A New Boy Scout

Since Michael turned 11 this month, he is now a Boy Scout. It's crazy to believe that the Cub Scout Era is over in our house. Anyway, his Crossing Over Ceremony was last night. He was also awarded the Arrow of Light!

Crossing Over ...

... And being welcomed by his new troop.

The cheer was to hold up your hand and swing it forward while saying, "Get outta here!"

Way to go, Michael!!!

Sedona, Here We Come!!!

Don't tell Mike, but I just purchased our flights to Sedona for our anniversary trip. So excited!!! He wanted me to wait until we find out what his bonus is next month... Silly man thinks every year that he won't get a bonus. Well, there was one year (when the recession hit) when it was cut in half. But he always gets one! The bonus pays for our family vacations... and home improvements (hoping to finally get that new roof this year. exciting stuff) and taxes (because we always OWE now. ugh.) and now we will add on college tuition. I also get my little bonus allowance which I use for girls weekend. :) Yikes... I hope there is enough! You have to understand that this "bonus" is not your normal bonus. It is supposed to be half of Mike's salary. That's the risk. You never know if you will really get what you deserve. We live on his pay checks and wait for the bonus to do all the extra stuff. But Mike is The Man at work. He is such a superstar, and everyone knows it. There is no way they will short change him if they can help it.

I have been watching flights, and I just had to get the tickets. I was hoping to use miles and fly free, but there aren't any free nonstop flights. Mike is such a snob when it comes to flying. But he is also an anxious traveler. He doesn't enjoy any part of it from start to finish. Before we have even left, he is sure we are going to miss our flight. He hates waiting in lines. He wants to be the first one on the plane. And he just wants to be done with it. I, on the other hand, love every bit. Once I walk out that door, I am happy to be on vacation. Let's enjoy it! Who cares about the lines? And why fly direct when you can stop over somewhere cool like ORD or DFW and walk around and have a bite to eat? Lol. We are so different So... last year we paid $340 each. That was ridiculous to me. I found one way flights this time that are $140 each. That's $280 each - a huge savings from last year! The first flight is on US Airways. Only three tickets left at that price. 10am flight, gets us in at noon. Plenty of time to drive up, check in, and have Elote for dinner. Nice. The second flight is on Delta. Only two tickets left at that price. Departing at 11:40am, meaning that we would leave Sedona at 7:40am. And get in at 7:30pm. Nice! And Mike gets his nonstop flights. Win win. I looked at flights in 3 weeks and 5 weeks, and $140 is as low as it goes. So, I bought the tickets!!! Good decision. (right?)

We are hoping to stay at the Enchantment Resort again.

They finished their huge remodel, so it should be awesome. Last time we could only stay a couple of days because of the wedding, and we had to go at the end of February. It was COLD. Now we will go in the warm month of May, the 1st through the 5th. I just received a card in the mail yesterday from the resort, offering us a spa credit and encouraging us to book our next stay before February 17th. I plan on calling and sweet talking them into a good deal since we had so many issues last time - the faulty thermostat which made for a freezing welcome to our room on the first day, the noisy neighbors, the lock that broke on our door that last night when it was 32 degrees outside and we couldn't get in, AND the folliculitis Mike got from the spa. Hahahaha! One would wonder why we want to go back! We do believe that they were isolated, random events. And we want a do-over!

I'll keep you posted. ;-)

Girls ROCKIN Weekend 2013

Every year I go on a trip with THE GIRLS. We have been doing this since 2008. Just for kicks, let's take a look back at all of the fun times:

2008 - Dallas (Jennifer's House)

My sisters Marianne & Jennifer, my sister-in-law Carrie, and Me

It started out as a trip to just get together and hang out.

Jennifer's house was perfect since her kids are older.

This was the year we saw the happy, skippy people...

otherwise known as Lord of the Dance.

2009 - Dallas (Jennifer's House again)

Me, Marianne, Carrie & Jennifer

It was so much fun the first time that we decided to do it again!

2010 - Ohio (Carrie's house)

Me, Jennifer, Carrie & Marianne

Carrie was pregnant with Jack, so we went to her house.

This was the year we saw Mary Poppins... CREEPY!

 2011 - Arizona

My sister-in-law Stephanie, Me, my sister-in-law Amanda, 

Carrie, Jennifer & my Mom

My other sisters-in-law and my mom were never able to 

come out for our weekends, so we did a local one that year.

It was a little different, but still fun.

2011 - Prince Edward Island: Girls Rockin Week

Chesney, Carrie, Diana, Anne, Jennifer & Me

Ok, Diana and Anne were just with us that morning...

Chesney came as our adopted sister. And we LOVE her!

This trip was the best one EVER.

2012 - Chicago

Me, Jennifer, Carrie & Chesney

Is Carrie pregnant again?? YEP!

This trip was awesome. Lots of walking. haha

And we saw Jersey Boys. Fun!

And, of course, it's a ROCKIN Weekend because we always make a custom CD of fun songs to enjoy over the weekend. I especially love, love, love this because it is something that carries over throughout the rest of the year. Some of my favorite songs that bring back fun memories have been Mika's songs, The Ting Tings' songs, Anne and Gilbert songs, Glee's version of Friday (which I sing almost every single Friday), and pretty much every song on last year's CD since I am still playing it and loving it to this day. I can't wait for this year's music!

Now for 2013... We are going to...

