Cougs

While we were in Utah, we went to the BYU Basketball game with my sister Jennifer and her family. She has the cutest little boys and it was fun to see them! Even though we didn't have great seats, it was still fun to be at BYU on our old stomping grounds. It always brings back good memories:)

Early bird gets the worm

I was determined this year to wake up early and get some good deals on Black Friday. The last couple of years I had the same intention but didn't end up in the stores until 8 a.m. or so. The night before Black Friday, Michelle and I went through all of the advertisements and figured out a game plan. I had my eye on a few laptops that were really good deals. We were at Best Buy by 5:15 a.m. (15 minutes after they opened) only to find out that all the laptops were pre-ticketed and sold out. Apparently, Best Buy started giving out tickets for the laptops at 3:00 a.m. Rookie mistake. We continued shopping until noon when we realized how hungry and tired we were from not having anything to eat all day. This year I learned that in order to get the really good deals on the day after Thanksgiving sales you need to get to the store BEFORE they open...at least for electronics. Even though I was disappointed I didn't get a laptop, I still enjoyed the frenzy and excitement that Black Friday shopping has to offer.

Niel went snowboarding with his sister Sonya at Snowbird while Michelle and I shopped. Doesn't that look fun? Afterwards we all met for lunch at Zupas.

Turkey Day

Clearly I am very behind on blogging. My life has been somewhat of a whirlwind lately. I will keep chugging along in chronological order and maybe I will get to Christmas by the time Valentines Day rolls around:)

We went to Utah for Thanksgiving this year and spent it with Niel's family. We stayed at his mom's house in Orem and had Thanksgiving dinner at his sister Michelle's house. It was great to spend time with the family and have a relaxing Thanksgiving Day.

Here is Niel with Michelle's kids AJ, Jayden, and Shannon. After our food settled, we took the scooters out for a ride.
Then Michelle and I spent an hour or so scouting out the Black Friday adds and making a schedule for the following morning...

Adrenaline Rush

Until I married Niel, I was a real pansy when it came to amusement parks and thriller rides. Just to give you an idea...my senior year of high school, my parents took me to Disneyland. I was so much of a pansy I wouldn't even go on the roller coaster ride, house of terror, or the hot shot at California Adventure Park, so my Dad had to go on them by himself.

I can clearly pinpoint when this stage came to an end. Shortly after being married, we went with our friends Jim and Amy to Lagoon in Utah. At this point, the scariest ride I would go on was the old, white roller-coaster. Niel and Jim decided they wanted to go on Wicked. It was about an hour wait since it was a new ride, so Amy and I decided to stand in line with them to socialize until they got inside the building. Somehow we didn't manage to make it out of the line in time and we were stuck inside the building...point of no return. We were both literally freaking out. I remember being strapped into my seat before the ride started sweating bullets and thinking, "I hope I make it through this!" (I know, really lame). We both screamed SO loud during the ride and were relieved it was over. But the strangest thing happened...there was a part of me that surprisingly LIKED it. Could that be? The adrenaline rush was actually fun and exciting! That got me thinking I might be able to try some other rides. I mean hey, if I could do Wicked, I could handle other rides right? And that was where it all started. The next stage of my development was Six Flags theme park in California. If it wasn't for being peer-pressured and stuck in line at Lagoon I would still be a scard-y cat enjoying the 'beginner thriller' rides.

NOW...onto the main story. There is a ride on top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas called the Big Shot. The Stratosphere is the tallest building in Las Vegas and the ride shoots passengers straight up 45 mph until they are 1,081 feet above the strip. We went on it and it was awesome! The view was amazing and it provided a good adrenaline rush. The suspense at the beginning is pretty intense when you are waiting to be shot up into the air. I will never forget the look of terror on Niel's face when we stepped into line at the top of the Stratosphere. Priceless.

This picture was taken at the top of the stratosphere overlooking the strip right before we got on the ride.

Niel took this picture of me right after we finished the ride. I wanted to go again!

Then we had a nice, relaxing dinner at the Venetian next to the panama canal where the gondola singers go by with Stephanie, Devin, & Kristin.

If you ever get a chance to go on the stratosphere DO IT!

Red Rock Canyon

The weekend before Thanksgiving, Niel's sister Stephanie, her husband Deven, and their baby Silas came to visit. It was our first time meeting Silas. He is a cute, smiley, baby. We went with them to Red Rock Canyon and hiked around. Here are some pictures from the beautiful day at the canyon.

Ethel's Chocolate Factory

On our way home from Hoover Dam, we stopped in Henderson at Ethel's Chocolate Factory. Outside of the chocolate factory there is a huge cactus garden. They were putting lights on the cacti and getting ready for Christmas while we were there.

M & M World was there too! I love this picture of my Dad. I told him to pose like the M & M.

We took the factory tour and learned all about chocolate and then got a sample of chocolate at the end. OK-so maybe we went through twice to get another sample:) Their chocolates were SO delicious but ridiculously expensive. Luckily, my dad recognizes the worth of great chocolate and bought some for us!

The next day my parents went back to Washington. It was so fun to have them visit! My aunt and uncle were great hosts for all of us and had us over for dinner several times while my parents were here. It was fun to spend time altogether, especially since I didn't get to spend much time with my aunt Marilyn and uncle Carl growing up. I'm looking forward to seeing my parents and family in a couple of weeks at Christmas!

A Dam Good Time

My parents took me to Hoover Dam while they were in town. It was a sunny and pretty day, so we got lunch at the cafe and ate outside overlooking the dam.


Hoover Dam is pretty amazing...if you ever visit Las Vegas it should be on your list of things to see.

Le Reve

On Saturday, while my parents were in town we had a fun day! We went to Fashion Show Mall and Red Rock Canyon during the day.
Then we had dinner at Maggiano's on the strip with my parents and my aunt Marilyn and uncle Carl
And THEN we went to Le Reve at the Wynn!!!We ended the day with some homemade ice cream from the Wynn.


Le Reve was quite the show and very entertaining. I hadn't seen anything like it ever before. The stage is a pool of water in the center of the theatre. Everyone is seated in a circle around the water. The cast members come down the isles during the show. Niel was so close to them he could have touched them. They did crazy acrobatic things I never imagined possible. Lots of dancing, special effects, stunts, synchronized swimming, and diving. Definitely Vegas style.

St. George

The St. George Temple was the third temple to be completed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was really neat to see some of the original work and craftsmanship of the pioneers.

My parents came from Washington to visit Niel and I in the middle of November. While they visited we took a short road trip to St. George with my aunt Marilyn and uncle Carl to go to the St. George temple (Niel had to work). It was my first time seeing that temple and it was beautiful. Afterwards, we went to see the home of Brigham Young and take the tour. More pictures to come of all the adventures we had with my parents!

Converted

After two years of Niel trying to persuade me to get the iPhone, I got one for my birthday. For the last three years I have been the proud owner of the Pantech C300, lovingly referred to as the "zoolander phone" by many because of it's small size (2.7"x 1.7"). I was insistent I didn't need a fancier phone.

Now I have my itunes, email, GPS, phone, Pandora, internet, facebook, and much more all at the palm of my hand. I no longer have 'to do' lists and 'grocery lists' lying around either. Plus, there really is an application for just about everything. The iPhone really is everything it is cracked up to be.