I'm thankful for...

I wanted to dedicate one post to express my gratitude for some of the little things in life! Besides the obvious husband, children, family, gospel, etc., I am thankful for:

• doorstoppers and the many hours Vance spends playing with them
• finals coming up next week and then Christmas break
• Black Friday - I got amazing deals (and yes, I am one of the crazies up at 3:30 am)!!!
• deck of cards and the countless laughs while playing with them
• my new car
• that Chad & I both still have our jobs
• all of our health
• hoodies - nothing makes you more comfortable
• Walmart grape drink mix
• TiVo
• Vance sucking his thumb
• my nieces being old enough to babysit
• overtime at Chad's work
• camping trips
• no writer's strike this year, so I can watch TV
• internet and blogging!

Okay I couldn't help it - I am thankful for Chad & Vance!!!

Sutton Family Pictures

So we got family pictures with my side of the family. It has been almost 4 years since our last family photo. I think they turned out pretty good. Below are some of my favorites - well, a lot of my favorites!!!

Snow at Townsquare

Last Monday, Chad and I took Vance to Townsquare with my sister, Jennie, and her family for family home evening. Our plan was just to play in the park area for awhile and then get some yogurt. We did that, but there was another little surprise.

It turns out that Santa was there, so Vance got to sit on Santa's lap and get a sucker (which he loved, but made a huge mess!). Then at 7:00 pm it snows around this huge Christmas tree. It seemed a little early for holiday celebrations, but Vance had a good time!

Not just another Twilight post

I have to start off by saying that I have not read any of the Twilight books. With school I always have so much mandatory reading that I rarely read for fun. It's not that I am against reading the books, I just never got around to it.

So like many of other women across the country, I attended the midnight showing of Twilight on Thursday. My sister, Jennie, organized a group of 50 women. We all went to Claim Jumpers for dinner and then had the theatre completely to ourselves - it was great!

Now to the movie - I honestly think that I enjoyed the movie more than the other people with me because I hadn't read the book. The best part was watching and listening to everybody else's reactions to the different characters and scenes in the movie. I thought it was hilarious to listen to everyone's critique at the end. I pretty much laughed the entire night.

SO - thanks to all of you Twilight fanatics for amusing me so much!!!

***To prove how much I really don't know:

About midway through the movie I leaned over to my friend and asked, "I thought Bella was supposed to be in love with a wolverine too. When does that happen?"

She started laughing hysterically and replied, "It's a wolf not a wolverine!"

OUR NEW CAR!!!!

Chad and I purchased our first car last night - a yellow Toyota FJ Cruiser! We have both been driving the same car since we learned how to drive and couldn't be more excited to kiss one of those cars goodbye! After a very long night at the dealership, I think we negotiated a pretty good deal!!!

Gift of Lights @ Sunset Park

My boss gave me some free tickets to the Gift of Lights at Sunset Park. For those of you who have never been, you basically drive through the park in your car and they have a ton of Christmas light displays. It feels a little early to be celebrating Christmas, but the tickets were free so we went anyways. Chad couldn't go so I went with my mom and dad.

Vance loved it! The whole time he stuck his head out of the window like a dog. He couldn't decide who he wanted to sit with so he played musical laps the whole time too. Eventually he ended up with Grandma because she kept giving him cookie!

9 months already?!

Vance is 9 months! I know I always say this, but I really can't believe how fast the time goes by. I love how so many of the blogs I read journal all of the things their kids are doing at specific ages, so I thought that I would start.


Things Vance loves at 9 months:


his thumb
soft blankets
my jewelry
baths
eating
balls
cars
daddy
playing hide and seek
being tickled
mirrors
picture frames
trash cans
showers
TV remote


Things Vance does at 9 months:


scoots around like a maniac
started pulling himself up on the things
stands up in his crib
eats door stoppers (the little springy things)
laughs every time he sees a dog
won't stop eating table food until you take it away
already knows Grandma Sutton is the weak link
melts me with his smile

Vacation time!!!

Eating Lunch in Ensenada

This last weekend Chad and I went on a three-day cruise down to Mexico. We had SO much fun! We left Vance behind with the Waldron's (thanks again!) and headed off for some much needed "us time." We went on a cruise for the Sutton Family Reunion. There were 20 adults in all.

Eating again
Chad & Rob - Karaoke Night!

We ate, slept, ate, danced, ate, karaoke, ate . . . you get the idea I think! It was a lot of fun to have a night life again. I can't remember the last time Chad and I stayed up until 1:00 am 3 nights in a row. My dad's family is so fun and we didn't stop laughing the whole trip! We watched the comedians, shows, played bingo, lots of naps - basically we did all the ship had to offer except the drinking and gambling!

Formal Night


Eating yet again!

This trip made Chad and I realize how important it is for us to vacation. With the economy the way it is, you really have to prioritize your finances and vacationing has always been at the bottom of our list - not anymore! It was great to rekindle that fire!!!

