I Was Dreaming of a Healthy Christmas...

     As I mentioned in a previous blog, this Christmas was not one that we want to repeat. We were cruising along just fine, excited about all that Christmas is, when Cooper got sick the Sunday before Christmas. We thought it was just a bug, and I got some oil pointers from ladies at church and began the Thieves regimen that afternoon. As the day went on we realized this was not just a cold, but possibly the flu. 

     Monday morning he was feeling the same, had a high fever, and I wanted to get the situation under control so we wouldn't miss the program. So I took him to a walk in clinic. The Dr. said she was pretty certain it was the flu but swabbed him to make sure. He had a 102.1 fever and looked just awful. I was in tears when we left. If it was the flu then our Christmas was going to be very different, including no Christmas program, possibly no family, and not much fun. I waited for about 30 minutes and then got the call. It was the flu. I cried, got mad, called Mom, whined and repeated for most of the afternoon. Why was this happening?? We worked so hard on the program?? What are we going to do?? Meanwhile I continued my oil treatments and Cooper seemed to be doing better. I also oiled up everyone else in the house (well I could only catch Dalton twice) every hour hoping to prevent an entire household of sickies. That afternoon Cooper was much better and fever free! And the fever never returned. The next morning he was back to his old self, besides a terrible cough, and I was so thankful…but it made it even harder to miss the program. But by this time I'd come to terms with it and saw it as an opportunity to practice humility. And my Bible study was all about John the Baptist coming and leading the way and stepping aside when Jesus came. "He must increase, but I must decrease" John 3:30. I was filling that role, preparing the program and stepping back for the church to enjoy it. Once God cleared that up for me I could enjoy Christmas without a problem. 

      I was afraid that the sickness would scare my family away but thankfully they came on Christmas Eve anyway. Between Monday and Wednesday (Christmas Eve) Cooper had gotten better, Tucker got sick, had a horrible fever but, with home treatment, was fever free by Wed, and Ace had gotten a fever. I was iffy and Dalton was doing good (not great for my oil testimony but the boys were def benefitting). It really was great because we didn't buy any Tamiflu….which the Dr. had recommended, at $200 a dose! But that's another story. 

      So Christmas Eve morning we all got up and got to work. We cleaned, mopped, vacuumed, Lysoled, wiped, showered, put real clothes on, started a roast and waited for my parents and Garrett and Amy. Boy did it make us all feel better just to be in a clean house with real clothes on! By the time they arrived we were really excited and pounced on them. 

Mom knitted us all hats and the kids scarves. It was a special gift! 

 

 This year we let the boys pick out a gift for each other. Ace got Cooper M&Ms and gum. Cooper got Ace 'walky talkers' as he calls them. It was pretty cute watching the exchange.

Music man Ace was so thrilled with his guitar from GG and PaPa!

     That evening we visited, ate supper on my china, opened presents and practiced taking group selfies with the timer on the camera. By 9, everyone was tired and worn out. They decided to get on the road again since they were headed to New Mexico to ski, and I didn't force them to stay, feeling exhausted myself.

Tucker wanted to participate in reading the Christmas story 

Camera timer worked!

     The kids went to bed, we cleaned up the kitchen and then went to bed too. The next morning Santa had come (even though the kids forgot to put out a snack - thankfully we remembered) and the boys checked out their gifts under the tree. It wasn't the most enthusiastic Christmas morning, with groggy half-sick boys. After we opened presents I settled in for a comfy kind of day, assuming we'd stay home. But then Dalton's parents called and told us to come on over, which made Dalton very happy.

 Cooper was ready to chop down our tree with his chain saw.

    We headed over there and I was nervous! I didn't want to pass the flu to anyone, and it seemed hard not to with the boys coughing and sneezing. But everyone else was welcoming and we had a good visit. Once the guests started showing up for lunch I tried to quarantine our kids, or at least keep them outside and in the open air. For some reason Cooper decided to quarantine himself so that wasn't a problem.

 

 

Cooper loved his Leap Pad and stayed curled up with it most of the time.

