I think

time goes faster and faster as you get older. Really. I can't believe its been a whole months since I posted that last long-overdue update, and here we are a month later; time for another update again.

Really, I can't think of a lot except for things in this past week so I'm gonna rely on the picture we've got of the happenings. And it feels like we've had one hell of a week.

Actually, here are the recent things that I can think of right now; and they're in no order.

new puppy

We got a new puppy a week ago. We have yet to actually name him. He's an all black Pomeranian. We didn't really know we wanted a dog until Stac took Zoee to a dog store and totally fell in love with the Pomeranian... that just happened to be, get this, $800!! I couldn't believe a couple things about it: 1) that Stac actually wanted a puppy, let alone a little puppy. She's never been a fan of the small dogs; they're usually yappy. 2) that for a day or two, we actually considered how much we'd be willing to pay for something so tiny and cute. If we could get them to take $600, would we do $600?? So 3 or 4 days later when she took me back to see this wonderful black fur ball (that for $800 I was hoping it would poop pure gold), it'd been sold. which brings me to 3) Hindsight being what it is, who in their right mind would pay so much for something so tiny?!

So from there, the search was on to find and affordable Pomeranian, preferably an all black one (which I read online are kinda tough to come by.) Stac found a lady who breeds poms and after a couple emails, it was decided that we'd meet up with her and see what she had to offer. We met her and after a little running around we ended up coming home that afternoon with a brand new, super cute, tiny ball of black fur. I think somewhere under it all there's a puppy.

baby-sat Sarah's kids

Sarah and Tyler went to TN for a concert. So we watched Brock and Briggs for a couple days while they partied. It's tough to suddenly have double the kids than what you're normally used to. And add into that that they have their own schedules, eating habits (preferences), style of play, and personalities, it was harder than we bargained for, I think.

No pictures of that.

off probation

As of the 3rd, which is today, (even though I began and promised this post yesterday), I am through with my probation period. NLV has an 18 month probation period which I thought was really long when I began. But I can't believe I've been employed for a year and a half already! I still love what i do and the people I get to work with. It has been such a huge blessing that I got on with the city. And an added blessing that I have such a secure job in today's eco that pays as well as they do. Truly a blessing to our little family.

Marine graduation and sea world

Stac's brother graduated for Marine boot camp. So the Layton clan drove down, picked us up, and we all headed down to San Diego for a little Vegas escape. The graduation (in my opinion) was nice but really, kinda anticlimactic. It was really warm and much much more humid than I'm used to, so there was tons of sweat and impatience happening during the trip. Rod and Teresa bought us all tickets to Sea World and I have to admit that I wasn't super excited about going at first. But as soon as we got in and I saw how exciting it was for Gus and Zoee to see dolphins swim right past them, it really put everything into a new light for me. It was almost magical (sorry, this is really corny...) to see them so excited. It ended up being a pretty long day and both of the kids did GREAT considering how hot it was, how tired they were, and how much sitting and waiting some of the shows involved. They loved the whole day.

Great job Ky. Your whole family couldn't be more proud of you!!

mt. charleston/picnic

Last week Stac asked if there was anything going on after I got off work the next day. We didn't. So I said maybe we could go up to Mt. Charleston and have some lunch up there and let the kids play and climb and do kid stuff. My thinking was that it would be a nice escape from the triple digits and figured it'd be about 20 degrees cooler than in town. That night it got overcast in town with a chance of rain. By the time I got off and we left town, it was only 95. On the mountain, the car said it was 60! It was perfect! It wasn't cold and definitely wasn't even close to hot.

We went up to the top and started walking up the hiking trail but since we weren't planning on going for a hike, no one had good hiking shoes. So we just the Zoee and Gus take it all in. I think they both loved being up there and seeing how pretty it was. It was really exciting to me to think about taking them both back up there as they get older and more physically able to go and do. I have come to really enjoy camping and hiking as I've gotten older and I see it as such a treat to get out of Vegas and go somewhere so nice and quiet and pretty and exciting. And I want to be able to share that with the kids. I want them to have fun being in the middle of nowhere with nothing around but trees, rocks and dirt. I want them to be able to appreciate being in nature. I want them to see the benefits of getting away and being alone and learning, to an extent, how to take care of themselves when camping. I really feel like those things are important for kids to know. As much of a city boy as I am, I feel like I've been blessed to have had more nature experiences than a lot of people I grew up around. And I'm grateful for that.

Elder Mike came home

My brother came home from his mission. And that was really exciting. It was good to see him. I really can't help but remember what it was like when I came home from mine. Everything was just so surreal. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to act normal. I had nothing to talk about that didn't begin with"When I was with Elder..." or "When I was in (insert any area name) (insert any awesome family/weird family/memorable bishop you worked with/strange investigator)..." Coming home and back to reality was weird. Mike seems to have handled it pretty good.

Erin and Sarah put together a well attended dodge ball game the night he came home. I was skeptical but went anyway. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! I think everyone had a really good time. I don't have any pictures so anyone reading this is gonna have to find Erin and/or Sarah on facebook to see the pictures they posted on there. It was so much fun to have so much of our family there and then to throw balls at them. The days following was when we all realized the price we would pay for having such a good time. I was sore in muscles I'd forgotten I had. Just sitting and walking was painful.

Zoee has started preschool officially

A lady in our ward runs a preschool out of her house. We were able to get Zoee in at the very last minute and we're so glad we did. Zoee loves going, she loves her teacher, and it's nice to get her out of the house for a couple hours a couple days a week. I think she learns more than she realizes.

So I think that's it. I've got a couple more pictures I'll try to post later. But we're about to go do some DI shopping, lunch, and try to get Stac ready to go to the annual Swiss Days trip my dad and sisters go on.