Tea Party Changes to Waffle Bar

This year I was in charge of the "tea party" for the Sutton girls and the Galler girls. I decided to switch things up a bit. We had a waffle bar and played Bunco. We got together from 9 to 11 am. I had a lot of fun and hope everyone else did as well. I am very grateful to have my sister Linda in town and hope to always continue our Christmas get-togethers. If you don't have family, what really do you have?
My sweet granddaughters in matching purple sweater dresses taken before the party actually got underway.


I love Skye, Kyra, and Cali. I have found that being a grandma is a very, very good thing.

Here we are together for a picture before the party. Julie couldn't be with us, but all the other girls were in town and ready to party.

So sweet and so cute......

Another Galler pic before the waffle bar began

A group shot of the Sutton and Galler girls. We totalled 15.

The "cousins"
The Sutton girls looking good
Allison was the winner of Bunco
Jennie had the fewest points, but it wasn't so bad because she also got a prize in our family Bunco game. Maybe it's not such a bad thing to come in last. . . .

The DeBauch Family Arrives from St. Louis

Chad, Heather, Kyra, Skye, & Dane drove to Las Vegas. They left Christmas morning and arrived in LV two days later. They figured out over the Thanksgiving holiday while going to Melanie and Ryan's that driving at night worked best with the kids. So, they planned their road trip to Vegas driving mostly at night. They stayed at a hotel in Albuquerque that had a water park. Imagine packing swimming suits while outside in Missouri there was a snow blizzard!
The first full day that Heather and her family were in town along with Melanie, we went to Town Square so the kids could play on the playground, and we could go shopping. Heather bought new Skechers for Kyra and Skye. Heather also bought all three kids new pillow pets. We enjoyed wandering through the square looking at some of the Norman Rockwell statues.

Right outside the playground there was a huge Christmas tree. Before Christmas, Santa showed up daily to visit with all the children that wanted to stop by and visit him. Santa's house is not visible in the picture above, but it was off to the left out of my camera's view.

The Christmas tree at Town Square was beautifully decorated.

Kyra, Skye, and Cali had a lot of fun playing on the pretend stage at Town Square. They are quite good at performing.

Skye, Dane, and Cali enjoyed looking at the water fountain near the playground at Town Square.

Shopping with the family is quite entertaining when "certain people" decide to dance to the music inside the Skecher store. Kyra, Cali, and Natalie definitely have all the right "moves."

Here was are posing in front of one of Norman Rockwell paintings made into a statue.

After leaving Town Square we headed over to the Bellagio which is always a treat especially during the holidays. We had fun posing in front of the Eiffel Town.

The Bellagio atrium never disappoints. This year the huge Christmas tree had a train and track going around the base of the tree.

The penguin display was cute. The grandkids all enjoyed looking at the little penguin coming and going through the igloo door.

The huge ornaments were spirting water periodically in large arches here and there. It was entertaining watching and feeling the spray the closer we got to the ornaments.

Cali, Skye, and Dane enjoyed pausing and sitting down near the polar bear display.

After looking at the display inside the atrium at the Bellagio we headed out to the front of the hotel and enjoyed the water show. It wasn't too cold, so we didn't mind waiting for the show to begin.

Cali enjoyed sitting on the ledge although I wasn't quite so sure it was a good idea.

After we got home from our outing, we had a holiday party. It began with Chinese Stackups, then our present exchange, and games. It was a totally fun party. It seemed like we had multiple family Christmas parties this year. I'm definitely lucky to be able to enjoy so much family togetherness!
Here are my adorable grandchildren. I missed Jace who is in Honolulu this year. I am hoping sometime to have all of six of my grandchildren together before too much longer.
Aunt Linda gave all three of my adorable granddaughters Barbies. It was the hit present. They played and played with them for hours that night. In fact, they went in the bedroom, shut the door, and when we inquired later they said, "We are having cousin time." In other words, "stay out."
Natalie made Heather an apron for Christmas and gave her a temple calendar. Heather gave Melanie new tan sheets. The girls seemed so happy to be together. We missed Julie! : (

Melanie Arrives for the Holidays

Melanie got the week off between Christmas and New Year's, so she decided to spend her week with us in Las Vegas. She arrived Sunday night around 9 pm. We visited that evening and then the next morning we visited some more. Monday we went grocery shopping, ran a few errands, and then made cupcakes to welcome Heather and her family who were driving in from St. Louis on Monday evening.
After our errands were complete, we met Natalie and Cali at Cafe Rio which has always been a favorite Mexican restaurant.

