29 & Leaving (the idea of) Las Vegas

So I turned 29 this last spring. I never thought I would ever be one of "those" who spent a second of her life thinking about turning 30. And for the most part I'm not. I truly do feel you are as only as old as you think (and I still pretty much think I'm a teenager), but I do have to admit the night before my birthday I did have a moment where I thought, "I only have one more year in my 20's and then I will never be one of those '20-somethings' again!" Yikes...deep breath...one more year prior to freak out :)

My birthday at our house with all the family and a few friends. I made myself cupcakes to save ourselves a dime or two even though Ryan fought me to let him buy me my birthday treat :) and Will helped me open presents.

The week of my birthday, my sister Amber spilled the news to us that her family wouldn't in fact be moving from their home in Virginia back to Vegas like they thought they would be doing for the several months prior. It was heartbreaking news for everyone, but especially for them. We were all SO excited that they would actually be on this side of the country again and we would have the opportunity to see each other more often than, oh, I don't know, like once in a decade. The transfer that my bro-in-law's work wanted him to make to Vegas ended up being revoked at the last minute because the company's Vegas division wasn't doing as well anymore. Amber already had a plane ticket to fly out there and look at houses that following week, so she told us if we met her there we could all hang out. Sold. I haven't seen my sister since I was pregnant with Will, and it breaks my heart that neither of us have been able to make it work to get out to see each other! I had been vowing to make it out to Virginia this year no matter what so she could meet Will, so it was perfect that she was coming to us. (The only downside is that Ryan couldn't take a week off of work on short notice.) So me and Will hopped in the car with my mom and John and headed down and my bro, Uncle Joey, drove up from Phoenix. It was a fabulous week filled with just visiting with family like old times, and it really made me sad that I now have two siblings far away in different states. The good news is hopefully Uncle Joey will be moving back to UT soon!

My mom and John stayed at a hotel where Will LOVED the pool and asked me to go swimming every morning when we woke up. In the bottom picture he is playing a game called "go get wet then run over and splash mom on her lounge chair!" Grandma, being the mischievous one that she is, only encouraged this behavior :)

The night that we got into town we met up with Amber and Mark on the strip to do a few of the more "touristy" things, since I thought Will would enjoy that. We mostly walked through the Bellagio and saw the gardens, butterflies, and then of course we couldn't miss the fountain show. I love the classical music they play during the show, and the water is always so breathtaking to me.

Top left-Will and Uncle Joey right when he got in town. I call him Uncle Joey for Will's sake even though he is my brother because he is seriously the most amazing uncle and loves Will so much! And Will totally adores him. Top right- we got to see my Grandpa and Grandma (not pictured) "S" and cousin Sarah! It is always such a treat to visit my grandparents, and I try to get down to Vegas at least every 6 months to visit them. Bottom- the girls and Will hangin' out shopping and laughing, Will playing with cousin Alex, and the whole crew downing some Pizookie courtesy of Mark. Thanks Mark!

This was the last day. We went to a buffet for lunch and then to my Aunt BJ's house to say our goodbyes before heading back out of town. The bottom right pic is a hilarious story. My mom took my camera to get one last pic of 3 of her 5 kids, but to her puzzlement she had it turned the wrong way and couldn't figure out why she couldn't see us. Meanwhile we could see her face in microscopic form since she had it held up right to her face the wrong way. It was so funny and we were laughing so hard that we were still busting a gut by time she turned it around to take the picture. Gotta love my cute mom!

I miss my sister and am sad that she won't be moving back to the west anytime soon, but what a blessing to get to spend that time with her and have Will meet Aunt Amber and Uncle Mark!

Bald Easter

Now that it has been a few months since I have posted and I am trying, again, to catch up on old pictures, it is kind of shocking to see Will with his bald head again from back when he took a chunk out of his own hair with scissors! Although I think he is adorable no matter the amount of hair on his head, I do have to say I am glad the hair has made reappearance in our lives :)

The Easter picnic on the Saturday before Easter is a big tradition for my mom as her mom, my grandma, always did an elaborate event when she was still alive. So my mom and her sisters have tried to carry on the tradition. This last year we just went to their church to do the potluck and egg hunt, but my mom really wants to do something big for this coming year like go out of town somewhere fun, so we will have to see how it all pans out.

Will hunting for eggs with Ryan and finally finding his basket after the egg hunt. He was pretty excited about his new How to Train Your Dragon movie, as you can see on his face.

My mom, Aunt Sherry, Will, and Ryan

Me lifting up Will to find a forgotten egg after the hunt was over, and then back to grandma and grandpa's house where uncle Richard had huge sparklers waiting for the kids because of a recent trip to WY. Who doesn't like sparklers on Easter? (Richard also let off a super loud popping kind of firework outside the kitchen door at the church that was meant for my mom cause she is a huge prankster, but instead my SIL Nikki, his wife, came outside at that moment that was meant for my mom. Of course he thought it was hilarious...wonder where he gets it from.)

Grandma and grandpa at the end of the day with the grandkids. What a fun Easter party!