Lots of Fun with Olivia

Way back in October, (Yes October,) we were able to finally have Olivia here with us. We picked her up on Sunday,October 11th and she stayed with us until the following Sunday. It was so much fun having her in our own home rather than back and forth from my parents' house to Palmer's parents' house in Hawthorne. We had a very busy and fun week with her. This was also the week of my midterms, so I was a bit stressed at the beginning of the week, but fortunately Palmer's mom, Josie was also able to come stay the week with us. She was a lifesaver; she helped me with taking care of Olivia, cooking and cleaning!

Here are a few picture from our week's adventures.

M&M Factory

Las Vegas sign

Carving Pumpkins

Movies!!

Feeding the ducks at Sunset Park! Liv loved the ducks!

Ryan and Denise's Baby Shower

Last weekend I went to home for Ryan and Denise's baby shower (minus Ryan, of course he was not at the shower.) It was by far the cutest shower I have been to. The decorations were so cute. Ryan and Denise decided not to find out the sex of the baby so I was thinking the shower was going to be all yellow. But they did a Sweet Pea theme in green and brown. Everything was so cute!! They got so much stuff and Denise was all smiles the whole time. I didn't get to many pictures because I was visiting with all my family but here's a few that I got...

Here's a diaper cake that Denise's aunt made her. It was so stinking adorable!

The real cake!! (And treat bags.)

Denise showing off the baby's "Mr. Strong" shirt!! Ryan loved this!!

She was soooo excited about the diaper genie.

I had to throw in a picture of Olivia! Ha crazy girl had put on my lip gloss about 1000 times in 2 hours. (If you couldn't already tell.) She's getting so big but still looking like Palmer!

The weekend was a blast and I can't wait to meet Baby Strong next month!!

My 21st Birthday Weekend

So the day finally arrived... My brother and I turned 21! To celebrate our birthday, we went to Hawthorne for a long weekend. Everyone kept asking why we were having our big 21st birthday bash in Hawthorne. But honestly we couldn't think of a better place to have it. A large majority of our family lives in Hawthorne and the other half of our family enjoys visiting Hawthorne a few times a year. We even had one of our Aunt's from Idaho fly in for the weekend and a few other family members from New Jersey. Plus its the only place I've actually tried to sneak in bars.:) So it was the perfect place to celebrate!

To Start off the night we opened our pre party gifts from Palmer's sister, Viv. I got a 21st birthday tiara, sash and mug. Andrew Got a mug too and I gave him my flashing ID necklace! We were ready to go out!

This is some of the crew making our way up to the El Cap.

The Good Ol' El Cap!

Palmer buying Andy and I our first drinks!!!

Palmer asked Ruth (the bartender) to come around the bar and hand us our beers for the picture. Doesn't she look enthused?

The next night, we of course went out again. We decided to play some blackjack. My brother Adam was there to teach me the exact rules. We didn't win any money but it was a lot of fun!

The next night was the BIG BIRTHDAY BASH! My parents threw Andrew and I a huge party at the Elks Lodge. There were over 100 people there. We were able to see almost all of our family and friends. It was an awesome. (This was also the night Palmer proposed! A post all about it coming soon!) I don't have a lot of pictures from this night because I was too busy being in shock about our engagement and visiting with everyone, but a lot of other people got pictures that I'm in the process of getting. So here are just a few of the ones I got...

Me and Addison in our "party" dresses!

Palmer with his Mom and Sisters!
We were exhausted, 3 late nights in a row! This is us getting ready to call it a night!

The whole weekend was more than I could have ever imagined! I had a wonderful time with all my family and friends. My only regret is that it was over so quickly and then Palmer and I had to return to work and school. But now we are planning another huge bash: Our Wedding!!!!!!

Summer Update

Ok, our summer is off to a BUSY start and its fully loaded from here until September. I did run into a very crappy problem, I broke not one camera, but two, in the middle of May. (I broke one, and then the cats knocked my other one off the counter.) Anyways, so I feel like our blog is gonna be a little boring since I don't have pictures to post until I get a new camera. (Hint Hint Palmer, I need a new camera!)

