Vegas and The King

 We are BIG fans of George Strait in our house.  We love The King!  Last year Jared and I were lucky enough to catch a concert before the world shut down.

We were only a few minutes into the show when we knew we had to bring our kids to the next concert.  I don't need to explain why it took us over a year to secure tickets, but it was priority when they became available.  We decided to invite Lana this time, who then invited her parents.  It was quite the experience for all of us!

Our drive to Vegas was pretty uneventful, just a few stops, a beautiful sunset and lots of eagerness to make it to our destination.

Once we made it to Vegas, it was all shiny lights.  Jared took the girls out on a walk to sight see.  There is never a shortage of entertainment in Las Vegas, or as Jared calls it, Loss Wages.

We had a fun Saturday doing some more sightseeing.  There was so.much.walking.  The big girls and I walked through the Bellagio, it never disappoints.

Jared took the little kids to a few fun places, including the M&M and Coke stores.  Would you expect anything else from us? 

Later that day, Jared took Colton and Addie to the Shelby Museum while Kimber, Lucy and I went to the Titanic Exhibit.

By the time the show was ready to start it had already been a very long day.  The show didn't start until 8:00 and that was just for the opener.  We didn't plan on seeing George until 9:00 at the earliest.  I didn't want to get to the show until then but we had some antsy people in our group so we got to sit through a very painful opening.  She was a screamer, it was not easy to listen to!

Lana and I zoned out and went into our own little universe.  We were singing our hearts out having the greatest time!

George does not disappoint!  I will be honest, his first show was better...but he will forever and always be our favorite.  Jared and I felt like he did much more talking and storytelling in his first show.  That was great and very endearing.  This show was all music, which was still so fun!

Vegas leaves much to be desired.  It's a nasty city!  But it was good for our kids to see that our choices matter and that having a loving family makes a world of difference.  Our kids saw too much, but I don't regret it.  They saw people tripped out on drugs, a homeless lady who had pooped her pants and was dead asleep as flies swarmed her bum, a lunatic man coming down from something hard in the hotel, people who have chosen to use their body for money.  Vegas offers it all, right???  But I am glad that my kids saw that.  It made for a lot of interesting conversations for the next few days!

Bubba

Unfortunately for Colton I wasn't keeping up with my blog very much when he came into the family.  He has noticed this and requested more stories about him.  I think he deserves something dedicated to him!  Since he just turned 8 last week, here are 8 things about him.

1- Colton LOVES his Grandpa Richardson!  He loves going to Kearny to spray weeds, eat root beet floats, take a ride to Aravaipa, watch youtube videos, and all the fun things Grandpa does.  Colton things Grandpa is the bravest person, which really, he is.  He admires him and looks up to him in every way.  

Last year when we having home church, Grandpa gave an object lesson using this gun.  Colton felt so cool when Grandpa let him hold it!

Grandpa eats a root beer float every night.  It's one of Colton's favorite things to do with him when we visit.

Grandpa is really good at making up jobs that make you feel useful and important.  Do you see a single weed that needs to be sprayed?  But, Colton was on top of the world when Grandpa gave him this job.  He also told him how badly he needed a scrap piece of wood painted.  Colton felt so big with a can of spray paint!

When we got home we had to make a trip to Ace so Colton could get the exact same weed killer Grandpa uses.

2- Colton loves a project!  He loves to feel busy and productive.  He needed a stool for his new bathroom so we got on YouTube, found an easy tutorial, found some scrap wood, pulled out the saw and tools, and got to work!  He did such a good job and stuck with it til the end!

3- Colton's best friend is Cannon. When the Hales were still living here the two of the could not spend enough time together.  They loved dressing up in costumes, playing Lego's, going on adventures in the backyard and everything else little boys love doing together.

4- Another one of Colton's best friends is Lucy.  They are two peas in a pod!  They still share a room, even though I've given them the chance to seperate.  They love to play together and have a good time.

6- Last week a friend asked if Colton likes Legos.  Does Colton like Legos?  Is the Pope Catholic?  We own an embarrassing amount of Legos.   

7-  This is silly and random, but this makes me laugh.  Colton doesn't mind taking the trash out, he is generally happy to do it.  My favotire thing about it though is that he is happy to wear any ole shoes to do it, even mine.

8-  Last of all, Colton has really wanted a suit.  He knew exactly what he wanted it to look like and was persistent that he have it before his baptism.  It was worth every cent!  Look at how handsome this boy is!!