Come On Everybody it's Family Night:

We had a good visit with LOTS of family time this past week. It was none-stop with plenty of laughs. Reader Be Warned: lots of pictures to follow

Easter lesson at Las Vegas Temple

Swimming at the Family's Resort

Visiting Daddy at Work

Rylee's Birthday Party

Hydrating while at Hoover Dam

Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail...

We enjoyed a beautiful Easter full of family, food, egg hunts, and reverence for the atonement of Christ.

I hope you had a fun Easter too:

It was a long day, but Emma was a trooper.

Welcome to the Jungle:

I have family in town :) I'm really very excited to have guests, I enjoy it-especially when it's family.

Some family had arrived early (group 1), and while we waited for group number 2 we hit the strip. We thought we'd take an hour or so to see the Bellagio fountains and maybe get some ice cream at the Venetian. Sure, adults were outnumbered 3:1 and we had 3 strollers full of tired babies (who quite frankly did the best) and the motivation of dessert was walking our feet only 4 hotels away...thank you Guns N' Roses for expressing a little of what we experienced.

Did I mention each hotel is a stinking mile long (exaggeration for emphasis)?! It was a great plan, but not fool proof. We were tying shoes every five minutes, picking up blankets every three, telling children to keep hands in pockets every two, and pleading every one for children to not run off in the crowds. What a harsh environment, we should have stopped after the fountains. I don't know what I was thinking walking my family through Spring Break crowds at the Strip.

The fact is I have amazing in-laws, I especially respect and look up to the women in my family. I guess considering my amount of respect and the expectation for perfectly obedient children I just bit off more than I could chew. We ended with a too tired day, everybody was hungry and tired and we should have stopped after the Bellagio Fountains.

On a side note, I did learn a few lessons:

1. The motivation in helping my Sister-in-law keep her children happy was astounding. I was tired, yes and my feet hurt just like everybody else's, my stomach ached with hunger for real food, and I was constantly worried for Emma's tired outburst, but all I wanted was to help while my Brother-IL was out of town. I placed no value on my discomforts much longer than I normally would. I was surprised with myself. I know I struggle with being selfish but I almost made it 1 full day unconcerned with my needs (that's not to say my better judgement was listened too though, we still spend too long at the Strip).

2. I had an honest and interesting talk with a couple nephews who drove back to the hotel with me from the Strip (we're talking 7 & 8 years old). Nephew 1: "Las Vegas is full of bad things, we are suppose to avoid bad things. Lot's of people aren't wearing appropriate clothes."

Nephew 2: "Yeah, I don't understand why there are so many bad things all around."

I proceeded to lightly explain the natural curiosity human beings have with no clothing. I was able to share my testimony that just because we are curious and interested doesn't mean we should give in. The Lord has asked us to practice overcoming those curious things that are wrong. We all agreed the LV Strip is not an easy place to be and maybe next time we'll stay at home and swim :)

Dixie Chicks 'Ready To Run' part 2:

Check it out! The Nikes just weren't working for me, sure they

were on sale and $30 bucks isn't a bad price, but sometimes you get

what you pay for.

These are my new shoes. If I could insert a halo and add a Southern Baptist choir singing "Moving on Up" into the background I would.

I am here to testify there is a difference in good, better, and best quality. I'm not an expert in running by any means but Brooks Running is. My posture is better, my knees never hurt, and my back feels way better, even when I'm just out on a walk around the park. So please, invest in good shoes whatever the occasion, it makes a difference for how your whole body feels! Too bad being healthy cost so much...

The Andy Griffith Theme Song [insert whistle now]:

We ment to go camping last weekend, but the weather snowed us out. We planned on going camping this weekend but finals week dropped a 12 page paper on us. We'd love to go camping next weekend but company is coming.

Alas, desperation brought us this:

We cleared the room to try setting up our new tent. Yep that's right, the new, never opened before tent we bought over a year ago.

This behemoth takes up our entire living room. In fact I think I just named our tent: Goliath. We were glad it didn't hit the ceiling fan.

If our carpet could handle it we'd have staked the thing down and slept in it. Too bad it didn't work out because we have a killer air mattress, pop corn, and a guitar in the corner ready for some Kumbaya. It would have been close to real camping!
Our sweet Goliath comes standard with self roll windows, room dividers, a mud room, and oh yes, a hinged front door. Now all I need is a welcome mat-Dollar Tree here I come!

These Boots were Made for Walking:

Dear Red Rocks,

it's been a long few seasons without you. Thank you for always being there with your beautiful desert smile and cool breeze. Our family really enjoyed the trek on some of the trails you offer.

See you again soon,

The Oldfield's

When You Wish Upon a Star:

Before I left for Oregon I asked Shane if there was any way possible to set an appointment for a family photo session with an old childhood friend of mine. Shane isn't really into photos of himself, plus we do have a photo session gift to make good on in Utah sometime (hopefully) this year. So naturally he hemmed and hawed and I dropped the subject, but not the desire.

Well folks, I'm here to tell you wishes do come true because Kristen Moss caught up with me and we got together to do AWESOME photos of Emma, and some nice ones of us both (I too don't care much for photos of myself). Check it out, and if you need a great rate and some beautiful photos book a session!

Breath-taking, am I right?