Women's Conference

My sisters and I decided to make it a goal to attend BYU Women's Conference this year and we actually made it happen!  All 4 sisters, plus my mother, all flew in to Salt Lake City for a fun-filled weekend.  We stayed at our home in Draper, which is always super fun for me.  I love that place!  Mom actually flew in first so I was able to take her out to lunch at the Ridge Cafe up in Suncrest near our home.  It has such beautiful views and the most delicious wood-fired pizza.  

As soon as Melanie, Mary Kay and Suzanne made it in safely, the laughter began and it really didn't stop until the end of the weekend, ha ha!  We all went out to dinner with our only brother . . . Stubba (aka Steve).  He makes us all just crack up and we had so much fun spending time with him!  

The Women's Conference at BYU was very inspiring, as always, and we tried to attend as many speakers as we could.  I was so happy that I could catch up with my two good friends, Melissa Thatcher and Kris Booker.  Melissa was my counselor when I was RS President and Kris was my VT Coordinator.  Both, were invaluable to me as a friend, and in my calling.  They are such dedicated disciples of Christ and I absolutely love them to death!  

On Saturday, my mom took us all to Salt Lake where we had fun walking around City Creek Mall.  It is a gorgeous shopping mall with an actual creek running through it---so beautiful!  Mom made reservations for us to eat at "The Roof" Restaurant at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  The food there is superb and the view of the SLC temple is breathtaking.  Mom was so sweet to pay for all of us and we had so much fun talking and reliving our childhood memories.  The laughter continued well into the late evening as we sat by my fireplace back at our house and talked forever.  Sisters and moms can do that!  

Oh - so fun---a photographer from BYU came up to us and asked if we could have our photo taken.  We didn't think a thing of it, quickly posed, then were on our way.  The next day, we saw our photo in the BYU Instagram page and it was such a great photo that I called BYU and asked if we could have a copy!  They sent me the photo and I had it enlarged and framed when I got home.  That will be a treasure to me . . . a memory of a fabulous weekend with my mother and sisters.  

What happens in Vegas . . .

It has been YEARS since we had a GIRLS TRIP so this year we decided to bite the bullet and just DO IT!

I have the most amazing mother and equally amazing sisters who I LOVE to spend time with.  None of us were having babies (Mary Kay is pregnant) but none of us were nursing and couldn't leave home so we decided that the first weekend in May would be our Girls Weekend!

I love my sweet mama!!

We decided on Las Vegas because it was a pretty central location for us all and fairly inexpensive with the airfare from Allegiant Airlines.  :)

Suzanne surprised us with matching pink, fuzzy slippers and chocolates, then Melanie brought more chocolates from Idaho--which only added to our giddiness and we talked for hours before we finally fell asleep!  My mom got a suite for us that slept 6 people so we could all be in the same room.  

L to R - Suzanne, Melanie, MaryKay, and Tamara (me)

The first morning we headed over to the Venetian to have breakfast at Bouchon.  I had the apple custard french toast and it was divine!

All fueled up-----we hit the shopping!!!

Poor MaryKay ---we ran her everywhere and by late afternoon, she was exhausted!!  (doesn't she look like Snow White sleeping there?  She is so beautiful!)

For dinner we ate at an amazing Italian Restaurant near the Mall.

I had to give her bum a little squeeze to remind her of the crazy event of the night!!

After dinner, we walked out of the restaurant only to have some random guy come over and grab my sister Suzanne's behind!  She thought it was my sister, Melanie, so she said, "Oh, well thank you!"  Then, when she saw it was a strange guy, her face turned bright red and we all seriously cracked up!!! 

Ahh - The Bellagio

It's just incredibly beautiful!

The next day we headed over to Mandalay Bay to swim and have a brunch/lunch.  It was super hot outside so the pool felt great!!

 Dressed up that night to go to the awesome buffet at the Wynn Hotel and then see the show called "La Reve!"

These are the most amazing floral decorations I have ever seen.  Can you imagine them at a wedding reception? They were all real flowers.  This was in the lobby of the Wynn Hotel. 

Yes - this is the incredible dessert bar that we went absolutely NUTS over!!

I love my mother so much.  She wanted this weekend to be so special and she worked so hard to plan it all for us.  She is the best! I also love her because out of all the crab legs, shrimp, and other gourmet fare that was available, my mom opted for roast beef, mashed potatoes, and corn!  She says she still is an "Idaho Girl" at heart!!  I love it!

This is actually a cake decorated to look like Marie Antionette.  It was breathtaking.

The answer is, "Yes - I ate ALL of these desserts!"

I am a performer and have been all of my life.  I have been on the stage in multiple situations and have witnessed many musical shows and plays in my lifetime.  NEVER before have I seen ANYTHING like this show.  My mouth was open the entire time!!!  The entire stage turned into water and people dropped down from 9 STORIES high into that middle area.  They were the most highly trained acrobats/dancers/gymnasts who performed the most dangerous feats OVER WATER I have ever seen.  It was by far the most jaw-dropping show I have ever witnessed.  I can't wait to take Tom to see this.  As a former stage manager, he will go nuts watching what it takes to put on a show like this!

Well, for 4 girls and their mother left alone in Las Vegas, we were really, really good!  ha ha---The only crimes committed were we LAUGHED way too hard, ate WAY too much, and LOVED each other more for being together.  

 . . . I miss them already . . .