A lovely Marz weekend.

We had a really fun weekend with the Marz family!  My Aunt Tina, Uncle Gary, Aunt Leslie, cousin Ashlie and little Will came down from Salt Lake and we had a great time.  We have a few aunts/uncles that live here in Vegas that we don’t see nearly enough so it got us all together for the weekend.

On Friday night, they joined us at our house for Ryan’s 2nd birthday party.  We were glad they could come!  After the party I went over to my Aunt Kara’s house and we had 10 people around the table playing 5 Crowns.  I have to say this night was hilarious.  A handful of the older people around the table had some hilarious statements which made Sam, Ashlie, Leslie & I chuckle.  A lot.

On Saturday I was able to sneak away for a little bit to meet the girls at Town Square for a little shopping.  Saturday night we got a sitter and all of the adults went to dinner and a movie.

On Sunday night we had dinner at my parent’s house.  I forced everyone in to a picture!  [Sam was with us up until Sunday where she had to work which is why she isn’t pictured here]. 

I love it when our family comes to visit! 

We got to spend some time with Kyle on Sunday night.  We’ve missed him.  Nate’s still talking about cousin Kyle and how great it was to play with him.

be my valentine.

Valentines Day was pretty fun in our house.  We didn’t do anything monumental but a few crafts . . . lots of treats and candy . . . a Valentines lunch at Kileys . . . Valentines in the mail from cousins & grandparents far away . . . and our daily love mail made it pretty fun.

Aunt Sam came over on the 13th to give the boys their Valentines.  She’s always so thoughtful.  So on V.Day while she was at work, the boys and I had fun sneaking in to her house and leaving her a Valentine.  Nate really enjoyed handing out Valentines this year.  It was fun he got to go to school on Valentines Day . . . I think his favorite Valentines to give out that day were to Ms. Joy [preschool teacher] and Ms. Natalie [hip hop teacher].

Nate made this Valentines shirt at Claire’s house in Phoenix.  He was so excited about it that he wore it on the 13th.  Good thing I found Snoopy love shirts for the boys for V.Day.

Wes and I don’t usually exchange real Valentines gifts.  And we didn’t this year but Wes gave me the best gift of all when he got up early, fed the kids a healthy breakfast before he gave them their heart donut, cleaned up the entire kitchen and mopped the floor before he went to work!

This year I had a mailbox for all three of my boys and every morning for about a week there was a little something fun in the mailbox for them.  I had big plans with thought out notes cute things to put in there and then all of a sudden it was February 7th and I just had to run with it.  I didn’t even get their names put on . . . maybe next year!  They still liked waking up to some love mail!

We like holidays around here.

Nate and I went to Phoenix.

Nate & I got to go to Phoenix for a “big kid” trip last weekend.  My dear friend Mimi lives there with her cute little family [she has 2 little girls pretty much the same age as my boys] and it was time for another visit.  I thought it’d be fun for some one-on-one time with Nate & I thought Mimi would enjoy some time with just Claire so Nate and I jumped on a plane to Phoenix and it was fabulous.  Traveling with ONE four year old is a breeze!  [Before I jump in to the trip – I have to give a big thanks to Mimi for being our photographer!  My camera battery was dead and I couldn’t find the charger so she snapped away.]

Right when they picked us up from the airport, Mimi took us to a darling Ice cream Parlor and Candy Shop called Churn.  I’m pretty sure I had some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had there and I had to purchase some of their delicious candy, too!  It was a great way to start our trip.  We then headed to the “choo choo park” that I’ve heard so much about over the years.  What a fabulous park complete with a train, a carousel and some pretty neat playgrounds.  The kids played and played in the FABulous weather and it was wonderful.  Of course on the train car they picked to ride on was the cattle car in the back and their over 6’ mamas had to squeeze in that little cage which I’m sure was hilarious to watch.

We got to participate in their weekly “Pizza and a movie night” on Friday night where we watched Despicable Me.  Speaking of night time – let me just say that Nate’s sleeping was atrocious this trip!  He ended up sleeping in my bed and he is the craziest sleeper ever!

Mimi & Claire let Nate and I pick Saturday’s activity and we picked the Phoenix Zoo.  It was just the big kids today [Sammy & Ryan got some quality time with their dads!] and we had a blast.  I think we were at the zoo for almost 5 hours before Mimi and I were tired out!  A few favorites from the Zoo: RIDING the CAMEL!, Nate walking everywhere with the Zoo map, snow cones, monkey village, watching the bear eat his “snack” out of a paper bag, playing in the old stationary jeep and enjoying being out on a beautiful day with our big kids.  And I have to say that the Phoenix Zoo is a fabulous zoo!  One of my favorites.

