We stayed on the top floor of the Stratoshere in Las Vegas. That is the one with the needle and the rides at the top. We got tickets to go up the needle with our hotel room. It was cool to look around and see the whole city! WOW!

We had 5 days off for Fall Break so we had to go somewhere. We thought about taking an Amtrak train to San Francisco (which sounded really fun and will still have to do this someday) but we eventually decided to go to Las Vegas! We found lots of free or cheap things to do with kids- like the M&M's store, Coca-Cola store, the chocolate factory and all the cool things that casinos have for entertainment. Our feet hurt after walking all day, but we did get tickets to the Monorail that runs down the strip so that helped. We had a great time!

Our First Night in Vegas for Fall Break

Ryan's new wound

Today Ryan ran into the door of our old minivan.  It gashed his head open.  When we got home, I decided that steri-strips would do instead of stitches.  I guess we will see what kind of scar he ends up with.  Boys like battle wounds anyways, right?

Painting Ryan's Room-  The color wasn't exactly what I picked out in the store but when it was all said and done, it grew on me a little.  It didn't look as bad when the pictures were hung and the furniture was moved back in.

Life is Good!  Jay and I just got back from Mexico.  I believe this is the first real vacation we have had without our kids in the almost 17 years of marriage....So we deserved it!  We had a blast and got to do things we had never done before, like snorkeling.  Jay is a fan!  He is ready for scuba diving classes now.  

We spent Christmas Eve at my sister's house.  We had dinner there and Santa came and brought the kids a candy/peanut bag.  It is always a blast and becoming a family tradition.

Christmas brought our family together and I am very thankful for all of my many blessings and my family.  We had Christmas dinner at my mom's. We then went to Jay's mom's and got caught in a blizzard on our way back to my mom's.  The next day, we went to Jay's dad's house and visited with him.  In the afternoon, we went sledding.  It was fun.  I haven't done that in years.