Saying Goodbye to Las Vegas

Saying Goodbye to Las Vegas

Aaron and I decided almost the same time we moved to Las Vegas that we wanted out, but we felt like Las Vegas was right for us. When Aaron graduated college we went through an intense soul searching to figure out where we were going from there. For awhile we thought Arkansas, then Texas, then we settled on California. We will be in Redding, CA for about a year then we will be moving into Oregon as IN N OUT continues opening up highway 5. He's going into their management program and will be working on his 4th manager position as soon as we move. He should be able to move up faster in the company if we are willing to move with the company.

We said goodbye to our desert and the park that we live next to. We said goodbye to our hide under the car heat, our swimming pool, and our indoor crafts only days.

 I said goodbye to my temple work girls and we had breakfast together, ironically at a bar, where I was the only one to get my ID checked. I guess I still look 16 when I don't have a child in tote.

 We said goodbye to our favorite neighbors, Karen and Albert. They sent us off with a feast of Albert's grilled ribs and watched Grace for a few hours while we packed.

Cute baby Alex

 We drove to Utah and stopped in to Melvin's new workplace to see what he does, and said goodbye to him.

Then we went to Danielle's house and met their newest member of the family little Ephraim. He was so cute and little I cried a little, then I cried a lot as I said goodbye to Dani. 

Then we made the rounds to Bill and Tamara and said goodbyes to them.

And to my family even though we would be seeing them in a few weeks.

Dad said goodbye to his motorcycle because Aaron took it with us.

And then we said goodbye to all of Aaron's family

 Including La La the cat.

 We are a little nervous but excited for this new adventure.

Happy Birthday Justin!

Happy Birthday Justin!

Justin turned 29! He's almost officially old. We celebrated by going to his favorite place-the Hibachi Grill. He only goes there a few times a week. It's like Mongolian Barbecue but it's also a buffet. It's delicious. Afterwards, we did cake and ice cream at their house. 

Ice Cream Festival

Ice Cream Festival

I was super bummed when Aaron had to work during the Ice Cream Festival because I really wanted to go. It's at the Spring's Preserve and it only costs $5 to get in and includes as much ice cream as you can eat. Fortunately for me, our downstairs neighbors were going and they said they would love it if we would come with them. They pretty much adore Grace.

We started with a butter pecan cone and quickly followed up with a chocolate and vanilla cone. Grace pretty much loves ice cream more than she loves life. She might have made a little bit of a mess, but she ate every bite of hers.

A.J. and Summerlin 

They had a craft to make ice cream cone confetti necklaces. Grace played with tissue paper and I made ours. Albert and Karen laughed at me because apparently I was pretty intense at making it perfect.

Finished product

We also did some face painting. Grace got a rainbow, I got a sun, Summerlin got a rainbow with flowers, and A.J. got a pokemon ball.

Root beer floats

We looked at the butterflies and ate even more ice cream. They had carnival games you could complete for a prize. Grace didn't get the ball even close to where it should go, but she did all the games so she picked a pink ball.

 It was really hot, so the ice cream was great until it was too hot to even want it. I probably drank a gallon of water. Grace didn't think like me, she out ate me by an ice cream cone, root beer float, and popsicle. It was a hit! 

Melissa and Randy

Melissa and Randy

Melissa's family wanted to come and hang out in Las Vegas with us because we are moving to Redding, CA soon. They love animals, so even though SeaQuest is really for kids, we took them there. They loved it! 

The birds were the favorite!

We hit Raising Cane's for lunch, and then some pawn shops because that was what Riley really wanted to do. I guess he thought there would be better junk in Las Vegas then Hurricane. There wasn't. After that we walked the strip for a while, and did the Sky Coaster at the LinQ.

Standing in line

The sky coaster is the biggest in the world, so we had beautiful views.

Getting onery

At the very tippity top

Then we walked to the M&M factory and Coke World and did the Coke around the World challenge. Some of those are really nasty, but we all tried a bit of each.

Zonked out. It was fun to have them see us! We are going to miss them tons!