I have been tagged by my awesome sister-in-law Michelle. It is supposed to be the 6th picture in my 6th folder, but I only have 4 there. So to keep the numbers close, I am posting the 5th picture in my 5th folder. You'll get a kick out of it.

This picture was taken when we were living in our Eagle Mountain condo (loved it there) just 11 days before Owen was born. I was very big and very pregnant. Nick was being funny when he took the picture.

So, now I tag people to post their 6th in 6th, or 5th in 5th if that works better for you ;)
Kris and Christopher Vassel, Andrea Fife, Sara Young, Ashley Vadney, and anyone else who thinks this looks like fun.

The weather has been so great, it's the perfect time to get some grass in the back yard for Owen. I want it to have some time to acclimate before the heat of the summer comes. This is a before picture I took shortly after we moved in, in September. The grass was so fried. We started watering it, but the only thing that grew was weeds.

This was yesterday after I ripped out all the dead sod. It came up pretty easy.

Then I started digging to turn the soil, and added a few bags of manure and lawn starter soil from Home Depot.

Nick came home from school in time to see me rake it all out, and get this picture.

He wanted to get in on the fun so he dug up a dead tree. (That looked harder than the dead sod.)

I thought I'd wait for Saturday to buy and lay the sod, but Nick told me he'd be too busy at school studying. So what the heck, I decided to do it today, and get it over with. It would have been nice to have a truck for times like this.
The guy loading our car at Star Nursery got a kick out of us. I had to put Owen in the front seat so there would be enough room for it to fit in back.

At this point I was a little intimidated with the task at hand.


Those pieces of grass are dang heavy! I had to carry them one at a time. Luckily we have a tiny backyard, and there were only 40 pieces of sod (only?!?!?) Nevertheless, it took less than 2 1/2 hours to get it all down. I've helped lay sod once many years ago in Alaska, so I had an idea of how to do it. Nick got to come home to a green backyard. The finished (almost) product:

We still have some trees and shrubs to replace before we will be completely satisfied.
Now, what do I do with this mess?

The funny part? The grass turned my knees green. It didn't take very long for me to discover that they spray the grass green so that it doesn't look so dormant in the winter. Gross. (Don't look too close, I haven't shaved for a couple days) Gross.

I really wasn't sure what I would think about living in Las Vegas when we decided we were going to move here. But I have to be honest, and I am not bragging, but I have learned to love it. At least this time of the year. It's almost five o'clock in the evening and it's 65 degrees. Today I babysat my nieces and nephews, so we decided to pack a lunch and walk less than a block down the road to go to my neighborhood park. Half of the kids were wearing shorts. None of us had jackets on. The weather is perfect.

If only it would last. I know June will be here sooner than I'd like it too, and then I will be cursing the city of Las Vegas for existing in such a hot, dry, barren desert. Just like last summer when I had to be out of the house by the time the sun came up so that I could go for a run before it was scorching. I am hoping to get a treadmill for the summer. Or a lot of new workout dvd's.

Vegas does have it's perks. There is always something to do, or someplace to go. And it's not all on the strip, like I've heard people say. Maybe I am enjoying it here so much because we finally feel like we have a place of our own, a cute little house. Maybe it's because I know we are here temporarily, and that in less than four years we can be any where else. Whatever the reason, I am content here and now.

My parents were here over the MLK Jr. holiday weekend, so we kept them busy.

We took them to our two favorite things on the strip, the Mirage volcano, and the Bellagio water fountain show.


Both shows are very cool, especially because they are free.


Owen did not leave my mom alone the whole time they were here. He never left her side. It was a great break for me. They were even gone for a walk and back before Nick and I were even out of bed one morning!

Owen has a really big boy bed now. Thanks grandma and grandpa Moore (a.k.a. nana and papa)! It was an extra bed they brought back from their mission apartment with them. Owen really loves it a lot. And there's even a pull out trundle bed for sleepovers!

I bought this little toddler bed rail to keep him safe. We don't want any more broken bones for a while. And the pillows protect his head because he's always scooting to the top of the bed in his sleep.

