March Baby Shower Fun

 

The ward members, family and friends came together Saturday March 13th for a wonderful Baby shower.  Lanae Jenkins planned it and made it apparent that I wasn't to manage or help or do anything.  That is a hard challenge for a doer!  It was fun to have people come that we haven't seen in months due to Covid disrupting church and social life. 

My whole family was able to be here.  That's a rarity.  

 

We decided to a co-ed baby shower.  Joel thought it was weird that he and the men would be invited, but I think he had a blast and it helped him get even more excited about having a boy finally!  We made it a hunter's gatherers theme.  The man side being manly with philly cheesesteaks and the gatherers with fruits, nuts, and veggies.  

Cindy Trussel runs Frosted Bakery here in town and she made a wonderful naked cake that was simple and beautiful.  She also made cupcakes that were lots of fun and tasty!

Lanae had one of her good friends make custom woodland animals.  Everything worked so well together to make everything more than I could have expected and it was a lot of fun.  

There was a baby bottle drinking challenge for the men.  It was interesting to see how they tried to "Cheat" either but ripping the nipple off or squeezing the bottle.  Some struggled and some did rather well.  Then the other game was dressing a baby doll blind folded.  That was Mom against Ryan.  I don't think Ryan has even changed a diaper or dressed a baby!

Kristie Lytle made this burrito snuggler and Brystol recognized it because she has 3 that Kristie has made as Brystol has grown.  Hopefully she knows to share Brothers.

Since Dana was in town literally for a day we went out to breakfast at a french patisserie that my massage therapist Mary told us about.  I came for the tiramisu honestly but the breakfast crepe was amazing too.  Dana just couldn't get over the fact that some of the pastries/cakes were huge!  Not these little entreme' size things she's used to getting at the Bellagio.  We couldn't pick just one, so we grabbed a couple.  Saying that it was a day filled with food and eating and being overly stuffed would be an understatement.  But hey, It's what we enjoy and do well!

Needless to say, it was a long day and even longer weekend.  Papa is the proof.  We all felt like this. :)

February fun

 Mount Charleston fun.  The few times that it has actually felt like winter this year we took advantage.  Ryan wanted to go up to Charleston to pick up some lumber scrap and wanted me to follow behind him in case he got stuck and needed to be pulled out of the snow.  

I have wanted to go up to Charleston with the kids, but 4 kids on my own in a minivan without snow tires or great traction always left me saying, "Yeah...no..."  This was the perfect combination.  The girls were excited to ride in the truck and Hailey was ecstatic to be able to sit in the front so we'd all fit. She felt like a big kid!

When we got up the mountain, it was a beautiful day with no snow and nothing to really get stuck in.  Perfect!  The girls got out and played while Ryan used his bobcat to load up the logs.  By logs I was thinking maybe a foot in diameter...no these were probably a good 3 feet wide and 10 feet long.  That's a lot of firewood!

Brystol was still tender with her fingers and didn't want to rock scramble so she climbed in the bobcat with Ryan as he loaded some of the big logs.  The others scrambled and played and enjoyed being outside.

After he was fully loaded with "logs", we all jumped in the truck which was already full and headed further up the mountain to Lee Meadows.  We had a blast at the top of the hill where only the 4 wheel drive cars ventured.  We changed into snow gear from the warm weather stuff from earlier and played until the tears and tantrums indicated it was well past nap time, tired cranky time.

Everyone had a great time...except Sirius towards the end.  We think he ate something funny because he eventually lost his lunch and he too was also ready to go home. 

Ryan trimmed our trees and the girls mimicked him.  They weren't allowed outside so they watched from the porch.  It's fun to watch the small tidbits we get from kids minds.  They saw him wearing ear protection so they wanted to be like him. 

 

Face masks and a spa night.  The girls watched a tv show where they talked about making spa masks to help your face.  They wanted to use lemon and honey.  I wasn't sure if the lemon would burn their little sensitive skins so I found an old charcoal mask and wha-la.  I didn't know if Brystol would sit still long enough to get the mask on, let alone let it dry.  She loved it just as much as her sisters. 

Hike to the old railroad tunnel trails in Boulder City.  I have been doing my best to stay active and walk most days either in my neighborhood with Samantha or at the YMCA pool.  Saturdays have become our long walk days.  On Presidents Day, Joel, Steven, and Samantha didn't work so Samantha suggested that we go up to the old railroad tunnels hike.  We got up and headed out aiming to be there by 9.  We packed snack foods and water and the Chariot of course.  

Being February and 7 months pregnant, walking requires me to put on a belly bind or suffer!  We had a great time walking, climbing, and going through the tunnels.  The kids were exhausted and I was sore and toast by the time we finished.  Serves us all right, we did 4.25 miles round trip!  

Since we were so close, we took the girls back to Hoover Dam and showed them the bridge and the Dam and the places where the turbines are housed.  We took a tour 3 years ago while I was pregnant with Brystol, but they didn't remember it.  They had fun learning about energy and water and dams.

 

  

Midwife appointments and Brystol. 

 

Presidents day dinner with Cherie and friends.  

 

Taking care of a pregnant body...massage, chiropractics, and exercise.  Because food doesn't taste good!