Tuesday, December 11, 2012

My favorite part

We took a little side trip to the Las Vegas temple. We four walked all the way around it at one-year-old walking speed.
Quoting some facts from here: The temple is on 10.3 acres of land.
The temple is 80,350 square feet.
The outside is made of "White precast stone walls and copper roof and detailing."
Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated this temple in December of 1989.
My favorite:
a decorative cabbage
Interesting tidbit: The angel Moroni statue of the Las Vegas Nevada Temple faces east, away from the city, symbolically heralding the Second Coming of the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Later that day, we had this cool moon following us home.

What happens in Vegas...

...you should be able to share with the world. Really, if you're ashamed to have it shouted from the rooftops, then you shouldn't do it!

My husband got a ticket to the Amazon taking over the World Conference, or something like that, so I decided to join him on the ten hour drive, because I do love adventures as long as they aren't too exciting and by that I mean cars breaking down or other unfortunate circumstances beyond my control, ha ha.

He asked me if I wanted to go at about 4:00 P.M. and we were on the road by 7:30 P.M. and walked into our hotel room by 6:00 A.M.

It was huge and pretty. I believe that is marble tile in the grand entry after coming through double doors. On the left is a closet with lights that turn on automatically when you open the doors, like a refrigerator. Then, there is a large half bath and then the living room.
The view from the 28th floor.
This is the living room with a wet bar and an L shaped couch with a twin sized hide-a-bed. On the right, you can see the corner of the desk and on the left is a table with 4 chairs. The coffee table was padded around the outside, so it was comfy for putting your feet up. The middle was a little bit lower and held magazines, which my one-year-old threw on the floor so the she could sit in the middle. Didn't get a picture of her there, unfortunately. It's my seven-year old in this picture.
Here she is in the humongous bedroom. It has a chaise at the foot of the bed and a chair with footstool and side table over on the far side of the bed. Oh, another cool thing was that the curtains had remote controls!
A view looking the other way, you can see a little vanity in that hallway. You can't see the closet at the end of the hallway with the plush bathrobes, and another bathroom.
The master bathroom was beautiful and spacious. The tub had jets and I really wanted to soak in there while watching t.v., which is up in the left corner where you can't see it, (unless you look in the mirror's reflection),
but, this shower was just too irresistible with the FIVE shower heads!

These hotels in Vegas are just huge, or dare I call them large and spacious buildings, ha ha. (Mormon joke). My 7 year-old wanted his blanket from the car, so my husband said, "O.K. See you in half an hour," but he stalled long enough that our son fell asleep before he went.

They had some really nice Christmas decorations in the lobbies, and we got free apple cider from people dressed like elves. I didn't take a picture of the elves, but, a winter scene,
a close-up,
and a waterfall.
This is the lobby where you will find the registration desk.
A business man saw me taking a picture of my kids and offered to be our photographer so that I could get in the picture, too, which was very nice. He didn't think this one turned out very well, so he took another one and it is better, but I like that my three-year-old and I have pretty much the same expression.
Are you wondering what hotel we were in? Here are a couple pics from outside.
The Palazzo and Venetian are connected and the pens that are in the hotel rooms have both names on them.
Christmas tree outside, along with a skating rink that we didn't go to, since my kids can barely walk without tripping, didn't think they'd enjoy strapping on skates.

The first time we ventured out of the hotel room, I forgot my camera, which is too bad, because there were some amazing sights, including painted domed ceilings and the half-mile indoor canal with the gondolas and the gondoliers that can sing, siiinnnggg so beautifully in Italian. The singers were my favorite part. I really wanted to applaud every time they finished a song.

So, that lasted a couple of hours, I think, our first sight-seeing adventure. I didn't dare go into any of the cool stores that I wanted to go in with my three little ones. We went back to get the camera and rest and I found out the battery on the camera was nearly dead. So, I set it to charge.

Fortunately, my hubby didn't go to the party connected with the conference, so he stayed with the little ones while I ventured out by myself for a little while, but I couldn't find the one store I was most interested in again, so I treated myself to some frozen yogurt with all kinds of toppings, so delicious! And I brought back dinner for the hubby. The little ones weren't interested in eating out. They were happy with the travelling food snacks I had packed before leaving. It's nice when they are easy to please.

Monday, December 10, 2012

"A thankful heart is a happy heart"

(The title quote is from Veggie Tales, which I love.)

I guess I haven't been having many adventures here in Mundane Land, or maybe I've been having so many adventures that I haven't had time to blog about them. hmm...

Anyway, on Thanksgiving Day my little family went for a walk at some nearby hills.

We started late in the afternoon and the sun decided to go down rather quickly.
I like the dark tree against the lighter sky...
and the dark hills.
We are thankful for a nice relaxing day and for the beauty of nature and the joy of family togetherness, even though it took a little convincing that we really meant for the WHOLE family to go, no, not just me and the little ones as usual. Kids get big enough to stay home without a parent and they think they never have to leave the house again!
Everyone enjoys the smallness of the baby.
The younger kids love to take turns pushing the stroller. The hills are gentle here, but it wasn't long before the "I want to go home"s started.
The speed at which the Earth rotates depends on your latitude, at the poles it's almost zero and at the equator, where the circumference of the world is the widest the speed is about 1,038 miles per hour (1,670 kph). At the mid-latitudes of the U.S. and Europe, we speed along at 700 to 900 mph (1125 to 1450 kph). No wonder the sun sets so fast.
If you've seen one sunset, have you seen them all?
Or is each one unique and ever changing from minute to minute?
This one has the moon in the sky.