     It was a nice lunch, with lots of great food. We visited, ate and then rounded up our tired boys and headed home for naps. That evening we took the boys to look at a Christmas light show and it was a hit! I loved seeing the lights too, set to music. A great way to finish Christmas Day.

     We spent the weekend playing with new toys and recovering from being sick. Then on Sunday evening the Moores showed back up and spent the night. It was fun to visit without the threat of flu around and the kids happily suffocated Garrett and Amy while they were trying to relax.

     Monday morning Garrett and Amy left after breakfast. Mom and Dad hung around for a while though and helped us with Tucker and Ace so that I could ride with Cooper and follow the heifers back across the road. Then we played in the house and took them out to lunch before they left. Then the boys and I joined Dalton on a feed run and ended up at Tractor Supply. We let the boys take a Christmas gift card in and pick out something. Cooper chose a skid steer with attachments and a little lawnmower, and Ace chose a tractor and grain cart and two little scoop tractors for him and Cooper (he's got such a sweet heart). It was a thrill for them. Cooper especially loved paying by himself (little man that he is). The rest of the evening they fought over the skid steer, which coincidentally they haven't played with in days now. 

     Tuesday night we finished our Christmas December celebrations with dinner at Possum to celebrate Mere Mere's birthday. They always have great lights set music too, so it's a must do before the season is over. The boys were right there helping Mere Mere blow out her candles and enjoyed sharing her cake, while entertaining Nana with their antics.

     Wednesday we got the tree and Christmas decorations down and put away for the year. I'm usually depressed when the season ends, but this year I was ready to let it go and get started on year 2015. So far it's been a good one! 

"And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." 1 John 5:11-12

Viva Las Vegas!!!

*Warning: long blog ahead! Lots to report.    

      It's been a long time since Dalton and I have had a trip away by ourselves (that was more than 1 night and when I haven't been pregnant!) so we decided to go big and take a trip to Las Vegas for the NFR this year. I was very excited to get away and see the NFR. This would be the longest trip we'd ever taken together alone besides our honeymoon.
     Cooper was staying with Mere Mere and Popsey and the other two were staying with my parents, so the kids were taken care of and we didn't need to worry about them. About a week before we left I started getting a little anxious. We were going to "sin city" that's advertised as "what happens here stays here" in all the commercials. What was I thinking? I don't want to go to sin city and deal with all the….well….sin that is going to be there! I don't like uncomfortable situations that deal with moral delimmas and here I am going to the mecca of moral delimmas? We'd never been there so the only thing we knew about Vegas was what was in my mind and it wasn't looking good! But the tickets were bought and the room was paid for so we were going. I just prayed it would be ok.

     The Sunday that we were to distribute the kids and head to Ft Worth dawned cold and cloudy but I was excited. Any time that I get to fly or go somewhere I get excited..and we were going on a trip by ourselves, woo hoo! Sin city or not, it was good to be getting away and carrying a purse that weighed less than 20 lbs and that didn't explode with diapers and cheerios when I opened it.
     We dropped the Coopster off with Mere Mere and Popsey then headed to Ft Worth with Ace and Tucker. We did a little Christmas shopping and then met Mom and Dad to drop off the kids. We ate lunch together and then kissed the boys goodbye and watched them drive away. I was a little nervous because this would be the longest Tucker has been away from me, but oh well, I wasn't staying just for that!

     After we dropped them off we did some Christmas shopping. I love how men and women are the same no matter where you go. We were waiting in line at one store because I'd found something for the boys, and in front of us a man and woman were heading to the check out line. As she was walking the woman grabbed an item and the man said "Seriously!", to which the woman started replying with an excuse. I've been there! We even got to stroll through the mall without feeling super rushed (just the normal rushed that you feel when shopping with your husband). That evening we headed downtown to watch a movie and walk around. We saw the beautiful Christmas tree and then watched Hunger Games in the most comfortable seats ever! When the movie was finished we headed to Aunt Kim's to visit and stay the night.
      I was super excited by Monday morning and we quickly got ready and headed to the airport. Once we got our car parked, bags checked, bodies scanned we were ready for Vegas!

