Thanksgiving...AKA...The Day Before "Black Friday"

We had a great Thanksgiving. This year we spent it with my family. We did the typical thing... turkey, mashed potatoes, and of course. the greatest thing, Pumpkin Pie. Then the preparations began for the great tradition my sisters and I do every year... shopping on BLACK FRIDAY! We spent hours looking over the ads planning our strategies for the next morning. That night I hardly slept, mostly because I went to bed at 1 a.m. and got up at 3 a.m. but also because I kept dreaming we missed all of the sales! I know, I'm weird. So like I said, I got up at 3:30 a.m in order to make it to our first store that opened at 4 a.m. Our first stop was Sears and we were in and out of there in 20 minutes. Next stop was JCPenney for our free snow globe. Then we sped over to Wal-Mart for the bulk of our shopping. We got there at 4:30 and had to wait in line for the door busters that started at 5. Then the FIGHTING began! After grabbing all her things, my niece Jessica went to save us a place in the huge check out line. A few minutes later, my sisters and I came up with all of our carts to get in line with her. I guess this made the lady behind her pretty mad! Jess was standing back so we could get in line in front of her and the lady behind her kept pushing Jess with her cart telling her to move up. Finally Jess turned around and said "I'll move when I want to move!" Then the lady flagged down the Wal-Mart security to tattle tell on us I guess. So we said "No we're not butting we are all together." The lady said "No they're not. They just butted and they're all different transactions." So we said "Fine we'll pay for it in all one transaction." (Even though we didn't.) The security guy said "Well there is nothing I can do." and left. The lady in front of us said " Way to go...way to be strategic!" It was funny! The lady behind us was still mad so she kept ramming Jess with her cart over and over. She was such a JERK!! So Jess grabbed the lady's cart and shoved it back into the lady's stomach and said "B****, Knock it off!!" and the lady finally quit. I could not believe how rude that lady was. We have been shopping on Black Friday for a lot of years and I have seen a lot of fights but we have never been in the fight! I told Jess if the lady did it again to tell her she was assaulting you and you are going to contact the authorities now, or (because Jess was sick) just tell her you have Swine Flu and you are going to breathe on her! Jess was like "Yeah" then loudly she say, "I have Swine Flu and I'll breathe on you!!" It was way funny. (btw Jess does not have Swine Flu). Well we finally got out of Wal-Mart and headed for our next stop, Target. By the time we got there, the check out line was wrapped around the whole store! I was sad because the thing I came to get (a LeapFrog Phonetic fridge magnet thing) was all sold out! Any way after we got all of our stuff we stood in the enormous line. Then after like 15 minutes, Lacie and I decided we were just going to stash our stuff somewhere in the store and come back later. So we hid our stuff in the clothes and left to go to K-Mart. By the time we went to K-Mart and came back to Target, our sisters were just barely getting to the beginning of the line. (perfect timing we thought) But when we went to find our hidden stuff, they were GONE!! We were so bummed. So luckily we were still able to get more of our things. Then when Lacie was walking done an aisle, a lady in front of her decided she didn't want the LeapFrog Phonetic fridge magnet thing any more so Lacie snatched it up when the lady sat it down! So I was able to get the thing I wanted after all! Yeah!!! So Lacie and I butted in line with our sisters again and checked out. Another great thing that happened was that Target was giving away a $10 gift certificate for every $100 you spent so my LeapFrog thing was FREE!!!!! Oh Yeah!! Later on that day we went to Pier 1 and I finally used my Wedding gift certificates after 3.5 years. I bought a big Papasan chair for FREE!!!!! Russell and I have been want one of these chair for so long and they finally went on sale! A Papasan chair is a big round chair made of a wicker frame and a big round pillow cushion. It is SOOOOO Comfortable! Needless to say it turned out to be a great shopping day.

The Rat Pack is Back!

Every year, my boss takes me, my co-workers, and our spouses down to Las Vegas to go to a show. This is what we do for our company Christmas party. This year we went to the Plaza Hotel in downtown Las Vegas to see "The Rat Pack is Back." This was a comedy show impersonating the Rat Pack: Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, and Joey Bishop. Even though these guys were before my time, they were way funny and the music they sang was really good. This was a really good show and Russell and I had a lot of fun. The funniest part of the show was when 'Marilyn Monroe' came out and sang to one of the old guys in the audience. His face was so red!!! It was hilarious! The guy's wife was laughing the hardest; it was great.

The Plaza Hotel is in the older part of Las Vegas along Fremont Street. I had never been to this part of Vegas before but I actually liked it a lot better than the Strip.

Remember this guy from "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid"?

I think this lady's leg got broken off in that movie. Fremont Street was fun. There was a Firefighter strength competition going on and it was awesome to watch. Russell was getting excited to prepare for the competition in the future. Then we walked down a little further and there was a guy creating portraits with spray paint. It was amazing!! He created this beautiful patriotic piece with the flag and soldiers in it. We had a lot of fun.

Vegas, Baby!

On Thursday, Russell and his Paramedic class took a "field trip" down to Las Vegas to go to the "Bodies" exhibit at the Luxor. Emily and I got to go down with them.

