Las Vegas Here We Come!

So Brian had a national PT conference in Vegas last week. Our good friends happened to have connections, and we were able to stay in a time share resort just off the strip for FREE! Needless to say we jumped at the chance and enjoyed a great few days in Vegas.

Brian had classes during the day, so we had to find things to keep us entertained while he was gone. The temp was in the 50's and I thought "Way to cold to go swimming" But Kyler wanted to dip his feet in anyway.

All bundled up at the pool. And then....

Yup, we're crazy! We decided to get in. The pool was heated and oh so warm, it was torture getting out and back to the room, but it was SO nice to be in the pool and feel the sun on our faces, even if it was a little cold.

This is the botanical Gardens and Belagio. It was decorated for the Chinese New Year. The panda bears in the background were all made out of flowers. It was pretty cool.

The ceiling in the lobby of the Belagio was all done by Dale Chihuly COOL!

I think seeing the fountains outside the Belagio was my favorite. They are just so neet. Brian has never been to Vegas so it was fun to watch him see them for the first time. Kyler liked them until they blew air through the pipes to make the big BOOM. Then he just wanted to go home :(

We went and saw the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay during Brian and Tylers lunch break. Kyler kept pointing at the fish and going "OH!!" It was way cute.

Out side of Excalibur. Brian and I ventured out on our own this night, with only my memories from 10 yrs before. Based on such, we totally got lost. But we had a good time none the less and saw some fun things.

The statues in the Forum Shops at Ceasers Palace. They actually are animated and move to a laser show of sorts.


Brian and Kyler spent some quality time at the hotel playground.

On our last day we went to M&M world. Kyler was totally freaked of the people in costumes. He behaved long enough for us to get a picture though.

On our way back to the car, we walked through MGM Grand, and the Rainforest Cafe called our name. It was WAY fun, and much more family friendly then some of the places we ate. Though a kids meal (mac and cheese) was $10!!! Highway robbery if you ask me. But the atmosphere was worth it. Kyler loved all the fish tanks, and the animals.

Brian got these toys at the conference, Kyler would run around the hotel bouncing them all over, he thought it was great. Thanks Tyler and Ashley for letting us stay with you and helping us have a wonderful weekend!

What a Great Weekend

We had such a great weekend!! It feels like we haven't done much lately, with all the moving and new "jobs" and such. Brian has also been working a lot on the weekend to make up for the days he missed when we moved. But this weekend was great!
It started Friday night going to the Draper Temple open house with our friends Rachel and Cole. It was so neat. What a beautiful place. It was really fun to go with Rachel and Cole because they've never been inside a temple, so it was a great opportunity to teach them a little bit about what makes the temple so important to us. I think my favorite part was showing Rachel the sealing room, explaining how special a sealing really is, and showing her the eternal mirrors. It makes me want to be there every day!!

Then the next morning we got out in the beautiful mountain air and went snow shoeing. We were a little hesitant to take Kyler. We haven't taken him on a hike since he's been really able to walk on his own. I was worried he'd hate being carried around when he feels perfectly capable walking on his own. But he did great!!! As long as we kept moving he was happy.

We took the Dog Lake trail up Big Cottonwood Canyon, we go about a fourth of the way up the packed trail, then we blaze our own trail down into the ravine, and follow that out of the canyon. It was a beautiful day, and the powder was perfect! This picture was perfect, because Cole was teasing Rachel about falling not two seconds earlier, and then he totally biffed it himself...Karma.

Stopping for a snack.

The cutest couple ever...Rachel and Cole

Brian and Kyler, as cute as ever!

We came across this pretty steep hill. We all had a pretty good time getting down it. Technically I guess this isn't really snow shoeing....more like skiing.

