To Las Vegas Again

My sister Molly and her husband Bruce went on a 2 week cruise and left their kids with my mom to take care of. Molly was worried that Lissa and Timmy wouldn’t get enough attention and that my mom may get a bit overwhelemed and behind in all she always has to do. So I went there for a week to help with the kids. I had a good time, but it was a lot of work and was tiring. But they are cute kids so it was okay. I didn’t see any of my friends while I was there, and really didn’t spend that much time with most of my family. I really mostly just stayed at my parent’s house and took care of kids – which was what I went there for. But my first day there Mindy’s daughter and son, Ellie and Ethan, were over and Lissa and they had a “birthday party” for me, which was so cute and sweet. The next day all my sisters in town came over for Taco Thursday, which is always fun – I love just hanging out with my family, I wish I could do it more often. Another day I went with Mindy’s family, my dad, and Molly’s son Adam to a cub scout picnic where they did an egg drop (my dad and Adam had built an egg drop contraption together). One night I went with my parent’s to a movie. Jenny and Cam and their kids came on Friday – and it was fun to have them. Once they were there Lissa had play-mates, so she took a little less time. Saturday was Michaelanne’s senior prom so we all went over to help/watch her get ready. It was fun to be there for that – she looked really pretty. Monday we went to CJ and Mike’s track meet – which was fun. They did great. My mom made me rolled tacos for a birthday dinner for me (my favorite) and my dad got Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes (cheesecake is my favorite) and Emily’s and Mindy’s families came over to celebrate my birthday – which made me happy. It is the first time that my family has celebrated my birthday in about 10 years – so that was fun. And then the next day I flew out.

The birthday party Ellie, Ethan, and Lissa had for me - too cute.

When Jesse first came to visit Timmy was very curious so he had to take a look.

Lissa, already to go to her princess party.

Okay, look at that smile and tell me you are not completely in-love with him, so adorable!

The tasty cheesecake my dad got me for my birthday - yum!

Amanda Has Entered the 30s Club

Well – it has happened – I’m now 30 (good-bye 20s) and I am fine with it. I had 3 days of fun-filled celebrations (1 for every 10 years of my life). I lucked out and my birthday was on a weekend this year. Friday Ryan invited a bunch of our friends from the ward to join us for dinner at a restaurant we like (Big Tony’s) and it was just fun to spend time with them all. And then we had them over for dessert which was also super fun. They were so nice and gave me gifts even though Ryan told them not to. I have great friends.

Dinner with our friends, the Poyfairs, the Bartons, The Alexanders, Us, and The Binghams


Saturday was my actual birthday. I had initially planned to take the day of from the temple so we could do something super exciting – but then I decided there would be no better way to spend it than in the Lord’s House, and I am glad I made this decision. We started the day out by having brunch at Blue Mesa Grill – it was amazing, I highly recommend it. If you become a member of their Chili Heads Club they will send you a coupon for a free brunch for your birthday – so we only had to pay for Ryan. Even though it is kind of expensive, it is so delicious it is worth it.

This was my first plate of food - I think I probably had 5 more - AMAZING!


We then went and did our shift at the temple, which was great. After the temple we headed to Ennis for the bluebonnet festival. We didn’t actually attend any festival events or even go into town, just went to see the bluebonnets. We didn’t have time to see all the bluebonnets I would have liked to, but we saw quite a few – probably the best ones, and had a good time. We even got to have a yummy picnic in a field of wild flowers, which was nice. It had been raining at the beginning of the day so we were worried it would mess up our flower experience, but it was sunny by the time we were done with the temple and the ground wasn’t even muddy, so it was nice.

Our fantastic picnic.

After our bluebonnet viewing we went to the drive-in movie. Once we parked our car to reserve our spot, we played some miniature golf – which was fun. I came closer to beating Ryan than I ever have (his thumb was broken so he wasn’t playing as well as usual since he couldn’t hold the club right) but I had a couple bad holes and lost my lead – dang it.

Super awesome miniature golf course - right?

I don’t like the way the Honda Fit looks – it is a hatch-back and I have never been a fan of hatch-backs. But it was nice having it for the drive-in. We laid the back seats down (they lay completely flat) and made a bed in the back and then left the back door open – it was awesome. After 2 movies (17 Again and The Fast and the Furious - not great movies but drive-ins are just fun) we headed back to Burleson, very tired.

