Our very first hike!

Thursday morning the Mama and Dada went on their very first hike together. Mimi stayed home with the kiddos. We were supposed to hit Red Rock canyon for our first but being that was going to hit 106 in North Las Vegas, Red Rock would have been a tad warmer than that, and no thanks.... I'm not hiking in that heat. So, we decided to try our Mt Charleston where it 30 degrees cooler. To our surprise when we reached the trail we wanted it was in the 50's! PERFECT temperature for a hike. We weren't cold and we weren't sweating hot.

We hiked up Mary Jane Falls Trail, a total of 3 miles and about 1,700 feet in elevation. At the end the of hike was small waterfall. It was great. Something we defiantly want to make a point in doing and taking advantage of while Mimi is here.

So thankful our lives changed for the better, which allows us to be in good enough physical shape to be able to do things like these. 3 years ago, there is no way possible I would have been able let alone WANTED to go on a hike.

I leave you with pictures of course.

A cabin we drove by.

Kayla's 4th birthday beach party was a blast. Could not have had it go any more perfect....unless Papa was here to enjoy it with us. 

Kayla was so excited and happy every moment of the day.

I edited 103 pictures, but I will spare you from posting each and everyone. 

Here are just a few of my favorites. It was not easy choosing just a few. If you call this a few....

Birthday girl and her Mimi.

Taking a candy break from the pool.

(my homemade jolly rancher lollypops were a hit)

Announcing time for cake!

Birthday girl and her Dad.

Birthday girl and her Mom.

Birthday kiss.

All of us with Mimi.

Everyone loved the gift from Kayla's birth father. (look at the faces!)

Birthday gift from us!

Gift from Mimi and Papa.

Cupcakes- blue are cotton candy and sand ones are chocolate marshmallow.

Super Yum!

Candy sharks

Candy fruit slices

Juice for the kids in sand buckets

Shark watermelon

Lounging in the pool.

Cheetos in a sand bucket, candy turtles and candy aligators and mint oreos!

Bubbles, Doritos in a sand bucket, swedish fish, graham cracker goldfish and the candy sea glass I made.

Flowers from Mimi and Kayla's birthday blocks I made.

Poolside for a candy break. (love this picture)

I also love this picture. Caden....

She got me.

So last week Mimi (Nick's Mom) called and  told me not to tell anyone but that she was going to arrive on the morning of Kayla's birthday party. Saturday July 28th. She told me she was flying in at 8:30 and she would hire a limo driver to bring her to our house from the airport and she would ring the door and surprise Kayla and everyone just in time for her birthday party.

I had been dreading this week because of being so excited for Kayla! Her birthday party cant come soon enough for me and this was making it so much longer of a wait.

But yesterday, Sunday July 22nd, about 9 am I was upstairs changing into my clothes to hit the treadmill and the kids were watching the tv in the treadmill room pretty loud and Nick was in the master bath cutting his hair and showering. My phone rang. I answered. It was Mimi asking what I was doing. I thought that was weird but I told her I was changing clothes to go for a run.

She told me no one was answering the doorbell. I was so confused. I just said, "What?" If I remember correctly I asked her about 3 or 4 times to repeat herself.

I finally made my way to the front door and there she was. Dressed up all nice. With her suitcases at the front door.

SHOCK. She defiantly got me. Kayla just screamed "Mimi's here!!" And then ran to her.

This is definitely a memory that I will never forget!

Meanwhile, Nick is in the shower so Mimi and grand babies hide up in the guest room and wait until Nick is finished. I get on the treadmill and run like normal so he isnt thrown off. He comes out as I'm running. He asked where the kids were. I told him check them out in Mimi's room. He opens the door. Kayla is in Mimi's bed and says "Mimi is here!" Then Mimi steps out from behind the door and Nick was in shock! He didn't speak for a couple minutes then finally asked how she got here.

It was great. For hours afterwards we kept saying we cant believe Mimi is here!

Her and Papa definitely got me. Got me good.

Im just so happy she is going to be here for Kayla's birthday. Mimi has never been around for any of Kayla's birthdays and this one is great because it's really her first actual party. Her first birthday Nick was deployed. Her 2nd birthday Nick was in Montana. Her 3rd birthday we spent in a hotel downtown in Guam for a weekend (at Kayla's request) to use the pool and have the beach. So this one is going to be great.

Sea Glass Candy

For Kayla's birthday I also made Sea Glass Candy.

I am shocked at how real it looks.

I tried to match up colors to look like sea glass we have found and collected from Guam.

I think I did pretty good.

Thank you again Pinterest.

Recipe here:

http://notsohumblepie.blogspot.ca/2010/02/sea-glass-candy.html

Not So Humble Sea Glass Candy:
yields roughly 3/4lb of candy
210 grams (1 cup) sugar
140 grams ( 1/3 cup) light corn syrup
85 grams (6 tablespoons) water
food coloring
1/2-1 teaspoon flavoring oil (depending on how strong you like the flavor)

non-stick cooking spray
powdered sugar for dusting

Lightly spray a small metal pan with non-stick spray. I'm using quarter sheet pans for my candy, however a 9x9" pan will work just fine. I don't recommend using ceramic or glass pans/casseroles because we'll be hitting the candy with a mallet later and well... you don't want real glass in your sea glass candy.

In a small non-stick sauce pan, weigh out the sugar, water and corn syrup and place over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves. When it begins to simmer, wash down the sides of the pan with a damp pastry brush, attach your candy thermometer and sit back and watch. Just watch, no stirring.

When the mixture hits the 250°F range, go ahead and add your food colorings. I use gel coloring but regular colorings should work fine. Again, don't stir. The bubbling action will distribute the color for you. In fact, watching it spread is one of the more entertaining aspects of staring at a boiling pot of sugar for 10 minutes.

Once your thermometer* reads 300°F pull it off the heat and then add your flavoring and stir. Be careful as it will bubble and steam. Immediately pour the bubbling mixture into your prepared pan and allow to sit until cool.

Once it has fully cooled, cover with a piece of parchment paper and hit it with a mallet.

Collect the pieces and brush with powdered sugar. To store the candy, place in an air tight container and keep at room temperature. 

Enjoy!

Birthday Blocks

I made these Styrofoam blocks to use at Kayla's birthday party.

Just blocks of Styrofoam painted, with mod podge over and under the pictures and some glitter and embellishments. I plan to stack them on the food table and possible add her scrapbook of her actual birth day for people to look at.

Thunderstorms

Saturday night Kayla had her 2nd sleepover ever, at our friends house down the street. 

While they were all out for dinner I decided that the 2 boys and I go for a walk.

A storm rolled in while we were out so we had run back home. The cool air and dark clouds came. And not much longer after that flash floods!

We got these pictures as we were walking.

My arms in the above picture look NICE! Give me motivation to keep lifting those weights!

(and keep the home gym decor as my latest project!)