Thanksgiving - Vegas style

For Thanksgiving dinner we decided to go to a buffet instead of cook. We went to the Rio, which has the best buffet in town. We stood in line for 2 hours to get in and we spent about equally long eating. The food was great. Not only did they have the traditional Thanksgiving foods, but everything from sushi to crab legs. Delicious. My favorite part was the dessert buffet. :)

The Stratosphere

We got an amazing view of Las Vegas from the top of the Stratosphere. It stands 100 stories (1,140 feet up) and is the tallest building in Las Vegas. There are some rides on top and we decided to go on The Big Shot, which shoots you straight up in the air. It was super scary, but really fun. The view was amazing. I loved it.

Accident Report

Our first night in Vegas a car raced passed us on an off ramp, lost control and smashed head on into the cement barrier. The whole front end of the guy's truck was smashed in and his bumper came off and lodged itself under Jache's car as we drove behind him. We pulled over to make sure the guy was ok and to get the bumper out from under the car (we had to use a jack in order to get it out). We spent over an hour on the side of the freeway filling out the accident report. It was an exciting start to our Vegas vacation. I am really glad that no one was seriously injured. 

Off-roading on Rocky Gap Road

Sam took us off-roading in his truck and we got to see the less traveled part of Las Vegas. It was beautiful, but super cold in the mountains. We had a great time. I was a little scared at first because the road was really rocky and I was sure that we were going to get stuck, but Sam and his truck got us though without problems. I'm really glad that we went. I loved it!

The Drive Home

Our Vegas vacation had to come to an end eventually. Keith and I started the drive back to CA around 1:00 pm. The drive should have been 9 hours long, but instead it took almost 15 hours. We got home at 4:30 am. The traffic was stop and go for over half the drive. I thought I was going to go crazy. Once we passed Bakersfield the traffic cleared up and we finally got out of second gear. I was sad that our trip was over, but glad to get home and into bed. 

POP QUIZ!

Why you don't post comments on my blog:
a) You follow the mantra "If you don't have anything nice to say..."
b) Only Mickayla looks at my blog and she can't type
c) Crazy computers! How do you work this thing?
d) You wish you could comment, but you've taken a religious vow of blog silence

Mouses ready? You have 5 seconds. Go.

Sunrise, Sunset

Keith and I went "midnight golfing" with some friends of ours from our ward. We didn't get to the golf course until 4:30, so by the time we finished the third hole we couldn't even see our golf balls or the flags anymore. Since it took us all almost 10 strokes per hole, I think we would have ended up playing in the dark before we finished the 9 holes no matter what time we started. :) Even though none of us have made plans to go pro after our game, we all had a great time. The course was a little ghetto, but it only cost $6 to play so it was a great place to practice. It was great.

Keith took these pictures from our living room window. The city looks so beautiful at sunset. (That bright dot below the moon is Mars.)

Keith also took this picture of the sunrise. No, there wasn't any sleep involved between these pictures.

Keith made me post this...

Keith shows off his French New Wave photography style. He thinks he's good, but clearly I'm doing all the work. 

HAIRCUTS!

Keith and I decided that it was time for both of us to get haircuts. We took the BART in to downtown San Francisco.










We read good reviews of "Cowboys & Angles" salon. We really liked how our hair turned out, so I think it was a good choice.











Here is our "before" picture together on the BART on our way in to the city.












Here is our "after" picture together on the BART ride home. (Check out the pics below for a better look at our new 'dos.)

Keith's before and after

Here is Keith's "before" picture. His hair got pretty long.

Here is Keith "after". I love this haircut. FANTASTIC!

Ann Before and After

This is my "before" picture on BART riding in to San Francisco.













This is my "after" picture. What do you think? My stylist was pretty nervous about cutting over 8" off my hair because he was afraid I'd freak out or something. I think it turned out great!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Keith and I went to a Halloween party last night with some of his friends from the law school. Keith went as a swashbuckling pirate (in an outfit that slightly resembles Jerry Seinfeld's puffy shirt incident). My favorite part is the stick-on mustache.














I went as a sorceress (no, not a witch - that would be too unoriginal!). While this costume might not win a prize for most creative, it did fulfil a childhood dream of mine; not having to incorporate a coat or umbrella. When I was little I hated having to cover my pretty costumes with a coat and balance both my candy bucket and umbrella. California is a great place to celebrate Halloween!

Six Flags Family Reunion

Keith, Jacob, Sam and I all met last weekend for a quick weekend trip to southern California. It was about a four and a half hour drive each way for all of us (except for Sam) to meet in the middle at Six Flags. It was great to be together again.









We had a great time together. The first day at Six Flags was super crowded. We rode 3 rides in about 8 hours. It was bad. We spent a lot of time in line. However, on the second day, we got through the lines in about 20 minutes each. It was much nicer.








It was "Spookfest" at Six Flags, so the whole park was decorated with giant spider webs and pumpkins. At night they pumped fog into the walkway and there were roaming zombie and monsters out.









There were also cool shows. We watched 3 guys ride their motorcycles in this giant cage all at the same time. I've never seen that in person before. It was impressive. And a little crazy.

I took this picture after we had been standing in line to ride Superman for over an hour. We were about to go into Superman's lair, where you board the ride, and I wanted to take a picture before we got on. Little did I know that it would be several more hours before I'd ever leave Superman's lair. The ride broke down for a few hours while we were stuck inside (or I assume so, since they never made a formal announcement) and there didn't seem to be any way out. We stood inside the fake-ice building forever before we got to go on the ride. It made me nervous to go on a ride that had just been broken, but I figured I'd feel even dumber for standing in line for hours and not going on the ride. So we went, and we survived, and it was awesome. It was so fun that we decided to ride it again. Thankfully, the second time we only had to wait for 20 minutes. 

This is the ride we waited three and a half hours to go on - and it lasted about 30 seconds. (Notice it is pitch black out now.) We were strapped into a car that got up to 100 mph in 4 seconds and then shot straight up into the sky before doing the same thing in reverse. At the top of the vertical ramp you get this amazing weightless, flying feeling. That little blip at the top of the ramp is Superman himself.

After all of that waiting in line Keith and Sam discovered that they could have just come to the gift shop to meet Superman.