Training Wheels

In March, Logen attended drivers education and received his driving permit.  Since he has to drive with a licensed driver, he only has “training wheels”.  After six-months, driving 40 hours with a licensed driver and passing a driving road test his training wheels will be removed and he will officially become a licensed driver.

Logen and his girlfriend, Shelbe, attended a “crash course”….well maybe it would be better described as an accelerated class which means they completed a three-month course in about five weeks! They went to class 3-4 days a week (for 4 hours at a time) and then drove 1-2 times a weeks.  Heck, they were driving, on the actual streets of Boise, after only two classes.

Logen did a great job!  It was pretty amazing to see him drive up to our house…here I go again, but…….where does the time go?

After the kids completed the course and “graduated” with their driving permit they all celebrated with a party; at the local indoor go-kart races!

Please excuse the following pictures, I forgot my camera so these were taken with my cell phone.

Logen-all geared up and ready for a race!

Shelbe-on the right

They had a great time and it was a really fun thing for them to do to finish off the seriousness of learning how to drive.  I have got to say it was a little “scary” watching some one these kids driving crazy on the track…….these are our future drivers!  :)

Logen is well on his way to getting his “training wheels” off and become a very successful driver…..another proud moment!

Somber Spring

This spring not only brought us the worst weather that I can ever remember, it also had brought us some sad news.

In March, we got news that Dennis’  Uncle Darel passed away.  He was the oldest sibling to Dennis’ dad, the oldest of nine kids.   Uncle Darel lived in Arizona so we only saw him once a year for our annual family reunion in August.  But he was a big part of the reunion, almost like the patriarch of the family.  He was the auctioneer for our auction, the one that always took charge of the reunion meeting and he always had a camera around his neck.

                                                   Uncle Darel, August 2008

When Dennis dad passed away, Uncle Darel made sure that at the family reunion we all took a moment of silence in remembrance of him.  At the next family reunion, after Dennis’ grandma (Uncle Darel’s mom) passed away he also had a moment of silence for her.  Who would have thought that at last years reunion it would be the last time we hugged Uncle Darel good-bye and that we would be planning a moment of silence in his honor at the next family reunion in August.

Uncle Darel is missed!

                                            ****************

On April 16th, we got news that my Aunt Pauline’s daughter, Danielle was involved in a tragic accident.  I guess I should clarify; Pauline was my aunt only in name.  She isn’t related to me, she has just been my mom’s friend since they were in grade school. We happened to just call her “aunt” growing up and I guess I never out-grew calling her that.  Aunt Pauline is actually my brother Ryan’s godmother.  So we always considered her and her husband, Jack, our aunt and uncle.

I hadn’t seen Danielle in a long time.  I remember her when she was a baby, in her crib, with a ton of black hair.  I was so excited that my aunt had a girl because they already had a boy, Michael.  Ryan and Sandy had spent a lot more time with Danielle because they lived in Maine, and I was living here in Idaho.

Please don’t be judgmental for adding this picture of the accident to my blog.  I am adding it as a very important reminder, which I will explain.

Danielle’s accident is described, in part, as this according to the Sun-Journal newspaper in Lewiston, Maine:

A Sabattus woman died Friday morning when the SUV she was driving rear-ended a garbage truck at the intersection of Sabattus Street and Randall Road.  Danielle Perrier, 33, was traveling west when she crashed into the back of a recycling truck. 

A dozen or more fire, rescue and police crews from Auburn, Lewiston and United Ambulance responded to the accident scene shortly after 10:30 a.m.  Rescue crews had to dismantle the Ford SUV to extricate Perrier. Her two children — a 3-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl — suffered minor injuries. They were removed quickly from the vehicle and were treated and released, police said.

While this article is posted on the newspaper web site many people are allowed to add comments to the article, on line for others to read.  I, unfortunately, took the time to read several comments.  A lot of people were offering condolences but sadly a great majority of people were passing judgment on how Danielle could possibly drive into the back of garbage truck that was stopped.

