fun: VEGAS!!!

Ok we're playing some catch up. We had so much fun on our March vacation to Vegas. I loved being there with Mom and Dad G! I have been to Vegas before and never really enjoyed it. But now I can't wait to go back. Some secrets to this trips success?

Planning! I like to have fun, see new things, and spend time with good company, but I don't like crowds, inappropriate behavior, and making conversation with strangers. So some tips for others like me. Visit Vegas on weekdays. There is less beer on the street, more girls wearing more clothes and fewer people all around-Plus shows have more availability through half price tickets 4 tonight.

Some things we experienced to make this a fab trip (in order of fabulousness):

The Secret Garden at Mandalay Bay-$15 a person and we got to see lions tigers and dolphins. (oh MY!) So fun and so worth it!

The Blue Man Group at the Venetian (1/2 price tickets 4 tonight)-Fun and educational.

WE also had a blast on the gondola ride at the Venetian.

The M and M factory Yumm!

Free fountain shows at the Bellagio and Mandalay Bay (skip the one at Cesar's Palace-Unless your down there for the Cheese Cake Factory)
ESPN zone and New York New York-I loved our food and it is J's one must have.

Flamingo Habitat at the Flamingo-Great place to take pictures with *fake* nature

Ethel M Chocolate Factory-a little drive but I was surprised to know that it's the same founders as the company Mars (you know M and M's, sinckers, twix....). Call ahead and see when they are producing candy. We showed up around lunch time. Not much to see.

and much much more. Vegas.com was invaluable in planning our trip! Love it!

Did You Know...

Did you know this week in National Infertility Awareness Week? There are some amazing gems on the internet this week as so many families talk about their struggle to start or add to a family. I spent an hour here yesterday crying over the women who reflected my fears in their comments.

Comments like:

"What IF I am only able to mother children who already have a mother?"
"What IF this hole in my heart never goes away"
"What IF we can't ever come up with the funds to adopt and we don't get pregnant?"
"What IF children are still years away for us? Can I make it that long?"

I wanted to share a gem from LDS General Conference I've found comfort in. Below are some of the most powerful excerpts from Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk Continue in Patience.

"Patience—the ability to put our desires on hold for a time—is a precious and rare virtue. We want what we want, and we want it now. Therefore, the very idea of patience may seem unpleasant and, at times, bitter....

[P}atience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed....

Every one of us is called to wait in our own way. We wait for answers to prayers. We wait for things which at the time may appear so right and so good to us that we can’t possibly imagine why Heavenly Father would delay the answer....

Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience. Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after trials have passed. Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness."

I love where he says "bearing hardships with fortitude, even when the desires of our harts are delayed." dictionary.com defines fortitude as "strength of mind that allows one to endure pain or adversity with courage." I'm striving (meaning I'm not there yet) to endure pain and adversity with more courage and less fear.