My first video attempt...

Future Friendship in the Making

14 Years ago I attended Dixie (now State, then Junior) College. I was blessed to make some wonderful friends most of which I'm still close to. Shauna, one of my college girlfriends, and her family, husband Garrett and daughter Averi, came to town for a mini vacation. They stayed at our house for one night then headed to the South Point. Saturday was so enjoyable. We chatted for most of the day, we took naps, had dinner at Olive Garden, which anyone who knows Riley knows that he LOVES the mac-n-cheese there, then the boys went and saw a movie while the girls bathed kids and put them to bed. As I was disciplining Riley for bouncing his sister off the Aerobed I looked at Shauna and we started to laugh. Who would have thought that this would be our life 14 years later. You never know when you meet someone if you will maintain that friendship. She and I are grateful we did and we are happy that we are able to experience things together, even if it is just a normal night of baths and naughty steps.


I had Averi come hang out with Riley and I so her mom and dad could go out to dinner. We (the kids and I) decided to make some pizzas. They did a great job and had a lot of fun cooking and playing the night away. Hopefully they can build a friendship that will last 14+ years.

Here are the pix of our pizza making extravaganza!

Saucing their pizzas.

Cheese and Pepperoni.

Time to cook the pizzas.

Cheers! Two pizzas well made.

YUM! Time to eat.

Averi.



Riley.



Time to play.



The Clarks. (This picture was taken of them by their 3 year old daughter, Averi. She did a great job.)


I love my friends, ALL OF THEM, and am so grateful to every single one for touching my life and making it brighter.

Naps

Just a quick note to celebrate the first ever nap taken by both of my kids AT THE EXACT SAME TIME!!!! Hopefully this is the first of many to come.

ALL THINGS SPIDERMAN

My little boy is all grown up, or so he says.


Riley turned 3 on July 16th, we didn't have his party that day but we went to the movie with friends Jack, Ty, Tori and Trace. It was Riley's first experience with Veggie Tales. On July 17th we had a litttle party for him, thank you to Daniel and Brit Dye's parents ~ they let us use their incredible back yard. We swam and BBQ'd and had a great time. I didn't take many swim pictures but luckily one of our reisdent photographers was on point and did. So, to see more of the swimming check out Brit Dye's Blog http://danielandbrittneydye.blogspot.com/! Riley has been saying that he was going to have a spiderman birthday for week so what else could we do but Spiderman.



Here's the birthday boy with his presents.




Riley's Spiderman Cake





Riley and Ty opening presents




Riley and Ty wearing their spiderman masks.





Too much partying did him in.




Riley's presents revisited. Riley tore through his gifts so quickly that I set them back up so he could actually see what he got. This is what he came down to the next morning.




I love my little (grown up) boy more than words can describe. Thank you Riley for making my life richer. Happy 3rd Birthday!!!!!



Thank you also to great friends! We treasure the frienships we have made here in Las Vegas and in our Ward and look forward to many more BBQs, birthday parties, and gatherings in genereal!

My Kids

Riley doesn't eat...well not traditionally anyway. I'm always looking for ways to get him to try new things. Someone told me (It may be Kate from John & Kate plus Eight) that you should get your children involved in making what they will be eating. With that thought in mind I asked Riley what he wanted to eat for lunch. He said, "sandwich." This is his usual response. I've made many a sandwich never to be eaten. Today I decided to let him make his own sandwich thinking he might actually eat it.

That didn't work!!! He ended up toasting some bread. Ahhh, the good old stand by.

Who knew 5 AM could be so enjoyable. Karlie and I were up nursing at 5 this morning and she was so awake and happy that I couldn't help but take her picture, which of course stimulated her quite a bit and kept us up longer than intended but worth every minute!!!!!

Filling Our Days

Being a stay at home mom compared to a working mom has its own set of obstacles. When I was working I was so busy that my days basically filled themselves. Now, staying at home, which is by far the option I prefer, I find that I am busy but with different things. Diapers, naps, baths, little pools outside, feeding Karlie (which takes a good part of my day), laundry, dishes etc... Certainly we could spend money but that isn't always the most effective time filler. My biggest obstacle is entertaining Riley. I want him to enjoy his days but at times I find that I'm not as compassionate to his needs as I should be. I am going to make a better effort for him so his days aren't so long and boring. It's not earth shattering but here's a glimpse of what we did today...

Played Bob the Builder

Took a shower after a yogurt fiasco.

Yes, that is a whale in the shower

Played Trains!

I don't think a day goes by that we don't play trains.

Karlie's Blessing

Karlie was blessed by her dad on the 29th of June, 2008. She was the very first baby to be blessed in our brand new ward, the Southern Hills Ward. Karlie was able to have her Grandma Jo, Grandpa, and Uncle Sean here from California; her Aunt Hilarye and Uncle Reid from Salt Lake and Grandma, Grandad, and Aunt Melodye, who live in Henderson, here to participate in her blessing.

Karlie's blessing was beautiful! We are so grateful to our family and friends for supporting us and being with us on her special day.

The Gibson Family

We were very fortunate to have many good friends and family participate in Karlie's blessing. From left: Kevin Kyner, Sean Hadlock, Riley, Grandpa, Lyn, Karlie, Grandad, Reid Fuller. Missing from the photo but not forgotten were Daniel Dye and Joe Utley. Uncle Dave and Uncle Nate (who is busy laboring in the Minneapolis Minnesota Mission) were unable to attend and were missed.

Riley loves his sister so much!

Riley is a Big Brother

She's here!!! Well actually she, Karlie Jo, arrived a month ago. Riley is thrilled, he is the best big brother. He loves his sister dearly and takes such good care of her.

Karlie was delivered at St. Rose San Martin on the 5th of June @ 4:40 PM. She weighed 7 LBS 11 OZ. Her delivery was flawless. Those present at her birth ~ Stacie...CHECK, Lyn...CHECK, Grandma Jo...CHECK, Marie (Nurse 1)...CHECK, Jodie (Nurse 2)...CHECK, Doctor Miller...CHECK, FOUR NURSING STUDENTS...CHECK. As you can see it was a packed house. When we got to the hospital we were greeted by a room full of nursing students who were more than eager to take care of us. San Martin isn't utilized very much yet so there really hadn't been a lot of action for these poor students. Needless to say they were extremely excited to have an actual patient. At first I was nervous and slightly hesitant but in the end having so many people there solidified the fact that Karlie and I were VERY WELL taken care of!!!!

Here are a few photos from Karlie's big day.

Our Four Students

Our spectacular nurse Marie

Karlie's Big Debut

Karlie after her 1st bath. Four hours old.

10:00 PM Karlie and Stacie finally got some alone time.

5:00 PM June 6th. Headed Home