Hi dear ones,
Well, it appears I am the last one standing tonight! The boys went to bed about 8:30 (they were so tired), then Anna awoke briefly to eat but soon fell back asleep. Even Paul is conked out on the couch curled up in a blanket, probably because he was such an angel this morning and let me go back to sleep till 9:00 AM after a crazy, sleep-deprived night. I'll wake him at 11:59 with a goblet of our sparkling apple juice and to watch all the fireworks from the strip that we'll see from our front lawn. We've already heard lots of fireworks and expect more as the night goes on.
Actually, we had a great "New Year's Eve Party" with our own little family starting at 5:30 tonight. Yesterday I asked everyone what their VERY favorite food/snack was. Then for dinner, I made all of our favorites and we ate on fancy china plates by candlelight! Aaron chose pizza, so I bought a couple frozen ones and he got all he wanted. Jacob chose bananas, but I kicked it up a notch and made a caramel fondue sauce to dunk the banana chunks in (YUM!) Paul wanted brownie sundaes, which I was more than happy to make. And I chose fresh shrimp...lots of shrimp, just dunked in cocktail sauce and lemon. We also assembled little appetizers with cream cheese on a wheat thin with the shrimp and sauce. We washed it down with egg nog/sprite mixture, a piece of fudge and called it good! Wow, what a treat!
We also went around our table and remembered highlights from our year. What a year it has been. Some of our highlights have been...
The birth of baby Anna
New job for Paul
New house
Moving to sunny Las Vegas
Completing the FLY! album
Lagoon in the summer
Alpine reunion
Family visits and seeing both sets of grandparents these last couple weeks!
Making new friends (Remembering and loving our old friends too!)
Aaron starting school and soccer
Better bedtime routines for all of us
Learning about and loving our new home and surroundings (including gaining the courage and skills to drive in this crazy city!)
[Paul's late addition]: Attending BYU's blow-out win over Oregon in the Las Vegas Bowl!
As these holidays come to a close, we think of each of you more than you probably know! Thanks to all of you for being such a great support system. We love having parents and siblings and friends who were excited for us to take this job in Las Vegas and are so supportive, even though we are far away now. We really are doing great here and our everyday life has greatly improved with this job change. Our little family is so happy and doing great. We just wish you were all closer to enjoy life's little moments with. But that's what airplanes are for, right?
We look forward to a great new year. We'll enjoy raising our three energetic, fun kids and keeping up with work, church, and everyday life. I'm excited for new music opportunities and already have some fun things in the works. We also plan on going to Disneyland in March for the boys' birthdays, Montana in the summer, and to Utah for a visit when we're dying of heat here (or when we find some great airfares).
We love all of you and count you as some of our greatest blessings. Through the ups and downs of this year we have felt the Lord's hand steadying us and guiding us and leading us forward. We are so grateful for His love and guidance. And we're grateful for all your love, support, and friendship. Thanks to all those who have visited us...we've loved all the company! And to the rest of you, please think of us when you're freezing your tooshies off this winter! Our doors are always open! Love you all!
Amy (and I'm sure Paul would say hello if he were awake!)
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Lacey Lines, the Holiday Edition
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
Merry Christmas from the Missionaries!
We had Elder Clarke and Elder Newton over this morning for Christmas breakfast. They were good sports to play with the kids and help Aaron build his new K'nex model. Fun stuff! If you are members of their respective families see below for video greetings from them!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Quick Pics
This will be a quick post. We mostly wanted to put up a few pictures from the last few weeks. We're doing well here and getting ready for Christmas. Drop us a line and let us know how you are all doing!
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Anna's Blessing
Here are a few photos of Anna's blessing today. We missed those that weren't able to come but hope that these will help you feel a part of Anna's special day. We hope you are all doing well. Everyone here, but Anna, caught a nasty cold so we're heading for bed. We'll try to write later and give you an update on what we're doing.
Here are some pictures from Halloween. The kids got bucketfulls of candy that night!
Here are some pictures from Halloween. The kids got bucketfulls of candy that night!
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Fall Frenzy & Family "Fotos" :-)
Hi everyone,
Check out our new pictures below, hot off the upload! The rest of this is a copy of what was in the email, so if you've already read it you can just go right to the pics! Thanks to our friend Amy Eddington for the fabulous photos!
First of all, thank you SO MUCH for all the calls, cards, gifts, etc. to celebrate baby Anna's arrival. I'm still working on thank you notes, but please know how sincerely grateful we are for such supportive friends and family. You are all wonderful! Anna is doing great and we are starting to adjust. She is such a sweet, content baby, which is great for #3. Of course we are so busy with 3 kids 5 years old and under, but we are so happy Anna is part of our family. She is full of smiles and has even started "talking" more this week. To us, she looks bigger each day, but she must still look newborn because everyone comments on how small she is. She is very feminine and petite compared to how the boys looked, but she is filling out nicely and is so much fun.
We had a great week with Kristy and Cherilyn's families in Las Vegas. They stayed in a hotel downtown and besides the bed-bugs they found (they'll have the email that story...yuck!) in their first set of rooms, enjoyed their stay! We had so much fun letting all 10 cousins play at the park, decorate pumpkins and Halloweeen cookies, have a fun Family Home Evening, etc. We realized that we have been blessed to see EVERY SINGLE family member on both sides in the past year. That is quite an accomplishment for families so spread out! We only need to meet new little Sophia now.
Today was the first day we all went back to church for the full block. There has been a nasty flu going around our ward, so we're glad we waited to bring Anna out. There are also SO MANY KIDS in our ward that love to touch, hug, poke, prod, and love litle babies that we needed to keep our distance as well. But we were given a great welcome back by our great ward.
The boys are doing great. Aaron had another soccer game yesterday and it was great to get some fresh air and sunshine. It felt so cold yesterday to us. At 9:45 it was a freezing 65 degrees! We are so acclimated to warm weather, just like the natives I guess. We got some funny looks at the park with cousins when Dallin (from Alaska) went running through the sprinklers without his shirt. The park moms were in long jeans and sweaters, but to Dallin it must have felt like summer! Even Jacob thought it was too cold to go swimming outside in the cousin's hotel pool and opted to just watch them while he stayed in his long-sleeved shirt. Too funny!
This week we have three fun parties to go to...one for preschool aged neighborhood kids from the ward, one at Paul's work, and a trunk-or-treat at a neighboring ward. We're excited for them all since Paul won't be here on Halloween. He has a business trip to Dallas, hopefully the last trip for a long while. He has no desire to travel often...just the desire to go to Australia next time they offer. Maybe I could go with him!
I'd better get Aaron ready for bed. The two youngest are sleeping already. We love you all. Write back when you can!
Love,
Amy
p.s. We are blessing Anna on Sunday, November 12th here in Las Vegas. We just want everyone to know they are invited to come, though we know we are SO FAR AWAY from most of you! We look forward to seeing a few of you then, and more of you throughout the holidays. We figure it may be nice to have company spread out anyway so we really get a good chance to visit! It will be great to see family and friends whenever we get the chance! We hope to see Mom and Dad Lacey over Mom's school break sometime, and the far-away siblings at least next summer. We're just staying here for the holidays this year and look forward to having Natalie join us for Thanksgiving. Paul has used his days off already and needs to stay close to work as well. Thank goodness for emails to keep us in touch! Bye for now! :)
Check out our new pictures below, hot off the upload! The rest of this is a copy of what was in the email, so if you've already read it you can just go right to the pics! Thanks to our friend Amy Eddington for the fabulous photos!
First of all, thank you SO MUCH for all the calls, cards, gifts, etc. to celebrate baby Anna's arrival. I'm still working on thank you notes, but please know how sincerely grateful we are for such supportive friends and family. You are all wonderful! Anna is doing great and we are starting to adjust. She is such a sweet, content baby, which is great for #3. Of course we are so busy with 3 kids 5 years old and under, but we are so happy Anna is part of our family. She is full of smiles and has even started "talking" more this week. To us, she looks bigger each day, but she must still look newborn because everyone comments on how small she is. She is very feminine and petite compared to how the boys looked, but she is filling out nicely and is so much fun.
