las vegas

Oh, Las Vegas. We picked our getaway destination based on a few things:
1. Distance from home- we wanted far, but not too far.
2. Events- Adam had a friend getting married there this weekend
3. Hotel Value- we got a sweet deal on a gorgeous hotel room.

We got a little more than we bargained for in a number of ways.

Here is Adam a few hours into the trip. A good example of the weird pictures we take when we don't have cute kids to take pictures of.

The line of cars at Hoover Dam was CRAZY! It took us 45 minutes to get through Hoover Dam, they had security check points and tons of people were stopping, it really distracted me from the beauty of it all.

We were going so slow we could even snap a few pictures of ourselves!

Next time, we'll take this ginormous bridge they're building, from the sky! This thing was amazing, we couldn't believe how big it was and how they were putting it together.

6 hours later, Vegas at last! Our hotel was in the perfect spot, close to the strip, but not on it. This was the view from our first hotel room, but it had two queen beds, and we wanted a king.

This was our awesome bed, we loved it. The view however was of the top of the parking garage.

Check out that TV. Nice. We used it to watch Avatar. Worst $11 of the whole trip. Some of you who love that movie will have to explain to us WHY! We did enjoy some other TV as well, but still. . .

I was in love with these granite huge counter tops! Most of the time at a hotel you get about 1 foot of counter space, this was a welcome change.

We were in the car, underneath the stratosphere trying to decided if we were brave enough to go up. Then we glance at the entrance and watch a guy puke. Four times. That pretty much made the decision for us.

This was at Circus Circus, and yes, that is her leg she has behind her head. She was wrapping herself in and out of this net, suspended in the air, it was incredible. Then she would drop and almost hit the ground. At one point she was hanging with the net only around her neck! Very impressive!

We played a few games at Circus Circus and won these for the kids. The love them and have been snuggling with them since yesterday.

Caesar's Palace, very cool on the top and the bottom. The ceiling and the floors were absolutely incredible, but everything eye level we could do without.

At Circus Circus.

By far the highlight of the trip was the Las Vegas temple. I don't think anyone has told me how absolutely gorgeous this temple is. The inside is huge, and just beautiful. There were 11 people in our temple session and we met some of the nicest people there. They were so grateful that we were there and so kind and welcoming, it was just great. We didn't want to leave.

It was an interesting city, especially after spending the year studying and teaching the Book of Mormon. The phrase "eat, drink, and be merry" just kept running through our heads, that is what Satan wants us to think life is about. And then we have the temple, a beacon of steady light, no flashy colors, no billboards or blinking lights. Just pure white, peaceful and solid. We tried several times to see the Belagio fountains and decided after two attempts in just wasn't worth it. There is so much garbage on the strip, it wasn't worth a cool fountain show compared to what you have to put up with to get there. The casinos reminded me of Ocean's 11, where he says they are built to trap you in-- that is so true! And everywhere you go has a gambling venue of some sort. It was incredible.

We had a wonderful time. The cool thing was that just a few minutes away from downtown was super nice, good people just like anywhere else. We loved the wedding reception we went to, and the ward we attended Sunday morning. Everyone was just so kind! What a contrast to the casino life we saw from our hotel room. No one was laughing or even smiling. These people honestly looked lonely and miserable to me. I even saw one lady's maching going off, she'd won, and she didn't even crack a smile. She won something like $8.37 and I could tell she'd put a lot more in than that.

My hope for the weekend was a few days of no schedule, just relaxing, sleeping in and eating out, and we definitely accomplished our goal. Our hotel room was awesome and we loved just resting, not having to work around nap time, or snack time, or early bedtimes. It was just great. We're hoping to do this every five years. The kids did great for Neal and Kristen, and didn't even seem to miss us. But Carlie has wanted A LOT of cuddling this morning. I'm loving it.