Nellis Air Force Base Air Show

We had a lot of fun one Saturday in November attending the air show at the Nellis Air Force Base here in Las Vegas.  We saw so many amazing airplanes and helicopters.  We walked through this huge carrier plane that opened at the front and the back. 

 

 

 

We got to watch all different kinds of jets flying over.  There were some that dropped parachuters, some that dropped flares simulating combat, and others that flew over in amazing ways, demonstrating the abilities of the different planes.  I wish I had more videos to share, but here is a short clip of some planes from different eras/wars flying over in a pattern together-and a goofy Camden at the end.

 

We all had a fun time!  Camden enjoyed wearing his newly acquired pilot's jacket as well!  It was a cold day, but we really enjoyed everything we were able to see, including the Budweiser Clydesdales on our way out! They were huge!

 

 

 

 

Cutest Brothers Photo

These two boys love each other!  They are already such great friends.  Camden is a wonderful big brother who looks out for his little brother Coulton and loves to play with him.  Coulton thinks Camden is the greatest and loves to follow him and do exactly what Camden is doing.  We took this picture in the fall when we went on a family hike to find pine nuts!  Unfortunately, we were a little late for the good pine nuts, but we had a great time hiking through the forest as a family.  We love you Camden and Coulton!

Hoover Dam Behind-The-Scenes Exclusive Tour

 

Calvin's dad and my parents came to visit us in Las Vegas before Halloween to see Calvin's swearing in to become a member of the Utah State Bar.  The swearing in was short and simple; however, it represented many years of hard work.  We were all so proud of Calvin and what he has worked so hard to accomplish!

 

While everyone was here visiting, Calvin's dad arranged for us to take a behind-the-scenes tour of the Hoover Dam.  It was amazing. 

 

 

This was our tour-guide for the day.  He was an engineer overseeing some of the operations for generating electricity and replacing older equipment with new equipment (I think! Some of the tour was very technical).

 

 

We went into these special golden doors and down and elevator, into the dam.

 

 

 

Not just anyone gets to go through these doors!

 

 

Then we walked down this long tunnel, it has some famous tile work, I'm told :)

 

 

We came out into this area where there was some history about the dam and the turbines. 

 

Here you can see part of the turbines that create the electricity.

 

 

We put on our hard-hats and ear-plugs for proper saftety.  

 

 

 

 

Then we read this sign...reminding us to be healthy :)

 

 

Then we went on a tour all through the turbines and workings of this electricity-generating system of the dam.  I mostly smiled and nodded my head.  Calvin and his Dad got a lot more out of this part of the tour then the rest of us.

If you could see through these huge pipes, you could see the water flowing through them.  I was wishing for a window to see through.

 

 

The truly amazing part for me was outside.  The structure of this dam is just overwhelming! 

 

 

 

Probably the very best part of our behind-the-scense tour was walking down this tunnel, about halfway up the dam, and looking out the little slats.

 

 

 

 

Overall, it was a great experience!  We were so lucky to have Walter set up this tour for us.  Thank you!

Camden the T-Ball Player

We signed Camden up for a fun, 4-week T-ball class at the community recreation center.  He had a lot of fun learning all about throwing, hitting, running the bases, and tagging the runner.   

 

 

There were about 5 boys Camden's age in the class. The coaches did a great job giving the boys instructions and keeping them engaged and doing what they were supposed to. 

 

 

The boys started off each class doing some team stretches, running the bases, then doing several different drills, building on the things they had learned.  Camden did a great job!  His coach even asked if he had played T-ball already!  He said Camden has a great arm.  Good job Camden!  We can't wait to sign him up for a team in the Spring.

 

Holiday Payback

 

 

I know it is now the middle of Decmber, but for the sake of posterity, I am going to try to catch up and post some pictures of Halloween!  You can think of it as payback for Christmas music playing in October and the stores with Christmas decorations before they even clear out the Halloween candy :)  

 

The boys had a lot of fun marching in the costume parade at the ward Halloween trunk-or-treat.  Camden even won an award for the scariest costume!  We told him that he had won the "Scariest Costume Award," and when he went to claim his paper certificate, he brought it back a little disappointed and said, "This is only a piece of paper, not a scary costume!" 

My Mom and Camden helped me paint these skeleton costumes with orange glow-in-the-dark paint.  I thought they turned out great and the boys looked so cute with their matching costumes.  It was so fun to have my parents and Calvin's Dad there to see the boys in their costumes!  We had fun passing out candy and enjoyed the chili cook-off (no, my chili didn't win, but it was close I'm sure) and the dry-ice rootbeer.

On the monday night before Halloween, we carved a pumpkin for Family Night.  Camden wanted a moon with stars like a design on the cutting tool Grandma sent him. 

 

 

Camden picked this crazy spider cake from the cakes that were set out with that week's free bread and bakery items that a lady in our ward gets from a local grocery store when they are about to expire.  It had a ton of frosting!  The tastiest part was the licorice legs. 



 

And here is the finished product!  It turned out great!

 

On Halloween night, we took the boys around a nearby neighborhood where they had so much fun trick-or-treating.  Coulton couldn't wait to eat the candy in his bag!!  He had to keep taking things out to eat along the way.  Camden had fun saying "Trick-or-Treat!".  I had fun loading up on candy for the boys to share with Mom and Dad...I may have been the one saying, "just one more house, please!" 



Mom's Birthday & Parks

 

I know it was a long time ago, but the month of August was great here in Las Vegas! Brooklyn took a spontaneous trip and came for my Birthday!  We had some really good pizza and chicken wings for dinner and an awesome ice cream cake that Calvin got for me.  It was a nice night! The boys got me some nice gifts (some planters and seeds for growing flowers and herbs and some kitchen things I had been wanting) and Brooklyn brought me a present too!

 

While Brooklyn was here, we spent one day exploring a few places on the strip.  She took me down to the Cosmopolitan where she had gone to a concert.  I took her over the Bellagio to watch the fountain. 

 

We also took the boys from some ice cream :) 

It was so fun to have Brooklyn visit!  Another thing that kept us busy in August was visiting the parks!  We were happy to find the covered playgrounds and the splash pads!  The boys had a lot of fun.

Mt. Charleston

 

 

We arrived in Las Vegas to 110 degree temperatures.  On one of our first weekends, we headed up to Mt. Charleston, which is only about half an hour from our house.  Who knew there was a forest near Las Vegas?!  We had a great time hiking with the boys and Spud.  Camden even walked almost all the way up, with a little dragging from Mom.  The views were amazing!  We hiked 1.5 miles up and climbed over 1,000 feet to Cathedral Rock.  When we got to the top, we ate some sandwiches and snacks and enjoyed the view.  Coulton fell asleep on the way down and Camden wasn't far behind him on the ride home.  It was a great way to spend the day where it was nice and cool!