39 hours

Here is what I covered in 39 hours...

ThAnKsGiViNg!

This year was our year with my family and we went down to Nephi for the festivities with my Dad's family. He is one of TEN children so you can imagine the group we get together with! Because of size, we have dinner at the church. Not quite the "homey" feeling I like, but it's about the only option. It's fun to see the Painter cousins because I don't see them that often.

Baylor knows exactly who to go for when he wants a treat...

my Dad! He has him wrapped around his little finger :)

B was a big fan of the pie!

He got to play and be wild.

My sisters Leanne and Michelle, my aunt Marjorie, and of course me

After the food and fun we headed up to Salt Lake to begin the best part of Thanksgiving.

We have a tradition with my mom and her sisters to go shopping on Black Friday. Even when my Grandma Doris was really sick with cancer, she still went and we pushed her in a wheel chair! We are pretty hard core :) We met at my mom's house at 9:00 to look at ads and eat goodies. We used to do this and then sleep until about 4:00 am but now that stores are getting all crazy on us, we headed up to Toys R Us at 10:00 pm. NO SLEEPING.

To say it was freezing is an UNDERSTATEMENT.

We shopped for a solid 13 hours. WOW. Then we finished by eating at our usual spot, Chili's.

By this point it was safe to say that I was TIRED. However, I had a full day ahead of me. I had to run up to my mother-in-law's to get Baylor and head down to Nephi AGAIN for my Grandparent's 80th birthday open house. I had to stop in Orem and buy a Monster and sunflower seeds to help keep me awake. (Russ is MIA because he had to work)

Happy 80th Grandma Zoma and Grandpa Jim!

And for the icing on the cake, I got to see my friend Callie who lives in Maui!

We made plans months ago to go to the Jazz game before she had to go home. Her hubby Fernando had never been to an NBA game before, so it was fun to be there with them. Especially since they were playing the Lakers!

The game was SO AWESOME! I LOVE beating Kobe and crew.

B brought his usual "Go Jazz" spirit

And we had a flippin blast getting to catch up.

So in 39 hours, I covered quite a bit of ground. We walked in from the game and as soon as Baylor's jammies were on and he was in bed, I was in mine dreaming away. And I stayed there until 10:30 the next day :)

Sweeeeet

A few weeks ago Russ got a call from his Dad at about 4:00pm asking if we wanted tickets to that night's Jazz game. I was off-track and at my Mom's scrapbooking with her and my sister for what was supposed to be an all night "scrap fest." When Russ called to see if I wanted to go I almost said no because I felt bad bailing on something I put together. BUT they told me to go and that we could scrap another day so Baylor and I headed home to meet Russ and head to the game. We went to will call, got our tickets and got to eat dinner because they were VIP. After, we started towards our seats. We were a little early so of course in true woman fashion I headed to the bathroom and my boys went to the seats. I hurried out and glanced down to see where I was headed when I spotted the fact that we were sitting on the SECOND ROW. Holy dream come true, it was AWESOME!!! And to think, I almost stayed home.

B is in mid-dance in this photo...

The Jazz dancers were performing to Michael Jackson while we took this and the last thing he wanted to do was look the opposite way :)

Baylor picked up "Go Jazz" "Go D Will" and "Slam Dunk" among other basketball sayings this night. He was so mesmerized being that close that he literally watched the game for all 4 quarters. He woke up the next morning asking to go to the Jazz game. I hope he'll sit that good when we aren't that close!

The MAN, Mr. D Will himself

The seats came with snacks during half time too. Nothing like the royal treatment.

B was a BIG fan of the nachos, or at least the cheese. Double dipping at its finest.

We seriously had so much fun.

Too bad all my Jazz gear was Boozer the loser :(

For the sweetest game EVER, I didn't have any proper attire. Not that it put any sort of a damper on our night.

GO JAZZ!

The Zoo Crew

While I was off-track and we were enjoying the 70 degree weather, we headed to one of our favorite places... THE ZOO! Baylor was so excited because this trip some of his cousins got to come too. My sisters and I took the kids along with my Mom and Dad. I was so happy that my Dad could take a few hours off work to come with us.

We checked on Baby Zuri. Love her!

We rode the carousel.

I didn't realize it at the time, but we rode the tiger on B's first trip to the zoo as well. I need to compare the 2 pictures. It's crazy how much he has changed.

Papa Bill shared his ice cream.

I love his little tongue! If only the picture included his sound effects. You will have to use your imagination.

My GIRAFFES!

How cute are they?!

So many animals come out in the cooler weather. The gorilla just sat there and watched us. It's good we had a nice, big cement wall between us.

And then our own gorillas gave us a show. Baylor LOVES Cole. Of course he loves them all, but Cole is so good to play with him. He is such a good cousin!

He also loves to be silly :)

B also used his map skills to direct us around the zoo ;)

We had the best time!

Viva Las Vegas

While I was off-track, Russ surprised me with a little trip to Vegas! I had the hardest time leaving my wild thing, but I realize a little alone time is always good for a couple. So off we went for a few days of fun.

On the way down, I had Russ stop in Cedar City for a fabulous lunch special from "P.F." Pizza Factory. It was a weekly staple in college and I LOVE stopping there whenever I can. They have my favorite salad bar. Ever.

When we got to Vegas we walked down to the miracle mile shops and checked things out and ate at another of our favorites... Cheeseburger in Paradise! It was one of my favorite places in Hawaii. We also went there on our honeymoon and it was the place where Russ decided cheeseburgers were pretty tasty :) Up until then, he wouldn't eat them- really. So it's another fun spot for us.

We walked the strip. A LOT.

Another highlight was going to the show KA' at the MGM Grand. It is a Cirque Du Soleil show and was pretty spectacular.

We ate at Rain Forest Cafe afterwards... apparently this post is all about food...

Even though we missed Baylor like CRAZY, we were really able to just enjoy each other. One afternoon we just relaxed by the pool and I got to read an entire book. It was fabulous. And I must also add that we were staying at Caesar's Palace and they have the coolest pools I have ever seen. Of course I forgot my camera in the room and I didn't want to make the 10 mile journey back to get it, but they were awesome. My other enjoyable moment... drum roll please... was getting to SLEEP IN! The first night Russ asked if I was going to sleep like a baby and I told him no, I was going to sleep like a tired mom. Whoever came up with that saying has obviously never had a baby! Sleeping in was like heaven.

And our last night there all I wanted was a Dr. Pepper. The places surrounding our hotel didn't have one and they didn't have one in the casino, so we trudged all the way into the Forum Shops. The only place that had one was clear back by the Cheesecake Factory- the complete opposite end of where we were. But it was all worth it when I tasted those 23 flavors flowing down my throat.

VIVA LAS VEGAS BABY!

One Last Hurrah

Before I officially say goodbye to Halloween 2010, I wanted to post B's pics.

I've been off-track for the last 3 weeks and have had so much fun with my little man.

What a great time of year!

Baylor LOVES his cousins! They have so much fun together.

Before I know it, little Buzz and Woody are going to be tearing it up together.

And check this out... SIX kids all looking at the camera!!!

Now bring on the cornucopias and turkey.