Vegas Air Show

HUGE tank and jeep carrier plane that we got to walk through

We found out last-minute an air show going on in Vegas on Saturday so we decided to check it out. It turned out to be pretty darn amazing and we all had a great time. They had planes from every era all the way back to WWI. They did air battle reenactments and aerobatic shows with amazing dizzying manoeuvres done with planes and helicopters and they toped it all off with an amazing display by the Thunderbirds (6 planes that fly in formation and do all these spectacular tricks). Here are the big kids with one of the Thunderbirds:

All airplanes that weren't performing at the moment were on display so we got to walk right up to all the different airplanes and in many cases get onboard them and learn about them. The kids especially loved seeing the helicopter that could fly upside down and that did a bow in the air at the end of its performance and the little red biplane that did dives and spirals and crazy stuff - we couldn't figure out how in the heck the pilot could keep from getting totally disoriented and crashing with all those quick spins and backflips!

Ashton chatting with a fighter pilot

With a D-Day airplane we went inside - used as an ambulance plane during WW II

We finished off the day with a trip to Jared's favorite - In and Out Burger and a trip to my favorite - Trader Joe's. Then we hurried home to hang out with Grandfather a bit and go to dinner with friends.

Then Sunday it was so fun to have Dad around. The kids can never get enough of him. What a guy! He babysat in the afternoon so Jared and I could go do a missionary prep class about the Book of Mormon - fun to present together - we've never really done that before. It was great to pull out my old B of M in Bulgarian and share some experiences from my mission that I haven't thought about for a while. I'm so grateful for the Book of Mormon.
Last night we had such a fun FHE. We made a "blessing box" and everyone wrote down things they're grateful for on slips of paper, then we read all our stuff to each other. We'll keep adding more stuff every day and hopefully fill the box to overflowing by Thanksgiving. The kids got really into it and we loved hearing all the stuff they came up with without any prompting from us. Ashton got a ton and didn't want to stop. Isaac did cute pictures to go with his things and came up with some very creative spelling to write them out. Eliza did pictures and then had us write her things. Here are some of the first things the kids put down:
Ashton: food (pizza), technology, cousins, grandparents
Isaac: cactus froots and floers (cactus fruits and flowers), montins (mountins), scul (school), cusins, Grame (grammie), Granfader (Grandfather)
Eliza: scriptures, shopping with my Mom, our beautiful names, my friends Grayce and Olivia

It was so fun to see their loves come out in what they wrote - and to see the things all the kids put - family being big on everyone's list. And interestingly enough, Ashton, Isaac, Eliza and I all independently put "colors." I do love colors so much. We had so much fun stuffing our box and feeling so grateful!

In other news, Eliza and the other Joy School kids as well as teachers are so excited that Camden is now in Joy School! We had so much fun talking about feelings and doing different facial expressions the first time he came to Joy School at our house. Here are a few of my favorites: (notice Eliza's not in the photos - she was the object lesson for the day - totally grumpy and offering a great example of how one person being grumpy can mess things up for everyone especially herself - she spent a fair amount of the lesson in time out)

Have a great week! Count your blessings!