Trip to Vegas to meet Eleanor Dixon

This trip was going to be a surprise for my parents, Emily and Cameron. I found out early Friday that Eleanor had been born and decided while at work that I would go down to Vegas and surprise them. Emily Herrera and Solenne decided to come with me and surprise her family as well....unfortunately our plans were somewhat foiled.

As we headed down to Vegas, there was an awful accident in front of us. There actually was an accident on the other side and that caused the one on our side. We ended up having to sit on the highway for 6 HOURS! Yes, you have that right, we sat with the car off in the dark for longer than it takes to even get to Vegas. I was so glad that I wasn't in the accident, but waiting was somewhat difficult. I was sad too, because I had to let my parents in on the secret so they didn't freak out when I walked into their house at 4 AM. They were still happy to have me come, but the surprise was going to be fun. I still got to surprise Emily and Cameron though!

After like 4 hours, Emily and I started taking pictures to entertain ourselves. Here they are. (Don't forget that we had been in the car for 5 hours driving, and then we had been sitting for 4 hours....so we might not look as nice as we normally do ;)

Emily could not keep a straight face when we were trying to have angry faces...We laughed a lot.


Trying to sleep while waiting



Happy faces...trying to look awake.


I didn't know we were being angry :)



Didn't know at the time, but still had 2 more hours to wait.



Solenne finally fell asleep, but was SO good the whole time.



Sad faces


We are so lucky to have technology. We finally broke down and started watching Stardust on my iPod. Thank you technology.



Once I got to Vegas, I spent a lot of time with my parents, which was really nice. They made me food, we made cookies, we went to a baptism, and they taught me how to make bread and popcorn.

This is the BEAUTIFUL crib that my dad made for the grandchildren. It has mostly been used by my sister Sarah and her kids, but it came in the mail the day before I got there. We put it together and oiled it so that it would be ready for Eleanor when she came home from the hospital. My dad is amazing!




My mom is also very talented and made this quilt when she was in high school! It was so beautiful. I should have taken a close up so you could see the stitching.



So, since my mom is amazing with a sewing machine, she helped me to hem my bridesmaid dress for Marsha's wedding. It was so nice to have her help me with that, and saved me the hassle of having to go to a random seamstress.

My mom has a lot of fabric and stuff that she doesn't want to get rid of. This picture is to document the miracle of her not throwing things away and how it can be handy sometimes. I didn't even realize that I probably should find thread to match the fabric....but my mom had some in her sewing stuff! How awesome is that!!




Because of timing and such, I didn't get to see the Dixon's until later on Saturday night. Here are a few pictures of my newest niece.

She has long feet ;)



So adorable, and so quiet! It was so fun to meet her and hold her the day after she was born!




Marsha and Nick Arnett - Wedding on June 19, 2010




These guys looked so nice in their gray tuxedos. So handsome!






All of the bridesmaids waiting for them to come out. It was so fun to spend the day with a lot of my really close friends. I love you girls!



Time with Stef, Will & the twins, Ethan and Evan

Stef had Ethan and Evan at the end of March. I've been able to go help with the boys every Wednesday. I also was able to spend a week with her and the boys while Will was down in St. George. Twins are a log of work, but it has been so fun to see them grow and spend time with all of them. They have just moved and it will be really weird to not spend so much time with them.

It definitely gave me a better understanding of what my parents went through with me and Courtney. I have always appreciated them, but this brought it to a whole new level. I can also see where it is all so WORTH IT!


Me and the twins...so cute!



Stef and I trying out the baby bjorn's that they just got. We had a fun walk!