I stole this cute idea from a teacher at Megan's school while I was there and helped Matilda make one today. He is made from a brown paper lunch bag and he's super easy and super cute.

FIRE!!!

Well. most of you who read my blog will already be aware of this, but a huge part of Reno was victim to a massive brush fire yesterday. It was in the area where both Tracy's family and I live, but thankfully we are safe. The same cannot be said for many here and my thoughts and prayers go out to them.

Kindergarten Cutie

Here's my sweetie's very first school portrait. She's off to a great start. What a cutie!

Photo Shoot

Today after church the kids surprised me by taking me to Chevy's for lunch. It is one of my favorite places to eat and both of the ones in Reno have closed. I had a lovely meal with plenty of leftovers to munch on for the next couple of days. Also today, we went on a photo shoot to take pictures for Megan to include on their Christmas card. We got the Vegas sign during the day and then set out to try and get their picture with the lights of Vegas in the background at night. That didn't work out too well, so we went to the Belaggio to get a shot in front of their fountains. That turned out really well since Paris was right across the street. Someday hopefully they will be there for real, but for now here they are in Paris--Vegas style.

Early Thanksgiving

I celebrated an early Thanksgiving today with my kids since I will be gone before the real one. It was Megan's first time cooking one, so we did it together. It was a little cooking lesson for her and it was me teaching it. That's right--Don't laugh. I DO know how to cook a passable holiday meal. We cooked a turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied yams, corn, green beans and rolls. It was yummy, yummy, yummy.

Classroom Visit

Today I went to visit Megan's classroom and see her in action. I know I've said this before, but I'm awfully proud of her. While there I did a little project with the kids and this group picture shows the result. Aren't they the cute?! They had a great time flapping their wings and gobble gobbling.

Mrs. Ortega's Classroom

I made a little surprise for Megan today while she was off teaching. I thought it turned out pretty cute so I thought I would share it with all of you.

The kids go to a church here in Vegas called Canyon Ridge. I went with them to services today and it was SO BIG, and it is the smaller of the two they have tried here. I guess the other one was like going to church at Lawlor Event Center. They even had golf carts to give people rides in from the parking lot because it was so vast! Anyway, I tried to get a picture of the inside during worship. It didn't come out very well, but trust me--It was big! At the end of the service the worship leader said that a buddy of his from college was going to come out and do a couple of songs and it was Matthew West!  He is in town to perform at Winter Jam and stopped by. We bought one of his CDs afterward and got to meet him and get his autograph. He seemed very nice and humble. I'm sharing this picture of him with Megan. He was pretty cute too!

Vegas Baby!

Well, here I am in Vegas everyone! Don't expect to be hitting the town for anything spectacular, but it sure is nice to be here to spend time with my kidlets!