After lunch we went to the matinee at Village Square. Although our movie choice was really bad, we enjoyed being out and spending time together. It's so good to have Melanie back in Vegas. I've missed her. P.S. Don't go see "How Do You Know?" It was awful!

Christmas Eve and Day

While Steve and I were at the ER after he fell at Red Rock Canyon, Natalie and Thomas fixed Christmas Eve dinner. Yummy and much appreciated!

After dinner, we played games. A party just wouldn't be complete without Musical Chairs, right?

Glow-in-the dark-necklaces are always a hit at a family party.

Christmas morning always begins with the traditional "let's stand and wait till everyone's ready before we run into the family room to see what Santa brought."

Cali welcomed "Baby All Gone" into our family by feeding and snuggling her new baby doll. Cali couldn't believe that Grandma and Grandpa knew she wanted one. Go figure!!!!

Natalie has taken up sewing and has made already an apron, valances, table runner, and ties. Now with this sewing machine, I expect to see even more masterpieces.

Santa surprised Ashton with this aquarium. Boy, oh boy, was he totally interested.

Instead of hauling all our gifts upstairs and putting them on the bed, we put our new things on the dining room table. We had a lovely Christmas. Our "big" gift to each other was our new HD flat-screen TV which, by the way, has already been installed and used!

Steve Falls Hiking at Red Rock

December 24, 2010 didn't exactly go the way I had planned. When I got home from getting my hair done, Steve met me at the door. He was having a hard time breathing, his eyes looked strained, and he was hunched over finding it difficult to walk and talk. To make a long story short, he had fallen backwards four feet off a large rock that he was trying to climb up while hiking at Red Rock Canyon. Although he has successfully managed on many previous hikes in Red Rock to see a favorite waterfall from this large rock, this time he was not so lucky. Somehow he lost his footing. He said it happened very fast. He landed on his back. He heard his back snap, and then the wind was knocked out of him. Somehow he managed to get up, walk back to the car, and drive himself home. When I got home a few minutes after him, he asked if I would drive him to the ER. We spent about 3 1/2 hours at St. Rose Dominican Hospital. He had six or seven X-rays, and fortunately nothing was broken. His problems seem all to be muscular in nature. He received two pain injections and a muscle relaxer pill. When we finally got home, Natalie and her family were there to greet us. Little Cali was so sweet to Grandpa and everyone seemed so concerned for his welfare. He went upstairs and slept for probably four hours missing some of the fun of Christmas Eve. Today, which is Christmas, he seems to be doing better although he is walking around the house rather slowly and still has pain but not as bad as yesterday. He's taking his pain pills and sleeping a great deal so that's helping him. I am very thankful that his injuries turned out to be minimal compared to what they could have been considering the severity of some back injuries. This was not the holiday weekend we had hoped for but inspite of this medical emergency, we ended up having a good time with Natalie, Thomas, Cali, and Ashton. Christmas Eve was filled with good food, a dvd depicting the birth of the savior, and games. It was nice to have some holiday cheer after the stress of a visit to the ER. Thanks to one and all for the many phone calls, voice messages, and text messages inquiring about his welfare.

Holiday Fun

"Mystic Falls" at Sam's Town

Viewing "Mystic Falls" from the balcony

Bear Display at "Mystic Falls"

Kim, Linda, Steve, and I all went to a steak house at Sam's Town and then we wandered through the Winter Wonderland display in the courtyard called Mystic Falls.



There was a short laser light show accompanied by Christmas music at Sam's.



We had a lot of fun with Kim and Linda. They are good company.
It's nice to have a sister and brother-in-law that still live in Vegas.


Last Saturday we met Natalie and Cali at Town Square. We saw Santa Claus, wandered through the Norman Rockwell display, and enjoyed watching Cali and Ashton play in the children's playground.



Steve and I have heard a lot about the Bass Pro Shop inside the Silverton Hotel. One evening when we didn't have much going on, we decided to go check things out. We weren't disappointed! The shop was a lot of fun, and the Silverton had a really pretty tree on display next to the big fish tank where we saw a mermaid swimming.

Steve at one of the entrances into the Bass Pro Shop

Although I didn't get any pictures, Steve and I also attended the Live Nativity put on by the Red Rock Stake. It was an excellent 25-minute production. It was held at the new Opportunity Village which actually is within our ward boundaries. I have to say that with all of these holiday activities, I definitely feel like it's Christmas time.

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

The decorations are up, the presents are bought, cards are ordered and on their way, and menus and activities are planned all to celebrate Christmas. In all of this hustle and bustle, I am most grateful this holiday season to remember the true reason why we celebrate. I acknowledge my elder brother's birth and mission bringing great reason in my heart to declare "I Know That My Redeemer Lives."