A Side of Mayo

Aloha!!!

2010-06-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

Scentsy Hawaii Trip!!!!
I earned another incentive trip with Scentsy to Hawaii for both me and Ben!!
It was fabulous!!!

The Pre-Hawaii Pedi!!!

Arriving at the Kona, HI airport!

Breakfast the next morning- Me, Dini and Jaime

Smallest Catholic Church in the World

Where they would make sacrifices for good surf

Dinner on the 1st night- fun party!!!

Ben went swimming with sea turtles!

Typical little Hawaiian town.

Walking on our way to Akaka Falls

Akaka Falls!

Entrance to the resort- it's even in the Sister Frisky font!!!

Dinner on the 2nd night- yummy food and even yummier dessert!

Drink dispenser

Love both of these pictures!

Entrance to the dinner

Went through this town on our waterfall tour.

1st of about 4 waterfalls we saw

Our tour guide- Kalia- he was a combination of Superman, McGyver, Jack Bauer and Indiana Jones- he told us story after story of things that he had done/seen and the dude is amazing. He'll be in a future episode in one of Jeff Corwin's shows where they cooked their food over this exact fire pit!!

This was the ONLY pineapple we saw (except for the ones we ate at breakfast)

Taro fields- our tour guide was also on an episode of "Dirty Jobs" and I guess Mike Rowe got so messed up doing this that they had to cut the episode short cuz he couldn't move his arms.

At the end of the waterfalls we got to play in the watering hole- I jumped in 3 times!!!

Each day there was a room drop from Scentsy!

WOWZA!!! Look at those bathing beauties!!

For those of you who really know me know that I hate swimming in water with other things so it was a really big deal to get the snorkeling gear on and swim out in the ocean- I did get far enough out to see a sea turtle!!!

Kaloko-Honokohau National Park.

Fun store- Donkey Balls- great chocolate!!!

Hale o Keawe (wooden images) stand watch over the reconstruction of a temple and mausoleum which housed the bones of 23 ali'i. Offerings were placed on the tower.

According to legend, Queen Ka'ahumanu, favorite wife of Kamehameha I, once swam a great distance to the pu'uhonua after a quarrel with her husband. She hid under this stone but the barking of her dog gave her away. Her husband soon found her and they soon made up.

This is the original stone used in the game Konane.

Watching a local make a Kiki

Lava Tube

Front of the hotel

Last night of dinner- right before heading down Ben got something in his eye so he didn't stick around- he went to bed (it was even his birthday for pete's sake) :(

Me and Whitney Luna

Me and Casie Stevenson

They had a luau and program for us- it was called "The Gathering of the 4 Kings"
This is the king of Samoa

The King of Hawaii

The King of New Zealand

Collete, Jaime, Heidi, Me, Whitney and I don't know who the last girl is

Orville, Heidi and me (they're like family.... Love them!!!!)

Me and Nicole Ferland

Our last room drop- i'm so glad we didn't buy a photo album cuz we got one for free!!!

The Kona airport- everything is outside, no windows or anything, very open!!!

You have to walk to your plane. I had a presidential moment at the top where I turned around and waved at everyone- now I know how he feels!

Scentsy Regional Meeting

2010-06-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

Scentsy sent a couple of its field managers out to TX to do some training! It was about a week before Hawaii and it came at the perfect time!! I got totally fired up!!!

They had all the SuperStar Directors come to the front and asked each one of us in 1 word to describe Scentsy and I said "Excitement" Kinda cool to be honored like that.

There were about 100 people who registered for the event and it was free which was awesome of Scentsy to offer us!!!

Hangin' with the cousins!

2010-06-28T09:24:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Mayo along with Aunt Lara and 3 of her 4 girls took a road trip to our neck of the woods to hang out. They took our kids with them to East Texas then down to Houston for a week while we were in Hawaii.
We of course had to take them to our favorite place- Rudy's!!!

Being silly at Walmart (another favorite place!) the girls needed Water Socks for Schlitterbaun so they wouldn't hurt their feet walking around the park.
The kids all had a great time playing!!!

The Next Nadia? or Mary Lou?

2010-06-28T09:20:00.001-07:00

Could she be?
That's what we're hoping... She has been taking Gymnastics for over a year and loves it- if she keeps going the way she is she will start to compete in the fall!!! Her coach is amazing and I love the atmosphere of the gym!!

End of School Class Party

2010-06-28T09:13:00.001-07:00

Colben's wild and crazy class!!
It was very bittersweet on the last day of school for many reasons. Some of them being his classmates, his teacher and the school nurse who we have become very good friends with- she is going to a brand new school to help open it!

Ice Cream Party- Colben would NEVER act like these girls (ha ha ha)

Colben and Mrs. Bock- LOVE HER!!!

Not sure how Colben feels about her.. she ran up to him and asked if I would take a picture of them!

Nurse Beck: We love you and will miss you A LOT!!!!

