A Vacation without Grace!

I've been saying it for months.... Ben and I needed to get away before this baby came. So I finally stopeed talking about it and actually planned it. Since this baby's due date kept getting closer and closer I decided a closer trip to home would be necessary. We went to Las Vegas and St. George for 5 glorious days! We had such a wonderful time and are so grateful to my sister-in-law Kim, and Ben's parents for watching Grace while we were gone! Thanks Again!

We headed to Vegas on Wednesday 8/13. I haven't ever been there so that was the only reason why we ended up going. We stayed at the Monte Carlo Resort and it was a pretty nice hotel. We arrived Wednesday afternoon and after checking in we decided to walk the strip a bit.

This is the front of our hotel.

We walked through the New York-New York, it was a really cool place. And I couldn't quite get all of the statue and Ben in. Too bad this wasn't really taken in New York!
Then we walked down past Excalibur, crossed the street into the MGM Grand and saw some real live lions there. Then a stop at the M&M Factory. I was excited about this place. Grace has been obsessed with M&M's so we got some pink and purple ones for her. And since the Olympics were happening we got some Red, White and Blue M&M's for us!
Then we walked almost down to the Bellagio before I decided I couldn't walk anymore and was starving! So we headed back to our hotel and ate at a yummy mexican restaurant there. We ended our evening staying up really late watching the Olympics. Romantic, I know.

Thursday we slept in (which was so blissfull!) and headed to the Outlets. Ben loves to shop almost as much as I do, so we spent a good 5 hours there, and had a great time. We were pooped after that so we headed back and watched the new Indiana Jones movie in our room. Then a late dinner at a sports bar so we could watch more Olympics.

Friday we checked out and went to another outlet for about an hour and then headed to the Bodies Exhibit at the Luxor. It was fascinating to see the intricacies of our bodies and how amazing they truly are. We then headed to St. George where my Aunt Kay was a wonderful Hostess. We arrived at dinner time and she orderd us some ribs from the Texas Roadhouse. They were soooo good! MMM! My mouth waters just thinking about them. And you guessed it, we watched some more Olympics.

Saturday morning we headed to the Temple for a session. It was a beautiful temple and wonderful to be there together. The baby must have been super excited that we were there too, because he didn't stop moving the entire time. Boy did I have to go to the bathroom! I asked the temple worker if I could slip out, but I didn't because I didn't want to stop the whole session. So I sat there patiently holding it, until we had to move rooms and I was sure I wasn't going to make it. I made it to the other room, but was on the very back row. This was going to take forever! So i thought, Luckily the temple worker was watching out for me and sent me ahead of everybody else. I wanted to kiss her. I went through found the bathroom and then had a wonderful time in the Celestial Room waiting for Ben.

Saturday afternoon we went shopping at the Outlets again. That evening we went to Tuachan to see Les Miserable. It was awesome! I love how they use the whole canyon as the stage and the performers did a great job. So worth the money, but we missed Michael Phelps winning his final Gold Medal.

Sunday we had a delicious breakfast provided by Aunt Kay and then we headed home. We stopped to visit Ben's Grandpa on the way home and had a wonderful visit. We got home around 4:00 and we were so excited to see Grace. She was as equally excited to see us and it was a fun reunion. It's amazing that just a little time away makes you appreciate everything you have even more. I'm so grateful for a wonderful husband to go away with and I'm grateful that we still enjoy spending time together. And I'm grateful for our Princess and the happpines she brings us. What a wonderful life we have!