How we viewed the movie screen from lying down in the back of the Fit - it was better than it looks from this picture - promise.

Sunday afternoon (after we got our naps in) Ryan’s parents and his sister Heather (Sheri was on her way back from a conference in San Diego) came over for dinner. They made Panini’s – they were very good. We had a good time. It was a perfect 30th birthday.

Yummy pound cake Ryan's family brought me for my birthday.

A New Car

A week and a half ago Ryan called me at work and told me his car was making some funny noises and not driving very well, so he took it in to an auto shop. A few hours later they called and told him the clutch is out. His Prizm is a 98 so a little old I suppose, but I had planned on us having it for several more years, or at least a couple more years. But Ryan had the feeling that it would just become a money pit for us if we were to try and keep it as we are not very hand with cars. So we decided it was time for us to buy a new car. He told me it was no big deal since he already knew what car he wanted - a Honda Fit. I was surprised, especially since I had never heard of a Fit and we had never discussed what we would get for our next car. We spent the next Saturday car shopping, I think we went to about 6 dealerships and drove cars on each one. I was leaning towards a Hyundai Elantra of another Toyota Corolla (I really like mine), and I struggled with the Fit. It is a hatch back, I think all hatch backs are ugly. But I figured Ryan would be driving it so it would be up to him more than me what we got, and he wanted a Fit. So this weekend we went ahead, and after checking prices at all the dealers, bought a Fit. (It wasn't really that easy - it was several hours of negotiating and such - what a headache.) But we are now new car owners. What has made me like this car a bit, despite it's ugliness, is its functionallity. the back seat lie down completely flat so there is actually about the same amount of room in the back as a CR-V has. Also, the actual seats of the back row can fold up, leaving a really tall floor space. Ryan sold me on this functionallity by saying it would be great for a dog - we'll see how soon I can get a dog to go with the car.

Baby Blessings = A Trip to Vegas

My two newest nephews (Jesse and Jack) were going to be blessed the same day. I hadn't planned on going because I couldn't afford the plane ticket. But on Wednesday my sister Molly called and asked me why I wasn't going to come. She the offered me one of their Southwest passes (her husband Bruce is a flight attendant). How could I refuse - especially since I hadn't even met Jack yet. Beyond just wanting to be there for my two nephews big day my uncle Randy was in the hospital I wanted to be there in case he was going to pass away. Well Molly mailed the passes right away so I got them Thursday. Friday morning Ryan and I got up early and headed to the airport. Apparently mid-March is a really bad time to fly stand-by, everyone in the world (or at least Texas) seemed to be on Spring break. I spent the day going from one gate to another hoping they would call my name as one of the stand-by passengers who could get out of Dallas Love Field. I finally got on a plane at 4:30 that was heading to Vegas vis Oklahoma City and then Denver. When I got to Denver I was told I wouldn't be able to get out of Denver that night, but it was likely I could get on the first flight the next morning. Luckily my best-friend Wendy Lewis Reni lives in Denver now. So I called her up and asked if she would like an overnight guest. She and her husband and cute baby Dash came and picked me up, took me to dinner, and then to their cute house. It was so nice to get to spend time with my best friend (I have two best friends - other than Ryan - both named Wendy/i), and get to know her husband and baby better. I think it was meant to be. Saturday morning Wendy took me to the airport. I was very lucky and got on the flight, which was great because it was the only flight that would get me to Vegas in time for the baby blessings. It was so nice to be with my family for such a special experience. I had a lot of fun with my family the whole time I got to be in Las Vegas. I had dinner with some of them, learned how to make bread, had "Taco Tuesday" (when my sisters and mom get together to hang out and eat tacos - they make a special effort to do them when I am in town - I lvoe being with my family), had a picnic at the park with them, went to my niece and nephew's track and field meet, and just enjoyed spending time with them all. I have the best family in the world and I am so grateful for them. Oh, and even though my uncle is still in the hospital, and likely won't make it much longer, one positive thing about that is that his 3 sons were at my parent's house the whole time I was there, so I got ot spend more time with them than I have in years.