We had a great week with Kristy and Cherilyn's families in Las Vegas. They stayed in a hotel downtown and besides the bed-bugs they found (they'll have the email that story...yuck!) in their first set of rooms, enjoyed their stay! We had so much fun letting all 10 cousins play at the park, decorate pumpkins and Halloweeen cookies, have a fun Family Home Evening, etc. We realized that we have been blessed to see EVERY SINGLE family member on both sides in the past year. That is quite an accomplishment for families so spread out! We only need to meet new little Sophia now.
Today was the first day we all went back to church for the full block. There has been a nasty flu going around our ward, so we're glad we waited to bring Anna out. There are also SO MANY KIDS in our ward that love to touch, hug, poke, prod, and love litle babies that we needed to keep our distance as well. But we were given a great welcome back by our great ward.
The boys are doing great. Aaron had another soccer game yesterday and it was great to get some fresh air and sunshine. It felt so cold yesterday to us. At 9:45 it was a freezing 65 degrees! We are so acclimated to warm weather, just like the natives I guess. We got some funny looks at the park with cousins when Dallin (from Alaska) went running through the sprinklers without his shirt. The park moms were in long jeans and sweaters, but to Dallin it must have felt like summer! Even Jacob thought it was too cold to go swimming outside in the cousin's hotel pool and opted to just watch them while he stayed in his long-sleeved shirt. Too funny!
This week we have three fun parties to go to...one for preschool aged neighborhood kids from the ward, one at Paul's work, and a trunk-or-treat at a neighboring ward. We're excited for them all since Paul won't be here on Halloween. He has a business trip to Dallas, hopefully the last trip for a long while. He has no desire to travel often...just the desire to go to Australia next time they offer. Maybe I could go with him!
I'd better get Aaron ready for bed. The two youngest are sleeping already. We love you all. Write back when you can!
Love,
Amy
p.s. We are blessing Anna on Sunday, November 12th here in Las Vegas. We just want everyone to know they are invited to come, though we know we are SO FAR AWAY from most of you! We look forward to seeing a few of you then, and more of you throughout the holidays. We figure it may be nice to have company spread out anyway so we really get a good chance to visit! It will be great to see family and friends whenever we get the chance! We hope to see Mom and Dad Lacey over Mom's school break sometime, and the far-away siblings at least next summer. We're just staying here for the holidays this year and look forward to having Natalie join us for Thanksgiving. Paul has used his days off already and needs to stay close to work as well. Thank goodness for emails to keep us in touch! Bye for now! :)
Friday, October 13, 2006
Anna 3 week pics
Here are some pictures of Anna taken last week. She's doing well and we just love her to pieces! We'll try to send more of an update on Sunday.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Five @ Home
Hi all,
We just wanted to give you a quick update on things here. We got great news Friday morning that they were going to let us bring Anna home! So after a bit of waiting we finally got her home around 5:00 Friday night. She is doing great and all of her blood counts are in the normal range. They just recommended that we keep her near sunny windows to make sure her biliruben levels don't climb back up.
Amy is especially relieved to have our little princess home so she doesn't have to head to the hospital every three hours to feed her. Paul is planning on taking a couple more days off from work so that Amy can have a chance to get some much needed R&R.
The boys are doing well with the adjustment. Jacob and Aaron both love their little sister, although I think Jacob may be a little gun-shy next time we offer to have him hold Anna. Both times he's held her she's pooped through her outfit right onto him. We wish we would have had a camera to catch the look on his face tonight when it happened!
Aaron said to Paul the other night while he was getting tucked into bed, "Dad, when are things going to be back to normal?" Poor kid. This was right in the middle of the seemingly hourly trips back and forth to the hospital which cut into his regular schedule of playing, watching his favorite shows, and playing Lego Star Wars with his Dad. But last night we had fun playing Candyland with all five of us and got to enjoy chocolate cake (sorry Ali!) and ice cream that a nice neighbor had brought over for us. Today Paul and the boys went to church so things are about as "normal" as can be expected.
Here are a few pictures of Princess Anna (just click the picture below to see a few more). Thank you to everyone for your calls of concern and prayers. They have really buoyed us up these last few days.
Love,
The Lacey 5
We just wanted to give you a quick update on things here. We got great news Friday morning that they were going to let us bring Anna home! So after a bit of waiting we finally got her home around 5:00 Friday night. She is doing great and all of her blood counts are in the normal range. They just recommended that we keep her near sunny windows to make sure her biliruben levels don't climb back up.
Amy is especially relieved to have our little princess home so she doesn't have to head to the hospital every three hours to feed her. Paul is planning on taking a couple more days off from work so that Amy can have a chance to get some much needed R&R.
The boys are doing well with the adjustment. Jacob and Aaron both love their little sister, although I think Jacob may be a little gun-shy next time we offer to have him hold Anna. Both times he's held her she's pooped through her outfit right onto him. We wish we would have had a camera to catch the look on his face tonight when it happened!
Aaron said to Paul the other night while he was getting tucked into bed, "Dad, when are things going to be back to normal?" Poor kid. This was right in the middle of the seemingly hourly trips back and forth to the hospital which cut into his regular schedule of playing, watching his favorite shows, and playing Lego Star Wars with his Dad. But last night we had fun playing Candyland with all five of us and got to enjoy chocolate cake (sorry Ali!) and ice cream that a nice neighbor had brought over for us. Today Paul and the boys went to church so things are about as "normal" as can be expected.
Here are a few pictures of Princess Anna (just click the picture below to see a few more). Thank you to everyone for your calls of concern and prayers. They have really buoyed us up these last few days.
Love,
The Lacey 5
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Anna Update
Hi all,
Thank you for all your prayers and concern for Anna. She is doing well and last night the Dr.'s said that her platelet and white blood cell counts were back in normal range after her treatments. They need to do more tests today to make sure they stay normal, but we know that she will be well.
Here are a few more pictures. Thanks again for all you do for us!
Thank you for all your prayers and concern for Anna. She is doing well and last night the Dr.'s said that her platelet and white blood cell counts were back in normal range after her treatments. They need to do more tests today to make sure they stay normal, but we know that she will be well.
Here are a few more pictures. Thanks again for all you do for us!
Monday, September 18, 2006
Welcome Anna Sophia Lacey!
Hi all,
We'd like to announce the arrival of Anna Sophia Lacey! She arrived early this morning at 3:10 AM. She was 7 lbs, 2 oz and 19 inches long. She and Mom are doing great.
Here's a quick couple of pictures:
We'd like to announce the arrival of Anna Sophia Lacey! She arrived early this morning at 3:10 AM. She was 7 lbs, 2 oz and 19 inches long. She and Mom are doing great.
Here's a quick couple of pictures:
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Inferno Red: A Soccer Mom is Born!
Hi everyone,
This has been a fun couple weeks of exciting new adventures for us. We're still waiting on the arrival of little "Anna" but that's not keeping us from staying busy with all kinds of other things. Here's an overview:
First of all, Aaron started Kindergarten two weeks ago. He is so excited to be in school. He loves his teacher, Miss Van Horn, and has met lots of new friends. He has talked the most about the cute girls that he's met and giggles and blushes when he talks about them - uh oh! We'll have to invite the guys over for a Star Wars party soon!
Jacob is doing well and loving all of his adoring girlfriends. The other day in church before sacrament meeting started he had four different 2 & 3 year-olds come up to him to say hi. Little Olivia kept coming over and giving him raisins and cute little grins. He misses his big brother when he's gone to school, but likes having Mommy all to himself (for a few more days, anyway).
