Snow in VEGAS!

Once about every ten years, Vegas gets a snow day, and everyone goes NUTS! We woke up to snow and the kids were so excited! Definitely the first time any of them have seen snow here in town. I got them up early to play a bit - Miles sporting the flip flops made it an especially Vegas-esque moment. I told the kids the snow would definitely be gone when they came home from school (it wasn't cancelled, much to everyone's dismay) and so they put some snow in a zip lock bag. The NEXT day, full of sunshine and no snow left at our house, they cancelled school. I think everyone was feeling sad they missed a real snow day.  

Kid Quotes

Penelope says to Claire, “How many parent teeth do you have? I have mostly baby teeth still.” Claire didn’t even bat an eye. "I have mostly parent teeth," she said. 

We went out to eat and there was a huge line. I said, "Why is cafe Rio always so crowded?!" Penelope says, “WELL, it has won over 50 awards!!” 

I told the kids they could have a slumber party in the loft the first Sunday of Christmas break. Penelope said, "Summer party? Don’t you mean a winter party?!” 

Penelope and our friend Vivian's son Jackson play so well together.  While playing at Jackson's house, they got suitcases and went outside to the little playhouse like they were going on vacation.  But when I picked them up, Penelope said to me, “Miles and Claire kept bursting in on me and Jackson’s conversations. They just kept BURSTING!” They also teased them that they were on their honeymoon! :) 

Miles says to Penelope, "Your feet smell like stinky cheese that was eaten and then pooped out and then a skunk sprayed on it." Creative.  

Miles, while popping bubble wrap, says, “I think bubble wrap can solve all your problems.”  He said it was like a stress relief ... is my 9 year old is stressed?

Penelope and Ben named the ducks at Disneyland- with all that was going around to entertain them, the ducks were like the number one attraction. The names they chose for the ducks cracked me up - KEVIN, Spark, Penny and Jeff. 

Henry only wanted to ride certain rides over and over again at Disneyland. He said, “Mom, my heart wants to go on the Haunted Mansion!” How could we say no? 

After they made a good choice, I told Henry he was a nice boy and Penelope was a nice girl. Penelope said, "Soon, I’m gonna be a nice WOMAN." Oh brother. I asked her when that would happen, fearing she would say in a few years, but she said, "Maybe at 20." Phew. 

More Disney

Just some more cuteness from our Disneyland trip! I seriously want to go back and go when it is raining... Henry asks to go to Haunted Mansion EVERY DAY.

Disneyland 2019

A rainy, empty Disneyland was wonderful, despite our soggy ponchos and wet feet - day three brought back the sun and the crowds. I honestly preferred our rainy days. The kids did great - way better than I had expected with the weather.

Henry was tall enough to ride some of the big kid rides - he was above 40 inches! He rode Big Thunder Mountain and didn't love it... but he also got to go on Cars and he loved it! His biggest favs were Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Winnie the Pooh and Pirates, even though he was scared of the big drop off after the first time, he went on it again and wasn't as nervous.

Christmas 2018

We stayed in Vegas for Christmas this year and it was nice to be here in our new house. We hosted an Ugly Sweater Christmas party that kind of doubled as our house warming party too. We are loving the extra room to have friends and family over.

This and That - Catchin' Up

Lots going on around the Hillers... Club volleyball, school, new jobs, more house projects - the list goes on, with always something to keep us busy at this phase of life.

Matt and I both started new jobs on December 3 - how random is that? I am now the Chief Marketing Officer at Clark County Credit Union, a client I had when I first started at Ballard Communications in 2000... I had them as a client again when I came back to the PR firm in 2005 and have kept in touch with them over the years... so it's like coming full circle. I applied way back in August and man, their recruiter had me jumping through so many hoops... multiple video interviews, phone interviews, math and writing tests, personality profiles and then finally the interview with their 5 C-Level execs on one side of the table, and me on the other side - for two hours. Phew! I felt good about the interview (3 finalists made it to the last stage) but I would be ok if I didn't get it either.

So far, it's been a whole lot of changes... but good changes. It is interesting to see my name on the old files as I look for information now on their network.  It is a full-time position, so that is a change for me - I do seriously miss my Tuesday and Thursday home each week... like, big time. I was with Piercy Bowler Taylor & Kern as their Director of Marketing for 10 years and the amazing flex schedule they gave me was just what I needed at that time. But this opportunity was amazing - a chance to have a staff and a healthy marketing budget.  I am happy to be challenged and excited for work again.

Matt is now the Plant Controller with Lhoist, a mining company headquartered in Belgium but with huge operations in the States. He is part of the regional accounting/finance team and will mainly be working up at the plant North of us called Apex. They mine lime... which is apparently in everything, from food to fertilizer. The mine has enough lime to last for at least 200 more years, so that's some job security. Matt really likes it so far, and is learning a lot of information about mining and lime. He is already the king of random knowledge so this is exciting for him!

Claire is in Club Volleyball and loving it - I'm honestly jealous of how much she gets to play. I would have LOVED that at her age! She has one tournament a month and it's an all day affair.

These kids keep me on my toes - it's fun to watch them develop their personalities and sense of humor.

New shutters for part of the house - just the back side that gets a lot of sun. Someday we will hopefully do the rest of the house, but we have to take it in phases.

I painted the bannister black - another place to change the oak color that was everywhere in the house. I used a gel stain and it took a lot of steps... Matt was skeptical of the idea at first but he likes it, and I think it turned out great!

New family photos on the walls - I love it!