   
     Our flight stopped once and we were able to change seats, so the second half of the flight we sat in the very front row. It was awesome! So much leg room and it was even better to be the first ones off the plane. We anxiously scanned the ground below as we flew into Vegas, looking for the strip but we were on the wrong side so we didn't see it until we were on the ground.
     The airport welcomed us with the ringing of slot machines and video advertisements for various shows that were playing. It was excited, and as I looked around it wasn't what I expected. In fact, Las Vegas wasn't at all what I expected. There weren't almost naked people walking around everywhere, no questionable clubs that I saw and the 'sin city' promoters were dressed so brightly that you could avoid them easily. I was quite relieved and surprised! *Note - we were there in Dec (different dress code I'm sure in the summer - wouldn't want to be around those hotel pools then) and we were there with throngs of others like us, there to see the rodeo. So I'm not sure I'd like to go back any other time, but sign me up for another NFR trip! I felt almost silly but hey - the mind combined with all those TV advertisements can create quite a picture. We actually laughed about it because there were more advertisements for male shows than female ones, a man on the street in a captain america speedo that Dalton warned me about, and many statues of naked men, so there were more temptations for females than males…kinda.

 

     

     We were surprised at check in to find a line. I know it's Vegas and the NFR but we were there on a Monday. Guess we weren't the only ones to have the mid-week idea. ; ) And even though there were people everywhere we never had any problems with things being super crowded. It was really just right. After we checked in, we headed to our room to put the luggage away. Then it was time to explore!! Knowing we had limited time, we went ahead and bought tickets to a Cirque De Solei show in our hotel. I was really excited about this! Dalton was not so much. The show was at 9, so we had time to walk through a few hotels and eat beforehand. When we were buying the tickets I noticed some bags by the counter so I turned them in to the ticket man. Then we headed the wrong way up an escalator. At the top some ladies were talking to an employee about some bags they'd lost. I told them what we'd found and what we did with them and they were so happy. They kept saying "You'll have a good trip for this! thank you so much. I hope you win big! You are so nice, thank you." That made my day!! A good deed and then randomly seeing the people that lost their bags. This trip was off to a great start. 

     We explored the Venetian and Palazzo. I think the Venetian might have been my favorite. It was just so amazing and the thing that got me the most were the ceilings painted like skies. I really had to look twice when I saw them the first time. I thought, wow look at the sky, then remembered it was dark and realized what it was. I was in awe, and probably acted like it too. Poor Dalton was ready to eat but I was determined to cover some ground so we also checked out the Mirage and Caesar's Palace. By the time we left Caesar's my feet hurt so bad I thought I wouldn't make it back to the hotel. Unfortunately I'd changed into boots and they weren't made for walking. It wasn't the best way to start out a vacation - massive blisters on each pinky toe - but I survived. We went to a small cowboy christmas in the Palazzo and Dalton bought our rodeo tickets. We were a little shocked at the price but it was part of it so we went with it. Then the lady called and said those tickets were unavailable so we got a free upgrade, woo hoo! Did I mention I liked Vegas??

     Back at the hotel we cashed in our two for one drink voucher (which we needed….drinks and food are WAY expensive in Vegas; a big bottle of water was $4!!) and headed to the slot machines. I discovered really fast that I like to gamble…..and I'm a dangerous gambler. I love the feeling of winning and get mad when I don't, and then decided to put in another $5 to get my $20 back. Not a good cycle. Thankfully my bank manager was with me. Bank manager and lucky man. While I was losing money a quarter at a time he was racking up the moolah without even caring. And he would cash out at intervals to make sure he didn't go under his starting amount. What a loser (just kidding!). I deemed myself the grumbling gambler because each time we gambled throughout the trip I'd lose and grumble, and win and get giddy, the lose and grumble. I blame it on my personality. 