In other exciting news, Amy's new CD, FLY! 11 Songs to Help You Shine Your Sink and Soothe Your Soul has been released! Wahoo! We felt like we gave birth when this was finally completed. It was debuted at the American Mothers Conference on the Family last Saturday and it sounds great.
Now that Aaron's in soccer (scroll down to the next post below this one for video highlights!), and with the new baby on the way, Amy decided it was time to get a minivan (while kicking and screaming the whole way!). After temporarily giving up hope for her red Jeep Grand Cherokee she conceded only on the grounds that the minivan would be red...bright red...Inferno Red (as the Chrysler Town & Country website calls it)! After driving it for two days she says, "I feel like one hot mama in this hot car." It handles very well and we are both extremely pleased. It was also the only red minivan in Las Vegas (with the features that we needed), as our poor friend and car guru, Chad Leavitt, can attest. It was quite the hunt, but Amy held out to the bitter end, and now says, "Victory is sweet!"
We hope you are all doing well. Feel free to browse through the web album links above to see more sights from our last couple months.
Love you!
The Las Vegas Laceys
This has been a fun couple weeks of exciting new adventures for us. We're still waiting on the arrival of little "Anna" but that's not keeping us from staying busy with all kinds of other things. Here's an overview:
First of all, Aaron started Kindergarten two weeks ago. He is so excited to be in school. He loves his teacher, Miss Van Horn, and has met lots of new friends. He has talked the most about the cute girls that he's met and giggles and blushes when he talks about them - uh oh! We'll have to invite the guys over for a Star Wars party soon!
Jacob is doing well and loving all of his adoring girlfriends. The other day in church before sacrament meeting started he had four different 2 & 3 year-olds come up to him to say hi. Little Olivia kept coming over and giving him raisins and cute little grins. He misses his big brother when he's gone to school, but likes having Mommy all to himself (for a few more days, anyway).
In other exciting news, Amy's new CD, FLY! 11 Songs to Help You Shine Your Sink and Soothe Your Soul has been released! Wahoo! We felt like we gave birth when this was finally completed. It was debuted at the American Mothers Conference on the Family last Saturday and it sounds great.Now that Aaron's in soccer (scroll down to the next post below this one for video highlights!), and with the new baby on the way, Amy decided it was time to get a minivan (while kicking and screaming the whole way!). After temporarily giving up hope for her red Jeep Grand Cherokee she conceded only on the grounds that the minivan would be red...bright red...Inferno Red (as the Chrysler Town & Country website calls it)! After driving it for two days she says, "I feel like one hot mama in this hot car." It handles very well and we are both extremely pleased. It was also the only red minivan in Las Vegas (with the features that we needed), as our poor friend and car guru, Chad Leavitt, can attest. It was quite the hunt, but Amy held out to the bitter end, and now says, "Victory is sweet!"
We hope you are all doing well. Feel free to browse through the web album links above to see more sights from our last couple months.
Love you!
The Las Vegas Laceys
Aaron's First Soccer Game
Here's a clip of Aaron's first soccer game (or you can click the play button below). Go Speed Racers!
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Tuesday, September 05, 2006
No labor on Labor Day!
Hi folks,
We've had a good, non-eventful day today. I had false alarm number 4 last night with some good contractions and other signs that labor was imminent, but after packing my bags for the hospital and deciding to "rest" around midnight, I woke up at 6:30 AM with no contractions and feeling very much NOT in labor.
My official due date is September 15th or 17th (depending on which source we consult), so I could still have a couple good weeks yet. It's okay...we're excited, but not overly-anxious. It's been good to get Aaron in school and the nursery and boys' rooms all decorated. We feel ready, but will just continue to enjoy this cooler (100 degree) weather with our boys and let the baby grow a bit more.
We want to wish Mom Benson a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY tomorrow! We know the best present ever will be to have the Conference over and done, though I hope you get to enjoy it as well! You've worked so hard on it and it will be wonderful! We wish we could be there to support you, but we'll be praying for you! For any of you who don't know about this awesome event featuring Steven Covey, the FlyLady, the Lowe Family from Branson, and others, check out this link and plan on coming this Saturday on Temple Square at the Conference Center. It will be SO GOOD! For those of you who have wondered what FlyLady is all about, this is a great chance to hear her. I wish I could be there!
It's late and time for bed. Every night I go to bed thinking "maybe tonight's the night the baby will come" since I'm coming up on 39 weeks, but we'll let you all know when the joyous event takes place. In a blessing I was promised that all is well with her, and that she will come "when the time is right." I took that as a little message of "BE PATIENT!" So I will!
Love you all,
Amy
We've had a good, non-eventful day today. I had false alarm number 4 last night with some good contractions and other signs that labor was imminent, but after packing my bags for the hospital and deciding to "rest" around midnight, I woke up at 6:30 AM with no contractions and feeling very much NOT in labor.
My official due date is September 15th or 17th (depending on which source we consult), so I could still have a couple good weeks yet. It's okay...we're excited, but not overly-anxious. It's been good to get Aaron in school and the nursery and boys' rooms all decorated. We feel ready, but will just continue to enjoy this cooler (100 degree) weather with our boys and let the baby grow a bit more.
We want to wish Mom Benson a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY tomorrow! We know the best present ever will be to have the Conference over and done, though I hope you get to enjoy it as well! You've worked so hard on it and it will be wonderful! We wish we could be there to support you, but we'll be praying for you! For any of you who don't know about this awesome event featuring Steven Covey, the FlyLady, the Lowe Family from Branson, and others, check out this link and plan on coming this Saturday on Temple Square at the Conference Center. It will be SO GOOD! For those of you who have wondered what FlyLady is all about, this is a great chance to hear her. I wish I could be there!
It's late and time for bed. Every night I go to bed thinking "maybe tonight's the night the baby will come" since I'm coming up on 39 weeks, but we'll let you all know when the joyous event takes place. In a blessing I was promised that all is well with her, and that she will come "when the time is right." I took that as a little message of "BE PATIENT!" So I will!
Love you all,
Amy
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Kindergarten Kickoff
Hi everyone,
It's been a great Sunday. Paul was so sweet this morning and told me to go back to sleep after our 7:30 AM breakfast. I was so tired that I slept till 10 AM! All day after that I've felt great, well-rested, and nowhere close to delivering this little girl who seems to have found a permanent comfy spot right in my ribs! I'm 37 weeks now, so she's full-term and seems really healthy, but of course we'll keep praying for her safe and healthy arrival when the time is right.
Our big family news is that Aaron starts school this week. Now we know what parents mean when they say "The years go by so quickly!" Some DAYS of motherhood seem so long when things are crazy, but to think my baby is going to be trotting off to his first day of formal education just blows my mind. He is so excited to meet his teacher tomorrow at "Kindergarten Kickoff" and to start meeting new friends. There are so many kids in our ward boundaries that they are separated into 3 different elementary schools! We are a bit further west of most of the kids, so we don't think he will know any kids in his class. But Aaron is sociable and seems to make friends each time we go to McDonald's Playland, so we think he'll do just fine. We may have him report on his first real day (Wednesday) in a separate email if he wants. We will miss him in the afternoons. He really is a big help with entertaining Jacob and will be a super big brother to the new baby.
We had a great weekend with Natalie (Lacey) who came Thursday night and stayed till after dinner today. She was the BIGGEST help to us as we've tried to complete last-minute baby things. She watched the boys a couple times so that I could run errands, do visiting teaching, have a date with Paul, etc. The boys were SO excited when she came. She could hardly even go to the bathroom alone they wanted to be near her so much. She was a great sport and played Star Wars with Aaron (acting it out as well as the video game). She watched Baby Einstein's with Jacob, read stories, and to top it off...we made 28 freezer meals yesterday to have on hand after the baby comes! It was the most I've ever cooked in a day, but she was incredible and together we assembled them in about 3 1/2 hours (cleanup took another 2 or so!) Paul took the boys for the day and we just made ourselves busy making everything from ham and cheese quiche, mexican torta, chicken parmesan, etc.
