Las Vegas favorites

I finally have time to post a few more pictures from our quick trip to LasVegas.

The view from my plane window. Notice the dark spots on the ground below, its the shadows from the clouds! Makes me rethink the cloud shadows now that I am home.

We went to see the Titanic Exhibit, what a treat! Was amazing to see the artifacts, was a terrific exhibit, one I would heartily recommend to anyone! It truly made me feel a part of the original ship.

The world famous, multi-million dollar glass artwork ceiling in the main lobby of the Bellagio

I could have stayed and watched every single fountain show outside the Bellagio, wonderful to see. My favorite was one set to the song "God Bless the USA", almost moved us all to tears....

We splurged and went to see a Cirq du Soleil show, the "O" at the Bellagio. We were unable to take pictures inside, but we loved the show, was extremely entertaining. There was so much going on, was hard to take it all in. Go to YouTube, google the "O" at Bellagio, there are some good trailers, to give you and idea of what we watched. I would highly recommend going to this also, well worth the money.

Hoover Dam, of course. Amazing to see, again

We did the plant tour this time, these are the 7 turbines on the Nevada side. A very interesting tour, very informative, even if we did have a nerdy, odd guide.

Nevada intake tours and Lake Mead. Always a beautiful sight. I love the colors of the blue of the lake, the white embankments, and the colors of the mountains around.

The new bypass bridge over Blacks Canyon. People used to have to drive over Hoover dam and through all the tourist traffic to cross this area, now the bypass bridge allows much faster travel for the locals, and much less curvy roads.

Another view of Lake Mead, the little islands and coves, and the beautiful surrounding mountains. I enjoyed watching the play of the sun and cloud shadows on the hills. Click on the picture to enlarge it to see the beauty of the mountains in the distance...amazing. I will let these next pictures speak for themselves. Just gotta say, I loved my day driving through the desert, thanks honey for giving it to me!

Vegas, baby

Yep, we just got back from Las Vegas! My work sent me out there for a super-user conference on our security system and Rich and I extended the time off for a couple of days of extra vacation time. My conference was at the Bellagio, how luxurious! I never could afford to stay there otherwise, but was interesting to stay there for the conference. The rooms were nice, here is what our view was of...

I was amazed at how huge all the casinos were, the Bellagio alone filled a huge block of space, the Caesars Palace next door was even bigger!

Luxor

New York, New York

Mandalay Bay. I think the LasVegas strip is even prettier at night, with all the lights and action going on.

After my conference was over, we rented a car and went out to Boulder City to see Hoover Dam.

View looking down the side of granite canyon walls, to bottom of Hoover Dam. Note how little the door looks at bottom, we are about 750 feet above the floor ov canyon at this point.

View of the new diversion bridge over Black's canyon, that allows traffic to bypass Hoover Dam, if desired.

We did the plant tour, was really interesting too see. I would highly recommend doing the same for anyone who travels to Nevada. We also took a fantastic tour of the desert, Lake Mead, and Valley of Fire State Park. It was amazing to see the beauty, colors, and peacefulness of this area, all within just an hour of the hustle/bustle of Las Vegas.

I will try to share more pictures soon and go into more detail soon. Just wanted to share a quick overview of my trip for now. Thanks for following!

I'm back, finally

Wow, life is way too easy to get caught up in and never take the time to update here. I don't know if anyone is still following us, but thought I would at least share a couple of pictures of life these past few months. Becca's gymanstics classes

A couple of different Easter egg hunts and celebrations

I got myself a new camera, very similar to last one, but a few different options. I found this one on Easter, LOVE IT!!

Of course, Becca is more than willing to be my model. We are headed to LasVegas soon for a work conferance for me plus a we have a couple of partial days to explore on our own! I cant' wait, am so excited to have some time away and some time with my husband! My mom had major foot surgery to repair her nasty bunion and nerve damage, so has been non weight bearing for the last four weeks. I have been going down every morning to do wound/pin care and then to help her in the shower and to pick up the house a bit. I definately dont mind doing it, but has been cutting into my sleep, making my days seem even shorter. I'm glad I live close and that I am able to be there to help my parents when needed. I will try to post more pictures from our trip soon....till then...

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all who may still follow our family adventures!! Hope the new year brings happiness and joy to all. I really dont' know where my time goes...seems I am always busy doing something. I spent a lot of time getting ready for Christmas, between the baking, shopping, wrapping, and cleaning. Then in just a day or so, it is over with and the New Year begins again. Today I took down the Christmas decorations, while I love the seasonal beauty, I am always ready to get my house back to normal again. The kids are back to school tomorrow and the dail routine begins once more.