The Next Federer??

2010-06-28T09:11:00.001-07:00

Could he be??

It's so fun to watch him practice- he's so good and has such great form and follow through- his coaches are really impressed and keep moving him up to more advanced classes!!
We've got him in a bunch of camps this summer!!

Colben the Cub Scout

2010-06-28T09:03:00.001-07:00

Colben the Cub Scout!!!

This was his first day to go to a den meeting. A week later we had our Pinewood Derby but I was out of town and I don't think Ben took pictures :(

Our first Pack Meeting- Colben earned his Bobcat

Moms' get a special pin too (it's nice that they recognize the fact that we're the ones the do the majority of the helping!!)

Bulldog Bash

2010-06-28T08:34:00.000-07:00

Bulldog Bash
I helped out this year at one of the booths and it was so fun!!
Mine was an obstacle course.

FC Dallas Games

2010-06-28T05:56:00.000-07:00

FC Dallas Soccer
We bought a package for the season where we can pick several games to attend. These are 2 of the games we've been to so far. For sure we're going to the game against Real Salt Lake!!

Matt & Cherise's Birthday Party

2010-04-15T19:07:00.001-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT & CHERISE!
Our good friends in the ward combined their birthdays and had a big party at their house. They had Rock Band, Dance Dance Revolution and board games to play and lots of yummy food!!
Everyone had such a great time!!

I'm sure they're singing a N'Sync song (oh wait, if they were I should be in there too!)

Me and Nellie- she's such a goof, I had no idea she made this silly face!!

shake what your mamma gave you!!!

Some of the ladies headed upstairs to play a little DDR!!!

The beginnings of the best ward band ever!!!

Love me some Danielle!!

The band went through some changes and growth.

And that included adding the Bishop on the bass!!

Evan the wannabe Hair Band guitarist--- he does have a groopie though so that's pretty cool!!

Did I mention that we had such a fun time playing Rock Band that Ben brought it home a couple of days later and our band name is the Mayo Mulisha!! We ROCK!!!
(Colben on drums, Ben on Bass and Alexis the lead singer, Danika on occasion dances)

The Circus

2010-04-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

The Circus came to town!!!!

The first thing Danika wanted to do was ride on the camel!! The girl has no fear!!

Colben being Colben; all he wanted to do was go down the bouncy slide!

Before the show started.. we could basically sit anywhere we wanted so we thought these would be great seats!

He's blindfolded people- now that's real talent!!

This guy was so flexible it hurt just watching!

He was able to put his whole body in this box. He also was able to put his whole body through a tennis racket (without the strings of course!)

I thought this was going to be A LOT cooler than it was. Basically the guy rode the bike across the wire (there was NO way the bike was going to fall off or anything) and some lady sat on a bar.

It got a little better....

He then did some tweaks to his bike and started swinging from side to side until he went completely around... that got a smile from Colben.

The flying trapeze... this was actually kinda cool!

Let me preface this by saying I have mixed feelings about the whole "animal abuse" issue. I did feel bad for the elephants but do I think they're being abused?? I don't know.

I guess for now i'll just have to take the stance of it being entertainment for my children.

Danika really wanted to ride the little horsies so we did that on the way out.
As we left the fair grounds there were a bunch of people with their picket signs complaining that those that paid for the circus were actually financially helping the abuse of circus animals. The kids saw this and the ride home was spent by me trying to explain how some people feel that animals shouldn't be in circus's and that they're sometimes abused....The whole concept was completely lost on them and i'm okay with that!!!

Easter Sunday

2010-04-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

EASTER

Ben bought goodies for the kids and their grandparents had sent them cute cards.

Danika wanted her egg hunt to be inside and Colben wanted his to be outside so while I hid the eggs for Danika inside Ben went outside and hid Colben's eggs.

Ben got really creative!!

After the hunts the kids opened their packages and it was a chocolate covered waffle cone with yummy chocolate eggs inside- it looked like a nest!!

Our Love for all things Motorcycles!!

2010-04-11T17:47:00.001-07:00

SUPERCROSS!!!!

The day before the race I took the kids to a bike dealership in town to get some riders' autographs and we brought along some stuff to have them sign that we've had in our game room. We had a fender from Ryan Dungey so he signed that along with posters (that he personalized with the kids' names- even Danika!) we had him sign a Rockstar Energy drink too!! He has offically replaced Ricky Carmichael as my favorite rider- he's soooo nice and is a great rider!
He won the race the next night too!!

Ryan Sipes

Blake Baggett- he won the Lites class the next night so kinda cool that the kids got their picture taken with him and autograph!!

We invited our great friends, the Ryters, to come with us so I had to get a pic of the boys watching the race!!

This was the first race at the new Cowboy Stadium so a lot of the riders had on Cowboy jerseys. This is Ryan Villapoto coming out as they announced him.

