How to read these next few posts...

So I should have posted these from finish to start to have them in order. Oh well. If you want to read from start to finish, start with "It All Started With Vegas," then read, "On to Utah," after that check out "Commissioning and Party Time with the Obergs," and finish with "Back to Vegas...then home sweet home." Sorry for the confusion! Hope you enjoy the stories and pictures. Be sure to leave me a comment or two! :-)

Back to Vegas...then home sweet home...

We left Utah after breakfast on Monday morning and started to trek down the interstate to Vegas...we hit a bunch of summer thunderstorms and saw QUITE the display of lightning. It was very cool...I did take a few pictures from the car on the way down...

Look at the clouds on the right side...I thought it looked like an eagle's eye or the "eye of God."
Just outside of St. George, Utah...


Coming into Vegas at sunset....


The first time in Vegas, we attempted to go to the Pirates show at Treasure Island. Dad dropped Emilie, Cole and me off right in front of the show, however there were definitely about 5,000 people already there to watch it. We stayed for about 5 minutes of the show and took off...Cole was pretty bummed, so I promised that we would come back and see it. Well, this time we went about 45 minutes early and got right in front of the main Sirens ship. We waited and waited and really enjoyed the show. Here are a couple of pics...



After the pirate show, we headed over to Fremont Street to see the overhead light show...here's a peek off the strip off of the parking structure at T.I...Cole and G-Pop checking out the light show overhead...
The theme of the show was Queen music and it was AWESOME...WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU!!!


After an evening of dinner at 1:00 a.m. with my dad and gambling on penny slots until about 5 a.m. (I did win $$$) I finally headed off to our hotel room, but was up for basically the entire rest of the "night" with some major stomach issues. And I was able to get an hour's rest while Grandma and G-Pop took Cole down to the cafe for breakfast...however, when Cole came back in with them, he wasn't really feeling good. Well, I needed to finish getting ready, so I set him on the counter in the bathroom so I was right there...which wasn't such a hot idea. He ended up puking a WHOLE bunch on himself and the bathroom floor and into the trash can. Poor boy. Once that was over, he was a new kid. Totally fine, no issues at all! :) I had issues the rest of the day, however my pops thought it would be a good idea to hit up the historic...
We had a great time exploring the mines and checking out all the cool gift shops...


This is the railroad that is still in working order and we were able to take a ride around the mining area of Calico...pretty cool. Although it was 118 degrees outside...
Inside one of the museums where you can enter into the mine...all original mining equipment and office equipment...
Most of the quaint mining town burnt down...twice. These are mostly replica buildings, however there were a few originals from the 1800's.

We headed home in the nice air conditioned car and finally made it to our sweet house at about 7:30 p.m. My bed never felt so good!! We all had an AWESOME vacation and are so glad we were able to go together! Lots of fun memories and lots of cool pictures! :)

Phew...that's all folks!!!

Commissioning and Party Time with the Obergs...

So the real reason for this entire trip was to attend the Naval Officer commissioning ceremony of my good friend, Sam Oberg on August 2nd. We arrived at our destination (Wolf Creek, Utah) on Wednesday, July 30th and just relaxed and enjoyed the views from our balcony (too bad I forgot to take any pictures of that!) On Thursday, we headed down to Ogden to visit Sam and Ashlee and their 3 boys, Trent, Braden, and Kyler. We were able to go to lunch together and just have a great time catching up. Cole fell asleep on the car ride back to their house, so we ended up just heading back to our timeshare (about 12 miles away from their home into the mountains)

Here are some pics from the Commissioning Ceremony of Ensign Samual J. Oberg. It was held in Bountiful, Utah at a beautiful banquet hall...

