Vegas Trip - Nov. 20th

I'm behind in a few posts, so while Campbell was resting I thought I'd get these done.

On November 20, Chad, Cooper, Trice, and I all went to Las Vegas. It was a family trip, as we were going to visit Jura & Darrin and meet the new baby, Jaryn; but also we told Cooper the next time we went to Vegas we would take her.

The flight was good, the weather was perfect, and our vacation went great. I showed Cooper where I used to live, the school I taught at, we visited Crystal who I taught with, and we showed Cooper "The Las Vegas Strip." I'm not sure she was greatly impressed at this age.

We toured the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, Cooper and I toured the Secret Garden of white tigers and dolphins while Chad and Trice ate sushi, we saw the lions at MGM and bought some light blue and electric green M&M's at M&M World. We also went to the Bellagio to show Cooper where Chad asked me to marry him and to watch the water show. I was also able to see the new movie "Twilight" with Jura and Darrin. We ate at Ruth Chris Steakhouse and visited baby Jaryn. She is so cute! We enjoyed our down time and even took in some gambling. Lucky me, I won!


Cooper touching the Sting Ray at the Shark Reef.


Cooper and Daddy at the Rio Mardi Gras show.


Cooper and Mommy at Bellagio flower atrium.


Mommy and Trice showing off Mommy's winnings!


Trice and Daddy enjoying margaritas from the Coyote Ugly boot.


Darrin, Jaryn, Jura, Cooper, Chris, & Chad


We all enjoyed our time there and look forward to the next trip back.

On the Third Day of Christmas...

On the third day of Christmas (this one is easy) my true love gave to me...
three beautiful, smart, and amazing kids;
a 2nd chance at love;
and a proposal at the Bellagio for everyone to see.

Colgin Tanner; born 5:09pm, June 19th. Our handsome "little man" with lots of dark hair. The first "true" grandchild for both sets of grandparents. We found out on Halloween that we were pregnant with him, it came as a complete surprise. He weighed 7lbs 15oz, was 21 1/4" long, and was 1 week early. He was our tallest child and I think he looked like me. He really was a sight to see and hold.

Cooper Maya, born 9:00am, November 2nd. Our first "red headed" daughter and what a big girl she was. Weighing in at 8lbs 6oz, was 20 1/2" long, and was 2 weeks early. She looked just like her daddy. She has delighted us with her vocabulary, intelligence, and sassy personality.

Campbell Macy, born 9:00pm, January 2nd. Our second "red headed" daughter and how her temperament shines through everyday. Weighing in a 7lbs 9oz, was 20 1/4" long, and was 3 weeks early. We found out we were pregnant with her on Mother's Day, after trying for a year. She is already the brave and daring one. She will hold her own and cause lots of trouble too.

Thank you for sharing in this adventure with me, some days are obviously harder than others.

On the Second Day of Christmas...

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me... a second chance at love and a proposal at the Bellagio for everyone to see.

Tonight I looked through our old photo albums trying to think of what the "2nd" day would bring me, and basically in a nutshell it's true love and happiness. Looking through the photos of holidays, birthdays, celebrations, travels, friends, tailgating, weddings, babies, pets, family, and accomplishments it made me cry a little but at the same time laugh. Wow, how we have changed! Obviously gotten older, gained some weight, different hair styles, different clothing styles, and were fortunate to upgrade from that little apartment of hodge podge items to a very roomy house with lots of extras.

What I notice the most is that in the pictures we are smiling, really smiling. All I can say is look I'm happy. About a year before I met Chad I asked my dad "when was the last time I was happy" and he said "when your mom and I were still married." My parents got divorced when I was 12, and here I was at 23 trying to figure out how to make myself happy. Certainly the decisions I made up to that point hadn't panned out. So that night when I found Chad on AOL and messaged him "how's the weather in Manhattan" was the night that I took my happiness into my own hands. It was a Monday and for the next three days we probably sent each other 2 dozen emails, with pictures, and chatted online for hours. By Thursday I couldn't stand it any more I HAD to talk to him. So I got his number and called. To hear his voice and find out how much we had in common, the friends we shared, the similarities in our families, it just all made sense. That day was April 19th, and 3 weeks later over Mother's Day weekend I flew to KS to meet him in person. All I can say is "I knew I loved you before I met you."

On the First Day of Christmas...

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me,
a proposal at the Bellagio for everyone to see.

