...Viva Las Vegas...

About three weeks ago my husband and I decided to take a road trip to Vegas. Well actually, it was my husband's idea... he just had to convince me about a hundred times that it was a good idea! But of course, I gave in and we decided to go... ALL of us!

The days leading up to that weekend had me both anxious and excited. I just couldn't believe that we were actually going through with it. No grandparents, no sitters, just us... Mommy, Daddy, Nana, Fatboy and Shawnee. OUR vacation, OUR money being spent, OUR family time.

Well... it didn't quite work out that way. It worked out BETTER! :) My little brother Duke and my long lost older sister Robyn decided to come with us. The more the merrier right?!?! It worked out great though because I had an "extra hand" and Fatboy had his favorite uncle to hang out with.

I have to admit, it seriously was a stress-free trip. Matt did almost all of the packing, no joke. He even worked out the rental deal all on his own! Picked up the car and everything! LOL. I'm sure a lot of women can relate... when the men do the "list of things to do before we leave"... you either only get half of what's on the list or everything is completely wrong! But Matt did a pretty good job this time around. From packing the cooler for the road to even charging the camera! I know, I couldn't believe it myself! LOL. Just kidding. I underestimate him sometimes.


The road trip wasn't bad... I slept most of the way while Matt drove. The kids slept for about two hours and stayed up the rest of the way playing with Robyn. The kids weren't as bad as I was dreading. Shawnee actually slept three or four times.

One of Matt's best friend's, Charles, plays poker out in Vegas almost every weekend. I guess he's a "regular" at the Belagio and he hooked us up with a room there! Three words: OH.EM.GEE!! That place is HUGE! It was beautiful! I think I was more excited than the kids!

It was almost midnight when we got there and of course the kids were WIDE AWAKE! So we all washed up and headed right back out!! LOL. Being there just for the weekend, we didn't want to waste ANY time! We didn't do much that night, but we didn't waste any time while we were there either. We tried to do as much as we could in the little time that we had.

The kids had so much fun. I'm glad Robyn and Duke went too. It wouldn't have been the same without them. We took the kids to Secret Garden (I think thats what it's called?!?) at the Mirage. Maybe I was the last person to know this but almost every attraction was "inside" a hotel, literally. I've never been to Vegas before this trip so a lot of things were "my firsts".

We did a lot of walking. But we NEEDED to considering all the eating we did in between! LOL. Even though it was only a weekend getaway, I would so do it again! But maybe without the kids next time! Haha. But I'm just glad I went with my husband on this one. I'm not a fan for long car rides with three monkeys in the car or spending money on a rental, food and shopping over three days either. But I'm glad we did. Wouldn't change one bit of that weekend! ;)

***My laptop is having issues so I can't upload all of the pictures I wanted to... but I will, sometime tonight hopefully :)***

Xoxo...

...I guess you could call it our HoNeYmOoN...

So this past December my husband and I had the oppurtunity to go to San Diego for their bowlgame against Cal. Last year we went to New Orleans...THAT was an experience we'll never forget LOL...and that year we took Shawnee with us since she was only about two months old. The year before that in 2007, we ended up in San Diego for their bowlgame against Navy. That year we only had Nana and Fatboy so it was just the four of us.

So since they all got to go with us to at least one bowl game, my husband insisted that we make this trip our "Honeymoon" trip since we never really had one. At first it sounded like such a good idea... but as the trip drew closer, I couldn't leave the kids... LOL. I kept telling Matt that we should just take them and this and that... of course he felt the same way but he kept insisting that we just take a break and get away. Of course, I gave in and we ended up not taking any of them! It was the longest five days of our lives LOL but we enjoyed every second of it!

Flights were paid for, hotel was free, pocket money...everything was just too good to be true. I never get lucky with things that the whole time we were out there I just kept thinking..."This is crazy!" LOL...but it happened! And to top it off...Matt didn't have to do much while we were there. Usually he's stuck with morning lifting, running, practice, back to back meetings... but because he was "red shirting" this year he was A-L-L M-I-N-E!!! :) It really was too good to be true! We did so much when we were there...shopping, eating, shopping, eating... oh and shopping and eating! :) We did have a beautiful veiw of the bay from our hotel room!

We did a lot but then again we had so much time on our hands too! LOL. It was ridiculous. But we enjoyed it. I needed it after a whole year of work and no vacation! :) We went to Seaworld and tried to ride as much as we could and see as many shows as we could too. We did have the option to go to the Bengals vs Chargers game...I have to say, NFL games are not as exciting as College Football :) With that being said, we ended up staying at SeaWorld all day! LOL.

I kinda felt like a little kid that day. It even felt a little like my husband and I were on a first date or something. We're always cuddling and holding hands when we have the chance to...but we're usually holding "little hands" or carrying bags and holding jackets or something in public. But that day, we were "hands free" and had nothing to worry about. We didn't have to keep track of three little curious heads running all over the place! Or worry about anyone crying to buy everything in sight! It was so relaxing!

One night at the hotel, the team had a PEP RALLY with all the FANS. It was so exciting! The fans are so funny! I love it! It's crazy how so many people come out to support the team just because they love the UTES. Some people I met didn't even personally know anyone on the team... they just love to follow them and watch all the games. You know if Matt weren't playing we would definitely NOT be there! LOL. I know other people that wouldn't do that either! LOL.

