Soul 2 Soul

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill put on an amazing show at the Venetian Theater. The intimate setting allowed us to see them perform up close and personal. They walked around the theater on some occasions and got within 10 feet of us.

Their performances were amazing and watching them on stage singing duets together was truly touching.

On Sunday, we went to a champagne brunch and ate some really yummy food at the First Food and Bar. Then we cruised the strip, taking it all in :)

This posing with characters thing was new to me.....

But fun, none the less......

I had a great weekend with Margaret and Melissa.

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Is this weekend going to be a lesson in patience?

For Christmas, Scott arranged for me and two girlfriends to have a weekend in Las Vegas. He also bought us tickets to a Tim McGraw and Faith Hill concert. (My husband is so sweet to me :)
So today, I arrived at the airport for my 4:50 flight at 2:50. Exactly 2 hours just like I like it. I'm one of those people who likes to be early for things. On the drive to the airport my flight tracker app dinged me to tell me that my flight on United would be leaving 1 hour and 25 minutes late. That meant I had 20 minutes to reach my connecting flight in Denver. Um, that probably wouldn't happen. All the reservations, including hotel were under my name. I'm not sure that my friends could have checked in without me, especially to get our special AmEx deal.

So as soon as the gate attendant opened our gate, I went to talk to her to figure out an alternative.


Well, she was very nice but not too sympathetic. She looked for alternative flights on United and American. United didn't have any, and she said that American wasn't releasing any seats to her, or their flights were completely booked. So, she moved me to the front of the plane, in hopes that I could dash out and off to my next flight. She said that if I didn't make it to the flight that United would 'overnight' me in Denver and fly me to Vegas the next day. Then she booked me on the 8:20am flight to Vegas, 'just in case'. She said, 'things happen for a reason' and 'look at it as an adventure!'
Huh. Don't know if I like that.
So, I sat down and considered my options and decided to try to ask American if there were any seats left on those flights to Denver or Vegas. I had to hop on a tram to get to American's terminal. 10 minutes later, the nice man at the Admiral's club said that United would have to initiate the purchase, and that it looked like there maintain be A seat on the 10pm flight. Hop on the tram back to United....
There was a new ticket agent at my gate, so I approached her :) She found me a seat on a direct flight going out at 8pm, arriving at 9pm, so of course, I took it.
Hop on the tram, back to American terminal.

By this time it was 5. I had been stressing about the situation for two hours, so when I got back to the admirals club, I just sat and closed my eyes for 20 minutes - which helped tremendously.

Then, I was ready for a beer and some food, since I still had almost a 3 hour wait still for my flight.

Well, then my 8 o clock flight was delayed for half an hour. I finally got off the ground at 8:45!

So, is this a lesson in patience?

Is it a lesson in persistence?

Or is it a lesson in purchasing airline tickets?.....only buy direct?

Maybe all three.....Prepare the best you can. Take each moment as it comes realizing that sometimes you have to roll with what life hands you. Getting upset at people usually gets you nowhere, except grumpier. If you don't get the answer you want at first, try approaching the question or situation from another angle.

In the end, I landed in Vegas and met my friends at the car rental place just as they got their car. The timing couldn't have been more perfect!

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Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's

On December 27, the kids and I drove down to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Uncle Kevin and his family were there as well, so we had our Christmas on the 28th. Scott flew down for it too. :)

 

On the 29th, we went out to the ranch. We got a new camera for Christmas, so Scott was excited to try it out. Grandpa wanted the kids to hunt for arrowheads. Kevin wanted to hunt.

 

Grandpa and Kevin went out earlier than the rest of us, so they could hunt. Before we even left the house, Kevin had shot an 8 point buck. We gave the kids the option of not seeing the deer, but they all wanted to. I was surprised at how, no one freaked out. It was just accepted. They all understand where meat comes from and they've never developed an emotional attachment to any animal that has ended up on our dinner table....so it was fascinating for them.

Lunch in the house

 

Walking around the ranch is very peaceful. Our cell phones don't have any service out there. It's very quiet. So while we were wandering around on the hill above the lower well, Scott and Ian went on a walk by themselves. When we were all done wandering around, they were no where to be found. We knew the general direction in which they went, but couldn't see them. I was a little worried, but Grandpa had faith in Scott, that he wouldn't cross any fences. We piled on the pickup truck to search for them. Sure, enough, they had walked all the way to the back fence and up to the house....where we found them.

 

Scott said, 'I hope you weren't worried'. No, me worried? Worried that you might get lost in the brush and cactus? Nope, not me.

The old outhouse.

 

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'Dad, do you do social networking?'

Payton asked Scott on the way home from swim lessons.

She's been watching Brainpop, again.

Payton loves learning about new things on Brainpop.

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New Year's Eve

Scott had to work New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, so we stayed with Mom and Dad to celebrate. Mom informed me that they were invited to a neighborhood party....which cracks me up :) Their neighbor, Trudi, is a very social person and has brought the people on my parents street together, which I think is wonderful. Anyway, the kids and I were invited as well. We had Chinese food and shot off some fireworks...nothing big because the area down there is very dry, so aerial fireworks were banned. The kids ally enjoyed the Roman candles and the sparklers.

It started raining, and the kids got soaked, so we walked back to my parents' home at 8:30. I was impressed with my parents because they didn't get home till 9:30! :)

 

Grandma promised the kids they could stay up to see the ball drop in New York, thinking that they would fall asleep before then. The ball drops in Texas at 11pm because of the time difference. Ian fell asleep on the floor in front of the TV at 9:30. Payton....the girl that never seems to need as much sleep as I think should...stayed up to see the ball drop! She was so grateful. She said, 'Thank you letting me have this experience! It was awesome!'

Happy New Year!!!

 

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Our visit to Grandma and Grandpa's

Here are some more pics from a park on the bay in Corpus. Scott was having fun trying out our new camera.

 

 

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Christmas Eve

We celebrated our family's Christmas on Christmas Eve. We opened presents in the morning. Payton received an American Girl Doll and was thrilled.

Daddy got the Sunspel shirt he wanted and was very excited.

I was excited that the shirt fit so well (those shirts aren't cheap!) Ian really liked his Skylanders, Lego sets, and his new Halo figure.

And I was overwhelmed by my present! - a weekend trip to Vegas to see Tim McGraw and Faith Hill with two of my best friends! It was sweet the way Scott presented me with it. He got the kids to make three tickets that looked like this:

Each ticket had the owner's picture on it.

It took me a little while to realize what it was because Scott and I are going to Vegas for a conference in March and I thought it was tickets for us to go see the show when we we going to be there. But the the dates didn't make sense and then I saw the pictures of my friends on them. Anyway, I pieced it all together and I'm really looking forward to the trip.

I made Nasi for lunch and them we hung out the rest of the afternoon until church.

Us all dressed for church. The kids are thrilled!

Michele, Jesse and his kids arrived mid-afternoon. The kids all played and had a great time. We went to the 5 o' clock service because Payton and Ian were singing with the choir. Instead of a candlelight service, the kids all held glow sticks while we sang Silent Night.
Then about 7:30pm Kate and Leo arrived (they had to work). The children set out cookies, milk, and carrots for Santa and his reindeer and went to bed. It took them a little while to settle down, but after I told them, Santa called and said that he couldn't come until they were asleep (and he would hate to have to skip over our house) they went right to sleep :)

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