Ethan Kevin McGuire is here!

Kevin and Shawn had a healthy baby boy last Thursday afternoon! I've been waiting to have some pictures, and his name, to post with my wonderful news. (It took them awhile to name him, just like it did for Greg and I with all of ours!) He is so cute and I can't wait to hold him. He definitely has those Wright cheeks. Shawn did really well, she was only in labor for 7 hours. Since he is her first, that's awesome! I am so excited for them. Being a first time parent is such an amazing, overwhelming, all-consuming thing and I know they will handle it well. Ethan could not have come to better parents. Congrats LITTLE brother!

Weekend getaway

I have been such a slacker getting this updated with everything we've done lately. Life has been crazy this week.
So after we came home from Idaho, I had one day to do laundry and then Greg and I headed to Vegas for some much needed 'us' time! Greg's folks watched the kids, and we drove all day Friday to Sin City.
We used Hotwire, since it was a last minute trip, and we requested a 4 star hotel. Not being very familiar with Vegas, when it showed us a map with the hotel's location, we thought it looked like a good spot. It wasn't until after we'd paid for it that we found we were booked at The Golden Nugget. Do not stay there. Ever. It is in the old part of Vegas, the seedy part. The interior, including the rooms, have been redecorated, so they look nice. But it's all just an illusion. We arrive in our room and sit on the bed. Uh-oh. It had to have been older than both of us. You could feel every spring and it creaked like no tomorrow. I decided to take a shower after our drive, before we head out for the night. But the shower was full of dust, as were the faucet knobs on the sink! It was filthy. So after a not very nice phone call to housekeeping, they came and took care of it.
We went downstairs and had some dinner, people watching the entire time. I am going to sound like such a snob, when I have no right to be one, but the people staying there weren't exactly what you would call sophisticated. There was an element I couldn't quite put my finger on while there. But when we went to the Venetian Shops after dinner, we breathed a sigh of relief. These were more our kind-of people. Does that make sense? Not like we could buy anything or had the money most of them did, but it felt better.
The next day we parked at the Bellagio, and wow. What a beautiful place. We promised ourselves that someday we are staying there. We got a gelatto and went out and waited for the fountains, but got impatient and crossed the street to Paris. That was kind of a let-down, so we went next door and did some shopping at the Million Mile shops, attached to Planet Hollywood. We ate lunch and saw the guy who played Jaws in the James Bond movies. While there, Greg talked me into getting our caricatures drawn. I think he did a really bad job on Greg, personally.
I guess I should have mentioned at the beginning that the whole reason we went down is because Greg's friend Ken Craig got free tickets to see Van Halen that weekend. It was a benefit concert for Tiger Woods' foundation. So that night we met Ken and his wife Katie for dinner at Company, a new restaurant at The Luxor. It was so fun to hang out, as I've never spent much time with them. (Ken and Greg became friends their Freshman year at BYU.) After dinner we went to the concert, and let's just say we were probably the only ones not drunk or high in attendance. While waiting for the concert to start, Greg spotted Robin Leach! (I tried taking a picture but it was too dark.) For some reason, I'm thinking he was just there to support Tiger. I can't really see him as a Van Halen fan, can you? But I guess they can span all generations.....
Tiger finally came hobbling out, as he'd just had knee surgery, and introduced the band and then the concert began. David Lee Roth was with them, so they played all of their old stuff, none of the Sammy Hager songs, which bummed me out. 'Jump' came out when I was 11, and I only saw the videos at friends' house, as Van Halen wasn't allowed in our home, and for good reason. Some of those songs were pretty nasty. But they sounded incredible, and Eddie was amazing. Seriously, I can't imagine having that kind-of talent. His son Wolfgang played bass for them, and David was up there with a cheesy grin on his face the whole time. Greg has always loved Van Halen, and I'm so glad he got to see them live.
Sunday night brought us home to happy kids. I am do glad we got away for a few days. We need that. It reminds us both that we're Greg and Kimberly, not just Dad and Mom. All in all, a fabulous weekend.

Las Vegas

Spring Break '08

This year we decided to head up to Idaho and visit Greg's uncle Ross for Spring Break. He lives on a farm in Kimberly (nice name, huh?) and the kids had so much fun riding on his tractors. It was really windy so they didn't get to spend as much time as they'd have liked outside, but we still had fun. Of course I don't have pictures of most of the fun, as I've been forgetting the camera a lot lately. We did make it to the mall in Twin Falls, and they loved the nice car inside. They are Greg's kids, after all! It was a hectic, crazy trip, but we had fun!

NANA

The kids had so much fun while Nana was visiting. She took each one to Target and got them a present, and she also helped me a lot with Rachel. I still couldn't pick her up and she was more than willing to hold the baby for me. I know my mom was nervous about how Rachel would react to her, since the baby didn't remember the month she spent here after she was born. Nana got in late Wednesday night and that first morning Greg held Rachel while the rest of the kids came running and got lots of luvs from her. Since she saw her siblings loving their Nana, Rachel didn't waste any time. She was soon giving her big kisses and laughing while she was kissed on the neck. We can't wait for Nana's visit with Auntie Lee and Uncle Eric next month!

Smart boy whose Mom is tired but excited that HER mom is coming to visit!

Tonight Seth was sitting with Greg and I can't remember what he said, but I asked him "How did you get so smart?". He shrugged his shoulders and said "I woke up", very casually. It was so cute!

I went to the doctor today for my post-op check up. She said my wounds were healing nicely, but she could tell that I had been overdoing it by how tender my belly was. Dang it! I thought that I was balancing things nicely, but obviously not. (Maybe it's because I did three loads of laundry and dishes and swept the floor yesterday.) I was hoping she would tell me I could pick up Rachel now, but she said I still have to wait another week. I can't hold her very well right now because of my stitches. I miss getting her out of bed and snuggling with her so much.

My mom is coming into town tomorrow! We are all so excited! She can't wait to hold her grandbabies and they can't wait to be smooched and hugged by her. I will be sure to take lots of pictures.

Visitor

It's been a week since my surgery and I am doing much better than last Wednesday, that's for sure! I'm lying here while Seth watches Backyardigans. We've had lots of fun lying in bed together for the last half hour. Greg is getting ready to take he and Rachel to his mom's for a few hours so he can get into work. I will continue my binge of period-piece chick flicks once their gone. I've been taking advantage of having control of the TV; that means I've been watching lots of Jane Austen movies and other movies with English accents and beautiful costumes. I really am an Austen-addict.

Kevin was here last night and of course I forgot to take pictures of he and the kids. We love it when he's here, even if it's only for a few hours. He travels to Utah for work about once a quarter, so we're always happy when he gets to spend an evening with us. He treated us to Cafe Rio (his favorite) and since they don't have them in CA, we always get it when he comes. I ate a little bit of a salad and it didn't make me sick, yippee! Kevin's wife Shawn is due the end of this month, so we talked a lot about baby stuff. He is so cute, he will be an incredible dad. I can't wait to hold their little guy! She has had 3 showers, so they are set up for awhile, to say the least! This picture is of Shawn (on the left), our second cousin Shawn and her daughter Brittney. I wish I could have been there.

I also had to post a picture from my awesome Book Club friends. Our last meeting was Saturday, and since I obviously couldn't come, this is what Jamie and Emily did. She's wearing a Kimberly name tag! You ladies ROCK!