BooHoo!!

It's raining! I'm not sure there is much more to say than that! Today Starbucks officially launched Fall with the return of all things pumpkin-- pumpkin spice lattes, (my personal favorite!) pumpkin cream cheese muffins and the return of the salted caramel hot chocolates and a new soon-to-be-favorite toffee mochas. One would think that Starbucks headquarters ordered the rain to fit the promotion! Or maybe it was the fact that the school was open to the upper-classmen today so that they could pay for their ASB cards and get their planners and yearbooks. Whatever the reason, I want a shred of summer back!! I guess the forecast says we'll be back by the end of the week, but for now it is definitely fall in our part of the world!

We're Baaack!!!

So this will be a long post -- sorry! We had no good internet connection without paying for it, and since we're cheap, you had to wait until now to hear about Vegas through our eyes!

Sunday started out super early with super cranky TSA agents to deal with. Both Tiana and I required a "female assist" even though we didn't beep the x-ray machine. I'm thinking it is because we had long skirts on (both were about to the floor) and they had to make sure we weren't hiding anything. She was mortified! Our morning didn't improve much until we left the Vegas rental car terminal. We went to Meeting and got to enjoy fellowship there with some people we haven't seen in about 8 years. From there we went straight to In-N-Out for burgers and then on to Hoover Dam. Talk about cool! Well, not really! It was HOT, but the dam was pretty neat! We even took a quick foray into Arizona across the top of the dam. That evening we made it back to our hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. Talk about overwhelming to the senses!! Lights, beer, margaritas, sex -EVERYWHERE!! You know it's there, but until you experience it, you just can't fully comprehend it! The check-in line was amazing - 45 minutes or so. We wandered around a bit that night, but the heat and the early morning had us done in! We did see the Bellagio fountain show. Pretty cool!

Photos of Day One

Monday we met up with some long-ago friends from Montana. It was so fun to see the kids after so many years. Sam and Tiana had been the best of friends in Kindergarten. After they left us we just spent time on the Strip, went to the Coca-Cola store where we tried some colas from around the world. I'll stick to Coke or Pepsi, thanks!! There was one cola that just about made me gag! We also went to M&M world, Kent and Tiana visited the CSI:Las Vegas museum and then we just continued to check out various aspects of the Strip.

Photos of Day Two

Ah, Tuesday! What an amazing day! We started out with a Carl's Jr. breakfast and Starbucks Coffee. We were headed from Las Vegas on a roadtrip to Goldfield when, after many photos of desert scenery, we spotted ruins a ways off of the road. We went to check them out. We asked later if anyone knew what they were, but they didn't know. *update!* After posting, Kent and I went on the search for info about those ruins. Seems to be they are the Elizalde Cement Company. We were pointed, though, to Rhyolite which turned out to be an absolute gem of a find! We spent probably close to an hour just poking around the site of this once bustling town. We kept our eyes and ears attuned to rattlesnakes, but alas, we didn't see or hear a-one! At this point we realize we are a mere 4 miles from Death Valley and California, so we HAD to cross over that border! I really would like to go through Death Valley some day. We found one road that will take you in but it requires a 4x4 so Kent is thinking a road trip might be in order! I could deal with that! We eventually made Goldfield, but by that point we were hot and tired so we just stuck close to the main streets and took Tiana's 15 year photos. I could go back and spend more time! I'd even do all I could to beg for a tour of some of the properties! Like INSIDE!! We got back to Vegas, regrouped and went out to catch a couple of nighttime-only free shows. The Mirage volcano and the Treasure Island pirate drama. We also took a walk through the Venetian.

Photos of Day Three

Pack up Wednesday. Still so much to see and time is very limited! We went back to the Venetian for a little bit, did some last-minute t-shirt/souvenir purchasing, walked through Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum and of course got one last In-N-Out burger! FINALLY! on the way out of town I found the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign. I had looked for it, even finally on Wednesday found it labeled on the map! Anyway, I was able to get a picture of it through the back window of our rental Hyundai! Go figure! Anyway, I think we can cross Las Vegas off of our list. We did enjoy our time. It is overwhelming, sometimes nauseating, stifling, but at the same time there is an element of fun! Kent enjoyed the buffets. They weren't bad, I'll admit! Definitely not your run-of-the-mill Royal Fork/Old Country Buffets!

Photos of Day Four
Enjoy the photos if you dare! There are a lot!

