Vegas in July..

This July we took a family trip with the Nicholls to Las Vegas. We drove down on a Thursday night and stayed in Mesquite, then drove into Vegas the next morning and stayed until Monday. It was scorching hot! I'm not one who does too well in hot weather.. I carried water with me the whole time and took every opportunity to get inside a building to keep from passing out. Jaran probably thought I was a weirdo because he's used to weather like that from his mission in Brazil. But we had a great time shoppping, eating at tons of fun restaurants and buffets, swimming, going to the Tournament of Kings, going on rides, and lots more!

We stayed at the Saraha Hotel, it was our first time there and it was pretty nice!

In front of the New York New York after everyone rode the roller coaster. Our first attempt to ride it Jaran and I got up to the front of the line and decided to wait 3 extra turns so that we could have the very front seat. It was just our luck that when our turn came the ride broke down, and we waited there for an hour for them to fix it so we didn't lose our spot.. and then they closed it for the day. We were so mad! So we wasted some time but finally rode it before we left :)

Jaran and I with his brother Nate and wife Robyn and family at the Tournament of Kings. This was probably my favorite thing we did! We'd never been before and it was so entertaining, definitely worth the money!

The water show is always fun to watch.. Our little nephew Major especially loved it!

The Rain Forest Cafe where we ate one night

Me in front of the Lion's at the MGM Grand

The Coca Cola Bear.. he was cracking us up when we were trying to get this picture

Our last night in front of the Excalibur

Zions National Park

The next morning Jaran and I headed into Zions National Park from St. George. We camped in the park with my friend Kayli and her husband and were there for two days. It was mine and Jaran's first time going on the trails and hikes and we loved it.. the weather was hot but we had so much fun experiencing everything together!

Our attempt to get a picture from the hood of our car in front of the Zion's sign

On our way up to Angel's Landing...I was scared out of my mind and clinging onto the chains!

Jaran realizing that there's nearly 1000 foot drop off on both sides of him at this point

We made it! The view from the top was amazing, and definitely worth the two hour hike



This is at the top of the Emerald Pools. We stayed here for a while and ate lunch and played around on the big rocks everywhere. There was also a bunch of baby frogs that Jaran caught and entertained some kids with!

Jaran in front of the Weeping Wall, it was so neat!

Us in Hidden Canyon

Me at the beginning of the Zion Narrows. We went up quite a ways, but didn't get to do the entire hike unfortunately. Next time!

Jaran loved exploring everything around him and in the water

The Narrows are amazing.. we picked the perfect time of day to go!

St. George with the Aldrich's

Jaran and I went down to St. George at the end of June and stayed two nights with our friends Brock and McCall. The first night we stayed at their place, and we had fun going out to eat and hiking around. The next night we packed our camping gear and headed up to Kolob Reservoir where we camped for the night!

Jaran and I in this fun slot canyon in St. George!

Me, McCall, and Brock working our way through

It was a little tight..but Jaran made it!

It opens up really wide here and goes back into a small cave

We camped right next to beautiful Kolob Reservoir. It was a blast- we made a fire, roasted hot dogs and McCall made some awesome peach cobbler!