D.A.R.E.

So tonight on the way home from church, I saw a bumper sticker that said "D.A.R.E to resist drugs!". I'm sorry... when did we move from "D.A.R.E. to say NO to drugs" to resisting them? Ouy, hopefully it's just Vegas.

Nothing To Post...

As my dogs are sitting beside me ... panting ... I'm trying to think of something to post about. Nothing is really new, just looking forward to the weekend. My friend told me about this book "Devil Wears Prada" I think I might read that this weekend. Other than that, I am starting on Steve's Scrap Book from when he was a baby. Steve's mom did it for him when he was little and it has all his elementary report cards, year books, class pictures and awards. I'm looking forward to putting that together for him. It's really neat. I'm just switching over books because the one she used is not acid-free, so the pages are turning yellow.

Other than that nothing really new. Sorry.
I'll post again soon!
Sara

15 Things

Steve's Mom sent me this e-mail and I thought it was so neat, I thought I would share.

15 Things You Probably Never Thought About ...
1. At least 5 people in this world love you so much they would die for you.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is becausethey want to be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. If not for you, someone may not be living.
8. You are special and unique.
9. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
10. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
11. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look: you most likely turned your back on the world.
12. When you think you have no chance of getting what you want, you probably won't get it, but if you believe inyourself, probably, sooner or later, you will get it.
13. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.
14. Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when they know.
15. If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that they are great.

More visitors From IL

Hello Again -
Sorry it's been so long since my last post (we had visitors this weekend). My 2 aunts from IL came in Friday evening. My Aunt Annette who is married to my Dad's brother Matt and My Aunt Maryanne, who is my Dad's sister (one year older than my Dad). I used to work with my Aunt Annette at First Card and My Aunt Maryanne always watched me when I was little. We had so much fun. Friday we went to see Toby Keith. That was a GREAT concert. He puts on a really good show. I love the fact he has such a respect for our country and he is proud to show it. We walked around on the strip a little, went to Red Rock Canyon and the rest of the time we sat around and talked. It was SO nice to sit and catch up with my two Aunts. They are so awesome! I loved having them visit.

Here are a few pictures.

Here's a picture of all 4 of us on the strip. This was taken in Bellagio at the Atrium.(L-R: Me, Steve, Aunt Maryanne & Aunt Annette)

This was taken at Cesear's Palace with one of the "Guards". They are there so you can take pictures with them :) It was so funny to see my Aunt's walk up with these strange expressions on their faces... wondering what I was doing.
(L-R: Aunt Maryanne, George The barbarian, Me & Aunt Annette)

While we were at Cesaer's Palace, we ran into ELVIS (we think it was a bachelor party and the groom to be had to dress up like Elvis). Lots of fun!

We also ran into Shaq O'Neal. He had walked in just as we were walking out of Cesaer's Palace. You couldn't miss him. He was about 9 feet tall. My Aunt Annette ran up and took this picture of him.

On Sunday, we went to Red Rock Canyon. This is where we took this picture. It a very beautiful place that Steve & I like to go hiking at. It's so quiet and peaceful.

Thank Aunt Annette for the Toby Keith Tickets! Thank you both for coming out and staying with us, we had so much fun!

I'll post again soon (hopefully)!
Sara

New Baby Boy

Riley Michael was born today at 2pm. YEAH :) He weighs 7lb. 1oz. and 19inches. Mom and baby are doing great. Thank you so much for your prayers. We are going to visit tomorrow, so I will take pictures.

Until next time!
Sara

My Friend Carly

A very good friend of mine, Carly (and her husband Mike), are going to have their baby tomorrow. She is very nervous and scared so I thought I would ask for you to pray for her that she and the baby will be ok (she is scheduled at noon for a C-Section). This was my friend that was pregnant last year and lost the baby at 39 weeks. She is a wonderful person and is going to be a wonderful mother, I'm so excited for her. Carly is such an awesome friend to have. If you get a spare moment, please say a quick prayer for her (and Mike too).

Thanks so much!
Love,
Sara

Things I've Learned

I was thinking tonight about different things I've learned from Friends & Family and I thought I would share some with you.