Our summer pretty much began in the middle of May; we went to Utah to visit Palmer's family. We went so that Palmer could golf in a golf tourney fundraiser that Viv (Palmer's sister) was running for Linnea's (Palmer's niece) drill team. So we spent Saturday at the golf course and then had dinner and games at Palmer's mom with the whole crew. It was a blast but, a really quick visit.

Then at the end of May I went to Hawthorne for 3 days for my cousin Jordan's 8th grade graduation. It was really nice to get to be there to kinda help my Aunt Mare out with Jordan. I drove her to get her hair done and that kind of stuff. She looked beautiful and grown-up. I got to see some of my family and I also got to see Jacqueline before she leaves for her 7 week trip to Europe.

When I got home from Hawthorne I had to directly leave for Ohio that next day. I went to Ohio with the people I work for; we were there for 8 days. So I was happy to finally get home to Palmer at the end of the trip.

Since I have been home, I've had 4 days off. Mike is here and we've done a lot of visiting, eating and drinking as usual. We had a great night last night, we went our new favorite buffalo wing place called Chicken Bonz. Then went to Rejavanate, a coffee house that Palmer's coworker, Brett was playing with his band, cheapPLASTIK. His band was so awesome and we had a blast! We have decided to become their new groupies and help spread the word about them! After we watched the band, Mike, Palmer and I went back to apartment to play some card games. David ended up coming over (now that he lives in our apartment complex and all) and we had a good night.

Now it's back to work for me but our summer calender is still PACKED!!!

School's Out!

Among all the chaos in my Mom's house this last Saturday, I took my last online final! (Thanks Mike) That's right I'm now done with this semester! I think I did pretty good, haven't got all my grades back yet. So I now have 7 weeks of freedom (from schoolwork) til my summer class starts in July!

Road Trip

For Mother's Day weekend, I decided to drive to Hawthorne to see my mom. This was the first time that took Tootsy in the car for the 5 hour drive without Palmer. We left after I got off of work on Friday, so we didn't get to Hawthorne til 11:00pm. Tootsy had no idea why the hell we were in the car so long and finally stopped whining about 45 mins into the drive. After her whining she slept the whole way, except for when we stopped in Beatty and she jumped into a fountain outside of the candy store. So I got to have a wet muddy dog in my car for the rest of the trip.

Here she is all twisted up in the seat belt. I had to buckle it behind her because my car will just beep if its not buckled. Somehow Tootsy got all wrapped in it.

The weekend was full of events, as always when I get to go home for 3 days. Saturday my mom and I went to get our cars washed. My interior was COVERED in Tootsy hair. Then I got to see Alexis and Norelle. Norelle is getting SO big. I didn't get any pictures of her though she was kinda cranky. Alexis, Elle, and I went over to see Calen and Mary's new baby girl. Caitlin is so cute and little; she looks just like Calen!

Here she is!

After I got some of my visiting done, I went back to my mom's and disaster had erupted! Something crazy had happened with her plumbing and all the toilets were overflowing and the water was coming out of the drains in the showers! So we could not use the bathrooms at all! My parents could not get a hold of any plumbers since it was Saturday and all. So I ended up going over to Palmer's Dad's and visiting them for a while. I got to see my chicken Seven, who now lives in Warren's backyard!

Seven blowing my hair all over!

Tootsy checking out Seven

Tootsy had no idea what to think of Seven. When Seven was flapping around on my lap Tootsy bit her! Nothing crazy mostly just in a playful way like how she plays with our cats, but I was glad Sally and Mike were there to help me calm Tootsy down!

Finally around 11:00pm my mom's house was functioning again, thanks to Gary & Rob! So I went home and went to bed.

On Sunday, I had breakfast with my mom and gave her her Mother's day stuff. We mostly just hung out all morning and then went to my little cousin Sydney's 2nd birthday party. The party was great! I got to see a bunch of my family. Its really cool to see all of my generation of the family, having babies and all those babies growing up together. There were little kids everywhere of course, and Sydney was so cute asking Diana to "open it" after she opened every present.