After getting all hot and sweaty we all cooled off by going swimming at our favorite pool. After our picnic and pool party Paul and I went on a fun date where we chose a few things for the baby's room and her "going home" outfit. We'll send pictures when the room is all put together...Mom Lacey's blanket looks so cute in there...thanks! We are getting into "girl mode" and loving it.
Valerie, we hope little Carrie's surgery goes well. We will pray for her...tell her we love her! And we hope your b-day was great. Ali and Paul Moulton, Happy Anniversary! The rest of you, have a great week and we love you! I'll check my calendar for other b-days/special days coming up. We love you all! Have a great week and thanks for writing back. We love keeping in touch with all of you!
Take care,
Amy, Paul, and kids
p.s. Lacey clan, I know the July reunion is far away, but I wanted to throw out one fun idea. One of the best ideas I've seen at a reunion to include kids and help cousins get to know each other is to have a "Cousin Birthday Party" where we celebrate all the kids birthdays at once with cake, games, a small gift, etc. Because we all live so far apart, it would be cool to have one big celebration for all the cousins, maybe at a park or something. The reunion I saw it at the kids all loved being celebrated with all their cousins around. What do you think? :) Any other ideas? We're happy to collect ideas if you want to send them to us. We're already looking forward to being together!
p.p.s Does anyone want to go on an Alaskan Cruise? FlyLady (the company I just did the CD for) is sponsoring a cruise next August that leaves from Seattle and cruises to Alaska. It's one week long and looks so amazing...if she gives me a discount for performing during the "FlyBaby Sessions" on the cruise, I just might start saving my pennies. Anyone willing to help entertain if she offers a screamin' deal? Just thought I'd ask. Check out this link if you're interested! http://nwtravel.com/alaska.php
Bye for now!
It's been a great Sunday. Paul was so sweet this morning and told me to go back to sleep after our 7:30 AM breakfast. I was so tired that I slept till 10 AM! All day after that I've felt great, well-rested, and nowhere close to delivering this little girl who seems to have found a permanent comfy spot right in my ribs! I'm 37 weeks now, so she's full-term and seems really healthy, but of course we'll keep praying for her safe and healthy arrival when the time is right.
Our big family news is that Aaron starts school this week. Now we know what parents mean when they say "The years go by so quickly!" Some DAYS of motherhood seem so long when things are crazy, but to think my baby is going to be trotting off to his first day of formal education just blows my mind. He is so excited to meet his teacher tomorrow at "Kindergarten Kickoff" and to start meeting new friends. There are so many kids in our ward boundaries that they are separated into 3 different elementary schools! We are a bit further west of most of the kids, so we don't think he will know any kids in his class. But Aaron is sociable and seems to make friends each time we go to McDonald's Playland, so we think he'll do just fine. We may have him report on his first real day (Wednesday) in a separate email if he wants. We will miss him in the afternoons. He really is a big help with entertaining Jacob and will be a super big brother to the new baby.
We had a great weekend with Natalie (Lacey) who came Thursday night and stayed till after dinner today. She was the BIGGEST help to us as we've tried to complete last-minute baby things. She watched the boys a couple times so that I could run errands, do visiting teaching, have a date with Paul, etc. The boys were SO excited when she came. She could hardly even go to the bathroom alone they wanted to be near her so much. She was a great sport and played Star Wars with Aaron (acting it out as well as the video game). She watched Baby Einstein's with Jacob, read stories, and to top it off...we made 28 freezer meals yesterday to have on hand after the baby comes! It was the most I've ever cooked in a day, but she was incredible and together we assembled them in about 3 1/2 hours (cleanup took another 2 or so!) Paul took the boys for the day and we just made ourselves busy making everything from ham and cheese quiche, mexican torta, chicken parmesan, etc.
After getting all hot and sweaty we all cooled off by going swimming at our favorite pool. After our picnic and pool party Paul and I went on a fun date where we chose a few things for the baby's room and her "going home" outfit. We'll send pictures when the room is all put together...Mom Lacey's blanket looks so cute in there...thanks! We are getting into "girl mode" and loving it.
Valerie, we hope little Carrie's surgery goes well. We will pray for her...tell her we love her! And we hope your b-day was great. Ali and Paul Moulton, Happy Anniversary! The rest of you, have a great week and we love you! I'll check my calendar for other b-days/special days coming up. We love you all! Have a great week and thanks for writing back. We love keeping in touch with all of you!
Take care,
Amy, Paul, and kids
p.s. Lacey clan, I know the July reunion is far away, but I wanted to throw out one fun idea. One of the best ideas I've seen at a reunion to include kids and help cousins get to know each other is to have a "Cousin Birthday Party" where we celebrate all the kids birthdays at once with cake, games, a small gift, etc. Because we all live so far apart, it would be cool to have one big celebration for all the cousins, maybe at a park or something. The reunion I saw it at the kids all loved being celebrated with all their cousins around. What do you think? :) Any other ideas? We're happy to collect ideas if you want to send them to us. We're already looking forward to being together!
p.p.s Does anyone want to go on an Alaskan Cruise? FlyLady (the company I just did the CD for) is sponsoring a cruise next August that leaves from Seattle and cruises to Alaska. It's one week long and looks so amazing...if she gives me a discount for performing during the "FlyBaby Sessions" on the cruise, I just might start saving my pennies. Anyone willing to help entertain if she offers a screamin' deal? Just thought I'd ask. Check out this link if you're interested! http://nwtravel.com/alaska.php
Bye for now!
Monday, August 21, 2006
False alarm and Fancy Food!
Hi everyone,
Well, we started out the week with a trip to the hospital. I didn't FEEL like I was in labor, but I was having contractions every 2-4 minutes for 2 hours! I promised my doctor I'd go in if they were this close, so I did. A nice neighbor watched the boys and Paul and I made it to the hospital in 10 minutes or so. They were so full in the women's center, they didn't have a bed yet for me, but soon I was sent to the "triage room" with another lady and her husband. Thankfully there was a cloth divider, but I was grateful they could at least get me in. I was still having contractions, but they calmed down after 30 more minutes or so, so Paul and I enjoyed an INCREDIBLE view of the Las Vegas lights, sipped ice water, and finished the FlyLady CD cover. It truly was relaxing, and when the nurse came in to tell me all was well, I told her how awesome the view was, etc. and she said, "You didn't need to come in to deliver a baby, you just needed a break!" After such a busy past month for us, she's probably right!
I went in for a scheduled appointment today and everything looks great. I'm not progressing at all and show no signs of delivering early. I'm grateful for the extra time it looks like I'll have, and we'll use it to put finishing touches on the nursery, cook 30 freezer meals, get Aaron off to school, and relax before the big debut of baby girl.
Aaron started soccer last Wednesday and he loves it. Practices are held at a nearby park, so Jacob loves to play there while Aaron and Assistant-coach Paul are out on the field. There are four boys and two girls on his team, which Aaron doesn't mind. Haley, the coach's daughter is a cutie and Aaron thinks she is awesome because she is also a great swimmer as well as soccer player. Aaron will start kindergarten in the afternoons on August 30th. I don't believe my baby is off to school! He is so excited and loves to learn and socialize, so I think it will work out well. He is so grown up!
Jacob was sick this week (and so was I), so between his throwing up, yukky cough, and my queasiness, it was a little rough. But we're all feeling much better today and all made it to church. We love our ward and playing the organ no longer makes me super nervous. I still like to practice to feel confident, but I'm SO grateful to be over the worst fear. Our neighbor Isaiah next door is the organist in his congregation and says he wants to come here me sometime! It might be a good missionary opportunity to invite him, though it may surprise him how calm our hymns are compared to his! I get the feeling he really knows how to rock!