Sam swearing the oath...
Seth, Sam's brother, saluting the newest Naval Officer...very cool moment indeed!
TJ, Sam and Seth posing in uniform...
Sam, Camille, John and Seth...these parents are VERY proud of their boys!
The OSB...Seth, Aaron, Ensign Sam, Stevie, and TJ...
Mom and Dad with the Oberg boys...proud "parents" too!
Here are the Prechts with the Oberg boys...I'm sure glad Judy was able to make it and survive the day...she woke up with a horrible migraine. Sad times, but she ended up being okay!
Sam and his beautiful wife, Ashlee, posing for the cameras...
And I finally get a picture with the man of the hour...
Seth and Sam...two of the best buddies a girl could have...seriously...
Cole looking pretty darn cute with Uncle Tink....I was messing around with my pops hat and this picture actually turned out pretty good! :)
Sam is one decorated Naval Officer!
Samantha and Seth enjoying the AWESOME food they had catered in...YUMMY!
What he's worked many years for...

After the amazingly emotional commissioning ceremony, most of the people headed over to Sam and Ashlee's house in Ogden, about 45 minutes north of Salt Lake City...

Party Time at the Oberg's Pad!!!

Cole and Cooper playing in the boys bedroom...they were in heaven!!!
Samantha, TJ, Stevie and Aaron chillin' in the backyard and sippin' on some "juice."
Dad and Peter strummin' away and Sam looking very happy he's an officer!

Sweet little Cooper looking on as Dad and Chris play some tunes...
Aaron and Mary making some extremely odd faces...TJ, Jessica and Stevie relaxing with a beverage...
Ryan looking a bit crazed...
TJ sporting the shades...

The boys singing a song ...Camille, Sam's mama teaching Cole how to fish...in the garage...
Thank you to all the Obergs for making this trip well worth the gas money! :) We had SUCH a blast with you all and I'm so grateful to be considered friends with all of you!!! I hope we can do something together like that soon.

From Wolf Creek Utah, we headed towards Vegas again on Monday, August 4th...

On to Utah...

So on Tuesday, July 29th, mom, dad, Cole and I left for Utah for 6 nights. Our original plan was to drive from Vegas to Zion National Park, spend a few hours there and trek it up to Ogden where our other timeshare is. However, we decided that Bryce Canyon National Park was to awesome to pass up and we took a detour. We ended up spending the night in wonderful Beaver, Utah and then pressing on towards the goal of Wolf Creek Mountain, Utah... Here are some highlights of Utah and our adventures.

We're on our way!!!
Some beautiful works of the Lord along the way...
We hit Zion National Park first...
Cole and I right outside the Zion tunnel through the mountains...
My boy and me in Zion...SO PRETTY!
Along the highway in Zion National Park, we came across some cool sheep/mountain goats that were right alongside the road, up on a BIG rock. When I went under the rock to take some pics of this awesome animal, here's the stare down that I received. I promptly picked up the pace and moved away from being right under this guy...he was VERY intimidating. There were 5 altogether. They totally stopped traffic on the tiny 2-lane highway...many people got out of their cars and took some photos of them!

On the way to Zion, we stopped in at a local rock shop and looked at some cool rocks and fossils.
We also spotted a herd of buffalo along the way and he was the biggest one of all, right in front of the fence...


We took the beautiful route to Bryce Canyon and finally made it to Inspiration Point. What a privilege to see this amazing creation of the Lord's twice...

Grandma showing Cole the amazing view from Inspiration Point! I think that might have been her favorite moment of the entire vacation! :)


Cole and I snuggling up close enjoying the view!
Dusk in Bryce Canyon National Park...

We went to a few other vista points, but my camera died after Inspiration Point. We were fortunate enough to see many mule deer and even some pronghorn deer, which look sort of like antelope. We ate dinner at the famous Ruby's Inn in Bryce Canyon, went shopping in their souvenier shop, bought way cool rocks and postcards, and finally left at about 10:30 p.m. Dad pulled off the highway and turned off all the car lights and we stargazed for about 10 minutes. We were able to see the Milky Way and so many amazing constellations...even a few shooting stars! We drove through a tiny town called Panguitch, Utah, couldn't find a hotel room and finally made it over to Beaver, Utah around midnight. We found a Comfort Suites and were very glad for a comfy bed and a great breakfast. We even chatted with a family from the Netherlands about the differences in prices between the US and the Netherlands...fascinating conversation! We then headed up the 15 for a LONG drive to Ogden, Utah. And that marks the end of the trip from Vegas to Wolf Creek Mountain, Utah.