Viva Las Vegas and Rodeo results

Busy weekend in Las Vegas. Evan, Jaime, and I drove to a Xango Convention down there.Thursday night we met Jaime's brother and sister-in-law, and Evan's friend Owen and went to dinner. Prior to dinner we walked down Freemont Street. I forgot to take my camera with us, so this picture is from my phone. The canopy lights up and has a computerized program that shows up on the canopy. The music was one of the Beatles songs. It was really neat.

Friday we went to workshops and in the evening, we went down on the strip and walked through the Bellagio and Caezar's Palace. Here are Evan and Jaime in front of one of the gardens. The frog felt like moss.
The fountain show in front of the Bellagio. The music was "Viva Las Vegas" by Elvis Presley.


One of the fountains in Caezar's Palace. There was a water show here also.

The convention was at the Paris Hotel. This is the night view.
The Eiffel Tower is 1/2 scale the real one in Paris, France.

And here we are at the convention on Saturday.
Me, Owen, Jaime, & Evan

It was beautiful in Vegas. We went to the home of an upline couple who live in Las Vegas. It was 82 degrees outside and we sat around the pool and visited with other folks there for the same reason. We came home yesterday (Sunday) as Jaime had a court case at 7:30 this morning.
Last night Vonda called and said Austin had taken 1st place (Bull Riding) at the High School Rodeo over the weekend. He is in 3rd place overall. If he can maintain that slot or better, he will qualify for National HS Rodeo Finals in Gillette, WY in July. Good Luck Austin!!!

Spring Has Sprung

Spring seems to be here. It is 72 degrees outside, the sun is shining and my spring bulbs are up, blooming, and Paul mowed the lawn already. But....the weather forecast calls for rain with possible snow within the next 3 days. Thursday's high is forecast for only 55 degrees. Oh well, April showers bring May flowers, right?

On Saturday we went to Jennie's and the boys played in the back yard. Here, Ryan is pushing Hayden in his swing.
Ryan and Jackson on the seesaw swing.

As it warmed up, we took off the sweat shirts and put a hat on that blonde head. They all got "bathed" in sunscreen.

Mid-afternoon we went to Thanksgiving Point to the Tulip Festival. Acres and acres of spring plants. Below are some of the tulips, narcissis, and daffodils, along with some pansies and hyacinths. They were BEAUTIFUL.

At the top of the hill, we could see flowers in every direction. We rested here for a few minutes, then trekked on. It is about 3 miles around, up and down the hills. From this vantage point we could also hear the waterfalls, which Ryan was anxious to find.

We climbed 1/2 way up this flight of stairs. Ryan and Jackson were facinated by the water falling into each "bathtub" all the way down this hill. Of course, they wanted to play in the water. We had them on leashes, and were able to keep them out of the water, though.

Ryan LOVED the waterfalls. He posed on this bench long enough for a picture.

And I was lucky to get Jackson's face in this one.

Perched high on the ravine was this owl in her nest. She was about 1/2 way down about a 100 foot sheer cliff. Sorry I did not get it centered very well. She moved out of the nest as I went to take the picture. The nest is pretty well centered, but not the bird. And trying to take pictures and keep toddler safe takes 3 hands. I am only equipped with 2.

When we got home, the boys had to tell their Mom about the waterfalls, fish, and the owl. 2 days later, and Ryan is still talking about them. They were exhausted, as were the rest of us, but they really enjoyed being outside and being able to run. Hayden was in the stroller, and was really good. He stayed awake the whole time, though.

I was not able to get a good picture of them all together. No one would hold still long enough.

Boogety boogety boys, let's go racin

Yesterday afternoon, as I was watching the news, Ryan brought some of his cars in, turned them upsidedown, and told me "Shhh, the cars asleep", and sure enough, they were.

After the news, I did not change the channel, as I was working on my quilt. Nascar races were on from Phoenix. Next thing I knew, the cars on the floor were lined up for a race, and the newspaper was the green flag. We had our own Nascar on the floor. As he watched the race, Ryan kept asking where the wrecks were. It was not long until we saw some.

Vonda sent me this picture. Austin took 1st place in bull riding at the Mt Vernon High School Rodeo a week ago. There neighbor put it up on his sign board where he sells animal food.
When I talked to Cody for his birthday, he told me he is going to ride steers this year in Jr Rodeo. Also, steer daubing, calf roping, and something else that I don't remember. Austin will still participate in Jr Rodeo when there is not a High School rodeo or a Pro rodeo that are at the same time. He is missing one HS rodeo next month, as it is Cody's 1st rodeo to ride steers. He wants to be there to help him get mounted, etc.

Easter at our house

Interactive holidays are so fun with the little boys. Here they are, ready to go out and hunt for easter eggs. Marian had them spread out on the lawn and then we took them out to gather them.

Ryan is getting right into the job at hand
And Jackson is too.

They were so excited. They got toys, candy, and money in their eggs.

The boys with Mom

Easter Morning

Ryan is not much of a sweets kid. He tasted the jellybeans, licked off the coating and put them back in the bowl. What a sticky mess, but he had fun scooping them with the icecream scoops.

I left for Blanding right after these pictures were taken. I stopped in Altamont and picked up my mother and took her with me. We went to my sister, Dorine's and worked on getting my heritage quilt quilted. We worked about 2 1/2 days on it and got mostly done. I have the rest to finish at home. I got home Wed. night. It was fun to spend time with them.
Jennie and Jeff left about the same time for Denver, where Jeff went for his final session of practical labs (embalming) for his schooling. He will be done with school next month, then will do his internship at the mortuary where he works and will be ready to take his boards in October or November. It has been a long haul, but he is so glad he has done it. He is also excited to be nearly done. Hayden really did well on the trip. They drove, so he was in his car seat for many hours. Jennie said she was glad he did so well. They will be home today.

Cody turned 10 yesterday. They are growing up so fast!!!