Viva Las Vegas!

Warning: This is a long post!

Craig & I just got back from Las Vegas last night. We had so much fun! We DID go to the convention & got lots of information to help the business grow, but we also had fun. We stayed at the Luxor Hotel. We saw a show called KA' by Cirque Du Soleil (sp). It was amazing! It's definately worth it. Craig & I left there in awe! We couldn't take any pics (cameras weren't allowed). So, you'll just have to take my word! I could scan my ticket & post it if you don't believe me!

Next, we went to the Titanic museum. When we bought our tickets we were given a boarding pass that was just like the ones given on the ship. It had a real passengers' name on it & who they were traveling with. Women were given womens' names, and Men got mens' names. Some of the museum was set up to look like the ship, like the deck. They also had a few rooms set up to look real. It was very interesting to see all the artifacts & hear the stories behind some of the passengers. At the end of the tour we could look on the wall where the list of passengers was & see if we 'lived' or 'died'. It was really neat. So sad to hear that that many people lost their lives & it could have been prevented. It was really interesting to hear that so many of them had a bad feeling about going on the ship in the first place. When it was sinking, one wife wouldn't leave her husband behind on the ship, so she stayed with him & their 6 children & none of them made it. It made me think of what I would do......What would you do?

The building of the Titanic

The Deck.

They actually had it freezing cold out there & you could

hear the waves & see the stars in the 'sky'.

One of the bedrooms

The staircase

This 'glacier' was actually really ice.

You could touch it & it was cold.

By the way, I lived, but Craig wasn't so lucky!

We also met up with some friends from NY that had just moved back to Vegas last year, Rachelle & Jeff. We went to the Bellagio Buffet with them & ate WAY too much! They have 3 boys & just found out the day we got there that they're having a girl in January. Congratulations! It was great to see them. Thanks for dinner guys!

Jeff & Craig

Lisa & Rachelle

We HAD to stop at the Chapel by the Courthouse. It was a must! LOL It was closed down, but the sign was still there.

We were in a hurry to take our picture or our car was going to be towed!

It's hot in Vegas! (Just in case you didn't know that). Walking anywhere is like a hairdryer blowing on you. (Oh, by the way, bring comfy shoes) So, Craig & I got an aqua massage (You don't get wet). If you haven't before, you need to try it. It was hard to relax because my feet are ticklish and the water kept squirting the bottom of my feet & I would laugh. It feels a little strange on your fanny too. If nothing else it felt good to not be on my feet for 15 minutes.

After 2 days in Vegas (which was plenty) we headed for St. George.

You can see the smog as we left town (yuck).

I forgot how many good friends I have in St. George. It was so good to see them & meet some of their children & husbands. On the way to St. George we stopped at Heidi's house in Logandale. She just had surgery a week & a half ago (she wanted to make sure everyone knew that before they saw the picture-lol) She looks great! Her family is so cute. Craig really enjoyed talking with Jason, they are so much alike! We had a lot to catch up on & are so grateful they let us stop & say 'hi'. Heidi wasn't up to having a girls' night out with us just yet, so I'm glad we stopped to chat. Thanks guys.

The Bakers

Craig, Lisa, Heidi & Jason

Heidi & Lisa

Broc, Kim, Ava, Sofie & Jack

Brandi & Lisa

We went to Angie (Craig's sister) & Shane's house for dinner & celebrated Angie's & Nikki's birthdays. We had a good time with them. Her kids have all grown up so fast. Wow! When I met Craig, the youngest was in diapers & now he's taller than me! Here are some pics:

Beth & Angie (Craig's sisters)

We got to take a ride on Shane's bike. Craig was in love (with the bike, that is)!

Lisa & Craig on Shane's Bike

The next day I did some shopping with my mom to get some souvenirs for the kids & then headed to dinner with friends from high school. We went to Buffalo's Southwestern Cafe', in Hurricane. It was so nice to catch up on each others' lives & get reacquainted. I think we were in the restaurant for 3 hours! I had a blast! I hope they did too. Thanks girls!