Though we may never know the exact cause of what happened in that car right before the accident.  I do know that she had two small kids (safely) strapped into the back seat.  I am well aware how easy it is to be distracted by kids;  just by a sneeze, a cry, passing them a toy,  or a cup to drink…by just about anything!  That is why I have added this picture because I can’t count how many times that I will be driving with Colin and have reached in the back seat to soothe Colin, or hand him a book, or wipe a noise.  This type of tragedy can happen to anyone, anytime.

Since this accident I have changed my routine when I have Colin in the car.  If he is crying or needs a drink, I have decided that he can wait.  Unless he is choking or in dire emergency, in which then I will pull the car over, he can wait until I can safely deal with his issue.

We have since gotten news that Danielle was conscious after the accident, asked about the kids, and found out they were okay before she passed away.  I am sure it gave her some peace. 

In loving memory:  Danielle Perrier ~Give my sister a hug for me, Danielle~

                                            ****************

In March, we  got news that Dennis’ step-dad, Garry had been diagnosed with throat cancer.  Very fortunately it appears that they have caught the cancer in its early stage.  Unfortunately the treatment still seems very invasive.  Garry has had to get a “port” implanted in his chest to receive medication.  They also had to put a feeding tube in.  He will be fed through the feeding tube while he is getting radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

Dennis’ mom, Jackie is doing a wonderful job taking care of him, even though she just had surgery herself, in November, for a total knee replacement.

                                            ****************

Also in March, my mom, fell and fractured her hip!  She had taken an overnight gambling excursion to Jackpot, Nevada with some friends.  My mom never made it into the casino.  As she walked across the parking lot to check into the hotel, she tripped and fell. 

Jackpot is a very small town with no hospital.  She had to take an ambulance to the nearest hospital, back to Idaho, about 50 miles.  She spent the night in the hospital.  Then came back home where she had to have physical therapy and follow up with an orthopedic doctor. 

When I took mom for her follow-up appointment not only did the MRI show her fracture it also showed that she had arthritis in her hip, no cartilage left in the joint, and a few cysts.  The doctor said they would wait for the fracture to heal but then she would need to be scheduled for a complete hip replacement.

Well mom healed well and her surgery was scheduled!  (to be continued……)

With Love,

Tina

Preschool Graduation.......

.....well kind of a "graduation"!

Colin actually has two more years of preschool but in his class there is a mixture of kids from three to five years old. The older kids will be going to Kindergarten in the fall so they held a graduation that the whole class participated in. The kids that were still going to be in preschool next year wore green caps and the graduating kids wore blue caps.

When the kids walked in they sat in a circle and sang a few songs. Once Colin saw us sitting there watching him he was only interested in coming to see us, not participating in the singing of any songs. They were using the sticks to tap, as instruments, while they sang a song. Colin didn't participate too much in the tapping. He really wanted a green and red stick but that's not what he got. :)After the kids sang songs, it was time to pass out their "diplomas".
All of Colin's teachers were awesome but Miss Whitney (green shirt) held an extra special place in Colin's heart. She was the one who would take the frown away when/if he was sad about being at school. Miss Whitney won't be there next year because she is moving to Montana and we are going to miss her.

I love this picture of Colin. The smile on his face is priceless. Looking at his expression you would think he just won an Academy Award or the lottery!

I offered to bring cupcakes as a special treat for the kids after their ceremony. The kids were thrilled......SUGAR!!!!Logen helped take the paper off Colin's cupcake.

I am not sure who taught Colin to eat a cupcake like that! I hate to admit it but it was cute! :) Notice the kids are drinking out of paper cups. Logen finally mastered how to drink from an open cup. That is one of the things he had been working on during the school year.

We let Logen get out of school at little early so he could come to the graduation too! Happy kids!

Freshman Year....Going...Going.....Gone

As I sit and write this post to my blog, I am waiting for Logen to walk through the door, his last day as a freshman in high school behind him. I know I have said this so many times and here I go again, "where does the time go?"

Logen had a fantastic freshman year. We are so proud of him and all that he has accomplished. Logen we love you...keep up the good work!

Blogging

I have not been very good at blogging this year! In 2009, my first year blogging, I wrote on my blog a total of 190 times.....which averages out to be about every other day I posted something.

