The Manti temple

Saturday, we had the opportunity to go through the Manti temple with my nephew. He is getting ready to go on a mission to Washing D.C. and was taking out his endowments. We are all so proud of him.

We had such a wonderful day. One of my nephew's from California has been staying with us. And he was able to go with us also.

Aren't they all just so stinkin'cute?! I'm a lucky aunt!!!

You, Rascal Flatts and me....

For the last 3 years Kamryn and I have had a tradition of going to the Rascal Flatts concert when they came to town. Every year I tell her, "I'm am going to try to get better tickets next year". This year instead of just ordering them I went through a ticket broker. 3 days before the concert, there was a mix-up with our tickets and we ended up having to pick them up at will-call. When we picked up our tickets I was pleasantly surprised to find out that due to the mix-up the guy gave us an upgrade. We were thrilled as our seats ended up being row 7 on the floor, right next to one of the cat walks! Sometimes mix-ups end up being a blessing in disguise.

Kam was so excited and got to shake the hands of each of "the boys". I was so excited for her, I almost cried. Although being the 'mature' person I am I held it together. :) If you could have seen the look on her face after Gary shook her hand and she started jumping around screaming....it was priceless.

Jessica Simpson opened the concert. She was ADORABLE. Check out those shoes! ha ha





We had a great time dancing and singing all night. The time flew by way too fast. They put on a great concert and I don't think they have ever made a song I didn't like. O.K. there may be 1 or 2. But you get the point, we love them.

Until next year......

In all honesty, I think that I have been avoiding posting for awhile because I don't want to get too emotional.

If you remember awhile back I had mentioned McKayla's little friend who was suffering from a brain tumor. She passed away in Jan. This has been a very emotional thing for our family. She was such a brave and sweet little girl. She suffered many treatments and medications that had terrible side effects for her. She passed away 1 wk. before her 8th b-day and almost 1 year from her diagnosis.

The day I found out I went to visit her family. When I came back home McKayla immediately knew something was wrong as I looked like I had been crying. She then asked if it was Morgan. when I told her she had gone back to live with her Heavenly Father we just held each other and cried.

McKayla knew that this day would one day come, but would always hold out hope that she would get better. When Morgan would go to school she would come home and tell me "Morgan is getting better mommy, she was well enough to go to school today".

McKayla had given her a cute little penguin stuffed animal for Christmas. She took the longest time picking out the perfect gift for her dear friend. Little Morgan loved the penguin and kept it with her all the time. When she was buried her family had put it in her hands and it will always be with her. This was so touching and meant so much to McKayla. Her family has been so sweet with McKayla and are always concerned that she is doing o.k.

At her viewing Kayla kept wanting to go see her. She just didn't want to say good-bye. At her funeral they had asked the primary children to sing "I am a Child of God". McKayla was nervous about this, but I told her that Morgan would be watching her from heaven and she should sing her very best for her. When she was singing she tried her very best to be brave. She held her head up high and sang the best she could while tears were streaming down her face. This was such a touching sight as I knew she was singing for Morgan. The saddest thing was watching her and knowing that I couldn't make the hurt go away. All I could do was be there for her. Ang turned to me and told me he couldn't watch Mckayla because it was too hard for him. Sometimes, it is so hard for these little ones to understand.

Here are some Pictures :
McKayla at Morgan's b-day party.
Playing at school.

Painting fingernails together.
McKayla picked out a fun plant and added balloons in her favorite colors and a cute singing flower for her funeral.
On Valentines Day McKayla visited her grave and brought a balloon.

Some new posts are coming soon!!!

I have been M.I.A. lately, but keep watching as I am going to be posting soon. :)

Utah Flash

Jordan had a fun experience this past week. His team had the opportunity to play a pregame before the Utah Flash game. The Flash is a D league team for the Jazz and the Celtics .

Anyway, he had fun and when they announced the players his team got to stand by in the line up as they were introduced.

He has had some great experiences being able to do what he loves. Basketball.

School Programs

As Christmas rolls around so come the school Christmas programs. This year I had a neat experience as I realized just how important these are to the girls.

With Morgan I saw her eyes light up as I came in her preschool room. So sweet. You can see her strike a pose while singing and she was also the angel in the nativity play.


With Kam and McKayla it was cute to see them scanning the audience looking for me. Although Kam was very casual about it I noticed her relax as soon as she noticed we were there. Although she would never admit it. Kayla was a bit more obvious as soon as she saw me she got this huge smile and started waving. I think I almost saw her jump a little ha ha.

After noticing this, it really made me realize how important this was for the girls. I need to slow down and really enjoy these moments. They will be gone before I know it. Kinda like the saying slow down and smell the roses.

After this "lightbulb moment" I was able to sit and really enjoy the programs instead of just crossing them off my 'to-do list'.

So an early new years resolution for me this year is to really take more time with the kids and just enjoy each moment more thoroughly.

Vegas

Angelo and I recently had the rare opportunity to go to Vegas alone for the weekend. Actually, last December we did the same thing, so now it has become a tradition I suppose. Once we get a sitter and everything taken care of, I really look forward to all the delicious food and the great shows that are offered, and of course the shopping! :)

This year we stayed at a new hotel called the Palazzo. Here are a couple of pictures of it.

Now some mug shots of Ang and I at the shows we went to.

Mama Mia ( I would highly recommend this one)

Cirque Du Soleil - Ka

and another fav. Jay Leno doing stand-up. He was hilarious. This one I had to convince Ang to go see. But I honestly think he liked it more than me as hard as he was laughing.

One of the greatest things I look forward to is the hot chocolate at the Wynn. I know this sounds silly, but we stayed there last year and I absolutely fell in love with it! It's amazing how one of the simplest things gives me the greatest joy. We had to make a couple of stops there just to have some.......ahhhh, heaven!

Ang also had the opportunity to meet his childhood idol Pete Rose. It was cool to be able see them talk knowing how much Ang idolized him as a child. We now have an autographed baseball from him.

It was a fun and relaxing weekend, but it was nice to get back home to the kids. I really love to get away, but it is fun to come home to the things that are the most important in my life. I suppose that is why we only do this once a year.

Now try to catch up on the holidays......