Sydney and Stevee trying on princess shoes

After the party I went to visit my cousin Ryan and his girlfriend Denise. They are also having a baby in October so I got to see the baby room and some of the baby stuff that they already have. I ended up staying over and visiting with them for 3 hours. It was really nice to get to just hang out with them, I haven't got to see them in a while.

Monday, Tootsy and I had to get in the car and drive home. I made Tootsy ride in the back this time because I didn't want her to get my clean car all dirty! Tootsy slept the whole ride! I was exhausted and had to call Palmer to keep me up for the last 30 mins of the trip!

Now we are home, but not for long; we are going to Utah this weekend to visit Palmer's family!

Our Family's Getting Bigger!

When I got out of my psych class today, I had missed calls from both my brothers. I thought this was odd because neither one of them normally calls me in the middle of the day. So I called my brother Adam back first.... And he was calling to tell me that He and Amber are having BABY MCCAHILL #2!!!!!! I'm going to be an AUNTIE again, and I am so excited I can barely contain myself. Addison (McCahill Baby #1/ Big Sister) is at the perfect age to have a younger sibling and she will be such a good big sister. I think a majority if the family is hoping for a boy this time but we will all be happy either way. I only wish I lived closer to them so I could be there to help them out more. Anyways, Congratulations ADAM, AMBER & ADDISON!

(Feel Free to leave your guess on whether the baby is gonna be a GIRL OR BOY!)

FINALS!

The most dreaded week of every college student's life has arrived yet again. I have 2 tests this week and 2 more next week. So needless to say I am swamped with studying and homework. There is a light at the end of this tunnel... I will be done with this semester in about 10 days! (If I survive.) YAY! I will have a 2 month break from school before my summer classes start in July.

The Heat Has Arrived

Well just thought I would let everyone know that the Las Vegas heat has finally arrived. There really is no such thing as spring in Vegas. We go from the mid 60's and low 70's to the mid 90's overnight. Seriously, the weather was in the 60's one day last week and then the next day it went up to the 90's! And the 90 degree heat is here to stay (well and it will rise another 10 degrees or so very soon) probably until September. I'm not complaining I like the usually like the heat, the 100's is a bit much but I deal. My only complaint is that they have not opened to pools at our apartment complex, WTF? But poor Palmer has to work in this blistering heat for the rest of the summer. Sorry Palmer:( This summer he has no vacation days because he has not been with the company for a year yet, but next summer we will take a vacation during the summer, so he can have a break from it. His only relief from the heat this year will be the two days we spend in Utah next month, hopefully its still cool there when we go. Everyone pray he does not suffer from any heat strokes! :)

Surprises!

When Palmer was a work on Wednesday a man was throwing out Rock Band 2 because he had bought in for the wrong console and could not return it. The man ended up telling Palmer that he could have the game. So Palmer brought the game home as a surprise. We've been rock banding it up every chance we get.

Palmer's sister's family also surprised me by showing up in Vegas on Wednesday night rather than Thursday afternoon. Palmer and Viv had me totally shocked! I had no idea that they were coming early! At about 11:00pm, Palmer told me that he had ordered a pizza so that I would answer the door when The Stanley's arrived. When there was a knock at the door, I was ready to pay for the pizza only to find Viv and Brian's two youngest kids, Tiana and Jordan, at the door in their PJ's holding a sign that said "We need a place to sleep!" I was so surprised!!! I just should there staring at them in disbelief trying to figure it all out. Then Viv, Brian and Linnea came out from around the corner to join in on the surprise.

We had an amazing weekend with the Stanley's! I will post pictures from the weekend's adventures soon!

Palmer playing the drums.

Tiana singing.

Skin- always curious about boxes.

Me trying to play the guitar.

Palmer's niece Linnea was by far the best at singing, drumming and playing the guitar (I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of her playing.) Me and Viv had a blast "trying" to sing the Toby Keith songs and some Journey.

