Viva Las Vegas Part:2

Here it is continuing. Feel free to leave now. I know I post a lot of pics that don't really mean anything to you. Haha

Me drinking a VIRGIN strawberry Daiquiri out by the pool on a lovely sunny 74 degree day. Pure Bliss. They had some fun rockin music. I wish I spent more than just one day by the pool now. It stinks but the pool closed at 5:00 p.m. so the guys never got to enjoy it. So get this. In the summertime when the beach pool is open, this pool that we were sitting at is for european bathing. That means you don't have to wear full swimsuits if you didn't want to. You do have to be 21 or older to be able to come in in the summer. don't worry in the winter they open it up for everyone and require swimsuits. weird huh.

This was the ceiling in the Venetian hotel. Beautiful artwork. I felt like I was really there in Venice Italy. They even had gondola rides inside going throughout the hotel. It was huge inside with little shops everywhere. I couldn't really afford anything from these high end stores but it was fun to look.

 Peter had a friend that was able to hook us up with some free David Copperfield tickets with great seats. We thoroughly enjoyed the show, especially when he made Dad and a group of other people disappear on stage and reappear in the back of the theater all within a matter of seconds. Dad did not reveal his secret to us no matter how hard we tried to coax it out of him, he kept his mouth shut. I'm sure he had to sign a waiver or something saying he wouldn't tell.

 Cool skyline pic at night of downtown.

 More downtown.

 You know you are in a fancy hotel eating fancy food when your bottled water looks like this in a glass.

Ok so we decided on our last night to play black jack because that is what mom was waiting to play all week. So Dad, Mom, my cousin Andrew(who was also at the show for work) and I all sat down at a $15 dollar table to buy in. I was so nervous and shaky I was going to mess up or something. So I started by buying in with forty dollars which would give me two rounds if I lost both times. I think I lasted like 3 or 4 rounds and only had ten dollars left so Scott gave me another $20 and it was all uphill from there. Once I wan't so nervous I started doing really well, every time my pile got bigger I would do what you call color up (trade in a pile of smaller chips for some bigger ones) I would color up $25 dollars at a time, and as soon as I would win that much, I would give it to Scott so I wouldn't spend my winnings. After going down some, then up some, I eventually quit the game with at total of $270 dollars. now if you take away the $60 it took my to get going then I won a total of  $210. Can you believe that? Now I see why gambling is addictive for some people. Easy money. So out of my winnings Scott took $125 so he could go play poker in the poker room. He was looking forward to this since we found out we were going to vegas. He likes to play every once in a while with friends here at home, so to play in a real casino in Las Vegas was a treat for him. After a couple hours of playing Scott turned $125 into $280. So in total we came home with about $400 dollars in our pockets. That pretty much paid for my trip out there. I did lose like $40 more dollars when I went back to play black jack, so I quit for good after that. We picked a bad night to stay up and play on our last night there. We didn't get to bed until 2:30 in the morning, and we had our alarm set for 3:45a.m. Of course we didn't actually fall asleep, I think we were both too excited from winning money to sleep. Haha. Our plane Left Las Vegas at

 5:40 a.m. so we arrived back home at 12:10p.m. our time. We were pretty exhausted but so excited to see our little girl who we missed sooooo much. Whenever we are away from her, we always so Oh man, Annie would have so much fun doing this or that here with us. This pic below was snapped just before the casino guy was like no pic, no pics. I guess you can't take pictures at the tables while playing. Something that has to do with card counting I guess. Yeah, do I look like a card counter? I don't think so.

So now that we are home I thought I would post a few pics from today and Yesterday. That weather is so beautiful today that We got home from church and stayed out in the yard for a little while enjoying the weather. Scott took Annie for a little Longboard riding. down the street. She loves adventure.

 She saw Daddy climb up the ladder to get the christmas lights down. Don't judge us, yes we may have waited to take down the lights until the end of February, but we did have our tree out before New Years........ Anyway, Annie walked right over to the ladder and started to climb up to join Daddy. And He actually let her up. I admit, I was a little worried having my little 1 1/2 year old on our roof, but Scott would never let anything happen to her. She loves being with her daddy.

 Here is Annie with a new hair style. Believe it or not, she achieved this beautiful volume by having her daddy suck her hair up with the vacuum cleaner. I know it's not the most sanitary thing but hey, look how cute she is. She loves how it feels. Heck! So do I, in fact I do it to myself sometimes. You should try it sometime, it feels wonderful. Haha

Side view of the masterpiece.