We had some great hook-ups that allowed us to go into the pits after the race so we braved the weather (it was a blizzard) and walked around. We brought a front number plate from Ivan Tedesco's bike that we got last year and we were lucky enough to catch him and get it autographed. This is Colben in front of his bike.

Colben and Ivan- he's a lot shorter than I though he would be.

Dallas Aquarium

2010-04-11T17:41:00.001-07:00

Fun at the Dallas Aquarium!!

Right after this picture a bird pooped on D's head, we got it all cleaned up but it sure was gross!

Shark Tank!!

I braved the crowds and went during our Spring Break and i'm so glad I don't have to go again for about a year!!!

Fun Run!!

2010-04-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

FUN RUN!!

Colben, Dillon and Keeley before the run!!

There were so many kids coming through the volunteers had to just start making tally marks anywhere they could on the shirt.

All in all Colben ran about 40 laps- he actually ran probably 30 of those laps and walked maybe 5 of them and the rest were either done by dancing, congo line or singing.

Thank you to all those who pledged Colben on his laps!!!

Big D turns 4!!!

2010-04-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

DANIKA TURNS 4!!!!

She got her ears pierced about 6 weeks before so we got her lots of new earring to wear!!

Barbie Socks!!!

This cake took us about 3 weeks to eat it was sooo big!!!

Stuff from February

2010-04-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

I went to Florida for a Scentsy World Tour Stop and stayed at a Beach House. It literally was right in front of the beach. The room I slept in was in the front of the house so I could hear the waves all night!!

That's not to say it was warm but it was still beautiful!!

Tallahassee World Tour Stop. Me and some of my good friends!

Sorry for the blurry picture. These are my first of many Florida consultants. Caron who is in the purple shirt is growing her business down there and i'm really excited for her!!

Puerta Vallarta, Mexico

2010-01-17T15:51:00.001-08:00

Puerta Vallarta,
Mexico!!!
Leadership Retreat for Scentsy Jan. 10-14th 2010

On the plane headed to Mexico

I can see the ocean!!!

This is what I got to wake up to every morning. I miss the waves!!

The first of many "fruity" drinks during the retreat- of course "virgin"!!!

First time ever i've paid to use the bathroom- totally worth it though cuz they were clean!

Beach party!!!

My friend, Joy, that I met there- we showed up the first morning to the meeting wearing the same shirt!!

Hoping our glares of death would keep the "accosters" away while we shopped in the city- didn't really work that well so we just ignored them and hoped they'd go away!

Dinner with some of my favorite people. Jaime, Orville and Heidi Thompson (owners of Scentsy) and Amanda!!!

Luckily I got one good pic of me before realizing that I don't do very well on boats in open water!! I paid $60 to watch wales for about 15 min. throw up, then take a nap!!

Sunset on the last night there. So pretty!!

Silly pic of me, Jaime and Amanda!

Me, Heidi, Amanda and Jaime!!

The Scentsy Family!!

Me and Tanya Roylance!!

Jaime, me and Adie Mitchell lookin' swassy!

Every time I see Adie- we have to take a Prom picture!!

Me and Colette- she and another lady founded Scentsy!

Me and my girl, Amanda!

This is what I ate for my last breakfast there- oh how I miss buffet food- show up, eat, leave!!

Goodbye Mexico!!!

New Moon!!

2009-12-06T20:47:00.001-08:00

Before the movie we had a "going away" dinner for our good friend Melanie. She and her family moved to UT so we had a little get together to say goodbye!!

Me and Michelle- I miss v.t-ing with you!!!

Lisa, Patti, Melanie and Michelle

Me and my Scentsy Sista, Staci at the movie- we got there about 3 hours early and saved about 15 seats. I'm sure I ticked a bunch of people off but darn it- you should have gotten there earlier!

Danielle finally showed up and we had some serious fun with our camera's- heck, we had like 2 hours to kill so we walked around taking pictures of silly stuff!

She didn't want any of her popcorn flavoring to go to waste!!

Danielle boosting me up closer to my Edward!

Us rubbing it in that we got tickets to a SOLD OUT show baby!!!

RIP M.J.

Give me a break- it was midnight for heaven's sake!!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-06T20:15:00.001-08:00

This is the place where we eat every year and it's awesome. Buffet style so everyone is happy and there's no prep work or clean up involved!!!

After eating we drove over to the Great Wolf Lodge and walked around. The place was all decorated so we spent some time there walking around and playing.

My birthday cookie!!!

Good bye Honda!!

2009-12-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

HELLO TAHOE!!!

Date Night!

2009-12-06T19:21:00.000-08:00

Throw back to the 80's!!!
A group of us got together and decided to dress up from the 80's and go roller skating. It was such a fun night!!

Randy gettin' a little squeezed!!!

Me and Emily at dinner. My hair was sooooo flammable!!!

Becca and Randy

Me and Ben- he didn't dress up (party pooper) but I sported my New Kids on the Block shirt, a waisted belt and put my hair up in a side ponytail and ratted the heck out of it!

