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.

Wilderness in the Smokies, and a lonely Valentine

Well this has been a busy few weeks, so lets dive right into the good stuff. Pictures, because there are lots of them. 

For Our niece Lucy's birthday we celebrated by going to Wilderness in the Smokies, an indoor water park that is part of a resort. We spent Friday night up there and swam Friday and Saturday. They had a couple kid areas for Annie, and a wave pool and some tube rides. It was pretty fun. I loved that it was warm and toasty inside, and snowing outside. here is Annie on a see-saw in the kiddie area.

You may not be able to tell here, but there is water shooting up from under the chair into Annies rear. She did enjoy the experience despite her face in this pic which would suggest otherwise. Haha.

I tried this flo-rider boarding ride. You can either try riding on a boogie board on your stomach, or ride a board kind of like a wakeboard which is what I did with out much luck. It was so much harder than I thought it was going to be. Hard to control it with water shooting at you. It was fun trying though. Don't forget I am 12 weeks pregnant here, but when I fell I didn't fall too hard. I like to say I couldn't balance because of being pregnanct. Haha.

Every once in a while Annie's little lips would turn purple and she would be shaking, so we would take her and snuggle up with her until she warmed up and was ready to take on the water again.

Playing in the wave pool. She was very brave, always trying to walk right out into the big waves when they were going.

Annie loved this swing that was over the water in the kid area.

                                                

My true love was away from me on Valentines Day due to a business trip, but he left me some cards and a very large bag of Hershey's Kisses. All those kisses represented how many kisses and wished he could have been giving me that day. I thought that was very romantic and sweet. I didn't get a picture of it, but my gift to Scott was a basket full of goodies for his trip. Lots of snacks for the road and such.

I do feel bad because I didn't really make it special for my little Annie. I know she won't remember it anyway at this age but I was still feeling pretty sick with nausea, and it was hard to do anything. Scott and I decided we would celebrate it together when I am feeling better anyway. It's no fun to go out to eat when you can't enjoy any of the food. 

Stay tuned for my next post on our trip to Las Vegas.

Yours Truly.

Updates. Boring title I know.

Well,
     It's time for some photo updates. Instead of telling you about each photo then you looking at them, I figured I'd tell you about each photo, with each photo. Check the bottom for baby update. No photo today, but I will put one up shortly. I just have to at least look half-way descent, and that is hard to achieve feeling like death these days (exaggeration...) Here's photos for you to catch up on.

Annie now gets on the couch and pulls a blanket on herself and grabs the remote. Can you tell what she has been seeing mommy do a lot lately? Hey i'm sick ok, give me a little slack for now. If i'm still doing this all the time when i'm not sick anymore then you can say something about it. Haha.

Annie is getting very skilled at climbing the kitchen chairs onto the dining room table. Then she likes to dump the salt EVERYWHERE!!!! She must believe in that whole dump salt over your shoulder thing way too much. HeeHee.

Here is Libby at Meghan and Andy Carr's wedding walking down the aisle. This is where Annie had her first little fit. Of course it would be at a wedding. Scott had to take her out and miss the whole ceremony. I guess it's time for some training on being able to sit still. Although she is still young and I don't think you can expect a one year old to be quiet and still during a whole wedding ceremony, unless your child has something wrong with them.

Helping Daddy do some quotes at work.

This is what the seat next to me usually looks like at church these days. I have my drink, and lots of variety of snacks. I try to find anything I can that would ease the nausea, here we have some lemon drops, white cheddar popcorn, cheese and crackers, starbursts, pink lemonade and dum-dum lollipops. Believe it or not, this stuff doesn't really help much. It takes a lot of focus for me not to gag at church. Sheer self will and the fact that I would really embarrass myself from gagging in church are really the only things that keep me ok.

The the guys decided to go on a planning retreat for work to set some goals for this year in Gatlinburg and the wives tagged along. We stayed at Buckberry Lodge, which was a beautiful lodge in a beautiful location. Here is poppy talking on the phone and Annie tagging alongside him. look at the backround. Gorgeous right?

So at the lodge you can hike a 1/2 mile down to the creek where they have adirondack chairs, and fire pits, and a hammock, and a place to play music, and just relax. Here is Uncle Pete swinging with Annie in the hammock. Notice the pretty little creek flowing in the background?

This is a little building down there where there are table and chairs and a fireplace inside in case it rains or something. We chose to sit in the adirondack chairs by the fire pit in the open. Annie and Hudson had a blast being out in nature and running around letting all their energy out.  Scott is being a great daddy on the right here and changing Annies diaper for mommy. He helps all the time, but a lot more recently since I gag when I smell her diapers. Hey it's just a little phase, I pray that only lasts the first trimester.

Hudson, being the crazy character that he is, pulled his pants down and was running around the little field trying to take them off all the way. He is so funny. He and Annie had so much fun that evening playing with Poppy. He was rolling around with them and chasing them all over. It was pure joy to watch them bonding. 

Here is Annies marker mustache we created while we made Daddy a happy birthday poster. She had fun drawing lines all over the poster with the (washable) markers. She managed to get it all over herself, and I thought I was watching her close enough to keep her clean.

For Libby's birthday this year she had a party at Build a bear with her friends. They are all around three years old and did pretty good understanding what to do. Annie on the other hand is still a little young and just looked around staring at everything and watching what everybody was doing. She did join in dancing in the last part of the song hokey-pokey. All the girls got to pick out their own build-a-bear and make it, then name it, and make it a birth certificate and everything. It was so cute. Thanks Libby for inviting us.

Annie has become quite the little helper. She likes to turn the vacuum cleaner on and off for us while we vacuum, and sometimes she tries to vacuum herself. I think this was a little heavy so she couldn't quite move it well. But I am so proud of her for helping. It's so crazy watching her get older. She now tries to repeat every word we ask her to repeat, and usually does a pretty good job at it. She just saw a picture of my parents and said nana and poppy on her own. Where has my little baby gone. It's a good thing i'm pregnant and having another one, cause I miss a lot of the little stages before one years old. I'm soaking up my time with my little girl as much as I can before she grows up and doesn't like to sit and give me kisses all the time, or before she talks in sentences that I can actually understand. I love how she tries to talk right now and looks at you like you aught to know what she is saying. she even tries to throw accents in there to sound even more real. It's adorable and soooooo entertaining. 

Ahhhh!!! My day-lilies, and Tulips are sprouting through the ground. This is so not fair, because it makes me want spring to be here, and warmer weather, with lots of sunshine. Well perhaps it will warm up early here in the Mid-south region and we will get an early spring. Who knows.

Baby Update

     Well, there's not much progress to tell about. Although I can say praise the Lord I can at least move around and get up without immediately feeling like throwing up. I still definitely feel sick a lot, but it does not seem as extreme some days. I think I may now be reaching the point where I will have some good days, and some bad days, and eventually the bad days will fade away. Oh how I look forward to that day when sickness will be no more. Please continue to pray that this will all pass after the first trimester. I don't know how some people go through their whole pregnancy feeling this way. Thanks for your prayers thus far, I believe there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and I will survive.

Yours Truly