the next next weekend

Gotta keep my promise with the title. Get comfortable, this is probably going to be a long one. With lots of pictures.

To start it off here's a picture of the Easter eggs Alexis and I decorated. I don't like doing stuff like that but she's at the point where she knows other people do, so now I have to. Plus she doesn't really nap anymore, so I have to do something to fill the time. It ended up being more fun and less messy than I thought it would be.

Second, I got my haircut. I hate pictures like this but here it is. I like my hair, but it never looks as good as when the lady did it for me, and this means I actually have to take time to do my hair now.
Third, the Las Vegas trip. We had fun visiting with my brother, Aaron, and his wife, Tricia. They were very hospitable and let us stay in their home; they even gave up their bed! The very first night we were there we attended the stake championship basketball game for the young men in Aaron's ward. Here is the astounding thing. There were fans there, there were posters and signs, there was cheering and there was face paint! I am not kidding. I have never been more amazed at a church ball game then I was at this. They even had team colors. Because I was so shocked by all of this I forgot to take a picture.

We also did some of the typical touristy stuff, like the M&M factory
and the dolphin exhibit at the Mirage.
Jeremy and my brother went golfing a few timesand we took the kids to a huge park to play for awhile.
Tricia and I climbed the rock wall at Dick's
which was 47 feet. Before that, the highest I'd ever climbed was 30. I was scared to look down.And when I got back to the bottom I saw that Tyler had fallen face first off the bench onto the cement floor. He was a bloody mess with a fat lip, but we gave him some soda and he calmed down. I'll probably never leave ground again though.

The Easter Bunny did manage to find Alexis and Tyler all the way in Las Vegas, which was a relief. It took Tyler all of half a second to figure out how to open an Easter egg, so he was already eating candy while Alexis was still looking for her basket.

(Is Santa on vacation? What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, Santa.)

Here's some funny pictures of the kids making weird faces.
Alexis got those clip on earrings in one of the eggs of her basket, which she has been saying she'd get for a week, so when she saw them she ran over to Tyler and showed them to him and said, "Ty-guy, I got earrings in my Easter basket. The Easter bunny brought earrings to your big sister Alexis, that's me." To which Tyler responded by ignoring her and eating another jelly bean. Here's a not so funny picture.
The good thing about Alexis being so little is that we can reuse Easter dresses, this was last years and it fit her just great, possibly even better this time.

I just have to say, my kids were awesome travelers. They were great in the car on the way there and on the way back. If they were a food, they'd be trail mix, that's how well they traveled. Check back with me in May when we drive to Iowa though, I hope they stay trail mix then too, but I have a feeling they'll be more like ice cream.

There was one sad thing as a result of our trip. Alexis has a little pink bear that she has slept with every night since she was born, and we accidentally left it in Las Vegas. So last night Jeremy hung around as I put Alexis to bed, waiting for me to "break the news". So I said, "Alexis, I have to tell you something. We left bear in Las Vegas". This is probably the worst piece of news I could ever give her. Her little face crumpled up, she put her head down and covered her eyes with her hand and just started crying. I felt so sorry for her, but I was also trying to stifle my laughter. Fortunately the bear is on it's way in the mail, and Alexis slept with her little dog "Hailey" instead. I just hope Hailey doesn't replace bear, or I'd feel pretty sad for him. But I guess that's what he gets for partying in Vegas for too long.