My Grandma Hiccup

I went to IF on Saturday to recharge my batteries after a week of Jesse being gone. I went shopping at my favorite stores then went to see my Grandma Hinchcliff. She got renamed to "Grandma Hiccup" when her great grandchildren were unable to pronounce her last name. My grandma is one of the women I admire most. She truly is amazing. She's been on three missions. She had a successful professional career in the education system influencing many children along the way. Just being with her is so peaceful and nostalgic. She always makes you feel good about yourself.  She is always so giving of everything she has. My kids love going to her house. She is one of the best cooks ever and seems to make sure every food group is present at a meal. She made us a yummy lunch and gave me some much needed adult conversation. It was nice to talk to someone who didn't talk to me only in questions or repeat back everything I said! Thanks for the nice afternoon Grandma! You're one of my favorite people in the whole world! We love you!

Grandma Hiccup with Ellie at four weeks old.

Monsters vs Aliens

With dad still gone, to get out of the house I took the kids to Monsters vs Aliens tonight. They had seen the preview and really liked it so they were excited. It was in 3D though so I was a little worried how it would go over. They really liked the movie and sat through the whole thing. Snacks still a necessity of course.

Kaden kept taking his glasses off and checking to see how it looked with them off and then he would put them back on and say "Whoa!" 

Ellie only lasted about 10 minutes with hers on and then watched the rest of the movie with them off. 

The kids were so excited about the movie they had to call dad first thing when they came home. Isn't she starting at an early age? Dad comes home tomorrow! Yeah!

Four on one, four days, four lessons

Pay back time! My friends Nick and Tami went to Mexico and they were kind enough to watch our kids for Vegas so I am returning the favor this week. Jesse went to San Diego and has been home to help for 6 hrs in the past four days. Needless to say the kids are a little tired of me. They keep asking where Jesse is and when he's coming home. I miss him too!
Here are four lessons I have learned in the past four days:

1. Chick fights and jealousy between girls starts at an EARLY age! The boys have not got in one single fight. The girls fight about everything!

2. Boys never really grow up. All the boys have done for the past four days is play with guns and video games. And then I thought "That's exactly what their fathers would love to do all day!"

3. A two year old little girl can out eat me. And I'm not exaggerating. I have never had a child ask for fourths and fifths at a meal before! Go Jaycie!

4. I got way too used to not changing diapers. 

Brayden and Jaycie are super excited for their parents to come home! Brayden has kept a countdown and is so excited that he gets to stay up late to see them tonight! Travel safe guys! As for me, retail therapy in IF on Saturday! Yeah!

Weekend Getaway

Jesse and I decided to enjoy the spring weather by heading south to Lehi to visit Jesse's brother. I don't think we've ever given them more than 24 hrs notice before our visits! Heidi is such a good sport about it! Thanks guys! It was tons of fun!

All the cousins slept in the same room. They finally fell asleep about 11:30 but at least they all stayed in bed to give the mom's some peace and quiet. Maddie was nice enough to read them bedtime stories! (Jeramy and Jesse went to a Halo party til 2am!)

Can you tell my kids are ready for spring? We went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. Kaden had to wear his dinosaur shirt!

Kaden really liked the BIG dinosaurs! Ellie was afraid they would bite her. 

She's got dad wrapped around her finger for sure. He's such a sucker for her. 

Let me illustrate the difference between boys and girls: they have an Erosion Table at the museum where the kids can play in the sand and water making islands and canyons or whatever. Kaden dug right in and would have stayed for an hour. He loved it!

Ellie: not so impressed. She stood there like she had no idea what to do. She finally got brave enough to stick her finger in some sand and as the picture illustrates she immediately wiped it off  and came to stand by me. What's the fun of getting your hands all dirty? She's our princess!

That night we met my wonderful friend Wendi and her friends Curtis and Ashton for dinner at Jesse's favorite: Texas Roadhouse. It was fun to be with everyone but as you can see, Jesse was pinned back in the corner so when Kaden and Ellie needed potty breaks, I was the winner. Which, by the way, happened to be FOUR times during dinner. Sometimes I miss those diaper days! The company was good though. 

Me and Wendi. We went to dental hygiene school together. I don't get to see her very often so I take every chance I can get! We missed you Jami! 

Viva Las Vegas

Jess and I went to Las Vegas last week for our 6th anniversary. I had never been there before so it was fun to see. Jesse lived there for a couple months waiting for his visa to go through before he went to Croatia on his mission. But he never went to the strip so technically this was his first time too. Our friends Nick and Tami were kind enough to take our kids for the four days we were gone. Thanks again guys! It was a relaxing getaway!

We stayed at Caesars Palace which is next door to the Bellagio so we got to see the fountain show plenty of times. Very pretty.

Here is Jess gambling our life away! We used a $5 bill on the slot machines and lost every penny. Can't go to Vegas without gambling though.

M&M Factory. I was in heaven! We each got some of our favorite M&M's... peanut butter for Jess and almond for me. Should I be jealous?

Us at the Statue of Liberty at New York New York. We really should have asked someone to take our picture.

Fountain at Caesar's. I would definitely recommend staying there. It has a good location on the strip, tons of stores and the room was nice. 

View of the strip from the Stratosphere. Jesse made me go on the Big Shot which is the roller coaster on top that shoots you straight up. Let's just say I HATED every second of it... see Jesse for details. 

On our anniversary we went to the Las Vegas temple and did sealings. It was definitely the most peaceful part of our trip. It was a beautiful temple. Jess had been there before from his mission and pointed out a cactus he hugged nine years ago.

After the temple we went to Hoover Dam. It was pretty cool to see. The weather was awesome our whole trip... seventy degrees and plenty of sunshine! I think Jess forgot to smile in this one.

This is the new bridge they are building at Hoover. Crazy. It looked really cool. I would never be able to work up that high... as Jesse found out at the Stratosphere. 

This is where we ate dinner on our anniversary. It's a restaurant called Olives at the Bellagio that overlooks the fountain. We ate on the balcony so we got to see plenty of water shows. It was a romantic place to eat! :)

The waiter brought us this to help us celebrate! We almost didn't want to eat it... almost. 

It's a good thing you do a lot of walking on the strip because Jess and I ate TONS of food. Thanks for the awesome trip and the best six years of my life! Love you sweetie!