Abby Loves to Sing

Check out Abby's new music video:

Zion National Park

The weekend of August 26th through the 29th we headed to Zion National Park in Utah and we had a great time! It was absolutely beautiful there. My dad reminded me that I had been there once before but...I was 6. I wish I could say that we camped but instead we stayed in the Lodge...the girls are still a bit young for camping...they need to sleep through the night first.

Here are some pictures of our adventures...

The lodge rooms didn't have any kitchens so we had to eat every meal out...this was fun and a bit trying at the sane time. The girls were acting their age but, that can be hard when you are in a restaurant setting. Here is picture from our first dinner out..and our best at Oscars:

We brought our bikes with us and, it ended up, that the bikes were the perfect way to see the park. The girls are not the best hikers yet but they are great on the bike.

We had a couple of great  short walks were we saw some fun animals...

The Lodge had a great grassy area that both Abby and Kera loved to play in and in the middle of the grass was a huge Willow tree...

And of course there were the great views...

We had a fantastic time!

but of course we couldn't end our long weekend without a dip in our pool...

Kera's New Favorite Activity

Kera's new favorite activity is definitely climbing the stairs. If the gate is not up at the bottom of the stairs then you can guarantee that she is on them.

Kera Turnes 9 Months!

On August 11th our little Kera Elizabeth turned 9 months. I can't believe how time flies! She is a very sweet, determined, and feisty little girl and my life is so much richer with her here.

Here are Kera's current stats:

Weight: 19 lbs 2 oz (50 percentile)
Length: 28 inches (75 percentile)
Head Circumference: 17.72 inches (75 percentile)

VERY Busy End of July, Part 3

Gwen and Regis left on Wednesday, July 27th at 4 pm and my parents arrives the very next day at 8:25 am...I barley had time to clean the sheets.

The reason that we had my parents come so quickly after Jim's was because we needed babysitters (and of course we wanted to see them)! Jim had bought me tickets to see Lifehouse in concert on Friday the 29th and we needed Pepe and Burrs here to watch the girls for us. Lifehouse sang our first dance song so it was the perfect anniversary present. The concert was at The Red Rock Cassino's pool. It was a great location!

The pictures are blurry but you can get the idea...

Funny story at the concert was...in the middle the lead singer took the stage to play acoustically for a bit while he was giving his band members a break. He was taking requests from the crowd on what songs he should do and someone suggested our first dance song, Everything. He played the chorus and it sounded great but Jim and I made the assumption that since he played it acoustically that there is no way that he was going to play it again with the whole band. Jim became really upset. He was complaining that the only reason for going to the concert was to hear that song and now it was pointless. He complained for the rest of the concert. The concert ended but they did come back on stage for an encore....our song was the very last song played...PERFECT!
The next day we all headed to the Neon Museum. I had been wanting to go to the museum for quite a while but you can only go by appointment only and there is quite a waiting list. I had to get our reservations months in advance. The Neon Museum is also called the Neon Graveyard and it is were they take all the old neon signs.  They were really cool to see. I wish I was able to look around longer but it was SO hot that day and I had to leave the tour early to get Kera our of the heat. Here are some of the cool old signs:

 The rest of my parent's visit was filled with a lot of playtime and pool time...

Burrs was also able to go see Abby's dance class...

Abby just started a new session of dance classes and at the end of this season will be her very first dance recital. On this trip my mom brought with her the outfit that I wore for my first recital...I was a bit older than Abby was and we were little ducks. Abby tried it on. It was a bit big for her but still very cute (even though she does not look very happy in this picture)!

My dance career was very short so, I hope Abby has fun with it as long as she decides to continue. Right now, it is her favorite activity.

Thank you as always for the nice visit Pepe and Burrs!

VERY Busy End of July, Part 2

Our niece Maya Jean was born on June 8th and on Thursday, July 21st Grandma and Grandpa Rogers, and the 4 of us piled into a van to drive down to California to meet her. We officially me our precious niece Maya over dinner on Thursday night. She is PERFECT!

On Friday, Grandma, Grandpa, and the 4 of us headed to the Los Angeles Zoo! IT WAS GREAT! The zoo was the perfect size for us. We were able to get around the zoo in about 2 hours. Abby was so funny and really helped us to get around the park so quickly. As soon as we would get to an animal pin she would look at the animal for a moment and then say, "More animals" and off we went to the next pin. Here are a few pictures from the zoo...

As you can see...the girls had a great time at the zoo...

On Friday night we had dinner with Joe, Remy, and Maya...

Abby and Kera loved seeing their Uncle Joe and Auntie Remy!

On Saturday we headed to the beach for a bit. I love the beach and I wish Abby would of enjoyed it more but she was afraid of the waves. Jim tried to build a sand castle with her but she became too frightened. Regardless, it was a nice time in the sand.

After an afternoon of a few hiccups...we will let those be unsaid...we had a very nice dinner with Remy's mom, Soonie, it is always a great pleasure to see her!

And Abby got her teeth checked by Auntie Remy...all looks good!

On Saturday night I was able to get Remy out of the house for a movie! We say the final Harry Potter. Even though it was just released it was my second time seeing it. Jim and I were able to go out to see it a few days earlier in Vegas.

We initially were going to stay until Monday but we decider to leave a day early but, before we left, we were able to meet for one last breakfast. It was great that we had the opportunity to all be together.

Once we got back home to Vegas we had a few more days with Grandma and Grandpa. Those days were filled with them experiencing Abby's dance class...

And of course, there was pool time...

Thank you very much Joe and Remy for allowing us to visit and meet Maya and thank you Regis and Gwen for coming to town to see us. 

Next up, Pepe and Burrs come to town.

VERY Busy End of July, Part 1

We had a very busy end of July starting with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Rogers, then, a road trip to California to meet out new niece Maya (with Grandma and Grandpa Rogers), and then, finally, a visit from Pepe and Burrs.
Grandma and Grandpa arrives on July 18th and the girls were very happy to see them.

Abby played fairies and played with chalk with Grandpa:

Read with Grandma:

Kera got a lot of good snuggle time in:

And of course there was pool time for all:

While the grandparents were here I also got to enjoy a nice morning by myself with Jim took everyone hiking at Red Rock. While they were hiking...I was getting a massage.

One major thing that happened when the grandparents were here is Kera finally started crawling on her hands and knees:

Next, it was off to California to meet Maya!