68 degrees never felt so good!

Well Jared and Stacey called Chris on Wednesday and invited us to Vegas for the weekend. After very little debate we decided anything was better than being stuck in the cold and inversion, so we decided to take them up on their offer!

P.S. I have more pictures coming, for some reason every time I try to upload them the internet disconnects
P.S.S. For some reason my pictures wouldn't turn, so thats why a few are the wrong way.

The Drive Down:Well it just so happened that it had been raining and since it hadn't gotten above freezing in weeks the rain literally hit the roads and turned to ice. Needless to say it was somewhat of a treterous drive down. We counted 12 accidents between Orem and Spanish Fork. We hit black ice at one point and almost hit a semi...needless to say we were white knuckles the rest of the drive down. Even though once we got past santa quin the roads were fine, we were still so nervous so once we hit Cedar City we decided to stop and stay at a hotel. We left Salt lake at about 9:00 pm so we had really good intentions of driving through the night so our kids would sleep but it was nice to drive the rest of the way during the day!

Shopping: Who are we kidding it is a good thing that I don't live in Vegas because I LOVE the shopping there. We hit the outlets on our way in and let's just say I have a love/hate relationship witht he GAP outlet but it was definitely a great day, they had such good stuff and who are we kidding it was so nice to be out in the sun. We also hit H&M the next day and a few other shops at Town Square. H&M was ok for me but the kids section was the BEST, I wish they had one here for the kids clothes alone (Ha ha ha) We also went to Costco. Jared and Stacey needed to get a few things and my family has Costco running though our veins so any time we go out of the valley and their is a Costco it is like we have to go and see if there is anything new (it is pathetic, but we love it!) Anyways it was fun to see some of the differences, and who are we kidding I haven't seen that much alcohol in my life...you could tell we weren't in SLC anymore!

Accomodations: Jared and Stacey are always so nice to invite us and let us stay with them. They have the perfect set up to have guests come and stay. We had the whole upstairs to ourselves and they were even nice enough to let us use Carter's crib and monitor while we were there...it was so nice. They have such a beautiful home and in such a nice neighborhood, we love staying there.

THE WeATHer: Oh my goodness can I just say I could move to Vegas for the weather alone (I would have to live where I didn't have access to shopping though, ha ha ha) After we hit the outlets we got the Jared and Stacey's house and once we got settled in Stea and I went for a run. It was so much fun and so nice to run outside, I haven't run outside forever and with the nice weather we ran again on Saturday morning. Not going to lie Loved it.

Recreation: Chris and Jared decided to go long boarding, it was like back in the day. It was so funny seeing them roll up to the park on their long boards. Also who are we kidding the parks are amazing, and there are so many. We went to a park on Saturday that was the bomb, Lydia was in HEAVEN!!! Also at Town Square they had this darling little kids play place that was darling. Lydia loved it, there were slides, little houses, a maze, a stage and so much more. Needless to say it was beautiful weather which made hanging around watching her that much more enjoyable!

Cousins: It was so much fun spending time with Carter, and I also think Lydia has a new best friend "BOOKER" their dog. They were inseperable the entire time, and even though I'm sure Booker was tired of Lydia trying to boss him around she has blessed him in her prayers every night ever since (ha ha ha!) Carter is such a cutie, it is so much fun knowing that him and Audrey and (Hawk) are going to be best buds, and so close in age. We got some pictures of the kids together and we laughed thinking one day we would look at these pics and think "AAAWWWW I can't believe how little you were!"

The Strip: One of the selling points on going to Vegas was we told Lydia we could go and see the Lions. She was so excited and on the drive out we stopped at MGM and saw the lions. It was pretty cool there was a bridge so you could literally stand underneath them and take pictures. They were sleeping almost the entire time thought so it wasn't super exciting but Lydia LOVED it. She also got to see "Fiona's Castle" (i.e. The excalibur") And the Statue of Liberty that Gru stole on "Despicable Me" She was pretty excited.

Overall: It was a great trip, so nice to get away, out of the cold and spend time with family. We always feel so welcomed and wish we did it more often. Thansk Jar and Stae, we will definitely need to come down more often!

Yes I'm a dork and I took a picture of the Costco...ha ha ha!

They are 11 days apart!

Cousins

Lydia and Booker

Stae and Carter ...love that huge smile!

Viva las Vegas

You can see the lions in the upper right corner.

Below the lions...or as Lydia called them Mufasa and Simba