Carrie totally rocked the "80's hair band groupie" look!!

Poor Becca needed a little help!!

All of us at dinner. We got the strangest looks from people and I'm not sure why!

Funny story (okay, not really) just after I took this picture he totally ran right into a little boy- you can kind of see him right in back of John. We all felt soooo bad!!

We are just lookin' so SWASSY!!!!

Lovin' the roller blading!!!

Emily helping Becca out in the "little kid" area!!

This cute little girl hung out with us so I skated with her for a while. She ended up totally being able to do all these tricks and was such an awesome roller skater (those are her personal pink skates!).

My Birthday

2009-12-06T18:40:00.000-08:00

My 29th Birthday!!!
(Okay so maybe add a couple more years onto that but we all get the picture right?)
So this year my b-day fell on Thanksgiving which was nice because the whole family was together for the whole day!!!
What wasn't nice was that I had a killer sinus infection the whole holiday break but we still managed to get out to Furr's and eat our traditional Thanksgiving Lunch!
I got totally spoiled with a new phone and camera so the following pictures are of the kids trying out the new camera!!

I got the "This Is It" soundtrack (Michael Jackson) and the kids wanted to dance for us.

Colben took this picture and I think it's the cutest thing in the world of big D

What a handsome boy he is!!!

Fun Stuff in October

2009-11-28T19:55:00.000-08:00

So the month of October started out with Colben's School Fall Festival. The kids had a lot of fun and the school really out-did itself this year!

Colben got his hair spray painted- 2 colors!!

Danika fishing for prizes!

On our way out- kids are happy!!

Ward Trunk-or-Treat!!!

Seriously- could they be a cuter "Super Hero" couple?

It was raining outside so all the parents went to different rooms in the church and the kids got to walk around (some more than once!) and trick or treat.

Pumpkin carving contest- we don't joke around here- those are power tools you see there!

No one was going to carve this one up!!

My good friends- the Greens- they dressed up like eachother- John even shaved his legs!!

The night before Halloween (don't mind the date on the picture) we got together with some friends and walked around downtown McKinney- they have a Ghost Tour there and it's so fun.

Me and Becca!!

Collin County Prison

Actual gate they used wayyy back when. Behind is where they would hang the prisoners.

Okay so maybe some of us need some "kissy face" practice!

Some random Dinosaur with children's shoes in its mouth!

Long Story but a very funny one!!!

Halloween!!!
Danika got really sick the day before so she stayed in the car with Ben while we hurried and ate inside our friend's house. We pushed her in the stroller away from everyone while they all trick- or-treated but halfway through she told us she felt better and wanted to go out and walk around and she was a total trouper!

I swear- I have this exact same picture from last year- I don't know why I have to take the "obligitory old house" picture but I do.

Danika and Jonah- when she felt better and was walking around he stayed with her the whole time. He's so sweet!

This guy's house was totally decked out. I thought it would scare big D but she loved it!

Family Pictures

2009-11-01T14:23:00.000-08:00

Mayo Family- 2009
Colben=7 1/2 years old
Danika=3 1/2 years old
Ben and Alexis= 10 years of marriage

Scentsy Incentive Trip- Alaskan Cruise

2009-10-04T08:23:00.001-07:00

I earned a trip from Scentsy on an Alaskan Cruise and it was so fun!!!

About the board the ship.

Hallway leading to the Queen's Lounge

Mandatory Lifeboat Drill

Waiting to get off the ship in Jeneau

Tourist trap in Juneau.

Russian Orthodox Church.

Tram ride up the top of Juneau

Eagle that had been shot in the face.

Salmon Bake in Juneau. They had a Malamute there and it brought back memories of Nanuq and Jake- RIP good doggies!!

Beautiful waterfall at the Salmon Bake.Me, Ashley and Kelly.

Me and Heidi at the Salmon Bake.

Mayo's and the Thompson's.

Me and Heidi in front of the Hubbard Glacier.

The glacier was HUGE!!!

Ben apparently didn't get the "blue coat" memo!

This was the only fun towel character we got the whole week!

Heidi putting on her uni for our excursion- they were silly looking but man once we were out on the raft- I was so grateful for them!

We made these look good!!!

Downtown Sitka.

Me and my really good friend, Adie- I love her guts!!!

Pulling into Ketchican.

The sun was just peeking over the mountain creating such a peaceful look over the town.

Putting on my gear to go ziplining through the rainforest!!

looking good Ben!

Do these helmets make our heads look big??

The longest zipline- it went all the way to the bridge you see in the distance.

Ben on his way!!

Walking across the many bridges. We had fun jumping up and down and swinging back and forth.

I know- kinda an ugly shot but I just wanted to show you all how much fun I was having!!

The gift shop at the end of our excursion.

Fun little shops in Ketchican.

Leaving Ketchican.

Pool on the Lido Deck.

Clock in the middle of the ship.