     Dad had given me a dollar to gamble for him and when I put it in and spun it was a winner! Made him $5. Then I preceded to lose it all. Ooops! Guess I owe him $5 when I see him next. We enjoyed playing for a bit then wen to the buffet for supper. I wasn't impressed. Another surprising thing about Vegas. I wasn't impressed with the food at all. Maybe it was because I expected a lot for the prices we were paying. I think next trip I'll have to research where to eat before we go. After supper we watched the rodeo on a TV in the casino then went to our show.
    Mystere was very neat! Full of acrobatics, crazy costumes and a comedic clown it was a great experience. At the end I looked over at Dalton to see what he thought and he was impressed too…success!

     The next morning I put on my tennis shoes (which I wore pretty much the entire trip after my first fateful mistake) and we hiked down to the nearest Monorail stop to catch a ride to the Cowboy Christmas. We bought a 24 hr pass and rode with many other rodeo fans to shopping central. I was amazed at how many people I saw wearing boots that looked very uncomfortable. If my pinky toes had had eyes they'd have been shocked. But the folks did look fashionable. The Cowboy Christmas was pretty neat. I have to brag on TX though, our Ft Worth stock show has a convention hall that isn't too shabby and most of the vendors I really liked were TX people anyway. We shopped a little, looked a lot and I went back and forth over what shirt I wanted to buy. You see I had some garage sale money and I wanted to spend it wisely (funny how I can spend Dalton's money so much easier than money I earn…maybe there's a lesson there). 

     While we were there I wanted to see Flint Rassmussen's show (I watch it on RFD at home) so we wandered back there. And guess who was on the show that day? ALL the  Wright brothers and Trevor Brazile, and a country singer that Dalton likes. It was great! I wouldn't mind having a group of boys like the Wright brothers one day… all loving and doing the same thing. 

    After Cowboy Christmas I was on a mission to see every hotel before we left, and Dalton was dragged along. He wanted to see them all too, but not at the "Gabby pace". Dalton was hungry early but I kept telling him 'just one more block'. That lasted for about 2 hours and then we finally ate. In Vegas we were on the 1 main meal a day plan. 

     While we were walking we noticed there were lots of street people dressed up for pictures in exchange for tips. We took this pic for the boys since they are Mickey's Clubhouse fans. Dalton was thrilled can't you see? The man that took our picture also showed us how to do a panoramic shot with our phones. It was pretty neat and of course we then used our pano setting for lots more pictures during the trip.

The first of the pano shots.

 

More exploring! The fountains at Caesar's were beautiful. 

And there were some celebrities there. 

     We spent the rest of the day exploring the strip. We ate some more expensive and not-worth-the price food, saw lots of really neat things, and made our way to MGM. I liked MGM because it was very NFR oriented. Excalibur was neat but kinda dark and dreary. I really liked Luxor's setup and decor.

      There was another cowboy christmas at Mandalay Bay and while looking at that one we met some Texans that put on goat ropings at their house. We chatted with them and then the guy told Dalt that there was a goat roping there in the show. So they hunted that up and entered. The guy missed so they didn't win any money but it was fun and I was proud of Dalt for catching. 

     Mandalay Bay also has a really beautiful gallery that we explored. It was full of pictures that a certain photographer took (wish I would have written his name down) that looked like paintings. All nature shots in various settings. While we were looking around another couple came in and the saleslady hit them up to buy a painting. She also followed another older couple around trying to get them to buy. Funny, she never once approached us…must have been my tennis shoes. Anyhow, we overheard the one couple tell her they were staying at South Point. My ears perked up because that's where the buckle ceremony was and our goal that night was to see the buckle ceremony. We'd taken the monorail as far as it could go and now we were faced with a great distance and no idea the best way to cover it. I asked them how they got here, but unfortunately they had their own car, so no help. They left and we were finishing up our tour of the gallery (still never approached by the saleslady…I was a little offended) when the man came back that I'd asked about how to get to South Point. He said they had room in their car if we would like a ride. We looked at each other, shrugged and said sure! I mean getting into a car with strangers in Vegas….what's dangerous about that?
     We followed the man to the door, met his wife and found out they were from Utah. Then we hopped in the back seat and made small talk all the way to South Point…and I mean all the way because it was a lot farther out there than we'd anticipated! They were very rodeo knowledgable and appreciated my fondness for the Wright brothers (Dalton always rolls his eyes every time I mention them) since they were from Utah too. When we told them we were from TX they said we had lots of good cowboys from our state every year. We puffed out our chests and said 'yep'. Then he mentioned Cody Ohl and said something about him coming across as a bit of a jerk….we laughed and looked at each other because we feel the same way. When we pulled up they let us out at the door and went to park. We thanked them very very much and headed inside.
     There was also a team roping going on that week so we watched a little bit of that and then headed to where the buckle ceremony would be, to watch the rodeo. We watched with a lot of others and decided to find something to eat before the buckle ceremony. I was excited because two of my favs had won that night….a Wright brother and Matt Shisowa. We were liking this place more and more because we found some decent mexican food at an affordable price (I think the price made it taste better).