Nate thought it was pretty funny to ride around in the wagon like this.

Nate brought all kinds of boy craziness in to the Skeehan household and Claire handled it superbly.  These two kiddos really had a good time together which was nice.  She was even genuinely excited to play the games they made up like “Fight Men” or “Pinch the Girl” – none of which I’ve ever heard of before! 

After church on Sunday we made Valentines T.shirts and the kids played a little more before we had to leave.  Nate loved all of the Skeehans but I think the dog, Tahoe may have won his heart.  He wants nothing more than a dog of his own.  As we were getting ready to leave for the airport Nate broke down in genuine tears so upset that he had to leave Tahoe – he already missed him.  I thought it was cute . . . when Mimi and Claire pulled away from the airport Claire got a tear in her eye and said “mom, do you already miss him?”  These two are buddies.

I loved spending a weekend with one of my favorite people – Mimi and her cute family.  And it was so fun to go on an adventure with just Nate.  I’m a big believer in some one-on-one time and my boys sure got it last weekend!  As we were flying home I asked Nate where our next “big kid” adventure should be and he said Disneyland.  Little does he know . . . it really is.

Mr. Ryan had a blast with his dad while we were gone. 

I heart family.

I’m lucky - I come from a great family & I married in to a great family.

I’ve talked about this before, but Wes’ extended family is just plain wonderful.  They have a bond and a love for their entire family that is just rare.  Wes & I got to spend last night with his Uncle Thayer who is in town on business and even though Wes is out of town today, Thayer and Wes’ cousin Julia came and had dinner with the boys and I and they stayed and chatted for a while tonight and it was so good to catch up. 

……….

And speaking of my family – we were able to gather as a family and with my dad’s closest friends and watch him be sworn in last night as a City Councilman.  He gave a great little welcome speech and is well under way making a difference in the City of Henderson!

The Phoenix Open

Wes spent 3 days last week in Phoeniz, Arizona with his good buddy Ryan Andrus.  Leslie and I gave them a trip to the Phoenix Open golf tournament for Christmas and they had a great time!

One day they played 36 holes of golf.  Yes, that sounds fun to them!

They spent one day at the Phoenix Open Golf Tournament.  Here’s good ol’ Phil.

And another day just hanging out and enjoying their freedom.

I’m thinking going to a golf tournament should be a yearly tradition for these two.  It’s always nice to go do something different and fun!  Glad you guys had a good time.

Wes was pretty much gone all of last week . . . the boys and I stayed busy and actually had a pretty good week!  I have great friends who stole Ryan from me for a few hours, invited us over to play, Sam kept us company on Saturday morning at Chuckee Cheese & In.and.Out, we played at the park, etc.  But we’re sure glad Dad’s home for a few days!

today, my friend Kiley asked Ryan . . .

Kiley: “Ryan, what do you want for your birthday?”

Ryan: “Cookies and treats.”

Sounds about right.

lately . . .

Here’s a little of life via the camera phone.

The last few weeks . . . the kids have been beyond excited for their “grandma days”.  They spend Wednesdays with my mom while I go work with my dad and they’ve always enjoyed these days but lately by 8am they are begging me to leave already yelling “grandma!  grandma!” .  Today when I came to get them they were on their standard 1/2 mile walk around the block.  Yes, Ryan walks/runs the 1/2 mile!  As soon as Ryan saw me walking down the street toward him he ran at me in an all-out sprint.  I sure do love that boy.

 

Nate loves this “big mickey” at grandmas.  He requested a picture today.

I’ve been trying to be better about having Nate’s friends over from our old ward.  Our preschool schedules are totally opposite but we’ve all made a better effort lately and it’s been fun!  Jake & Hadley are two of Nate’s best buddies and it’s been nice to have them in our home a little more lately.  Jake and Nate played in these costumes for 3 hours straight.  And I was Cat Woman!

This is Nate on one of our walks around the neighborhood.  He was wishing for a “racetrack like Jake.”

It was “hat day” at school this week which meant Nate got to wear his cowboy hat in to school and this awesome hat on the way out!

A few weeks ago Sam got a text from her dear friend Natalie who is teaching a hip hop dance class at the rec center.  She said she had a class full of 4 year old boys and thought Nate should come, too.  Nate said he would NOT do ballet but he’d try a little hip hop.  Aunt Sam came with us the first week and after a little coaxing and encouraging just to give it a try he absolutely loved it.  I’m pretty sure he has a crush on Miss Natalie – he invited her over to play this week!  A few girls have joined the class and it’s mostly a class teaching coordination with some hip hop moves at the end and it’s perfect.

Here’s Ryan watching his big brother.  I’m pretty sure Ryan got more exercise than Nate running up and down the halls of the rec center.