Me and Heidi at the Scentsy fiesta- gettin' a little crazy with our Maraches!!

Playing a very intense game of checkers with Orville- he beat me but I ended up beating everyone in a rousing game of Parcheese.

They had a wonderful dessert bar and the decorations were all made out of fruits/vegetables and chocolate.

Rolling up to Victoria, British Columbia.

We took a bus tour of the city highlights and the homes were unbelievable!!! I could have just taken pictures of the homes and been happy!

We ended up at Craigdurroch Castle.

When you walk in they tell you to look up and this is what you see!

This is where they would entertain guests.

Billiards Room- the table was extra large and the balls were made out of ivory.

Evening wear. So pretty!

Shout outs to my momma- the best piano teacher out there!!

This is from the top looking down to the bottom.

I believe this is their capitol building.

Amazing hotel- The Empress.

They had these eagles everywhere all decorated differently.

My friend Adie and I have a long standing joke about taking Prom pictures with eachother (cheesy prom pictures from like the 80's) We decided to get a little crazy and she lifted me up- we were laughing so hard cuz everyone was looking at us like we were crazy (which we are!)

This was taken as we were about to get back on the ship for the last time. We ported the next morning in Seattle.

As we were flying home I happened to look out the window and saw this. Is is a mountain or a dormant volcano???

Utah Trip- Aug. 8th-16th

2009-10-03T19:23:00.000-07:00

I attended Scentsy Convention this year in Salt Lake City, UT and flew out a couple of days early to hang out with family and friends. While at the baseball game I lost my camera and to this day I get emotional over it because of what pictures were on there (walking across Lake Lewisville Bridge which you can't do anymore, dinner with friends etc.) So these are from a disc that Nicki made for me so thank you!!

The kids had so much fun playing with cousins and aunts and grandparents while I was gone.

Love this picture of both kids up in the tree!

On the way to Richfield to see Aunt Andi!

This was taken literally 5 min. later!

Feeding the horses!

Balancing bean bags!

All the grandkids in front of the Pioneer Relic Hall

Not sure what this building is but it looks like Colben is holding up a picture of our ancestors in front of the building??

Smokey the Bear- our Fav!!

My kids are so freakin' cute!!

Does this vest make me look small??

Colben makes orange look good!!

Sweet face paint!!

Sundance!!

Love this picture of Colben and Grandpa Bauer.

They are totally cheesin' it!

Roastin' hot dogs at Chan and Danielle's house!

Playing in Tatum's favorite chair!

I can't believe how old he looks in this picture!

Jedi Warrior!

Dressing up in Chan's camo!

Nicki and Danika.

Nicki and Colben.

Last day in UT. Went to Westridge to play around and Colben had this flying disc and it landed on the top of the pavillion so I climbed up there and got it!

(I am not going to post the pictures of me climbing on top of the garbage can, swinging my big ol' butt onto the roof and then repeating it to get back down! Trust me, not a pretty site so you should be thanking me!)

Tatum loved playing with Colben.

Rolling down the hills together!

Right before leaving- Bauer Grandparents and their 3 amazing Grandchildren!

Me and Emily!!

2009-10-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

Reunion!!!

My friend Emily was in town visiting her sister so we met up at Sam Moon's and shopped and giggled. We went next store to eat lunch and chatted for 2 hours and had such a great time catching up.

Ft. Worth Zoo

2009-10-03T12:07:00.001-07:00

Ft. Worth Zoo

Denton County Fair

2009-10-03T11:57:00.000-07:00

Denton County Fair!!!

It was so fun to go to the fair and have some fun!!

Back to School night/1st day of school!!

2009-10-03T11:14:00.000-07:00

Back to School night!!

He got the best 2nd grade teacher EVER- Mrs. Bock is who I really wanted him to get so I was thrilled when I found out she was his teacher!

Sorry- for some reason my computer won't let me rotate the pictures!
First Day of School!!!

4th of July

2009-08-04T12:50:00.001-07:00

We drove to Addison to watch the fireworks on the 3rd of July. As we were sitting in traffic there were fly-overs. Kinda cool!

Kids fell asleep on the way there- we were in a huge traffic line just to get off the freeway!

waiting for all the fun to begin!!!

I gave the fireworks show a thumb up!!

The next night we went across the street to our friends' house and ate great BBQ, played in the pool and had some fireworks of our own!!

Ben throwing those popper things at Colben's feet!

Danika's swimming class

2009-08-04T12:46:00.000-07:00

Danika's 1st swim lesson!!!

You could win free Scentsy!!!

2009-07-27T17:05:00.000-07:00

What is your favorite thing about Scentsy???

Tell me what your favorite thing about Scentsy is and what your favorite scent is and I will enter your name into a drawing on August 7th and you could win a bar of your favorite scent!!!

Hurry up and you could win!!!

Thanksgiving in July- Scentsy

2009-07-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

Happy 5th Anniversary Scentsy!!!

