A tour through Bellagio

When grandma was here we took her to our favorite place on the strip, the Bellagio conservatory. So in case you are wondering what it looks like right now....here are some photos Ariel took.

Father's Day 2009

Today we got to celebrate Todd and his "fatherhood." He is a wonderful father and it was easy to take a day to honor and spoil him. Here's a photo of us after church. Todd's mom is visiting from Georgia, so it was fun to have her here for Father's day. Todd got breakfast in bed and his favorite dinner, chicken strips with honey mustard sauce, and of course chocolate pie. The sad thing was that he got called out to work on his special holiday...

The Pioneer Trek - June 2009

On Wednesday, June 17th at 1:30 in the morning, I dropped the girls off at the stake center to board a bus for Wyoming. I was very worried for the girls because I don’t think they had prepared themselves physically for the strenuous work ahead of them. I was afraid Ariel was getting sick with something and Meg was having a major anxiety attack about the 12 hour bus ride…she was sure she wouldn’t survive. They looked very cute the night they left with their “luggage” – one bucket and one backpack. I dropped them off for their "bucket and bonnet tour" and cried all the way home. Four days without one word from your children, is very hard for a mom.

The Mormon Trail

Ariel crossing the Sweetwater River. She said after the first two steps she took, her legs were numb. The girls felt a lot of sympathy for the pioneers that crossed this river six times in the winter with ice floating in it.


The "silent walk" up Martin's Cove. Several times as they trekked the youth were asked to remain silent out of respect and reverence.

Megan crossing the Sweetwater.

Ariel with her pioneer family

Ariel and Megan wearing mostly pioneer attire...the gator sweatshirt Meg has on is obviously not "period" clothing. The first day they trekked, it was around 50 degrees. They said the wind never stopped blowing. They trekked five miles the first day and ten miles the second day.

The girls were very tired, sunburned and bitten by the time they stumbled off the bus at midnight Saturday night. We were very glad to see them and hear of their experiences. Ariel had 44 mosquito bites and Megan had 11. Ariel was a bit traumatized from the bites...she asked, "Do mosquitos inject poison into you? Why can't they just take the blood and leave?" I thought it was a valid question. Ariel was walking on some painful "cankles" as her ankles had swollen up to twice their normal size. I asked Meg how come she didn't have more bites. She said, "I was prepared mom, I stayed covered up and sprayed constantly." Ariel said if she got some sort of disease from the mosquito bites, she was suing the state of Wyoming. I guess we will need to get us a really amazing attorney to take Wyoming on. In spite of their suffering, they had a great time, learned a lot, and gained a deep appreciation for the pioneers. One that they couldn't have had without experiencing, on a very small scale, a bit of their lifestyle.

High School Graduation

Tuesday, June 9th, was a big day in our lives. Ariel graduated from high school. We were glad that her grandparents could come from out of town to be with us. The graduation was at the Thomas and Mack. It was so neat when the music started and Ariel came walking in. She had the honor of being the first student to walk in because of being student body president. She looked beautiful. It was a proud moment. She gave an awesome speech. She didn't look nervous at all for speaking in front of thousands and thousands of people. Ariel said that her heart was beating so fast right before it was her turn, she thought she was literally going to die of a heart attack. She said she didn't pray that she wouldn't mess up on her speech but prayed that she would actually live through it. She was sure when she stood up to walk to the podium, she would faint. A few seconds before her turn...her heartbeat went back to normal and she felt fine. I can't believe Ariel has graduated. It doesn't seem like that long ago when I graduated myself, and now my daughter has finished high school already. Her life has flown by and I am not ready for her to go away to school. The graduation was really good, it was brief and there was no long boring "guest speaker" to sit through. We had a BBQ after and had almost 40 people at the house. It was a tight squeeze in our little house but a lot of fun to spend time with such good friends. Ariel has met a lot of great people over the past 13 years we've lived in Vegas and we are so thankful for their friendship and positive influence. It was a great day to celebrate a wonderful girl and all her achievements. There will be an empty space in our house when she leaves. She will be greatly missed. Congratulations Ariel!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Aaron's graduation from elementary school

Aaron and Belle enjoying their ice-cream after the big ceremony

Megan and Aaron

Aaron and Belle have been buddies since they were three -

she is a tom boy so they get along really good.

Aaron and his "super star" his favorite subject was PE, favorite book "Swindler" and he wants to be a professional drummer when he grows up.

Aaron and Zach

Aaron and Tim

All the kids came walking into the gym wearing sunglasses.


On June 3rd Aaron graduated from elementary school. All three of the kids attended the same elementary school and we have a lot of good memories at Bartlett school. Aaron is making the huge jump to middle school. We had a fun time watching him graduate and celebrating with some close family friends after.

Sometimes older people have to get braces...

Yes, it is true...I am now a "total nerd" as of June 3rd. My teeth are wearing braces now. Technology has improved a lot since the first time I wore braces 21 years ago. I was amazed that the tech put the bottom ones on in 20 minutes and the top on in 15 minutes. Putting the braces on was pretty much pain free except a few times when I was sure I was going to suffocate from the "lip spreader" contraption, then I remembered I was still breathing through my nose and was able to calm down. I had a few days of pain but it hasn't been near as bad as the first time around. The overwhelming feeling that I have had 24/7 to rip a very annoying appliance out of my mouth, is starting to subside a little. Five days later I still cannot bite my teeth together and eating is very complicated. The tech told me to floss at least once a day...I wonder do people really floss every day when they wear braces?? Flossing is a little time consuming and tedious. Maybe I will shoot for every other day...we will see.