"PROM..........2011"

Oh.........the BIG event of the school year. PROM........... JR/SR prom......... The hair, the dress, the nails, the jewelry, the makeup, the flowers, dinner, pictures...............(alot of time, money and effort for MOM!) I did 4 girls hair for prom today. Started at 11:00 am. And had to get back to the house to get my daughters hair done! I'm so tired...........was a very long day..................but everyone turned out gorgeous!

And Nicole was so gorgeous beyond words............hair was perfect.............and she was excited!

And she HATES to admit how much we look alike!

She gets tired of me taking pictures...........until "the boy" gets here.....hahaaaaa.....then she is happy. (but still doesn't want me to take pictures)

So happy the weather was nice for some outside pictures.........(she looks so beautiful)

This shot scares me a little............slightly resembles a wedding photo!

And I love that she wore hot pink flip flops! Wanted to be comfortable! That's my girl......

Cutest couple ever............

Her and her friend Raelynn (my future daughter-in-law) got ready together all day at the house (while I was at work doing prom hair!) Had a great day and they look amazing.

My girl Rae...................(hair by Missy Mary)

Things are different since I was in high school. Now all the kids go to someones house (thanks goodness it wasn't mine) to take group pics and all go to dinner and prom together. So I got to see alot of the kids before they left. Was really cute and glad I went out and took some pictures with her and her friends. Jason's mom rode with me and I can't wait to see the pics from her camera. She is an amazing photographer......

All the kids.............

(I always take a pic of her corsage).....

And they are off......................Nicole was done with me taking pics so she got in the car quickly.....

(Jason had a clever way of asking her to the prom. But Nicole didn't take any pics for me! He wrote on her car windows with window marker asking her to Prom and filled the entire inside of her car with helium ballons at school). The part I DON'T like is that the prom is out of town. So they all drive to Salem for dinner and then the prom is at the Grand Ballroom in Salem.............After I got everyone beautiful and on their way...........I told LeRoy we were going out to dinner! I needed a glass of wine ASAP....and now I sit here.................

And hope they are all having fun..............and that they all make good choices...........and that they all make it home safely............

'walk it out..........."

I do weird things sometimes.......... I DROVE to Lebanon...........................to go on a walk.............hahahaha But I got to visit with my sister and my nephew...........so it was all good!!!! We walked 3 1/2 miles and somehow avoided the rain! yay! Good walk...........felt good................nice to visit with my sis............(and Gunner!). He was making fun of us and HE is the one that tripped and almost fell down!!!! hahahaaa

(cell phone pics are not the most flattering.......................I need some touch up work!!!!!! And it was cold and I should have taken a pic BEFORE we walked while we were still all fresh!)

"Family Road Trip-Spring Break 2011"

6 states in 8 days!!!!!!!!! 2500 miles and 42 hours in the car! We covered ALOT of ground. Saw lot of scenery. Watched lots of movies in the car. Tyler and I watched our theme movie for the entire trip "Vacation!". Griswold style...................... We let Nicole drive thru Boise ID. I'm not sure what we were thinking because it was rush hour, tons of construction, semi-trucks everywhere. I just turned up my volume and didn't look out the window. I was hoping this wasn't the last time you would see me alive!!!! lol

15 hours to get to Salt Lake City.............(our entire trip we drove thru Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, California, Nevada). We had alot of time in the car.................I was prepared (like usual!) and when we stopped for gas I made everyone bagels with cream cheese, fruit, coffee and juice.

Back on the road! And my awesome sister Donna made me a fab new quilt and I begged her to finish it before our trip. Well.............she thought we were leaving Saturday............ummmm no.....Friday! So she was awesome and finished it late Thursday night and Nicole drove me over to Lebanon to get it for our roadtrip!(Nicole had to drive me cause I had already started vacation with a little wine and was in no shape to drive and needed to finish packing!) Nicole washed it for me and the morning we left it was really cold out so she put it in the drier and took it out warm for the car! Thanks awesome sister and awesome daughter!

So I decided since we had so much time in the car.............I would polish my toes (bright pink!). Who does that? Who brings nail polish in the car? I didnt do the best job, but better than no polish at all! It will eventually wear off my skin right? hahaaa.....I needed to organize my purse..........lots of time for that! And surprisingly enough.......the kids got along GREAT! in the backseat. Being nice to each other and sharing. Who are these kids are where are mine? At one time (lot of time to think too) I thought it would be funny if LeRoy and I got in the backseat and took a nap and let Nicole drive and Tyler sit up front. We would probably have ended up in Canada or something. Idaho was kinda smelly and icky. Are we there yet??

We finally arrived at our friends Mike and Angie! Thanks so much "Hotel Lindquist" for the hospitality! They were wonderful and so gracious to open up their home to us! And gave us a tour of their city. We went to the Mormon Temple. Downtown SLC on the TRAX, and awesome outdoor shopping mall. (Nicole and I could have spent lots more time and money there! I got a really cute pair of blingy jeans!) And Lady Gaga was having a concert at the Arena that night so we saw lot of crazy people walking around downtown. Guys in leather shorts and fishnet stockings. The weirdos were out! Very entertaining! (and then Lady Gaga followed us to Vegas cause we saw she was there the same time we were too!)

