Ethel M Christmas Lights

Four days before Christmas my friend Kelly joined Jasper and I for a walk through the lights at the Ethel M Cactus Garden.


The Christmas lights there were my favorite I've seen in Vegas,  and we sure had a lot of fun.

"Aunt" Kelly helped Jasper visit Santa and then nearly had a heart attack because Jasper was running at top speeds right through the cactus garden.  She just knew we were going to end up at the ER for some cactus spine removal. 

Luckily J is tiny enough that he just zipped in and out of the plants.  I am the only one that ended up with a couple of spines in my hand from trying to grab him.

If you're in the market for this kind of thing...

I've been pretty laissez-faire about my potty training approach this far.  Every once in a while Jasper's excited about it, and then the excitement wears off.  We've got little IKEA potty's in each bathroom and Jasper thinks it is fun to flush the toilet.  That's about the extent of our "training course."

I bought "The BIG Potty Book" at a library surplus sale a few weeks ago and Jasper absolutely loves it.  We have to read it at least four times in a row.

Tonight after family scripture study we were hanging out on the couch reading stories, including "The BIG Potty Book" and Jasper got a look on his face and I said, "Jasper, do you need to go to the bathroom?"  He said yes and ran down the hall.

Mike was the "potty handler" and even though I was a little panicky that Jasper was going to completely fall in, Mike managed to keep him from going under AND he went on the toilet.  The funniest part is that after he went pee, he had to grab a few squares of toilet paper and wiped his clean little bum.


If you are looking for other potty books, Jasper really likes the pictures in the book "A Potty For Me" by Karen Katz.

Help for a Friend

Our friends, Jonathan and Rachelle Abbott, are launching a fundraiser for Jon's dad.  He's a great guy who needs chemotherapy and is uninsured.

You can bid on items on their blog, and read about Garth's cancer here. 

So far I've made two hooded bath towels for the auction. 

I've already been out bid by a mile for the item I really want -- Rachelle's pizza.  Apparently everyone knows how great it is!

There are a lot of great items up for bid.  The online auction ends on January 13th at 10PM.

Sleigh Ride Through the Gift of Lights

When we went on our carriage ride at The District we found out that they also offered sleigh rides through The Gift of Lights.  I thought this sounded like a much more festive idea that trying to look out of car window driving through.


We picked the warmest night of the season, but it was still pretty chilly. Luckily we brought a thermos with hot cocoa to keep us warm. We had Betty again for our horse.


I was trying to entertain Jasper while we waited to take off by singing him a song. We were sitting right behind the horse, and when I sang, "Giddy Up, Giddy Up, Giddy Up Let's Go" the horse took off! Whoops!

Our ride was just a little bit more than paying to drive though in a car and it was A LOT more fun!  I would highly recommend this option if you go to The Gift of Lights next December.

All Aboard!

The Santa Train in Boulder City was our big adventure last  Saturday morning.

The storm clouds were threatening, but we were lucky to only get a littel drizzle of raindrops here and there.

We went with our friends Joe, Trisha, Benjamin and Abigail, Maridyn and Rook and Isaac. This train ride is a steal of a deal for $2 per ticket, as the price is usually $8 for adults and $4 for kids.  Plus, we had Santa and Mrs. Claus aboard.


Jasper was happy to say hello to Santa but he clung to my coat when Mrs. Claus made her move.

We rode on the Boulder City Line for 3.5 miles and then 3.5 miles back.  Jasper kept looking out the window and saying, "Choo Choo".

I had to pull a couple tricks out of my hat at times because Jasper wanted to run up and down the isles of the train.  A couple of upside down tickles kept him entertained enough to stay near our seats.


The conductor and other train attendants sat down for a visit during the ride.  They let the kids wear their hats and shared interesting train tidbits with us. 
The entire weekend he walked around saying a jibberish sentence that ends in a very clear "choo choo" and then is followed by more jibberish and a very clear, "Ho Ho Ho".  To which we respond, "Yes, Jasper.  You want on a train and Santa came aboard to see you."  He repeats this sentences about 5 times and then moves onto something else.  Let's just say he was really excited about it and can not stop talking about it.
Thank you Southern Nevada Railway for a great event!

There is a free train show across the street put on by the Toy Train Operators Society and a old steam engine called the Eureka that we want to check out next year.

If you want to buy advance tickets next year, they go on sale Oct. 1.  We want to go on Dec. 4th for the 10 AM ride.  I thought it would be fun to all get tickets together, so let me know next September.

D.J. Jazzy Jasper

Mike's office manager (a.k.a. Grandma Sharon) gave Jasper a cute CD player for his birthday this year.

Lately he's been jamming out and really getting down.  He loves to take the CD's in and out and open and close the door.  And his favorite thing to do -- sing along, of course.

Thank you Sharon!

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas

I took Jasper to see Santa at the Galleria Mall right before Thanksgiving because I heard there wouldn't be a line.  The rumor was true.  We were in and out in 5 minutes with no screaming.  No complaints for me!

Jasper did really well, except he would not let go of his little orange basketball -- except for the one minute that he let Santa hold it.

A Very Froggy Christmas

We went to a special Froggy Christmas storytime at the Paseo Verde Library last Friday.

We listened to Froggy stories and made a really cute snow globe craft.

To say that Jasper was not excited to see Froggy would be an understatement. 

It's kind of crazy, because he like Santa and he LOVED Frosty the Snowman.  But Froggy was a bust for Jasper.

Our friends Maridyn and Trisha came with their kids Rook, Alexa, Benjamin and Abigail.

One Horse Open Sleigh

This afternoon we headed over the The District at Green Valley Ranch to take advantage of the free carriage rides that they offer in December.

Our horse was Betty and we had a great ride down around The District.  Jasper liked the live music playing and off the fun decorations.  He was looking super cute in his mini Santa suit.

If you want to go, the rides are from 12:00 - 4:00 PM on Saturday until Dec. 19th and the carriage departs near Anthropologie.