The end of an era....

So today we officially sold our Toyota! We are very excited about that, but a little sad too. It was my first car, and I've had it for almost 9 years. Before that, it was my sister's car and she had it for like 5 years or so before I did. So it's weird to see it go. But at the same time, I'm glad it's gone. Since Patrick got his company truck in March, the Toyota has just been in the way and no one has been driving it. We pretty much just would take it to the gas station near by or something so the neighbors couldn't complain that we left our car parked out on the street for too long. 

I was going to post a picture of the car, but we just got a new computer this week, and so the picture is not on the new computer, and I have no idea yet how to get it on there. So just imagine the beauty with me for a sec. A once tan colored, 17 year old car, 185K + miles, hubcaps rattling as you drive, and the random cosmetic defect from age. It was a good car for us for a long time. I've had some good times in it in college and since we have been married. That little car sure made a lot of trips from Utah to Arizona during my nine year of ownership.  We sold it to a neighbor/friend who needed a cheap car to get to work and back. So it was a perfect deal for both of us. It was a good car...

Long live my little "Tiger" car! (that's what me and my roommates named it in college)  My boys are really going to miss it. I don't know why, but they thought that car was so cool. 

Time to go shopping...

I know this is total randomness, and most won't care, but I'm excited! My sister found out this week that she is having a little girl! :) That makes me so excited because, well, now I get to go shopping for girl stuff! And while I love my boys and all, there is just so much more stuff for girls, and it is so stinkin' cute! And I'm just about as girly of a girl as you can get, so I am going to love buying that little cutie-patutie things like dolls, Barbie's, and anything NOT Power Ranger or Transformer related! AND as if that wasn't cool enough, they are naming her after me! No not Melissa (blah!) but her middle name will be after me. Long story short...ever since I was born, my sister has called me Lizzy. No clue why, but it has stuck my whole life, and so the middle name will be Elizabeth  (cuz of Lizzy, and someone in Pride and Prejudice I think, but I've never seen that movie...gasp! I know, but it's true!) in remembrance of who I'm pretty sure will be her favorite auntie!  :)

What a trooper!

So this morning, bright and early, we headed to the Health Dept. to get Brayden's shots. I had Patrick come with us, because he is better at calming Brayden down then I am, and I was sure he would need calming down. So last night we explained that he had to go get 3 shots, but mom and dad would both be there, and he could hold daddy's hand and squeeze it real tight if he got scared. And of course we mentioned the new toy afterwards for being so big and brave. And I was so impressed how well Brayden did. No crying at all, he held his daddy's hand, and sat there very still, and just barely flinched and said "ouch" every time she gave him his shots. I was so proud of him, I was the one trying not to cry! He is getting to be such a big and wonderful kid, and I just love him to death! Good job Brayden!



Here he is with his new Power Ranger toy that he very carefully selected.



And of course Conner can't be left out, but I wasn't gonna buy him a toy to, so he settled for $1 popcorn while we were shopping at Target. I love how easily you can please a 2 year old sometimes! :)

Random Things...

So some random things that happened with us this week are....

I found out on Friday that I have to register Brayden for kindergarten! AHHH! Is it already that time?? So I went online to the school district web page to find out what I needed to do to register him, and find that he has to get 3 booster shots before I can register him.....which is WEDNESDAY!! So poor kid has to get those, which I'm totally bribing him that if he doesn't freak out, I will go and buy him a new Power Ranger or Transformer toy of his choice immediately after. (I'm so into the bribe thing with my kids, and don't feel bad about it at all! Desperate time call for desperate measures.)

