New Year's Eve with the Reil's

Ken and Janalyn invited us over for a wonderful New Year's Eve party. The kids had a great time spending the evening with cousins, and Len & I enjoyed the grown-up company as well!







All the kids joined in for Just Dance 3. I think they danced to every song! We also played a super fun card game- Nertz, jumped on the trampoline, watched the ball drop in downtown Vegas (via TV), watched fireworks from a nearby hotel from their balcony,...

...and ate really well! Ken and Janalyn put on a fabulous spread for dinner and we had lots of (my favorite) pie for dessert.

At midnight I got to share a smooch with my favorite guy too!

Thanks so much Ken, Janalyn, and Kevin we had a great night with you!

Delyna, Steve & Suzette and fam, we sure missed you!

Steve & Suzi's fam had to head home the day before. They had pro-basketball tickets (lucky!). Our kids sure love all of their cousins. I hate that the people we love the most are the people we get to see the least. I love when we are able to get together though!!

Date with Mom

I love to serve in the Temple. It's an 8 hour minimum to visit the Temple in Montreal, so as a nursing momma I can't make that trip right now. I was so excited to spend the morning with my mom in the Las Vegas Temple.


Unfortunately, it was the last day before the yearly maintenance shut-down period and it closed early. We still enjoyed the peace and beauty outside for a while.

We went and got some frozen custard to cheer up our disappointment. I still had a nice day with mom though!

Barlow Bowling Bonanza

We got together with our Barlow family to play some 10-pin.


The lane 1 contestants were: Connor, Brad, Uncle Steve, and Uncle Jimmy.

Lane 2 had: Noe, Kaleb, Gavin, and Rachel.

Lane 3 had: Aunt Connie, Len, Me, and Lynn.

Teague took turns playing for all of us. The balls weighed more than he did!

The cheerleaders: Aunt Susie, Gramma, Hiram, and Grampa.

Scott and Aunt Debbi joined us after. Unfortunately, Gavin smashed his thumb with a 15 pound ball, so we had to take him to get x-rays and missed out on dinner. Luckily, it wasn't broken, but the entire thing turned black and blue (on both sides!). I have to mention too, that I won game one- wahoo!

The Famous Strip

You can't come to Vegas and not visit the strip. We started the day at Caesar's Palace, checking out the Forum Shops. Pete Rose and Mike Ditka were there too (signing autographs, ha ha!).


We met up with Kevin & Delyna's family for lunch and got to spend the afternoon with them too. We sure love our cousins! And the beautiful waterfalls at the Mirage.

The pirate ships at Treasure Island.

The gondola rides at the Venetian.

Teague loves Ashton!

We visited the atrium at the Bellagio again and ended the evening watching their beautiful dancing fountains.

Hiram's Blessing

We decided to have Hiram's baby blessing while we were home with family.


He was so lucky that he got to be blessed by his daddy, 2 of his grandpas, and 5 of his uncles!

The Reil clan- the 4 brothers with their families and cousin Sue with hers. (Sorry Ken, that Teague is blocking you).

The Pittl clan- Grandma & Grandpa Green Eyes were able to come down with cousins Tyler & Jacob.

The Lee clan- with Uncle Jimmy's fam too.

*We are so blessed to have little Hiram in our lives and also to have such wonderful family share his special day with us!

Marvels of God and Man

My dad, step-mom, and 2 nephews were able to travel down from Idaho to visit with us in Vegas. Since my dad was the only one who had been here before we wanted to take everyone to do some site-seeing. We drown out to Lake Mead to see some modern marvels of mankind- Hoover Dam and the new bypass bridge.



I am grateful for those who worked and died to build the bridge and my hometown.

We also had to go to the most beautiful site in the city- the Las Vegas LDS Temple. "Holiness to the Lord- The House of the Lord."

There was a sweet Nativity scene still set up.

My friend's Stake President told the parents in his stake to take their children to the temples and have them touch them. These kids were eager to do so!

"I love to see the Temple. I'm going there someday." I hope all 5 of those kids in the above picture (and the 2 that were sleeping in the car- Gavin & Hiram) all go to the Temple someday!

Homemade gifts are best

My kids got spoiled with awesome homemade gifts this year. Auntie Whitney made all the kids cool superhero capes and masks.

Auntie Erika made Hiram these darling bowtie-onesies.

Just add a cardigan and some pants and he's all fancy for church.

Auntie Mandy is a knitting queen and she made cute things for all the kids.

Love my boys' coordinating hats.

Noe got lucky with not one, but four pretty rose headbands.

My kids are just so sweet!

Can I have 3 more little girls please? Ha ha ha ha ha!

A Very Merry Christmas

We told the kids that Santa would find us at Gramma & Grampa's and he did! It was fun opening presents with our cousins this year. Here are all the grandkids youngest to oldest:

Hiram #7

Cadence #6

Teague #5

Gavin #4

Isaac #3

Noe #1-B

Kaleb #1-A

After opening our presents, we went to church for a lovely Sacrament meeting. We came back home for a yummy dinner, and our first sibling gift exchange (for the 5 siblings and their significant others). We ended the day watching "A Christmas Story." The best part about the day was having all of us together.

Poppa & Mom

Noe, Teague, Len, Gavin, Me, Hiram, & Kaleb

Brent, Isaac, Whitney, & Cadence

Coleman & Mandy (and George)

Jared & Erika

Kris & Devin (and Lily)

Lily Elf

Georgie Claus

While I am a Claus collector, my mom is a Snowman collector. The cute flakes were all over the house.

We are both Nativity collectors and I love how she displayed hers this year. I need a grand piano, so I can do that too- ha ha!