The best part...the kids. The kids loved Matt. It's so funny. When we first started dating that's one thing I noticed he was good at...getting along with kids and just the way he was with them. That's one of his many qualities that I love so much about him. That explains why becoming a daddy came so natural to him. Usually after games, he always talking with fans and all the little kids...and he's always the last one in the locker room and last one out! LOL. Then we're some of the last to leave cuz he's still talking to little kids! :) It's too cute...


This guy, Lasi, is the winner :) See his tat on his forearm? Would you ever? :) I think it's tight... but I would never LOL. He's funny. I swear he's the UTES #1 FAN...if you couldn't tell. I like seeing him at the games...his comments during the games are interesting LOL

The game was fun! Matt's best friends, Charles and Josh, drove down from Santa Ana to see him. They spent more time with me the whole time than Matt! LOL. But I guess they just HAD to see each other! They probably spent maybe 45 minutes together after the game... and then we had to leave...I felt so bad. They drove all the way there and Matt really wanted to hang out with them. They've been best friends since they were little.

The games are fun to watch...but even more fun when Matt's actually playing. When we got to the stadium, Matt was on the field and I was sitting with some of the wives. He texted: "this is so hard for me baby". I already knew what he was talking about. The worse part, there was nothing I could do. There was nothing we both could do. Football is his life, our life. It's always been me, Matt, the kids and football. Football has always been a part of our lives since day 1 and for him to be on the field with the boys and not being able to play, hurts him and breaks my heart at the same time seeing him that way. Or course he tries not to show it... LOL But we both know that things happen for a reason and that'll he'll come back twice as strong.



We definitely enjoyed our time together on this trip. Even though we missed the kids like crazy and couldn't stop talking about them...we enjoyed our time together and all the free time we had to ourselves. We would definitely wanna do it again but I think we're out of excuses for next year! LOL. But at least it'll be easier...hopefully... Nana's a lot older and so is Fatboy. Shawnee will hopefully be out of diapers by then... but I doubt it...but our whole family is planning to go to next years bowl game. :) My goal for this season, make it to ALL the games :) even away games. This is Matt's last year and we wanna make the best out of it.

...just an everyday thing...

A normal week for the Asiata's is...very hectic. Lots of packing, driving from house to house, loading and unloading...just a lot, especially with three kids and just the two of us.

My husband goes to school full time at the U of U and I work full time at a Marriott right near the U... our schedules are usually the same so our commute works out good with our one car that we have.

On a normal day Matt will start at around 7am and I normally start at 8...of course I'm always late so I don't get in til about 8:30ish...but before we actually start that part of our day, we have to take our kids to our #1 Babysitters!! My inlaws :)

I gotta tell you though...my inlaws are the best in laws ever when it comes to my kids. Do you know anyone who would call in to work just to stay home and watch their grandkids or nieces and nephew? My mother in law probably did it three times...my sister in law did it twice I think... and all because I had to work and my husband had to go to school. My inlaws are one of my many blessings...no matter what's going on or where they have to be they ALWAYS put the kids first. Don't get me wrong, of course I would not leave my kids alone just to go to work... but that's just the kind of heart my inlaws have. There's another story in itself so we'll save that for another blog...LOL

Anyways, so we pretty much wake up every morning, get ready for school and work and then get the kids stuff ready for the day too. Packing clothes, diapers, wipes, socks, shoes, bottles...everything! Then sometimes it take longer because between our house, my inlaws' house and my parents' house... the kids stuff is all over West Valley!

With Nana and Fatboy it was a lot faster... they didn't come with diapers and bottles...they use to just need a little back pack that they can carry on their own...now with those two plus Shawnee... it's like we have to pack a suitcase every morning! LOL.

I use to think we were crazy and should just move in with one of our families so that we didn't have to go thru all this...we're either at my inlaws' or my parents' every day so it made sense if we were to just make things easier and live there...but why pass up our own place that we can afford, make whatever noise we wanted without needing to be courteous to the rest of the household, my kids could run around naked without scaring anyone and my husband can dance like no one else is in the room but me whenever he wanted!

But then I thought...this is just the way it is. If we want things to be done and accomplish goals in life, we just have to take the long way! I admit I complain sometimes and wished that we could just snap our finger and everyone would be where they need to be...but why complain, right? It's really not that big of deal... just an extra step for our morning routine, losing a few snoozes in the morning, being ten more minutes late to work because you have to drop off your husband first and just knowing that our kids are safe and in good hands.

Life is still great at the end of the day...

...just starting off...

So I obviously need to learn exactly how to use this but I just couldn't wait to start after reading my cousin Kassie's blog and some other ones...

I always heard about "blogs" but never actually took time to get into them... maybe because I didn't know that there were people I knew that actually had one! But after reading almost a month's worth of blogs LOL I'm hooked.

I guess it'll be a little challenging for me to do this, being that I work all day and then go home to three, no four including my husband, animals ran sacking whoever's house they're at by the end of the day...Grama's house or Mama's house...but I honestly want to try this out. It pretty much is an open book for whoever wants to read into my little family's life...which I don't mind because we have nothing to hide...I wouldn't call it "stalking" either, which is what I've heard other people call it... but more so just an interest to read about other people's lives, miracles, tragedies, or whatever.

So...I'll try to make this a part of my "to do list" for 2010. I do keep a personal journal but I guess this would be the same, just with a little twist :)