I actually spent 2 hours at the park with my kids on Friday, and DIDN'T get sunburned! I have had to be more vigilant with the sunscreen since I moved here, but I always seem to forget just one little spot, and without fail, I get sunburned there! But not this time!! I felt victorious! :)

I have realized that Primary gives me a headache! I have been teaching in Primary for a year now, and today, I just really realized that it gives me a headache. All the noise! My goodness. Reverence is sometimes hard to come by in Primary I think. And I find that I'm much more stern with Brayden in there then I am with my own kids in my class. Today, I swear, I was shooting him my "stern mommy" look to stop talking and playing with his friends. I even had to play the mean mom card, and make him move away from his friends so he'd at least try to be reverent. Have any of you taught Primary with you kid in it?? Are your harder on your own, then any of the others? Am I on my own on this one?

I went out to lunch with my old college roommate yesterday! After living here almost a year, I found out that one of my favorite roommates, Brooke, lived here in Vegas! Happy day! So we finally met up and had lunch. It was so fun to catch up! It has been years since we saw each other! I can't believe it has been almost 10 years since I went to college and lived in the good ol dorms of LDS BC.

Also on Saturday, Patrick and I spend a good part of the day cleaning our carpet in our living room. Just so all of you know....it is the worst idea in the world to put cream colored carpet in a house! Don't ever choose that. When/if you are ever building a house, regardless if you have kids, and you are trying to decide between a nice cream color or a darker shade, always ALWAYS pick the darker shade. Then you don't have to spend a Saturday cleaning the stains out that your kids, and normal walking around has done to your carpet. It does look much better now. Now the trick is to really convince my sweet little Conner to stop taking his "spill proof" (not really!) sippy cups all over the house with him, and actually keep them in the kitchen. I'm sure it is only a matter of time before it is dirty and gross again, but hopefully we won 't have to clean them again until we move.

So the house hunting thing is not working out so hot for us. I have days that I'm overwhelmingly discouraged about it. Then other days I just feel like it hasn't worked out yet because maybe it's not suppose to. I kinda fear that this may be one of those things that you really, really want, and pray that it works out how you want, but the Lord has other plans. Maybe we are already where we are suppose to be for the time being. And while that is not what I would like the plan to be, that maybe what it is suppose to be. After 2 months of searching, 4 offers that we have been outbid on, and several others that were sold before we even got a chance to put an offer in, I am getting burned out! So we are taking a breather from it all, and just taking a step back. There are houses all over, at a great price, and we will eventually find one....right?!?! This is what I tell myself almost daily!

So there is my week in a nutshell!

How did we live without it???

This weekend, Patrick and I decided to finally buy a new propane tank for our grill. When we moved from Salt Lake last year, the movers wouldn't let us pack it into the moving truck because it was hazardous or something. We were in such a rush to get out of town that day to beat a huge snow storm, we just gave it to our friend who was there helping us, and left. So we haven't been able to use our grill since, cuz we didn't have a tank. So we finally got around to getting one on Sat. and grilled some hamburgers and hot dogs! They were so good!! So Sunday night we decided to grill Patrick's yummy pork ribs. They were AMAZING!! We both just sat there and wondered how we lasted so long with out our grill, we love that thing. The boys really thought it was great because we sat outside on Sat. night and had a picnic in our back yard. They thought that was the best thing ever! Top the picnic off with a Popsicles and they were set for the night! It was a beautiful day!

Last week was Brayden's last day of preschool. We are all gonna miss that! (especially me, that is when I went to get all my errands done, it's so much easier with just one kid!) But he is really looking forward to Kindergarten in August. Here are some pictures of the cute little parade that the kids put on. It was very cute. Then Brayden and I had a picnic lunch with everyone in preschool. He thought that was so cool! Thanks Lindsey and Lisa, I totally stole these pictures from your blogs, cuz I forgot my camera that day!! And HUGE thanks to Lisa for doing such a fun preschool, Brayden has sure loved it!

Brayden hates taking pictures in the sun, so he usually doesn't open his eyes! He's silly!

Good times!