To show their appreciation for all that our hostesses have contributed to Scentsy, Orville and Heidi are launching Scentsy's "Thanksgiving in July" promotion.

Here's what you need to do to participate in Scentsy's promotion:
Host a party during the month of July that does at least $500 and your name will go into a drawing to win a $500 Visa gift card!!!
SO, by hosting a minimum $500 party in July you will receive 3 half price items, 15% of your party total in free Scentsy products- and a CHANCE TO WIN $500!
The drawing will be held on August 3rd.

Contact me to book your party today!!!!
(this can be either a home, basket or catalog party!!!)
alexismayo@yahoo.com
www.getscentsified.com

Scentsy Incentive Trip to Banff

2009-06-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

Awesome trip to Canada!!!
I earned a great trip to Banff, Canada with Scentsy and I actually earned enough points for Ben to come too!
His cousin (my first recruit) Jaime also earned the trip so she was our 3rd wheel but the 3 of us had so much fun together!!
(I purposefully did the pics small so if you want to see them larger, just click on it)

Arriving in Calgary- we then loaded onto really nice buses that took us to Banff (abt. 2 hour drive)

Where a lot of the events from the Winter Olympics '88 took place.

We're finally here!!

We had a semi-formal dinner that night and of course we had to get the picture with the Mounties!!

Is this awesome or what?

Jaime and me.

Me and Ben

The hotel reminded me of Hogwarts.

Totally made you feel like you were in a castle.

This picture is to show you where our "ghetto" room was- it was the bottom left window. Our whole room was probably the same size as my whole kitchen.
We didn't want to complain because it was free!

Totally LOVE this picture- looking out the backside of the hotel.

Looking down Main St. where all the fun shopping is!

Castle Mountain.

How beautiful is this????

Me in front of "Crow Glacier"

There used to be one more "finger" under the two that are still there.

Showing the different colors in the water.

Ben and I actually saw some of this glacier fall-our tour guide was amazed we saw it happen. He said it's really rare.

The Wailing Wall

Getting on a big motorized machine that would take us out onto a glacier.

We had just come down that path- felt like rock crawling in Moab!

Me and Ben standing on a glacier!

Ben and the Monster Machine!!

Me and Ashley Knight

Painful story: I wasn't watching where I was standing to get the pic taken and my left foot totally went right into a hole of water. It hurt so bad my first instinct was to cry- but not before trying to smile for the picture- When we got back to the souvenir shop I had to buy $8 Canada socks that I'll never wear again!!

The 2nd brown bear we saw.

The 3rd bear!

The most amazing sight!!

They have these really cool overpasses just for animals- it's cut down on roadkill by 95%

Dinner at Boston Pizza- it was sooo good!

Downtown Banff

Cave & Basin- The birthplace of Canada's national park system.
(Man, it stunk!!)

Banff Hot Springs Bathing Pool- it was popular back in the day but people wanted something hotter to soak in so they had to go higher up the mountain.

Warm mineral spring that is home to the Banff Spring Snail which is endangered. It's no larger than an orange seed.

Ben goofing off in the museum. Doesn't he just fit in?

Ben and his new BMF (Best Male Friend)

Inside a mall in Banff- in each corner is a skier!!!

Old School skis

Newer skis

Goofin' with Jaime

We had a Western Night complete with a BBQ, fire pit and dancing. I wore my boots, a plaid shirt and my hair in braids!! It was really fun.
This is Amanda who I met while shopping and we became super good friends!

Me and Lyndsee Bates.

Casie, me and Adie

Ben about to chow down on some grub!!

Right in the middle of dinner a bunch of rowdy outlaws came bustin' in and took our President hostage- a fight ensued and the good guys won--- whew!!

One of the bad guys even tried hiding behind a lady at our table- he even tried switching hats with her.

What a bunch of crazies!!

Me & Ben with Orville & Heidi Thompson- they are amazing people!

Me with Collette Gunnell (one of the founders of Scentsy) and Angie Williams- we got to be really good friends by the end of the trip!!

Me and my softball buddy, Sherrie Gibson!

Trying to do kissey faces.

See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil!

A really cool waterfall Ben discovered.

On our way from Banff back to Calgary we stopped at Nakota Lodge for lunch- they had some neat animals outside you could get pics with.

The view outside our hotel in Calgary- it was a lot nicer than our view in Banff!

Downtown Calgary- it was a really clean, fun city!

The front of our hotel in Calgary.

Our last night. Me, Adie, Amanda and Jaime!!

We had a 5 course meal and this was served right in the middle- I guess it's your "cleanse your palate" course?
A guy actually sat down the night before and made these using a drummel.
I really wanted to take it home with me!!

Me and Ben!
(It was actually his b-day so I hope he had a great day)

Rockin' it with Scentsy!!!

