Cousins meeting Cael

My sister Darcy had a little boy on October 19th, 2010 name Cael Randall Drury. This is the 1st cousin on my side of the family for the kids. They were pretty excited the whole time Darcy was pregnant and couldn't wait for the little bundle to get here. And once he got here, things didn't change. They still love him and dote on him and want to be with him every chance they can. I haven't gotten very good photos of the kids with him, but I know Darcy has. I guess once you have 2 kids, carrying around the camera and snapping those moments are further and further apart.. and this is no exception, even though there is a brand new baby to take photos of!!!

This was the 1st time the kids got to hold Cael. He was born about 3 weeks early, and ended up in the hospital for about a week. So the kids got to see him thru the glass, but never got to 'hold' him.. so boy were they excited to finally be able to hold him




Mallory would feed him every meal if we would let her. She does however get bored after a few minutes.. BUT she does love to 'hold' him and knows to go get the boppy pillow when she wants to hold him!!Cael hasn't been an easy child.. he has had bouts of fussiness and such in the afternoons.. so Darcy has been trying out a Moby Wrap for him and he seems to like it!!


Needless to say.. little girl figured out she could be like Aunt DD :)












And for those that want to see better pictures.. go look at my sisters blog for up to date photos and videos!! Cale is a blessing for sure!!! Down Drury Lane

Halloween

Someone wasn't as thrilled as I was to be carving pumpkins!! But he was a sport and helped out!!


This was the 1st year that Mason actually carved a pumpkin himself! He did a great job!!!





Mason's Kindergarden class after their parade for the parents
We went trick or treating in Ames on Friday night with some friends.. was a lot of fun to get out and about with other kiddos!!

10 /10/ 2010 10:10 am

SO What were you doing on 10/10/10 at 10:10 am?? WELL I can tell you what the kids and I were doing.. as I took a photo sequence for that one minute...



They could play with play dough 24/7 if I let them! Playdough is banned from our house (not for obvious reason :) ) and is only something they get to do at their grandma's houses.. I figure as much as they love it, if they did it at home too, when they were to go to Grandma's house, it wouldn't have such an appeal and wouldn't be as entertaining. So its a privilege to them when there!!!

That same weekend, we celebarted my mom's birthday and my Uncle's birthday. Their birthdays are only a couple days apart.

Soccer Fall Fun

Mason got to play soccer for the second season this past fall. He loved it and we can already tell he is gonna love to be active in all sports! So fun to watch him improve and have fun





Notice the sweat running down his face.. while the rest of us watching were freezing!!


Mallory got to ride in the tractor this fall with her daddy. She did so enjoy that, but still didn't LOVE it like big brother does. Mason could stay in there for quite some time, however, miss Mallory was ready to get out after a couple rounds!!!


We went to Center Grover Orchard quite a few times this past fall.. the kids seemed to enjoy it.. and this particular day, there were other friends with us so we got this fun shot of them in the wagon!!

Carrolls pumpkin patch

October 9, 2010

What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas.. well sort of ...

Tony and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary November 4th.. BUT we actually celebrated a month earlier in Las Vegas!! Vegas would not be my #1 choice, or even my #2 choice for an anniversary destination.. BUT there was a reason Vegas was my 1st choice.. and the photos later will tell

This is the hotel we stayed in. It was centrally located on the Strip, reasonable priced, and clean. Couldn't have asked for anything more!

Here are some pictures inside our hotel room




Yes there is a TV in the mirror :)


Our view out the window to the pool area




The Bellagio fountains

One of the many TV/gaming/gambling areas in one of the hotels :) You could watch whatever game you wanted on your own personal tv and sit in some really comfortable chairs!



This was taken after dinner on October 2nd, 2010

THIS was before THE CONCERT!!!!




And this my friends is the view of the stage, HIS guitar, and stool... I did not zoom in as I wanted to get the full effect of how CLOSE our seats were!! GARTH BROOKS was amazing!!! He sang for a little over 2 hours.. just him and his guitar.. and Trisha Yearwood joined him for a few songs. He sang songs starting back in the 1960s, up to his current hits. He told a story about how music has changed over time. It was truly an amazing show, one I will be going back to see someday, it was THAT good (and now the ticket prices have doubled, and I'd still pay double the price to see him again). The theater holds 1700 people.. so very small and not a bad seat in the house. If you love Garth and are willing to spend a little money, this show/trip is SOOOO worth every cent!!!!!


Of course, Tony didn't think to stand BESIDE Garth and not in front of him.. but you get the idea!! Only wish we could have taken photos of him during his concert, but photography was strictly prohibited!!!




We basically just walked the strip and walked in and out of the different casinos. Neither one of us has much luck at the gambling side of things, so we didn't partake in that much.
This young man was so fun to watch.. he was doing art work with a spraypaint can! Amazing stuff.. then we went to Fremont street, and they had 3 guys over there doing the same thing! Must be a local talent thing




This is what he made with spray paint, a putty knife, and some paper!!!!


Dueling piano bar.. another MUST if you are in Vegas! We could have sat there all night and listened to them play the popular songs !



I didn't realize til my mother told me, but this wasn't actually the 'sky' in the mall. It was the ceiling made to feel like the sky. So about 30 minutes after this photo was taken, it was dark.. JUST like it was outside! And the whole time I was walking in there, I never realized it!! Guess I need to pay a little more attention to my surroundings.


A store I could have spent all day in.. Tony had other plans.. so I did get a few things for the kids in here and got to see most of it. Just very cool to see all the vivid colors and things that have M&M's on them.. and since our kids are M & M I'm even more attracted to the whole theme!!


Kind of hard to read.. but we had M&Ms made with Mason and Mallory on them!


New York hotel.. notice the roller coaster that is winding its way around the city scape.. we did ride this roller coaster. It was a lot of fun!



At 1st glace, this site had me puzzled.. then the longer I looked I realized what it was.. Can you tell what this is?!?!?!?



If you said a way to water their plants, you would be correct. It was a constant DRIP of water to their plants!! Coming from Iowa where we are nice and green in the summer months and don't have to water our lawn and plants much, this was quite the site!!

This was in front of the Treasure Island ship act


This photo was taken about 10pm on our last night in Vegas! Yes, 82 degrees at 10pm!! We didn't pick the coolest of all weeks to go there.. as it was well over 90 probably pushing 100 most of the days we were there.. so quite hot and not ideal.. but we survived and we were thankful it was a DRY heat and not a humid heat like we are used to.





This next sequence of photos is kind of cool.. they were taken out of the airplane on our way back to Iowa from Las Vegas. See if you notice the little things I did...

Las Vegas

Kansas

Iowa

Iowa

Did you notice in the Kansas photo all the 'circles' in the fields? How they have to water their fields with irrigation pivots and they run in circles, so they grow most crops in the circle fashion. Then the Iowa photo with the windmills?? And the next Iowa photo that looks like some moldy carpet?? All those dark brown spots are from all the flooding we had over the summer that killed off crops and grass. Was quite interesting to be able to fly over all these different things and actually be able to see the ground. Gives me a new appreciation for the USA

The kids had a great time back home. My mom came and stayed with them during the week since Mason was in school, and then my mother in law watched them over the weekend and my mom brought them back to Boone Monday for school. Pretty sure we could have been gone another week and they would have not missed us. Which I'm so thankful we can leave them like that and they are content and happy! Not sure the grandmas were wanting to watch them for another week, as they do have quite the energy and keeping up with them can be tiresome. Thankful for a great family willing to help out when we need them!!!