Spring Break - Vegas Baby

April 2011 brought Spring Break. But you would never know it in Utah. It has been a crazy winter and Spring is fighting to get through. So our goal for Spring Break was to get out of town and be somewhere it was warm. Thankfully we have family in Las Vegas so we packed our bags and headed out.

Love having the Mini Van so the kids can have some leg room. After dealing with snow all the way down we were excited to hit St. George where it finally let up. At the Costco stop we got ice cream that I think the kids liked. John said we needed to go to St. George more often to get the ice cream. Hopefully on our next Costco trip he will not remember the goodness!

On our first full day in Vegas, Mark's sister, Kris, took the kids hiking. Mark and I immediately hit the Outlet Mall child free. That is until we arranged to meet my brother, Brent, and his daughter Lilly.

Kris is so kind and generous. She spoiled us on the whole trip. She even got us free tickets for Mark and I to go see Barry Manilow at the Paris Hotel!!!

I grew up listening to Barry because my Mom loved him. So I was so excited to go. He does an amazing show and we had so much fun.

Day 2 was Sunday. After going to church with Brent and his family (we were hoping Gladys Knight would be there, but sadly we missed her. But we did get to meet her daughter) We all got together to drive out to Hoover Dam

Have you seen the big new bridge they have?

It is pretty impressive! We walked across the bridge and got to cross over the Arizona/Nevada border in the middle

The Arizona side is not so exciting!

Sunday night continued the tradition of Kris and the kids playing cards before going to bed. They loved it!

Monday was our crazy busy day! We began at M & M World!

And headed over to the Coca Cola Store

Where we tasted 16 different flavors of soda from around the World. Very fun and glad we don't have some of those flavors here!

Next stop was The Mirage

Where we went to the Dolphin Habitat and Secret Garden

Then we headed over to Circus Circus for a little Carnival Fun!

Where everyone returned home with a couple of new stuffed animals!

For the afternoon snack we headed over to Caesar's Palace where the new Serendipity 3 had recently opened.

Can you say Frrrozen Hot Chocoalte anyone???

Mark thought this should be my new Facebook photo! Who knew they had multiple flavors?!? So we had to try the original along with a Peanut Butter version. All we can say is YUMMMMM!

We got ours To-Go so we could head over to The Bellagio to catch the water show.

Took a few pictures with The Paris Hotel that is across the street. Do you think Jessica can get extra credit for her French class??

And then headed inside The Bellagio to see the gardens -- Breathtaking!

And a stop to see the Chocolate fountain! But we had our fill of chocolate by this point.

And just when you thought we could not fit anything more in the day -- we headed back to The Mirage to catch the Volcano!

The kids were just a little tired at that point. So they really enjoyed when we got lost in Caesar's Palace trying to get back to the car!

But we got in all the sites we wanted to see that day.

Tuesday we slept in and did a little recovery. But I did have enough strength to head to my favorite store and get a few new pieces of clothes for my Spring wardrobe!

The one thing the kids really wanted to do was go swimming. It was warm in Vegas compared to Utah, but not that warm. But the kids really wanted to swim, so we went over to Brent & Kyleen's and hit the swimming pool with the cousin's.

They lasted about an hour, which is about 59 minutes longer than I would have lasted! The water was freezing. It felt like snow run off water.

Wednesday we packed up and headed back to Utah. The rest of the week was spent recovering. But it was a great Spring Break 2011 for our family!

New Glasses

Jessica got her new glasses just in time for our trip. As always she picked stylish frames!

Tangled

It is movie night tonight for Ashley's birthday party. Guess what we are watching, yep Tangled!

Birthday girl!

Ashley's eleventh birthday is on Monday. She decided she was brave enough to get her ears pierced! Aren't they cute!

Ballroom

Spent the afternoon at BYU again. We are lucky to live so close. Ashley performed during the Elementary school portion. She had a nasty cold but still did great. Her school got a Bronze medal.

The girls and I went back later in the day for the Semi Finals. Saw some amazing dancing!

2010 Family Pictures

My cousin's daughter, Courtney, started a photography business. Since my SIL, Kyleen, (who has taken our pictures the last couple of years) isn't making it up this way until Christmas we had to find a new photographer. And Courtney was the right price for the right job.  We have only seen the previews so far and can't wait to see the rest.  She took breathtaking pictures of the kids. I would recommend her to anyone in the Utah County area.

Does this face get cuter each year??

Her first time wearing mascara.  I think she can pull it off.

And can she really be old enough to wear full makeup???

And HE definitely gets cuter every year!

And together we make one eternal family!

Mark and I were busting up because we are definitely not in our twenties anymore. She had us dip and kiss. This was on our way back up to the upright position.

And this is just a few of the pictures. You can see more on Courtney's blog here http://courtneynicolecrockettphotography.blogspot.com/2010/11/preview-peterson-family.html

Can't wait until we can see all the pictures she took.

One Year

One Year
50.4 lbs
YESSSSS!!!!!!!

Back To School

With the end of August comes the beginning of School.

So glad to have the kids on a schedule again and not hearing them tell me they are bored every 10 minutes.

Not so glad for the 6am alarm every morning and homework every night.

I guess there is good and bad to everything.

John started 2nd Grade with Mrs. Allen

Ashley started 5th Grade with Mrs. Harris

They both started on Monday.

That gave Jessica and I time to go shopping for some Jr. High clothes.

And Jessica started 7th Grade and is now in Jr. High.

Wow, how did that happen???

Loving having a school bus take her everyday!

We have such cute, smart kids. So proud of all of them.

Lagoon

Thanks to my awesome Sister-in-Law, Carole, the kids and I had a chance to go to Lagoon before school started. Carole's work gave the whole company tickets for Lagoon and her older kids and husband could not get out of work. So we were more than happy to use their tickets.

I've been to Lagoon twice in my life. The first time was for my 18th birthday. After growing up next to Disneyland I was a little unimpressed with Lagoon.  I went again in my late 20s and don't remember too much from that trip either.

But I think Lagoon has finally grown up. We had so much fun with Carole and her daughter, JaCee.  John is not the most adventuresome when it comes to amusement parks, but I was prepared this time and did not get so frustrated.

John and I enjoyed the train ride and all the animals!

JaCee and Ashley on the Lady Bug Hopper

John dreaming of the day when he will get to drive a real car!

Who would be crazy enough to go on a rollercoaster that goes straight up and then down?

And then twists sideways? Wicked is a very good name for this ride.

Jessica, Ashley and I got to conquer this beast!

Carole somehow convinced John to go on this ride!

But I think she regretted it when she got wet every time they went around because John would not let the whale go up!

Ashley and JaCee look so big going on this ride by themselves.

Jessica and Carole ready for some fun!

(note this was another ride John and I skipped ;))

But John did love the water fountain!

I told Mark I thought we would be home about 6pm. In the end we left Lagoon around 10:30pm!

The kids loved it and I think we'll go again before another 15 years passes us by.