It took us three days to put up the trampoline we gave Owen for Christmas. It wasn't very fun. The springs are short and not very springy, so it took both of us to hook them one at a time. We got blisters on our hands, and Nick even ripped his open in the process. But it was worth the pain and effort, because Owen loves his tramp. And it's such great exercise for kids! Now I won't feel so bad if we don't make it to a park almost every day.

And it almost fits completely on our patio! It did come with one of those big nets, but we were a little too worn out (lazy) to put it up.

And here's just a cute picture of Owen in his favorite hiding spot: in our desk.

Owen got a new purple cast today.
The ER Dr. in Utah told us to take Owen to his pediatrician or somebody when we got back to Vegas. We've never "seen anybody" here, so I randomly picked a pediatrician for Owen. So far we like her. Each patient room has toys in it! Anyway, she didn't like the soft splint cast that the ER put on, so she referred us to an orthopedic. The orthopedic office was great, too. The waiting room had little laptops with the internet for people to use. And in each patient room there's a tv with satellite. Owen got to watch Wonder Pets and Dora while we were there. They took more x-rays, and discovered that his fracture is healing, but they don't want to take any chances with such a little kids' arm. The Dr. said it will heal up better and faster with a hard cast. I felt good about that. It gave me piece of mind. We were worried about his arm and the way the ER Dr's were so uncertain about the healing period of it. One Dr. said a month, then another said a week to ten days. This orthopedic doctor is great though. Owen needs to go back in another week to have it x-rayed again, and hopefully the cast can come off after that. Then we'll see how long we can keep it off. It's been what...... 18 months since the last break? He's not even very wild for a little boy. Just unlucky.

I am finally finding time to post about our long and eventful holiday break. I'll try do a quick review of what we've been up to since last time I posted.

Owen met Santa for the first time at the Tuacahn in St. George. We also saw a live nativity performed there which he loved.


We ended up in the ER on Christmas Eve. Owen was climbing up the little toddler fisher-price slide a little too quick, and fell off the top. Not a very long fall, but just enough to do the trick. He has a small fracture on his right arm just above his elbow. It took 2 1/2 hours to get it diagnosed and wrapped up. He just got a splint. Not as cool as the red water-proof cast he had on his last break (same arm, different spot) when he was 11 months old.



They gave him an orange teddy bear which he named Orange Bear. And some stickers.


Okay, that made me reminisce and want to post some pictures from his first broken arm when he was barely a year old. That was much more of a traumatic experience than this second time around.


Christmas was great. Owen could have had a lot more fun if it wasn't for the broken arm hindering it all. We felt so bad for him, but he's such a little trooper, he handled everything pretty well.


It didn't stop him from wanting to play in the snow. We make the snow balls, and he throws them. His favorite past time in the snow.


I got sick with a sinus infection, and strep throat. It was not fun, and a little crazy because I got flu-like symptoms to top it off. That knocked me out for a couple days.

Nick and I did get to go see Bedtime Stories (very fun movie!) and attend a dental student dinner hosted by the Henry Schein Company, who I used to order dental supplies from when I was an assistant! It was at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and the food was great. The $100 American Express gift card made it definitely worth our time, as well (as if we needed another incentive besides a night without a kid, and free dinner)!

New Year's Eve came and went, and Owen almost made it to midnight. Not on purpose, there was just too much commotion going on to settle down and want to sleep. We did see a ton of fireworks. Nick's parents have the best view from their deck on the side of the mountain, over looking the Salt Lake Valley. It was great to spend the time with family.

Our 5th year anniversary was on the 2nd! What better way to celebrate than to watch the Utes beat down Alabama in the Sugar Bowl? (As if I could have made other plans? Not an option, if you know my husband). I have to admit, it was a great game, and I even watched it. My little brother is in the marching band, and it was fun to spot him on the field too.

Here's to five great years with my handsome husband! We've come a long way, and we've got a lot more ground to cover together.


So, you can see it was a long and eventful holiday break. We got to spend lots of time with family and friends, but it didn't even seem like enough. Although it does feel good to be home. And there's no snow at my home. That's a bonus!