Mother's Day

For my Mother's Day present this year, Parker helped my mom paint an accent wall in our kitchen while we were in Vegas. He was so proud! He showed us when we got back from our trip. He kept saying, "You really like this color? You really like this color? I really like this color! It orange! I colored it!" He was so adorable! He kept telling me, "Happy Mother's Day" over and over the next few days, including on Mother's Day. Bryan had flowers and chocolates delivered as well as sent me on a scrapbook retreat the following weekend. It was so fun! I had a wonderful Mother's Day, which hasn't always been the case. It used to be a really difficult day for me. I want to take a moment to thank and acknowledge Parker's wonderful birth mom. Without her sacrifice I wouldn't have these wonderful Mother's Days to look forward too! Thank you for the precious gift you gave to me two and a half years ago. We love you and think of you every day!

My beautiful tulips and box of chocolates (Parker took this picture, not bad huh?)

My cute little boy in front of the accent wall with his "CHEEEEESE!" face

Our 10th Anniversary!

We used the trip to Vegas as a celebration for our 10th anniversary. The day we went to the strip, we went to the Venetian and had lunch at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant Postrio. We were told they had the most amazing dessert that we had to try. When we looked at the menu, we saw another one that sounded good too, so we got both! Everything was delicious and it was so fun to celebrate our anniversary somewhere we wouldn't normally go. Bryan and I have been through a lot the last ten years, but all that we've been through has brought us closer together. Bryan, thank you so much for all you do for me and for Parker. I love you and look forward to the next 10 years! (and the next, and the next and the next!)

So, here are the two desserts: Raspberry chocolate chip souffle' and these yummy 'chocolate donut holes' that everyone told us about.

Las Vegas

Bryan earned a trip to Las Vegas through work and it was awesome! The resort was amazing! We went on an ATV adventure, a tour of an old mine, saw two amazing shows, spent some time on the strip, golfing, relaxing in the spa and by the pool. Bryan had lobster tail for the first time, we ordered room service for the first time and Bryan bought me an amazing bag for my b-day (pictures to come, he's making me wait until my actual b-day) We had fun making silly videos at a Cinco de Mayo party one night at the resort and I got a tatoo! (temporary of course) It was such a fun trip minus the flying (I HATE to fly) and of course being away from Parker for 5 days!

This is before our ATV ride

This is after our ATV adventure. I was the first person behind our guide and I felt like I was making everyone go slower than they wanted too. There were a couple of times that I was really scared. Going up and down some steep hills and turning around in tight high places, but overall it was fun.

Here we are to the entrance of the mine. Our guide was all about telling us ghost stories and how the mine was haunted. Not my favorite part of the trip!
Some of the girls waiting in our comfy robes for our spa treatments. I got a massage and was told I am really tight and should go once a week, but haven't convinced Bryan yet.
Here we are making one of the hilarious vidoes. Bryan posted it on facebook and I might figure out how to put it on here later.
We saw Phantom and 'O' and they were both awesome. I can't even describe 'O' other than I couldn't believe some of the things that they did! It was crazy!
When we got back to the resort there were these amazing cars parked outside, so we had to take pictures with them!
Bryan with our room service food.

Weekend Adventures

We went to Idaho this weekend for my niece's baby blessing. Saturday we played with my brother Jack and his family. We all decided to go shooting. Well, as we were leaving, Parker was trying to be a big boy and go down the front steps all by himself. He ended up face planting resulting in this lovely fat lip and chipped front tooth! There was blood and many tears, mine and his. We got him cleaned up, gave him tylenol and an otter pop and we were on our way. He didn't like the noisy guns, so we would sit in the car for a while and then he would want to get out again. We did that most of the time and then he decided he wanted to shoot with daddy. On the way back to Jack's house he fell asleep. He really did have a fun weekend playing with his cousins despite his injury.

Big fat lip, poor kid!

He also scraped his cheek

Daddy helping Parker shoot the .22

So tired after an adventurous day!

Play Group

We love going to play group! Especially now that the weather is getting a little better and we can be outside! We went to the park this week and Parker had so much fun! He chased his ball around for a while, it was kind of windy, then he climbed the twisty slide over and over again! He also had fun playing with the wood chips until he and the other boys started throwing them and got a mouthful! All in all it was a great time and we can't wait to go to the park again! I think Grandma and Matson will be joining us from now on which will make it even more fun! Here's hoping for more sunny warm days!

Such a big boy climbing all over the playground by himself!

Parker and his friend Jacob playing with the wood chips

Where he spent most of his time, climbing the slide

Easter Weekend

It started with an Easter egg hunt at the church. The young men throw candy, plastic eggs, etc. all over the grass and the kids just go for it! They have an area roped off for children 4 and under, but when that was picked clean we went over to the 'big kid' area. Parker was so excited to find candy and his favorite was a pink sucker. I don't know what it is, but he loves suckers! He carried it in one hand and his basket with the rest of his candy in the other. One of his friends, Lexi, didn't find any eggs and was so sad. Parker gave her a pink one that he found and she gave him a piece of her candy. It was really cute and he still talks about the trade. Later that afternoon we colored eggs with Aunt Heather and Daddy. It was of course messy and he of course loved it! We used a crayon to write our names on some of them. He was so proud of his 'Parker egg'. The next morning we went to see what the Easter bunny had brought. He of course got one of his McQueen eggs open before I could stop him and had a handful of m and m's before breakfast. After church we had Matt, Vicki and Matson over for Easter dinner. My mom and Heather joined us as well. It was the first time I ever made ham before, but everyone said it was delicious. Then Mom made this very rich brownie, peanut butter cup dessert that was so naughty! It was a great weekend! (I am still trying to figure out the picture collage thing. If you click on it, it makes the pictures a little bigger.)

Scrapbook Expo Etc.

My sister-in-law Lindsey, my mom and I went to the scrapbook expo last month. It was so much fun! Lindsey and I were there all day and mom joined us after working half a day. When we got there that morning there was a huge line to get in which concerned us because we were trying to get a table so we could scrapbook as well as shop. We got in and couldn't find a table anywhere. Then we saw that they were setting up more. So we asked if they would set one up for us and they did! We put our stuff there to save our table and were off to shop! We found several good deals and got some scrapbooking in before we went to lunch with mom. After lunch we showed mom some of the deals we found and scrapbooked the day and night away! We cropped until midnight and packed it up to hit the Walmart to get 'Twilight' for mom as a thank you gift for watching Parker while we were in Kansas City. The next day Dustin and Bryan decided they were going to have a day to play. They went to a movie, lunch, Cabellas, the driving range and who knows what else. Lindsey and I took Parker and Rylee to Wheeler Farm to feed the ducks. They also had brand new lambs that were so cute! We had a great time looking at the animals despite the windy day.