The Official Start of the Summer

It never really feels like summer until Sarah is here. Last year it was mid-July when she arrived and June felt so empty without her. But today we kicked off 2007 with a bang. After a trip up to school and to the barber with Daddy, Sarah and I went to see the movie "Nancy Drew". Good flick for tween girls or younger. The "official" reviewers hated it -- but then when do they ever like anything good or wholesome in a movie?? We then hit the library and signed up for the Summer Reading Program. For every 5 books Sarah reads, she gets a prize. We checked out 6 books and she has already read 3 of them (she wanted to stay at the library and read them all to get her prize today!). After dinner we headed to the pool (all 4 of us) and then roasted marshmallows. Ella LOVED her first marshmallow roast. She was not pleased when the marshmallows stopped coming her way.

Tomorrow is Father's Day and we have a VERY special day planned for our special man!

Giggles

Sarah arrived last night, safe and sound! Mitch had a great flying day -- Southwest got him in to Philly 20 minutes early and back in to Vegas an HOUR EARLY! You can't beat that. Last summer, on that exact same flight in to Vegas, Sarah and Jen arrived 4 HOURS LATE! Southwest sent us $300 in vouchers even though it wasn't their fault at all. The delay had been caused by weather, construction at the Philly airport, and heavy traffic at the Philly airport. This is why we are die-hard Southwest fans. Now if only they'd serve cookies....

So Sarah got home around 9:30 PM last night and Ella has been enamored ever since. They haven't seen each other since Ella was 5 months old and they had a good time getting to know each other again. I was in the kitchen while they were playing and all I heard were giggles and giggles from both of them. It was the sweetest sound.

Aloha!

Or however you say "good-bye" in Hawaiian. Bruce, Keola, and I were up at 3:30 AM this morning to go to the airport for their 6 AM flight to Hawaii. They flew Aloha Airlines and I was very impressed with them. They are the Hawaiian Southwest Airlines. We didnt' use unaccompanied minor for the boys, but the ticket agent gave me a boarding pass so I could go to the gate with them.

Ever since school got out those two have been driving me NUTS!! Everyday I want to call my parents and apologize for EVER being a teenager. It's hard to remember that even though the LOOK like adults -- they are really only about 6 years old. I have to remind them about things as much as I do Sarah. How many times do you have to tell them to not leave dirty socks on the coffee table in the living room? Or Bruce just finding a brand-new pack of undershirts I bought him a month ago...or asking them 6 times yesterday if they were all packed only to go in to the bedroom to find more stuff of theirs. There is a reason God gives us babies and lets us grow in to the teen years. No one would survive if we didn't have the baby memories.

That said, I cried when they got on the plane this morning. They are good kids -- they just were never taught how to act in certain situations. Ella absolutely adores them both. The plan is for Bruce to come back in July or August ... but we left purchasing the ticket up to his parents. We'll see if he comes back or not.

Two days to re-arrange the bedroom and closet before Sarah arrives....!

Our Non-Vacation: Mesquite, Nevada

There is a town about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas called Mesquite. The hotel/casino conglomerate in Mesquite is offering a FREE 2 night stay to all Clark County School District employees through the end of August. We have a hard time passing up anything that is free, so we decided to take Bruce and Keola and Ella and go up Sunday through Tuesday. We stayed at the Casablanca Hotel. When we checked in at around 2 PM on Sunday, the pool was closed, but we could use the pool at the Oasis across the street. No problem -- we ate lunch and then headed over to scope out the pool at the Oasis. Well, the pool at the Oasis is about the size of my thumbnail and since EVERYONE from the 2 hotels were now at 1 pool.... Yeah. The Oasis also had a lame Go Kart track and mini-golf, but it was 4 PM in the desert which is not pleasant anytime after mid-April. So we went back to our room, gave the boys $20 and sent them to the arcade for a few hours. We had dinner that evening at a local Chinese restaurant that was lovely. Excellent service, the wait staff doted on Ella and good food.

