Then, onto Vegas!! And Sydney's Room REVEAL!

I haven't even gotten to the Easter post yet. Yeah, I'm that behind...

Anyway, since we were already most of the way to Vegas, we figured we'd head over there after St. George to visit my sister, Michelle's family.


We just love driving, what can I say??




Especially with these crazies. Let's just say, on the way home, we drove in the middle of the night...

Anyway...

It was the ideal vacation for me, because we totally got our "craft" on! So, a while back (OK, last summer), my Mom and I helped Michelle make this cute queen-sized strip quilt for her daughter, Sydney's room. We had lots of visions of what the room would look like to match the quilt, but hadn't done anything yet...until NOW!

So, we planned on painting the room and then putting some flourishes around Sydney's name in block letters (that was already above her bed on the wall...) So we just had to paint over the pink and brown stripes and go from there! Michelle wanted me to paint the flourishes I painted in Claire's room, so that's where we got the idea. And in keeping it simple, we left the wall behind the bed pink, and did the flourishes in white, modpodged her letters with some turquoise paper, and painted the rest of the room a buttercream color. The end!


Workin'! Michelle looks hot even at work! (which is why there is no picture of me here...)

Gavin, hard at work! (He was actually really happy to be sanding-- but Jordan had him make that face :)

Sydney in her "paint clothes..." an old bathing suit, haha!

Here's the wall once the flourishes were done...just a few touch ups more and need to take some screws out...

And here it is completed!! We couldn't be more proud!

SO ADORABLE, right???

So, we also did a couple of other things:

For example, Claire learned out to make the plastic tiger bite her face..."look, no hands!"

And she also enhanced photos with her signature Chucky!

The kids also got their craft on!!

Um, the birdhouse, not the chair, Monkey.

A little better, but a brush would be nice...

(Ps. So you notice how the birdhouse is this weird blue color? Well, apparently that color is the mixed result of every paint available at the table)

They also got their "cry" on:



But not all at once, fortunately :)

I got my "nose gazing," or should I say, "nose coveting" on...

What a lovely new nose you have, Michellie :)

And then we got out Red Rock on!!

Notice how I wore the most idiotic outfit for hiking? What can I say...I was running out of clothes...






















We will be coming back. I mean, look at these cuties:

Vegas Vacation - Memorial Day

Ahhhh to go to Vegas again. It is so fun! My home away from home! (and that has nothing to do with the craps tables, slot machines, or Thunder from Down Under, OK?)

It was fun even if it was quite a FULL HOUSE! Becca and Phil and Jordan and I decided to meet in Las Vegas as Michelle and Andrew's house....and then Mom and Dad wanted to come, and then Heather and Jay wanted to come, and well, why not? The more the merrier right? It was great. We went bowling (I didn't bowl, but had fun taking pictures of the little cuties and nursed Claire on a cushy chair there in the bowling ally/hotel area and she spit up all over it...nice)

Bowling at Redrock Casino: Sydney and Kaylin with their favorite "Aunt Nunu"

Jordan and the nieces and nephew and Claire

We also went to the Bellagio to see the gardens and that was really fun...it's always great to see how they change things!

Becca, Michelle, and Me...Becca's pregnant, not fat :) hehe.... and Michelle is too, but very early still so she still looks like a twig!!

A little family photo :) Note the burp cloth on Claire's Baby Bjorn. It's not so much that she's a major drooler...it's mainly that all she does all day is suck on her hands, and that creates..well...drool :)

My favorite "work of art" in the garden

And then we went to see the fountains...this one was to the theme of "Somewhere in Time" So great!

Random picture of Claire...just because getting one of her smiling is really rare!! It's like once she sees the camera, her little smiling muscles just stop working :)

We also went to this shopping area/park where there is a cool place for kids to play and these fountains for them to run around in.... Here's my sexy honey with our little sweetie in front of H&M (which we didn't go into...bummer)

And the girls were so cute and funny playing in the water! Lauren was fearless!

So, we also tried out Michelle & Andrew's pool...but can I say FREEZING???? I was going to die of Hypothermia if I got in, so I didn't :) But of course, the kids did...so funny:

It was so fun. Thank you Michelle and Andrew for your hospitality!!! You guys are so great! It was so fun to finally get a chance to hang out with Becca and Phil and their cute family too!

Baby Shower with my Las Vegas Friends!

This is the email invitation we sent out...I had fun making it :) Yes, I made my own invitation...but hey, I'm obsessed with making invitations, blog backgrounds, etc. so it was so fun!

Thanks to my wonderful sister, Michelle, I got to have a little shower with some good friends while in Las Vegas! We had it at Mimi's Cafe--my new favorite place to go to breakfast!! (GREAT pumpkin pancakes...yummm!)

My friends I used to work with at Wright Engineers, Bonny Bartlett and Melanie Mooney came! It was so fun to see them after such a long time! Also, my "adopted friends" (they're Michelle's friends that I now call MY friends too, since I visit so often) Joel (Jo-elle) and Marci came. Denette, Miranda, and Toni couldn't come unfortunately, but totally got me the best gifts!!! Thank you so much!!

Here are pictures of what I got and who gave them to me...thank you ALL. You are so awesome!!! My baby is going to have the cutest little things to wear, and you also got me some great practical stuff, which I LOVE!

OK so since I need to document my whole life, I even have pictures of ALL of the things I got. Unfortunately, I AM in all of the pictures--double chin and all!! :) haha...

This super-cute ensemble is from Melanie Mooney--so modern! LOVE IT!

Bonny Bartlett got me this adorable outfit--WITH little pink leggings (those are the cutest part of course) AND some really cute hair bows and flowers and a teething ring that is a dragonfly. I was totally spoiled!
Joel is awesome TOO! She got me a Bundleme thingie--that keeps the baby warm in a car seat and stroller, and a gift card--you are so awesome, Joel!

Ok, so Miranda I don't even KNOW, and she got me something!! She makes these awesome hoodie towels! So cute! I'm excited for the baby's first bath :)

Michelle couldn't resist getting me this little sweater dress. It is SOOOOOOO adorable. Now, my baby will dress as cute as Sydney :)

And Denette, who couldn't be there, pitched in on the Baby Bjorn, but ALSO got me this super cute red and white snowflake nightie. I love it!!

And last but not least, Marci, Toni, and Michelle got me this Baby Bjorn--I've been told is a MUST have (and apparently, you can't get a different brand either bc this is the best kind!). They are so awesome. Thank you guys soooo much!! I'm so lucky to have such great friends!