Sam and Terri Anne: Day 3

Sam and Brent had decided that Sunday would be a great day to go admire the wonderful landscape that our Heavenly Father gave us! So we went off to Red Rock Canyon.

We are staring directly into the sun. Chloe was the only smart oe to actually look away!

Here is some of the rare beautiful landscape. Yes, I will openly admit it: I find VERY few redeeming features in the desert, but when you throw a little Green into the equation Even the desert can be pretty.

Terri Anne was such a good sport. While we were all out climbing on the rock she would watch and play with Chloe (who I am pretty sure wanted to be out there just as bad as we did!)

Brent and I climbing around. I always think I am not adventurous until I see something I can climb on and then I AM OFF! I loved it! Brent and I plan to go back to climb higher when it cools down a bit and when the Bar is finally over!

Although I love to climb I am not nearly as fast as Brent and Sam. They were usually 5 steps ahead of me, but I always caught up.

I think this is a very cute family picture. Terri Anne is pregnant in this picture, I hope I can look that good when it comes my time.

Family Picture at one of the overlooks. Can you tell Chloe looks tired?

At another stop along the 7 mile drive we found these hand prints which had been left by earlier civilization. Notice that my hand is hovering over one of the prints... Brent didn't think that was necessary I guess! There is one in the middle of us that you can see really well!

Two boys atop a cliff... Probably not a good idea! Luckily, thy both have amazing wives who are willing to be the voice of reason!

This is a tree we found on our drive. 1 Trillion points to anyone who can name what kinds it is!

Very nice view as we were headed out of the park.

Red Rock Canyon was pretty amazing. It felt so good to be out in nature and just enjoy fresh air and just enjoy this beautiful earth. Our next national park that we will be going to will be the Ring of Fire! I am hoping it is as much fun!

Sam and Terri Anne: Day 2

Saturday Morning was great. Mainly because I did nothing! We all laid around until about 11:00 am and then decided that we were ready for the pool. We have a neighborhood pool and I was pretty excited to go and see what it was like!

There was a great spot that was only 6 inches deep! It was great for Chloe who could walk around all by herself!

The adults were a little more hesitant to get in! Sam had already jumped in and insisted the water was FREEZING, so Terri Anne and I decided to wait until we were burning to get in, which didn't take to long!

Chloe loved playing with the balls! So did Brent and Sam. There was this little squishy baseball that Brent and Sam played with for a good hour. Once I got in, I was delighted to find it was only cold for the first five minutes and then it felt AMAZING!

There is the little ball that Brent and Sam were skipping back and forth to each other. Chloe just wanted to play so bad!

That evening we went back out to the Strip! This is in Cesears Palace. It was pretty neat. Brent said he thought it was cooler than the Trevi Fountain (JOKINGLY OF COURSE!)

Family picture at the Bellagio. Chloe hated not being able to see everything.

We worked out way down to Treasure Island because they had a free show. Turned out be a bunch of cute girls dressed in... well not very dressed at all. They were suppose to be Sirens, but I think someone found an excuse to dress them in nothing. The story wasn't great but a few of the effects were! This Fire was SO HOT!

Chloe and I just hanging out. I decided that I am not a crowd person. I would much rather walk all by myself than with a million people. You are probably saying "who wouldn't?" and that would be a very good question.

After the TI show we went and watched the Volcano explode at the Mirage.

It was another nice cool night on the Strip. there were a lot more people, which made it a lot more stressful for me. Just a warning for anyone who comes to visit: We are more than happy to go to the strip again but it will have to be on a week night or you may just get dropped off and picked up!

Terri Anne and Sam: Day 1

We are finally starting to feel settled and so it is only fitting that we have friends to come and visit us in our new home. Well luckily our friends Sam and Terri Anne (accompanied by their adorable daughter Chloe) came down for a visit.

Friday night After we got off work and had some dinner we decided to do half of the strip!

Before hitting the actual strip we had to go to the mermaid show. Every half hour in a large fish tank a mermaid would magically appear.

She would do magical trucks, blow kisses and just be and amazing presence. Chloe was smitten. The mermaid also seemed pretty smitten by Chloe as well! She got a lot of attention from the mermaid and the crowd! I pretty much decided this is my dream job and since she is wearing a full body wet suit I am pretty sure immodesty is not even a concern. I am seriously considering applying!
We then headed to New York... well New York on the Strip. It was so bright and alive!


Sam, Terri Anne and Chloe on the Brooklyn Bridge
Since it was about a million degrees out (which translates to about 90 degrees) we kept going in and out of the buildings. Terri Anne and I agreed that if we lived a different lifestyle the chandelier club would be our hang out of choice (or the clubs were more wholesome I should say!). It was really beautiful.

WE were working our way down to the Bellagio for the fountain show. We made it just in time (although it was a REALLY LONG walk). the song was "I am Proud to be an America" I thought it was a weird song choice for the location but the choreography fit the song perfectly.
While Trying to decided whether or not to just turn around and call it a night (It was 10 pm and Chloe refused to sleep in the stroller!) we were bombared by a street magician. Sam and I ate it up! It was really neat. I could figure out some of the stuff but not everything. I know he does it for money... but NONE of us had any cash whatsoever. I felt bad, but he stopped us so I figure he ran the risk. If I see him again I will tip him though because he did provide a good ten minutes of fun!


On the walk back Chloe finally gave in. I love this daddy daughter shot. Terri Anne and Sam are great parents and it really shows when Chloe is so fun to be around even though she is so so so tired!

Our final stop was M&M world. It was four stories but all we need was the Wall of M (my name not theirs) It was 13.99 a pound but sometimes you have to indulge.
So I got a mixed bag of peanut, peanut butter, and pretzel M&M's. It was $4.00 but a great treat for everyone to share on the drive home.

Our feet hurt so bad by the end of the night but I was glad to finally see the strip (this was my first real experience with it!) WE chose to only do half and then do the second half the second day (post to come!)

Remaking the house: Dresser

Lately my life has been pretty... Boring. I have been doing everything I can think of to try and get this house set up but no matter what I do it never seems to be enough. One project that I just recently finished was remaking a dresser I purchased on craigstlist. I spent $15.00 on the actual dresser.

I took everything out to our side yard, disassembled the hardware, and then got to spray paint ready to go! I spent $9.00 on spray paint.

This is my first spray. I was really nervous because I didn't want to sand down the wood. It would have been a lot of work, and I wasn't expecting miracles here but the more expensive spray paint did its job famously!

You can tell I had just gotten done at the gym and wanted to finish this before I went up and actually got ready for the day!

After I spray paint the entire thing I waited 6 hours and then moved it upstairs into the bedroom. It took me forever to get hardware that I thought would work okay. I also could not find the correct screw length for the life of me and had to go back and get 3 different packets of screws before they finally worked!

I spent $18.50 on hardware (more than I thought it would be!)

I really like the way it turned out. I had to repair a roller guide and a few of the drawer bottoms were falling out but overall I really think it looks nice.

I should have probably sanded it down but this dresser is a great fit for what we need it for!

Total cost: $43.50