Vacation - Back to Vegas

Ryan had to go on another business trip the Sunday we got back from San Diego, so Hailey and I decided to stay in Vegas a few more days, and extend our vacation, rather than get back home to real life. We had intended to stay with Berns and Shea again, but their family got sick just before we were to come back, so we ended staying with my sister-in-law, Kim, who is amazing. She is in the final weeks (4 weeks now!) of finishing up her Masters degree, she works full time, she has 4 kids - who are all involved in some sort of extra curricular activity, both of her girls have special needs (one diabetic and one profoundly deaf), she and her husband are both involved in the Nevada Chapter of AG Bell, and countless other activites! They are busy! But she welcomed me with open arms. I am so grateful for her kindness and love. She is one of the most selfless people I have ever met. Everything she does is for the good of her family. She's my hero. I want to be like her when I grow up. I'm so blessed to count her, not only as my friend, but as my sister as well.

We had a great time with Kim and the kids. We helped with laundry, dinner, homework and a few errands. Hailey loves those kids, and had a ball with them. She didn't want anything to do with me with any of the kids were around. I feel like I really got to know the kids so much more this trip, than I have on any of the other trips. They are some very special kiddos! We thank you guys again for the hospitality, the babysitting, the love, and example that you all to us!

Here is a picture of Hailey in Morgan's room, with all her {Morgan's} stuffed animals:

Thanks again, Kim for letting us stay with you, even with all you had going on! We had a blast!

Vacation - Driving back to Vegas - Day Six

On the way back to Vegas from San Diego, we decided to take the scenic route. We drove up the coast by way of Irvine and Newport Beach. Our friends Dave, Debi and their kids, and Jeremie live in Irvine, so we thought we'd meet them for lunch. Our girls had never met, but they became fast friends.

sharing a cookie

such innocent faces

so cute

a fond farewell

We wished we lived closer to the Fronk's! We miss hanging out with them, and we think that our girls would play so well together! It was fun to see them, even if for a short time!

We also made a stop at the Newport Beach Temple. It is very beautiful and Hailey loved walking around the grounds. I've never seen a temple this color before. Most of the buildings in Newport Beach are a similar color, though, so the Church agreed to make the temple this color so it would "go" with the city.

{i really liked the sun-streaks in this picture}

Since we took the scenic route, we got caught in LA traffic on the way through. It took us 7-something hours to get back to Vegas. It was rough on all of us. When we got into Vegas, we stayed with my aunt and uncle that have recently moved down there. It was fun to spend the weekend with them, since we don't see them very often. Hailey was quite taken with Aunt Bonnie. She preferred her to me much of the two days that we stayed there. I have a really cute video of Hailey singing along to Aunt Bonnie playing the piano that I'll have to share when I upload it to my computer. We are so grateful to all of our hosts while we were traveling. We had a great time with each of them and made some great memories.

Vacation - Las Vegas Part II

On Thursday night Hailey & I stayed with Ryan's brother, Steve, and his family. We LOVE Steve & Kim and wished that we lived closer so we could spend more time with them. We had a great time with them. Steve is a Halloween FANATIC. I'm sorry that I didn't get any pictures of his house, because he goes all out with the Halloween decorations. He even has a Halloween village. Its amazing.

On Friday, Ryan flew in from Salt Lake. Our niece, Morgan, (who I would kidnap if I could - seriously, LOVE that girl!) watched Hailey that night so we could go out with Steve & Kim. We went to dinner at the Grand Lux Cafe (a sister restaurant to the Cheesecake Factory - with much better food). After dinner we went to see:

image from here.

Phantom is my all-time favorite, and after seeing it at the theater at the Venetian, it remains that way. We had incredible seats (Thanks Steve!) and the show was amazing. The theater was built specifically for The Phantom of the Opera. Full of pyrotechnics, special effects, amazing singers...it had it all! The chandelier is in 4 different pieces, making it incredible during the auction scene. The Phantom's lair is incredible. By far the BEST production I've seen of the show. If you ever get a chance to see it in Vegas, DO IT. You won't regret it.

After the show, we decided to walk over to the Bellagio. The water show at the Bellagio is always one of our favorite things to do when we are down there. We watched the show twice, then went in to walk around the gardens.

This is where I regret not bringing the camera. The gardens, which I'm sure are always delightfully beautiful, were magical that night. They have what they called The Harvest Show. Luckily, even though I didn't bring my camera, other people on the 'net did, so I borrowed some images from Flickr.

image from here.

This guy - his eyes would blink...

image from here.

Though a little creepy, those were actually pretty cool. I'm still so annoyed that I didn't bring our camera. Oh well, what can you do?

It was a fabulous night, we had a great time!!

Vacation - Las Vegas

While Ryan was working in Dallas for a few days, Hailey and I decided to start our vacation early and go spend a few days in Vegas with our good friends, the Costa's. We arrived on Monday and stayed with them through Thursday afternoon. While we were there, we did lots of fun stuff. Though I've been to Vegas several times, I've never done any of the "touristy" things.

We spent the first day shopping and scrapbooking. The second day, we went down to The Strip to the Mirage to see Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden. Seriously, SO COOL. Well worth the $15 admission. First we saw the dolphins. They were in a playful mood! There were, I think, 4 of them out. They were all fairly young and there was even a baby - 32 days old!! So cute!

Mama and baby

As I mentioned before, they were in a really playful mood. These two kept jumping up on the bank and sliding back into the water. It was pretty fun to watch. Hailey was squealing with delight, and we got some pretty fun video.

Hailey & I watching the dolphins

dancing dolphins

Hailey & I at the entrance of The Secret Garden

white lion

one of the white tigers with a Bengal tiger

Hailey & I with the funny looking llama-things
(yes, that is the technical term...)

On Thursday we went to M&M World and the MGM Grand. M&M World was by far the highlight of Hailey's trip - as a matter of fact she still talks about going to M&M World with Shea and Zoie. MGM Grand on the other hand, wasn't as....grand. Their claim to fame is the lion habitat, and it was WEAK. Especially after already having been to the Mirage.

M&M World is 4 floors of nothing but M&M's and M&M brand merchandise. On the second floor (I think) they have their "wall o' M&M's" with M&M's in every possible color you could imagine. I foolishly bought Hailey some pink and green M&M's. A little tip - if you ever go to M&M World, go look, enjoy....but do not under ANY circumstances buy M&M's at M&M World. I bought less than a quarter pound and spent over $5. I was pretty disgusted. Oh well, you live, you learn.