2009-06-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

There is going to be an awesome hostess special for those parties that are held in July. I wish I could tell you what the promotion is going to be but I won't know until the 1st.
I'm currently filling up my calendar with parties and I wanted you all to know about this amazing opportunity so don't miss out and book your party NOW!!! Trust me, you will want to have your Scentsy party during July.
Scentsy is doing this in honor of their first party being held in July of 2004 and during the whole month they have been doing special offers such as putting Scentsy Celebration tickets in random orders that are good for Scentsy products!!!
200 Green tickets valued at $50
100 Purple tickets valued at $100
50 Gold tickets valued at $200
(total product giveaway of $30,000!!!)
Online, party and customer orders all apply so get your order in now and you might get one of these tickets- contact me if you get one!!!
If you would like to sign up to become a consultant the tickets can be used towards the purchase of your starter kit. ($99 value)

Contact me ASAP to book your July party!!!

NYC- June 5th-8th

2009-06-21T18:47:00.001-07:00

NEW YORK!!!
Ben had a work event here so I tagged along to help. We worked all day Saturday but we managed to have 2 days to play. Here is my huge collage of pictures.
Sorry it's sooo long but I took a ton of pics and wanted to share the best ones!!

I just noticed that there are a couple of pics that are on here twice- I don't know how to take them off and I don't know why they downloaded more than once... Sorry!

Last day of 1st Grade- June 4th 2009

2009-06-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

Colben's last day of school!!!

It was "Hawaiian Day"

His teacher moved rooms so when we went to take pics in his room, it was completely bare so we went to where Ms. Kelch's new room was and took pics there.

Colben and JJ

Us and Nurse Beck.

Colben and his Principal- he got really sick right before school started and wasn't able to "open" the school- he shocked everyone and got better quicker than expected and was able to come back for the last month of school.

Danika really likes him too!

Outside the school

Yeah, he's totally throwing the longhorn sign!!!

Women's College World Series- Year 2

2009-06-21T18:31:00.001-07:00

Florida vs Washington

My seats were closer to Florida so that's why I have no team pics of Washington.

Florida's Star Pitcher

Couldn't think of a better place to be!!

After the last pitch to win the game for Washington- their pitcher is from Canada and pitched for the Canadian Olympic team- they totally deserved to win!!

Big sign outside to show the brackets- I have a shirt on that says "Got Diamonds?"

I was standing with some other girls and they offered to take my picture with a championship shirt that they had bought.
See ya next year OKC!!!

Passing the torch

2009-06-21T18:23:00.001-07:00

With all the softball I was watching on TV we decided to get out Colben's baseball stuff out and play around. Danika liked it enough that we bought her a pink mitt that lights up when she catches a ball.

After a short lesson on how to stand she took to it like a pro. Think I have a future shortstop on my hands and I couldn't be prouder!

Colben wanted in on all the fun!

VideoPlus Spring Fling Party-May

2009-06-21T18:19:00.001-07:00

VideoPlus had their annual Spring Fling party and it was so fun. The kids loved the bounce house and crafts. It was raining so there wasn't any outdoor activities but we still had a great time.

We even played Bingo- Danika loved this game!

Colben won the candy jar for being the closest guess to how many were in there!

Ben showing off his football skills

Field Day- May 2009

2009-06-21T18:08:00.001-07:00

Stephens Elementary Field Day!

Colben throwing balls at the dunk tank!

Colben, Ms. Kelch and JJ

Some of the games involved water and some didn't- this one definitely did!!

I was in charge of this game. They had to scoop up "doggy pooh" out of a bucket (brown rocks) and run around the obstacles without dropping the pooh then drop it in the bucket and run back and give the scooper to the next person.

Classmates.

After changing into dry clothes they went outside and had lunch.

He made such good friends in his class- I hope he can be in the same class next year!

They realized they could become Superheroes with their towels so we spent the next 15 min. tying and re-tying their towels around their necks so they could go beat the bad guys.

The hallway leading outside to all the fun!!

Tornadoes Soccer- Spring 2009

2009-06-21T18:03:00.001-07:00

Last game of the season.

Colben getting his trophy, they keep getting cooler and cooler every season!

Colben and Coach Doug!

The Team!! For some reason, Colben had the Coach hold his trophy on his head!

Team huddle for the last time
(at least until the fall)

Crazy Texas Rain-May 2009

2009-06-21T17:53:00.001-07:00

Gotta love the Texas weather.

This is driving towards our street from the windshield. Cloud formation was awesome.

All the houses on the opposite side of the street got so much more water in their yards than we did. This house is right across the street.

This is how our house looked. I'm so glad we have ditches!!

At the end of the cul-de-sac. All the water flowed down into the street and the yard of the last house. We actually looked at this house to buy and i'm so glad we didn't!!

Scentsy Spring Bazaar!!

2009-06-21T17:46:00.001-07:00

I did a Spring Bazaar at a Senior Living Center in Lewisville and was a little worried about how it would go but I ended up doing awesome and even had a lady selling jewelry come over and ask for some material about the business because she saw how busy my table was and wanted to know more about Scentsy!!