Motherly Advice

Ok all you mothers out there with more experience then me. I need some help. For some reason Kyler has decided he wants to wake up at 5:00 in the morning. He's always kind of done this. I'd say that it use to happen about once a week, maybe less, but at least a few times a month. But lately it's been EVERY MORNING!! I've tried letting him cry it out, but he cries till 6:30 and then Brian is up and getting ready for work, so no more quiet house. I don't know what to do. He's kind of at that stage where he was giving up his morning nap for a while, but now that's he's waking up at 5, there's now way we get through the day with out two naps. So currently he's going back to bed at about 8am sleeps till 9:30, then afternoon nap at 1, wakes around 2:30, and to bed for the night at 7pm. I've started trying to ween him off his bottle so I'm only giving him two ounces of milk before bedtime....do you think he's waking because he's hungry??? Anyway, I was just hoping all you wonderful moms might have some ideas, or have been through something similar.

Yours frustratingly,
Tiff

Wrapping up 2008

All right....lets try this again :) By the way, this is the cute face I found when I went in to get Kyler. I love that his hair on the one side is always crazy. I think it's because he plays with it when he falls asleep. The end of 2008 ended up being really nice. We spent Christmas eve and Christmas morning with Brian's family this year. We all got Christmas jammies the day before. Here's our cute fam.

Then we proceeded to my Dads, and then on to my Moms, and we couldn't have done any of it with out the newest member of our family. Our new Honda Pilot was wonderful. The roads were terrible all day, as I'm sure some of you know. How we ever survived without 4 wheel drive is a mystery to me.
Then we all settled down for a long winters nap. This is at my moms house. Brian loves lying here by the fire, and often falls asleep no matter what time of day. I thought the glass over the fire reflecting the Christmas tree lights was especially picturesque. Then the moving commenced. I hadn't done a THING, so thank you to all the friends and family who helped us pack, move, and clean all in three days. We couldn't have done it without you. We are now all moved in, and adjusting. We've all gotten a little cold, of which Brian is currently suffering, but it passes quickly so that's nice. Kylers favorite game lately has been putting the bowls and colander on his head. Brian thought he'd join.

Then we brought in the new year at Brian's cousins house with family and friends. We had a great time, and Kyler even managed to wake up 10 min before midnight, so we let him join in the celebrations. All in all 2008 has been a great year and we look forward to new adventures in 2009.

Doh!

Well, I finally got the camera software installed on the lap top. So now I can attach photo's along with the update. Well, we are all moved in in American Fork, and the duplex in SL is cleaned had Amy and Mike are now enjoying it (i hope). The transition continues to be ruff, but I've had lots of offers to play sense my last post, and I look forward to getting together with some old friends. Today promises to be a good one, Kyler has now been sleeping for an hour and 45 min.....your kidding....I knew it! I knew if I typed that he'd wake up!!!! LOL, not that that's a bad thing, it was a perfect nap, I'm just in the middle of a post. LOL, I guess the rest will have to come later!

Moving Lament

Woe is me....that is how this post is going to go. Change is HARD and for some reason it hit me today. When Brian left for work today I just broke into tears. I love our new place, and it's such a blessing, but as I was waking up this morning and thinking of all the things I could be doing today at our old place, I felt a sense of loss. I couldn't go to the library, which was just two blocks from our old place. I couldn't walk to the store and get a few things for dinner, I'm missing play group. My sister-in-law and her kids are going sledding today, but I don't have a car, so I can' t join them. I guess I could have taken Brian to work, but then that's an hour in the car with Kyler right at breakfast, and an hour in the car right before dinner. Anyway, to solve this attitude problem, I got all dressed up, did my hair and makeup, and then played with Kyler on the bed (his favorite). It helped cheer me up a bit. After all, I couldn't ask for a better place to be right now, and it's only for 2 months. By March we'll be across the country and only a mile from Brian's internship, so I can have a car. I'm sure I'll have movers depression then too, but hopefully I'll get over it just as fast.

We don't have our camera software uploaded on the laptop yet, but as soon as we do I'll post pics from Christmas and of our new place. A short sweet version is we were totally spoiled on Christmas by our loving family, and we got everywhere safely in our new 4 wheel drive Pilot. It was great!