Easter in Vegas

Well... they say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but we had too much fun not to share it!

We headed down on Thursday morning and arrived in Vegas around 5 or so... we checked in to the Stratosphere and I immediately hated the room! We paid 15$ extra a night for a "supposedly" bigger room and a view of the Strip. It was awful. For those of you that know the strip... there's not much to see from the Stratosphere it's a bit away from the other hotels so it was a view of a bunch of cranes! There is so much construction going on right now on that end of the strip.

So we went and asked for a new room. We got a much better view. It was looking west and it was a lot prettier and it worked so I calmed down a little. We have never stayed in that Hotel before but we had been there for the rides and I thought with Natalie and her friend Shalena ( we hired her to help us keep Natalie busy:)!... it would be a good hotel for them to run around in... well it was okay as far as Vegas hotel's go. Craig keeps trying to remind me that they really aren't in it to make money off of the rooms!

Okay... enough about that! We had a wonderful dinner in a 50's diner. The servers actually all sing and they have to audition to work there. It was awesome!! The kids loved it except Sami was sick the whole time... the smokey casino wasn't helping her any.

Friday, we went to the tower and the view was really cool. Natalie and Shalena and Zach rode the rides. We were so proud of Zach for not being scared. But, poor Sami... she cried for a long time becuase she was too small to ride anything. We had to bribe her! I don't know why she wanted to go at all... they are so high and one of them the girls were actually dangling from the tower... it's sooo high!!

After that, we hit the pool... it was FREEZING! I am not in love with the hotel at this point at all. But, Craig loved it... it had a weight room and he was the buffest of the buffest out there! The girls and I laid out for a bit! He had forgotten his swim suit so he was thrilled to work out!

We got cleaned up and went to Ceasers to shop and Craig took Zach to some batting cages! The girls and I shopped and got depressed at all the high end shops... it's crazy how expensive things are and that people pay those prices for a name... We did find Sami an Island Princess and FAO Schwartz... it worked for her bribe!! Natalie kept trying to get me to buy her a huge bear... she's such a funny girl.

Craig and Zach met us at the Cheesecake Factory. We had an LDS waiter a novelty on the Strip. It's weird, because we all noticed something different about him right away. It's amazing how you can tell when people are LDS. They have a light around them for sure. He was really nice! It was refreshing.

On Saturday since the pool was cold we didn't really spend much time there so the girls wanted to shop at some more realistic shops so we went to the fashion walk mall. We were done shopping after awhile, but they both got a cute dress for Easter!

We then headed to MGM and went to see the lions and then to the M&M factory. That store is insane! If you love m&m's you are set! I've never been there before and I was amazed what they can put m&m logos on!

We headed to New York New York and ate there and then headed back to the hotel. We took a round about way through the parking lots and it felt nice to be outside with the flowers and the fresh air and no SMOKE!

Vegas is such a funny little place. In one 3 or 4 mile strip there is so much SIN. We had to explain to the kids that the games really aren't games. In fact there was a game room in our hotel and we used the jackpot game to show the kids how you can put quarter after quarter in and still win nothing. I think they got it but they couldn't grasp how come so many people would play and do bad games. I think it was a good learning experience for them to see that we really are blessed with the knowledge that we have that our church is true and that our Savior died for us and was resurrected so that we may live with Him again.

On Sunday morning, we checked out and headed to Hurricane to see Craig's parents. We had a nice talk in the car about Easter. As we were heading out we saw written in the sky a huge smiley face and then I love J. Zach and Sami quickly said the J was for Jesus. I love their cute little minds and all the fun things that they say.

They are so close to Jesus and have such a beautiful relationship with Him. I like to fly behind them!

Happy Easter everyone! Remember how lucky we are we KNOW that we will live with Him one day, because of the sacrifice that HE bore for US!