Spring Visitors ROUND #2

Palmer and I were lucky enough to have yet another event-filled with family. On Friday afternoon my Mom and Rob came down to visit us. (They also brought their two dogs, Hunter and Hannah, so our apartment was jam packed with cats, dogs and people!) The first place we decided we would take them was to Joe's Crab Shack! (Of course.) I have been bragging about this restaurant since we moved to the Green Valley area, so I was so excited for her to finally get to experience it. My step-dad isn't really a fan of seafood, but he was a trooper and ordered himself a rib eye. For an appetizer we had spinach and artichoke dip and crab dip, they were both absolutely amazing! For dinner, I ordered my usual bucket of snow crab, Palmer ordered a bucket of dungeness crab and my mom ordered crab stuffed shrimp. All of the food was delicious! Palmer resisted dancing along with the Crab Shack crew this time but we still had a great evening.

All of us

Palmer enjoying his crab.Rob & mom loving their vacation!
On Saturday, I took my mom to get a haircut. Her hair turned out great. Then we went back to the apartment to cook some breakfast. My mom and I cooked biscuits and homemade gravy. It was very tasty! After breakfast I took my mom and Rob to the mall to do some shopping. When Palmer got off we met him back at the apartment. Palmer and I decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at Petapalooza! We went last year and it was a blast so we could not miss it this year. We were able to get there just in time for the last performance, GAVIN ROSSDALE! He was so fun to watch and he sounded great. Tootsy was beside herself getting out to see all the other dogs.

Toots & Palmer getting some water Gavin RossdaleTrying to get Toots to go in the obstacle course.

For dinner we all went to the Hofbrauhaus. Its a German style restaurant that is set up like an Oktoberfest. You are seated cafeteria style at a long table with other people. My step-dad was stationed in Germany for 2 years and has been to several fests, and he was quite impressed with the authenticity of the food and beer. He said it was just like being there. In between the band taking a break they had a stein holding contest. Palmer of course entered it! There were about 12 contestants and they all had to hold a liter stein filled with fake beer out in front of them. Whoever could hold it the longest won a stein from the gift shop. At first no one was having any problems, but shortly into the contest, people started to sweat, shake and drop their arms, eliminating themselves one by one. Palmer held on for a whole 10 mins! After 1o mins they called it a tie between Palmer and one other stein holder. After the stein contest we stayed and finished our dinners and had a few more German beers!

Mom & Me

Cheers!

Singing with the band

Beginning of stein contest

The Winners

All of us

On Sunday morning, we all went to the pancake house for breakfast and then came back to watch a movie. For an early dinner Palmer and I decided to cook his family's enchiladas recipe for my parents. In January, Palmer's sister Viv showed me how to cook em, but we hadn't practiced yet. The enchiladas turned out so good, but I still need some practice at the Spanish rice. After dinner, we went down the the Strip to see Beatles LOVE. The show was incredible! I would recommend anyone to see it and I would go again in a heartbeat! It is hard to describe it, you just have to see it. Thanks for taking us, Mom & Rob!!

1st enchiladas by ourselves!

At Beatles LOVE!

This morning Mom, Rob and the dogs had to go back home to Hawthorne. We are sad that they are gone already, we had an amazing weekend with them. We can't wait for them to come back so we can do it again! Now I'm busy getting ready for our next round of company, THE STANLEY'S!!! Stay tuned....

SPRING BREAK!!

Ok it is official... I am now on my spring break. I don't have to be back to campus for 11 days. I still working, but moved around some days so that I get a few days off in a row. I'm so stoked to have a little break from school. Classes are overloading me right now. This is the the calm before the storm because when I return I will only have 2 weeks til my finals! Way to cut it close UNLV!

Look at Our Garden Grow

Spring has officially sprung in our house. We decided that we are going to grow a few veggies and herbs this spring. We could only grow a few items on account of limited counter and patio space at our apartment. We are growing bell peppers, jalapenos, snow peas, chives, parsley and cilantro.

Tootsy was very interested in what we were up to.

Had her nose in all the pots

Even the cats wanted to know what we were doing. Hopefully the don't eat the plants, or dig up the soil, OR WORSE pee in the pots!

First watering