VEGAS BABY!!!

All right, here is the report on my trip to Las Vegas!

Pictures are on their way. Once we were in Vegas I realized that I brought my camera, but forgot the memory card. So I am waiting for my sisters to get them to me, and one of them is being very forgetful. I am tired of waiting so here in my post without the pictures, although they will be coming. So you get double the excitement!

I had so much fun with my sisters, and I want to document this. So fair warning, this is going to be a long post.

Where to start, "THE WHY" we went to Las Vegas
about a month ago, my little sister Katie, called me, and in very confusing words asked me if I would like to go to Vegas. She needed to clarify things for me a bit, and of course I said I was game. Her husband and family work with Mona Vie, and her husband wanted her to attend a meeting/conference in Las Vegas. She said she wasn't going to go to Las Vegas unless she could see her sisters. So we worked it out to go to the meeting with her. Thanks to our husbands being willing to take time from work, and let us spend all their money. We went on Monday, December 1st, my 31st birthday, through Wednesday, December 3rd. It was driving a lot, but all we want to ever do anyway is to talk without interruption. So who cares where exactly we do that?

"THE DRIVE" down to Vegas and back.
Have you ever heard of the 'Ungame?' It is a game I discovered about a year ago and fell in love with. It is a conversation game. Basically, you take a card from the stack and read it out loud, then answer it. You interpret the question how you choose and answer. Others playing the game are not allowed to comment or laugh. They are only allowed to listen. The questions can be superficial, or really deep, depending on what version of the game you have. We changed the rules a bit, and read aloud one card, then went around the car and all answered the same question. After a few superficial cards that said things like "Say something about poetry," We decided we wanted to get deeper. We got into cards like "Say something about spiritual values" or "Talk about How Children Today Are Raised" The answers that we shared were incredible. I got to know my sisters on an even deeper level. I love them even more for the answers and opinions that were shared. It is incredible, how three women raised in the same household, had such different experiences. And now that we are adults, can have such similar lives living separately from each other. Taking both 7 hours down and 7 hours back home. We spent 14 hours sharing such deep and incredible things with each other. There was both happy tears and sad tears. Tears in general, we got Katie going first, which is to be expected she cries at everything. Second was me, and finally we got Danci. I loved hearing our testimonies born to each other. I love knowing they have the same passion about the gospel as I do. We talked ourselves hoarse. Thursday was our Recovery day, and we all felt it in our throat.

The "MONDAY NIGHT DINNER" story
So we arrived at our hotel, at about 7:00, and were starving. We set off to find a place to eat. We wanted something quick and easy, so we were not looking for a real fancy place. We settled on a place called "J&J's Boulangerie" It was a pizzeria, salad, and sandwich place. Perfect! Katie and I went with just pizza, which Katie picked all the toppings off and had basically bread, sauce, and cheese. (You know I love you - Picky eater!) But Danci, doesn't intentionally be picky. She is nursing her baby still who has an extreme milk allergy. Yes, he will grow out of it, but he is only 7 months old, so it is an big problem right now. He responds negatively to all dairy he receives from her as well. So dairy is out for Danci. Danci decided to get a salad in which she was able to remove the cheese. She took about 3 bites of it, and was disgusted. The eggs were terrible. The salad was limp, and the vegetables not tasty. She debated about whether or not to try to return it, because she just couldn't eat it. I encouraged her to return it, and volunteered to go with her. Well, the lady we originally tried to return it to was just an idiot. I couldn't even understand her, the way she spoke. We finally asked for a manager, and he came out with his guard up already. And just broke into accusing us. He kept saying that the salad was almost gone, and would not stop talking to hear even hear two words out of us. Danci kept her cool a lot longer than I did. We were both trying to reason with the obstinate man, but were getting nowhere. I finally lost it, then yelled over him "Do not tell me this salad is gone, I can see it right here, she had three bites out of it." He became even more irate and so did I. We ended the confrontation with me saying very loudly: "You have a crap salad, and a crap restuarant, and you have successfully created two unhappy customers." Then we threw the salad in the garbage right next to him, and walked out.
So you might be thinking, it was wrong of us to return the salad in the first place. But Danci has this allergy that is a problem for her, and the salad was crap. She is not able to replace the salad with just anything because she can't have the mayonnaise or cheese, even the bread that comes on pizza and sandwiches she can't handle. Plus, just don't piss me and my sisters off, we are trouble individually, but together we are absolutely lethal! My point - if you happen to be in Las Vegas, in the shops between Bally's and the Paris do not go to J&J's Boulangerie. It sucks!

