Time Out for Women and Girls

This year marked my 3rd Time Out for Women and my first time I didn't have to travel. It was nice to have it close, but sad to not have it turn into a weekend. For the second year in a row it was with my BFF Kami, but this year our girls got to join us for a time out of their own. I love going every year, being inspired, realizing that most mom's feel the same, learning, laughing, crying, and enjoying some awesome music. The music was really good, but I have to just throw in there that I really missed having Hillary Weeks be the musical guest.  She is amazing and just brings such life to the whole conference. Anywho... here are some fun pics of the night.

The seminar is two days so Friday night we started with a delicious dinner at Max Brenner's. It's a chocolate restaurant. Yep, chocolate! so delicious. We were so glad that our waiter decided to become a waiter and not a photographer-this is the best shot he got. Ugh!

But seriously check out this burger and chocolate chipotle french fries. 

Shocker, Ryen went with pasta!

Kami and I taking some time to thank Mariama and get a pic.  She is amazing and she serves up some serious humble pie. Every time I hear her story I am so thankful for all I have and wish I had her strength, courage, and her shoes.

I am posting this one just because Rye looks so cute. She is hanging with Carmen, an American Idol contestant.

 

Ryen and I loved Jerico Road and she was able to get her pic taken with all of them, but this one is awesome because he looks just like her uncle Taylor. Don't you think, Weavers?
 
 Brad Wilcox is always one of my favorite people whenever I see him and I was so so glad he was able to talk to the girls not once, but twice this year. 
Next year-St George. And we are going for the whole weekend. Can't wait!

Our Wicked Wicked Night....

I can't even tell you how long I have wanted to see Wicked-FOREVER I am sure, and finally it happened. I saw it and it was everything I thought it was going to be and more. Loved it!! Pretty sure it was the best Mother's Day present ever! I loved everything about the show. I loved that I knew every word to every song, but the story was really a surprise and so much fun to watch unfold. I will never look at The Wizard of Oz the same again and yet they didn't change that story a bit. So awesome! Such an awesome night. Thanks babe.

First it was off to dinner. My friend Pamela had suggested we try a new restaurant called Triple George. It is in an area of town that they are trying to rebuild and bring life too. It is a really cool area and I can't wait until it is all built.  Triple George had an awesome atmosphere and the food was excellent.  So yummy!

Triple George from the street.

Then it was off to see the Wizard at the Smith Center.

 

I am so excited to have the Smith Center in Vegas. It was the one thing that we were missing in a town full of entertainment!  It is the most amazing building inside and out. So gorgeous and I plan on spending sooo much time there. I can't wait for the next show. I am seriously thinking of giving up Dr. Pepper to fund my tickets.

 

 The grounds are amazing and this is so my favorite piece. 

 

 Randy and I before the show started.

Projects!!

I have to admit it has been really tough working all of the time and it seems like I miss everything. One of the things I missed the most was just having a project to do and see it through. I have been talking about and thinking about what to do with all of the flowers/bows that we have all over the place. About 6 months ago I bought the fabric and ribbon and about a month ago I bought the cork board and finally last week I was able to put it all together! Super simple, but it was so much fun to do and reminded me how much I really do love to make things.
It's been so nice to have most of the hair stuff in one place and not have to spend the morning looking for something to match their outfits.  Oh and the girls love choosing off of the board, which makes doing hair a little easier. I loved putting it together and can't wait to find a new project to do!

Marriage. Marriage ...is what took us to Roseburg...

Congratulations to two of my most favorite people ever!! Our good friends, Meghan and Chris finally tied the knot on September 1. We are so happy for them and we were so glad that we were there to share the whole weekend! I was so super busy I didn't even take one pic! There were tons of others that took pics, but this one is my favorite.  Congrats guys we love ya!

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for both girls. Yeah, it has been a really long summer for all of us so everyone is happy to get back in the swing of things. Of course, I had to take some pics.....
 Rye is now officially an 8th grader. I know, I can't believe it either!! and Ali is a 2nd grader. Both had a great day and we are all looking forward to a great year!!!!!

My fashionista!!

 Gotta love the Katniss reaping hairdo with a little twist! Thank you Cute Girls Hairstyles.  One of my favorite blogs ever!

What's on My Camera Pt 2

I really did think that at some time I was going to start super blogging again, but so far I have been an epic FAILURE!! Ugh, I hate it. Sometimes I really miss my old life, but anyway... I wanted to share some of the fun things that have been going on in our lives.

First, we took an impromptu trip to Disneyland. It was so awesome. The lines were non existant and the girls got along great. What more could a mom ask for.  

  

 First line of the day was Pirates. One of our favorites.

