Baugh Christmas Party

One of our many family traditions is the annual Baugh Christmas party!! Our family has grown to numbers that my Grandparents house could not accommodate so we have been throwing the party at the Snow College LDS Institute the past few years. It is so much fun for everyone because there are pool tables, foosball tables, air hockey, basketball and most importantly TV to watch the bowl games! My mom makes the turkey and homemade rolls (also a Baugh tradition) and everyone else brings the salads and desserts. We have a small talent show and a pinata for the kids. It's a blast! This year the Bird's (my mom's sister's family) put on synchronize swimming...it was hilarious! We definitely have a great time. A few pics from that day.

Kyson eating one of those famous homemade rolls. Mmmm! My cute Grandpa Baugh...Kyson was reaching for another one of those rolls...he he he.

The boys relaxing after a big game of basketball. These girls are my cousins and we had baby's one day apart. Kyson was born on August 29th then Faith on the far right was born on the 30th and last Elizabeth in the middle was born on the 31st!

Kyson swinging at his first pinata!

This is typical Brian...my Dad LOVES these get togethers!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS!!!

XOXO Melanie

Kyson is BACK!

YEAH!!!! After a very long week I finally have my adorable little boy back. I can't believe how much older he looks...I know crazy right? Shad & I got to my parents house late Friday night so we didn't want to wake him up...even though I wanted to really bad! We were sound asleep when my Mom and Sister walked in our room and laid Kyson on our bed...he was so cute! He was grinning from ear to ear and wouldn't stop giving us hugs. In between the hugs he would look at our faces to make sure it was still his Mommy and Daddy and then he would smile and give us more hugs. Cutie boy! This is a picture of us that Sunday on our way to our cousin's baby blessing and another cousin's missionary homecoming...WELCOME HOME BROCK!!

Dance Recital!!!!!

Most of you know that my friend and I take a dance class every Tuesday night (after Ky goes down to sleep of course) and we absolutely love it! She danced in her previous life too so we are like little kids on Christmas Eve...giddy through the entire class. Well the owner of the studio talked our class into dancing at their Christmas recital for "advertisement". Lindsey and I both said no, no, no, no but of course we are push overs and got talked into it. I don't have a picture of our "cool" costumes (but you can see the poinsettias in our hair that we had to wear with our costumes-they were super cute). This picture is Lindsey and I after the recital eating dinner at BJ's (one of our favorite places to eat). I have had so much fun dancing again and I also got some much needed exercise. I would highly recommend it to anyone!

White Christmas in Las Vegas!

I've just looked at all of my friend's blogs that live in Vegas and they have already beat me to this...but for those of you who don't live in Las Vegas...It SNOWED! Monday my Partners that I work with made me come into their office to show me that it was snowing outside...and I thought big deal right. Well both of these Partners were born and raised in Las Vegas and obviously don't get to see the snow very often in the desert. So I did some research and the last time Las Vegas has had snow was back in 2003! Monday's snowfall was gone by the Tuesday morning but...it snowed again last night and some areas of Las Vegas got up to 9 inches of snow!!! Our area got about 3 inches. The falling snow made me fill like Christmas season was finally here. Shad & I made hot chocolate to really enjoy the holiday season...yummy! The snow was so beautiful and it reminded me of back home in Utah. Oh the memories!

Speaking of Utah I haven't posted for awhile but my brother and sister came down to visit me after their college finals were over. They came down on Dec 11th and stayed until the 14th...and that is when my Mom and Dad talked me into letting them take Kyson back to Utah so they can spoil him like crazy. Kenzie asked me during breakfast Sunday morning if I will miss Kyson and I told her "I already miss him and he hasn't even left!"

My mom calls me Monday and says she can tell Kyson isn't feeling very well (because he gets very mellow when he gets sick or is cutting teeth...never grouchy... he's a perfect angel). So the next night my Dad had a Christmas party at their home in Ephraim and a Physicians Assistant was there and checked Kyson...and you guessed it...he had infections in both ears and the right ear was already starting to swell. We never really know if Kyson is sick because he never cries but my Mom said that night he would just lay on my sister's belly and whimper...poor little guy. The PA was nervous that if my Mom waited until the morning to get his scripts filled the ear could possibly burst. So of course in a small town you just wake up the Pharmacist out of bed and make him fill the script for antibiotics! He also got these ear drops that numb the ears until the antibiotics start kicking in. You know I miss Kyson terribly but I think he has the best care money can buy (since my Mom's rate is free).