Its not that I have lost interest because I love to blog. I love to have a journal of our years events. I have looked back on last years blog quite often to remind myself when certain events took place or what the weather was like on certain days.

I was talking to my Aunt Jo-Ann one day and she was saying how much she missed reading my blog. She even threatened to withhold some vegetable seeds that she had promised for my garden until I updated my blog. That conversation took place about three weeks ago and the seeds still have not arrived in the mail. I guess she was serious!

There actually has been a lot going on in the last few months and I was trying to decide how to update the blog in chronological order.....I decided that would be impossible. I will just keep updating the day to day events and throw in little "catch-up stories".

I appreciate how many friends and family have told me that they have missed reading my blog. Let me fill you in on a little secret; I do not think any one would have enjoyed reading this blog the last couple months because all I would have been doing is complaining about the weather. It has been the worst spring I can ever remember here in Idaho. It has been cold, wet and windy more than I could have ever imagined. It is already the first week of June, and I can count on my hand how many nights we have been able to eat dinner on the patio....which is a highlight of the day when the weather is nice.

Again, thank you for being my blog "fan"........Let the blogging begin.....

Big Boy Bed

The day has finally come……Colin is officially a big boy….and along with that title comes a new bed! 

For several months when we talked to Colin about getting a bed he asked us if he could have a Toy Story bed.  So I ordered Toy Story sheets from the internet.  When the day came, he helped take his crib apart and helped put the bed together.  Then we had him leave the room so we could make his bed with his new Toy Story sheets and surprise him.

He was very surprised and happy. 

Colin has made the transition from crib to bed wonderfully.  No problems!

If anyone is wondering, yes that is his crib mobile that we put on his new bed.  He loves listening to “Bach” on the mobile when he goes to bed, so we decided just to let him keep it, even though he is a big boy now!

With Love,

Tina

Logen is…………………..

Logen is in his 2nd semester of acting class at his high school.  The school puts on a big school production every spring.  This year they are performing a comedic version of Cinderella.   Logen read for several parts but had really settled on wanting the role of Roland, a friend of Prince Charming.  After much anticipation and a couple weeks of stress wondering what role his teacher would choose for him, she announced that Logen got the role of………

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

………………………………..Prince Charming!

We are so excited and proud that Logen got the lead role in his first high school play.  The play is a full production with set design and costumes.  The school will put on two performances of Cinderella in May. 

Congratulations, Logen…….

With Love,

Tina

The Last Day

On Monday, March 22nd, it was our last full day in Las Vegas.  Tyler was working, so we were on our own for a day of some Vegas sightseeing. 

There is a new hotel complex on the strip called, City Center and Dennis and I were anxious to check it out.  We had heard a lot about the Aria Hotel which is part of City Center.  We had wanted to stay there instead of Planet Hollywood but they were sold out for the weekend that we were there.  We decided we would walk over (it was right across the street from Planet Hollywood) and see if we could find a place to eat. 

This is the crowd of people checking into the Aria Hotel on a Monday morning at 11:00.

The complex that makes up City Center consists of five buildings.  A few of the buildings are still under construction. The end result will look like this:

We walked around the shopping plaza of the Aria before we went looking for a place to eat….and only did window shopping.

They have very high end stores hence the reason we only “window” shopped.

We found a cafe to eat brunch at.  It was interesting to see how some of the newer hotels are going high tech.  As you know, at most restaurants, menus are posted in the doorway for a preview. At the cafe in the Aria, their menu is a big computer screen that you can scroll through the menu items by choosing the category then scroll through the screen by dragging your finger across the screen.  It was pretty neat! 

What a wonderful restaurant. From the white linen table cloths, to the yummy food, to the view out the huge expanse of windows, to the exceptional service.  Definitely a place we would go back to again.

We walked the strip for a little while, stopping at all the tacky gift shops and just enjoying the beautiful weather.  It was sunny and 78 degrees….a dream come true for me. 

We went back to the hotel and decided to get some shorts on and head down to the pool that we had been admiring from our room the past few days.   A margarita by the pool sounded like a good way to finish off the afternoon.