Speaking of music, the FlyLady CD is DONE! Wahoo! I have been working on it for one year (since last August), and I am so relieved that the music, graphics, and everything is finished. Paul has worked so hard on the CD cover and guts. He has done an awesome job and FlyLady is so grateful that someone who knew computers so well was working on all the details. We finished at 6:07 pm on Saturday (Paul announced it gleefully for everyone to hear). We celebrated by going to the Cheesecake Factory, a fun, nice, delicious restaurant for dinner. I got some shrimp jambalaya and Paul got orange chicken. The boys got the fanciest macaroni and cheese I've ever seen, along with grilled cheese sandwiches and fries.
The waitress there was new and trying so hard to do everything right. The funniest thing is that they had no kids cups, so we each got a huge mug (like at A&W) filled with ice water.
Knowing Jacob couldn't handle such a huge drink, we kept drinking out of his, pouring some out etc. About 4 times before we could stop her, she kept refilling all of them, either while we were distracted or just so quick we hardly knew what had hit us. I kept wanting to tell her that the kids only needed a little, but I kept forgetting. By the end of dinner Paul and I had very full bladders, but still room for HEAVENLY cheesecake. I got coconut chocolate and Paul got caramel turtle brownie. It was one of the most decadent, wowser desserts I've ever dreamed of. I'm salivating just thinking about it.
Well, that's us for the week. Drop us a note to say hi when you get a minute. We're looking forward to Natalie Lacey's weekend visit. Her friend is getting married, but she wants to come see us, help with baby preparations, and get set up on a hot date with a super-nice, handsome guy named Chad Leavitt. She's such a good sport! We'll catch you later. Love you all!
Amy, Paul, and boys
p.s. I finally hit a major milestone...I agreed to test-drive a couple minivans! For those of you who know my teenage dream of owning a sporty red Jeep Grand Cherokee, this was a big step! We'll likely end up with a nice Dodge Caravan in the next couple weeks and they really are nice, but I guarantee it will be red! :)
Well, we started out the week with a trip to the hospital. I didn't FEEL like I was in labor, but I was having contractions every 2-4 minutes for 2 hours! I promised my doctor I'd go in if they were this close, so I did. A nice neighbor watched the boys and Paul and I made it to the hospital in 10 minutes or so. They were so full in the women's center, they didn't have a bed yet for me, but soon I was sent to the "triage room" with another lady and her husband. Thankfully there was a cloth divider, but I was grateful they could at least get me in. I was still having contractions, but they calmed down after 30 more minutes or so, so Paul and I enjoyed an INCREDIBLE view of the Las Vegas lights, sipped ice water, and finished the FlyLady CD cover. It truly was relaxing, and when the nurse came in to tell me all was well, I told her how awesome the view was, etc. and she said, "You didn't need to come in to deliver a baby, you just needed a break!" After such a busy past month for us, she's probably right!
I went in for a scheduled appointment today and everything looks great. I'm not progressing at all and show no signs of delivering early. I'm grateful for the extra time it looks like I'll have, and we'll use it to put finishing touches on the nursery, cook 30 freezer meals, get Aaron off to school, and relax before the big debut of baby girl.
Aaron started soccer last Wednesday and he loves it. Practices are held at a nearby park, so Jacob loves to play there while Aaron and Assistant-coach Paul are out on the field. There are four boys and two girls on his team, which Aaron doesn't mind. Haley, the coach's daughter is a cutie and Aaron thinks she is awesome because she is also a great swimmer as well as soccer player. Aaron will start kindergarten in the afternoons on August 30th. I don't believe my baby is off to school! He is so excited and loves to learn and socialize, so I think it will work out well. He is so grown up!
Jacob was sick this week (and so was I), so between his throwing up, yukky cough, and my queasiness, it was a little rough. But we're all feeling much better today and all made it to church. We love our ward and playing the organ no longer makes me super nervous. I still like to practice to feel confident, but I'm SO grateful to be over the worst fear. Our neighbor Isaiah next door is the organist in his congregation and says he wants to come here me sometime! It might be a good missionary opportunity to invite him, though it may surprise him how calm our hymns are compared to his! I get the feeling he really knows how to rock!
Speaking of music, the FlyLady CD is DONE! Wahoo! I have been working on it for one year (since last August), and I am so relieved that the music, graphics, and everything is finished. Paul has worked so hard on the CD cover and guts. He has done an awesome job and FlyLady is so grateful that someone who knew computers so well was working on all the details. We finished at 6:07 pm on Saturday (Paul announced it gleefully for everyone to hear). We celebrated by going to the Cheesecake Factory, a fun, nice, delicious restaurant for dinner. I got some shrimp jambalaya and Paul got orange chicken. The boys got the fanciest macaroni and cheese I've ever seen, along with grilled cheese sandwiches and fries.
The waitress there was new and trying so hard to do everything right. The funniest thing is that they had no kids cups, so we each got a huge mug (like at A&W) filled with ice water.
Knowing Jacob couldn't handle such a huge drink, we kept drinking out of his, pouring some out etc. About 4 times before we could stop her, she kept refilling all of them, either while we were distracted or just so quick we hardly knew what had hit us. I kept wanting to tell her that the kids only needed a little, but I kept forgetting. By the end of dinner Paul and I had very full bladders, but still room for HEAVENLY cheesecake. I got coconut chocolate and Paul got caramel turtle brownie. It was one of the most decadent, wowser desserts I've ever dreamed of. I'm salivating just thinking about it.Well, that's us for the week. Drop us a note to say hi when you get a minute. We're looking forward to Natalie Lacey's weekend visit. Her friend is getting married, but she wants to come see us, help with baby preparations, and get set up on a hot date with a super-nice, handsome guy named Chad Leavitt. She's such a good sport! We'll catch you later. Love you all!
Amy, Paul, and boys
p.s. I finally hit a major milestone...I agreed to test-drive a couple minivans! For those of you who know my teenage dream of owning a sporty red Jeep Grand Cherokee, this was a big step! We'll likely end up with a nice Dodge Caravan in the next couple weeks and they really are nice, but I guarantee it will be red! :)
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Planets, Poker and Posh Parties, Oh My!
Hi everyone!
This one will be quick. We're waking up around 5 o'clock tomorrow to finish a few details on the FlyLady CD so we can send it to duplication. Hurray!
We've had a good weekend. We took the boys swimming to a cool pool that had a little waterslide that the boys could go down by themselves. It was so much fun and we'll add this to our favorites list. Las Vegas is full of cool water adventures.
Yesterday we transformed the boys' room with a planets border, planet cut-outs, and new space-themed bedspreads. We've been meaning to get this done since we first moved in, but better late than never! Next weekend we'll touch up our baby girl's room since she could come any day. Amy's not showing any major signs of labor and the pregnancy has gone so fast and we're happy to keep her in the cooker a few weeks longer.
I (Paul) had quite a week at work as I spent it
at the Rio hotel and casino at our users conference. Yes, I managed to stay away from the World Series of Poker that was right across the hall from us, but the attendees didn't fare so well...or should I say they fared quite well with all the poker freebies that they scored at the booths (t-shirts, hats, cards, calendars, etc.). My fun freebies included one of the most posh, upscale dinner parties on the 50th-story outdoor lounge on top of the Rio. The view was spectacular; the food heavenly! I left before the real fun began (or so I was told!).
We hope you are all doing well. Drop us a line and let us know how you're doing.
We love you lots.
The Las Vegas Laceys
This one will be quick. We're waking up around 5 o'clock tomorrow to finish a few details on the FlyLady CD so we can send it to duplication. Hurray!
We've had a good weekend. We took the boys swimming to a cool pool that had a little waterslide that the boys could go down by themselves. It was so much fun and we'll add this to our favorites list. Las Vegas is full of cool water adventures.
