Cousin #2!!

She came! She came! Our second little cousin EVER came on September 28th, after a really long labor weighing 8 lbs. and measuring 21 inches long. We already love little SOPHIE JOAN MORRIS!!


Congrats Devin and Sarah, and of course, baby Eva who is no longer the baby.:)

Cutest big sister ever!! We can't wait to meet little Sophie this Christmas!!

Sunday Walks

Well, slowly but surely Vegas is beginning to feel like "home." Don't get me wrong-- we are still (well, at least I am) hit with some serious bouts of homesickness for Philly every now and then, especially since it should be fall and it should be cooling down, and we should be going to a pumpkin patch or driving out to Amish country, and we should be enjoying the great autumn colors and weather back East.... But anyway, one great thing about moving is that Jon and I got called as the Sunbeam teachers.

What does this mean? It means I am no longer alone every Sunday, left to get myself and 2 children through a long boring Sunday morning alive and then presentable for church at 1 p.m., and then back home again and dinner on the table all by myself while Jon is in bishopric meetings for 10 hours.

We suddenly have so much time! This is our 5th year of 1 p.m. church in a row (it was destiny!), and we finally have time to take a Sunday walk before church.... Isn't that something?!?

And one of these days it will cool down below 104 degrees, and we will really be singing Vegas' praises. I just know it!

Don't Eat Pete!

Tonight for FHE I decided to pull out an oldie, but goodie. When I was little my favorite game to play was "Don't Eat Pete!" I dont' know who made it or when it was invented, all I know is that it brought me a great deal of happiness as a child.
Here are the rules:

First you have to color a game board with lots of possible Petes. Your 3 year old can help, or you can borrow mine. She likes to color everybody's eyes brown to match hers though, so if you don't have brown eyes too bad.

Then you send one person out to hide while the rest of you decide which picture is going to be Pete. Once you agree on a Pete you bring the seeker back and put a piece of candy on each picture so they can start eating candy.


One by one they try to eat around who they think Pete is, until finally, they guess wrong and accidentally eat Pete.

That's when you all yell "Don't Eat Pete!!" That's the best part.

Zachy didn't understand the game at all, but he did love eating M&M's and clapping when I yelled "Don't Eat Pete" at him. Maybe that will be his first sentence, "Don't Eat Pete!"

Duncle Jeremy and Aunt Kylene

Jonathan's brother Jeremy and his wife Kylene came to visit family and friends here in Southern Utah this past weekend. Monday morning I headed up with the kids to St. George to spend the day with them. It was a happy reunion, made even happier by the fact that we got to eat at Cafe Rio which is one of my all-time favs.:) It sure was good to see these guys!
They are living in Moses Lake, WA where Jeremy's set up a dental practice and Kylene works as a PA, and they're expecting their first little bambino in December. Lucy and Zach can't wait for their first Cardon cousin!!

After lunch we went to Tai Pan, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite stores in the whole world. I love that place! Zachy was fascinated with the Franksenstein decorations that were as big as him. He kept knocking them down and then laughing.:(


We went back to Grandma Del Toro's house so the kids could play in the sprinkler. Jeremy is always such a good sport and lets the kids crawl all over him and run him ragged so I can get a break and have time to chat with Kylene. They will sure be great parents! It was a great, relaxing day. I just wish we got to see these guys more often!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Oh Boy! Kids say the darndest things! And I'm looking for the perfect answer here....I'm hoping that between the many moms (moms-to-be, new moms, veteran moms), friends, dads, grandparents etc. that frequent this blog I can somehow solicit a response or two to make my life easier! Let me explain: The curse of Waterfall ward playgroup struck again when after I'd already sworn it off following last week's disaster at the fire station, Wednesday morning dawned bright and boring. I figured since it was just at the park I'd have better luck with my kids and it should be no big deal, right? We showed up along with about 5 or 6 other moms and their kids and all seemed well, until a lady (very well-endowed, wearing a skimpy halter top and skimpy shorts) came over and sat down by us. She was COVERED in tattoos. And these weren't just your normal tats. She had a skull on fire with like a rose coming out of its mouth, a freaky electric blue Geisha head, fanged snakes, etc. It was a little intimidating, but she seemed nice enough and started complaining that whenever she went to playgroups in the area she'd found online, no one wanted to set up playdates with her. Hmmmmm. Mystery... Anyway, all these nice LDS moms were super sympathetic and were inviting her to come to ours, and getting her number to call about "other" activities (aka meet with the missionaries), and she was SO excited. Then Lucy comes up from playing and loudly asks, "Why does that lady have all that ugly drawing on her body?" Silence. "She looks scary!" Shock. "Why did she draw on her body? That's naughty!" Wow. I looked around to find someone to fill me in on some clever joke to make ammends, but all the other moms looked horrified! I tried to distract Lucy and get her to go back and play, maybe apologize, but you know kids! They are relentless and totally curious, and Lucy would not STOP. "Why did she draw on her body? I don't like them. It's scary!" Yeaaaah. So awkward! And I didn't know what to say! "She's quite the kidder! Ha. Ha." Just didn't seem to cut it. So, what do you say?!? What do you say when your 3 year old sees someone at Costco and loudly says, "Wow! That guy's HUGE!!" So. Embarrassing. Anyone know?? I've obviously talked with her about being polite and not making people feel bad-- we've even had FHE's on this subject, but kids have no tact!! Help!!

Pink's!

Saturday night Jon and I headed to "Pink's" hotdog joint-- of Hollywood, CA fame. It's the place where all the big stars go for a "dawg," and they just happened to build a sister restaurant here in Las Vegas. And once Bobby Flay challenged them to a hot dog throwdown, how could I resist seeing what all the fuss was about??

So, these were some massive dogs-- I got the "Planet Hollywood" (they're all named after Vegas casinos or restaurants) with caramelized onions, mushrooms, nacho cheese, and bacon. Jon got the coleslaw dog with BBQ sauce. They were pretty good but after all that grease, I was regretting not getting one with some guacamole!

I'm not the biggest hot dog fan (we needed the Luce for that), but I do love a nice thick casing (I think that comes from all the brats I had in Europe) so it pops when you bite into it (Jon finds that disgusting), and these were definitely "poppy." Mmmmmm.


After we downed our gut-bombs we hurried over to the Bellagio in time to see a fountain show which was really fun. Dusk was falling so everything was lighting up and the weather was finally a perfect 75 degrees. Beautiful!

Reunited!

"Reunited and it feels so good!"

"Reunited 'cause we understood! We're both so excited 'cause we're reunited!"

Awwww, yea. Lucy and her Philly BFF were reunited this past Friday night and it was a very, very happy moment. She hadn't seen Dixon since May, but has been asking to play with him probably every day since then, so imagine her/MY elation when I finally was able to say "Yes! You get to play with Dixon today!" She did insist however on dressing herself for the big reunion, so I take no credit for the weird outfit. They had a BLAST running around Dixon's grandma and grandpa's backyard (they are Las Vegas natives so he was visiting with his dad, Matt so he could sign a contract in AZ), eating pizza and root beer, and swimming in their pool. I thought it would be a little bit depressing for her to have to say goodbye, so I was prepared for a meltdown, but it was like no big deal. She hugged him goodbye, waved farewell and then about 5 minutes down the road asked, "When is Dixon coming over tomorrow?" Oh well.:)

Ugggh, we miss these guys!! One more year and they're done too!! I feel a Christmas reunion comin' on....