Tour de Summerlin

Last weekend I participated in the Tour de Summerlin. It was a 40-mile bike ride. We started near Palo Verde High School, rode all the way through Redrock to Blue Diamond and all the way back. After that we still had another 15 miles to ride that took us through the west part of town. I convinced my brother-in-law Rob to do it with me since Chad had to work.Above is me around mile #36. The smile is COMPLETELY fake. I was losing steam fast at this point.

Rob was kind enough to ride with me and not miles ahead of me. He stayed just in front of me to push me a little bit, but we still felt like we were riding together.

Here we are in dreaded Redrock. Next time you drive there take notice of all the hills! I was proud of myself though. I did the best I've ever done on the climbs. I even passed people going uphill. That's quite the accomplishment if you knew where I started when we first started biking.

What I love about riding is how relaxing and "zen" it feels. It's my own little way to escape the rest of the world. Plus it's good exercise!

I would say we finished in the front of the middle pack. There are the hard core people that were definitely way ahead of us, but I feel like there were plenty of people behind us. It took us 3 hours to do 40 miles. I don't think that's too shabby!

Thanks Rob for letting me talk you into riding with me and for giving me the extra energy I needed to beat the lady in the green jersey :) Also a huge thanks to my mom for watching Vance for me, taking pictures, and cheering me on along the way. I can always count on you!

Super Saving!

I had taken a little break from coupon shopping, but this week there were too many good deals to pass up. I finally got motivated and did some SUPER SAVING!!! You wouldn't believe how much I saved!
What did I buy?

- 40 lunchables (Chad and Vance both love these. I also give them to my nieces and nephews when they come over. You'd be surprised how fast I'll go through 40!).

- 5 things of laundry detergent

- 15 boxes of Quaker oatmeal (Me and Vance's daily breakfast)

- 30 boxes of Quaker granola bars. One of the whole family's favorite snacks. These don't expire until the end of the year, so I'm sure we'll use them all up!

- 15 boxes of Cap'n Crunch cereal. Both Chad and I are kids at heart. We say the cereal is for Vance, but it's really for us ;)

I also got 2 gallons of milk and 2 4-packs of yogurt that weren't on sale. The total should have been $264.87. Before you scroll down guess what I paid!

Seriously take a guess...

$41.08!!! That's a savings of $223.79 or 85%. I even shopped at Walmart so to save 85% is FREAKING AMAZING!!! Way to go me!

Naked Baby!

Vance has decided he loves to be naked. Luckily he doesn't argue when it's time to get dressed to leave the house, but at home he wants to be naked. I'm not sure if it's a good decision or not, but I've decided if it's just the three of us at home I don't really care if he's naked or not. I have bigger battles to fight! The other day he fell asleep naked on our bed. I couldn't resist taking a picture.

You have to admit - naked little bums are the best!

Watch the Ball

I wanted to write this down somewhere because it cracks me up. We were in the backyard enjoying the beautiful weather and Vance was playing with his teeball stuff. He knows how to hit it pretty well, but he was being goofy and swinging all silly. We kept telling him to look at the ball (advice we tell him all the time).

He knows what we meant but instead of watching the ball while he swung the bat, he put his face inches away from the ball and stared at it! We started cracking up and he just kept staring for like 30-45 seconds. When he was done he finally started laughing. He knew he was being funny the whole time. What a ham! I guess we have to be more specific with our instructions from now on.

Brooks & Dunn: The Last Rodeo

The other day I was surfing craigslist as I often do and saw Brooks and Dunn were in town. I found this amazing deal on tickets ($40 for $200 tickets) and jumped at the opportunity. I called my sisters and a few friends to find someone to go with me.It ended up being me, Amy, Jennie, Diana, and Amber. These girls are all SO fun. The perfect people to go to a concert with.The concert was a tribute to Brooks and Dunn because they are retiring after this last tour. This was kind of the kick off of the tour. All of the big country artists were in the audience, almost like an awards show. Brooks & Dunn sat on a bench on the stage. The performers would talk about a memory they have with Brooks & Dunn and explain why they choose to sing the song they were about to sing (everyone sang Brooks & Dunn songs as part of the tribute).I'm not kidding when I say EVERYONE in country music was there. We got to see all of the following people perform: Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts, Jennifer Hudson, Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Reba, Brooks & Dunn, Jason Aldean, Darius Rucker, Faith Hill, George Strait, Sugarland, and Brad Paisley! Talk about an AMAZING line-up.

All of them sounded great but my personal favorites were Lady Antebellum, Jennifer Hudson, and Sugarland. It was so fun to hear so many performers at one time. It was also cool to hear their memories. It made the celebrities feel more like regular people.
For the finale everyone came on stage who had performed throughout the night and sang a song with Brooks & Dunn.

On a side note: the lady who sat in front of us was a little on the crazy side. She got ridiculously excited when Tim McGraw performed. All I could do was laugh and take a picture. Gotta love the crazies!

Thanks girls for an awesome night! This concert will be televised on May 23rd on CBS.

Happy 50th Mom!

Last weekend we celebrated my mom's 50th birthday at an RV park in Pahrump - yes an RV park in Pahrump. It's actually one of my favorite places to go. Chad had to work so he was only able to come out for a few hours. I missed him SO much and can't wait for him to go back to a normal work week. That's why he's not in very many of the pictures.
There is a big pond with trees and grass everywhere. You would never expect to see a place as pretty as this in Pahrump. Definitely a desert oasis. There's so much to do that it makes for a great weekend. We used the boats and canoes.
We played croquet on the big grassy area. I am on a winning streak. I am now the champion croquet player of the Waldron and the Sutton family.

We set up the bounce house and let the kids go crazy. Of course Chad was the biggest kid out there.

We let the dogs run around and chase the ducks and each other. The puppies had so much fun. They were good to stay around camp and play with each other literally all weekend.The kids rode anything with wheels: scooters, bikes, motorcycles, etc.

We did some catch and release fishing. Briton may have cast her fishing pole into the tree ;)We went swimming and laid by the pool. Ah - I love summer!We just relaxed and talked with friends and family!Saturday night we had a birthday party for my mom.

We had shirts made. My mom's said "50 - aged to perfection." The other shirts said "Perfecting Crew - Happy 50th Linda!" I thought they turned out really cute.I made some posters of pictures of my mom throughout the years. It's always so funny to see how styles change. We had a yummy dinner. Chad seriously ate all of this BBQ'd pork. I can't believe he wasn't sick. That's a lot of meat!!!Amy made a really cute Price is Right game with prices from 1960 (the year my mom was born). Joe even participated.

A few of the interesting facts: average house price $16,500, average car $2,500, and gas was 31 cents a gallon.The showcase showdown winner? Me of course!Next was gifts. My sisters and I put together a memory book for my mom. We had all the family and some close friends write memories with my mom and I compiled them in a book. I think she will love it!If you know my mom, she is a woman who can get anything done. Hence the shirt from my Aunt Laurie. The hat was from us so she can join the Red Hat Society.

The big group picture of everyone who was able to come.

Hope you had a fantastic 50th birthday Mom. If anyone deserves it, it's you!