Springs Preserve

Jake's cubscout den had a field trip to Springs Preserve. It basically shows you and tells you about all the different animals found here in Las Vegas. It also has the history of Las Vegas with trains and recreations of the land auction. It also has other environmental things to learn about. We all went as a family with Jake and his den and had a fun time.

This is a display that shows how far certain animals can jump.

I love these next action shots of the kids jumping to see which animal they match with.

Brandon riding the desert tortoise.

Obviously a picture under a giant butterfly.

Mammoth.

Brandon and another turtle.

Sitting on a huge snake.

This was the exhibit of the land auction. We got a little silly with the statues but it was fun.

First Day of School 2010

Ok so technically it was like the 4th day of school. I kept forgetting every morning in the choas of getting Emma out the door and Jake started at home to take their picture. Anyway, here are my cute kids on Thursday of the first week of school. :)

Jake is in 4th grade and started the school year out home schooling. That is why he isn't wearing Standard Student Attire. Jake just went back to public school 2 weeks ago.

Emma is in 6th grade this year which means she is in midde school. YIKES!!

Brandon has not started school but could not be left out. He does start school next year and is very excited about that.

Marysvale Trip with The Medleys

My family (The Medleys) all met in Marysvale, Utah the week before school started. It was so fun to get everyone together. The last time we all got together was 2 years ago. Brothers and sister, sister-in-laws and brother-in-laws. Aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents. We all stayed at my dad's RV park for 3 days. We did a lot in those 3 days.

We played Trivial Pursuit a lot while eating peanuts and m&m's which is a Medley family tradition. The kids went horseback riding. We went on a ride in the mountains for 4 hours and had a blast. While in the mountains we panned for gold in the stream, went on nature walks, ate treats and had rock tumbling contests which consists of throwing the biggest rock you can carry off the cliff and see whose goes the furthest. We had lots of yummy food to eat at the "The Garage" (the restaurant my dad owns). We did take a family picture but that will be posted later. There was also lots and lots of talking, and laughing.

Horseback Riding

Getting geared up for the ride in the mountains.

The kids playing in one of the streams. Emma, Jake, Rachel and Leah(cousins from Michigan) Emma's discovery
Chillin with dad in the mountainsPanning for gold with Grandpa MiloMe and my dad Rock throwing contest

View from the top

Matt, me, Marshall (my brother) and his wife Nadine, my dad, Kate(my sis-in-law)and Mark(my brother).

Me and my dirty but cute family.
It is always fun to get together with my family and always so sad to say goodbye. Until next time Medley family!! We love you!!

Shark Reef Adventure and then some

For an added surprise for Emma's birthday we all went to the Shark Reef. The kids have been wanting to go since we moved to Las Vegas. Emma and Jake won some coupons for the Shark Reef at the end of the school year so... off we went.

It was a pretty cool place . You could have your own personal narration throughout the whole thing with these little hand held devices. (not pictured). Anyway, I thought the jellyfish were the best part. Jake loved hanging out at the touch pool touching the stingrays. We finally had to tell him it was time to move on to see something else. Matt and Jake were the only ones in our family brave enough to touch the stingrays. I attempted it a few times but chickened out in the end. Emma and Brandon would having nothing to do with the stingrays.

Emma really liked the sea turtles. I thought the saw shark was pretty cool too. Matt's favorite part was walking through the water tunnel. I tried to ask Brandon what his favorite part was an he said "I liked the shark, um, turtle, um, the startfish, octupus and the lion fish." Apparently Brandon really enjoy the tour. I promise we took more pictures of the cool things we saw but most did not turn out.

We all had a good time at the Shark Reef. We were enjoying our family time so much that we decided to keep our adventure going. So we went to the M & M store on Las Vegas Blvd to watch the 3D movie only to be told it was not showing then. So we headed to the Coca-Cola store for fun just to check it out. Then we decided to take a tiny road trip to go check out the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. That was pretty neat. We will have to take another trip to Hoover Dam though to go to the Visitors Center. We didn't take any pictures of this because I didn't think of it and we were mostly just driving by everything because it was so hot outside.

Emma's turns 11

Emma turned 11 on August 4th. We had a nice quiet family party a few days before her birthday because Matt would be out of town on her actual birthday. She and I tried to make a cake that looked like a giant lipstick. We ran out of frosting so we had to make due. I still think it turned out okay. Emma opened a few gifts from her family and then other cards trickled in throughout the week from family members too far away to celebrate.

On her actual birthday we invited some friends and went $1 bowling. We always have fun when we go bowling but it is always more fun with friends. This time was no exception.

It is hard to believe my little girl is 11 years old and in 6th grade, which is middle school here in Las Vegas. Emma has always been a good girl. She was a happy, obedient child. I never had to put baby locks on anything. I would just tell her "no, no" and she would never get into again. She is still like that today. Happy and obedient. She has a kind heart and is always willing to help even without being asked. She is great with her little brothers. She has turned into a great babysitter. She is already being asked to babysit for people in our ward. I think that speaks volumes about Emma's character. Emma is a true blessing in our family. I can't wait to see what the future holds for this special young lady.

Introducing the talented....Emma and Jake

Emma and Jake performed in the Pioneer Day celebration here in Las Vegas. They both volunteered to be in the talent show. There was no coersion from me. Really. :)

This is Emma singing "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus.

Jake played a "Star Wars" medley on the piano.

Jake earns his Wolf Badge

Jake has been in cubscouts for 9 months now. In that 9 months he was wrestling for 4 of the 9 months. Since he was busy wrestling he was unable to attend his Wednesday night cubscout meetings. (In the meetings the cubscouts work on goals and pass of requirements towards their wolf badge.) So in an effort to catch up with what he missed, Jake has been working extra hard to pass off all his requirements to get his Wolf badge. Not only did he pass of his Wolf badge but he also passed of 50+ elective achievements to earn one gold arrow point and 4 silver arrow points.

Here is Jake receiving his award from the Cubscout Master.

This is Jake very carefully putting my wolf badge pin on.

This is me being very proud of my son, and Jake being very proud of himself.

Way to go Jake!!!!