What makes my life busy? Lets see, work has been crazy busy lately, many sick people and too many demented people awaiting nursing home placement! I've gotta say, I do love my job, as crazy as it is at times. I don't think I have ever had a night where I didn't want to go back to work the next night or where I dreaded going into work. I have great co-workers, lots of fun to be with and great teamwork! That right there makes it easier to deal with the uncertainity and the craziness. Then there are the extra meetings and trainings to attend, which adds to the schedule quite a bit some weeks.

Next there are the kids...don't think I have to say anymore...but I will. Andrew is loving ski team, even the time commitment is working overall. He has practice 3 nights a week and then wants to free ski whenever he can. His first ski meet is next Monday, we will see how that goes. Joey has been skiing whenever he can, so far only once or twice. Becca took a beginner lesson and now is hooked on skiing also. She got to ski last Monday night and even went up the chair lift and down a real hill! The kids will all ski again tomorrow night, it is a "cheap" night at the local hills. The biggest problem is that with this odd winter weather we are having, there is little snow at the ski hills. The place is having a hard time even maintaining two hills, much less the usual 15 hills they have open by now.

The kids all had a great Christmas, each getting things they wanted. Becca has been asking for an American Girl Doll for the last couple of months, she got a version of it from Santa! She absolutely loves it, has spent hours changing the clothes and doing the hair. Joey had been looking into getting a remote control truck, so Santa brought him an awesome one!!It is a large truck that can go over 30 miles an hour..he is in love! The truck can go up and down our hills easily and has an incredible range. We can stand on our front deck and it will go to the shed and back (about 100ft) without a problem. Andrew got what he wanted also..his season pass to the ski hill! Yes he needed it for ski team, but to get him outfitted for the team we had to invest quite a bit of money, so that went towards his Christmas. With it he has been able to spend more time at the hill, even if we just drop him off for a couple of hours.

For the New Year, I will try to post more and to include more pictures. I am still taking pictures, just havent downloaded for awhile again.
Chat with you soon!

Quick Fall Update

I know, I know...it has been forever since I updated. Life is so busy at times, that it is hard to find time to update here. Thought I would post a quick fall update, since it has been so long.

Andrew has finally started practicing for the one sport he has been talking about FOREVER...ski team! They started dry land practice this past week, which equates to running up and down the grassy ski hills (not fun in my book). He is so excited to try this sport, he is anxiously awaiting snow, to actually be able to ski and race. I still am not entirely sure how I am going to get him to all of his practices, but I will figure something out.

The boys are loving their tae kwon do class (or as I call it, karate). They tested mid September and passed to the next belt, they are both yellow-stripes for now. With ski team, Andrew wont get to karate as often now, so I expect Joey to excel and pass a couple more belts through the winter. Joey is very precise in his forms and eager to learn new moves. It is lots of fun to watch their practices.

Becca is involved in her weekly swim lessons and her gymnastics. She loves her gymnastics, and can finally almost do a good cartwheel. I am hoping by summer she will finally pass to the next level. She is getting more flexible and tries to practice at home whenever she can. She also has joined a jumprope club at school and spends a lot of time practicing that at home also.

My life right now consists of work, keeping the house up, sleeping when I can, and running kids around to their activities. An average schedule for me goes like this...work overnight, come home and sleep from 930 until 230, get up and be to Becca's school by 3 to pick her up and grab Joey from bus there, go get Andrew from school by 330, stop at Kwik Trip and grab quick/healthy snacks for everyone, run Andrew to ski hill by 415, get Joey to karate downtown by 430, occupy Becca for hour class, take Becca and Joey at 530 from class to pick up Andrew at 6 at ski hill, and go home to make a good supper. Then it is homework, housework, baths, and bedtimes (Becca and I go to bed at 8, Joey at 830, and Andrew at 9). I am back up at 920 to get ready for another night of work. Phew, no wonder by weekend I am exhausted.

Halloween was fun for the kids. Becca was a ballerina cat and Joey was ninja/ghoul.








Now the guys are gearing up for hunting, although I don't know if Joey is planning on hunting or not. He says that he got his deer last year, doesn't have a lot of interest in going again. Now Andrew loves his hunting, actually went to North Dakota duck hunting with Rich and a family friend, and can't wait until deer hunting!

I will try to update again soon, and to include more pictures next time. I would love to get a couple of comments, so I know if anyone is still following me or if I am only updating this for myself.

Joey's school fundraiser

Never tried this before, but trying to generate some sales for Joey. Thanks to all who order from Joey, our schools appreciate it!