Snowboarding in Tahoe

The Sierras recently got an amazing amount of snow (70+ inches) due to three storms that came through in a week. So, we managed to take part in the powdery fun on Friday. We didn't get any pics on top of the mountain, but here are a few after a fun filled day of snowboarding:

Pics of the drive:

Before going back to the car:

Right next to the car was this bank of snow:

Duke thought it would be funny for me to climb up in it and make a snow angel. So, of course he lifted me up to where I made my snow angel.

Then, he thought it would be funny for me to see how far I could get stuck in the snow, to which I complied with his request... Here I am trying to push my weight into the snow:

Then, I guess it looked pretty funny how I was pushing my weight into the snow, so Duke started filming it (me not knowing at first) and when I realized he was recording, I added a little dance. For your entertainment, I'm not sure why I'm posting this, other than we laugh at it after every time we watch it... so, hopefully it makes you laugh too :)

Christmas fun

Somehow, I didn't manage to get many pictures of Christmas! We woke up at a bright and early, I think 4 or 5am? It must have been too early to remember! Not because Duke was too excited to see what Santa brought him, but because we were able to Ichat with the Jake and Belle Cheney family (on the East coast) while they opened the gifts that we sent them. Thanks, Jake and Belle for letting us be a part of your Christmas morning fun!

After we did East coast Ichat, we slept for a couple of hours until my sister and her family woke up and we did Ichat with them as well as they experienced the fun of Santa visiting them through the night!

This was the life size stocking that I was hoping to have filled by Santa... I must not have been a good girl, because it didn't happen :)

Christmas day, Duke worked, so we exchanged gifts before he went to work, I dropped him off and came home to make some goodies to take in to his work. After he got off work, around 6pm, we packed the car and drove to Gooding, ID to spend a couple of days with the Cheney families. We had a great time, and it was great to be with family!

I did manage to get these two pics of the Cheney family fun (bus ride to Twin to the movies!):

We returned home to Reno, and then my parents and sister, Kendl, made the trip out to Reno. Here's just the few pics that we did manage to take:

First, if you know anything about Reno, you know there aren't many exciting things to visit and take pictures of. One thing, however, is the below sign:

Should you manage to make it to the "strip" in downtown Reno (which is nothing like the strip in Vegas) the above sign is on the strip.

We decided it would be fun to go to one of the free circus shows at Circus Circus... I was quite excited about this since we hadn't made it to one of the shows yet. We made it to the casino, to the 2nd floor where all the games are and found a place around the platform where the show would take place (which was way crowded and rude people shimmied their way in front of me blocking my view... urgh) to find that the free show that night was a mighty lame dog show! After the show, it took some convincing, that there wasn't going to be another show, for me to leave... I was just sure there would be something better! Here we are as we excitedly wait for another show to start (that actually never happened):

We decided to play one of the games before we left (one where all six of us could play at the same time to increase our odds of winning a prize!) It took us two rounds, but we managed to win this:

Kendl is now the proud owner of a $12.00 stuffed animal with valentine candy on it (the amount of money we spent to play the game)

The entire Circus Circus experience was quite humorous since we all were really tired and I basically had to drag the family out of the apartment to go... then the show ended up being a lame dog show! Good thing downtown Reno is only a few minutes away from the apartment :) And I'm sure Kendl will forever treasure that stuffed animal :)

Las Vegas trip

The annual pharmacy conference happens in December and this year it happened to be in Vegas. Since Duke's travels were paid for, it was more than easy for me to decide that I should come too :) . In spite of all the filth in Vegas, we managed to have fun hanging out with our good friends Brandon and Alison. A few pics documenting our fun:

What is a Vegas trip without the fantastic display at the Bellagio?

Duke and Brandon giving their 'Oceans Eleven' pose

Me and Alison

Me and Duke with the Eiffel Tower in the background (the hotel we stayed at)

We had decided that we would go see a show while in Vegas and we decided to go see Le Reve. I very highly recommend this show if you get the opportunity to see it. It was absolutely amazing! Acrobatic, diving from crazy heights into the water, entertaining... just amazing! Here's a few pics with the set in the background:

At the new Civic Center mall in Vegas, the architecture was absolutely amazing. Not to mention they had crazy stores that had ridiculously priced clothing. I'm pretty sure Alison and I touched some shirts, dresses and pillows (yes pillows) that cost thousands of dollars (i'm pretty sure I remember $10,000 being on a price tag). And yes, the thought crossed my mind that it would be fun to try something on that cost that much, but I just decided it would be best to look and touch since they probably cost more than anything I currently own :)

Here's a few pics of some of the stairs... I think they are rocks or shells with lights in the background? Whatever they are, they were pretty cool:

Alison and I visited the mall while the guys were busy at the conference and then I decided to take Duke back to show him how cool it was:

There was a cool display in the Bellagio? I think? Every part of the display was made with flowers - pretty cool:

There were also reindeer in the display, but somehow they didn't get a picture made.

We had a great time with Brandon and Alison, it was great to see you guys! I'm pretty sure we don't need another Vegas trip anytime soon, unless it's for me to see Garth Brooks in concert... which fingers crossed I will come across tickets somehow in the next 5 years that he performs there :)

Thanksgiving fun

For Thanksgiving, my younger brother and sister, Winston and Kendl, made the trek from Idaho/Utah to Reno - and then we all drove out to California to eat delicious food and share the holiday with great company! We didn't get any pictures of Thanksgiving dinner, but it was delicious... Thanks to Jodie for hosting!

Thanksgiving night we drove to Kadie's in Gilroy so we could do some after Thanksgiving shopping at the Outlets. We decided to get out the door at 3:00am to go try to get a TV at Target... at which our efforts failed because not very many people in front of us got the last TV tickets. It made for a tiring day, getting up that early, and I do have to say I probably wouldn't do that again unless there was something I absolutely needed and couldn't do without - then I would just stay up all night and leave a little earlier. Oh well, now we can say we did it, right Kadie?!

The boys decided sleep sounded better and went golfing later that day. Winston showed his skill at playing the Wii and I think impressed Kadie's boys... now I think I might need to increase my nintendo skills so they will like me just as much :) They had fun playing with Winston and I think he now has an open invitation to travel to California with me anytime we go!

We decided to give Kendl and Winston a tour of California since neither of them had been before. We made it to 17 mile drive where we took these pictures:

It was pretty windy, so the waves were awesome that day!

Of course, we had to make a stop at the 18th hole at Pebble Beach:

Here is Duke looking on at two golfers approaching the green... one day you can be playing Duke while on-lookers watch your approach :)

Me and Kendl at Pebble Beach

After 17 mile drive, we gave them a VERY abbreviated tour of San Francisco before the sun completely set:

Including a stop to look at the Golden Gate

After making the rounds we stopped at this place:

And ate these:

Need I say more? Except, I could use another one of these tacos soon - good thing we don't live close to this place!

To end the great day, we went to the Oakland Temple to see the Christmas lights:

It was beautiful! We had a great Thanksgiving - Thanks Winston and Kendl for coming to see us!

Little City of Rocks - Gooding, ID

One of our trips home to Gooding, Idaho (in October) were to surprise Duke's mom for her birthday. We had a great time during our quick visit and it included making a trip to the Little City of Rocks. Here's a few pics of the fun:

Thanks, Sue for having a Birthday :)