Yes, for those of you who don't know, Chad proposed to me in Las Vegas at the Bellagio flower atrium. It was a total surprise, he caught me off guard, and everyone in the atrium was quiet and watched with grand anticipation. I knew he was coming but he had flown in much earlier that day and my sister picked him up. They spent the day running errands and getting things arranged. When I arrived home from work my sister still wasn't home with my car yet, and I was angry! It put me in a bad mood for the rest of the evening. My sister and Jura, one of my best friends, were in on the secret and tried to continue on with our already scheduled plan of the last girls' night out with dinner and a evening out on the town. We ate dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant and headed down to the Bellagio. We walked toward the flower atrium, but then decided to head out to watch the water show. We went back in to the flower atrium and started taking pictures. During this whole time Chad had been sitting at the piano bar on the corner watching us walk by again and again, just laughing. So as we were taking photos he came up behind me and asked if he could be in the photo as well. I just screamed I couldn't believe it. I was laughing, crying, screaming and hugging him and I wouldn't let him go. He had to tell me to let go for a second so he could do something, at which point he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Of course I said YES!! My sister and Jura were crying, everyone was cheering, it was a great moment. Very sneaky on everyone's part. We spent the night at the New York New York hotel and I had to go to work the next day for my last day of teaching in Las Vegas. For a girl who doesn't really like surprises, it was a great surprise and one I'll never forget. Thanks hon!

The next few blogs will be dedicated to Chad for these reasons;
1. He didn't give me a Christmas list and I have no idea what to get him.
2. He didn't give me a Birthday list and I have no idea what to get him.
3. I'm trying to be cute, clever, and creative all in one.
4. I'm journaling these topics so that when I make this blog book, the girls will have it forever.
5. I don't tell Chad often enough how much I love him and what a great life we've made.

The Nutcracker Ballet

Today Cooper's Daisy troop traveled to Topeka to see The Nutcracker Ballet. The performance was great, a little long for the girls, but really a great showing. Cooper enjoyed the show and didn't even comment on the fact that there was no talking throughout the entire performance. The orchestra was great. It was so fascinating to see such young performers enjoy their night in the spot light. Before the performance was a workshop where the director was talking to the girls about ballet and some of the performers were telling their stories. After hearing the girls talk Cooper asked me if she could do the ballet next year. I said we needed to start off with something less difficult than The Nutcracker Ballet! ;o) She has high aspirations.



It was a very artistic weekend in our household. On Friday night we took Cooper to the dinner theater in Wamego to see A Christmas Carol. It was a great show and Cooper really enjoyed it. What a way to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas!

And The Stockings Were Hung...

Or in our case, the stockings were gently laid on the floor (I've seen what a stocking holder does to a little girl's head).

Tonight we decorated the Christmas tree.


Before picture!

Christmas is Chad's favorite holiday, geez I wonder why?? Could be he loves snow, loves cold weather, loves to give people gifts, loves to eat fudge and all kinds of good food, and his birthday is December 31st.

Tradition (can you call it a tradition if it's only been 9 years now?) would have it that we braved the cold weather (with Chad's brother Jeremy and his girlfriend Beth) to find the perfect Christmas tree. We ate our candy canes as the nice gentlemen tied it to the top of our car. We drove home singing Christmas Carols. We watched Chad wrestle with the tree and get it inside. The cat ran upstairs to hide from the big "monster" in the family room for the next 25 days. I put on the lights (thanks to some great teachings from Jura), add some ribbon, and then let the kids go crazy with the ornaments. Campbell ran around like a wild child. Cooper was determined to make things look great. Chad supervised. Finally an hour later, Chad put on the topper (which is always crooked-because of a design error) and I put on the tree skirt and lay the stockings out.





I have to say I LOVE my Christmas tree skirt. My very talented sister made it for me last year (I didn't even know she remembered my comment about always wanting a personalized tree skirt, but she did). I love personalized items, I'm not sure why because I have a very common name. But I love to get things for the girls with their name on it. It makes it seem more important. I know they'll always have that item and cherish it, or at least that's what I like to think.



Colgin's Tree.

Anyhow, Christmas is sad too, because I miss Colgin. But I love to hear Cooper talk about him and tell Campbell about him. One day she too will be talking about her big brother up in Heaven. I'm glad they like to include him on things. And during this time of year we get to light up Colgin's special Christmas tree and don't have to explain to everyone why we have a Christmas tree up in our dining room all year long.



After picture!

Now, it's time to get the girls to bed, clean up, do some more housework and get some sleep. I know it's been awhile since I posted (yes Kris I too haven't written much), but we've been out of town, busy, and I'm a little leary about uploading pics to my computer, since my old profile had an error and I've had to start everything over again. But I promise to do some updating soon, so look for those coming.

Extreme Home Make Over in KS

Extreme Home Make Over the tv show has been in Chapman, KS this week. The June tornado first hit Chapman and then came to Manhattan, and the Make Over team decided to do 3 projects in Chapman. The team rebuilt a house for a family of 5 in which the mom has battled cancer twice and the dad is a disabled vet. The team also rebuilt the Chapman city park and built a Community building. You can read the whole story in our local newspaper. Chapman is about 30 miles from Manhattan. The actual show will air in January is what I've heard.

http://www.themercury.com/News/article.aspx?articleId=25286087a39c4ffdae1f106d856ad34d