Sharks, Dams, and Ferris Wheels Oh My!

Those are some of the things we did while we had visitors a few weeks ago. Travis' little brother and sister came to visit and we had so much fun with them. 

We went to the Hoover Dam and walked up to the bridge that you can walk across and look over the dam. Travis and Tyler enjoyed spitting and then watching it all the way to the bottom. It actually was kind of entertaining to try and keep your eye on the spit :)

One day while Travis was in school we went to the Shark Aquarium. Lorelai loved looking at the fish and sharks. My favorite was the giant sea turtle.

One night, we went and ate at Zuppas. So Yummy. Then we went and rode the High Roller, the tallest Ferris Wheel in the world. It was really neat to look out over Vegas from up so high. Luckily we didn't have too many people in the "ball" we were riding in so Lorelai was free to roam. 

Her pigtails fell out and so her hair was looking extra mulletish. 

We stopped at Sprinkles Cupcakes on our way out, which sadly I wasn't super impressed with. For all you Cupcake War people, these cupcakes wouldn't have made the first cut and supposedly one of the judges owns this place. Not impressed. Next time I'll just hit up the Ghirardelli place right next to it. You can never go wrong with some chocolate and ice cream. (WOW sorry for the tangent rant. I love dessert so when it doesn't live up to the hype it is very disappointing.)

Here we are taking a few selfies on the flight home. I was so grateful to have them sitting next to me. We had a delay and sat on the runway forever. So it was nice to have some extra hands with the squirmy child. 

We had so much with them and Lorelai was able to get some good bonding time in. 

Thanks for coming and visiting us. We had a blast. Come again soon:)

Superhero Baby Shower

My friend Angela is having a baby in August. She and I have been friends since before Kindergarten and our families have remained good friends over the years. We used to play house all the time. If she is a Mommy like she was back then with our dolls, I know she is gonna be great :)

I had the chance to throw her a baby shower while I was up visiting for my little brother's graduation. She wanted a Superhero theme for the shower. Lots of people came and she got tons of awesome stuff. I love baby showers. You go from having nothing to having TONS of stuff. It is great :)

The backdrop was made from 4 blue poster boards taped together, paper medallions of all different colors and sizes, and little superheros and word expressions glued to the medallions. (The superheros I got from here and the word expressions from here.) 

The centerpieces used those same superheros, paper medallions, a vase, tissue paper, and a patterned piece of scrapbook paper for the vase to sit on. 

We had a taco salad bar for the food. With it also being graduation weekend, we didn't have much time for cooking and this worked out perfect. So easy and it tasted so good. 

Angela wanted to have a diaper raffle and I can understand why... diapers are so expensive:) So for each pack of diapers someone brought they were entered into the raffle. The prize was a free pedicure or manicure at a local salon. My sister-in-law (who helped a ton with the shower) made this cute diaper cake.

We also played a game of mom or dad. I had the soon-to-be grandmothers send in information about their child when they were young. Then I made a questionnaire and had the guests chose if they thought the question was about the soon-to-be mom or soon-to-be dad. 

This was the sign-in table. My friend made the Carter sign. It turned out so cute but everything she does always is perfect :) We also had a book for "Super Mommy Advice" were people could leave some advice or well wishes for the Mommy. 

I think it all turned out really cute. Thanks to all my family and friends who helped out! Can't wait for baby Carter to get here! 

P.S. I am sad we didn't get a good picture together of the pregnant lady and I. We both share the same birthday, which happened to be on the day of the shower. So they sang happy birthday to us. The only picture I have of that was really blurry though :( 

Congrats to the Grad!

I can't believe my little brother graduated high school. It seems like just the other day he started high school and now he is all graduated. I am proud of him for making it through. It hasn't been an easy road for him. We love him and we are happy we could be there with him on his big day. 

The graduation night.

We ate smores one night. So yummy. 

All of grandma and grandpa's great grandchildren were there. This isn't a great picture but it's the best we could do with so many little ones.

She loved this car. Of course she couldn't just sit in it. She is our little dare devil.

Dean is the best cousin to Lorelai. He is so sweet to her and pushed her around in the car.

While there we celebrated my birthday. I got an awesome gift....a Silhouette. Can't wait to start craftin'.

Daddy couldn't come so we Face Timed him a lot. Here she is talking to him. I love this.

Playing some twister. This was so much fun to watch:)

Wish these times with family would last longer. Seems like they always go by so quickly. Someone else graduate so we can get together again:)

One Year Old Already!!!

Our little girl is one. I can't believe it. We had lots of fun celebrating her first birthday. 

The Cakes: 

The Crown: Every birthday girl needs a crown.

The Party:

This was her party invitation. Her Uncle Tyler, Aunt Jenae, Hicken family, Snow family, and Gourlie family were there.

Aunt Jenae was so sweet and followed Lorelai everywhere all night. 

Playing in the splash pad with Lila.

Having fun at her party.

Selfie of the party crew.

She wasn't into eating her smash cake with everyone watching her. 

Later on though she sat on the table and dug into the cake.

Having more fun.

Fell asleep on the way home. She was so worn out.

The Gifts:

Lorelai was so cute opening up her gifts. She loved everything that she got.

Especially this baby doll. She hugged it immediately and was so excited. She carried it around all night (and the next day too).

Still holding onto the dolly.

We love our sweet little girl. This has been the best year our lives getting to be her parents. She has brought so much joy into our lives. We love you Lorelai.

Happy Birthday.

Day At The Beach

Lorelai went to the beach for the first time this weekend and she loved it. We went and visited my brother in California and spent a afternoon at the beach. It was super crowed but so much fun. I had a feeling Lorelai would like it. She loves water, and what kid doesn't love to play in the sand? She had a blast. She even loved standing in the waves and would try and take off on her own. As the waves would come she would scream and get so excited. It was so much fun to watch. 

Can't wait to go back again!