What happens in Vegas...

So last week we went to Vegas with my family. The drive there was long, but beautiful. We stayed at Mandalay Bay which is at the very south end of the strip. We arrived on Tuesday evening and just spent the first night walking the strip and looking around at all the cool hotels and places like M&M world and the Coke store. Wednesday we spent the morning out at the lazy river and in the wave pool. Then we went indoor skydiving. Probably one of the coolest experiences of my life! We had to put on these ridiculous looking suits and go into a wind tunnel with padded walls and floors (no they were not white and the suit was not a straight jacket). We had to jump superman-style over the fan and the instructor helped us stay in the wind current. The first time I jumped I was not prepared for how HOT it was going to be...I was expecting some nice cool breeze coming from the fan...but no...it was all hot air! We each got three jumps and by the time we were done we were all sweaty but very happy. I highly recommend this to everyone!
Wednesday night we went and saw the Blue Man Group. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Everything they did was absolutely hilarious. It is a show that I would love to see again and again!
Thursday we again spent the morning at the river and pool. Mike and I left around lunch time but my parents and brother stayed all day. We went out and explored some of the exhibits. We went to the Bodies exhibit where they had a bunch of rooms full of human organs and muscles and bones and skins. In each room they also had a whole human body (minus the skin). Each of these bodies were positioned in different athletic poses. They were so cool to look at and learn about. One of the coolest rooms was the blood room. They had injected the bodies with some type of fluid that traveled through all the veins and capillaries and then hardened in different colors. The bodies were then dissolved away so all that was remaining were the colorful forms of every vein in the body. They were crazy!! There was also a fetus room that was very sad but it was really cool to see how much babies grow each week!
My parents and brother joined us for the shark aquarium. We got to see lots of sharks and other animals like a golden alligator and a komodo dragon!! We also got to touch some small sting rays and horseshoe crabs. Then we went and rode the roller coaster at New York New York. Possibly the best roller coaster I have ever ridden! At night we walked the strip and saw the water show at the Bellagio. It was very pretty. We tried to see the pirate show at Treasure Island but we got there just after one ended and the next wasn't going to start for another 45 minutes so we just went home.

Friday morning we went to the CSI Experience exhibit. We started out by picking one of the three crimes to solve. Then we took our clip boards and went to examine the crime scene. After we had taken all the notes we wanted and drawn a picture of it we went to the labs to do some research. we had to go match fingerprints and DNA samples, identify tire tracks, do a toxicology screening on the victim's blood, research her cell phone usage, study different stages of bug life in her body to determine time of death and then report all our findings and solve the case. It was very fun! Then we checked out of our hotel and drove back home. All in all, a great vacation!

Saturday was my Great Grandma's 100th birthday party. We went up to the North Hampton House in American Fork to celebrate this huge milestone with her. She had friends come from about 6 different states to celebrate with her! Mike and I were in charge of manning the guest book and taking pictures of everyone when they came in. We also made a slideshow of pictures from throughout her life, and were also responsible for all of the party favors...Twinkies...her favorite treat!! It was a beautiful party. The decorations were gorgeous, the food was great, and the entertainment was fantastic! Randy Booth is the director of the Young Ambassadors at BYU. He and his family played the piano and sang several songs during the program. There was also a special tribute song from some of my Great Grandma's nieces and a special guest from the Lawrence Welk Show, Sandy! She came and sang a song for my Great Grandma who is one of the show's biggest fans!! She seemed to have a great time seeing all of her friends and family in one place and wished us all a life of 100 years too! Love you Great Grandma Dorothy!!!