The next morning we're up and at the buffet by 9 AM. After filling up on greasy food, we headed to the pool. It's a large pool with a waterfall and a water slide. Ella loves to swim, it wasn't too hot, the boys had new swim trunks -- we are all set for a day in the sun! Now, I grew up about 10 minutes from Lake Michigan and I spent many, many summer swimming in 60-some degree water. I am not a wimp when it comes to water temperature. The temperature of this pool took me back to those days in the lake. Poor Ella was shivering within 10 minutes and had to get out. Keola only got in to go down the slide a couple of times. Bruce managed to hang out for a while, but even he got chilly. We spent about 20 minutes total in the pool.

After Ella's nap and lunch we walked around Wal-Mart and then headed to the Go Karts at the Oasis. They were closed. Closed Monday and Tuesday. We decided to check out early and after dinner at a fine dining establishment (our treat to the boys), we headed back to Vegas.

Needless to say that our trip to Mesquite was quite disappointing. I didn't expect there to be much to do, but I figured the pool and arcade would keep us busy for a day or two. No such luck. And pictures? Seriously, the place is so lame, these are the only pictures I took. I'm really glad we didn't pay for our hotel and it'll be a good pit stop next year on the way to Zion National Park. But other than that, we have no plans to EVER go back to Mesquite....except maybe for the Chinese food.

Fun in the Band Room

Mitch had a mini-band camp last Friday and Saturday. On Friday the band boosters threw a BBQ for the incoming freshmen and their parents. There were decorations, including balloons. Ella LOVES balloons! I think it's funny how all kids like certain things and balloons are one of those things. You don't have to teach them to love them, they just do. On Saturday we were in Wal-Mart and Ella just squealed and giggled over the helium balloons at the check-out.

A Bed -- Finally!

For over three years we have been sleeping on a Select Comfort bed just on a frame. Mostly because we couldn't agree on anything for our bedroom in terms of decoration. And slightly because we kept moving and didn't feel like carting around a headboard/footboard. You can kind of see it above -- I have a better picture but I can't find it. The quilt is hand-made and was a wedding gift from some friends (who made it themselves). We love it and it has served us well, but it was time for a change.

When we found out we were pregnant, we decided against spending tons of money on bedding for the baby because we felt that if we were going to spend money it should be on our OWN bedroom first!

We finally did.... and it is oh so beautiful!

Answered Prayers

Mitch and I lead a Young Couples Small Group/Bible Study through our church. Our group consists of 8 couples, 1 single mom, and 4 kids (with one more due in December). We meet on Monday evenings for dinner and then Bible study. One of our couples has been together for seven years and they have a 3 year old son. They joined our group just under a year ago, around the time Ella was born. They moved out here from Michigan and are HUGE U of M fans so we really connected with them. They were not, however, married.

This has weighed heavily on the hearts of our group members and about 2 months ago a number of us began to pray in earnest for this couple to marry.

Yesterday afternoon at about 3:30 PM Mitch got a phone call from this couple -- they were getting married at 7:30 PM at a chapel on the strip and they wanted anyone who wanted to be there to come! Let me tell you, our group is awesome! Not only were the majority of us there, but another couple managed to get decorations and a cake for a reception back at their house (dinner was ready because we always eat together on Mondays, we just postponed it a bit).

I still can't stop crying! I'm not sure if it is the awesome way that God answered our prayers or just plain happiness for this family or both! It was the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to. It was two people whom God had brought together standing before Him, friends, and family (the groom's mother was in town) and honoring the sanctity of marriage. There was absolutely nothing fancy about it and it probably cost about $200. It is a wedding I will never, ever forget.

The people who run our city of Las Vegas have marketed the phrase "What happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas". Our church has turned that in to "What happens in Vegas, Changes the World!" Last night in a chapel on the Las Vegas strip, God changed the lives of this family and we are so very blessed to have been a part of it.

(P.S. I have about 100 photos, but because I don't want to make this couple uncomfortable I only posted some of us and the chapel. The wedding was held here if you want to see a cute place to get married!)