Our Little Boo Boo!

I have never seen a baby like to play peek-a-boo more than Preslyn. Ever since she was 4 months old, she just loves to put her blanket over her head and pull it off. She does it so much that Aaron came up with the appropriate nick-name 'Boo Boo'. At first I hated it, but it fits her so well that it's kind of grown on me (as long as it's not over-used!). I will check on Preslyn during naps or at night and she will have her blanket piled on top of her face, with part of it in her mouth, sound asleep. She gets so excited when it is bedtime and we lay her in her crib--even when it is late and she should be tired and cranky. She is such a good baby and keeps us smiling and laughing!

Cute pics of my two sweethearts!

Preslyn mouthing one of her favorite toys. She always goes for the handle with the beads on it.

Demarie was up in her room having quiet time. A half hour later, this is how I found her--passed out in the middle of reading a book. She stayed in this position for a good hour and a half. Reminded me of when I find Aaron passed out on the couch with the remote in hand pointed toward the television, ready to change the channel, but not quite making it.

Just hanging out with each other in their princess chairs outside by their cottage. Demarie loves to make Preslyn laugh.

Demarie is learning how to listen so well in Primary. Her teachers, Brother and Sister Berkibel, tell me she is so reverent and always knows the right answers.

My big helper: Demarie loves to help me feed Preslyn. Luckily, Preslyn doesn't seem to mind the messy rice goatee. I think more cereal lands on her bib and chin than actually is swallowed. What would I do without my extra pair of hands?

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

In May we celebrated Grandpa Moon's birthday. We went to their house in Henderson and had a nice birthday dinner. We love Grandpa! Demarie especially loves that Grandpa is always so willing to sit and read books with her for hours on end. He probably has the Disney princess books memorized by now! Grandpa was the first one to get Preslyn to laugh. He is a very special person and always a good example to all of us.

ATTENTION: NEVER GO TO THE PICTURE PEOPLE!!!

I am the biggest sucker for the ads that come in the mail for free 8X10 prints. For Mother's Day, I finally talked Aaron into going to the Picture People to get a professional family photo taken--our first in the six years that we have been married. Afterall, I did have a coupon for a free 8X10 and 20% off additional prints. However, my first biggest mistake was scheduling the day before Mother's Day, when the only open appointment was at 8:00 pm on Saturday. The kids are usually passed out by that time, but I planned all day for the pictures and made sure they were rested and happy so we could get lots of good smiles. On the way to the mall (clear across town), a cop stopped traffic on the freeway, making us 5 minutes late. Only 5 minutes late!!!! Well, we check in and get the kids ready for their pictures. For an hour and a half, Preslyn was all smiles as we waited for our name to be called to get our pictures taken. Finally after they took a prom couple back to get their pictures taken that arrived 30 minutes after we did, I blew up. The worker informed us that since we were 'late' we had to wait for the next available opening!! Whatever! I was furious. When we FINALLY did get called back to the photo room, our photographer had absolutely NO idea what he was doing. He just stood there with the camera, staring at us. Somehow we got one HALF WAY decent picture of us. By this time, all the smiles and giggles from the kids were gone and I was so furious that I could hardly force out a smile myself. If you look closely you can see a tear in the corner of my eye. Someday I will learn my lesson with those stupid ads! With my luck, it will be another 6 years before Aaron will agree to get a family picture again!

Congratulations Master Daddy!

Aaron graduated in May with his Masters Degree in Mathematics from UNLV. He was one of only three graduates to obtain this hard-earned degree! We are so proud of him. Sometimes I feel really dumb when I talk to Aaron because he is such a brainiac. He was honored at a graduation dinner for receiving a financial award. Aaron and I attended the dinner together and it was nice to have that time alone to reflect on how blessed we have been since we came to Las Vegas three years ago. At that point, graduation seemed so far off. Demarie and Preslyn cheered loudly as Daddy walked across the stage. He didn't hear us very well since we were at the very top of the stadium. We had plently of room, however, since Preslyn cleared out the seats in front of us with her crying as she tried to take a nap in the noisy stadium. Congrats Daddy! We love you! Now I guess I can't force him to refer to me as 'Master Marlaina.'

