Heading Back Up North...

On Thursday morning we planned to head back up to St. George to spend our last two nights of the trip there. We were slow getting ready again. I don't know. There's just something about being able to take a long shower and actually spend time on make-up and hair that appeals to me when I don't have two rambunctious toddlers demanding every second of my attention. Anyway, when we got down to the lobby to check-out of the hotel, Derek realized that his debit card was not to be found. We thought and thought and figured that it had to be at the Rainforest Cafe from the night before. And after some phone calls we found that it was there...phew! The Rainforest Cafe was inside of the MGM, but it was about a half hour walk to get there and back, so that put us back a bit.

When we got in the car Derek decided he wanted to try and book it to Mesquite to play golf so we put the peddle to the metal. Upon our arrival in Mesquite and a quick phone call up to the course, Derek realized that he wouldn't get to finish the course before sundown and decided it wasn't worth the money to play a partial round. That was fine, but the biggest bummer of the day was knowing that we hurried out of Vegas so quickly for nothing and that we didn't get to go to Gold and Silver Pawn Shop. No judging, but we really get into watching Pawn Stars! Derek loves the history side of it and I've found it quite interesting as well. We're still super sad that we missed out on going there, or even driving by it. I guess that means we'll just have to go back again right?

We went on to St. George and finally got our first meal of the day at 3pm. We were famished and we both agreed on a classic, but very delicious Cafe Rio meal. And it did not disappoint! We then made a few stops at Uinta Golf and the mall. Just for the record, the St. George mall stinks. When are they going to update that place and get some new stores? I did find the cutest dress in the world at Bohme so I guess it wasn't a total waste. Afterward we went to our condo (found on VRBO again)... a cute one bedroome place up at the Sports Village.

We got ready to go see Thriller at the Tuacahn that evening. We had planned on it being outside, but then as we were getting ready I started thinking that it would probably be at the inside stage since it was the end of October. Derek didn't agree with me, but we both dressed in short sleeves with thin jackets. I knew I was wrong when we pulled into the parking lot and everyone was dressed warm and carrying piles of blankets. Ooops! Luckily they had hot chocolate for sale and we each had another jacket in the car that we grabbed at intermission. That was our first time seeing Thriller and it was awesome! The dancers were amazing and I've decided now that I want to learn the Thriller dance now. Anyone in? In fact, we were both so intrigued by the dancing that we watched the Thriller music video when we got back to the condo and a few other Michael Jackson music videos. They're so strange, but so interesting.

Update on the boys: Thursday morning was Lincoln's Halloween party at preschool. I was pretty devastated when I realized that I wouldn't be home to get him all ready for that, but my sweet mom took over and did a fantastic job. She even talked him into letting her paint a patch on his eye. He looked awesome. They went home with my mom after preschool for lunch and naps. That evening we talked to them before taking off to Thriller. They seemed like they were having a blast at Grandma's house. The only concern Lincoln had that night was what direction we traveled to get to St. George. He wanted to know what way we went to get on the freeway and what we passed to get down there. Silly guy! My mom took them home to sleep that night and Carli met her later to stay as well. It was so nice to know they were sleeping well in their own beds every night. I found out after we got home that my mom and Carli had a hard time sleeping in our bed because of the little lights on the computer and printer. That makes it even sweeter that they went to our house with the boys every night.

Viva Las Vegas!

We were totally lazy when we woke up on Wednesday morning. Neither of us were able to sleep in initially. I woke up and made some calls to make sure all was going well at home and Derek's phone was ringing off the hook as he had several closings happening that morning. But after laying around til about 9:45, dozing in and out of sleep, we decided we had better get going on the day. We took our time getting ready. It was weird to not be in hurry for once and it actually took us a really long time to get ready because we'd get side-tracked laughing and talking. We finally made it to The Studio Cafe for breakfast at around noon. Derek tried steak and eggs for his first time and I enjoyed biscuits and gravy...a childhood favorite.

We planned to spend the day on the Strip just walking and stopping whenever or wherever. We stopped in little souvenir shops and found a little Angry Birds t-shirt for Lincoln. He's obsessed with Angry Birds and even more obsessed with wearing t-shirts of things he's obsessed with. Derek thinks it's adorable, but I must admit that it drives me nuts most of the time!

Next we made the classic stops to the M&M and Coke factories. I'm would usually never get suckered into buying anything in those stores but since the boys would be hoping for surprises when we got home, we couldn't resist the M&M light sabers we found. Lincoln has been wanting a red light saber since we went to Disneyland in March. Since Santa is bringing him that toy, we couldn't pass up a mini one filled with candy to tide him over for two more months.

We were looking forward to going to the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. Most of the shops are way to awesome for us, but we had a good time looking at all of the things we could never afford! We got totally sucked into H&M and both of us stocked up on clothes for our birthday and Christmas. Eeek! I can't wait. Oh how excited I am for H&M to join is in Salt Lake soon! (Does anyone know when it's really coming? I always look for a date, but haven't found one yet.)

