VIVA LAS VEGAS!!

After Leslie and I ran our 5k, we showered, and headed to Las Vegas for the night!!

ON THE ROAD!!!

We got to my friend Kristi's house, got changed and headed down to the strip for a night of fun......

Our first stop----Margaritaville

smile!!

Her drink is as big as her!!


Leslie was so excited to have won $9.25!!

One of the things Leslie wanted to see while we were on the strip is the Dancing Waters at The Bellagio. One of the songs they played was "viva las vegas" It was BEAUTIFUL!!

Here is the video I took of the water....




Leslie was obsessed w/ these palm trees--she had to have a photo with one of these--even if it was a baby one.

Double fisting it baby!!!

Our couple pic in Vegas

The beautiful falls at The Wynn

Leslie and I had some co-workers in Vegas the same weekend that we were. We ended up meeting up with them at Fourty Deuce. They had gotten a booth. What an incredible night!!

Register and Simon

me and Register

Apparently Simon and Leslie think they are "ballers" in the VIP booth

Leslie and I say goodnight

Save-A-Sister!!!

On Friday, Leslie and I drove down to St. George for our 5k run the next morning. We had some good carbs at the Olive Garden and than looked around for some Halloween costume ideas and than went to my grandparents house to get some rest for our BIG run the next morning!

Leslie and I at the Olive Garden

On Saturday morning, Leslie and I ran the Save-A-Sister Breast Cancner 5k (3.1 miles) race. The trail was right behind the convention center and right along the river. And best of all---IT WAS FLAT!! The race was a lot of fun and a perfect way to start out the day!

This is all the pink we could find!

Leslie struts her stuff at the finish line!

Jenn's trip to Albuquerque!!

Part of my birthday present was to go to Albuquerque to see the Balloon Fiesta and see my bestest friend Cari. I flew out Thursday morning. We all headed to the Balloon Glow that night (and thank goodness cause that was the last glow for the weekend). Here we are at the glow:

all the balloons go up

The Wells Fargo Balloons

monkey balloon

one of my favorite balloons--Noah's ark

Ryan, Corinne, Cari, Isaiah, and Hope

Cari and me as it gets dark

The Bee's--they were holding hands

The "glow" starts

Isaiah and a tired Hope

No trip to see Cari is complete without some shopping. After spending the afternoon at Coronado, Cari and I headed out to Santa Fe to the outlet mall. We both found new Coach purses (of course). We tried taking a picture but it kept turning out blurry. Here is the best we could get (along with the beautiful sunset).

We LOVE COACH!!

On Saturday morning we attempted to go to the mass assension, however, the weather did not want to cooperate with us (or the rest of the week for that matter). They did attempt to blow up the stage coach balloon, so we watched while they blew that one up.

Here it goes....

and now the fan....

This balloon is HUGE!!!

They call these guys zebras--they are the officials for the fiesta and they dress in over the top costumes. They take their jobs very seriously.

I think Hope was a little tired from getting up at 5:15am!

After the disappointment of no balloons we headed back home for a little nap before Isaiah's soccer game. However, the weather did not want to cooperate with us for the soccer game. There was too much wind and too much rain (it was POURING!) Poor guy...he was SOOO excited to play too :(

Well that nigh Cari, Corinne, and I went to El Pinto for drinks and some good Mexican food. The pitcher of margirita's was FANTASTIC and the food was good too! It was a fun night!

Cari, me, and Corinne (and the lovely margiritas!)

YUMMY!!!

My bestest friend!!

These were our shots---not your typical Utah shot

I wish I could take this home!! I loved eating all my green chile all weekend long!

On Sunday afternoon, we headed up to Moriarty to the pumpkin patch. They had so much stuff to do from the hay ride, to a pillow jump, to pumpkin sling shots, to a petting zoo. Isaiah had so much fun all afternoon.

