Las Vegas

A few weeks ago, Trent and I headed out to Las Vegas. The once home of the mafia is now the home of our dear friends Joni and Derek and Jen and Rob. We had the luxury of making this a long trip so we could enjoy all of Derek and Joni's wedding festivities and spend some quality time with Jen and Rob. I beg Trent to move us to Las Vegas...this happens almost weekly. This must say a lot about the friends that live there because I am not a big fan of the city itself. Our first day was spent on the strip of Las Vegas.

For August in Las Vegas, the weather was not bad. We started out at the Bellagio, which is now our favorite hotel in Vegas. We wandered through the conservatory that was beautifully decorated. We marveled at the animals that were made entirely of flowers. There were also some amazing streams of water that shot right over your head. I just love being at the Bellagio. They play music outside all around their property. I could not help it - I started to dance my way down the ramp that goes to the street.

We visited the Venetian Hotel and watched the statues come to life at Ceaser's Palace. We met up with Derek for lunch at the Mesa Grill, a Bobby Flay Restaurant. The food was great and it was so nice to talk with Derek about his upcoming wedding and their future plans. I mostly enjoyed watching Trent and Derek laugh so much at their own jokes. I love to see Trent that happy - thank you Derek!

Then we headed off to the M&M factory and to see the lions at the MGM Grand.

We were lucky enough to be staying at Jen and Rob's home and they graciously hosted a BBQ that night. Jen and Rob make some really great food. Rob and Trent later watched football and Jen and I talked and talked. Oh, I love her.The next day was spent with Jen. We drove out to the Hoover Dam to look at the new bridge that is being built over the dam. It is huge and, I image, would be scary to drive over. We had fun making all the "dam jokes" possible. As we were leaning over the wall to get a good look at the dam, some dam water kept spraying us in the face. Aww....the last joke is out.

That night we went to Derek and Joni's rehearsal reception that was held at a private club downtown. It was beautiful inside and out. Trent and I loved getting to know both Joni and Derek's family members. For dinner, Derek, Joni, Trent, and I all ordered the same combo: crab cake, steak fillet, and chocolate cake. It was a combo that could not be beat! The rest of the evening was full of talking and laughing. At one point, I saw Trent and Derek laughing as hard as I think they could. It ended up being quite funny - "I'll tell you what, that man fell in a dump truck, broke his neck, and died."

After dinner, Trent and watched a few shows at the Bellagio fountains.

Saturday started out having a pancake breakfast with Jen and Rob. Again, the food was perfect. Thanks Jen. Then we drove to the temple for the sealing. Derek and Joni were sealed in the Las Vegas temple. The ceremony was simple and beautiful. Joni and Derek just beamed! Afterwards, Trent was summonsed to go out and take pictures with the wedding party. I was also able to get some pictures.

The guys are comparing their rings. So cute.

After the sealing, Trent and I hit up In-n-Out for the second time during our trip. So good. (I write a lot about food.) Then we made our way to White Cross Pharmacy. I had read that they had the best milkshake in Vegas. As we got there, Trent looked around at the neighborhood and building and asked, "where did you read this?" I reassured him and we went inside. Turns out that it was in a recent movie. I can't recall the name of the movie. We got our milkshake and it was quite good. I was happy about the excursion.Joni and Derek had a ring ceremony at TPC Summerlin, a beautifully green golf course. The site of the ceremony overlooked all of downtown Las Vegas and the mountains. I loved watching Trent walk down the aisle as he took his spot of best man. The Bishop that gave the ring ceremony did an amazing job as he talked about the symbolism and history of wearing wedding rings.

After the ring ceremony, we went inside the club house for the reception. Dinner was fun and we were able to sit next to a friend of ours that was in law school with Trent. Trent also gave a speech - which was the best speech I have heard at a wedding. He was appropriately funny and sentimental, all in the right place. Good job, love! As the evening wore on, I realized how much I loved this trip. Good friends, good food, and a great husband. Who could ask for more? Well, maybe I could have asked for a better flight than the red eye that night.

Congrats to Derek and Joni. We love you and hope to see you soon.

Thank you to Jen and Rob. Your warmth and friendship were felt and appreciated.

Las Vegas: I love you but I hate you.

New Blog Address

It seems like just yesterday that I started my blog. I loved my blog. It got a lot of attention. Then I started to date Trent and the blog was neglected. I would add entries every once in a while but it was not the same. I thought I would have more time after our marriage but somehow that has not happened. So the blog has continued to be neglected.

There are a few ways to be more responsible about updating this blog: scheduling a time for blogging, copying things from others blogs and claiming them as original thought, or writing half-hearted entries. Instead Trent has decided to be an acting writing/editing member of the blog. This means you might get political rants that will either incite anger or happiness with in you.

