Extreme Makeover: Bedroom Edition

After 6 years of living in this house and staring at blank, white walls-I finally decided to do something about it. Thanks to help from a friend (thanks!) and to Ryan's generous relatives who donated some furniture to us (thanks sooo much!) we have gone from

This:

To This:




and from This:To This:





I love my new room and I love that it was practically free to do!

The kids didn't want to be left out-this was their contribution:


Don't worry-it all came right out. But they're still not allowed in my new room!

Last But Not Least

I won't bore you with the antics of our almost terrible two toddlers, but I will force several pictures upon you:














As you can see, we have our share of fun and mischief around here. Included in that is a very important milestone I discovered today: our very first mural on the wall. I'm sure it will not be the last.

A Focus on Ryan

I have married myself a pretty remarkable guy. Only Ryan would be able to have hobbies and talents that actually make him money.

An opportunity to tutor high school kids on the SAT gave him the chance to take the test again himself. And of course he passed with flying colors. And now he is able to pass along his knowledge to the next generation. Zack Morris will be left in the dust after those kids take the test.

Also, he was asked to do a magic show at a junior high. He was nervous, but I knew he had nothing to worry about. I know the background of just about all his tricks, and yet I am always so enthralled. So enthralled, in fact I didn't take nearly as many pictures as I wanted to.

And as if this wasn't enough, he even is exceptional at growing older. Check out this professional candle blowing (with the best apprentices around).Is there anyone out there that can tell the candles make 2 and 9? Don't worry-I won't be offended.

So not that he doesn't have anything better to do, but I have dreams that he will write a book that will become a best seller. Anyone agree?

Bring on the Rain (and more friends)

So apparently our friends and family follow the same migration pattern and decided to head south to Vegas at the same time. The Seversons and Mohlmans didn't escape winter drudgery however, because it poured rain just about the whole weekend.

But we ventured on with our plans to go to the BYU/UNLV game. We dropped off the babies, packed lunch, and spent a miserable drive in traffic, and walk to the stadium only to realize that Ryan's plan of getting last minute tickets to a sold out game was going to be expensive. Very expensive. But it is his New Year's Resolution to fail at stuff, so at least we had a silver lining. After some deliberation, we sloshed back to the car and finished out the game on the big screen at the MGM grand amid horse races and football highlights. Ryan was the only one happy with the game's outcome, and the rest of us were glad we were not in the stands to witness such a defeat.

Since Ry did such a good job of fulfilling his resolution, I decided to join him by playing my very first (and last) penny slot machine. Don't judge me, judge Heather-she made me do it. One pull and 24 cents later, I walked away happy. Okay, I pulled a few more times and never won again. Royce took over and at least helped me break even. So at least I have retired a winner.

Ryan continued his trend of failing as we attempted to show Royce a good time by shooting in the desert. But lots of fences and Do not enter signs later, we were unable to find a good spot. Darkness and rain clouds loomed upon us, and after about an hour of driving, we pulled off the road well in sight of cars and the boys aimed and fired in the pouring rain and cold for only about 3o seconds.

Lest you think we have gone completely sinful and lawless, we spent the rest of the evening in a fairly normal PF Changs and Pinball Museum way. And to top it off we went for a stroll at the temple. So at least our children have the impression we're righteous. Thanks for a fun weekend guys. It's definitely one I'll not soon forget!

More Friends

Either people like us, or Las Vegas is just a convenient place to stop through, but we are lucky to have visitors quite often (and we love it, so keep coming).
This time it was my former roommate Becky and her family. They stayed at the Golden Nugget after a high recommendation, and we were able to go swimming there with them. Well, the moms didn't go swimming, but I look like it anyway.

Back to January: Snow Day

Our children have seen snow before...mostly on tv. A little from the car. But the first time they actually experienced it was in Utah. We might not get much use out of this snow gear, but aren't they cute? I'll let you guess who loved the white stuff and who clung to me the whole time.

Adventures in AZ

We had been planning on going to Gilbert, AZ for awhile now, but when these great friends got a job in FL, we decided we had better head down there while they were 6 hours away instead of...a lot more than that. When I realized my cousin lived just 5 minutes away from them, it clinched it and we headed down for a double visit. It was short and sweet, and tiring, but...it was worth it and so fun. Thanks for a fun weekend of watching 3 toddlers, ribs, you tube videos, ticket to ride, the park, new toys, potty training, and tickle me elmo. Wow, we fit a lot in. My cell phone survived by the way-yea! Good luck in FL and we'll miss you!

Blair, Katrina, and Ella Larsen with the four of us

The kids at the park. Some loved the swings...


Others did not:

We're Still Here

Blogs to come:

Weekend adventures in AZ
Weekend adventures in LV rain
Wednesday adventures at the Golden Nugget
New Year's Resolutions fulfilled
My magnificent husband: his latest antics, and latest birthday
My trouble making twosome: I'm sure they've done something cute and blog worthy

I won't wait for pictures to be emailed to me before I post--but they would be appreciated (hint, hint-you know who you are)

In the meantime, since this is a month of LOVE:

I have been in LOVE with my husband. In LOVE with my kiddos, and in LOVE with my life of late!