Red Rock Canyon

On Saturday we got sick of sitting inside so we decided to get out into nature!  Off to the Red Rock Canyon!  I have got to warn you that if you come out to visit we are likely to take you here because it is AMAZING!

At the visitors center I decided to ride the lizard!  I think this could be the next big form of transportation!

 On reason we love Red Rock is because you get to basically climb all over a bunch of cliffs!  Of course Brent has to hang off one.  Our 7 year old nephew wanted to try, it was hard to explain to him why Uncle Brent got to act like a reckless doof and he didn't :) 

 Thank Tyler for taking a cute picture!

 Everyone hiking.  I really love to climb but I am a cautious climber.  I think it is because for how tall I am I have pretty small feet, so I don't have as much supporting my heights (that and I am a total klutz and fall a lot.)  It is because of this that I sit and scoot down whenever I feel uncomfortable.  Either way I get to where I want to go!

Josh and Tyler would tend to just disappear and then show up 100 feet away on some huge rock!  They swear they fight but I really didn't hear to much of it while they were here and none while they were on the rocks!

 The king of the world!

 All the Hikers!  Grandma and Grandpa decided to stay on more solid ground and Christi was home with a really bad head ache!

 Sometime Brent will say "Hey that is a great shot.  Mallory go stand there."  In this case he told me to go sit but I think it is a nice picture anyway.

 That was only one stop along an 11 mile drive.  The second was into a crevice. This is probably my favorite place in Las Vegas.  In the crevice there are trees, sand and quiet. I just love being so secluded.  It is really easy to just feel at peace in that situation.

 Everyone enjoying the hidden Crevice.  Although the park was WAY crowded no one else was in here, it made it so much more fun.

 At out last main stop Josh took off hiking just to discover that everyone else was to exhausted from hiking all over to keep going.  He was pretty bummed since this was one of the easiest place to climb really high into the trees.  I was a little bummed to but an exhausted 7 year old doesn't lie.

 Brent took a million amazing pictures, but I like the memories more than the cool landscapes, so I may have him to a blog with some of his favorite landscapes he took. 

I must say this was probably the highlight of the weekend for me!  It was such a great feeling to get out and get moving!  It made me feel less guilty about everything I ate too!

Coca Cola Factory

 While the family was down for Thanksgiving we decided it would be fun to go try the "Around the World" Tray at the Coca Cola Factory.  It is a tray with 16 coke products that are sold in other countries, but NOT in the US.

Since the factory is down on the strip we had to walk through the MGM to get there from where we parked!  While passing through we saw the Lions!  Of course they were sleeping.  You could also take a picture with a lion cub but it was $25.00.  I was pretty tempted though!

The tasting was fun.  Everyone generally liked the first tray and generally HATED the second tray.  Brent and I were excited to find that they change out the flavors every so often!  This is nice because it means we can take people to do it and not get bored! 

Eventually, the sweetness of the soda was overwhelming I pretty much quite!  Even a small sip was to much for me!

On our way out we saw the Polar Bear was taking pictures!  It was free so Tyler, Josh and I took advantage.

 The bear touched my back when I fist got up there and I have to admit it was weird.  This was an impressive costume!  the mouth, eyes, neck, arms and legs all worked so it made the bear really realistic.

 Of course on he last picture the bear bite my head!  Can you tell how red I am?  It was really funny and even though we had seen him do it to other people it still manages to be funny every time!

I really enjoy the coca cola factory.  Of course they have a ton of over priced merchandise, but it is nice they have some cheap activities too!

My First Thanksgiving!

This will be the first of four posts about Thanksgiving!  This was my first time cooking, and we were lucky enough to have Brent's parents, sister and brother in-law (+ three kids) in town for the event.   

Now onto the dinner!

I am not going to lie, I hated 99% of the cooking.  It was just such a chore.  It was so much money, and so much work for 20-30 minutes of enjoyment?  I don't get it!  I don't even like turkey and all the fixings that much, I told Brent our family may have to adopt a new thanksgiving tradition.  I was thinking it would be fun to just have each member of the family choose 1 item of food they are most thankful for and prepare that to create a meal.  That way we can at least each food I like.

Luckily, my lack of enthusiasm for the task still lead to a great meal for everyone.  They were so nice about how the food tasted.  I decided that all you need to have a great Thanksgiving dinner is butter and sugar.

Now for a few things I am thankful for this year:

BRENT!  He is always my number one thing that I am grateful for.  no other man could put up with me AND deserve me all at once!

My family. No matter what's going on I can always expect love and teasing from my family.  I am so grateful for all the support and realistic outlooks they provide me with!

Our house.  We are so lucky to finally have a little home which reflects my taste and is a place of peace and calm (sometimes!)

My experiences.  I have seriously lived such an incredible life!  Looking through past blogs and pictures I have really been given a life of fun, adventure, and excitement.  Although it is not every second it is sure more than I deserve and I am grateful that I have been able to have lived through everything I have!