Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Super Trip Part 4 -- Hilton Reunion in Vegas



On August 12 we hit the road for Las Vegas. My parents had rented out a nice house and we were the first to arrive after them. Soon all my siblings, their spouses and my nephews Dean and Reid were there. We swam in the pool, had a nice FHE and did “seminars.” “Seminars” are when different people (at this reunion it was my parents and each of my siblings) speak on a topic of interest to them for 45 minutes. I spoke on Book of Mormon intertextuality and Janet did a hands-on lesson of how to make Cheese balls. Guess which was the bigger hit? We seminars every night and it was a highlight of the week.


Tuesday was a super day! My parents rented a boat and we spent several hours on Lake Mead. It was amazing. The water was really warm, and because the boat could seat 10 (and there were 18 of us) there were constant opportunities to be on the water, and when we weren’t, it was time to eat and relax. I had the best time tubing I’ve had in years, maybe ever. Did crazy tube hopping with my brothers and enjoyed riding with each of my kids. On the first ride of the day, Katrina and I were leaning too far forward and the tube sank –I had to hold Katrina up to keep her above the water. But she wasn’t too scarred and we all had an awesome time.My parents aren't "water people" and they were great sports to go tubing with their grandkids (Katrina and I went down about 3 minutes after this picture was taken).


Wednesday was more low-key – a little hike in Red Rocks and a trip to the park. We all enjoyed swimming in the pool and socializing. Thursday was another great day … we went to a magic show and a magic store. I enjoyed watching all the magic. I love magic! While I didn’t think the Mac King show was quite as clean as it had been billed, he was a great magician. I volunteered Lani and I to participate in a trick...while our version wasn't recorded, another version of it is online and you can check it out and be mystified!
  


A surprise highlight was finding scorpions (Jeffrey took everyone on a scorpion hunt. It was awesome!)  



On Friday we packed out and made the drive home. We had been gone for 20 days and all in all the trip was really good. I think it’s great for us to get away, and always good to be back.
 



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