Looking up at the tower.  Our room is right up there on the 23rd floor!

I will pre-warn you that this is where the ONLY complaint of our trip comes in.

See that smile on Dennis’ face?  He is faking it!  We bought two of these margarita's out at the pool bar.  Two plastic cups and $20 later we were complaining.  These were the worst drinks we have ever experienced.  We drank about four sips and left them on the table.   They were extremely “boozy” and not iced like a margarita at all, they were more like a slush.  They did not use real strawberries, just a fake syrup.  So I am warning everyone now; if you ever stay at PH do not order drinks at the bar by the pool! 

Dennis decided to go up to our room and get two nice cold beers from our refrigerator and we would sit in the huge, beautiful lobby looking at the big windows that overlooked the pool area.   It was a great idea…so relaxing!

Our plan was to go out to dinner that  last night with Tyler, Heather, and Heather’s parents, Cindy and Brian.  We always try to see Cindy and Brian at least once while we are in town.  They are great people.  They have great personalities, are very down to earth, and easy to spend time with.  But most importantly, I would say that they are very good to Tyler.  I am very happy and fortunate to know that they like Tyler so much.  I know that I have said this before but as my kids have gotten older it is just a good lesson to live by; Treat Logen/Tyler’s girlfriends as I would expect her parents to treat them.    We had a great meal together and we sure appreciate Brian and Cindy taking time out to have a dinner with us.

After dinner, Tyler and  Heather, took Dennis and I to the Pinball Hall of Fame.  Tyler has bragged about the Pinball Hall of Fame for quite a while now.  He took Logen there when Logen flew to Vegas last October.  I have to admit I was a little skeptical about how fun this would be but decided to give it a shot.  This pinball place is owned and operated by a gentleman that apparently is a self made millionaire from the video game industry, when it  hit really big in the 1980’s.  Now he runs this place, fixes all his own games and donates all net proceeds to charity.   There are machines in there, in mint condition, from the 1950’s to current.

What a blast we had……

I played the Gilligan Island pinball game. 

I did not take a picture of my really high score—over 8 million—Tyler said that was a better score than he had ever got, and he is a pro!  :)

After a couple hours, we took Tyler and Heather back to his car and proceeded back to the strip for a last few late hours of Vegas fun.

On Tuesday, we were up bright and early to bring Tyler coffee and donuts to work, say our goodbyes and head to the airport for our flight home.  I hate saying bye to Tyler, but hopefully he will be able to come for a visit to Boise in a couple of months.

What a fabulous vacation.  I am so appreciative of the time that Dennis and I had together.  Thanks for the memories, honey!

With Love,

Tina

Dennis Arrived on Sunday

On Sunday, Tyler and I got together for lunch.  We ate at another one of our favorite restaurants, Buffalo Wild Wings.  They actually finally finally opened up a Buffalo Wild Wings Restaurant here in Meridian but for some reason it just does not seem to compare to the one we go to in Las Vegas. 

We enjoyed our lunch together then I was off to the airport to pick up Dennis.  I was so excited to be seeing him.  I realize it had only been three days since I left Boise but I had really missed him. 

Believe it or not Dennis and I have never vacationed by ourselves.  Well I take that back…in 1997 we went to Las Vegas and joined Dennis’ family for 5 days without the kids …..but not since then have we spent even  a night apart from them.  One of us has always been at home for them.  So, to say the least, we were really looking forward to our time.  Plus we had a very big date planned for that evening.

After I picked Dennis up at the airport, we went back to the hotel, had a drink together then got ready to go on our date.  What was our date going to be??  Well, Dennis bought us tickets to Jersey Boys.  Jersey Boys is a Broadway-style musical/play based on the life of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

Off to the venue:   The beautiful Palazzo Hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We took full advantage of valet parking.  I wish I had taken a picture of the doorman.  He was dressed in top hat, fancy red jacket with tails and black pants.  Very elegant looking.  Of course the hotel is just gorgeous so he fit in perfectly.

