Sadi's

Zach is at Sadi's with his friend Lindsey! The girls have taken them to breakfast, played games, and made cakes. We saw Zach for a little bit during the day, and he said he is having a great time. He is totally impressed with how much the girls have done. Now he is at the dance. I used this picture because it shows their matching shoes. Lindsey is proud of that!

Another Wonderful Day!

The weather was so warm today, that we went to the park. In fact we spent most of our day outside enjoying this beautiful weather. I know, all of my friends and family back east and up north are hating me right now. Sure hate me now, because in a couple of months when the temperature is over 110 degrees here, you guys will be loving your 80-90 degree weather! (By the way, it doesn't matter that it is a dry heat. It's hot!) One wonderful thing about living in Vegas is the parks. There are great parks built for the kids. This one is one of our favorites. It has everything. Aubrey even had one of her girlfriends come along with her! It was a great day!

Ian has been working on this all year. He can finally make it all the way!
Aubrey's friend.

Sabbath Day Activities?????

As a family we love to play board games on Sunday. This Sunday the kids played with Ian's Clone War Monopoly game twice. Once before church and once after church. At first I always think to myself, this is a great Sabbath Day activity. We are spending time together as a family, and really enjoying ourselves. Then it gets a little crazy. There is yelling, running around with bags a bread (Ask Zach about that.), and sometimes crying. So, I decided to document this wonderful, family bonding event!

One thing that can be heard, "Don't worry little buddy, soon I will give you the keys to the kingdom!"
Zachery is thinking about revenge. Zach has been heard saying, "I hope you die.........economically speaking!"

This group joins together at the end.

Join with me and together we can rule the universe. Oh wait, Darth Vader isn't in Clone Wars!

Broccoli Recipe

I am always trying to get my kids to eat broccoli. They hate it! They won't eat it for anything, well until I tried this recipe. Now when I make this recipe, I don't make enough of it. The kids eat it all up and love it! Yes, even Ian eats this up! The kids have asked me to only make this recipe if we are having broccoli. Hey, whatever works. People have asked me to post this recipe, so here it goes!

Parmesan-Roasted Broccoli
4-5 pounds broccoli
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons pine nuts toasted
1/3 cup freshly gated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons julienned fresh basil leaves (about 12)
directions:
Preheat the oven 425 degrees. Cut the broccoli florets from the thick stalks, leaving an inch or two of stalk attached to the florets, discarding the rest of the stalks. Cut the larger pieces through the base of the head with a small knife, pulling the florets apart. You should have about 8 cups of florets. Place the broccoli florets on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Toss the garlic on the broccoli and drizzle with 5 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast for 20-25 minutes, until crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are brown. Remove the broccoli from the oven and immediately toss with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, pine nuts, Parmesan, and basil. Serve hot.
Courtesy of "Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics"

Adventures In Rock Climbing!

This is why sometimes I love living in Las Vegas. Here it is January, and the weather is just wonderful. Nice and comfortable. We were so happy it was such a great day because the guys planned to go rock climbing with the DeMarco family! It was so much fun and brother DeMarco was so kind to show my family how to rock climb. They loved it!!! It was a great day! This is where we went. It is pretty high up. Look at the red rocks. It is so pretty. I love it here!

Zachery at the top.
Ian even got a chance to rock climb. He did pretty good! Ian was very proud of himself!

Zachery going on his climb.

Austin on his climb. At the end, he sat next to me and told me how much he loved it! It took some learning and a lot of effort, but it was worth it!

Austin is on the left, and Aubrey is on the right!

Aubrey!

She went twice. She was pretty proud of herself!

Don even got a chance!

While Don was climbing he had no idea that this guy was up there taking pictures of him the whole time! What the heck! At one point he told us that he thought that rock climbing was something that was only done in the movies. Funny. He did take a ton of pictures.

Has Morgan been replaced?? Ian said no, he is just being nice!

This is me getting all artistic! Ha Ha! Right!

Ian's Birthday Party

Ian had his "friends" birthday party today. We always wait until January, because his birthday is December 28th and no one is in town during Christmas Break. It was worth the wait, and all of the kids he invited were able to attend. He had a "Clone Wars" birthday party, and it went really good. The kids all had a great time. These are the cupcakes he got. We looked everywhere to get a "Clone Wars" cake and nobody knew what I was talking about. I even went to Albertson's, and still there was nothing. Well, on Thursday Ian was sick (strep throat), so I took him to the doctors and then we went to the pharmacy to get his medicine. While we were waiting I went back over to Albertson's and I was going to have Ian pick out a cake with just "happy birthday Ian" on it and then I would put his "Clone Wars" action figures on it. Well, the lady said to me, why don't you just do cupcakes. I have these "Clone War" rings to put on them. Perfect. Ian was happy with that! Funny thing is, I was there the day before and the same lady didn't know what I was talking about. Amazing what changes in 24 hours.

We played pin the helmet on the clone wars guy. Ian is way off!

Don made the kids wear the "Clone Wars Helmet" while they did the pinata.

Candy from the pinata!

I think Ian just wants to get on with it!!! Here is a suggestion: When planning a party think about what color the frosting is before you get the cake or cupcakes! Blue frosting equals blue teeth, blue lips, blue hands, blue faces, and so on. You get the picture!

Opening up gifts!

We love board games!

Then Ian and his friends played "Clone Wars" on the Wii. Don't you love the light saber controllers?

Party kids!

Ian had a fun day!

Roll Tide Roll....not

On Friday, January 2nd, my brothers and I attended the 75th Sugar Bowl between Alabama and Utah in New Orleans. Before attending the game, we did the typical "New Orleans thing"...ate seafood. My brother David wanted to visit the National World War II museum , so we did a quick visit and then made our way to the football game. It was absolutely awesome to be in the Superdome with 70,000+ fans watching my favorite college football team, Alabama. Unfortunately, my "Grandma" could play better than Alabama's pass defense and Utah ended up winning the game (I guess if Alabama is going to lose to someone...Utah is not too bad). Since I had a late flight the next day, I went "exploring" New Orleans. I visited a cemetery (I know that caught you off guard, but you hear so many stories about cemeteries in New Orleans) and walked around the famous French Quarters. While looking for souvenirs for my family, I walked into a store that had a bunch of little "dolls" all over the walls. As I started looking closely at them, I realized that they were Voodoo dolls... not a good gift choice for your children. I ended up buying the typical New Orleans souvenir: beads. It was a great weekend with my Dad and brothers ... maybe the next time I see Alabama play live, they will truly "ROLL TIDE".

American tank from the D-day invasion
British Spitfire

Paratroopers Doug and Dad prepare for the D-Day invasion in the plane behind them ???

Check out the "intensity" as Dad and David watch the game

Is it an angel with a halo around his head or my brother Doug?

Scenes from the game


Creepy New Orleans cemetary...do you see any vampires?

French Quarters


The "infamous" Bourbon street

Bourbon street looking towards downtown New Orleans