Stratosphere

Jason wanted to ride the big shot on the top of the Stratosphere before we took him back to the airport so we all went. The Big Shot is a ride that shoots you up to the top of the needle and then you bounce down. We all went to the top to look out the observation deck and then Jason, Derek and Jerrod rode the ride. As you can tell from the picture Jerrod wasn't too excited once they got on!

Bellagio Fountains and Conservatory

We wanted to show my parents the fountains at the Bellagio so we went to the strip. We also went to Caesars Palace and to the conservatory at the Bellagio where they had it decorated for Christmas.

These reindeer were made of nuts

This house was all made out of flowers and pinecones

Christmas

We had a great Christmas. Grandma and Grandpa Wahlstrom and Uncle Jason came to spend the holiday with us. We had a great prime rib and shrimp dinner on Christmas Eve thanks to Grandpa and then we all played chimes. Christmas morning the kids were so excited. Santa must have thought they were good because they all got what they asked for. Jerrod got Guitar Hero for the Wii which I am loving :) Allison got a Nintendo DS, Emma got a pink digital camera and Ava got a princess scooter. Derek and I also found a keyboard online on Craigslist so I am going to attempt to start teaching them some basic piano. The present I was most excited about giving them was tickets to the Hannah Montana concert next month here in Las Vegas. When I heard she was coming I decided to go down to the ticket office an hour before they started selling them. Little did I know how serious these tickets were. There were 900 people there. The MGM handed out wristbands to 908 people. I was number 903. Then they had a drawing to draw the number that they would start with. They drew number 474 so that meant the people who got there first were behind me since they went through 908 and then started back at 1. So, four hours later I was excited to have 4 tickets in my hot little hand! Everyone was so worried about getting great seats. I was worried about getting cheap seats. But, I succeeded. I got the cheapest ones! Thanks to everyone who sent gifts and made our Christmas extra special!

Nana's Visit

We got to have Derek's grandma Nana visit us for a week in December. Here is a picture of the kids with her!

Allison Turns 8!

On December 21st, Allison turned 8. She had a fun birthday. After a special steak birthday dinner we picked up Uncle Jason from the airport and then went to the Chipmunks Movie. Saturday, we picked up her friend Atira and headed to Diva Girlz for makeovers. The girls got their hair, nails and make up done and got to dress up. Of course they picked the dresses that would make them look the oldest. It was pretty entertaining for me to watch!

Visit With Santa

We Elfed Ourselves Too!

Ok. We couldn't help it. We hopped on the bandwagon.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1585908450

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1551720814

You Know You Live In a Desert When..........

Today, we met Derek at the mall for lunch and they had the huge display for Santa. There were big bears that were dancing in some fake snow. Ava ran up to Derek and said dad, look, bubbles, bath. She thought that the bears were playing in the bubbles while taking a bath. She has no idea what snow is. We thought that it was pretty cute.

Our New Nephew

My sister Jenny had her baby on Wednesday. They named him Clayton David Fabrizio. Isn't he cute? I'll post a better picture when I get one.

Our Honor Roll Students

Thursday I was able to attend assemblies in honor of the kids making the Honor Roll. Jerrod got AB Honor Roll and the girls got all A honor roll.

We love our dog

This Thanksgiving marked one year since Ginger became a part of our family. Here are a few pictures of her.

This is what she looked like the day we brought her home. Look how much she has grown.

Look how high she can jump!

Putting Up the Christmas Tree

Last night we put up our Christmas tree. With our tall ceilings in this house, it looks tiny. The kids all had fun. Even Ava was very into helping. She keeps coming and sitting in front of it today just to look at it!

Jerrod and his favorite Lego ornament.

TGIF!!!

I am so glad that this week is over. It has been crazy. I had to recharter our cub scout pack and a workbook was due for my online class that I hadn't even opened but I got it all done. Here are a few things that happened this week.

We found out that the guy that rear ended me on the freeway last month hadn't paid his insurance premiums, therefore he was uninsured! Just our luck. So, if we want to get it fixed, we'll have to pay our deductible and then they can go after him for the money. We'll have to wait a little while to get it fixed.



The kids all got their report cards and they were awesome. Both Allison and Emma had straight A's. Emma's lowest grade was a 99.2%. Jerrod also did great. He got all A's and 1 B. They all made honor roll so I will get to attend an assembly next week where they will all get recognized.

Allison started taking violin lessons through the school. She got her violin on Thursday and has been so excited. Mr. Schorr who the school is named after is funding the program so everything is free and the school lets you borrow the instruments. I hope she will be able to do it all year. The only stipulation to the program is that a parent has to attend one lesson before school and one group lesson during school per week. Since I signed up for a full load of classes next semester, I am hoping they hold the one during school on a day I can get there.

Our Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. Derek's brothers Andrew and Jason came to Las Vegas with their families to be with us and Derek's cousin Madison who is going to school here came to eat with us too. It was great to see them and spend time together. Here are a few pictures:

I had to take a picture of all the boys in the kitchen. They made a special strawberry crepe breakfast in honor of Andrew's wife Renee's birthday on Thursday morning.

School Pictures

Here are the kids school pictures!

Random Pictures

Here are just a few pics. The other day everyone was outside roller blading and Ginger was giving any who were brave enough a pull! She can really get the kids going fast so they usually are too chicken. So, Derek took her. Ava also has really started playing with the kids' kitchen. I thought she looked cute in her ensemble.

Good Citizens

Yesterday Jerrod and Allison received citizenship awards at assemblies at their school. One person from each class gets one each month based on the theme for that month. Allison's was for responsibility and Jerrod's was for setting goals. Each month they have a Kids in Power assembly with a martial arts teacher who talks to them about things such as self control, responsibility, respect etc... It was a fun assembly to watch. I was very proud of them. At Jerrod's assembly we sat in the back so his pictures aren't nearly as good. For Allison's I knew to sit closer! They are all doing so well in school. Emma's teacher stopped me yesterday to tell me that she is doing so well and that her reading is awesome. She said she has some students reading below a level one and Emma is at level 109. Her progress report she brought home last week had nothing below a 95%. Let's see if her dad can keep up with those grades!