Me holding Jack at the blessing

David, Maggi, Jack, Jesse, Jenny, Cam - right after the two blessings.

Taco Tuesday - it happened to be St. Patrick's Day. Back row - Mindy, Ethan, Missy, Maggi, Jack. Front row - my mom, me, Molly, Timothy, Jenny, Jesse (Emily wasn't feeling well - she and Mindy are both pregnant, and so she didn't make it.)

Playing at the park with my nephew Seth (Emily's youngest)

My family lined up and feeding ducks at Sunset Park

Baby Jack

I'm an aunt - AGAIN! Jack Lawrence Ross is #22 in my family, my 16th nephew. He was born on Tuesday afternoon after my youngest sister, Maggi, had been in labor since Sunday afternoon. Jack is her first baby. Maggi did it without any epidural or anything. She was super tired by the end, but she is amazing. Some people say that everyone should try running a marathon - I think natural child birth is much more impressive. Go Maggi!

I have been waiting for pictures of my newest nephew since he arrived but none have been sent to me, but luckily today I have found some on my sisters blog so I pirated them. I was the only one of my sisters not there when he was born so I think maybe they just didn't think it was urgent to get pictures out since they had all already seen him. Anyway, I think he is pretty cute!

Welcome baby Jack - I can't wait to meet you!

For the birds

I am not sure exactly when it started, but close to as long as we have had our house we have had problems with birds around our entry-way. We (meaning Ryan mostly) will have just swept off the entry and beat clean the door mat and by the next morning it will be covered with bird feathers. Also, several times over the past couple years we have found broken eggs, with and with out baby birds on our entry, which is quite disturbing. The puzzling thing has always been that we could never find a nest - but we would hear the birds. It was very strange. And rather annoying. Well, when we were in our attic looking for our wreath hook at Thanksgiving time we finally found the reason for our problems. In our attic was this huge nest - apparently our builders did not secure the corners of our attic very well. At the time all our Christmas decorations were in the way, but before we put them all back in a few weeks ago, we removed the birds home and tried to discourage them from rebuilding. We will see if it works.

I'm A Winner!

Really - I won! Ryan is incredibly lucky and wins things all the time. His luck has not yet rubbed off on me and I rarely win anything. I can only think of one other time I have ever won anything - I won a Shaq t-shirt in high school because of a can a Ocean Spray Cran-Rasberry juice I bought. But I didn't even like Shaq so I gave the shirt to my sister. Anyway, on December 2 my friend Ashley Myers posted on her blog that she hsa some boxes of Chex Mix Bars that had been sent to her because of a post she had done abouthow much she loved them and she was supposed to give some of them away, and if you wanted to win them to leave a comment. I have done these kind of entries to win before, but since I am unlucky I never thought about it after that. In fact, I totally forgot about it. And even though I read almost all of her posts I guess I somehow missed the one where she listed winners, because I guess my box arrived while I was home for Christmas. But since being home I have been enjoying my box of Chex Mix Turtle Bars. They are definately more of a dessert bar than a breakfast bar - but they are pretty darn good. Thanks Ashley - I'm so happy to have won!

Our Christmas Vacation

So, it has taken me a little while to get around to blogging again - but I am finally ready to blog about our great Christmas vacation. Mine started a little earlier than Ryan's. I headed for Vegas on the 17th of December, a Thursday, and the morning after Las Vegas had received the most snow it had in I don't know how long, since before I was born. Growing up my mom always told us that if it snowed and then snow stuck an inch that she would keep us home from school, or come and get us. As it only even snowed at all about once every five years, and when it did snow it rarely stuck at all, and when it did it pretty much started melting soon after - there weren't really opportunities to take advantage of this "snow day" offer. I have in my memory one day of snow sticking more than an inch because I remember making a snow man, but I am almost positive this happened on a Saturday. But still we always prayed for the snow to come, and to stick - not only for a snow day, but just because it would be fun. I am not the kind of person that likes living in the snow, I don't like ice on the roads (rolled my car the first time I drove in the snow and hit black ice), I don't like scraping cars or shoveling walkways or having to worry I will fall as I am walking. But I have always liked visiting the snow - and I LOVE snow in Las Vegas. As I flew into Las Vegas and saw the entire city all white, covered in snow, a site I have never seen before, I can't even explain how excited and happy it made me. Unfortunately I didn't have a window seat and I didn't think to take a picture, but it was awesome. When my dad picked me up from the airport and took me back to my house it was crazy seeing my street so filled with snow. Earlier in the morning the day before my mom had offered to babysit a bunch of my nieces and nephews - I think maybe 13 or so were there. Then it started snowing and my sisters couldn't come to get them so most of them were still there when I got home. They had already been out playing before I arrived and had come in to thaw, but we all went out and played some more. It was great!

