Hanging out with Friends

At the end of our Vegas trip we headed back to St. George for another few days. We didn't get to repel when we first came to St. George because of the cold weather so we thought we would go at the end of the trip instead. This worked out better too because our friends the Hutchings' who live in Vegas came to stay in St. George and repel with us. They brought their 3 young boys that joined us too. 

Holly & Mark Hutchings

We went to dinner after at Cafe Rio and it was a great way to end our trip. They are a fun bunch to hang out with! Wish they lived closer to us so we could hang out with them more often. 

A much needed Spring Vacation

Our original plans were for Jeremy and I to go to Oregon and have a week to ourselves, but being the procrastinators we can be sometimes be, we never got our flights booked and they got too expensive for our budget, so we decided to make it a family trip to St. George and Vegas. We really needed some fun times after Kevin's passing and it was a big success. 

We got to see my Grandpa Greenhalgh and his new condo. He moved there last fall just before my grandma passed away and it has been a really good thing for him. 

Brielle, Landon, my Mom, Dad, Grandpa & myself

 We also got to check out his place which is just around the corner from my parents-very convenient. His place is more like a fancy hotel!! Brielle & Landon loved all the kid statues around the place. I loved the movie theater, ice creamery and restaurant for everyday eating. Not too shabby of a place to retire in!

I love seeing my grandpa and spending any quality time I can get with him

 The next few days in St. George were not as sunny as we had hoped, so instead of freezing in the pool we went to the wildlife museum. Doesn't this bear look like Doug on the movie "Up?" Must be the nose.

Brielle's great expressions! 

Landon was fascinated by all the animals! This is a moment when the lights turn down and it thunders really loud. 

 The next unusually cool day we headed to a bounce house to wear out the kiddos.

Next we headed to Las Vegas baby!!!

Here we are in the car on our way there. We brought grandma with so that she could be our sitter while Jer and I saw some shows. Thanks to my brother Mike who lives & works in Vegas who hooked us up with tickets to see KA at the MGM. It was an awesome show!!

Do you see the almost always-there-bonk on Landon's forehead? I'm starting to think he needs a helmet! 

Grandma G & Brielle sharing treats and watching a movie in the car.  Thanks to our new Pacifica to help us have room for extra passengers and luggage. Definitely couldn't have done that in the Alero!

Jer all smiles being our chauffeur!

Co-pilot Heidi

 While in Vegas we stayed in our condos that are so fun! They have 4 pools which keep us all happy and cool while in the hot dessert of Vegas. The first night there my brother Mike, wife Kimmy (expecting their first) and our friends the Hutchings all came to a BBQ at the condo. It was a fun night...so fun that I forgot to take pictures!

Here Brielle and Landon are playing on the pillars outside our resort waiting for the bus that takes us to the strip. We spent 2 days seeing all that there is on the busy Las Vegas Boulevard!!!

Family photo just outside the new Aria resort where my bros Mike works. This resort is amazing!!

The lobby of Aria

Brielle loved the butterflies!!!

 Next we headed to Bellagio where they have some great gardens!

These flowers are all made of glass and hang above the check-in counter at Bellagio.

 The gardens

Spring is definitely in bloom here!

We are so happy we purchased this double stroller just before our trip. We would have heard lots of whining from our little princess that can't even make it through one store let alone a whole city!

One of my favorite spots in Vegas-The Bellagio fountains!! We made it around to the street view just as it was about to begin with one of our favorite songs-Frank Sinatra's Fly Me to the Moon 

Thankfully we got in lots of sun and swim time on our trip. Completely opposite of St. George!

Grandma G with Landon and Brielle in the kiddie pool.

This was the view from our room. This was just one of the pools. Obviously not the popular one like the laze river and waterfall ones. We still enjoyed it though!

 The last night of our trip we headed to Freemont Street or Old Vegas where we ate a buffet with Mike & Kimmy and hung around just until we learned that the light show was still 40 min away!!! Being already 10:30 our time we headed back to the condo and ditched the show. The kids still thought it was fun to see the lights on the ceiling and all the characters dressed up. I am happy we spared them the "night" life of Vegas that was slowly creeping into view while we were there. 

Brielle with her Ariel balloon doll and Landon with his monster "woo-woo" truck. He calls all trucks with sirens
"woo-woo trucks." Not that you can see it though!

