Las Vegas Photos

Here are the pictures taken in Las Vegas by Aspyn Grace Photography

Interruption

We interrupt the regularly scheduled blog and bring you this explanation/cause of the recent lack of posts. April 25th we were at my parents house celebrating my brother's birthday. We had dinner, dessert, and opened presents. Ellie was getting tired so we started packing up our things and loading up the trailblazer. On our way home everything was normal. We pulled into the garage and Missy grabbed the diaper bag and headed into the house as I took Ellie out of the car. Then Missy screamed something like, "We have been robbed!" No, she was not kidding. When I walked in, I saw the less valuable content of our entertainment center on the floor. They even pulled out the spoon we use to keep Ellie out of the cabinets below the TV. Apparently they didn't like anything there. They left the TV, DVD player, VCR (I know, I know, what is that?), PS2, Stereo, DVDs, PS2 games, dance mats, buzzers, and anything else that we usually keep there. From that room they did take Missy's laptop from school that has all of our pictures on it and her iPod. Next I looked in our bedroom. They must not have found what they were looking for, or they thought that we must hide the really valuable stuff. They emptied out our dresser drawers. Threw the bedding off of the bed. Lifted the mattress, stole a pillow case and also took both of our cameras and the case we kept them in, my PSP with 5 or 6 games, my power adapter for my laptop (which was in the front room feet from Missy's, but it was in it's case), Missy's $300 breast pump and her scriptures from when she was baptized. I think that is everything that they took. They got in through the back door, which they broke. Yes, the door was dead-bolted. You might be wondering where Windu was while this was happening. Locked in his kennel in the backyard. The tore our baby gate down, I guess they weren't smart enough to figure out how to just open the door on the thing. They tracked mud down our stairs. I guess that they thought they would go after the really valuable stuff downstairs. I bet they were surprised when they found an unfinished basement! They left out the front door, by simply unlocking it. The neighbors told the officer that Windu was barking a lot around 8 pm, but because he always barks they didn't think anything of it. In Windu's defense, he only barks when someone is out front. It just so happens that there is almost always some neighborhood kids in the street out in front of our house.

So we spent our Sabbath ripping out our old door and putting in a new one. Now Windu has free reign of our backyard, so watch out. That is the reason for not posting in a while and hopefully we will be returning to our regularly scheduled blogs even if Easter was a month ago.

Viva Las Vegas!

As Weston previously mentioned, we went with Marc's high school baseball team to Las Vegas. This was Ellie's second round trip journey on an airplane. We were a lot less nervous to fly again because we knew what to expect and also because Weston's parents were there to help with her. When we arrived at the airport, we took a shuttle to the new rental car center and Weston waited in Dollar Rent-a-Car's line for an HOUR to get our car. Our pickins were slim so we drove a black PT Cruiser for the week. What a weird car! Tuesday (our day of arrival) was pretty much wasted after that, but we toured the casino, went grocery shopping and ran some other errands. It was our only day without baseball games so we had to try to keep busy.

Wednesday Marc played at 8:00 a.m. and it was a good game. Marc was playing first base for the varsity team. He's only a sophomore so we weren't sure where he'd be playing, but he played varsity the whole tournament. Ellie was a little antsy and I was horrified she would get sunburned so what I saw of the game was great. After the game, we went swimming at the most windy pool I've ever experienced. The hotel we stayed at was a giant tower and the pool was right to the side. The lifeguard explained that all of the wind that hits the hotel tower blows right down to the swimming pool. It was freezing! The pool temperature was fine, but as soon as you got out the wind froze your skin. We didn't swim for very long, but it was fun to see Ellie crawl around.

Thursday Marc played at 3:00 so we decided to tour the Ethel M. Chocolate Factory and cactus gardens. They weren't doing anything that exciting, but we got to sample chocolates. Mmmmm. We then headed to the strip to walk through M&M world and the Coca-Cola Store. Grandma and Grandpa bought Ellie an M&M outfit so she can look like Yellow. We bought her a pink baseball hat in the Coke store. We got back to the hotel with just enough time to get ready. Marc had his game and we had family pictures scheduled with a friend that lives in Vegas. We thought we'd be done in time to catch the end of Marc's game. We missed it all, but they did win again.

Friday Marc played at noon at the College of Southern Nevada. They had the coolest stands to sit in. They were made of great big red rocks and there were no seats. You could either sit in a camp chair or sit on the rocks. It was great for Ellie because she actually got to crawl around a play a little. Marc's team stayed "in the game" until the fourth inning. They lost to a tough California team. We were upset, but seemed to forget about a lot of the disappointment with orange cream slushes from Sonic on the way home. We continued our therapy session by going to the Adventure Dome at Circus Circus. Ellie rode the carousel for the first time and some nice man gave her a stuffed tiger. She pretty much stayed with Grandma and Grandpa while Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Marc went on the rides. We finished our long night at Fazoli's to celebrate my birthday. 

Saturday's game was to determine third place in the tournament. Marc pitched for four innings in the middle of the game. They lost to a local high school team and took fourth in the tournament out of 16 teams. Ellie enjoyed her first tastes of lime snow cone from Grandpa. She wasn't quite sure what to think of it. After the game we shopped at the outlet stores nearest the airport. I found my dress for Jimmy's wedding and bought Ellie a dress also. It was then time to return the car and head to the airport. At the airport, Weston found a shirt that said "Potty like a Rockstar- Las Vegas." Of course we had to get it for Ellie. The flight home was later and Ellie was a little fussy, but we made it home alive and tired.

Bit by Bit. . . starting with the small bits

We have been horrible at keeping up with this thing lately. Sorry about that. I made a list of everything that has happened since last time we really blogged and it was a lot. So we are going to do this bit by bit. I decided to split it into 3 or 4 separate entries to make it more tolerable to read. Following the small bits will be Vegas, Easter, and an Ellie update.


By no means is this bit of information small in importance. My favorite (and only) brother is getting married in June! He proposed to Rylee when they went to watch Spring Training in Arizona during the second week of March. Their official wedding date is June 20 and we are so excited for them. They bought the cutest little skirt and sweater for Ellie to wear. My family got to meet her family a couple of weeks ago. They seem so fun and they love baseball just as much as Jimmy does. We can't wait!

Weston and I both celebrated our 26th birthdays! We feel really old because we're now nearing thirty. We had family over on March 28th and had barbecue chicken and bratwursts. I got to celebrate my birthday twice: once in Vegas with his family and once at my parents' house on Sunday. We both had great birthdays! (sorry no pictures)

Weston is going to start playing softball with a rec league Thursday nights. His first game is next week. My cousin Eric organized the team and Jimmy, my cousin Scott, and Jimmy's friend Sam are playing on the team as well. For his birthday, Weston's parents got him a softball bat and he still has yet to finish getting what he needs.

I have been off track for almost three weeks now. The crummy thing is I have to go back Friday morning so I will try to get my posts done before then. Sometimes is goes way too fast!