     After we ate we headed back to the bar where the buckle ceremony would be, hoping to find a seat. And find one we did. A nice big comfy booth in the back. I felt a little guilty hogging our booth for 4, but we wanted a good spot and I wasn't giving it up. We had lots of time to kill and after about 30 min thought about abandoning but then a couple showed up and asked to sit with us. We said yes and started a conversation and an evening with the couple from South Dakota. They were funny and nice and liked to talk. When we told them we were from TX he said they wished they were, SD is as cold as  you'd imagine it to be. 

      We waited and waited and then it was time for the buckle ceremony. We took a few pics and watched the action but it was getting late and we needed to catch a shuttle back to our hotel. Our new couple friend told us about it. God was watching out for us in Vegas and put people there to help us all along the way. It was great. During the buckle ceremony the wife (I wish I could remember their names!) got up to go to the bathroom and missed the step and fell right out of the booth. It was so funny  but I felt so bad for her. Her husband looked at her with this "what just happened?" look and she quickly shuffled off to the bathroom. She also had an empty bucket that had once been filled with beers. Her husband was giving her a hard time for keeping the bucket…it was funny, especially because I would have been the same way. So when she had trouble seeing the stage he suggested she stand on her bucket. I know it's not coming across as funny here but it was then. 

     Unfortunately we had to leave before the calf roping presentation but we did enjoy what we saw. We waited with our new friends for the shuttle to arrive. When it did we all hopped on and sat in the front row. Behind us sat an intoxicated couple that kept telling the driver (who was trying to sound interested) about how the taxi drivers in Vegas drive up on the sidewalk and don't know what they're doing (imagine that with a slight slur and loud). At one point somebody brought up Sturgess (oh I think the rowdy couple was asking our new friends if they'd been there) and the crazy bike rally there. We were already feeling giggly with the environment we were in, so when our female friend popped her head out from behind her husband and said "We've been to the stock show there," in a classic northern accent I started laughing. The trip continued to be hilarious when we started moving. The rowdy couple continued to talk loudly and then the driver cranked up some classic Garth Brooks. Dalton started singing…I think he was trying to see if anyone would sing too….and they did. Pretty soon the entire shuttle was singing along to "Give me 2 pina coladas." It was so funny. The driver was pretty impressed I think. A great ending to the day. 

     The next morning we woke up thinking it would be a relaxing morning. But then I remembered that we still had 2 hours before our Monorail passes expired and I wanted to get a ride to Paris! So instead of lounging around, we quickly got ready and speed walked for several blocks to catch the monorail….no need wasting money and we were getting tired of walking. We made it with 10 minutes to spare and headed to Paris to explore that casino, New York New York and Bellagio. All three of those hotels were impressive in different ways. Paris had a great atmosphere and the Eiffel tower was especially neat. It had one hall that looked like a night on a Paris street (or what I'd imagine one to look like). 

     The Bellagio was great. I loved the classic classiness of it. And it was beautifully decorated for Christmas (all of the casinos were really). This room was the best and there were so many neat displays. Again, we used our pano. We also bought some gelato and it was delicious. 

