Mom's Gone Wild 2009

This is my sister: (and her husband)This is my sister is Vegas: This is my sister (and Brandi) after a night out in Vegas: (we were still in Cesar's Palace when this was taken)

Our annual girl's trip was last weekend. We had a blast. And what happens in Vegas, really does stay there. Here are some highlights. (Sorry if you don't understand it all, but there are tons of inside jokes.)

"Blanket likes cheese."

"It just gets poky."

All the "nan" talk.

Time travel in the Grocery Store.

The porn house.

The shoe chair.

Sleeping in the streets of Chicago.

The puking spot at the gym.

Making (or burning) cookies at 3 am.

There are many more great memories. Although what is it about Vegas that makes the freaks come out? I thought we all looked pretty cute dressed up, but SLUTTY seems to be more appropriate in Vegas. So do fake boobs, peroxide hair, dresses that are better worn as shirts, and sequin shirts (especially on guys). And why do married guys think it is OK to hit on married girls? Just because we are both married doesn't make it OK. Oh well. I still had fun.

***Due to popular demand, I need to add some quotes and moments that were forgotten.

-"Where'd you get that panis?"

-"This $20 is for you to buy diapers for your baby."

-Brandi's 1 minute challenge.

-Singing hymns in the car. (He can sit on a tack.)

Oktoberfest

This past weekend, we went to Snowbird's Oktoberfest with Rocky's parents. We spent the night Sunday night up there, and then got to play all day Monday. The kids had a blast. They climbed the rock wall, jumped on the big trampolines, rode the Alpine slide, got their faces painted, and tons of other things. Here are Joe and Caden coming down the slide.

And Rocky and Ciara coming down the slide.

Ciara got a rainbow painted on her face.

And Caden got a shark. He thought it was so cool that when his mouth opened, so did the shark's.

The only problem with this great trip: Rocky's mom's health. On Sunday before we left, she was saying how much on side of her body hurt, and also around her shoulders and neck. (She has had a heart attack before, about 3 years ago). We kept telling her that she should stay home and rest, but she refused. She was in so much pain that you couldn't touch her at all. And she had to walk really slowly and take deep breaths. Seriously, what is this woman thinking? We kept expecting her to keel over at any minute, but she made it through the trip. Monday night as we were eating dinner, I got a phone call from Rocky's grandma. She had been trying to reach Brendalyn (my MIL) but couldn't get a hold of her. She sounded like she had been crying, and I immediately thought that Grandpa Ward had died (he has Alzheimer's and is not doing too well). Brendalyn calls her mom back only to find out that her brother has died of a heart attack. He had one about a year before Brendalyn had hers. He was apparently driving at the time. I know that Rocky and I were both thinking that it means she just has a year left as well. I don't understand why the woman can't take care of herself. Joe (my father in law) decided that she would be fine, because he hasn't heard of a brother and sister dying so close to each other. Sound reasoning.

In closing, we had a good weekend, but a sobering one as well. My heart goes out to Rocky's uncle's family, and his Grandparents. How awful to loose a child, no matter how old they are. I just hope that Brendalyn will take better care of herself.

What a Summer, and First Day of School.

Yes, I have not been posting nearly enough. I kind of took a break for the summer. I am hoping that being back in a routine will help. My goal is at least one post per week. We will see how this goes.

I have lots of pictures to share. We took our trip to Pennsylvania, which was fun. It is so beautiful there. There was only one problem. The one day we chose to be in Philadelphia also happened to be the day the First Lady and her daughters were there. They got there around the same time Rocky and I did, and apparently wanted to see the same things. Since they are under heavy security, they shut down Independence Square, which meant we couldn't see Independence Hall (where the constitution was signed) or the Liberty Bell. Oh well. Rocky's main goal was to eat a Philly Cheesesteak, which he did. We also went to Lancaster County, which is where there is large communities of Amish. I am strangely fascinated with them. It was just so neat to see the buggies driving down the streets with the cars.

And today we had the first day of school. I was so nervous. I am not sure why. It is just so scary to think how big Ciara is getting. I console myself with the fact that Caden still has 2 years to go, but I know it will go by so fast. I almost started crying after she got on the bus, but I put on some music to distract myself (thank you Tupac and Kanye). For those of you that are not aware, I go on an annual girl's trip. This is our third year, and we call our trip Mom's Gone Wild (of MGW for short). This trip is coming up on Thursday, and I CANNOT wait! We are going to Vegas. I should have plenty to blog about when we get back.

I just loved seeing these Amish Farms. The countryside was so green and beautiful.

I just loved to see this! Rocky thought I was a little crazy because I got all excited every time we passed a buggy.

Here is Ciara, waiting for the bus. As soon as she saw it, she decided she didn't want to go anymore. But she soon changed her mind and hopped right on. When she got home, she told me that some of the older girls in the neighborhood helped her find her class and sat with her on the bus. (Thank you Sarah Farnsworth and Carli Elgren for taking care of my girl!)

Here she comes off the bus. Caden hopped on, and I had to drag him off screaming. He doesn't understand that he doesn't get to go with her.