So I was looking through some photo's today, and I came across these pictures from our trip to New York City. I then realized that it has been 2 years since we were there! That was such a great trip! Patrick had to go out there for an Autism conference for work. So there was no way I was going to miss out on a great trip like that. So we got to go with our great and best-est friends, Chris and Kym!! We all left our kiddo's with the grandparents (aren't they great for things like that?!?!) and headed off for 4 days in NYC. Not enough time to see everything we wanted, but enough time to have tons of fun, and see some great things.

Some of our favorites were....

the Statue of Liberty.....

Ground Zero.....

Kym and I went shopping on 5th Ave. while our husbands were in their conference. Despite the fact that Kym was like 15 weeks pregnant with her 3rd baby, she walked all 30 blocks with me, and we still had fun! We went to F.A.O. Schwartz and I had to take a picture with this life sizes elephant! How funny is that?!? Who buys that??? It was like $15,000!

Kym and I also wanted to go to Serendipity for lunch one day, partly because we have heard great things about it, and partly because it had Frozen Hot Chocolates, and they had just been on Oprah's favorite things list, so we had to try them out....they were yummy! We also found a place in Time Square that had the chocolate popcorn that was on Oprah's list too, that was great as well!

We ate lunch one day at this mall (South Side Pier I think??) that overlooked the Brooklyn bridge. That was pretty awesome!

We rode on those double decker tour buses that you see in the movies, and went all over Manhattan and into Brooklyn.

We of course hit a Broadway play! We saw Barefoot in the Park. When we were there, it was staring Amanda Peet. It was really good. We also walked through Central Park. Patrick even tracked down a Hungarian bakery that we went to have pastries at one morning. He showed us the different ones and which ones he used to eat on his mission. We stayed in a hotel that over looked Times Square. That was pretty cool.

It was the best trip! If any of you have not had the chance to ever go to New York City, I would totally recommend it, we loved it!

Funny Thing...

Well I was so excited to see the new episode of Grey's on Thurs. but believe it or not, it is still on my DVR waiting to be watched! At about noon on Thursday, I got a call from Patrick that he needed to be up in Salt Lake by 9 am Friday morning!! YIKES! (for a meeting for work) And despite the fact that my kids were a little sick, we decided to all take a road trip up there! (they weren't too sick!) Since it was such a fast, and last minute trip, we weren't able to go and see everyone up there. But we did have a good time visiting our wonderful friends, The Frankowski's, in Herriman. Kym and I of course had to hit my old favorite stores up there, Roberts and Quilted Bear. Man, I miss those stores. And Patrick and Chris did guy things, like watch movies and go to lunch. It is so nice to see our friends agian! We sure miss them! Our boys had a blast playing with their old friends and jumping on the trampoline. Thanks Chris and Kym for letting us crash at your house at the last minute!!! We had fun playing Guitar Hero and Mau (sp?) late into the night! We came back to Vegas Sunday night, and was I glad to get back to the nice warm weather! I'm not so used to the cold anymore. It was a little of a shock to have to wear a jacket everywhere we went! I even had to dig out winter clothes for my boys to go, cuz I had already packed them away for the year! Can't wait for another trip up there! Hopefully I'll have more the 3 hours notice next time though!

My light at the end of the tunnel...

The knowledge that there is a new episode of Grey's on tonight is what will get be through this day! I have 2 sick kids, and I am so stinking tired, and I have a TON of laundry to get through! So this is what I'm looking forward to today....finally a new Grey's will be on. It's been so long, and I have missed it. So you will all know where I will be tonight @ 9, either passet out in my bed or watching Grey's...no worries, it will be DVR-ed if I fall asleep!!

It's official....

So if you read my previous post about a Cafe Rio possibly being built by my house, then you will remember that I was skeptical of it because I hadn't seen a sign for myself. Well I was over in that shopping area last night, and saw a glimpse of a sign that said Cafe Rio!!!! WhooooHoooooo!!!! Patrick and I drove by a few times to make sure, and it is now confirmed that, YES they are building one so close to my house! We are excited!! It was hard to see the whole sign, because the wind had blown most of it down, so I don't know when it will be opened, but you can bet we are going there for dinner as soon as we see it opened!!!! :)

Happy things

I have been having a bad day for the past few days and been really discouraged about a few different things. So I decided it might be good to make a list of all the things that make me happy. Very "self-help" of me, I know! So here we go....