The "TUESDAY NIGHT DINNER" Story
We were shopping at the M&M Store, when Katie got a call. I don't know how it transpired, but the guy who is her husbands 'upline' within Mona Vie wanted to take us to dinner. They decided on a very nice buffet place, called Le Village Buffet also in the Paris. He brought a couple people with him and including us there were 6 adults, plus baby Jonas. We paid and were waiting to be seated, Danci, Katie, and I had no problem waiting, but the guy who paid, obviously did. After we were seated he complained to a manager, and the manager tried to make it all nice. The manager then gave us two plates piled high with King Crab legs. Whaaaaa! Crab is my favorite!! Every year for my birthday I request my annual crab dinner. I didn't think I would get it this year because I was going to Vegas. That absolutely made my night. I told my sister, that if I fell into a crab coma, to just make sure I made it back to our hotel room.
The funny part of this story is, is that I was the only one on the table who had such a passion for crab. The others didn't even know how to eat it. I am sitting at the table with people who make about $500,000 a year. Half-Milllionaires basically. Who live in L.A., and have fresh seafood at any time. My only problem is that I eat crab with no inhibitions. I dig in and thoroughly enjoy myself. The others including my sisters, timidly grab a leg and start tasting. One guy, named Curtis was sitting across from me and asked me to teach him how to eat the crab. I basically said this: "I know how to eat and enjoy crab, I just don't know how to do it with utensils, so this is what I do." I then showed him how to break the leg, get the meat out and of course reminded him not to forget the knuckles, which is the best part. Curtis was game for my 'manners-less' way to eat, and dug in with me. Then the whole table got in on the action. I spent the better part of an hour, teaching everyone how to eat crab. It was so much fun. As you probably know, I am a big dessert fan, but I totally forgot about dessert and ate as much crab as I possibly could. I was thought these rich people were cool, for being game with how I went about eating. YUM!

The term "SECOND HAND DRINKING" story
We stayed out until 2:00 in the morning on Tuesday. We decided to go to the Fremont Street Experience after Katies meeting. The show on Fremont, was awful. I have seen some amazing shows there, but this was just barely clothed women, dancing to bad music. I was disappointed. When we finally made our way back to the hotel, we were so exhausted, and completely slap-happy. Slap-Happy includes us laughing hysterically at the smallest things, and not completely understanding conversations. We arrived at the hotel, but parked in a different place so were not completely sure what level we needed to be on to get back to our room. At one point, after going up and down the elevator a hundred times, I was pretty sure we had the right level. I slowly got off the elevator and looked down the hallway, Danci and Katie stood there like wax statues. The next thing I know the elevator doors closed and left me alone in the hallway, while those two went to who knows where. Now remember, the term exhausted doesn't come close to how tired we actually were. I had no idea what to do, so I started banging on the elevator doors, and calling for them. Then I realized I should probably hit the button, soon enough I could hear it coming back and I started laughing so hard. I was laughing so hard with my entire body. I was bent over at the waist, stomping my foot on the ground, crying, and laughing so hard I couldn't breath. The funny part about this was, when the elevator doors finally opened again, we were all in the exact same position laughing that way. And when we saw each other doing it all the same, it made us laugh even harder, if that was even possible. We call this position the "Bethel Indian Dance." For those of you who don't know, "Bethel" is our maiden name.
The next morning we had confused ourselves so much the night before, that we couldn't find the car to leave. We had to be up and on our way by 9:00, to be able to make Katies flight back in Salt Lake. So going to bed late, then getting up early we weren't any better off than the night before. Again we went up and down elevators looking for our car, this time with all our luggage. Finally, we stopped at the end of a set of stairs, while Danci ran up to find our car. While she was gone, Katie and I continued to laugh and be crazy. An employee was out on a break, and overheard that we were having troubles. She came over to us, and started asking us questions like "Do you remember getting off an elevator?" or "Are you sure this is the right hotel?" Questions one might ask a person who has a complete hangover. This again set us off laughing as we joked that even though we are not drunk, there is enough people here who are, and that the alcohol must be seeping through their pores, and in turn intoxicating us. Therefore, "Second Hand Drinking." So, No, we never drank alcohol, but we were intoxicated with laughter and good company nontheless.

We talked, laughed, and cried so much. We are already planning the next sisters trip. We did some sightseeing, a lot of shopping, but the only thing we wanted to do was be together. And that is what we did. I love you Danci and Katie. I had a lot of fun.