My sister-in-law, Jamie, just loaned me the first two Twilight series books on Saturday. I'm already over halfway through the first one, and it's Monday morning. I didn't think it would happen to me, but I had to find out what everyone was talking about, and now I'm hooked. So if you don't hear from me in a while, that's why.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share a picture of my sad backyard. The grass is completely dead. We've tried to bring it back to life, but it's too far gone. It will have to be replaced, but unfortunately that's kinda far down on my long list of things to do around here. Hopefully by the spring, though. The tiny tree in the corner, and some pretty flowering bushes (not in the picture) are the only survivors of this neglected foreclosed yard. I want to put some plam trees in it. Maybe I'll post an after picture, next year, when it's looking better.

Owen loves to see himself on the blog, so here's another picture of him. He's in his new football pajamas, which he wants to wear everywhere. And he's brushing his teeth, which he is very good at.

This is another cool park I found today on the way to the DMV to get a Nevada license. We had to stop on our way back. Luckily I had Owen's swimsuit and a towel in the car from a previous water park stop that didn't happen. I think I will always keep backup in the car, who knows where we'll find another fun place to play in the water, and have to stop to play!

Owen LOVES it and runs around like a crazy man.

Today we went on a double date with Chuck and Jamie to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to watch the truck series nascar race thing. Chuck has hookups with his company, so we all got to go hangout and eat in a suite while we watched the race. Our neat little wrist bands got us up on the roof where I took these pictures. This was our first race, and it was a lot cooler than I thought it would be! And I'm not even a red neck.

Nick's hat was free, so we brought one home for Owen, who stayed with a baby sitter (who isn't a family member) for the first time! And he didn't flip out too much! He actually did really well, which is a big deal to me because I was worried sick half of the time. It did help that his cousins were there also. Anyway, he loved the hat so much, he wouldn't take it off to go to bed. So he's laying in bed with it on right now. I'll have to sneak in later to take it off so he can sleep a little more comfortably.

This is a video I took of the race trucks to show how fast and loud they are as they pass. It's only a few seconds long. Their average speed is 160 mph!

Guess who I ran into today!?!?!

Then I had this really great conversation with Oprah.
(Hey! Is that Johnny Depp behind me?)

And I even had time to hang out with Ryan Seacrest.

Tiger let Nick come on the course with him to give him some pointers.

And he even got a halo guy to pose in a picture with him.

Vegas is awesome!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OWEN!

I can't believe we have a two year old! But it is so much fun. Every stage older he gets, I decide that it is my favorite one. So, right now I love having a two year old. I am afraid that will change when the "terrible two's" hit, but I am praying that won't happen. This morning I taught him to say "Hi! I'm two!" and he would say it and make this pose in front of the camera. He is such a little ham!
Oh, by the way, these pajamas were Nick's when he was little! Owen's cousin Chaz wore them until he grew out of them, and now we have them for Owen! They are in pretty good shape too, the material is just a little thin, which is perfect for here in Las Vegas.

We are so lucky to have Owen's cousin's the Burt's live so close. He was so excited to have them come celebrate with us! Here is Jackson being a good helper opening a present with Owen.

Owen had a hard time deciding between a fish cake and a football cake. I influenced him to want the football cake, because I know it would be easier for me to make. I thought it would be fun to have an ice cream cake. I made two 9X13 chocolate cakes, froze them then smeared soft mint chip ice cream between them, then cut it into a football shape. I had a hard time frosting it by then, because the ice cream was melting, but freezing the frosting at the same time. But it worked out, and didn't look too bad for my first attempt! Owen thought it was pretty cool, anyway.

I taught Owen the "happy birthday to you" song today, and he was pretty good at the "happy birthday to you" part. He would sing that part over and over today. Here he is trying to sing along with the others that were singing to him:

And blowing out the candles!

Here's the whole gang! Chaz, Jackson, Owen, Kennadie and Savannah. We are so grateful for cousins!

I just wanted to post some pictures really quick while I have a second.
This is Owen in the big moving truck we drove all the way to Las Vegas in. He loved being up so high where he could see everything. It was a fun ride, besides the several breakdowns. I am just grateful for the wide shoulders on the highway in Nevada. I have new respect for truck drivers. It made me a little nervous maneuvering this big diesel around!

You can kinda see it was rainy, and also a little cold the morning we left.

Las Vegas has way cooler parks than Utah does! Lots of them have these fun water features for kids to keep cool in. Owen LOVED it! It kinda surprised me though, because jut a few months ago when we were in Washington, he was afraid of the water features at the park there.

This play ground is in the middle on a nice outdoor mall, kind of like the Gateway in Salt Lake City.

I started going to my sister-in-law, Jamie's play group that her ward has. I want Owen to have a chance to play with his cousins and other kids. And give me a start on getting to know people, and playgrounds, in the area.

This was another fun park we went to today. This time we were prepared with a swimsuit. Here is Owen having a snack with his cousins Jackson, Savannah, and Kennadie.

We are finally moved in! Yes, it took an extra long time for the bank and everyone else involved to let it happen, but we made it, thanks to mom and Doug Moore for pulling some strings! And it's a long story how it happened, but I'm not going to go there. Except I'll mention a Penske moving truck that broke down several times along the way. But lucky for us, we have great family (the Burt's) here in Vegas that have been so helpful and nice the entire time by letting us live with them a week longer than we thought we had to, and by moving all our stuff into our house because we couldn't find anyone else on such a short notice.

But we are here! The house is cute, but very dirty. I feel a little guilty being on the internet while there is so much cleaning and unpacking to do, but Owen just went down for a nap, and I had to install the internet so that it's up and running when Nick gets back from school. I feel like taking a nap too! Well, back to work. I just thought I'd let those who are wondering, what has happened to us. I hope to get a camera working and post some fun pictures of our Las Vegas experience soon!