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA

And I. Can't. Wait.

I grew up going to San Diego with my family probably once a year to visit my mom's cousin. She lives in this little house by the beach. Her house was especially small in the early days. My most fond memories are of their bird flying around the great room, and Great Uncle Jimmy (who we thought might actually be Santa Claus with that booming laugh) who always gave us a dollar. :) In later years my family started going every 4th of July to see the fireworks on the beach. That tradition started pretty late in my teens, so I haven't done that as much as my siblings. Anyway, my point is that I've been there a lot. BUT I have never seen San Diego! We never did the tourist stuff. This should be fun. 

Jennifer knows a lot about San Diego since her husband lived there, so she planned our touristy part of the itinerary. Everything sounds gorgeous and fun: La Jolla Cove, Coronado Island, Seaport Village, Old Town San Diego... And we are also going to visit the Mormon Battalion Historic Site which I have never been to. AND we are going to the San Diego temple! We are actually going to do a session together the first night we get there. I've only seen the outside once, and never seen the inside. It should be really nice.

Girls Rockin Weekend 2013 will also include the following core activities which are required for any Girls Weekend (when possible):

Facials at the Aveda Spa & a FUN Movie with LOTS of popcorn,

Pedicures,

Shopping, Scrabble, BIG Boggle, and lots of good food :)

We looked at a few hotels, but finally decided on staying in a house. So much more comfortable. There are two bathrooms in the house vs. the hotels that that have only one, and we each get a real bed. And it is only $150/night! That's a good deal for a house. Split up between the girls who are going, it's a really good deal.

Since we started planning this trip a week ago, I have gotten very excited about it. I seriously cannot wait! We are all flying in Thursday morning (March 7th), and leaving Sunday evening (March 10th). That's practically four days! The girls committed to going are me, Carrie, Jennifer and Chesney. Did I tell you Chesney is Jennifer's friend from Texas? She is a hoot. And she has never been to California, so this will be even more exciting.

I am counting down the days!!!

Happy 11th Birthday, Michael!!!

We had a fun-filled weekend of birthday excitement for Michael. It started out on Friday night with a drive out to Laser Planet with four of Michael's good friends. They played arcade games and laser tag, and ate lots of pizza.

Mike and I even played a few fun games while the boys were playing laser tag. I must say that we were pretty good on the Rapid River. :)

Michael loves that Deal or No Deal game! That's what they are playing in the pictures below.

We got back to the house around 10pm and 

had cake and ice cream. It was so late! 

Happy Birthday, Michael!!!!

The boys played some Super Smash Bros Brawl on the Wii for a bit before starting a movie. I told them they had to go to sleep by midnight. They begged and begged to watch the entire movie. Well, most of those silly boys fell asleep before midnight!

They woke up early and played some more games and opened

presents before everyone had to go home. It was a fun party!

Next up on the agenda was opening family presents.

Michael asked for lots of Nanoblocks. Have you heard of them?

He also got this cool Lego game/app called Life of George.

Ooooo! More Nanoblocks!!!

This is too much!

And, to top it all off, Lauren got these crazy M&M's for Michael.

CRAZY!!!

7 Nanoblock sets, Life of George & personalized M&M's. Nice!

Before Lauren had to leave for work, we went out to lunch 

as a family to Red Lobster to celebrate Michael's special day.

Saturday was such a fun day.

Michael got busy last night building Nanoblocks,

and continued to build as much as he could today.

CLICK HERE to see the entire series Michael wants.
He is building the Neuschwanstein Castle right now.

And then Kinkakuji Temple & the Moai Statues of Easter Island:

So cool, right?
They are very little and very intricate to build.

I'll post the rest of Michael's sets once he builds them.

Happy Birthday to Michael!

Shepherd Days

The main reason why we came to California was for Kylie's baptism. We were so glad we could be there!

(pictures courtesy of Carrie)

Miss Lucy was blessed the same day!

So many people came! Friends and Family :)

All of Carrie's family who came:

Darren's family (minus us because Mike was anxious to leave):

We all went to Olive Garden for lunch after the baptism,
then went to Grandma & Grandpa's house for Drew's party.

(pictures courtesy of Jennifer)

So many people were there for his 6th birthday!

And he got so many presents. 

It was obviously hilarious that every time Stephanie tried to take 

a picture of Andrew's shield, he would put it up in front of his face.

All of the kids enjoyed playing outside even though it was so cold.

And then "the cousins" had some good times that evening!

The best was when they all played Stephanie's dance game.

I think Thomas is going to be the next David Archuleta!

Sunday was kind of uneventful. We were supposed to do the nativity with the kids in the morning, but that didn't really work out due to unexpected events. It really was a bummer. We all went to church with Grandma & Grandpa Shepherd in the afternoon, and then had shishkabobs for dinner. So good!

On Monday morning we said goodbye to sunny skies, and headed 

to LAX for our 11:30am flight. We had the best traveling days!

We were super excited to see that we got the plane with the free movies again!

 Everybody watched at least two movies each.

 

Except for me! I watched my screen reboot for FOUR HOURS...

Until it stopped trying and did this screen over and over.

That's ok. I read my book. :)

We came home to snow!!!

The kids loved playing the next day.

And then we started school on Wednesday.

SO NOT FAIR!

But it was the best trip. We had so much fun seeing everyone.

(and the hotel turned out to be a wonderful thing.)