 Speaking of Pirates, there isn't one more loved in our house then Jake. I think this was the highlight of Ali's trip.

 This was Ali after we rode the amazing rollercoaster behind them. Ummmm I think it was a little much.

 While Grandma Pam was visiting Randy and the girls took her to the Highland Games.

I thought these pictures were really cute!

Aubrey and her family came to Vegas in May. We had such a great time and hope they come back again really soon. 

 We hiked up Mt. Charleston. It really is beautiful up there.

 We swam at our favorite pool.

 My favorite pic of the whole trip. Love it.

We took Aubrey downtown and did the Vegas our most favorite way.  Shakes at Holstien's and the Beatle's Love. Both are amazing!

Then of course there was the beard! Thanks to the Kings making it to the play offs Randy looked  a little bit like this-FOREVER! Okay, so probably forever is an exaggeration, but look at that thing. It really took on a personality of its own. Everyone began to refer to Randy as Randor!!

Luckily, for my family and all of the LA Kings fans out there-They won the cup. Could have been the beard, who knows! But boy am I glad to have the face back.

 Amazingly enough, the Stanley cup came to Vegas and Randy and Rye were able to go down and visit with it. A dream come true for Randy for sure.

 Randy had to show the cup some love. Umm... I know from his stories that people have peed on that cup, ohhhhh gross! So glad that they got to go to the Luxor and see it.

So as you can see we have been pretty busy.  We are enjoying summer and just taking it easy for now. Most of the fun is yet to come!!

Whats on My Camera!

I have come to the conclusion that I am never going to REALLY catch up on my blog, so I thought I would do one long post of all of the random events that are taking up space on my camera. That way I am sort of caught up and can move on. So here goes nothing....

 Randy and I celebrated our 16th anniversary at the Cosmopolitan Hotel here in lovely Vegas. This very nice man upgraded us to the coolest room ever-seriously the most awesome room ever. It was on the 23rd floor, had a private balcony and this was our view.....

 That my dear friends is the Ballagio fountains. It went off every 15 minutes and was amazing!

 I have to say that the Cosmo is now  my one of my favorite spots ever. Love the shoes. Now that is what I call a stiletto!

Ryen decided to turn 13 and went with her choir to Disneyland.....No parents she had a great time and took little to no pics....

 

Ryen and her friend hanging on the bus!

 Ryen and her friends in the hotel.

 Ali lost her first tooth via the dentist! Yep, that is my finger, but it is the only pic I have so I went with it.  PS she was so brave!

Ryen was inducted into the National Jr. Honor Society! I cried like a baby. Love her super smart brain!

 Ali turned 7 and we celebrated in her favorite restaurant-Red Robin-Yum! That was the happy part!

Second celebration Disney on Ice at the Mack with Jaelyn. Power outage and we were sent home when the ice started to melt. Talk about two very sad girls. Luckily,  we were able to change our tickets for the show the following day. The girls were super happy and loved the show! 

The Easter bunny came to Vegas and left eggs everywhere. It was so fun. How gorgeous are my girls!

We had a visitor, Flat Stanley, so we decided to take him down on the strip and show him a good time!

So that's everything I wanted to share on my camera, with the exception of Disneyland. I am going to do that one later. Life here is moving so fast and I am going to be better about taking snap shots of all of it!

DC 3 Our Day to Remember

Randy and I only had one real day to walk around DC and we spent it touring all the sights that give homage to the men and women of the armed forces. Our first stop was.....


The Iwo Jima Memorial. It was so amazing and I cried like a baby. I loved reading all of the plaques about the men represented in the statue and all that went into making it. While there we saw to Marines in full dress uniform and one Marine standing on crutches, missing the better part of his leg. It was a real testimony to the importance of all the do everyday.

We then walked most (if not all) of Arlington Cemetery. Lots and lots of walking and lots and lots of tears. Some of my favorite pics....

It looked like this every where you looked. It was so overwhelming.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

No words.....

Then it was off to the Lincoln Memorial. This is a terrible pic, but I am using it anyway. If you have ever walked the cemetery and then across the bridge and then over the the Lincoln monument, you know it is ridiculously far. What were we thinking!

Our last stop was the Korean memorial. No matter where you are around it you have to look into the face of the soldier, Marine, or who ever they were.

It was such a humbling day. I am always grateful for the men and women that protect our country, but that day was something totally different. I just kept thinking I wanted to tell them all thank you. It reminded me how proud I am of my dad, who was in the army, my amazing Marine husband, my brother in law Aaron, who serves in the Navy, for my brother in law Kevin, who serves in the Air Force, and for all of those crazy Marines that have been a part of my life forever. How lucky I am to be surround by people who are willing to give their lives for the freedoms I take for granted every day. Thank you!