birthday month has begun!!!!! and a trip to Vegas!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Jake is the best! My birthday isn't until November 19th but he got the celebration starting early! He is too cute! Friday night, we went to Salt Lake to go get my phone fixed. I got a new iPhone and it is working horribly. I think I got a bad egg...anyways, we went to Tucanos for dinner! It was so much fun! I had some fun pictures from the night eating here, but they swiped all the info off my phone to try and get it working and I lost all my pictures. Bummer. Anyways, we ate lots of meat and had lots of good food!
The fried bananas were one of my favorite things! I think fried bananas would be a great snack food! After dinner, we tried to get my phone fixed and still is a no go. Sadly. I just need to get a new one :( Then Jake took me to do a little shopping! Wahoo! This the stuff I got tonight!
I am so excited about these cute ordainments to be hung! I am getting so excited for christmas! We need to get a Christmas tree now to hang our two new ordainments! Wahoo!
We went to Barnes and Noble and I was talking to some ladies and they recommend The 39 Clues series so I thought I would give it a try! I love getting fresh books! I also got some new tights! Thanks Jakey for such a fun night and all the fun new stuff! I will need the tights as it snowed the whole way home and we were stuck in traffic for two hours! When we got home, Jake and I packed our bags because he told me we were going on a birthday adventure in the morning! I was so excited and had no idea where or what we were doing!

 We left the house around 7am and headed for...VEGAS! One of my favorite places ever! Such a great surprise! It was really snowy for a few hours so it took a bit to get there, but it was worth it!
 When we got there, Jake took me to a place called Hash House A Go Go. We love watching Man vs. Food and he went here on his show when he went to Vegas, so we had been wanting to go! Its a super cute rustic and metal building with fun music playing! Its a fun environment to eat in!
 Jake and I ordered the"Sage fried chicken hardwood smoked bacon waffles." Let me tell you...fried chicken and waffles actually taste really good together when they are covered in syrup! I think I can now only eat waffles with bacon in them as well. YUM!
We also got some hash because its the Hash House! These are the grilled hash. I want to go back here asap! All the food we saw others looked amazing and very creative!
After a great breakfast we pulled in to the Luxor hotel to go to the Bodies Exhibition. Jake was so cute and knew I had been wanting to see this! I tried to go in Dublin, but it was closed for the one day I could go there, I tried to go in London, but it was closed because Britney Spears was using the building for her Circus concert (which was awesome by the way!) I tried to go in Salt Lake, but never made it...never made it in Phoenix......so VEGAS it is! I thought it was so cute Jake remembered I wanted to go there!
The exhibit was really neat. It was also creepy. It was amazing to see how complex the body is. I had no idea how much stuff is in our body. There is no empty space, each part of us has a job to keep our bodies going. Its kinda crazy to see it all layered out for you! I think the thing that hit me the most was the size of a stomach. I was shocked it is only the size of an extra extra large baked potato.....
After the exhibit we checked into our hotel room which happened to be in the Luxor to. Heres view of the inside of the hotel from our room.
Jake looking out the window. We were inside the pyramid and so the glass on the window is slanted and I hit my head on it when I tried to look out the window. haha I should of known better.
 The room had cool egyptian hieroglyphics on all the furniture.
After a great day so far, Jake was super tired so he took a nap while I watched Bedtime Stories on tv. That movie is so cute! I really like it! I had so much fun just relaxing and watching tv in the hotel room, I would of been happy doing just that all night. There is something so fun about staying in a hotel room and doing whatever you want!
 View from outside the window of the hotel room. Next we went to Caesars Palace and went to the Forum Shops to do some more shopping! I love that Jake loves to shop! He is such a good sport!
For dinner we went to Max Brenners! Jake and I we're talking and we were trying to think of some place fun to go eat, where we haven't gone to eat yet in Vegas, but we came to the conclusion, that we love eating at Max Brenners and are super happy every time we eat there, that we are just going to eat there every time we can! There food and desserts are just fabouls! And the atmosphere is great!
 We got our favorite "waffle fries dusted with chili and cocoa powder!"
"Blackened Skirt Steak and Mushroom Quesadilla"- with fire roasted jalapeƱo salsa and sour cream! This was so good! Next time we go, I want to order that again! The crisp tortilla, delicious meat and sauces! Oh soooo delicious!
For dessert we got my favorite..."The melting chocolate truffle heart cake and shake!" Sadly they do not do it anymore with a carmel center, but it now comes with milk chocolate and white chocolate center! It was still sooo good! It comes with a chocolate syrup to spread all over it and a yummy hazelnut vanilla ice cream to even out the chocolate taste buds! The mini shake is so tasty to! Max Brenners chocolate is fantastic! After dinner, we did a little more shopping and then headed out to walk around the strip!
 Hanging out at the M&M store.
 Where is Tuna?
Then we headed next door to the Coca Cola factory! We were so bummed because we went to taste all the different cokes but we got there right when it was closing. So next time we will have to go do some Coca Cola taste testing.
 Jake got some Mexican Coke and a new bottle opener!
Then we went to the 24 hour food court and got some Auntie Anne's pretzel bites! They were fantastic! Best pretzels ever!
Next it was around 1 am and we thought the night was still young, so we went to the Luxors night club Lax. It was so much fun! Jake and I are not the clubbing type, but we love to dance! We had such a blast dancing the night away! I loved the whole trip, but I think this may of been my favorite part! After a super fun time dancing we went to the hotel room and got ready for bed! We found out it was daylights savings time!

