"What happens in Vegas..."

"Stays in Vegas!"

At least, that is what we told Priya when we were on our way down there a few weeks ago. When we told her that, she laughed excitedly and kicked her legs (I doubt she really knew what we meant, but she sure liked it).

We went down to Las Vegas for 3 reasons.

First of all, we went down for the Best of the West lacrosse tournament with our lacrosse team. Our team went 2-2. We wish they could have done better, but there are always kinks to get out at the first of the season, and it was so fun to go down there with the girls and get to know them better.

It was really fun this year because Erik was down there playing for Jordan High School (number 6), and we were able to watch him play, too.

The 2nd reason we went down there was to spend some much needed time away and to soak up some sunshine (it was in the 70's every day! Eat your heart out, fellow Utahns).


We soaked in some of our favorite tourist attractions:

Priya trying out the famous "fried twinkie"


Getting a charicature of Priya done. She did NOT like sitting there for so long (about 8 minutes).



The finished product: They really liked her eyes and cheeks!

We were lucky enough to have a lot of family with us. They made the trip much more exciting (as you can tell from one of the many "surprise" photos I found on my camera, courtesy of Aunt April).

And we even went swimming!

Unfortunately, the only time we were able to go swimming was early in the morning, and the swimming pool at the hotel was frigid! Priya had to be content with sticking her feet in the water, and the boys (including Andrew) enjoyed daring each other to get into the pool.




Poor Priya was so worried that something was wrong.

Priya chilling in her carseat as we rolled down the Strip. She got her Las Vegas style on with Uncle Paul's sunglasses.



On the way home, Priya got sick of hearing Grandma, Paul, Andrew and I talk, so she finally stuck her blanket over her head and tried to ignore us. She eventually fell asleep like this.

Man, when this little lady has an opinion (which is most of the time), she sure knows how to get her point across!

The 3rd reason (and most important) that we went down to Las Vegas was to see my Uncle Brett get married!

Uncle Brett met Cassia (who lived in Brazil) a few years ago. Obviously, due to the large distance between us and her, nobody in the family had a chance to meet her yet.

True to form, the fam was running late, which meant we all had to change into nice clothes in a stairwell. LOL.

Cassia and Brett

Cassia in her beautiful dress her mother made.

Brett and Cassia getting married.

Priya waiting for the ceremony

Paul and Andrew

Uncle Brett outside after the wedding.

Cassia outside with her beautiful bouquet and some beads in honor of Brazil's "Carnival," which started that next Tuesday (courtesy of my dad).

After the wedding, we went out to eat at Olive Garden to celebrate. From L to R: Erik, Grandma Cindy, Aunt April, my mom, my dad, Paul, James, Laura, Christian, Andrew, Priya, Cassia, Uncle Brett, and Uncle Scott.

We are so excited to welcome Cassia into the family, and I can't wait to get to know her better!