Growing Tomatoes on The Moon...

I've been meaning to post a picture of my garden for a while now. When we decided to move to Vegas, I was pretty bummed because I didn't think I would be able to have a garden. The house we bought had a broken above-ground pool in the corner that was really beat up. We decided to take it out two years ago--just to find a thick layer of sand underneath. It has been such a dirty mess, especially with the Vegas wind. We have been trying to decide how to landscape it ever since (that is nice wife talk for "Aaron procrastinated and ignored my constant pleadings until my dad accidentally broke a sprinkler pipe and he HAD to do it"). We have some friends in the ward that have a beautiful garden and grow a variety of produce year-round. Inspired by our friends, Aaron built a retaining wall and we filled it with garden soil. We leveled the dirt and installed sprinklers and sod. Late February, I planted 10 tomato plants, melon, cucumber, onions, yellow squash, zuchinni, and jalepenos. While Utah was getting snow in April, my tomato plants were basking in the Las Vegas sun! Now my tomato plants are almost as tall as our brick wall and loaded with tomatoes! A guy at Star Nursery told me that growing a garden in Vegas is like growing a garden on the moon. If that's true, I think the moon would have a green tint to it. I pick squash and zuchinni almost daily and this week we have started to enjoy juicy garden tomatoes!

Apprentice (Me) vs. Master (Dad): I enjoyed working in our garden with my Dad when I was little. I would watch him bend over the plants and try to imitate every move he made. I remember one time I noticed he was sticking his tongue out as he concetrated on pulling out the weeds so I started sticking my tongue out. After a while, he looked over and said in a perplexed tone, "Why are you sticking your tongue out? Put it back in your mouth!" I didn't tell him that he had his tongue out too! Twenty years later, I'm having a tomato growing contest with my Dad. I'll have to take pictures of his plants and our viewers can post their vote for who deserves the prestigious title of The Las Vegas Master Gardener!

May--A Celebration of Marlaina!

Today we celebrated Marlaina's 31st birthday (even though it's officially May 5). Thought I'd attach some pics from her childhood (she might kill me for this!). This one's from May 1978 (1 year). The other is from October 1981 (4.4 years). I get such a kick out of baby pics, I think everybody should do this to their spouse!! (We'll be looking for upcoming baby pics on your blogs!)

G'ma and G'pa Moon came over for a little birthday dinner, cake, and ice cream. We had some steaks (Marlaina's such a carnivore if you didn't know!!), G'ma's salad, corn, and grapes (since I'm sure you're wondering what we eat for dinners ha ha).

In the video below, Demarie snuck in to blow out the candles before Marlaina could. She almost caught her hair on fire!

Marlaina's got such a talent for cakes that mine somehow looked even worse than it really was!! It was edible though, luckily the ice cream made it taste better too.

Marlaina's such a wonderful wife. I've made some stupid decisions in my life, but luckily that one was the best one I've ever made! She's a talented pianist. She's just like my own Mom growing up, where I would practice and practice a piece and then she'll come in and sightread the stupid thing better than what I could after practicing it! I couldn't ask for a better Mom, now Demarie even Mommies me. What an incredible craft lady too (is there a word for this?)! She also is a great example of continuing education as well (like Blake said, I couldn't call her 'Master Marlaina' the rest of my life!). Best of all, she lets me be a gym rat whenever possible!!! We love you Marlaina!!

Notice in the picture that Marlaina's not touching Preslyn's bum--that's because she just pooped on my pants! (Are these stinky kids worth it??!!)

p.s. this post definitely counts for Mother's Day too! Why didn't anyone tell me formatting this is a pain in the rear...

p.p.s. On Tuesday our Ward BB team went 15-0 to win the stake BB championship! (Yes, I'll take winning in any form nowadays, whether I'm playing Demarie or a bunch of us old & aging, out-of-shape guys!)