There are of course the obvious ones, my husband, kids, and family, the gospel...so I'll get a little more specific.

I love.....

~Fresh clean sheets on my bed

~Talking on the phone to a friend or my sister or mom

~Going out to eat, then I don't have to clean up! :)

~Springtime, because its not to hot, but not cold either

~Gerbera Daisey's

~Red things, especially red things that I can decorate my house with

~Scrapbooking, totally a stress relieaver for me

~Hearing my kids sing, even if it's the wrong words to the song

~Laughing at a great story someone is telling me

~Finding something that I really want on sale for a steal!

~Conner's crazy curly hair!

~my cricut

~hot fudge sundaes

~pork tacos from Cafe Rio

~Going to Costco and getting everything on my list for under $100 (that is a challege!)

~"Washing machine" kisses from Conner (those are a bit slobbery!)

~"sticky" kisses from Brayden (that is a game we have where we kiss each other with "super sticky" kisses, that way they won't come off!)

~Back scratches from Patrick

~Hearing Conner say in his prayer to "please bless Jesus"

~Listening to Brayden as he tells me what he has learned in preschool or primary that day

~my kitchen sink when it has all the dishes out of it

~cleared off counter tops

~getting a call in the middle of the day from Patrick just to say "hi and I love you"

~new episodes of Grey's Anatomy (hopfully coming back soon!)

~Pedicures

~Cherry Sprite from Sonic during happy hour, so it is only half price :)

~finding pants that are long enough for my freakishlly long legs

~being in my pj's

~Watching my babies grow up

~going on trips

~my new (kinda I got it in September) bed

~my Scentsy

~Seeing family members who live far away

~Clorox Wipes (those are the best invention EVER!)

"When you are discouraged thinking all is lost... count your many blessing name them one by one.... Count you many blessing see what God has done!"

First soccer game!

Today was Brayden's first soccer game, and man, did he have fun! That kid sure can run fast! (he is in the white uniform, and is #4) He was running all over that field chasing the ball, but was too nice and let the other kids kick it. The age group that he plays in doesn't keep score, but if they did, our team totally dominated! We scored so many goals! Right at the end of the game, one of the little girls on our team was generous enough to kick the ball in the other team's goal. It was very cute watching all the kids running around playing. They really didn't know what was going on! Patrick had a good time coaching as well. Bradyen thinks that it is cool to have his dad be one of his coaches. He calls him "Coach Dad"!

This is Brayden at practice the other night, he was learning to dribble the ball down the field.

Here are they are ready to go to their game. Conner doesn't want to be left out of anything, so he had to be in the picture too.

He is so cute and all grown up looking in his little uniform! Go #4!!!

It's so fun to watch him run all over to get the ball. He really doesn't know what exactly to do yet, but he'll figure it out soon. He loved it! He especially liked the treats at halftime and after the game. I love that he is old enough now to do things like team sports!!

Rumors...