Girls' Night Out

On the way home this plane was so close we could see the landing gear! Too close for comfort!

Go Speed Racer!!

We took a much needed break from work the other day (I've been working for Craig lately) & went to ride the go carts! It was so fun! Who wouldv'e thought that 5 minutes around a track would be that fun? It was great! 5 minutes actually seemed like a little too long, but the kids had a blast! Then it was back to work! Here are some pics of our go cart adventure!

At the race track

Matt, Eric, Adam & Emily

Emily

Matthew

Eric

Adam

Lisa & Emily

Timber!!!!!!!

We have some very tall trees around our house. One was over 100 feet tall. When the wind blew it seemed like the trees would blow right down on our house, so we hired a man in our ward (he's 74 years old & has 8 GG children) to come and cut them down for us. He owns a tree removal business, but he got right up in that cherry picker and cut trees down for hours & then chipped the branches & hauled the wood away. It took 2 full days to finish. You should have heard the 'BOOM' when those trees came down. Our neighbors could feel it at their house. I think it shook the whole house. Oh, did I mention that he did that at 7 am? Yes, 7am. I would have gotten out there to take a picture had I been dressed!! I'm so glad they're gone though. It's so much brighter in our house! I got a video clip of the pine tree being 'topped', but I couldn't download the video. It was pretty cool though. Here are some pics of the excitement.

100 foot pine tree

The boys watching from the roof!

Matt, Eric & Adam

The Sicamore tree coming down

Matt got a 'paddle' of wood from Brother Ganoe. He kept throwing cool stuff to the boys as he was cutting it down like branches with red leaves on them and the sicamore tree balls (seeds). They thought that was pretty cool.

Sicamore tree branches on the ground

Haircut

Ok, I went yesterday to get a haircut. I had a picture to show the lady & everything, but it didn't turn out the way I wanted. I'm not too happy with it. She cut about 10" off. Which is what I needed. I was getting so many headaches from having my hair up all day. It is so thick & heavy! I like the color, but I didn't want bangs! It was supposed to be tapered around my face more. UGH!! Craig says he misses my long hair, but likes this too. It WILL grow out! Tell me what you think.

Garden of plenty

We have a great garden this year (mostly thanks to Craig)! We picked a huge crop of veggies the other day & just had to get a picture of everything we picked in one day. We also have rows of raspberries, but our summer crop wasn't so great. Our fall crop should be awesome though. I can't wait for those. Our tomatoes haven't even turned red yet, so we're waiting for them to make salsa & canned tomatoes.

I bought some peaches last week & I finally finished canning those yesterday. The kids were big helpers peeling them too. We got 25 quarts of peaches!

Matthew & I went out to the field and picked sunflowers one day. Aren't they pretty? I love sunflowers. Matthew is such a good helper!

Fun in the Sun!

We have been pretty busy lately, as you can tell with no post in weeks! We've had some fun too though. Grandma & I took the kids to the Sprayground waterpark by Seneca Lake in Geneva, NY. It was not too hot that day, so the water felt a little cold. Then we ventured down to the beach on the lake to play in the sand. Here are some pics of our day:

London bridges.....

Emily

Eric & Adam

Boys in the background

Matt

At the beach

In the water

A 'prince' for a princess

Emily loves dirt & water! I never thought she would also like worms & frogs too, but apparently she isn't bothered by them. She wouldn't even touch them a few months ago, but now she will hold (and torture) a frog for hours pretending it's her baby and rocking it. Every now & then I'll ask her if it's 'broken' (dead) and once she said 'yeah, it's broken, I find a new one.' I thought, oh great another one to torture and kill. She does try to be very careful, but sometimes gets carried away and drops them (they are actually jumping to escape from her). It is really cute to see her 'mothering' these little creatures. Here are some pics of her first encounter holding a frog.