I keep apologizing to my family that he was sick on the week they finally talked me in to letting Kyson stay with them...but my Dad's response is the best..."I love having him here and playing with him even if he is sick, because I get to check off the last thing on my bucket list...to be a Grandpa." My Dad is the best!! Seriously my Dad is the first on a long line of Whipple's that is alive to enjoy their Grandkid(s) - Stephanie and Natalie you better get on making that plural.

My Dad watched him Tuesday and took him shopping and got him sleepers (like we use to have as kids and we would slide down the stairs). He also took him to see my Mom at work and he would walk around giving all of the Brethren high fives (she works at the Snow College Institute). And then when no one is looking he howls like a wolf (he just learned that last week and if I can figure out how to upload video I'll show you all...its so cute!) My Mom watched him Wednesday and Thursday...and Stephanie just flew into Utah today and has staked claims to watch him tomorrow. I am so grateful that Kyson has Grandparents on both sides that completely spoil and love him.

Friday can't come any faster....I miss my little boy!!!!!

XOXO Melanie

I've been TAGGED!

I finally got around to reading some of my friends blogs and I realized Kys babysitter had tagged me a few weeks ago...so I guess you post the 4th picture in the 4th folder.

This picture was taken at one of Shad's softball tournaments in Mesquite, NV. His Grandpa Rollo was playing with him and he was loving the attention. He liked putting on Grandpa's cool shades! I love being outside and I especially love watching Shad play sports! That picture was taken in the first of June this year...I can't believe how much he has grown. I now tag Stephanie, Britni, Chelsea, Lindsey Bowen, Kami, and anyone else that hasn't done this before!

XOXO Melanie

Thanksgiving

Shad had to work on Thanksgiving day so I went with a few couples and their families that I have been friends with since college. It was a lot of fun and we had lots of yummy food. The family that let us have the dinner at their house found these really cute turkeys that when you push their belly's they gobble. Kyson loved his new toy! Look how cute all of those kids are with their turkey's. Thanks Justice family...we had such a great time!

Then Shad & I drove to Ephraim to cut down our Christmas Tree. There was a little snow on the ground so it was perfect tree cutting weather. My mom made another Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday...and for those of you who haven't had my Mom's cooking...it is the best food I have ever tasted in my entire life. Thanks Mom and Dad for spoiling us like usual. Love you both!!

XOXO Melanie

Shad's Scare!!!

It's my lunch break right now and I had to update everyone on what happened to Shad today at work....It started with a text message from Shad at 8:23 a.m. and it said "Got in a wreck. I'm fine but they have to take me to the hospital."...and I responded..."What!" ...you don't just send your wife a text message like that (for those of you who don't know Shad works for Metro in the old down town area and he is currently on an Enduro squad - rides an off-road motorcycle) so of course I am a little freaked out. Then he sends me this pic....

With the text saying "Don't I look cool!" (typical boy right)...so now I'm not sure if he is playing a joke on me or if I should really be freaked out. So he finally asks one of the EMTs if he could call me while he was still riding in the ambulance so I don't completely have a nervous breakdown...luckily they let him call me.

So the story goes like this...Shad was being dispatched to a call where a police officer had a guy at gun point that had just stabbed another person on a bus. The officer was by himself so Shad starting rolling code (with sirens and lights) to back up the officer that was by himself. Shad was riding down the street when a car came from his left side and he wasn't sure if the car would pull all the way over to the right (which is what you are suppose to do when a emergency vehicle is behind you) or if he would pull into the closest lane which would be the far left lane. Shad said he thought if he went to his left and the car stayed in that lane he would have to go into oncoming traffic (not very safe) or he could just stay in his lane on the right side, which is what he did. The car ended up coming into Shad's lane and then stopped right in front of him. Shad said he was probably going around 50 mph and started leaning to his right and he put on his breaks to try avoided the now parked car but he clipped it with his foot and the bike went right out from under him...which he proceeded to skid across the asphalt for about 130 feet. Because he was on a motorcycle and because of the speed he was traveling, they made him take a ride in the ambulance. They even strapped him down on the gurney (see pic above).

All in all he really is fine and he only got a little road rash on his leg, a slightly swollen ankle, and tore through his riding gloves (luckily he had those on). I am so very thankful that he is ok and that Heavenly Father was watching over him today...it definitely could have been a lot worse.