Chad dreaming again!

Isn't this an ugly karaoke picture?!

A few funny stories about the weekend:

The first on the cruise we met a party of like 8 black people in their 20s at karaoke. Chad thought it would be funny to sing Ebony and Ivory with one of the black girls...and they DID! The whole song this big black girl was grinding on Chad. It was hilarious. To top it off, Chad didn't know any of the words so his singing was funny all on its own!

We all went dancing at night. The second night on the cruise was a flashback to the 80s party! My mom was out there dancing with us and insisted we teach her some new moves. We taught her old moves and now she thinks she is cool because she does the sprinkler!

This may be TMI for some of you, but I am writing this anyway for journaling purposes. The whole weekend every couple joked about having the most "recesses" on vacation. Anytime anybody went missing, we chalked it up to "recess." Later Chad thought it would be funnier to make seal noises instead of saying recess. So the whole cruise, we heard Chad doing seal noises (he thought it was even funnier when he said that he was imitating me).

My sister, Jennie, ate like nobody has ever seen before. One night we were hitting the buffet at like 12:30 am. Jennie literally had an ice cream cone in one hand, a churro in the other hand, and a plate of pizza in front of her. Any one who knows Jennie wouldn't believe it! Everytime there was a lull in the action, Jennie's suggestion was "Who wants ice cream?"

All in all we had a GREAT time!!!

Trunk or Treat - finally!

Well these pictures are little late, but better late than never right?! Vance dressed up as a scarecrow. Obviously he didn't know what was going on, but we had a lot of fun snapping pictures all night. Below are some of my favorites.

Zach, Brent, Macie, Mom, Vance, and Dad

Vance's grandpas giving him a little soda way too young!

Mom, Vance, Mariah, Dad, Sierra, Grandma

Dad, Mom, Vance, Grandma, Grandpa

So grateful for my life

I made the trip to Colorado solo and while gone I realized how much I love my life! I had a great time hanging out with old friends, but we are into very different things right now. My friends are non-members and single and the things that interest them most, don't really interest me at all (and vice versa). We really would do anything for each other and I know that one day we will be on the same page again so I continue to strive to keep the friendship intact. Even though my life may be predictable and a little slower-paced, I would not change it for ANYTHING! I couldn't wait to come home and be with my best friend again.

Case in point - Chad had a surprise for me when I got home. He took Vance with him to the airport. On Vance's stroller was a sign that said "Have you seen my mom?" He also had flowers for me. Isn't he so sweet?! Those two boys are truly all my life is about. I love my friends, but nothing compares to the joy of being in the company of your husband and child!

Colorado Wedding - Part 2

First off, isn't Colorado beautiful??!! These trees were just everywhere. The colors were beautiful and really made me realize how unattractive the Vegas landscape is. The wedding was Saturday afternoon and went just as planned. The reception was later that night at the Grand Hyatt in Denver. It was on the 38th floor. The room had windows all around that made for a spectular view of Denver no matter which direction you looked. Everything had that personal touch that made the evening so memorable.

Above is a picture of the new couple cutting the cake. Nolan always wanted to cut his cake with a black samurai sword, so Brooke got him one for a little surprise! The food was delicious, the dancing was great, and everyone had a blast.

I really think Brooke made one of the prettiest brides that I have ever seen. She was so happy and really glowed the entire day. Below is a picture of me, Brooke, Amanda, and Lauren. We have been best friends since about sophomore year of high school. It is so great to have remained such close friends with them. I can't wait for Amanda and Lauren to get married now!!! Congratulations Brooke & Nolan - I wish you the best!

Colorado Wedding - Part I

This weekend I went to Colorado for one of my best friend's wedding. The weekend started out with the run-through at the church. My friend and her now husband, Brooke & Nolan, found this beautiful, old church in downtown Denver. You can see the stone work behind us in the picture above (the bride is the blonde). It was great to see everyone!

After the run-through, we had the rehearsal dinner in Hygiene, Colorado. The dinner was at this beautiful ranch next to a lake. Above is a picture of the scenery. It makes me want to get out of Las Vegas and go somewhere prettier! The rehearsal dinner was a costume party because it was on Halloween night. I dressed up as Ellen Degeneres. Below is a picture of all of the bridesmaids in their costumes. The food was great, the decorations were so festive and detailed, and the entertainment couldn't have been better.

The last of the birthday celebration

On my actual birthday, we went out to dinner with my sister Leslie and her husband. We went to Carmine's Little Italy. It was delicious! Then we decided to go to one of the pumpkin patch carnivals. We played the water-gun game - Chad won, but I made him give me the prize. Then we went on Gravitron. I had never been on it before - what a crazy experience! Lifting my legs on the ride was a real workout! All in all it was a FANTASTIC birthday.

Weight Watchers

I was down 1.4 pounds this week. I was actually really pleased with this considering I was out of town all weekend and had way too many birthday celebrations!