Wedding in Vegas

I finally found the pictures from Las Vegas and I thought I would share a couple. There weren't many, but I thought these were pretty cute! It isn't on the beach of Puerto Rico like we planned but this was really fun and I wouldn't have changed a thing!

Saying our rockin' vows

A kiss from Elvis for luck

My wee sister drove 3 hours to be our witness on a school night!

Our first kiss has husband and wife

Sam

Sometimes James will do something and you can't help but laugh! We were petting a lab over the Christmas weekend and James is never slow to try out new things! I caught him in the kennel a few times. Here he is trying to close it and getting frustrated that it wont lock! This kid maybe on to something! The funny part about this for the dog is that Sam was sent in there for being naughty, this must have felt more like corporal punishment!

It has been really fun to watch James with Sam. James spent the entire 5 days we had him trying to cuddle and walk him. It is a good thing Sam was rasied with little kids because James didn't offer him much space! One of these days when we are done with apartment life and we have a big yard we will have to get this boy a dog! He sure does love dogs, he makes me stop when we are walking so he can pet the dog!

Ok playing with dad and old wrapping paper, I guess!

Chirstmas 2007

This year we spent Christmas at home, just the three of us. I was a little nervous about doing it all myself, but all in all it worked out. I have never been able to make an edible roast, but it was actually really good. I freaked out when I called my mom at 10 with a frozen roast in my hands and she told me that good roasts cook 12-24 hours thawed. So into the microwave it went! Curtis even said he would eat some leftovers and this boy doesn't eat leftovers! Of course we way over purchased for James, but it is impossible not to do!

He really liked the alphabet magnets we got for the fridge! Every time we go to our neighbors he heads straight for their fridge! But still he enjoys the old stuff and playing with Dad best!

Vegas

Curtis & I flew to Vegas last week! It was so much fun! We stayed on the strip and although I would never stay on the strip again it was a good experience. On Friday we started out going to Hoover Dam and West Grand Canyon. It was raining so we didn't spend much time at the Dam and then we were really bummed that the Grand Canyon was rained out. On our way back we got snacks at a little store on the Reservation and it must have been the only thing to do in town. Everyone knew each other and were all looking at us, well I was wearing shorts. When we got back to the hotel we got ready for dinner and a show at the Excalibur. It was great! The country we were assigned was the Dragon, the bad guy, so we got to cheer on the bad knight!

Saturday we went to the Spring Preserve. I think they said it was 168 acres in the middle of the city and although there is no longer a spring there they have kept this area preserved to educate. If it would have been warmer and I wasn't in shorts we would have walked around on a few of the trails and done a little hiking, but I was not dressed for Washington weather. Later that day we went to the Shark Reef and I got to touch a sting ray. So slimy! There was actually a little Australian girl that walked up to the sting ray pool and wouldn't touch it because that's what killed killed Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter. You can't make stuff like that up, she actually used his name. For dinner we figured we could find something good to eat at the Hawaiian Market which was not at all Hawaiian, but we ate some amazing Indian Food. Wow that was the best curry we had ever eaten before and we debated taking it back with us. But after much thought we figured our breath would be bad enough for the Ice show. Our seats weren't the greatest, but it is amazing what these people can do on ice. The strength that it takes and the trust. They were throwing each other around and dancing from the ceiling with ribbons. Wow! They even dance through the crowd.

Sunday our alarm didn't go off for our 6:40 am flight so when we woke up at 5:15 we were in a bit of a panic. Usually I think we would have made our flight but there was a huge marathon in Vegas and they closed down the strip. We were so lost! We we finally got to the ticket counter it was 6:45. We ended up flying standby and landed in Seattle a 1:15, not too bad since I was supposed to speak at a baptism at 1:30. I am sure my mom did a wonderful job in my place. Anyways Vegas was beautiful and the temple was lit so brightly! Gorgeous!

Silence

Just put James down for the night. Attempted a late night Michael's run, not sure what I was thinking taking him out 30 minutes before his bed time. I was looking at ribbon for my project and I turn around and he is climbing out and I literally caught him in mid air getting out of the cart. And that was within the first 5 minutes. I am working on putting together some makeshift announcements for my little brother. He was married on the 2nd of November and they still haven't sent out anything and my mom was going to do it and I figured I could do them faster so I volunteered. I thought I would lay him down tonight and just whip them out, but not so fast. I wanted plain brown card stock to copy their invitations, but they didn't have anything...at all. Am I the only person in the world that uses brown paper? I am sure that most people aren't using brown card stock for their holiday cards, but I may be mistaken!

Curtis is off on a business trip so the house is strangely quiet. It has been really nice not having television. I never noticed how much time I wasted in front of it. I have tons to do still, boxes to unpack, Christmas light to find and laundry to wash.

James found the Halloween stash...notice the M&M dr00l smeared across his face and onesie! Yummy!

But oh so happy! He stood there making these funny faces for a couple minutes. Like he knew he was being funny!

James' First Violin Lesson

November 7, 2007 James' first Violin Lesson. I have never been there for the lessons, but he loves Gloria. He stops in his tracks and stares at her. This is his 16 inch Violin and it is real!

fyi: your not supposed to touch the hair on the bow.

Gloria showing him how it's done, but he cant understand why you would want to put it somewhere you cant see it. So true. It isn't every teacher that will sit on the floor with your kid! Gloria is an amazing violinist and she is only 11 years old. She started when she was only 5 years old. She has some pretty amazing pieces under her belt as well as accomplishments to boot.

This week was James second week in Nursery. His first week I cried after I dropped him off and this week I stood by the door waiting for him to notice I had left. If he noticed he did so silently! I was happy he was happy, but oddly enough sad that he didn't care I left. Funny how you don't want kids to cry when you leave but then when they're fine you aren't. I think I do that a lot and the pediatrician has an actual syndrome for it...First Time Mother Syndrome, pretty sure its made up! It is so hard not to put our own emotions on our kids.

Our current battle is that of the will. James doctor feels that he should be talking a lot more then he currently does...which is really none at all. He has said Thank you, Hello, and something along the lines of Daisy, my mom's cherished dog. This morning we were getting ready for church and he wanted a sippy cup, which is fine, but I wanted him to either sign for it or ask me for it. So we stood there and he did his usual song and dance at the cupboard and usually I would have gotten it for him, but I waited for him to ask for it. I reminded him of the signs and the words that would get him his cup, but still nothing. Pretty soon it was no longer a cute little song and dance, it was on. He throws himself onto the floor and starts screaming. It took all I had to not laugh at him, which I am pretty sure is not a normal reaction. This lasted a minute or two and when I was just about to give up Daisy walks into the room and he forgets about needing to have the sippy cup and starts running after the dog! I won by default!

Curtis came over today. It is always nice to have the family together. We took a walk along Maxwelton Beach, the same beach that we walked some 7 years ago the day he came home off his mission. This time it didn't smell and we had James instead of Darrin, one of our friends. It was perfect and that's when he knelt down and proposed to me. Even little James played his part in the proposal...the ring. Curtis had given James the box to give to me. I actually had to practically ripe the box out of his hands. It was so sweet and simple. This means we are on for January in Puerto Rico. Life is good, now I just have to convince my mom and my older sister that this is a good thing.

Virgin Blogger

I feel like I am behind the times because I am just now getting a blog put together. But none the less here we go! This is James, with M&M drool dripping off his chin! He quickly firgured out where the Halloween candy was kept and continually asked for it!