We found the venue and picked up the tickets that Dennis had purchased.  It was all pretty exciting to us.  As many times that we had been to Vegas, we had never been to a “Vegas Show” before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were not sure what to expect.  Ticket to these shows are not cheap but it was something that we had always wanted to do. We had absolutely wonderful seats and we cannot stop talking about what a great time show this was!  The show was about  the life story of Frankie Valli and how the group, The Four Seasons, came together. The story was portrayed through acting and singing their songs, Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry, My Eyes Adored You, Walk Like a Man and many more.  Some songs we didn’t even realize that Frankie Valli sang;  Oh, What a Night and Working My Way Back To You.  This show was more than we could have ever imagined.  It was worth every penny we paid for it.  I had a wonderful time with Dennis.  What a lucky girl I am that he bought us tickets…….

Great, great memories!

With Love,

Tina

Saturday: Vegas, Chores and Fun

Saturday was Tyler’s day off and it was planned that we were going to get a few chores out of the way.

We went for coffee in the morning.  We went to a local coffee shop not far from Tyler’s house and the coffee was spectacular.  After coffee we went and did some groceries at Costco to get Tyler stocked up on a few items.  I tried to give him easy meal ideas to put together when he was in a hurry and on limited time.  We also worked on perfecting his budget.  Tyler took an accounting class in college so he has always been good budgeting but I just gave him a few ideas to keep everything on track.

We also went to the bookstore and record store on Saturday.  Tyler loves to find good old fashioned vinyl records. 

Dennis was flying in to Vegas the next day, so I decided to get some beer to put in our refrigerator in the hotel room, so we could have a drink when he came into town.  Tyler took me to Lee’s Liquor Store to get some beer.  I was shocked when I went in to the store.  I swear, only in Vegas would a liquor store give samples.  Yes, samples, like they do at Costco.   They just weren’t grocery samples they were booze samples.  I thought that was the craziest thing!

For dinner Tyler and I went to one of his favorite hamburger places: In and Out.  We don’t have this restaurant in Boise, so we like to go when we are in Vegas.  There is a new In and Out right by Tyler’s house that is really nice.

In the evening Tyler took me out to a local bar and we had a beer together.  Tyler ordered me a beer, called Blue Moon, and it is served with a slice of orange.   It was really good!  A couple local bands were playing that were fun to listen to.  I took Tyler home after that and I headed back to the hotel.  I was a little disappointed that the Valet parking was full and had to park in the parking garage.  I got a good spot that was fairly close to the entrance.  It worked out okay.

The next day, Sunday was a big day---Dennis was flying in to Vegas to finish the last two days of our vacation.  We have NEVER vacationed without our kids, so this was going to be something new that we were really looking forward to!

With Love,

Tina

Tyler and His Career

On Friday, March 19th, Tyler had to work.  I was going to bring him lunch that day, but Friday is the day that his company buys lunch for everyone in the office.  So I decided to sleep in, relax a little then head over to see Tyler in the early afternoon. 

Doesn’t Tyler look good?

I was able to meet Tyler’s new secretary, Patty;  What a great personality she has.  Also, I got to see his co-worker, Gus,again.  Gus also has a great personality and always has a funny story to tell.  Tyler has a new producer in the office that I did not get a chance to meet because he had gone home sick.

I brought my laptop to Tyler’s office so I could get on the internet and get a couple things done.  He had a client coming in for an audition while I was there, so I set up my computer on the extra desk he has and sat in for the recording of the audition.

I do not think I have the words to explain how awesome it was watching Tyler work.  What a proud, proud moment for me!  It is more than obvious he loves what he does for a living.  The gal that came in for the reading was so complimentary of Tyler.  His clients think the world of him.  I was amazed at listening to him speak to his clients and direct his clients.  Really that is what he is doing; not only recording, editing and producing the track he recorded.  But he also has to direct them to get the sound, tone and delivery of what the potential customers want in order to sell the audition.  He was amazing the way he spoke to them, directed them to change tone or “act” in a certain manner and compliment them on a job well done.  I am just amazingly proud of him!

After Tyler and Heather got off work, they came over to the hotel and we all went to dinner at a restaurant that was attached to the hotel:  PF Changs.  I had never eaten there but had always wanted to.  Another fantastic meal with fantastic company.  That is one thing that is certain, when we go to Vegas we always eat well!