Yesterday we transformed the boys' room with a planets border, planet cut-outs, and new space-themed bedspreads. We've been meaning to get this done since we first moved in, but better late than never! Next weekend we'll touch up our baby girl's room since she could come any day. Amy's not showing any major signs of labor and the pregnancy has gone so fast and we're happy to keep her in the cooker a few weeks longer.
I (Paul) had quite a week at work as I spent it
at the Rio hotel and casino at our users conference. Yes, I managed to stay away from the World Series of Poker that was right across the hall from us, but the attendees didn't fare so well...or should I say they fared quite well with all the poker freebies that they scored at the booths (t-shirts, hats, cards, calendars, etc.). My fun freebies included one of the most posh, upscale dinner parties on the 50th-story outdoor lounge on top of the Rio. The view was spectacular; the food heavenly! I left before the real fun began (or so I was told!).We hope you are all doing well. Drop us a line and let us know how you're doing.
We love you lots.
The Las Vegas Laceys
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Hot (but family friendly!) Summer Fun
See how the Laceys have beat the Las Vegas heat this summer. From recording sessions to trips to Lagoon, St. George, and Alpine, WY; we've had a great summer so far. Enjoy some photos from our recent adventures. Drop us a line and tell us how you've spent your summer.
Love ya!
p.s. below, you'll see we added some pictures of our new house.
Just click on the pictures below to open up the photo albums.
Love ya!
p.s. below, you'll see we added some pictures of our new house.
Just click on the pictures below to open up the photo albums.
House Pictures
Here are some pictures of our new house in Las Vegas. Sorry it's taken us so long to get them up! Just click the picture below to view the pictures or a slideshow of the pics.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Summer Fun!
Cute boys on the 4th of July
Amy performing at Summerfest. Her song, "We Almost Fell in Love," won!
More Fun!
Cool boys in the back seat!
Sock fight at the Laceys!
We had a fun 4th of July picnic with Natalie and her friends. Thanks Nat!
Aaron making peanut butter bugs! Ewww!
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Life in Vegas, trip to UT
Hi dear ones,
Welcome to Summer! And for Kristy in cold Alaska, maybe we can send some of our 110 degrees your way! Yes, it's a heat wave here, but we're doing good. Everywhere has AC and we have passes to the pool, a fun indoor playland called "Rock and Roll Kids" where the boys also take a class, and a great park close that has the biggest, coolest sprinklers/water toys around. Oh my, a "Severe Weather Alert" just popped up on my screen as I was typing. If it gets too hot, they just tell people to stay inside, kind of like in Utah when there was extreme cold. Oh well, we've done our errands today anyway and we have fun indoor plans tonight anyway.
We're celebrating Paul's 33rd birthday tonight with his brother Brent, who is passing through heading for his new job position with GE. We'll eat dinner here, light the candles on the cheesecake (Paul's favorite) then maybe go play some games at the Excalibur gameroom, one of the truly family-friendly places on the strip. Paul and I will go out on Saturday night for a real date. We found a super 11-year old who will baby-sit in her home while her mom supervises. Aaron is her little brother's age, so they will have fun. It's nice to be getting to know people better in our ward.
I just got back from visiting teaching. It still hits me funny when I go to pick up my companion on Las Vegas Blvd. (right by the strip) that we really are living in Las Vegas, but it's amazing how normal life is even a few minutes away from all the glitz. We love our home and our ward, and still feel very certain that this is home for at least a while. Speaking of our ward, I was really thrown "into the fire" on Sunday when our ward organist didn't show up. I've been taking lessons, and have been planning on playing the organ July 9th after I feel comfortable with this very new instrument. But when she wasn't there 3 minutes before the meeting, I walked up to a very relieved bishopric and told them I could at least play prelude. There were so many buttons to push and I couldn't remember all the ones to push/not push, but I did my best for prelude. However, I didn't see her as the counselor got up to start the meeting, so I played the opening song and looked for her. There was no ward business, so they jumped right into the sacrament...and so did I. I think it sounded a little loud, but I got through it and was informed the real organist was finally there (she had arrived in time for the sacrament, but a switch would have been awkward). I could tell she had had a rough morning, so she slyly found a moment to sneak over to my bench mid-meeting and we decided I'd just finish the meeting music so people would just think it was my week instead of knowing she was so late. She was so embarrassed, but I got through the closing song and it went okay. The organ is so different than the piano! It's a good stretch for me and the closing song "Be Thou Humble" really hit home. I certainly felt humbled by this new calling and vow to practice very well. So for any of you who have been given this calling with little or no training, what are your secrets? Any shortcuts or suggestions would be appreciated!
In other music news, we finished the 10 demos for FLYlady two weeks ago while I was in Logan. We were absolutely blessed to accomplish in one week (5 days) what it typically takes 6 months or so to do (all the guitars, drums, strings, percussions, vocals, and most of the harmonies). John Carter was amazing, and Jay Richards was able to work on one song too and did great. FLYlady heard them and was even in "purple puddles" over one of them (her term for crying). Mom Benson and Jordan and Tera Sweat were so great to watch the boys so I could work all week long. It was fun to have a music-filled week like that, but it was really physically and mentally demanding and made me appreciate even more that I get to stay home with my boys full time and do music on the side.
The CD (title still not decided) will be released September 4th or so on flylady.net and will be a fun project to work on in the next few weeks, though not as intensely. The hard part of orchestration is done, so now we get to record live strings, hire a couple people for vocals, then mix it the first week of August. FlyLady decided last week she wants one more track on the CD (surprise!), so we'll try and get that done ASAP. I'm having a blast with it, and I never knew cleaning songs could be so much fun! We may recruit some of you locals or those passing through to sing harmonies or backups on a couple tracks, so beware! Paul and I have so much talent in our families, we hope you don't mind if we pull you into all this! Paul will also be hired to put together the CD guts and possibly the cover since he's done it before. The goal is to have it all done and out of my hands before our baby arrives. She is getting (I am getting) quite big, but other than feeling a bit yucky last week, I'm doing great! I like being pregnant when I'm not deathly sick! This has been a great pregnancy.
The other fun part of our Logan trip was getting to see Mom and Dad Lacey and Shannon on Saturday in Logan. I got to sing in a Songwriter's Showcase at Summerfest (like a county fair). They were so nice to come support me, take us to dinner, etc. Ooh, writing about the visit is making me crave some of that Aggie Lemon Custard ice cream we had at the cheese factory...ooh, with strawberries. Okay, this is an official craving. Next time I'm in Logan... :)
Our boys are doing great. They got matching sunglasses like Paul's new birthday ones, so we'll send a picture of the three guys in their "sunnies." They keep each other entertained by telling knock knock jokes, playing cars, cowboys, wrestling, etc. Aaron is loving the Hooked on Phonics books we checked out from the library and can read about 10 of them so far. Jacob surprised all of us this week by telling Paul he had to go potty and doing it in his little bear potty three times! He thinks it fun and loves the chocolate kiss he gets each time he goes. We all had fun with my cousin Laurie Funk and her family when they came for dinner on their way through to San Diego on Sunday. Their four darling girls were so cute to our boys, and our boys showed their true flirtatious personalities by charming them and making them laugh. They take after their father!
Well, that's all for now. Happy Birthday to little Jared in Alaska tomorrow. And the rest of you, please write back! We love and miss you all.
Love,
Amy, Paul, Aaron, Jacob and little princess
Congrats to Jordan on his first date. Please write with all the details. You know 6 older siblings are dying to know all about your love life! And it was great to see you Megan and Nate when we were there too. I'm sorry we all shared the stomach flu while we were there. Hope you're all better now!