  

     New York New York was fun and full of energy. I loved the outside. The inside wasn't as impressive but we had a piece of pizza there and it was great! Probably the best thing we ate in Vegas…no lie. We had to go back for another. And there were free refills on our Dr. Pepper so of course we took advantage of that! (wow we're really sounding like country mice). Another fun thing we did at NY NY was ride the roller coaster! It was great!!! I hadn't been on a roller coaster in so long that I was a little anxious as it made it's climb to the top. Then there were lots of free falls and loop de loops that left us screaming and with butterflies in our bellies. I think the roller coaster was Dalton's favorite part of Vegas. We would have gotten a picture but couldnt' afford it. We have the memories in our minds though. 

 

     New York is also where Dalton found his favorite gambling game. The wheel. Basically you bet on 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 or 40. There were sections of the wheel with these numbers and the odds varied with each number. Dalton really got into it. It required thinking, unlike slots, but wasn't so complicated that we'd need lots of time to figure it out. He was good too. Unlike me who wanted to win big so I always bet on the 5 or 10. I had to beg for some of his winnings so I could stay in the game…I think he liked tossing me a chip, ha! He played smart and would bet on the low ones just enough to stay above the losing line. We played this game at our hotel too and the man working the wheel complimented him on his play and said he was really thinking it through. He recommended that Dalton study up on Craps (never liked that name) and play it on his next trip. 

     After exploring we headed back to the hotel. The one thing we didn't get to see were the Bellagio fountains. We weren't there at the right time. Oh well, something to see when we go back! We changed into our 'rodeo' clothes, I finally put boots back on, and we caught the bus to the rodeo. 

     It was quite an experience! There were tons of people, and a lot of 'fan' things to do before we went in. We got a picture made (for free woo hoo), some margarita flavored chap stick, and American flags to wave during the rodeo (the boys were especially thankful for those). We took it all in then headed to our seats. We should have taken some oxygen we were up so high. But we were thankful to be there and enjoyed the experience. It was the fastest rodeo, no frills, no clown. But high energy and very fun to watch. After the calf roping we left our seats and wandered around a bit. We even snuck into some better seats for the bull riding. Then we passed several competitors on our way out. When we got outside we were amazed at the lines for the buses to return us to the hotels. There were people everywhere. But what was even more amazing was the efficiency with which everything was done. It was smooth running and very fast. You could tell they'd done this for 30 years! 

    Back at the hotel I wanted to go eat under the sky in the Venetian for our last Vegas meal. We went back and forth between several Italian restaurants and finally chose one. We laughed at our country-ness as we sat down. Dalton asked for bread and we got some half-stale chunks. Then we ordered one bowl of spaghetti to share and no wine (much to the surprise of our waiter). When the spaghetti arrived we were very disappointed. It smelled like Chef Boy Ar Dee and tasted about the same. We laughed and laughed at the situation and then ate the pasta. Dalton joked that he was going to ask the waiter if he knew where an Olive Garden was nearby. (Honestly we are more Olive Garden type people…an proud of it.) Then the waiter came back and asked if we needed something else and I proceeded to enter into an awkward "No, ehh, um" and he responded with "Eh, hum" it was very weird and looking back I don't even know how it came about but Dalton busted out laughing. We paid our (much too high) price and then left with an unsatisfied belly and the giggles. 

At least the view was nice

    We did come across a bakery on the way back and I got a delicious cupcake, so it partially made up for the spaghetti experience. Finally it was time to pack up our bags and head home. I was kinda sad since it was such a great trip. But I was also excited to be going back home and getting ready for Christmas with my boys!! 

     The plane ride home was uneventful and we met up with my parents for the little boys. We ate some mexican food that was delicious and just the right price, drank some good old sweet tea and headed to Graham to get the Coopster. That night we all went to bed in our own beds, happy to be one big happy family again, and with many memories to share. 

 

Bye Bye Vegas!!

     So thankful for the opportunity to get away and remember why Dalton and I fell in love; sometimes you wonder if you have anything in common any more when you're surrounded by kids and life. And thankful for our parents that gave us this opportunity by watching the kids. We are so blessed in all aspects of life!! 

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1 Peter 4:8