Never go to bed angry.
My Grandma Schumacher

Believe, Trust & Talk to God and you will never be alone.
My Grandpa Billings

Whenever you are upset or angry, listen or sing a song. It will cheer you up.
My Grandma Billings

There's always two sides to every story. Try not to jump to conclusions.
My Dad

Always treasure every moment with your friends & family.
My Mom

Don't be scared to love with your whole heart.
My friend Shannon

That's just a few that came to mind. I can't remember the other ones that I thought of earlier, I should have wrote them down. These are not direct quotes, just things I have learned being around these people. It was fun thinking back when I was a kid or a teenager and remembering some of the lessons that I learned, (or learnings from other peoples experiences. Leave a comment if there is a phrase that you can think of that someone has taught you or that you learned.

I'll post again soon!
Sara

More Weekend Details!

Sunday, August 7th
We met my Uncle Gregg, Aunt Laurie and Family at Margaritaville on the strip Sunday night. They came down from San Fransisco & Sacramento area. It was so good to see them. They looked wonderful. We had a long wait to get a table so we hung around outside and caught up on what we have been up to. We had a great dinner and when the bill came my Uncle Gregg announced that my Grandma & Grandpa sent money to take us all out to eat (my G-ma & G-pa live in IL). That was SO neat and such a nice treat. They really shouldn't have done that.
So we would like to say
"THANK YOU GRANDMA & GRANDPA"!

Here is everyone in the picture (L-R: My cousin Krissy (she just turned 21 the day before, which is why they were in Las Vegas.), Krissy's good friend, My Cousin Dannie, Dannie's husband Steve, Me, My Uncle Gregg, My Aunt Laurie, Steven Lee, Tasha & Kelly (AKA-Roy). I apologize in advance if I spelled your name wrong.


After dinner Kelly, Tash, my Steve, Me, My cousin Dannie & her husband Steve went to NY, NY to walk around and look. This was Steve's first time in Las Vegas so he wanted to look around. Dannie and her husband Steve ended up staying at an Irish pub in the hotel while we continued on. See below for some of the pictures we took. Keep in mind this was about midnight on Sunday.




This was outside NY, NY Hotel. There is a tug boat that still to this day has a tribute to 9-11. It's very cool to see.






Kelly & Tash being goofy.

Walk like an Egyptian :)

Steve, Tash & Kelly at the Luxor. I think their new outfits look fabulous on them ;)

Monday, August 8th

We decided to take Kelly & Tash to the Apex. It is where we like to go riding most of the time. They had a great time and they both did really well. Here are some pictures.

Kelly

Tasha

Ok, that is all I have for now. I will write again soon!

Sara

Camping

Hello Again -
We are back from Zion, UT. WOW, was it amazing there. We ended up staying 2 nights instead of the original plan which was just for one night. The weather was like 20 degrees less than Vegas, it was awesome. We decided to take my sister Kelly and her best friend Tasha camping a couple weeks ago when we were making a list of things to do while they were here. I'm so glad that we did. They had a lot of fun. (This was Tasha's first time camping in a tent.)


Here are some photos from Zion.

We decided to have a "Set Up Tent Race". This was the tent Steve & Kelly set up together. They won, only because Tasha & I had a few technical difficulties.

This is the tent Tash & I set up. Yeah for us! We did it all by ourselves.

Here is a picture of Kelly and Tash in their tent.



This is a "Trolly" that you can take all over the park. It is a 8-mile ride to go all the way up and back down again. It was a lot of fun and very scenic. The trolly's runs from 7am - 11pm. They would even take you into town to go shopping.

We did 2 trails. The first trail was called Weeping Rock and the second trail we did was Emerald Pools. They were both beautiful! Here are some pictures we took on both of those trails.

Everyone enjoying Beef Jerky :)

We also went to two movies "Batman Begins" and "Dukes of Hazzard" (both really good by the way). We shopped, sang, sat around our latern (we couldn't have campfires because everything was too dry), played cards and ate a lot of PB&J.

I'll update again soon!
Sara

My Sister...

My sister Kelly and her best friend Tash (just like a sister to me & Kelly) is coming tomorrow. I'm am SO excited I can barely contain myself. :) They will be here for one whole week!

Here is what we are planning on doing while they are here:

- Going to Zion National Park in Utah to go camping & hiking. Awesome National Park! http://www.zionnationalpark.com/
- IMAX Theatre at the Luxor Hotel on the Strip.
- Saturday we are going to a UFC fight (they are owned by the company we work for and we get free tickets - always a good thing)!
- Going to eat at Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffets restaurant - GREAT food. :)
- We all want to see the movie "Dukes of Hazard" so we will see that!
- Last but not least we will probably go to Freemont Street. Kelly & Tash really liked that last time they were here.

I can't wait... I can't wait... I can't wait!!!

Talk again soon!
Sara