Married in Vegas

One of my best friends since high school--Leah--got married in Vegas!!! But not the real Vegas way...ha ha. She actually planned a wedding and was married in the Las Vegas temple. Tyler and I got to go, and I was so happy to be there for it. It ended up being a long, full trip, so here are the day-to-day highlights:

Day 1: We drove down to St. George (after stopping at our favorite restaurant in Beaver), where we stayed for the night and got to go see The Little Mermaid at Tuacahn. It was excellent!

Day 2: Went to pick up Leah's tuxes in St. George, but the place didn't open for another hour, so we killed some time touring Brigham Young's winter home. It was interesting, I suppose. Definitely better than waiting around for an hour. Then we took the tuxes and drove to our hotel in Vegas--The Stratosphere!

It was definitely one of the coolest hotels we've ever stayed in. We couldn't check in until the afternoon, though, so we had to kill some more time. We started out by eating at the buffet at the Wynn, which was very beautiful. It could have used some better food, but the gelato bar was super yummy! Then we went to the Luxor and went through the Titanic and Bodies exhibits. Both were really interesting. Then we could finally check in to our hotel, dump our stuff, and head out to Henderson to see Leah! Tyler spent a lot of time helping to set up the church for the reception, and I helped some and had to go get my bridesmaid dress fitted. It was a late night, but I was glad we made it out there to help.

Day 3: We picked up the flowers for the wedding and hauled them to the church. Tyler and I spent almost the entire day putting flowers together. He helped me a lot, and when there were things he couldn't help with, we watched movies on his work laptop. I spent a lot of time on my feet all day long, and they were starting to swell, so at dinner time we left to take a break. We drove back in to Vegas to the Venetian and saw Phantom! It was soooo good! It reminded me why I used to be obsessed with Phantom of the Opera--because it is amazing! It gave my feet a good rest, and then we picked up some dinner and went back to finish flowers. Another very late night, but at least we got everything done.

One of my table arrangements...I didn't take any pictures myself (dumb!), and this is the only one Leah has on her Facebook so far...

Day 4: Not only did I have to get up early to make myself look like a presentable bridesmaid, but I also got to go out to Leah's house and do her makeup for the wedding! I LOVE doing makeup! I was so happy she asked me. I'm glad her friends thought to take pictures, too. (Though I am not glad that I look like such a pregnant whale in them!)

Then it was off to the temple for the wedding! It was a nice sealing--very calm and peaceful. Leah was all smiles for the rest of the day!

Once we came out of the temple, I went and changed into my bridesmaid dress while Tyler handed out flowers. Then there was a long marathon of pictures. I feel bad, because Leah's flowers were so beautiful, but it was SOOOO hot outside! Vegas + June = wilted flowers after not very long. I just hope they lasted long enough for the pictures... I'll have to post them later when they're on Leah's Facebook...

After pictures there was a luncheon, a ring ceremony, and the reception. It was fun, but by the end of it all, my feet were swollen to the size of grapefruits! (The picture doesn't do it justice.)

At the end of the night we sent Leah and Rick off to their honeymoon and stumbled back to our hotel. I was so happy for her and so glad that we got to be there and help out.

Day 5: The next morning I felt like I'd been run over by a truck! The only reason I dragged myself out of bed was because we were going to my favorite place in all of Vegas: the Paris hotel's breakfast buffet! I cannot explain how very amazing it is. It just is. After breakfast we went to the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. It involved a LONG walk to get there, which was not a good idea for my poor feet, but it was still fun to go to. Then we went to a benefit concert--Tyler's idea. He wanted to see a singer named Josh Strickland, who was the original Tarzan on Broadway. He was supposed to sing a song from Tarzan in the concert. Tyler was very happy with it, but I wasn't as satisfied. I thought he did a great job on his one song, but the rest of the show was a bunch of mostly-naked Vegas showgirls, so we spent a lot of time looking at our laps. It also appeared that we were the only straight people in the room. The sparkley feather boas they gave out on the way in should have been a dead giveaway... Oh well. Lesson learned, I suppose! After this last great adventure, we got in the car and drove the long way home.


So where was Ashton during all of this adventure? At Grandma Becky's house! He had a great time going everywhere with her.

He even got to go with Grandma, Grandpa, Bryant, and Royce all the way to Manti for the Mormon Miracle Pageant.

He especially enjoyed "Grandma's swimmin' pool."

It was nice to not have to drag a baby through the whole busy weekend, but by the time we got home I was missing my Ashton so much. Thanks for taking such good care of him, Becky!