Isaiah feeding the goats

Me doing the sling shot w/ baby pumpkins

Isaiah and Ryan at the petting zoo (before Ryan got kicked by the sheep)

Isaiah

The Merkel family picture

Hope and Isaiah at the Pumpkin patch

Isaiah at the pumpkin patch

After the pumpkin patch we had dinner at Bravo. It is an Italian resturant and it was AMAZING! I probably gained a few pounds over the weekend with all the good food!

It was an amazing weekend (even with the bad weather). I always let too much time go by without seeing this girl...I need to work on that! I love you Cari and miss you already!!

me, Cari, and Hope at dinner

10 years ago I...
1. Got my driver's liscense
2. Was a Junior at La Cueva High School
3. Was working at Gymnastics Is Fun!
4. Lived in Albuquerque
5. Was totally looking forward to graduating high school

5 Things on today's "to do" list...boring, I know
1. Finish work
2. Pack for my 2 day trip to Idaho Falls (for work)
3. Take Gus for a run
4. Update my blog and facebook w/ photos from New Mexico
5. Go to AB's for some drinks

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire...
1. Pay off my house
2. Pay off my cars
3. Go on a vacation to Europe
4. Put a bunch in savings
5. Maybe put some in a CD for my future kids college (in case I was no longer a millionaire....)

5 places I have lived...
1. California
2. New Mexico
3. dorms at the University of Utah
4. Salt Lake
5.

5 jobs I have had...
1. gymnastics instructor at Gymnastics Is Fun
2. sales associate at GAP
3. sales associate at Old Navy
4. management assistant at Enterprise
5. litigation rep at Progressive Insurance

I tag...Cari, Amanda, Annie, Leah, and Jill

Rules: Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person that tagged you know when you've answered the questions on your blog.

Family Fun

My family all came into town on Friday afternoon. It is the first time my whole family has been together since our wedding. Well, the whole family minus Jason. Jason was still in Cleveland. Of course the weather did not want to cooperate this weekend. On Saturday and Sunday it seemed to rain most of the time. Well my mom took advantage of having all of us in the same location so on Saturday morning we had fun family pictures. Jason will have to go into the studio when he gets back in town and be photo-shopped into the picture. We than had some lunch, some of us took a nap and went to The Clarke Planiterium. (spelling?)

I think the dogs were a little tired.....
The other dog in the pic is my parents dog, Missy. We watched her at our house since my parents condo did not take dogs. She did NOT like our dogs at all!!

After the Planiterium, my mom, sister, and I had dinner while the boys went to the Priesthood session for General Conference.
Than on Sunday we went up to Park City (where my parents stayed) and rode the Alpine Coaster. We wanted to also ride the Alpine Slide, but they couldn't get the Slide dry enough. I had never been on the Alpine Coaster and it actually was pretty fast and pretty fun. Here are some photos from the slide: (we had an amazing view too!)

view as we got on the Alpine Coaster

more of the view....

My feet were FREEZING as we headed up the mountain...I should have worn shoes...it is October!!

Brady heads down the slide

More view of the beautiful surroundings.

and more view....

Craig zooms by....

On Monday morning, Craig had to head back to school at the school down south (the "Y"), and Mindi had to head back to New Mexico for school. So on Monday my mom, dad, Brady, and I ran some errands. On Tuesday we headed up to Millcreek Canyon for a hike since it was such a beautiful day. Here are some pics from our hike:

The colors of the leaves have started to change

Brady

The trail on our hike


what a view!

Brady, mom, and dad on our hike

Jason finally got home late Tuesday night just in time to see Brady off. Than this morning, Jason and I headed down to Provo and met up with my grandma, Brady, and my mom and dad at the Missionary Training Center to say good-bye to Brady. He will be serving the LDS Church for 2 years in Mexico.

Brady, my dad and mom, and Craig outside the MTC

My dad, Brady, Craig, Grandma, me, and Jason

time to go...

Dad and Brady just inside the MTC

And now that Jason is finally home, it is my turn to leave. Tomorrow morning I leave to go to Albuquerque to visit Cari and see the Balloon Fiesta until Monday morning!! Maybe someday soon my husband and I will be together for more than a few days....