Sunday we woke up and got our stuff ready to leave Vegas. I was having so much fun I wasn't ready to go yet! We went to church and had a great time! One reason I love the LDS church is I feel like anytime I travel and go to church somewhere else, I feel like I am at home. The buildings feel similar, the people are always welcoming, and there is such a great feeling and essence there.
The drive home was beautiful! It was a nice rainy day the whole time! (Jake thinks the reason I like these pictures so much was because it was in Arizona). It started to snow when we got closer to Utah but it wasn't to much so that made it ok for driving! This was such a fun trip! Best birthday trip ever! Thanks Jakey!
Today happens to be Jakes moms birthday, so when we got home from Vegas, we came in, grabbed Jakes moms birthday present and headed over to his parents house for her birthday celebration! Her sister Janet and her husband Greg surprised her and flew in for her birthday. Jakes dads cute sister Christi and her husband Doug and kids were there to, along with Jakes siblings! It was really fun to see everyone and celebrate mama Harris's birthday! They had a great salmon dinner and german chocolate cake dessert! Happy Birthday Mom, LOVE YOU!

children grow up way to fast...

Friday, November 4, 2011

Happy November! This week has been an interesting week of weather! It has been fun! Tuesday was super rainy all day! I started reading a new book called Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes. I found it at Barnes and Noble when I was looking for a new book to read. I really liked the book. Some parts were kinda gruesome, like a little boy getting his eyes pecked out by a raven, but it explains everything in the end and it adds more realness and excitement to the story! I would totally recommend it for a fun fantasy adventure book. Jake brought home yummy Rubios fish tacos for dinner and a lobster burrito! He wanted to try it out and it was pretty good. I think the fish tacos and chips are my favorite thing on the Rubios menu. After dinner we went to a snowboarding meeting. Jake has been so sweet and has helped me every night this week with snowboarding stuff.




















Jake and I have been sick all week so we have been trying to take it easy! So all Wednesday I read and finished up Peter Nimble and started on #4 of Artemis Fowl! Here is Jake being so sweet when he went around for four hours with me taping flyers, and taking them door to door! We stopped and put flyers at Jdawgs and even got some yummy hotdogs for dinner! Staceypants came and joined later in the evening! It was great to see her and have her help!
This by far is the best Artemis Fowl book of the collection so far! I LOVED it. I am so excited to start readying number 5! I finished it Thursday afternoon, and was feeling really good, so started to clean up the house!
Thursday night for dinner we ate at Cafe Rio and had a yummy exploding pork burrito! Then we headed to the Scera Theater for a snowboarding movie premier! The sun setting was beautiful tonight.
To our surprise, Jakes brother Cameron walked in with his friends while we were there! It was fun to meet his friends. I really enjoyed seeing a lot of snow friends and seeing people I have not seen in awhile.
 Jake found a large diamond on a pirate display! He put it back though incase it was cursed!
Wouldn't a diamond this big be lovely? haha or some serious over kill
When we got home it was time to clean the turtle tank! Jake did such a good job cleaning out a gunky filter! He is the best! I was dying at how big the turtles are now. They have gotten sooo big! To the left is Herbie very very tiny and little. To the right is Herbie tonight and how he barley fits in my hand anymore.
I can't believe how much Herbie has grown. Don't tell anyone he's my favorite. I know you are not supposed to have favorite children, but Herbie and I grew such a bond from the start when we met each other for the first time, I can't help it. Jake and I actually got the turtles from my mom when we first started dating. On the left is Herbie and I at Christmas 2009, and on the right, Herbie November 3, 2011. I can't believe this is the same turtle! All the turtles still have their same cute faces though!
I am just reminiscing looking at these pictures of the turtles when they were so young. I remember how Herbie was so little I would take him with me everywhere. Go to the movies together, go grocery shopping, go for car rides together. I guess him and I could still do those kinds of things, but I think he likes it better in his tank.
I can't believe Jake and I will have had the turtles for two years this Christmas. We need to take new family pictures to show how much our family is growing. Just kidding, but I do want to get updated pictures of the turtles. The turtles have brought us tons of happiness. I love always coming home to turtles who are so excited to see us! I am glad we cleaned the tank tonight so the turtles have a nice clean tank to sleep in tonight! Now time to go start my new Artemis Fowl book!