Welcome to Summer! And for Kristy in cold Alaska, maybe we can send some of our 110 degrees your way! Yes, it's a heat wave here, but we're doing good. Everywhere has AC and we have passes to the pool, a fun indoor playland called "Rock and Roll Kids" where the boys also take a class, and a great park close that has the biggest, coolest sprinklers/water toys around. Oh my, a "Severe Weather Alert" just popped up on my screen as I was typing. If it gets too hot, they just tell people to stay inside, kind of like in Utah when there was extreme cold. Oh well, we've done our errands today anyway and we have fun indoor plans tonight anyway.
We're celebrating Paul's 33rd birthday tonight with his brother Brent, who is passing through heading for his new job position with GE. We'll eat dinner here, light the candles on the cheesecake (Paul's favorite) then maybe go play some games at the Excalibur gameroom, one of the truly family-friendly places on the strip. Paul and I will go out on Saturday night for a real date. We found a super 11-year old who will baby-sit in her home while her mom supervises. Aaron is her little brother's age, so they will have fun. It's nice to be getting to know people better in our ward.
I just got back from visiting teaching. It still hits me funny when I go to pick up my companion on Las Vegas Blvd. (right by the strip) that we really are living in Las Vegas, but it's amazing how normal life is even a few minutes away from all the glitz. We love our home and our ward, and still feel very certain that this is home for at least a while. Speaking of our ward, I was really thrown "into the fire" on Sunday when our ward organist didn't show up. I've been taking lessons, and have been planning on playing the organ July 9th after I feel comfortable with this very new instrument. But when she wasn't there 3 minutes before the meeting, I walked up to a very relieved bishopric and told them I could at least play prelude. There were so many buttons to push and I couldn't remember all the ones to push/not push, but I did my best for prelude. However, I didn't see her as the counselor got up to start the meeting, so I played the opening song and looked for her. There was no ward business, so they jumped right into the sacrament...and so did I. I think it sounded a little loud, but I got through it and was informed the real organist was finally there (she had arrived in time for the sacrament, but a switch would have been awkward). I could tell she had had a rough morning, so she slyly found a moment to sneak over to my bench mid-meeting and we decided I'd just finish the meeting music so people would just think it was my week instead of knowing she was so late. She was so embarrassed, but I got through the closing song and it went okay. The organ is so different than the piano! It's a good stretch for me and the closing song "Be Thou Humble" really hit home. I certainly felt humbled by this new calling and vow to practice very well. So for any of you who have been given this calling with little or no training, what are your secrets? Any shortcuts or suggestions would be appreciated!
In other music news, we finished the 10 demos for FLYlady two weeks ago while I was in Logan. We were absolutely blessed to accomplish in one week (5 days) what it typically takes 6 months or so to do (all the guitars, drums, strings, percussions, vocals, and most of the harmonies). John Carter was amazing, and Jay Richards was able to work on one song too and did great. FLYlady heard them and was even in "purple puddles" over one of them (her term for crying). Mom Benson and Jordan and Tera Sweat were so great to watch the boys so I could work all week long. It was fun to have a music-filled week like that, but it was really physically and mentally demanding and made me appreciate even more that I get to stay home with my boys full time and do music on the side.
The CD (title still not decided) will be released September 4th or so on flylady.net and will be a fun project to work on in the next few weeks, though not as intensely. The hard part of orchestration is done, so now we get to record live strings, hire a couple people for vocals, then mix it the first week of August. FlyLady decided last week she wants one more track on the CD (surprise!), so we'll try and get that done ASAP. I'm having a blast with it, and I never knew cleaning songs could be so much fun! We may recruit some of you locals or those passing through to sing harmonies or backups on a couple tracks, so beware! Paul and I have so much talent in our families, we hope you don't mind if we pull you into all this! Paul will also be hired to put together the CD guts and possibly the cover since he's done it before. The goal is to have it all done and out of my hands before our baby arrives. She is getting (I am getting) quite big, but other than feeling a bit yucky last week, I'm doing great! I like being pregnant when I'm not deathly sick! This has been a great pregnancy.
The other fun part of our Logan trip was getting to see Mom and Dad Lacey and Shannon on Saturday in Logan. I got to sing in a Songwriter's Showcase at Summerfest (like a county fair). They were so nice to come support me, take us to dinner, etc. Ooh, writing about the visit is making me crave some of that Aggie Lemon Custard ice cream we had at the cheese factory...ooh, with strawberries. Okay, this is an official craving. Next time I'm in Logan... :)
Our boys are doing great. They got matching sunglasses like Paul's new birthday ones, so we'll send a picture of the three guys in their "sunnies." They keep each other entertained by telling knock knock jokes, playing cars, cowboys, wrestling, etc. Aaron is loving the Hooked on Phonics books we checked out from the library and can read about 10 of them so far. Jacob surprised all of us this week by telling Paul he had to go potty and doing it in his little bear potty three times! He thinks it fun and loves the chocolate kiss he gets each time he goes. We all had fun with my cousin Laurie Funk and her family when they came for dinner on their way through to San Diego on Sunday. Their four darling girls were so cute to our boys, and our boys showed their true flirtatious personalities by charming them and making them laugh. They take after their father!
Well, that's all for now. Happy Birthday to little Jared in Alaska tomorrow. And the rest of you, please write back! We love and miss you all.
Love,
Amy, Paul, Aaron, Jacob and little princess
Congrats to Jordan on his first date. Please write with all the details. You know 6 older siblings are dying to know all about your love life! And it was great to see you Megan and Nate when we were there too. I'm sorry we all shared the stomach flu while we were there. Hope you're all better now!
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Hot Summertime News
Wow, so this is summertime in Las Vegas, huh? Over 105 today and still 94 at almost 11 pm. What have we gotten ourselves into??!? We were at church today and the power was out in half of the building. Unfortunately that was the half that also ran the air conditioners so we were melting in there. I think Amy and the other pregnant ladies had it the worst but it wasn't too fun for anyone. It definitely makes you feel grateful for the wonders of modern amenities!
We've had a good week, despite the heat. The boys have had fun in all of the activities designed to beat the heat. We went to a fun water park yesterday (along with half of Las Vegas), although Aaron was bummed that he couldn't go down the waterslide with his dad. He was tall enough, but without his life jacket he wasn't ready to go down alone. But we had fun in the kid's pool and Aaron practiced his kicking and paddling in the deeper water. They also had fun over at friends' houses and in the back yard with the sprinkler running.
Amy got some great news on Friday. She heard back from Logan's radio station that her two songs she had entered into their songwriting contest made it into the finals of the Logan Summerfest competition. She'll get to perform them on June 17th at the Songwriter's Showcase. The two songs she entered are Love's Worth Fighting For (MP3, Lyrics), a song that Amy and I wrote for a date night a few months ago, and We Almost Fell in Love (MP3, Lyrics). The guy on the recordings with Amy is Michael DuBois, an incredible singer that also sang the Victory song that Amy and Tera Sweat wrote last year.
While I go to Dallas to do some training next week, Amy will be heading to Logan with the boys to start recording on the FlyLady CD project. We're anxious to get started on this exciting project for the summer. Amy's got 9 of the songs written and will be working with John Carter next week to get some of them orchestrated.
The boys were cracking us up tonight. They both had on cowboy hats riding their stick horses that Grandma and Grandpa Lacey gave them. Aaron was Cowboy Aaron on his horse, Old Pete. His partner was Cowboy Jacob who named his horse Hee-haw! Aaron was tipping his hat talking in a drawl. What fun!
Well, we'll close for now. We hope you are all doing well. Take a minute to drop us a line and let us know what you're up to. We also realized that we haven't sent pictures of the house yet. We'll try to get some taken this week and post them next time.
Take care!
The Las Vegas Laceys
We've had a good week, despite the heat. The boys have had fun in all of the activities designed to beat the heat. We went to a fun water park yesterday (along with half of Las Vegas), although Aaron was bummed that he couldn't go down the waterslide with his dad. He was tall enough, but without his life jacket he wasn't ready to go down alone. But we had fun in the kid's pool and Aaron practiced his kicking and paddling in the deeper water. They also had fun over at friends' houses and in the back yard with the sprinkler running.