Rest

Not that there was a question, but what an awesome four days at convention this year! We had days of feasting, peace and joy! Tiana made her choice known again that she really does want to serve God and so there's our joy! It was a beautiful four days weather-wise, too, if not just a bit hot! We had nice clear nights for star-gazing and I'd even hoped to get some photos of the meteor shower, but when I woke up to specifically take pictures, I didn't see any shooting stars in the few minutes I was up so I went to bed because I was too tired. I found out later that someone who HAD been up said she saw at least 23 shooting stars in an hour! It was in the 90s on Saturday and Sunday! The picture is of our set up. It's really quite funny as this is a two-room tent that only Kent and I stay in! The right half (in the picture) is our "closet"/changing area, the left our sleeping room. In the screened-in porch you can see our coffee kitchen there on the right! We're quite popular usually, although this year with the heat, fewer people looked for hot coffee in the afternoon! Tiana and I hope to go up with Kent's mom for part of second and Kent will join us for some time on Saturday. We leave for our vacation Sunday morning, though, so we'll not get any time then.

Tears...

Ever have one of those meals, or days, or books where when it's over you just wish there was a little bit more? Today is one of those days! It's been a very full week at our house, but I could use just a little more! We started the week with Teresa and ended it with her twin Tracie and her family. Man could we use more time with them! Tiana spent 10 days with them last month and we just got to have, really, what feels like a few hours with them here. They drove in on Weds. afternoon, we had dinner and Bible study with them and I had to head to bed. (Dumb work!) After work on Thurs. I joined them downtown and we took in A LOT in the city! The Market, the Art Museum, the boys toured some visiting warships, we girls did some shopping, we walked the waterfront, did a TON of steps, rode light rail, took in a ballgame and generally had a fantastic time! So fun to watch the country kids in the city, too! ☺ I had to work again this morning so missed even more time with them, but we were able to meet up for a bit more shopping this afternoon and a quick bite of lunch. Coming back to our place after lunch I had all 5 kids in my van and you know, it felt just right! And the kids (5'6"-6'3") liked the legroom!! We wish they could have stayed longer!


Now it is time to get ready for convention next week. I'm so looking forward to the quietness and the restoration!
I forgot to mention the ballgame. As we were walking in we saw Lisa and Troy on their way to put their stroller in the car. They were together with his family for a reunion and had spent the day in the city and were ending the day with a game together. Very cool! But, even cooler!, we get into our seats and I look over and I recognize a long-ago friend from my very younger days!! His cousins (?) were here from MT, too!! What a shock! I hadn't seen Melanie and her family (her husband is also related to my cousins!) in a number of years, but I'm going to guess that I hadn't seen her parents in close to 20 years, if not longer!! They were seated in the section just next to ours! What a cool deal and what a small world!

A great day!

So the day started out with an absolute surprise! After Teresa left for the rest of her trip, Tiana and I went back to Kohl's. We'd been there on Sunday and if you spend $50 they will give you $10 to spend on your next visit. Well, we earned $20 and I decided, though, not to get the dress that I had tried on and liked because I'm, well, cheap! I figured we'd spent enough. Well, then I decided, though, I could take the $20 back and apply it to the dress and it wouldn't be so much. We went back and I couldn't find the dress. Two days later and I couldn't believe it, it looked to be gone! But NO!! It was now on the clearance rack for -- any guesses? $20!!! So, now the dress is FREE!! Tiana asked if she could at least buy a shirt then so we wouldn't look so cheap. I said yes, and the one SHE found was on clearance, too, for a whopping $3.80!! So, we walked out of Kohl's with a new dress for me and a new shirt for her for $4.16 with tax!! I like shopping when I get deals like that! We then went home to get ready for the National Night Out for Crime Prevention block potluck I organized (MUCH to Kent's dismay!). Having never done such a thing I wasn't at all sure what to expect. And our neighborhood pretty much sticks to itself, except for the littlest kids, of course, who end up at our house. So, the invites were out, the RSVPs weren't really in and we're set to roll. I would say about 35 of us gathered, we had a good show of food - homemade pico de gallo, some Bosnian desserts, home grown veggies, friendship bread, typical bachelor food, and really, overall, a good time! If we registered our block party with the city, they would send out Police cars, Fire equipment, other city representatives and they'd hang out for a few minutes, answer questions, leave contact info, whatever. Target is a sponsor of the program and so they gave CHALK to the kids for having fun in the street!! AWESOME! Anyway, we had fun, and I hope it's just the beginning of an even friendlier neighborhood!

A treat!

This evening we had the privilege of spending some time with one of Kent's cousins who was heading through town. We hadn't had her here with us since we were married, other than one time in MT, but Kent wasn't there. The evening was gorgeous so we went down to the beach and watched the sun set over the water! It was just very special! The other really cool part of the story is that we'll host her twin sister and family starting Wednesday!