I had a lady buy the green, square one and then bought the stand it was displayed on because she liked it so much!!

Loving the new brochures!!

Supercross SLC

2009-04-27T09:31:00.001-07:00

Ben's VIP Supercross Experience!!

Ben had the awesome opportunity to go to SLC and get the royal treatment at Supercross!!!
He has some great friends in the motocross industry who hooked him up big time!!
He was able to do lots of cool things and meet some cool people
(not to mention kickin' Kenny Bartram's butt in raquetball!!)
Thanks to all his buddies for makin' it happen- Ben had such a great time!!

Hill climbing bike

Ben went to a party Thursday night at Ogio and they built a track outside for some electric mini bikes.

Coy Gibb- who owns the Gibb's Racing Team. 3rd from the left is Jeremy Albrecht who used to be James Stewart's mechanic. He is now the team manager for Gibb's Racing.

Ben got to go out on the track and take some pics. They had the track covered during the day because of the rain, otherwise he could have walked the track.

He got to watch the Jagermeister Freestyle Team practice.

Kenny Bartram and Mike Metzger- Ben is now BFF's with Kenny- he played raquetball with him Friday morning and kicked his trash!!

Ryan Dungey

Sat. afternoon practice

Chad Reed

James Stewart

Ben and Andy Bell- he's on Nitro Circus with Travis Pastrana and a totally funny dude.

Ben was given a Monster helmet and was walked over to Ryan Villopoto's line and had him sign it without having to stand in his long line.

Chad Reed

View from the box seats.

View from the other side of the box. Looking down into the "pit" area. His friend owns the company that sets up certain aspects of Monster Energy's tent/display.

Good ol' SLC

Opening Ceremonies

Birthday Dinner

2009-04-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

I asked Colben what he wanted for dinner on his birthday and he said "Spaghetti"
We had been at the Arts Festival and were very tired. His crown on his head is from school!

This is what was left over from his b-day party so we just put more candles on it and sang to him!

I wonder what he wished for????

Ft. Worth Arts Festival

2009-04-24T17:40:00.001-07:00

We headed into Ft. Worth to see the Arts Festival. We've never been into the city before and it's a really cool place. Lots of really cool architecture on the buildings.

These were really cool yard decorations, the wind was blowing a little bit and the colored glass would spin around- it was so pretty!!

This looked so real I don't know why you would want that on your coffee table. They also had plates that had snakes on it. I guess it would make for a funny April Fool's Day gag or for Halloween but other than that I wouldn't want it in my house.

Walking down one of the streets was hard because of all the wind.

I stood in line, holding Danika for over 30 min. to get this kettle corn... But it was worth it!!!

Walking around Shady Shores

2009-04-24T17:24:00.000-07:00

Nicki took the kids on a walk through some of Shady Shores finest attractions!!

Our Town Hall

Some of our back roads
Down to the local lake.

Looking at these pictures makes me love Shady Shores even more- it really is a wonderful place to raise our kids.

Colben's B-day- the b-day party!!

2009-04-24T16:58:00.001-07:00

Going Bonkers!!!
That saying could be mean 2 things: Where we had his party and what his mother was feeling!!
It was complete madness in the building with so many parents and children running around!! I now know not to have his b-day EVER again on a Sat. afternoon!!

The boys got to draw on the table cloth!

Colben, Dillon, Eric and Jacob

Yeah, he lives in TX!! (Go Longhorns!!)

Danika and her Grandpa Bauer

Aunt Nicki and Big D!!

Me and my b-day boy- Ben was in Orlando but got home that night. Colben's actual b-day was the following day so he was at least home for that!!

He thought his cake was sooo cool!

Dillon gave him really cool Hot Wheels that change color in water. Eric and Jacob gave him walkie talkies that we are still playing with around the house!

Dinner at El Guapos-Day 2

2009-04-24T16:49:00.000-07:00

Our Favorite Mexican Restaurant!!

My dad loves this place so we made sure to have dinner here!!
When they came out to sing Happy Birthday to Colben they had him wear this hat- he looked pretty festive!!

The kids get a ball of dough to play with and this is what they did!!
(with Nicki's help of course)

Danika decided she wanted to dress like Snow White for dinner!!

Colben's b-day- Day 1

2009-04-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

Nicki and my dad came out for Colben's b-day and their flights were about 5 hours apart so after getting Nicki we headed over to the Grapevine Mills Mall and had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. We then drove back to the airport to pick up my dad.
Sorry if the pics seem all over the place, i'm blogging both my pics and Nicki's.

This was in their "bar" area- all the chairs were animal legs.

Colben's b-day treat!!

Every couple of minutes you would hear loud animal sounds ranging from a bunch of monkeys, gorillas and elephants. While we were waiting for our food to come out we walked around and looked at all the animals. It's got a great atmosphere but not that great of food.