Mike, Angie, Devin and Dillion! Thanks for such a great visit!(and Mike...........thanks for putting hot pink tips in your hair just for me..........I loved it!)

We went up to Park City, UT. (looks much different with snow, than last summer when I was there and it was HOT!) Lots of snow. We walked thru all the shops and showed the kids the sites. When up to the ski area. So beautiful. Showed them where alot of the venues were for the 2002 Olympics were held.

We managed to find candy shops everywhere we went! Doesn't Tyler look sweet? hahahaaaa

Salt Lake City is surrounded by mountains. Such a beautiful place. Nicole loved the big city and wants to move there!

Tyler had so much fun playing with Devin and Dillon. We didn't see much of them for 3 days. (they have a game room with video games..................little boys dream.............) We had lots of snow in Park City.

And for anyone thinking that SLC is strictly made up of strict mormons??????? WRONG! hahahahahahahaaa...............have some hilarious stories but cannot post them on my blog. Not appropriate and definatley not family oriented. My friend Sheila from CO knows what I'm talking about. We were texting the entire time and I'm still laughing OUT LOUD at those texts.

And I also stalked my sister Donna the entire trip. (I can fill you in on the "conservative-little-mormon-town" if you want a good laugh!)

We were going to stop at Zion National Park on the way to Vegas. Well.....................when we got there it was snowing. Blizzard! No visibility so we couldn't see anything so we kept on going..................

Somewhere in Arizona!!!!!!!!!!!!! We saw sunshine!

Are we there yet?

'Vegas...................here we come!! part 2"

Made it to Vegas baby.................... Checked into hotel.........freshened up and took the kids out to check out the town! We had our car so we just drove around. The strip was so busy and crazy! Kids were taking it all in. I asked them what they thought and Nicole says "it looks like Disneyland for adults!" How right she is! Was a balmy 63 degrees when we arrived. Alot warmer than Salt Lake City! It was starting to get dark so we drove down the strip again to show them all the lights and hotels. Nicole's main goal was to ride the roller coaster on top of New York New York. So we drove her by. She was so excited! That was on the agenda for the next day!

She road the roller coaster and said it was FAST! She tried talking me into going on it with her. NO THANKS! I would be motion sick all day, so I just held her purse. hahaaaa...And we had just stopped and got candy from this awesome place. Didn't want that comin' back up!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh................sunshine! Nicole and I took advantage of a little bit of sun! We layed down by the pool for a few hours. The boys went to find a store for a camera battery.....My camera has been acting up since we left Park City. So we stopped at a Walmart somewhere in Arizona and bought a new memory card. Back on the road..............realized it wasn't memory card...........must be battery..................still nothin'..........why does this always happen to me? Well I can't really go the rest of vacation without a camera! My phone camera just doesn't always cut it! So my sweet, dear husband found a Walmart out in nowhere-Vegas and just bought a new little camera! Thanks honey. But he wasn't in a very good mood when he came back.................Thanks goodness Nicole and I were laying by the pool..........

Nicole thought the entire Spring Break should be sunny like this...hahahhaaaaaaaa......we saw way more snow than sun! And she wanted to wear her new swimsuit!

We walked around and saw lots!!

So inappropriate..........................but funny!

I have a picture of LeRoy with Spongebob from our 10th anniversary when we went to Vegas. We had to go find Spongebob and get a pic with the kids!

We found and In-and-Out burger..............Heard it is really good.............Food is food and we were hungry! Nicole was good and wanted to work out when we got back to the hotel. I didn't. lol. So I sent LeRoy and Tyler with her to the workout room. It was 3 doors down from us with an amazing view of the strip. I really did waste good workout time but I was tired and just didn't feel like it. So when they were down there I crawled into bed looking at the view of Vegas from the 27th floor RELAXING! Tv off..........dug out some new magazines. Sad I have to leave the state to relax and read................hahahah. Only lasted about 1/2 hour........but I will take what I can get!

We walked.................and walked.......................and walked.............................. (I had warned the kids we would be walking alot even tho we took the monorail...............I don't think they realized HOW MUCH walking we really were going to do!)

Took them to the MGM for the Lion Exhibit. They were all out and were baby cubs so Tyler loved watching them play.

Had to go to Hooters..................Nicole wanted a shirt.................Like I said...............inappropriate but funny...........

We went to Paris....................

Hope your wish comes true buddy!

Walked and walked and walked....................

Water show at the Bellagio...........

Atrium at Bellagio is always decorated for the season................SPRING...........so pretty!!

and walked and walked and walked..................the boys were DONE! Nicole and I were good! Went to Ceasars Forum shops, Treasure Island, Cosmopolitan, Venetian, Bally's, MGM, Paris, Sahara, Planet Hollywood, New York New York, Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excaliber, Bellagio, Sephora and anything in between. Lots to see!

We ate at Planet Hollywood....................wanted to go back to MGM Rainforest Cafe (my fav!) but was too far away................kids would have had a major meltdown if we would have taken the time to get back there............Tyler had a little altercation with Rocky............

Vegas was so fun! Kids enjoyed it (except for all the walking). Didn't get to see everything we wanted because we ran out of time! Off to Reno..............