Weekend Getaway

  

Last weekend we had a couple of days off work so we decided to take a trip to Las Vegas and hang out with BJ, Jamie, and Rudy.  It was a pretty busy weekend and we missed Rudy since he had to work and attend meetings for most of it.

 Saturday morning Randi and Jamie went to a baby shower for Jamie while Cassidy and BJ went to an outdoor shooting range. 

 Saturday night we took a trip downtown to the Bellagio to see the atrium an fountain show.  Her is us in front of the Liberty Bell in the atrium.

 And waiting for the fountain show.  We actually watched a couple because it took so much work to get there.  I would suggest avoiding the strip on a Saturday night :)

 Cassidy and BJ also got put to work helping the Garcias put together their new house.  One night the three boys hung a ceiling fan and the other night was spent putting in a garage door opener.  Cass has quickly become the Norton family handy man.

 Their efforts were rewarded though with swimming in the new pool.

Monday morning before we left we went hung out with BJ after Jamie and Rudy went to work.  We ended up at the Las Vegas Natural History Museum.  None of us had ever been there and I think we were impressed with how big it turned out to be.  This is Cassidy and BJ in front of the exhibit for King Tut's Tomb.  We had a good time hanging out with family and can't wait for our next time back when there will be a new member of the family :)

The Deer Hunter's Ball

For every 24th of July Cassidy's family has what you might call their family reunion at Millers Flat in the Manti-La Sal National Forest.  For a few days everyone has a blast with ATVs and playing games.

Cass got stuck in some mud.

 

Some trails are still off limits because of large snowdrifts.

 

On Saturday evening it was time for the Deer Hunter's Ball, this is where everyone dresses up funny and the winner gets the gold cup.  For those who have read our blog before last year it was a dance off composition and we won, so Cass decided to where our trophy.

Sadly we did not win this year but it did stay in the Peterson family. Congrats Jason and Laura.

 

We all had a blast up there and wish we could of stayed longer, stupid work.  But a week later Cassidy and Randi took a short ride up to Heber to see a friend, Megan Smith, ride in a competition.

 

She took a first and a second place ribbon, congrats Megan.

A Day At The Lake

Finally we have had a weekend that is not bad weather or cold so we could take the boat out.  We all had a blast, and so happy Cassidy's parents live so close.

Here are some pictures from the day.

 

Cassidy gave his dad permission to be as hard as he wanted on the tube, and well he got beaten up a little.

"The Peterson Is Coming, The Peterson Is Coming"

So this is our announcement to the world that Cassidy and Randi are expecting their first child. 

 

For everyone's information we are due on the 20th of January.

 

And Randi got one more thing for her birthday that was not on the last post, but we are really excited for our first born.

My Birthday And More

 

I got to spend my birthday at the Jones family reunion so presents and cake were kind of a secret affair.  The rest of the day was awesome though I did lots of crafts with the great grandkids and got to play games that night with my family.  My parents got me just what I wanted a sewing machine!  And good thing Jamie got me a Hobby Lobby gift card so I can go buy fabric to try this baby out :)  Cassidy got me the self healing mat and roller cutter to go with it too.  It couldn't have been a better day!

 

On the way home from the reunion we stopped with my parents and Aunt LaWayne at the Hill Air Force Base Museum.  LaWayne hadn't been since it first opened and my parents had never been.  We had a good time looking at the airplanes outside and inside and learned a little bit along the way too.

 

Taking a break.  There were a lot of people there so at times we were walking pretty slow and to be honest it got a little tiring.

 

This last week back home has been the American Fork Steel Days and with that there are fireworks.  We are also very lucky that they launch the fireworks just a couple of blocks up the street from our house. We also got there a little bit before they started and got to hear the band Kansas playing in the back ground.  Here are some pictures of the fireworks.

 

Cassidy's parents came and joined us in the fun.  The fireworks were beautiful and unlike last year they started on time.

Keeping Up With The Joneses

 

We spent July 4th and a few more days with Randi's family at the Jones Family Reunion just outside of Bear Lake on the Idaho side.  We were so lucky to have a giant house with several different gathering rooms for the 40+ of us to hang out in for the week.  There were games every night with cousins along with a few other activities shown below.

 

BJ did an amazing job taking family photos this year with several different backgrounds and lights.  Too bad you couldn't stay the whole time BJ.

 

On Monday afternoon I did a baby shower for Jamie with all of the girls at the reunion.  We decorated onesies, matched the baby socks, tied a quilt my mom made, and played bingo as she opened the presents.  Everyone was so generous and we had a great time bonding as girls while the husbands watched the kids.

 

Just some of the fun things people did.  My mom planned a tour a honey farm and then over to put flowers on our grandparent's grave with lunch at the state park on Tuesday.  Jamie got car sick coming down the canyon and barfed all down the side of my dad's truck.  On Wednesday we went to Bear Lake to play in the water.  There was also paintballing, shooting (real guns), golf, bicycle riding, fireworks, a special reunion edition of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me and several birthdays celebrated.  And how could I forget?  Jamie did a slide show of old family photos and we stopped a couple of times to get fresh raspberry shakes.  

 

Finally, there are now 12 great grandchildren with 2 more on the way so I was in charge of crafts with the kids.  We decorated bags one night to put our loot in from the pinata, colored with glitter glue, and the younger kids make stained glass sun catchers while the older ones made wind-chimes.  I hope the kids had as much fun as I did.  Sometimes it was hard to pull them away from the swing set in the backyard :)  We had a blast getting to see all of our family again and can't wait for 2013 now when we get to see you all again! 

Good Friends and Good Times

 

This last Saturday we were able to spend the day with several good friends that we haven't spent time with in quite a while.  In the morning we went shooting with Kyle and Megan.  Cass and Kyle have both been wanting to go for a while, but we needed it to get warm and stop raining so we could go.  It was a fun morning just being out in the middle of no where with good friends to talk to.  We had several different hand guns, a couple rifles, and some shot guns to keep us busy. 

 

After shooting some my old roommate Brienne and her husband Ryan were in town from Virginia so we met them at a splash park near our house before getting some dinner and heading back to our house to let their kids play.  We only took one picture because I forgot the camera at the splash park, but we had a great time with them and their two little boys.

 

No pictures of our evening activity, but I am so excited about the deal we got that I am going to share it anyway.  Cass and I went to the movies Saturday for only $10 and that included two large popcorns and two large drinks.  There is a cheaper movie theater by our house where tickets are only $3 a piece.  We love it because concessions are really cheap too only $2 for popcorn or a drink.  Normally we split popcorn and drinks and have a relatively cheap date, but this week we had coupons so it was so exciting to each get our own popcorn and our own drink.  The little things that can make life so worth while :)