On Saturday was the Las Vegas Bowl where BYU played Arizona. The outcome of that game was not a highlight of my trip – however, I didn’t go to it and didn’t watch a ton of it so I wasn’t highly invested in it, luckily. But because of it other events did happen that were highlights. The first was the UNLV vs. Arizona basketball game. Yes, the game would have happened even if the Bowl game hadn’t, but because of the game there were tons of Arizona in town and so the basketball game was PACKED. My dad took me on a date. (My dad has season tickets, has had the same seats ever since the Thomas and Mac has existed, and has missed very few games in its existence – you could probably count the number of missed games on one hand and they would be because of either births or marriages in my immediate family.) I grew up going to Rebel games and am a loyal Rebel basketball fan. For any other sport I will cheer for BYU Cougars, but when it comes to basketball I will cheer for the Rebels (although if the Cougars win I will still be happy – it is a win-win for me.) I get excited to go to games (although unfortunately to this one I was accompanied with a migraine, I had had one every day for almost two weeks and so I was beyond exhausted as well as in pain so I am not sure everyone could feel my enthusiasm.) The Rebel color is red – and it just so happens that that is Arizona’s color too – so there was a lot of red. The announcer thanked the Arizona fans for wearing Rebel red to support our team. I think it helped. It was an awesome game! My dad is a huge fan (obviously) and loves going to games, but I don’t know how long it has been since I have seen him that excited at a game. And his enthusiasm is contagious. My dad has a loud voice. When he boos ref.s it is so loud that video men have gotten him on camera (no joke – when I was little I was at home watching a game while we was on a vacation going to a game and he was booing some ref and there he was on camera.) Well, when he gets excited he also has this “whoo, whoo, whoo” cheer that is just him, that no one else could really do. It’s hilarious and makes you smile. Anyway, it was a great game – we won!

One of the other great blessings of the Bowl game was that it brought my good friend Nicole Santiago to Las Vegas. I met Nicole on my mission when I had been out about 3 months. We lived together in a house in Eureka. Although I never got to officially be her companion, although I would have loved to, I did get to spend a lot of time with her, and I learned so much from her. She was one of the best missionaries ever, she was a super hard worker, but she loved every minute of it and had fun. She taught me about joy in the journey. And she continues to teach me about that. She is so amazing! She has one of the greatest perspectives on life of anyone I know and I count myself blessed to know her. Although I don’t get to see her very often, I don’t even talk to her very often, she’s one of those friends that despite how long it has been since you last saw or talked to each other, when you are together it feels like it was just yesterday. That is the best. She is the best. Love you best friend.

Sunday night was my family’s annual Christmas pageant. Every year we reenact the Christmas story and then my nieces and nephews may perform some musical pieces they have been working on. I don’t just mean my parents and their descendents, which would be over 30 people, I mean extended family on both sides. We had 60 people in my parent’s house, give or take 5. It was packed and crazy. But the kids were adorable and things went fairly smoothly considering how many people there were.

On Tuesday Ryan finally got to Las Vegas so on Wednesday we headed to the Strip (Ryan loves the Strip – he finds it fascinating.) We had heard about this gingerbread house display at the Four Seasons so we thought we would go check it out. We were rather disappointed. I think if they had displayed the houses differently they would have been much more impressive because there were even things inside the houses and they had a lot of details on them, but you couldn’t see them very well because they were packed so closely together and you couldn’t get very close to them. But the carousel was made all out of chocolate and sugar and it had a lot of detail, so I guess that was kind of cool. After we went to the Belagio to see the garden. It wasn’t quite as impressive as sometimes, but they had some reindeer made out of pecans and some snow men made out of carnations that were kind of cool. We decided that while we were there we would watch the fountain dance since we hadn’t seen it in a while. That was fun. They have changed it quite a bit since the last time we watched – at the beginning they make this cloud like thing that I really like. We enjoyed it.