Many of you may know of the goodness that is Cafe Rio. While living in Utah, Patrick and I were, I guess you could say, "frequent diner's" at this wonderful establishment. Meaning we ate there like once a week. It was just down the street from our house, how can you NOT eat there?!!? So when we moved to Vegas, that was one thing that we REALLY missed, no more Cafe Rio, the closest one being 1 1/2 hours away in St. George. And don't think that the thought never entered our minds to take a quick trip up there for a little "Rio" as we call it. So one day after living here about a month, Patrick had been driving somewhere for work, and as he is sitting at a stop light, sees a wonderful sign....it said "Cafe Rio Coming Soon". What a wonderful day!!!! (I'm pretty sure angels were singing that day!) Vegas was a great place to be after all, because now it too would have a Cafe Rio. So there was much rejoicing when it opened up last summer. The only down side being that it was about a 30 minute drive from our house. Sad, but we will make due, 30 minutes is better then 90 to St. George right?!?
So now I am hearing rumors (yet to be confirmed with my own eyes) that they are building a Cafe Rio by Costco. FYI, Costco is only 10 minutes from my house!!! I got this info from a fairly reliable source (someone Patrick works with and lives close by there). However, today while at Costco, I drove around to see for myself, and didn't see a sign announcing such a wonderful event. So I'm a little skeptical. This would be so awesome to have one close by again! It's our favorite place to eat. Even for our kids. If you ask them where they want to go, many times it will be Cafe Rio, and if you even suggest it...well you had better go there, cuz it's a hit with them. Conner talks about going there anytime you suggest going out to eat. Can't beat the free kids quesadilla's they have! Oh, and pork taco's...yummy! Now I wanna go there for dinner tonight!

Recipe...

Okay, I guess that would have been a good idea to post the recipe too, but MaLaan, you totally should have this recipe already! These are a Shumate classic!! Anyways, here it is, and just so you know, I'm eating one as I type it! YUM!

Aunt Cherie's Home Made Oreo Cookies (aka proof that Jesus loves us!) :)
2 boxes Devil's food cake mix
1 1/2 cup shortening (hey I didn't say they were good for you, I just said they were YUMMY!)
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together and roll into small balls. (I use my Pampered Chef cookie scoop so they are all the same size) Bake @ 350 for 8 min. Cookies may not look done, but be careful not to over bake them. Cool for 5 min before removing from the pan.

Frosting: (the best part!)
6 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1/2 c butter (softened)
1 lbs powdered sugar
1tsp vanilla
a little milk if needed

Mix and frost between cookies.

I also have found that if you let them sit in the fridge before you shove them in your face, they are even better! Enjoy!!

My addiction...

Many years ago, while visiting my wonderful Aunt Cherie, she made us all some home made Oreo's. They were sooooooo yummy!! Pretty much everyone was instantlly hooked on them. I recently made a batch, and the addiction to them still haunts me. You can't have just one! And I fear that there may be something wrong with my children, because they don't like them! Shocking!! How can that be possible?!? Probably because they are so used to the cheap ones that I buy from the store for them, that they don't know what a truly heavenly cookie should taste like. They usually get to enjoy the $.94 cookies from Wal-Mart. And while they think those are great and all, the home made Oreo's are just about the best thing ever!

Friends for the weekend!

Our great friends, and former neighbors in Taylorsville, came to Vegas to visit us this weekend. We had TONS of fun!! They have kids the same age as ours, and they just played and played till they ran out of energy! We went to the fun Dinosaur Park that is close to our house, and all the kids loved that. Melissa is my partner in crime when it comes to crafts and scrapbooking, so we went to craft and scrapbook stores, and did some of our own too. She helped me make a beautiful clock, that when I get a new house, I will proudly hang in my living room. Patrick and Morgan went to the ESPN Zone for dinner and watched the college basketball finals there one night. They also took advantage of the wonderful weather and went golfing on Saturday morning.

Patrick and I have become huge fans of Guitar Hero on the Wii, however, we discovered it to be a whole new ball game when you have someone else to play it with. We rocked it on the guitars late into the night. It was a blast!!

We also went to the Bellagio to watch the fountains one night. They are super amazing if you have never seen them! There is also a garden inside the Bellagio that is just awesome!! These are just a few pictures. Everything is made of flowers! There were frogs, swans, ladybugs, etc. all made out of flowers. It smelled SO GOOD in there!

Brayden and Bailey have been great friends from the start, so it was only fitting that they pose for a picture together! They are so cute!!

We had so much fun with our old friends! Hope to see more of you come our way!! There is always something fun to do in Vegas!!!