Amy got some great news on Friday. She heard back from Logan's radio station that her two songs she had entered into their songwriting contest made it into the finals of the Logan Summerfest competition. She'll get to perform them on June 17th at the Songwriter's Showcase. The two songs she entered are Love's Worth Fighting For (MP3, Lyrics), a song that Amy and I wrote for a date night a few months ago, and We Almost Fell in Love (MP3, Lyrics). The guy on the recordings with Amy is Michael DuBois, an incredible singer that also sang the Victory song that Amy and Tera Sweat wrote last year.
While I go to Dallas to do some training next week, Amy will be heading to Logan with the boys to start recording on the FlyLady CD project. We're anxious to get started on this exciting project for the summer. Amy's got 9 of the songs written and will be working with John Carter next week to get some of them orchestrated.
The boys were cracking us up tonight. They both had on cowboy hats riding their stick horses that Grandma and Grandpa Lacey gave them. Aaron was Cowboy Aaron on his horse, Old Pete. His partner was Cowboy Jacob who named his horse Hee-haw! Aaron was tipping his hat talking in a drawl. What fun!
Well, we'll close for now. We hope you are all doing well. Take a minute to drop us a line and let us know what you're up to. We also realized that we haven't sent pictures of the house yet. We'll try to get some taken this week and post them next time.
Take care!
The Las Vegas Laceys
Sunday, April 02, 2006
March Madness!!
Hi Everyone!
It's been awhile since we've updated this but we have a bunch of pictures we wanted to show everyone and thought this would be the best way. We hope you enjoy the pictures of Jacob and Aaron's birthday parties (both the Logan and Las Vegas versions).
Jacob is recovering nicely from his surgery. We hope he'll be all back to normal by tomorrow. You'll have to call and let him tell you how the "Docta" removed his "Ad-di-noise."
We'll leave it at this for now and let you enjoy the pictures. Hope you're all doing well. Drop us a line or leave a comment here and let us know what you're up to! We just got our new furniture delivered so look for our house pics coming next week. We love you all.
Love,
The Laceys
It's been awhile since we've updated this but we have a bunch of pictures we wanted to show everyone and thought this would be the best way. We hope you enjoy the pictures of Jacob and Aaron's birthday parties (both the Logan and Las Vegas versions).
Jacob is recovering nicely from his surgery. We hope he'll be all back to normal by tomorrow. You'll have to call and let him tell you how the "Docta" removed his "Ad-di-noise."
We'll leave it at this for now and let you enjoy the pictures. Hope you're all doing well. Drop us a line or leave a comment here and let us know what you're up to! We just got our new furniture delivered so look for our house pics coming next week. We love you all.
Love,
The Laceys
Jacob's Birthday 2006
The night before Jacob's birthday we had some clowns from our new ward stop by to welcome us. Jacob was so excited and thought it was all for his birthday. They blew up balloons for the boys and sang "Happy Birthday!" It was great timing and Jacob still talks about those "Funny Clowns!"
They made snakes for the boys. Jacob spent no time in popping them!
This is a gourmet bundt cake from a famous bakery in Las Vegas that our Realtor dropped by. It was so delicious and so big, and again was conveniently delivered the day before Jacob's birthday. So after we sample a little, we re-frosted it, tossed on some sprinkles, and added a candle for Jacob's party.
Aaron's Birthday in Logan
Party in Vegas!
Playing duck - duck - goose with a few of Aaron's new friends.
Aaron's much - anticipated puppy cake! His parents were under pressure to exactly replicate the picture Aaron had seen months ago! We had fun making together for our date night the night before.
Loads O' Loot! These kids sure know how to welcome a kid to the neighborhood.
Aaron got a Hot Kicks game, which Amy swears Jared & Nate would have played for hours as kids.
More presents...
Aaron got a cool Spiderman mask and sound effect gloves. He's got the alter - ego thing down now, as we don't know whether to address him as Aaron, "Peter Parker," or Spiderman. It seems to have given him super spider powers as he has been climbing all over everything, including his daily ritual of scaling the playhouse!
Aaron's very first Transformer! Paul & Jacob picked it out. You'll have to call Aaron to get all the details of this toy (please allow at least 30 minutes for a very animated discussion!).
Sunday, January 08, 2006
January Jibberish
Hi all,
Boy, it's been awhile since we've last posted. And boy, has a lot happened since then! I'm sure eveyone has heard that we're moving to Las Vegas so I won't bore you with all of that. We just wanted to get a quick update up along with some pictures and audio links.
Our trip to Seattle over Thanksgiving to visit Tammy and Steve was great (see picture collage below). They were great hosts and the boys had a blast. Jacob still talks at least once a day about "See-a-tel" and the space needle. We had a good time visiting with Matt and Tisha as well and seeing all the sites. We hope to make it back soon!
Christmas was great and the last two weeks have been a nice break from the regular routine of work. Although, we have been very busy getting things ready for the move and keeping the house all spit and polished for those that want to come see it. We're waiting to make further plans for a house in Vegas until ours sells so we can see what we'll have to put down on a house.
We made a goal this year of doing a better job of capturing our memories. Tonight we spent about an hour just recording the boys talking about themselves and what they're doing. Here's a clip of Aaron singing I Am a Child of God and one of Jacob just babbling about all sorts of things!
We've enjoyed our Indian summer this past month or so...it's been so nice here! We've had quite a bit of rain but it only started snowing this morning. I guess now that it's January winter will start showing it's cold side.
Amy and Mom Benson start their Broadway on Logan debut this week in the production of Little Women, a musical by Loganite Jay Richards. And on Amy's birthday (Thursday the 12th) no less! The music is beautiful and we're all excited to see it come to life on stage.
Well, that's about it. We hope you are all well and having a great start to this new year. We'll keep you posted on everything that happens with the move.
Love, Paul, Amy and the boyz...
Boy, it's been awhile since we've last posted. And boy, has a lot happened since then! I'm sure eveyone has heard that we're moving to Las Vegas so I won't bore you with all of that. We just wanted to get a quick update up along with some pictures and audio links.
Our trip to Seattle over Thanksgiving to visit Tammy and Steve was great (see picture collage below). They were great hosts and the boys had a blast. Jacob still talks at least once a day about "See-a-tel" and the space needle. We had a good time visiting with Matt and Tisha as well and seeing all the sites. We hope to make it back soon!
Christmas was great and the last two weeks have been a nice break from the regular routine of work. Although, we have been very busy getting things ready for the move and keeping the house all spit and polished for those that want to come see it. We're waiting to make further plans for a house in Vegas until ours sells so we can see what we'll have to put down on a house.
We made a goal this year of doing a better job of capturing our memories. Tonight we spent about an hour just recording the boys talking about themselves and what they're doing. Here's a clip of Aaron singing I Am a Child of God and one of Jacob just babbling about all sorts of things!
We've enjoyed our Indian summer this past month or so...it's been so nice here! We've had quite a bit of rain but it only started snowing this morning. I guess now that it's January winter will start showing it's cold side.Amy and Mom Benson start their Broadway on Logan debut this week in the production of Little Women, a musical by Loganite Jay Richards. And on Amy's birthday (Thursday the 12th) no less! The music is beautiful and we're all excited to see it come to life on stage.
Well, that's about it. We hope you are all well and having a great start to this new year. We'll keep you posted on everything that happens with the move.
Love, Paul, Amy and the boyz...
Seattle Sights
Here are some of the pics we took on our trip to Seattle. A fun time was had by all!(Click on the picture to see a bigger version of it)
Christmas fun
Our boys had a fun time at Christmas with all their cousins. Aaron loves his new "Bazee Builder" (B.C. Builder) and enjoyed playing the donkey in the nativity re-enactment. Jacob just loves hanging out and playing with his brother.
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