XOXO Melanie

Happy Halloween

One of our good friends let us borrow this adorable costume for Kyson. We thought a puppy would be a perfect costume to fit in with his two buddies...Bo and Obi. We used washable markers for his face but when we put on his head piece he started crying and the marker ran right down his face. We took him to few houses in the Ward to go Trick-or-Treating. He loved all of the kids in the streets but I think he got worn out pretty quick. My baby sitter's kids came by the house to see Kyson's costume...aren't they the cutest kids ever. Kyson absolutely loves playing with them both! Enjoy the pics!

XOXO Melanie

Halloween Party with my Beehives!

I serve as a Beehive advisor in our Ward and I absolutely love it!! We have the biggest and the best class in our Young Women's (I'm a little bias can you tell?). Anyway, we decided to have a Halloween party for our Wednesday activity. It was so much fun!! Look how cute those rice crispy treats are that Jenn (Sister Hendricks) made. She always has such great ideas!

I made the drink out of blue-raspberry lemonade kool-aid and dry ice. I also froze little mice in ice cubes and put them in the drink...the girls loved finding the surprise!! You can see one of the little tails if you look close.

The fearless Leaders! I love serving with these ladies...they have become some of my best friends down here in Vegas. Yes we are dorks but we have so much fun together.

We played tons of games...but I loved watching them try to get those donuts off the strings. LOL!

We also played spooky musical chairs...to classic Halloween music (Thriller, Monster Mash etc.). The second picture is the first group of losers of spooky musical chairs. They are so funny!

All of the Beehives! Thanks for making it such a great night girls. Love ya tons!!

XOXO Melanie

Carving Pumpkins

I am going to try to catch up today... So wish me luck! It's so hard to keep up on a blog when you work full-time...but no excuses right! :)

It took Shad & I three days to finally get two pumpkins carved. Our lives are so crazy it was like tag team pumpkin carving. Kyson had so much fun playing in all of the goo when we were cleaning out the inside of the pumpkins. We only got to light the candles for two nights but it was still worth it!

World Series

Shad plays on a softball team with all different guys in law enforcement. They have done so well this year at their tournaments they were invited to play in the World Series of softball in Palm Springs, California on October 17th-19th. The top teams from the East Coast to the West Coast come and compete for the top prize. All of the players have to work in some form of law enforcement. I love watching Shad play in games...but this ball park is by far the best place he has ever played. The park is called "Big League Dreams" and the softball fields are constructed after the MLB fields. In the center of the field is a bar and restaurant that has tons of flat screen TVs playing all sport stations (loved Saturday so I could still watch my college football) and also has glass windows as the walls so you can watch the softball games going on outside. When it got too hot for Kyson we could still sit inside in the air conditioning and watch Shad play! It was awesome!!

His first game was on Wrigley field (pictured below) and he also played at Yankee Stadium.

This is one of Shad's good friends that he met while going through the Academy. Carpenter loves playing with Kyson...he is getting ready for his little girl to arrive (his wife is due in January).

I've mentioned in previous posts that Kyson loves playing with any kind of balls. He was content with the dirty one his Daddy gave him for a little while but then noticed the new clean game balls on the other side of the fence. He was so funny and wouldn't let them go. Silly boy!

We had a great time supporting Shad and his team. They were one game away from making it to the Final day. Shad's parents were able to come with us and we enjoyed their company. Thank you Steve and Doe for helping me entertain Kyson during the games...I couldn't have done it without you!!

XOXO Melanie

Conference Weekend

Our family is starting a new tradition. During the October General Conference weekend we will all meet at my parent's house in Ephraim and start our family calendar we give out every year for Christmas. I was so excited to finally get back home (I hadn't seen the new garage my parents had added onto their home). Of course I shouldn't be surprised that this is what greeted us on the street to my parents house! Home Sweet Home!!

When Kyson started walking Shad & I would always make a wide eyed expression and say "Oh, what a big boy"...he picked up on that expression and does it all the time. We found him in my parents sun room and I finally caught the expression on camera! What a cute boy!!

Grandma let us pick out some home-grown pumpkins to take back to Vegas with us...I definitely miss the small town. My mom was very sad when we had to leave...I thought she was going to hide Kyson so she could keep him all to herself! Love you Mom!!

Kyson is starting to give kisses to everyone...but it's an open mouth kiss. I love it! He is so cute! Good-Bye Uncle Evan!

Our last stop out of town was of course the Co-op...we found this cute hat for Kyson. Isn't it hilarious! We had a great time in Ephraim and had lots of GREAT food! Yummy home cooked meals...there is nothing quite like your Mom's cooking. Kyson was pretty tuckered out after all of that attention from my family. Thanks for everything Mom and Dad!!
XOXO Melanie