Tyler, Heather and I spent time together until it was time for them to go to a concert that they had been planning to go to for awhile.

I was loving my vacation….

With Love,

Tina 

The Hotel

On this trip to Las Vegas, I got a room at the brand new hotel: Planet Hollywood Towers.  The Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino is the former Aladdin Hotel.  From what I understand the Aladdin Hotel was torn down to basically the studs and remodeled.  Then they built the “Tower” from the ground up.  The tower has only been open since January 28th, 2010.  It is virtually brand new!  It is modern, contemporary and beautiful. 

I have to say ONE of the best things about staying in a hotel is the valet parking.  I take full advantage of the valet when we go to Vegas.  I knew that I especially wanted to take advantage of it on this trip because I was traveling alone for 3 of the days and did not want to be in the parking garages alone, especially at night, in the dark. 

The PH Hotel staff was so nice when I checked in; from the valet (took all my luggage out of the car for me)  to the front desk (upgraded me to a higher floor room-the 23rd-with a view), to the person who delivered my luggage to my room.  I felt lucky to be staying there.

I will have to say that this is my favorite hotel that I have stayed at in Vegas. It was so nice, new and modern. 

The ROOM:

This big window has a huge electronic shade that comes down with a push of the button on the wall or a click of the remote on the TV screen. It darkens the room tremendously--not a crack of morning sunlight will stream in.  As I walked into the room that night, I opened the door, flipped on the light and this shade automatically went up revealing the beautiful lighted view of Las Vegas. The bed was SOOO comfortable and it was great to have a nice sitting area to read the morning paper in.

Another great feature of this room was the mini kitchen:

This kitchen included a refrigerator, dishwasher, convection/microwave oven, sink, toaster and a coffee maker.  It was so nice to have drinks and refrigerated items, breakfast and/or snack items in the room.  And waking up and being able to make coffee and not having to run to the casino for a cup of coffee from the Starbucks was soooo nice!

The bathroom was very nice too:

  The tub was a Jacuzzi.  The shower had a “rainfall” shower head.  The toilet was in a separate stall area.  It was just really nice.  I have to say the only thing that threw it off for me was the all black toilet.  I know it is strange to not like a toilet but it was just weird for me. 

The first night I was in Vegas Tyler had band practice so he wasn’t going to be available for dinner.  After the long day I decided just to order room service.  After hunting around the room for a menu with no luck, I asked the guy who delivered my luggage about it and he said it was on the TV.  Who would have guessed that?  I decided to order a turkey roll up sandwich that also came with fries.  About half an hour later my dinner arrived on a table cloth draped cart.

This meal was fantastic! 

Tyler came by to that evening and we visited for a while.  He could not stay too late because he had to work the next morning and I have to admit I was exhausted from the traveling! 

The vacation had started off great!

With Love,

Tina

Vegas Vacation

On March 18th, I was fortunate enough to fly to Vegas to visit with Tyler.  The plan was for me to fly on Thursday, the 18th, spend some time with Tyler and get a few things done for him that we had wanted to do. On Sunday the 21st, Dennis was going to fly in Vegas and spend the last two days with me before we flew home together on Tuesday.

What a long day it was. I had to work for a bit in the morning and  then be at the airport at 12:30 to catch my flight.  I had a crazy flight route that I was taking to get to Vegas; first (and only) stop was San Francisco! 

Now anybody that knows me well, knows that I am not the most comfortable flier.  I fuss, worry and stress usually until the plane has taken off, then I settle in a little bit.  The plane to San Francisco was a very small plane only two seats on each side and only about 20 rows.  We were into the flight about 15-20 minutes, the stewardess (are they still called that?) was rolling the cart up the very narrow aisle, handing out drinks.  She was at the row of seats right in front of me when a huge noise/crash was felt under my feet.  The guy in front of me looked up at the stewardess and asked “what was that?”   She proceeded to tell him that we probably hit a bird.  Was that suppose to make us feel better?  It may just have been a “coincidence”, but we started getting tremendous turbulence right after that!!  All I could do was look at the window at all the snow on the mountains below us and wonder how they hell I was going to survive if we crashed because I was only wearing sandals on my feet!   :D  Like that was the least of my problems!  After I  got over that initial shock I tried to settle in for the rest of the flight. 