So – I have 6 sisters. Five of them live in Las Vegas and 4 of those have kids (the one that doesn’t live in Las Vegas also has kids but since she was about to have a baby she couldn’t come home for Christmas this year, and my one sister that doesn’t have kids yet will have a baby any day now  ). On the years that it is my family’s Christmas, on Christmas afternoon we will all gather at my parent’s house to eat and exchange gifts. With all my nieces and nephews (I currently have 21 but have 3 more on the way) and then 16 adults, things can get kind of crazy. I love the chaos. This is what it looks like.

On Saturday Ryan and I met my best friend Wendi’s brand new baby girl. Unfortunately, Wendi had just had a c-section and they were still in the hospital recovering so we didn’t want to impose on them with pictures. But she is super adorable! After, we headed to the new Encore hotel. My friend Steve (one of my best-friends from BYU, we met our 2nd day of our freshman year in chemistry) works there so we had him show us around, which was awesome. Not only was it so fun to spend time with him, but he told us all about things that just made the hotel so much more interesting and took us to places we never would have thought to go. Also, he took us into stores we wouldn’t have been allowed to go into had he not been with us. One of which was a jewelry store. In this store they have ridiculously expensive stuff, but amazingly gorgeous at the same time (although even if I was filthy rich I still don’t think I would buy it because to me it just looks fake, because it is so perfect I guess.) Anyway, he asked one of the store workers to help me try on this one necklace, his favorite one. I don’t know how many carets it is, but it was diamonds the entire way around, and each diamond is certified (whatever that means). The necklace costs $762,000. Too bad I had entirely the wrong type of collar/neckline to go with the necklace, but maybe you’ll kind of get the idea of what the necklace looked like. It was amazing! They also had this poker set where the chips were surrounded with diamonds and the dice were made of mammoth tusks. I have no idea where they got the mammoth tusks from, nor do I remember how much it costs. Crazy!


On Sunday we went over to spend some time with my sister Molly and her family. Ryan enjoyed playing the Wii with her family while I enjoyed holding the most adorable 7-month-old in the world - Timothy!

Monday night I had a get together with some of my friends from growing up and from high school. It was so fun – some of them I hadn’t seen since I had been married or even since before my mission so it was so good to catch up with people. It was also good to get to meet my best-friend Wendy’s new baby, Dash. I hadn’t for about a year, the longest I’d been without seeing her in our lives other than our missions, so it was definitely time.

Me, Katie Gibson Morgan, Amy Ekins, Julie Waldo Doody, Wendy Lewis Reni, Jamie Krahenbuhl Heagany (holding baby Dash), Janie Day ?

Tuesday morning Ryan and I headed for Flagstaff where my sister Jenny lives. Less than an hour after we got there she was ready to head to the hospital to deliver her 3rd son – we got there just in time. I stayed home with Ryan and the boys, Nathan and Ben, for a little while and we played in the snow with their awesome dog, Bella.

Then I went to the hospital to meet Jenny, Cam (her husband), and my mom (my dad had just left that morning to head back to Las Vegas for a dental appointment so he just missed it) while Ryan stayed to baby-sit. Jenny did an awesome job and delivered my 15th nephew without an epidural – what a woman! He’s super cute – Jesse Price Norton.

Both boys were so excited to meet their new brother – Ben continually asked to hold him and loves kissing him and Nathan was even willing to share his most prized possession, his stuffed cat, to help him sleep better he says.

We had tons of fun while in Flagstaff – going to National Recreation Areas or Monuments or National somethings, sledding, hiking, and we even made it to the Grand Canyon with my dad once he came back. It was a great trip.

