Pre birthday fun

Both sets of the grandparents came to town for Addison's dance recital and stayed a few days for her birthday. We went to the muppets movie and had to pose with the chipmunks at the theater. We also went to Mandalay Bay shark reef. Addison had received a dress up in the mail that day from some sweet friends for her birthday and she had to wear it all night. We had lots of fun.

Dance Recital

Addison had her holiday dance recital. She was in a tap number and did really well. Way better than the kid that always stands up there and picks their nose. There is always one of those right? I was the mom in the back trying to keep them happy before their turn so I got a few cute pics.  The last shot is with her two besties Morgan and Cara.  Cute girls!

I was on a roll and this is my second post.  Check out the previous one for some Christmas on the Strip fun!

Christmas Fun

We went down to the strip today for some festivities with friends. They do amazing decorating. Here are some photos.

What do you do when...

All of your Christmas stuff is in storage 300 plus miles away? And you don't have a lot of cash? You have a homemade Christmas. My parents brought us their tree over Thanksgiving so that was great. I got some ideas on pinterest (love that site). We strung popcorn with my parents. Addison and I have spent a few days making some different crafts. We did salt dough ornaments and painted them. Made some bell wreaths, snowmen handprints, icicles, thumbprint reindeer and a few others. It has been so much fun and the tree is adorable. This may be a new tradition. We hope you are all having as much fun as us getting ready for Christmas.

Christmas Parade

Last week we went to Town Square for the parade and arrival of Santa. It was a little windy but overall a nice night. Here are some photos.

11 11 11

We just made our wishes.

Halloween

We had a ward trunk or treat on the weekend then Halloween night we went to the District and got some more candy. Addison loved her costume and I thought she was pretty adorable.

Autumn Vegas Style

We went to the pumpkin patch/carnival that was down the street. Usually in my previous Utah experience these are short trips requiring jackets etc. But not this year. Check us out. They also had a fun little petting zoo that PETA would shut down in a second. Still Addison had fun. I am nearly done with her Halloween costume and I included a preview photo.

I missed August

I'm not sure what happened, but August came and went and I'm not sure what I did.  John was on days for a while which is always nice, but he has gone back to graves.  He is done with the training on the 12th and will officially be on his own.  He gets to bring his car home then, and that will be pretty awesome.

We have started the house hunt.  We found a house that we really love and is totally what we want; three car garage, pool, 4 bedrooms etc.  It is a foreclosure (like basically every house here that isn't a short sale) so dealing with the bank seems to slow things down.  Everything is approved and we will be putting in an offer soon.  Of course Labor Day is messing thing up a little as well.  We will see, I don't want to get too excited, but I think I already am.  The apartment has been nice (with the exception of the disgusting carpet), but I'm ready to have a house and all my stuff.  We have so much in storage in Utah still.

Hopefully we will be taking a trip to Utah soon.  John can put in for vacation after his training is done.  It would be nice to have a little bit of fall and see friends.  But I have to admit I love having a "pool" summer.  That is really what we did all of August.  Love it!

While looking through some photos on the computer I found a huge section of shots John and others took while at Academy.  When I saw this one I knew I must share it!

Warning - Photo Update Overload!

So I finally got my camera out and downloaded the photos.  I'm a slacker at that and will try to do better.  We have been having fun in Vegas and Addison and I went to Ely and Logan for a week to see family and attend a reunion.  John is doing great, but I'm tired of grave shift.  He has another week of that then back to days.  Now, lets play some serious catchup!

December was Addison's birthday and she wanted a zoo cake.  I did my best with the decorations.  I want to take a class and get good at cake decorating!  It doesn't help that Addison took out the corner sneaking tastes before we got a photo.

 Ya, I must have been slacking as she doesn't have her hair done in any of these photos.  I know I did comb her hair this winter, but apparently only on no camera days.  It was a hard winter.

 Cinderella doll from Daddy, he was in Carson City and missed out, but sent gifts for his little girl.

Christmas morning 2010.  I love this picture.  We were at my parents and she came around the corner and saw what Santa brought.  Kids make Christmas!

Winter in Ely produced lots and lots of snow.  We had many a snow day out playing.  The girl loves to eat snow.  We have tried to teach clean vs. dirty snow because there is no way to stop her from eating the stuff.

 John's graduation from Academy in March 2011.  I was so proud of him.  No photo of Addison and I pinning his badge on because his parents were supposed to take those.  Not sure they got any, if they did I haven't seen them yet.  I'll have to work on that.  The photos aren't great.  But seriously you have to love the gold blinds in the background.  One of the Nevada perks, you can always find some cheesy casino and have graduation there!

John taking the oath.

Big skip in time... Here we are in Logan on my birthday.  Addison couldn't resist getting some frosting.

Alright, I'll try to do better and keep you posted.  John got me an iphone for my birthday so I should do better with the photo thing.  I just have to figure how to get them onto my computer.  I feel so behind in the tech world, but I'll try!