Viva Las Vegas

We went down to the strip on Tuesday afternoon. Selah loved the giant nem an nems (M&Ms) at the M&M store. We also found Spongebob at the Excalibur casino - they have this arcade downstairs that was fun except for the ATM machine that ripped us off. They charged us $4 to make a withdrawal!
This is New York, New York - Selah pointed out the Statue of Liberty right away, she must have remembered from the 4th of July. She's a genius I tell you!
It's kinda hard to tell unless you enlarge the picture, but this is a fountain. Selah is pointing to the blue water. It was much cooler in person...you'll have to come visit us so we can prove it. Selah was afraid of the life-size M&M but we had to take a picture with him anyway. I wonder how she'll do with Halloween costumes this year... She liked Spongebob though, she even gave him a high five. Maybe because it wasn't a costume, it was just a statue.
This is at the M&M store. Selah wanted to get out and touch everything so bad, but we decided against it. She loves M&Ms, and since we got here Grandpa Claus (aka Steve Clauson) has given her M&Ms as a treat almost every night when he gets home from work. (He has to win her over somehow right?) So M&Ms have been this special treat for her especially since we got here.

As we were unpacking, we let Selah play with her hair stuff...this is what happened. She became an 80s rocker or something. It seems we always find a reason to laugh with her around.
Bubbles!
We went to the park one night with Gavin and Melissa Hillman and their niece and nephews. It was really fun--it's nice to have friends here, even if there are just a few of them.

Other than all this, we've been doing a lot of job searching. Well Jared is doing most of it and I'm trying to help out. He has had a couple of interviews but no offer yet. We're trying to have faith in the Lord's timing for us...a lesson that seems to be repeated often in our lives. We know that it will all work out but some days it is harder than others to be patient.

We have gotten mostly moved in but we still need to organize some of our storage stuff and decide what to bring in from the garage. Once things settle down a bit I have to sort through all of the baby stuff and decide what needs to come out of boxes and what needs to stay. We have so many girl clothes and not much that will work for a boy. It's hard to remember what we packed where so I am going to have to go through every box and tub to make sure I don't miss anything. Then I can start to figure out what we still need. That's something I'm not looking forward to, at least not yet.

Oh, something that might amuse you, Selah seems to have a little crush on her uncle Ty. From the time he gets home from school until Selah goes to bed she is constantly calling for him. Then she always says "I like Uncle Ty," and "Uncle Ty is nice." It is pretty funny. Uncle Codi on the other hand has taken some getting used to, but she's finally not so afraid of him. It's been an adjustment, but we're doing pretty well.

On the way to Vegas

These pictures are from Sunday the 16th & Monday the 17th of September.

Kelsey
Grandpa Denny blowing out his candles. We had a family dinner for him since we were in town a week after his 50th birthday.
Travis and his Oompa Loompa hair.
Jay and Hanna
Ginelle holding Ezra (Mike & Cristina's baby - Mike is Carole's son).Travis, Jared, Malorie, Selah & Jes saying goodbye after lunch at Gandolfo's.

Sarah, Jenny, Molly, Cole & Jes also saying goodbye outside of Gandolfo's.

Being Crazy

Good-Bye McCall

In the few weeks before we moved, we tried to take pictures in some of the places we wanted to remember about McCall. We will miss McCall, it will be nice to go back and visit. Selah showing us the purple flowers outside of the Pancake House.
This is between Legacy Park and the Marina. We love those sailboats. We wanted to get the town in the background, but this is the only half-way decent picture we managed to get.
This is by the Smokejumper Base.

This is at Charlie's Garden a cool little spot off Warren Wagon Rd. This is the first time we went there, too bad we didn't know about it sooner!

Moving

We've been preparing for a while to move to Henderson, NV (Las Vegas area). I haven't posted about it because we've been so busy. We're moving two weeks from today, but we will be loading a U-Pack trailer on the 12th. It's getting close and we're starting to get anxious. We are sad to be leaving McCall, my family, and all of our friends here, but we know this is what we need to be doing, so we're excited to start fresh. We are grateful for the guidance we have received and we know that this will be a good move for us, even with the uncertainty involved. The plan, in case you are wondering, is to stay with Jared's mom & fam until we can get our own place. Jared will work his buh-dunk-a-dunk off for a while to get us on our feet, then in January he will start school, probably at the community college nearby. I will stay home and spend some good time with Selah and then after the baby is born in December I'll stay home with two kids. I'm really excited to put more of my attention into parenting. It has been nice to work with Jared here at the motel, but I can feel the strain it puts on Selah with all the interuptions from the phone and guests arriving at all hours of the day. It will be nice to have the option of not answering the phone when I'm trying to put Selah down for a nap or in the middle of family prayer and family home evening. I think the best part will be that we will have days off and not be working 7 days a week. Right now even on our days off, we're only off for 7-10 hours of the day. In the almost 2 years we've been here, we've had a total of 9 full days off (meaning we were off for 24 hours at a time). It's kinda started to wear on us a little. No need to complain though because it's been really good for us in a lot of ways and it will help us appreciate things when they change.

Anyway, sorry for all the words without pictures, but sometimes they are needed. Thanks for reading!

A BOY!

I haven't felt like posting, or maybe I just haven't had much time. There is a lot happening for us right now. We found out a few weeks ago that we're having a boy. Sorry no ultrasound pictures, the midwife has an ultrasound machine, but it isn't the same as having an ultrasound technician. They don't do the measuring and diagnosis part, they just tell you based on their experience if it looks like a boy or a girl baby. So they don't give pictures. I thought it would be funny to post one of the ultrasound pictures of Selah since you wouldn't know the difference, but then I would have to find them. :)

We're very excited to be having a boy. We are planning to name him Hyrum Asael after Joseph Smith's brother and grandfather. We love the name, once we came up with it the other names we liked just didn't sound as good to us. Both men (Hyrum Smith and Asael Smith) were remarkable in so many ways. Hyrum is such a great example of loyalty and the name actually means "my brother is exalted." Asael means "created by God." Pretty cool.

Enjoying the Scenery

Dad & Selah flicking ants off a tree. Selah was too interested in the ants to look at the camera. When she looked at this picture and Jared asked if she remembered flicking the ants, she started saying "flicking ants" over and over again, but is sounded like she was swearing. Lately she's been copying lots of words we probably shouldn't say. I was annoyed when trying to post earlier today and used the word "stupid," it's not such a great word when your 2 year old says it!
I thought I'd throw in a pregnant picture for anyone who wanted to see how the baby is looking these days. I'm getting bigger, starting to feel my stomach stretch, and I find myself fighting off the urge to waddle when I walk.

These pictures were taken from one of our favorite spots on the lake. There's a very short hike involved and some really scenic spots. Sometimes Jared likes to go out there just to clear his mind and get away from the stress of work and everything. I hope we can find a place like that in the Vegas area. If there's not a scenic spot, at least we know the temple won't be far away. The temple is an ideal place to clear our minds, even just sitting on temple grounds.