Overall this was an amazing trip that we really needed. Our kids did so good sleeping and driving on this trip that it makes me excited to take more! Thankfully here comes Summer!!!!

Our dear brother Kevin

Some of you may or may not know, but this past March we lost Jeremy's big brother Kevin. He was the oldest in the family and was living in Ephraim. He passed just before this 48th birthday. A month before, he walked into church for an early meeting and started having a seizure. It was the first in his life. We later found out he had a tumor on his brain. He was scheduled for surgery to do a biopsy on March 8th and everything went well. He was sent home 3 days later and received a phone call from the surgeon 5 days after surgery saying that with some radiation the tumor would be gone in about a month. That same night he started getting a major headache that progressively got worse. He was life-lighted to U of U hospital in the early morning hours of March 13th. The same surgeon who had done his surgery and made that earlier call was dumbfounded. He didn't know what to say to the family. After scans had been done they found bleeding and swelling on the brain that even after hours of medication would not bring our Kevin back to the same man he was. The family said our good-byes and took him off life support late on the evening of the 14th.

It has been one of the hardest things to deal with in our lives. Since we don't live near by and don't get to go down to Ephraim/ Manti as often as we'd like, it is hard to even realize he is gone. It has been hard to come to grasps with the fact that it was his time to go...so young and taken so quickly. We have had to really put our trust and faith with our Heavenly Father who is the only one who knows our path. 

His viewing and funeral was the most amazing thing I could have witnessed. There was so many people in attendance that the viewing went hours over and there was a line constantly out the door. The funeral was the largest anyone there had ever seen. People where sitting in rows in the foyer of the church and down the halls just to listen to the service. He was truly loved by all those that knew him. He will be greatly missed in our family as well as in the community and town.  

He was transported from the church house where the funeral was held to the cemetery in Manti in the back of an ambulance. Kevin was a volunteer for the search and rescue. Along the highway that runs from Ephraim to Manti many were pulled over on the side to let the progression go by and held there hats on the hearts. So many didn't even know him but was so respectful of the line of people going to give their last respects. Every 20 cars or so was a policeman leading cars from one town to the next. It was an amazing site and such a great feeling knowing him and especially being his sister.

One of the neatest parts of the graveside service was when they did a "last call" over the radios of all service men/women. So many were in attendance that it echoed through the town and off the temple. A last call is when the dispatcher is trying to reach someone on the radio. Everyone with radios in the Sanpete County heard the last call and did a moment of silence for Kevin. The dispatcher on the radio was breaking down and could hardly finish. There was not a dry eye in attendance.

Many of our friends and family came to the service. I am so thankful for them and the sacrifice it was for them to be there. I am so thankful for the prayers on our behalf. Many came from Johnson Mathey (Jeremy's work) to support both Jeremy and Weston (Kevin's son) who also works there. The whole week we felt so much love and support from our family, friends, neighbors, & ward family. Thank you to you all!!! We love you! You really helped our mourning process to be a little more sweet. 

Our Little Princess is turning 5!!!

This year Brielle decided she wanted to have a Snow White Birthday Party! All her friends dressed in their favorite princess dresses. They ate yummy food and danced the morning away at the ball. She had a great time with friends!!

Ellie, Bailey, Cecelia and Brielle

Me, Camryn, Lucy, Ellie, Brielle & Bailey

Tyler, Bailey, Lucy, Brielle & Ellie (Emery's arm & dress)

Each girl got to take a bucket home with them as their party favor. It was filled with ring pops, candy necklace, lip gloss & tiara. 

I can't believe my little girl is 5!! The first 5 years flew by! I am trying to really cherish these moments I have with her before the tween years hit! She already thinks she is a big girl to do whatever she pleases. She will be attending kindergarten in the fall and is really looking forward to it. I am too, but the first days will be quite a change & hard to handle I think. 

Me and the kids

My cute kids hanging out before dinner.

Say cheese!

Hanging out as a family with Weston and Sydney just days before Brielle turned 5! We ate at Costa Vida and then went to the mall to let them play at the dinosaur playground. That is sometimes our typical weekend plans. I rarely get pics with my kids since I am usually the one taking the pictures, but I liked this one!

FOR-EV-ER!!!

So I know it has been forever since I posted. I am a big time slacker ever since Pinterest arrived in my life, but since I have printed out years past of blog books, I really appreciate them and know that they are important. Even if no one reads them but our family, it is a great journaling tool for me and we enjoy them! So here comes a huge update...