Hey Baby! Let's Go To Vegas!

Since Matt and Jen have moved their family to Arizona our annual President's Day Getaway had to be moved from Bear Lake or Midway down South. So we headed to Vegas for the long weekend to spend some time together relaxing in the SUN!

First things first, Nate took Ethan, Ally and Jaicia to do Baptisms for the Dead at the Las Vegas Temple. The kids had a great time even though they had to wake up early on the first day of vacation. Nate got to tell them how when he was growing up and was in the Primary the kids used to drop pennies in a collection to help pay for the Temple to be built. He remembers bake sales happening and doing extra things to earn money to donate to the Temple fund.

Most of the rest of the time we just laid around eating, playing games, or we headed to one of the many pools on site at our timeshare.

Even though we have had a crazy mild winter, it was still nice to go somewhere a bit warmer and play in the Sun.

The kids especially loved the lazy river they had at our timeshare.

Since we were down there over Valentines the adults all snuck away to dinner together.

Matt & Jen, Dan & Jen, and Larry & Mandy were also down for the weekend.

On Sunday we drove around to multiple LDS Chapels to attend Sacrament and every chapel was like a ghost town. Doors locked, and no cars in the parking lot. We figured there must have been an area wide meeting being held somewhere. So we all ended up doing our own family devotional or Family Home Evening to make up the difference. 

On our way out of town we all stopped over at the Hoover Dam. I haven't seen it since I was about 5 years old and we were headed to California. It has definitely changed a lot.

Super glad we were there in February because it was getting really hot that day!

After we left Hoover Dam we headed over to Henderson, Nevada. It is a suburb of Vegas and where Nate spent the majority of his growing up years. He lived there from the time he was about 4 until he was about 14 years old.

Here he is in front of 

Mahlon Brown Junior High.

He attended 6th, 7th and half of his 8th

grade years there. 

We then went over to his childhood home at 

238 Concho Drive.

It has changed some but not too much he says.

While we were taking this photo the owner came out and we of course explained why we were taking a photo of their home. 

They graciously let us look around the yard and also invited us in to see the place.

They had their piano in same place Nate's family had theirs and of course Ethan took the opportunity to play it.

Janet did all of the brick work around this fireplace herself. Nate remembers her mixing the mortar in a large mixing bowl and spreading it out with a spoon. She worked on it a little at a time. Later masonry workers were in the home and they used a level and found that it was all level despite her never using one and figuring it out as she went.

It was really neat to see the home that Nate has told me so much about and that I have seen in pictures. This is where he lived with his 2 brothers and 2 sisters and his parents, John and Janet. This is also where they divorced. Before selling the house Janet and LaVere were married on the back patio.

Nate in front of his elementary school C.T. Sewell. He showed us the path he would walk home on and where his babysitters lived.

A lot of the surrounding neighborhood used to be open desert that Nate and his brothers used to play in for hours and hours.  

This is the church house that Nate attended all those years. He was in the Henderson 6th Ward. We would have gone inside had we had the opportunity but the day was getting late and we still needed to drive all the way home. Maybe next time.

Flashback Friday: When In Rome

Today's Flashback Friday comes to you from July of 2008. Our trip to Rome was somewhat spur of the moment. When we went Nate was just barely 6 weeks post-op from his Cancer surgery and we only had a window of about 2-3 weeks before he was to start Chemo and possibly have a VERY difficult, invasive surgery that takes about 6 months to recover from. So, we figured we better go and make some good memories to cling to over the next year or so. When we started looking at going on a trip Nate asked me where I have always dreamed of going. I told him Italy. He thought that sounded great. It was a bonus that world-traveler Nate had not been there yet either. Earlier in the year there had been a possibility of Nate going to Rome for work, and of course I would have tagged along as usual, but that had fallen through. That probably had some influence for me in wanting to go there. Add in the fact that Nate had a gazillion frequent flier miles and it would only cost us $90.00 round trip for the two of us and yeah baby, we're going to Rome!

We had originally planned on going to more cities than just Rome but once we got there and realized 1) how much there was to see. 2) How very tired we actually were. Nate having been diagnosed 6 weeks prior and all that that entailed while also putting in a yard, plus the long flight, we decided to spend the whole week there. Even though we had such a great time when we looked back we realized that a relaxing cruise would have probably fit the bill just a bit better. However, we wouldn't have changed anything. We have just the best memories of our time together in Rome.

This was the elevator at our hotel. It was SO tiny. It smelled kind of like an old bowling alley too. You know what I mean, old smoke and sweat.

This is the entrance to our hotel. Despite the sign for the um, entertainment, next door it was a very nice hotel. It had some interesting quirks about it but from what I have seen and been told, what hotel in Europe doesn't? In the week we were there I was only aware of the entertainment
music twice.
This is the Trevi Fountain. We walked past this numerous times a day during our comings and goings.

Nate and I eating some authentic Italian pizza. Let me tell you, Italian pizza is NOTHING like American pizza. They put all sorts of things on it there. Nate kept trying different food items when we went out to eat, sometimes to his detriment. I always stuck with tomato based foods and I can only remember one time where I walked away still hungry after opting out of finishing my dinner.

The Pantheon. That's me in the white t-shirt and navy skirt, and yes the gardening crocs. I KNOW I looked ridiculous in those things but they were so comfortable. I wore them every day and my feet did great and we literally walked every inch of that city.

There were water fountains like this all over the city. It was crazy to see how old some of them were. We were grateful they were so plentiful though because let me tell you something, Rome in July is HOT! There were many times I was wondering what in the world we were thinking being there then. So even when they looked questionable we always took advantage of them.


We absolutely LOVED all of the outdoor dining in Rome. There was always a street musician to serenade us. It was very romantic. Love. Love. Love it!
We were told that if we threw a coin over our left shoulder into the Trevi Fountain it would ensure our return to Rome one day. Of course, we didn't want to take any chances with that one. See me with my nightly sampling of Gelato? Good thing I walked all over tarnation every day to work it off. Well that and the 9x13 size plate of pasta and bread at every meal. Mmmmmmm. I almost couldn't eat at the Olive Garden when I came home it was so yummy there. Almost.
This was a private courtyard that we passed by and fell in love with. There were hundreds of them like this and it made me want to go home and build one in our yard right away. Of course it has yet to happen.

We really enjoyed seeing the Colosseum. We spent quite a bit of time there.


Here we are with Bruno the Concierge/Front Desk man at our hotel. We really enjoyed visiting with him. Doesn't he just look like a pleasant conversation waiting to happen? He really was fun and entertaining, I don't know what happened to him when the camera came out. When we left we even hugged. He was so sweet.

We have so many photos of our time in Rome. I thought I would be nice and only post a few. Then I looked at them again and realized I should share some more since who am I kidding....this will never get scrapbooked. I mean, really. So, here are a few more photo highlights of Rome.

We cannot wait to go back some day! Hopefully sooner rather than later. Until then Arriveaderci Roma!

Flashback Friday: San Diego April 2008

We stayed at the Bahia Resort in San Diego. This particular evening we were waiting to go on the Bahia Belle.



Hotel fun. Here the kids were feeding the ducks some bits of bread outside of our room. It was kind of a cozy dive. Ah, memories.



Our hotel was right on the beach. The kids enjoyed hanging out at the beach every evening. It was the first time they played on an ocean beach.






Heading home. Do you think we soaked up some sun? Poor little pink kids.