As we got closer to our destination I could see the beautiful Pacific Ocean.  Wow!  It reminded me how much I enjoyed growing up near the ocean.  It was beautiful!  Then I could see the airport runway coming right off of the bay.  I really mean “right off of the bay”….it was amazing…..water was surrounding the runway on three sides.   We flew past the runway, which seemed like forever and then turned and came back for the landing into San Francisco.  We flew over the bay for a long time.  It was pretty intimidating to someone like me, who hates to fly.  All I could think about, as we got closer and closer to the water, was how frightening it must have been for the people on the flight that crashed/landed on the Hudson River.  I can’t even imagine what was going through their minds…okay maybe I can!

We landed safely in San Francisco.  I have never been to California before.  I know just being in the airport probably doesn’t count as “being in California”.  But it was still nice to see the Pacific Ocean and say that I have been there.

I had about an hour layover, then I had the “honor” of being patted down by TSA before I boarded my flight to Vegas.  It seemed ridiculous that they were pulling people aside ( it was probably for training) since we all had already been through security.  They pulled me aside, pat me down and didn’t even check the bags I am carrying on the plane.  Just seems a little strange. 

Only about an hour after boarding the plane, the Vegas strip come into view from the plane.  It is pretty funny flying into Vegas.  Everybody on the plane is smiling and appear to be ready for a good time.

It was quite a process:  get off the plane, take the tram to baggage, go outside and find the shuttle bus to take me to the rental car area, get the rental car and find my way to the hotel.

I was so excited to be in Vegas to spend some time with Tyler.   As I finally settled  in for my short drive to the hotel I decided:  I worry too much!

With Love,

Tina

Take me back to February…….

…..back to Valentines Day.

The Sweethearts Day:  Shelbe came to our house on Valentines Day to spend the day with us…well, really to spend the day with Logen.   They exchanged their very first Valentines Day gifts with each other.

Logen made Shelbe a collage picture of all of their favorite pictures together and framed it.  Shelbe made Logen a GIANT chocolate chip cookie! Logen said it was yummy.  I did not get even a bite! :)

Dennis made us his “famous” shrimp linguine for dinner….it is Shelbe’s favorite meal.  It was a pretty great day.

Colin’s class had a Valentines Day party the week before.  All week the class had learned about mail, the post office and how the mailman delivers mail to our houses. Oh wait until they grow up and find out that not all mail is good mail.  The mailman also brings us BILLS..yuck!   In teaching about mail, the class took a walking field trip to the post office to mail their handmade Valentines Day card to their parents.  The post office is only two blocks away and the afternoon weather was just beautiful for a walk. 

Here Colin is mailing his Valentines Day card.  He was so excited to check the mail the next day and see that the mailman had delivered it.

With learning about mail, it was important for him to participate in creating his Valentines for his friends at school.  This what Colin helped his Aunt Tina put together for all his friends:

   Of course he picked out “Toy Story” cards and the biggest sweetest sugar cookies we could find.  He was pretty excited to bring the goody bags to school.

Valentines Day 2010 was a success!

With Love,

Tina

My Son is a Rock Star…..

……or at least he “plays” one in the the evenings, sometimes!

Tyler and his band, Nothing With Numbers, have been busy playing gigs.  Last week the band was ranked #1 in the Las Vegas Weekly Magazine, which is a very big deal to a local band.  The band is getting a great fan base.  They have also been networking with other bands, so they are getting requests to open up for bigger Las Vegas bands.

The other night they played a gig a the Bunk House Saloon.  This is the venue where I saw they perform in October.  It is a smaller bar but they can really pack the people in…….

 

These guys have a great time performing together, are good friends and they all are very talented. 

I hope I can get to Vegas soon to see them perform again.

Keep up the good work…..and if anyone is wondering, after looking at these pictures…..YES….the deer is wearing a bra!  :)

With Love,

Tina