Due to this wonderful addition, we are changing the blog address to: http://www.mandyandtrent.blogspot.com/

We are excited for our new blog!

Our Honeymoon!

Our wedding was wonderful but the only thing that kept me sane was knowing that it was going to end with a wonderful honeymoon to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. After we arrived at the airport, Trent had a question for the gate clerks and mentioned that we were on our honeymoon. Luckily enough, the atendants called us up before boarding and exchanged our boarding passes for ones in first class!! The extras that come with first class were very much appreciated, especially since the flight was one of the coldest flights ever and may have been especially uncomfortable otherwise!

We arrived in Cancun and were taken by bus to our resort. The main lobby area was gorgeous, and we were given a juice as we checked in. We then wandered over to our room, taking in the scenes that would be around us for the next few days. Our resort was made up of several room buildings with lovely swimming pools running all around them, which we made sure to make use of while we were there. The resort was teeming with wildlife, from the macaws hanging out on posts around the grounds, to the iguanas lounging in the sun and those strange monkey-type things we kept catching a glimpse of as they ran across the path (we never did quite figure out what they were).

We spent one of our sunny Mexico days exploring the Xcaret ecological park. The park was right next door and a quick walk from our resort, one of the things that drew us where we went. Upon arrival, we headed right for the river that ran throughout the park. The river, which was partially underground, was open for floating, so we grabbed some lifevests and a little waterproof camera and jumped in! The river was cool and beautiful (a little creepy in the underground parts), and we even saw some fossil marks in the limestone that formed the river walls. Also, I swear that I saw a live crab on a leash. I swear. The river dumped us out by the ocean, and then we rinsed off and headed back into the park. The park also contained a turtle exhibit.

Coming out of my shell

We also saw some Mayan dance rituals.

That afternoon we took a walk on the watery side. We went down to the ocean for what they called "SeaTrek." We donned some rubber shoes and went down to the deck. A worker gave us a quick scare by teaching us some communication for the trek, including placing a hand on the head which means, "shark is coming!" The workers there had some heavy glass-fronted helmets that received air from an oxygen tank. Trent, and then I, went down and as we climbed into the water the placed the helmet on us. With this weight, we continued down to the bottom of the ocean inlet and were able to walk around on the bottom!! The ocean inlet was beautiful from down there. We saw schools of little fish that enjoyed swarming around us, and occasionally some larger fish almost as big as me. This was definitely a unique and fun experience.







That night, we and the other visitors to the park gathered to the park's replica of an old Mayan ball game stadium. What a treat! (And by treat I don't just mean the crazy chile-covered apple we bought as a concession.) We watched as the park actors put on a reenactment of Mayan ball games, which included lighting the ball on fire and using lacrosse-style sticks to hurl it at each other!

Chile-sugar covered apple


Trent's first bite- not sure what to think

My first bite says it all



The next day we took a tour up to Chichen Itza, which we learned was one of the 7 wonders of the new world. I was excited but feeling somewhat under the weather. Turns out when they say "don't drink the water," they mean it, and that includes ice in your other drinks! Trent had some quick stomach problems earlier in the trip, but I think mine were worse and lasted longer. Despite this, we rode a bus up to the Mayan temple while the tour guide told us about the many theories of ancient civilizations in the area, including one from some guy named Joseph Smith. The bus ride was enjoyable, but traveling into Mexico definitely gave us a glimpse into how poor the majority of the country is.

The temple at Chichen Itza was amazing. Our guide explained some of the astronomical influences on its size and location, and also took us around to some of the other ruins that surrounded the temple and told us what they were likely used for. It was exciting for us to see glimpses of this old civilization and discuss influences that might be universal in all culutures.
While there we also found the souvenir that we wanted, and we got it after a half-hearted attempt at bartering. But hey, we liked it a lot and couldn't find another like it!

Beyond those two adventures, we didn't really leave the resort. For example, on our last morning there, we went down like we did the other days for breakfast at what they called "the beach club," a buffet setup right down near the water. But we got there a little earlier than usual, and so threw our towels on a beach bed and went and waded around in the little cove at the resort. The water was so cool and refreshing, and so clear you could look down and see some beautifully colored fish swimming around you. Then, after breakfast, we retired to our shaded beach bed for a leisurely day of reading and relaxing. Around dinnertime, we headed over to the resort's Mexican restaurant. There were several restaurants for us to choose from, but I think we were going to skip this one until it worked out best for our schedule. What a great choice- it was by far the tastiest meal we had there, from chips through dessert!

The view under the beach bed

All in all, it was a fantastic trip that we will always remember, and a fantastic choice for our honeymoon.