If any of you have been to it, you know how awesome the Bodies exhibit is! The exhibit is a display of probably hundreds of actual human bodies that have been dissected and plasticized. Sounds gross, I know, but it was actually pretty cool. I wish I could have taken pictures but cameras were not allowed. The display rooms went through each of the different systems in the body including the skeletal, muscular, respiratory, circulatory, digestive, reproductive and more that I can't remember right know. In each room there were different bodies and organs and tissues that aided in the process of each system. I was so amazed at how all of the organs and things worked together to make the human body function. I was also amazed at the size of the organs and muscles and especially the size of the arteries and veins in our bodies. My favorite rooms were the reproductive system and the fetal development rooms. The reproductive system room displayed a uterus and I was surprised at how small it was! I could not believe that a baby could grow in that small of an organ and that small organ could grow as big as it does to support a baby! Then, in the fetal development room, there were fetuses displayed in various parts of development from as young as 5 weeks into the pregnancy to full term. I loved seeing how small the little fetus was and how fast they develop little arms and legs. During my pregnancy I studied a lot of information about the development of a baby but to actually see it really helped me more fully understand the amazing miracle that happens inside a woman's body! This room was also Emily's favorite room. She would point to the babies and say "Bebe Bebe!" and " Oh Bebe, Oh Bebe!" Russell and I really enjoyed the Exhibit and we learned a lot.

After the Exhibit, we when to Caesar's Palace and ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Even though we spent 25% of our monthly budget for food, it was so good especially the cheesecake! After dinner, we became tourists and went exploring.

Our first stop was FAO Swartz, the biggest toy store I have seen. We actually went there to play on the giant piano that you step on to play but it was gone!! The store clerk said that they sold it. We were so bummed! (If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch the movie "Big" it is used in that movie.) So we had to just play with the regular toys instead.

"Oh Bebe!" Emily loved the life size newborn baby doll. The doll was way cute and actually felt and weighed as much as a newborn baby!

She also loved the big stuffed dog until Russell put her on it and let go of her then she got scared.

Being tourists, taking a picture by the Fountain of the Gods at Caesar's Palace.

THE STRIP! (What more can I say?)

Excalibur!

The Statue of Liberty? Wait, I thought we were in Las Vegas not New York! Ha Ha.

Then, FINALLY, we left Sin City and came back home to our Utah bubble. Ahhh, Home Sweet Home! We had a really fun trip but we were definitely glad to leave Las Vegas!

The Rock Climber

That's right, we have a rock climber in the family! The other day, we were watching my niece, Taylor, and we decided to go play in the front yard. Taylor was climbing on our rock and Emily saw her and ran over to the rock. Emily thinks she is as big as Taylor and has to do everything Taylor does. So when Emily got to the rock she started climbing!

I didn't even have to help her. I just stood there to supervise and catch her if she fell but she didn't fall.

Up she goes!

And she made it!! Yeah!!! Emily is getting so big. I can't believe all that she can do. She is also becoming very independent. She likes to do everything herself first and then if she can't get it she asks for help. I tried to help her climb the rock be she kept getting mad and wanted to do it herself. She is such a smart baby, too. The other night I gave her a cup to get a drink and then later I asked her where her cup was and she took me right to where she had left it, in her room. I was amazed! Also, even though she is only a year old, I think she needs to be potty trained. Right when she pees her pants she will either go get a diaper and give it to me then run into the bathroom to be changed or she will start pulling down her pants and then smile and run into the bathroom when I ask her if she needs her pants changed. When she has a stinky diaper, she will come up to us and plug her nose and say "Ewww!" and we know it is time to change her pants. She is a crazy kid!

I had to add this picture too because it was so cute. I was making a little tutu for my cousin's new baby and Emily took my measuring tape while I was cutting the fabric and was measuring herself and the rug. I asked her if she was helping mom sew and she got all happy which means yes. She is a silly goose!

Hie to Kolob

Sunday was Stake Conference in our stake so we decided to be rebels and go on a road trip instead of going to church. We drove up to Kolob in hopes of seeing all of the fall leaves but we were too late and the leaves had already fallen. We still had fun though. We drove to the reservoir and had a picnic.

Kolob Reservoir

We invited my parents an my brother, Clint to come along. It was a lot of fun except for the cold wind!. Here we are cooking hot dogs for lunch.

Emily loved exploring the rocky shore even though she kept tripping over the rocks and falling down. She knew she was as big as cousin Taylor and wanted to follow her everywhere.

Russell even got to enjoy a few relaxing minutes of fishing... until...

...he caught this big whopper! (the bottom of the lake!) The snag took his lure so he was done fishing. Darn it!

Emily is all bundled up enjoying her milk after lunch. She wasn't too sure about the gloves. She kept shaking her hands trying to get them off.

Emily and Dad playing around as usual!

On the way home we even got to see some of the "natural" wildlife...a llama! Surprisingly, that was the only wildlife we saw besides some cows. I don't know where all of the deer were.

We had a great trip and a lot of fun with the family.