When we realized what time it was after our shopping spree at H&M we had to book it back to our hotel. My little brother Corbin had received his mission call that day! We were sad that we missed being there, but we were able to be there via Skype. I heart Skype! I was able to talk to all of the family members that came over and then we were able to watch and listen to him very clearly. I seriously felt like I was really a part of the whole thing. And he is going to Bangkok, Thailand speaking the Thai language, leaving March 7th! He's such a stud and I know he'll be a great missionary. Corbin and I have become really close over the past few years. Bless his heart, if he gets talking to me long enough, I just ramble on and on about my life as a wife and Mom...not exactly what an 18 year old wants to hear about, but he is such a good listener! And I have tried to be there for him too. I'm going to miss him so much, but I am so excited to share his missionary experiences with him through letters and emails.

We had tickets to see Lion King at Mandalay Bay so we booked to catch the monorail over there. We hadn't eaten since breakfast because we were stuffed all day, but I was starting to get hungry and I knew I'd be famished if I didn't eat anything before the play got out. Our only option was to grab a thing of nuggets from McD's to eat on the monorail. Gross huh? But, you wouldn't believe how amazing those nuggets tasted in my starving stomach. Mmm. The Lion King was phenomenal! We pretty much haven't stopped talking about it since we left. Go see it!

Horrible pic, but it's all we have

To make up for our lack of food during the day, we ate at Rainforest Cafe on our way back to our room. We've heard people rave about the food, and it was alright, but not amazing. I made Derek get a picture by the gorilla in front of the restaurant because we just watched Zookeeper last week. The gorilla here looks just like the one in the movie, and we loved the gorilla!

We made it back to our room and Derek tried to keep me awake to watch Funny Farm. He can't believe I haven't seen it and it was one of the only things on Netflix we haven't seen. Their instant viewing selection pretty much stinks, unless it's cartoons for the kids.

Update on the boys: Heidi went to our house early Wednesday morning to take over while my Mom went to the temple and Carli went to school and work. She did an awesome job getting the kids ready for the day and keeping them entertained for the morning. She took the boys to play with Ella, Hannah, Crew and Ava for the afternoon. A big thanks to Kristin too. She definitely had her hands full with 6 kids 5 and under, but she's always more than willing to help out! My Mom picked up the boys in the early evening to get them cleaned up for the family gathering that night. Then her and Carli took them home that night to sleep. The boys had a fun day and we loved seeing their cute faces on Skype...although, apparently it's all good that Derek left the boys, but it's really not cool that I did. Lincoln and Carter are willing to talk to him on Skype or on the phone, but they're not that stoked to talk to me. Carter especially. Lincoln knew what was coming, but Carter feels totally abandoned by the one who's there for him all day every day. I can't wait to get home on Saturday and win him over again :)

A Little Getaway

Derek and I have been talking for the last few months about how we need a break. A break from the crazy day-to-day business that fills up every minute of our lives. We feel like we have so much to be grateful for. Derek's job is extremely busy right now, and in this economy we couldn't be more happy with it. His job allows me to stay home and be a full-time Mom to the most beautiful little boys in the world. And I LOVE my job. But what was lacking in all of that was finding time to spend together, just talking about whatever and remembering just why we fell in love in the first place! We decided that this last week in October we'd take a few days off and catch up on "us". We spent a few month looking at all of our options, but just like always, life got crazy and the trip-planning got put aside. I decided we'd have to wait and do it another time, but two Sunday's ago Derek decided it had to happen. Since we were way last minute we picked a relaxing, quick trip to Vegas and St. George. We had a week to throw it all together and find sitters for the kids. For a minute it felt like nothing was working out, but last minute it all worked out for us. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family who happily stepped in and watched our kids for us. It's so comforting to know they are with people who love them like we do.

We took off Tuesday afternoon at around 4 and drove straight down to Vegas. I am usually the driver since I get carsick so easy. I was proud of myself for making it in 6 hours even with slowing during a nasty storm and stopping for a little Subway in Beaver. It was just after 9 when we got there, but we were totally pooped. I told Derek that I was more excited to go to bed than anything! And not just to go to bed, but to go to bed in a nice room, without doing the whole bedtime routine that we've grown so accustomed to doing each night.

We called the kids to say goodnight. They were thrilled to have Carli and Corbin staying with them at our house. Lincoln is always begging for a sleepover with them, and he sure got what he wanted this week! After talking to the kids we turned a Netflix movie on and I was out in 5 minutes.

The only pics I took that day...Lincoln was insisting that we send him a picture of the "elabator" at our hotel. Every time we talk to him he want to know where we are in conjunction to the elevator. Funny kid!

And a pic of Derek on our bed. We loved the place we stayed. We found it on VRBO. It was actually a condo in the Signature Towers at MGM. We'd definitely stay there again!

(Derek does the thumbs-up in any picture I send to the boys and they like to do it right back at him)

Update on the boys: Carli stayed with the boys at our house that afternoon until they woke up from their naps. She took them home afterward where they ate McDonald's, Lincoln helped Grandpa and Corbin rake leaves, and Carter took a ride in the car to get the mail with Grandma. That night Carli and Corbin took them to our house to sleep.