Viva Las Vegas!!

We headed out to Vegas September 12, with my brother, Brian, and his girlfriend Sarah. We just went for a long weekend but had a great time. Vegas is definitely over the top and a place everyone should see at least once. We, Brad and I, are the farthest from gamblers, I think most of you who know my husband would not be shocked by that! But there is so much more to do out there. It's an amazing place that is literally surrounded by nothing. It's a spot in the middle of some mountains. We stayed at the Stratosphere and from the top observation deck you can see the outskirts of Vegas all the way around. It was so fun and we hope to do it again! Here are some random photos:

I took this on the plane as we were landing. I'm not a big flying fan so I was happy to be safely on the ground. It was a decent flight although we were in the very back so we didn't have much of a view. This is the first flight I had in a long time without any kids. That was a strange feeling!

This is Brad and I on top of the Stratosphere's observation deck.

This is one of the rides on the observation deck. It shoots you out then drops you over the side of the hotel to make it look like you are going over the edge. I would like to say that is me on the ride but it's not. No one would go on them with me. So I went on the roller coaster at New York New York instead.

This is the Bellagio Hotel. One of the nicest hotels in Vegas. It has a water show that goes to music during the day and night. It's very cool to see.

This is one of my most favorite photos. For those of you who follow baseball I'm sure you will appreciate it too. This was in the shops in Cesar's Palace. Pete Rose signing autographs in Vegas...oh, how I love the irony of this.
Another shot of the shops in Cesar's. It's basically a high-end mall that is attached to the hotel. We did a lot of looking and no buying here!

This is in front of FAO Schwartz in Cesar's. It's a giant Dragon. I thought Kaylee would think it was cool. Taking a photo with the stuffed animal was definitely cheaper than buying it for a couple grand. Plus I didn't know how you would even get it home!

This is a fountain with an aquarium in the bottom. They do a show and the statues come to life and the fountain goes crazy and they shoot fire. It was pretty cool especially given it's inside the mall. Notice the Cheesecake Factory in the background. Yum!

Here is Brian and Sarah. This night we went to Old Vegas. We had a very interesting cab ride over by Dave, or Tim, I'm still not 100% sure what is name was, and I don't know if he is either. It was just good to get there safely, but made for a good story....for another time.

This is Brian with some sunglasses in the gift shop of the Hotel. He really admired these every time we walked by. Which was a lot since the shop is right next to the elevators.

This is a light show they do in Old Vegas. They shut off all the lights on the whole old Vegas strip and this is a dome that runs down a few blocks, so it goes on over your heads. It goes a long to music.


This is a photo of the Eiffel Tower which comes up through the ceiling of the Paris Hotel. It's pretty cool to see. Now I've never see the real one in person but this one sure looks an awful lot like it!

As I said it was a fun trip. I have many other photos but didn't want to be to excessive on the blog. It was good to come home and see the girls. I think they missed us, although they had a lot of fun staying with Mee-Maw and Paw-Paw T-Dog, and even got to go to the circus with Mee-Maw and Brad's parents.

Just Fishing With Dad

I am very happy that both of my girls enjoy the outdoors. This summer Kaylee really got into fishing, which makes her Daddy happy! Fortunately my parents have a pond. This makes fishing with a 3 year-old much easier. We are close to bathrooms, don't have to pack a lot of things because everything you could need is in the house and best of all when she gets bored Brad can still fish. It's so fun to watch them together and I know as she, and A, get older it will be fun to take them on the boat fishing. Kaylee doesn't mind the worms or the fish. In fact many nights she would ask to go look for "wild worms" which means worms outside that you find in the dirt. Apparently the ones you buy in the store are domesticated? I wanted to share some of the cute photos of Kaylee with her Daddy.

Daddy getting Kaylee's hook ready for her to go fishing.

Daddy and Kaylee getting ready to cast and catch "The Big One".
Waiting patiently for a bite.....

I think we have a bite! Let's reel it in!!

Success! They caught the fish!

Kaylee holding her fish. What a cute little fish!

This is a photo from a different fishing day, but one of my favorites!!

St. Jude Photos

Since I have already posted all the St. Jude information I thought I would just do a separate "photo post" to show the pics from the day.

Here we are at 6:15 a.m. getting everything ready to start the day. All the runners start here and all the shuttles line-up. Each team has a shuttle or an RV.

This is my cousin Danielle, her mom Michelle, who is also my cousin, runs as well. She was photographer for the day!

Here are one of the stops the shuttles and RV's do. They are usually every 1 to 2 miles and people who have been running can stop, and those who want to run can jump in. Those who aren't running ride to the next stop.

This is the runners crossing the bridge to Peoria. I am hanging out of the passenger side taking photos so they don't have to be viewed threw the driver's window. Brad is in the back to the left, white shirt and hat on, with gray shorts.

I do have some other photos, however most of them are from this angle as I was in the catch van always behind everyone. Again it was a great day and such a neat experience. Looking forward to next year!

St. Jude Run Results

Sorry for the delay in this post. I've been having difficulty posting with my photos. So since I'm over a month late in getting this posted I am opting to post this and add photos later.

Saturday, August 2, we arrived at Eastland Mall around 6:30 a.m. It was quite the site as there were all the shuttles, vans and runners for St. Jude. We start at Eastland Mall and make our way to Peoria. The majority of the run is done through small towns and in the country. It's amazing the people who come out to support this, but yet I wish more people would come out to watch and cheer. Thankfully there are police escorts in front of and behind the pack to keep everyone safe. Many towns even have their firetrucks waiting to escort us through as well. It's truly a sight to see so many come together for one great cause. It brings tears to my eyes even remembering the day. There are even a few people, whom have been personally touched by St. Jude, that make numerous stops throughout the day to offer fruit and water and show support for all the runners. Once you get into Peoria everyone gets cleaned up, puts on the same shirt for their team, lines up with all the other teams and runs into the civic center. They have a nice dinner for everyone and then we get to do the check presentation. Our group raised over $200,000 this year! AMAZING!! I have to say if anything can motivate someone to run it was this day. Those that know me have heard me many times say "I am not a runner" or "I don't run". Having said that you just may see me "run" next August! Brad ran a total of 19 miles this year! He felt great the whole day. Thanks again to everyone who donated money to our cause. We so appreciate it as do the many families who are aided by St. Jude everyday!

Side note: On the day of our ran a young girl named Haley was there to support her Dad. He was running to support her, as she is a St. Jude patient. Well things with Haley have been progressing well, but the family has recently found out one of their son's has been diagnosed with the same form of cancer. There are so many cases such as these, please always remember the precious children of St. Jude in your prayers.