HaPpY BiRthDaY AuNtiE KiRsT!

Yesterday was Kirstin's 25th birthday! We just want to give her a huge shout out for being the BeSt SiStEr and AuNt around. The kiddos love their auntie and think she is pretty cool! Kirst you are such a great sister and one of my best friends. I love you so much and would do anything for you. You are such a great person with a very kind and giving heart - you're a great example to all of us! I hope you had a FaBuLoUs birthday and we'll shoot for Ellen on your 30th :)    I love ya sis....

We LoVe YoU KIRSTIN!!!

a super fun SuRpRiSe...

Friday Kirstin, Mason and I headed down to Vegas to watch the girls basketball team in their semifinal game... They won! Nick picked Brooklin up from school and headed to Vegas where we met them at the Shark Reef. I was not super impressed but the kids LoVeD it and that's all that matters! After the reef, we headed to MGM to eat at the RainForest Cafe and then we walked down to the M&M and Coke Factory! Here are a few pics from the evening - Mason got bored at the game and was playing photographer :)

mason with his bucket of popcorn at the game

cheering on our BuLLdoGs!

silly pics

kirst trying to be a pirate?

checkin out the huge snake

mr. ray

brooklin loved the jelly fish

after a $2 bribe, both kids touched the sting ray

way to be brave mason!

b holding the tiger fish :)

rain forest cafe

cute monkey balloon for mason

m&m factory

Saturday my parents, Brooklin and I went back to Vegas to watch the girls play in the championship game vs. Spring Creek... They lost :(  We stayed and watched Moapa boys play Lowry for the championship game and Moapa won!

getting ready for the big game

Go BuLLdogS!

happy HeArT day!

A little behind but not much to post about lately... For Valentine's I made the kiddos pink heart pancakes for breakfast and they opened a little shirt to wear to school. Nick and I went to lunch at Wolf Creek and for dinner we made pizza with pepperoni in a heart shape. I also dipped strawberries in chocolate and they were a huge hit with everyone! All in all it was a great day with not too many pictures...

delish!

*sLeePy HeaD*

Yesterday I played in a softball tourney and Brooklin tagged along with me. She played and played all day long. She's just getting over strep throat and I think she recovers like her auntie Kirst... very S.L.O.W.L.Y! Anyhow, we got home around 5:30 last night and I wanted her to eat some dinner before she crashed... she made it this far!

She got her second wind after dinner but she was seriously OUT!

EmpLoYee of the YeaR

Rich Bohne, Nick and Tim Hacker

This was the article in the local newspaper:

Nick Montoya, who works in the city’s recreation and parks department, earned the 2010 City of Mesquite Employee Pursuit of Excellence award.

Each year the city recognizes an employee from five areas: administration, recreation/parks and senior services, public works, police, and fire as employee of the year from that area. One of these employees is then selected as the employee of the year for the city. “Nick Montoya has been an employee at the City of Mesquite since 1997 and the recreation supervisor since 2006,” Hacker said as he presented the award to Montoya. “Since that time he has been in the thick of the employee of the year race every year.

“Nick’s favorite activity is spending time with his wife of nine years, Stephanie, and his children Brooklin and Mason. The family loves the outdoors and enjoys overnight camping, hiking, and boating.

“Nick volunteers with many organizations and is the city’s representative on a number of its executive boards. Nick is chief union steward for Teamsters, an executive board member for the Mesquite Resort Association, and Open Schools Open Doors board member for Clark County School District. With the little extra time he has, Nick is a volunteer coach at both the recreation and competitive levels.

“Nick has always been a very dedicated employee and is continuously trying to improve the way things are done. He is never satisfied with the status quo. His excitement is contagious and his staff understands the need to think outside of the box to find solutions issues or concerns. Nick always shows great initiative and finds ways to get the entire community involved in activities and events hosted through the recreation and parks department. Understanding the economic climate, Nick took responsibility for the aquatics area last year and handled those extra duties superbly.

“Nick looks forward to his future with the city, and will strive to continue providing the amazing service that he is famous for, to both external and internal customers.”

Nick has been in the running for this award the past couple of years and this year he got it! We're proud of you and this BiG accomplishment! After reading the article I'm really curious where the hiking came from because I don't think we've ever been :)

Great job Nick and thanks for all you do for our family!

nothing too exciting...

Life has been pretty boring lately, not a lot going on around here... We're getting ready for flag football to start next week - Mason and Brooklin are getting excited! I'm gearing up for softball to start - both co-ed and high school ball. I'm helping coach the JV team this year, it should be fun but I'm a little nervous. My life is going to be so crazy until mid May!
We had fun watching the superbowl at Jeremy & Chrissy's house but I didn't take any pictures. Go Green Bay! (I really wasn't cheering for either team - I can't say I even watched the game)
Brooklin is now recovering from strep throat - I didn't think you could get strep if your tonsils were gone. But you can and she has missed 2 days of school - it's killing her today because she's missing PE!
Like I said, it's been quite boring around here -- hopefully I'll have an exciting update soon! Here are a few random pics...

my little artist

brooklin's masterpiece

all 4 tires are sunk!

my sick little b

not too happy to be at the dr

mason just kickin' back