flashback friday…

July 1, 2011

right at this moment: i feel completely american, one hundred percent, from the top of my head to the tips of my toes with shivers. i always get that i-think-i-might-cry-about-anything-patriotic- feeling leading up till the fourth. actually, i feel this way every day, but much more intense leading up to the fourth. i always tear up during the national anthem at baseball games… and, also during the olympics.

i see soldiers, in uniform, and i could cry. i see flags, cry. i hear our national anthem, more glossy eyes. i feel the planes fly overhead as our local parade begins. tears.

i love driving around town and spotting all the temporary firework shops,

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hit the road, jack…

May 2, 2011

we have just returned home from a very-quick-road-trippin’-beautiful-weekend.

it involved a lot of smartfood popcorn {my fave snack} + not-so-good ice cream + a really really really great new DECORATE book {here} + lots of drive-thru {bleh.} which, by the way, why on earth is it so challenging to order food for a family of six at a drive-thru? i mean, if we are able to order correctly, then it’s almost impossible to get the order correct. then, sometimes, it takes a fog horn to get the kids’ attention, so they can tell us what they want to order, the person on the other side of that little intercom gets highly frustrated,

.....

nycda – las vegas

February 21, 2011

earlier this month, we headed to vegas for a few days.

we had a great weekend mixed with dance & normal-vegas-visiting-events…

under blue warm skies,

we stayed at the vdara in the new city center.

it’s so nice, especially with kids. very central to the miracle mile shops, clean. new. contemporary. spacious. no casino {i like that when traveling as a family.} Even if we were disappointed that there weren’t any casinos near us, we could always just turn to online casinos instead. At least we’d still be together as a family. I have heard from my friends that some sites have a Welcome Offer when you join a new website,

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dirty’s fabulous fortieth…

November 16, 2010

i don’t ever want to forget weekends like this.

{blast our weekend theme song, here.}

it was filled with family and friends. just like every year, the candles were blown out. games were played. stories were shared. music was played. laughter was contagious. one-liners were rampant. memories were made.

and, it was magical.


we filled this RV with as many people as we could,
and headed south…


lots of card games, scrabble, and treats.
thank you to michael for having incredible driving-parking skills,
“i’ve never seen a 40-foot sports car go so fast!”

.....

and two tails.

while on this trip,
kj & myla spent serious time lizard hunting.

kj was given a baby lizard from his cousin,
and myla’s jealousy started raging!
so, uncle ryan gave the kids rides on a 4-wheeler to help with the search.
till myla found one…


she was so pleased to finally find a horny toad!

so, we traveled home with one horny toad & one dessert lizard in slurpee cups.

the next evening, husband surprised the kids with a spontaneous trip to the pet shop to get a cage,

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this weekend, our story began with dusty’s high school reunion.

…his twenty-first reunion, which included an entire decade of class reunions

in his small town nevada. 1985-1994.

we attended an adults~only dinner, and the homecoming football game, friday night lights! husbands 1A school plays 8-man, pvhs won somewhere around 58-0… go panthers!

we attended an alumni volleyball game, where kiana and i played and we all had fun.

there was an alumni basketball game, where the kids ruled the gym
between the scoreboard and microphone…

there was a potluck at the city park with bounce houses,

.....