). They have a beautiful little serenity garden there that I thought would make a great background for our Christmas photos that year. So this was Cole's pose on the bridge. What a handsome little man!

It was amazing that despite them both having multiple shots they were in a great mood to have their pics taken. I actually got a really cut one of both of them that I used for my card that year...

Our Visit with Adam, Nicci and the Boys

As I mentioned in a previous post, our great friends Adam and Nicci and their boys Brett and Justin came to town to visit with us. It was wonderful to see them. Charlie has been out to visit with them a few times but I hadn't seen them in a long time! Charlie picked them up from the airport on Saturday and we just hung out at the house and celebrated Charlie's b-day. On Sunday we got up and headed to the MGM to see the Lion Exhibit, and visit the M&M and Coca-Cola store. After that we met up with Tanya and Micaela and our friend Shayla for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. The rest of the evening we spent back at the house just watching the kids play with one another and catching up. It was very relaxing and so nice! On Monday I had to head into work but Charlie took the day off to spend with them. They headed out to the Silverton to check out Bass Pro (Adam and Charlie love fishing so I am sure they spent lots of time browsing the aisles). After work I met up with them at the park, Charlie coaches flag football and they had practice that night so Adam and Nicci went with him and let the kids play in the park adjacent to their practice field. We came home and Adam and Nicci treated us to a wonderful dinner and then me and Nicci took the kids to Nielsen's Frozen Custard that just opened around the corner from our house. By the way, I highly recommend it, it is delicious! We came home and had a mini birthday celebration for Brett who was turning five the next day. They left on Tuesday and I think we were all very sad to see them leave. It seemed like the visit just went by so fast. Hopefully we will be able to make it out to Colorado to visit them sometime this summer.

Lunch at the Rainforest Cafe

On Sunday us and the kids, Adam, Nicci and their boys, Tanya and her Kiddos and another friend from high school who also lives out in Vegas, Shayla, all met at the Rainforest Cafe in the MGM to have lunch. The kids loved eating among the elephants and monkeys. However, Cole was deathly afraid of the Jaguar that was hanging over the edge of a cliff that our table was below. Luckily he fell asleep on my lap and we got through the lunch without having to move tables! He really was freaked out by it! Every time it rained and the thunder and lightning would come the kids would scream with excitement!

Us girls had a great time catching up with one another. I recently had gotten back in touch with Shayla but Nicci had not seen her since high school. After we chowed down we headed to the gift shop where all of the kids got to pick out a special souvenir. Kadee and Cole got water weenies, Micaela got a bag full of colorful rocks and Brett and Justin picked out stuffed snakes. All in all it was a great time. What a wonderful place to take kids to eat!

Charlie's Birthday

Charlie turned 32 years old today! Our friends Adam and Nicci and their boys Brett and Justin flew in from Colorado the night of his birthday to visit. We have known Adam and Nicci since high school and it had been a while since we all were able to get together so this was an extra special treat for Charlie's birthday. We cooked up some Carne Asada and a few of Charlie's buddies came over. We had a great night visiting with everyone. After we got all of the kids to bed we headed out to the garage to watch the games of shuffleboard and darts.