Sunset Crater National Monument

Waptuki National Monument

Walnut Canyon National Monument

A hike we went on in Flagstaff

Grand Canyon National Park

We eventually had to leave so Ryan could get back to Texas to make us some money. I couldn’t get out on his same flights so I stayed behind. The day before I left I got to go to breakfast with four of my cute sisters. It was so much fun. I really, really like my sisters. I don’t just love them, which I do, but I really like them. I like the people they are. I like spending time with them. I learn from them, I am amazed by their goodness and am grateful for their thoughtfulness towards me. No, we don’t all always get along, but generally we do, and I do think we all respect each other. And they all have great hearts. They are the best and I am glad they are my sisters.

Me (holding Seth), Maggi, Mindy (holding Ethan), Molly (holding Lissa), Ellie (Emily took the picture)

So I had a great Christmas vacation – life is good.

Bethlehem Revisited

So Saturday night we enjoyed our latest Christmas adventure. I guess every year the town of Waxahachie puts on what they call Bethlehem Revisited. I have never heard of it before but we decided to go this year and I am so glad we did - so worth the drive. They have set up this whole fake city enclosed in a city wall. Inside there are all these people in character, fully playing their roles. There are tax collectors, money changers, Roman soldiers, tons of different types of merchants, inn keepers, etc. Every half hour they have Mary and Joseph come through the city, with Mary riding the most adorable donkey. They talk withe inn keepers not just reading the Bible story but actually having conversations. They are eventually led to the stable where Jesus is born. They have 3 live camels that are really nice looking. Wise men accompanied by a group of people. Shepherds with sheep. All of them asking along the way how to find the Messiah. It was super impressive. We were there for at least an hour. It is free, too, though they accept donations. I so recommend going. They make flaxen and let you feel it, pick seeds out of cotton and let you feel that, have wool to feel and furs, herbs and oils to smell, scarves and turbans to try on, chickens for "sale", the tax collectors encourage you to pay your taxes and the soldiers praise Caesar. The only thing is that I would recommend eating before going to Waxahachie as restaurants are limited. But go, you won't be disappointed.

President Bush's New House?

Ryan loves to be part of current events. Or at least he loves to visit places where current events are happening. So when it came out where the Bush's are most likely moving in a few weeks he wanted to drive-by. After the temple we headed over - it is only about a mile from the Dallas Temple. It is just at the end of this little culdesac and it quite modest looking (although it is worth $2,000,000). Welcome to the neighborhood, W.!

The house next door where it is speculated the secret service will live.

Arlington Nativity Exhibit

Well, the next holiday adventure we had was this past Friday night. We took a date to the Arlington Stake Nativity Exhibit. It was quite interesting. They set up all the nativities in the classroooms and the theme for the year was angels, so each room had a scripture of a quote either from and angel or about an angel and then the room was decorated around that scripture. For example, there was the scripture where the angel tells Joseph to take Mary and Jesus into Egypt, so the room was decorated all Egyptian. Their displays were quite impressive and I always enjoy nativity exhibits. They had a choir singing in the chapel and if I were to guess I would say they were from perhaps a Southern Baptist Church. Anyway, it was well done and enjoyable.
After, we tried heading to Interlochen. We have never been before and the light display isn't really supposed to start until next weekend. But Ryan has heard horror stories about the crowds so we thought we would beat the rush and go early. Well, surprisingly only a handful of houses have their lights up already - but at least it wasn't crowded.

Trains

I am not sure who, but some amazing person put together this incredible list of all the holiday happenings in our area. I got this list the Sunday before Thanksgiving and the week after Thanksgiving I got out my calendar and marked all the dates of the things I wanted to do. Well we started out our holiday celebrating the Saturday after Thanksgiving by going to see the Trains at North Park with Ryan's parents and his sister. It only costs $5 for an adult and all the money goes to the Ronald McDonald House. It was totally worth it. Not only did they have tons of trains, many of which were BNSF (which we are obviously partial to), but the details of the surrounding landscapes and all the people around the trains were just amazing! I think probably our favorite was this school yard were the kids were playing and the swings moved and there were a bunch of kids playing tug-o-war and the rope moved back and forth, and there were just a ton of things going on and it was impressive. The whole thing was impressive. I think we probably spent an hour walking around looking at all the trains and such. They had San Francisco complete with Lombard street, Downtown Dallas, New York. It was just a lot of fun and I would recommend it!