Well that's it for updates on our trip. As for Pregnancy update My belly has definitely popped now at 13 weeks. Sorry Bri, I will put a pic up soon so you can see. Still getting over the nausea but doing much better than before PRAISE THE LORD!!!!! Tomorrow I go to the doctor for another check up, I will ask the ultra sound tech to see if they could guess what the gender is. I hope we can see something and get some type of clue. Who knows. 

Yours Truly

Viva Las Vegas Part:1

We just got back from another business trip for Scott. I am so thankful and blessed that I can sometimes go with Scott on his trips as long as we can afford it. We were able to score some cheap flights so I could go with him. There was a composite convention so Bethany and Mom were able to go also, with Peter and Dad. The wives hung out while the guys were at the show. It was a blast. I have still been a little nauseas here and there, but I am so happy (praise the Lord) that I am getting better. Here are pics.

Annie was trying to pack herself in my bag. I think she wanted to come with us. Instead she got to spend the week with her Paw-paw and Grammy. Maggie in the backround wanted to come too.

So the first thing we see getting off the airplane in Vegas was slot machines, literally right there at the terminal. We had to take three different planes on the way to vegas. It was a full day of traveling. We stopped in Houston, TX, and Pheonix, AZ.

This was my first time ever doing a slot machine. Haha. I think I won a dollar and I wanted to keep it but I kept playing, so of course I lost it.

 We are definitely not in Knoxville, TN anymore. Welcome to the desert.

 Pretty sunset from the plane.

 This was the Hotel we stayed at. I am on the plane taking this pic, that's how close the airport is to the strip. We stayed at Mandalay Bay.

So here is a funny story. Dad and Scott and I all sat down at some slot machines our first night there and I won $35, Dad won $100, and Scott got $160. All from a dollar slot machine. Haha. So with Scott and I's winnings we figured we would use that and have fun with it the rest of the week we were there so we didn't have to spend more of our own money, although I'm pretty sure we did take some more out. But in the end we came home with lots of money. I do not condone gambling and usually don't like it much at all, but we figured this may very well be our last time in Vegas so we should at least see what it is like, and have a little fun. Dad also used his winnings throughout the week. I believe they slowly decreased more and more, until the last night when we decided to play the only game mom likes which was black jack 21. Let me tell you, that is also my new favorite game. I'll tell you more about that later.

 New York, New York hotel. It looks like a bunch of skyscrapers, but it is all one hotel. That is one thing that is cool about Las Vegas. All of the hotels had themes to them and were pretty cool to see inside.

 In the Parisian hotel, we got to get a Tiramisu in a chocolate cup. I think when I was in Vegas with my family years ago when we ate this at the same place it became my favorite desert.

 Mom and Pop.

 So the Monday we were there was International Pipe Smoking Day, and of course the guys had to smoke a pipe in honor of it. It was weird that you were aloud to smoke on the casino floor. Dad is holding up his winning ticket from the slot machines. Haha. So proud.

We decided since we were in the western territory in the desert, that we should get away from the city and enjoy the outdoors. We wanted to go on a bike ride in Red Rock Canyon, but were too late for the ride tour so we drove out to a loop out there kind of like Cades Cove in Tn. Of course not two steps out of the car and Dad gets attacked by a desert bush. It bled right through his pants. Peter and Bethany were not in town yet, that's why they are not in these pics.

This was the evil spikey bush that had it out for dad.

 See those little tiny people out there rock climbing in that black spot. Watch closely.

 See the black spot still, in the center of the picture? It is a lot smaller now.

 How about now? Can you still spot it? They were very far away as you can see. The red rock canyons were beautiful and majestic to look at. I love seeing new things out here that we don't have back home. I think that is why I like to travel, and can't wait to take a family trip with Scott and our kids when they get a little older, out west and visit all these places. Although I don't think we will be bringing them to Vegas.

 Here is Dad attempting to rock climb. He is like 50 feet up here and no rope or harness or nothin.(haha just kidding, not really).

 Photo opp

 I love the color change between the rocks, how it changes from orange to white. And I love the clear blue sky. Why is it always so clear out here and hazey most of the time in Knox Vegas.

 A little further into the loop and the mountains completely changed into this rocky looking stuff.

Part :2  to follow.