Vegas, Baby!

November 6th I went with my parents and brother, Wade to the city that never sleeps. Here we are in downtown Vegas.

OK, so the title of this post should probably say Henderson, Baby! For that is where we spent our weekend. We did go see the sights and crazy life of Vegas, but just for one afternoon and evening. The reason for going was to support my brother, Craig, as he participated in the toughest triathlon in the world...The Silverman!

Craig on the left and his fellow Marine buddy, Scottie at registration. At this point they were saying to themselves, "We're Marines we can do this, right?"

 Wade's saying to himself, "Better you than me!"

They swam 2.4 miles in the cold Lake Mead. When they finished the swim, there were people there called wetsuit strippers. Their job was to strip the wetsuits off the athletes. And, man, they were fast. Craig looks a little nervous because he wasn't wearing anything under his suit! He yelled out, "Don't strip me! I don't have anything on under this!" and quickly made his way to the changing tent.

After a snickers bar they were on their way to the 112 mile bike ride. 

After a full day on the bike (about 8 hours!) They were ready to go run the marathon leg of the race... I can't imagine! These guys are crazy! They're saying to themselves now, "What the heck were we thinking?"

The Team Recon cheerleaders...my dad, mom, Wade and me! We did a lot of cheering, sporting our Team Recon t-shirts that Craig had made for us. And a whole lot of waiting and waiting and waiting. 

Fueling up at Mile 11...just 15 miles to go! Crazy, I tell ya!

He made it, not crippled and still smiling!

Every time we saw him, Craig had a big smile on his face. This smile looks like a, check mark, I'll never do that again! And at the time that is exactly what he was thinking!

Craig's son, Levi. "My dad rocks! Way to go!"

It was a great weekend. I am such a proud sister. Levi is right. His dad rocks! Love him to pieces!

Typical Night at the Gropp's

Who can make Mom and Dad laugh the most...

It all starts with one...

Brayden came out of his room dressed as his favorite book character...Captain Underpants! He got a pretty good laugh from Mom, so....

Parker gave it a shot!

 "I strong, look at my muscles!"

And it continues through the night...

with a show put on by Big Belly Bill and his trusty sidekick, Big Buns Benny.

It's funny the things kids say, especially 3-year-olds. At the end of the Big Belly Bill and Big Buns Benny show Parker shook his head and said, "The brothers are so funny!" I love how he refers to Taylor and Brayden as "the brothers". Can I just stop time right now, I don't want them to grow up.

Parker and Levi

Parker's cousin Levi has moved to Boise.  Parker loves having him over.  

Makin' Cookies.

SUPER HEROES

Tough Guys...."Show me your muscles!!"

Happy Halloween!

It's not a Halloween without carving pumpkins. We carved pumpkins the night before Halloween. Taylor and and Brayden did their own.

OK, Dad had to step in a couple of times for the trickier angles.

Are you having fun, boys?

Brayden was very proud of his carving job. Spooky!

And here they are...Tol-Moon and Bat, Taylor-3 Ghosts, Brayden-the Grim Reaper 

Parker and I opted for the Mr. Potato Head look. Hey, someone had to bake the pumpkin seeds, clean up, and take photos! :)

The next day...

Halloween!

Mr. Clean and a friendly witch stopped by.

We had my Mom and Dad and brother and his family over for a whole array of spooky food, like; Peter Pumpkin Eater Pie (pizza), Bones and Blood dip (breadsticks and pizza sauce), Snake eggs (grapes), Ghoulish Greens (green salad) w/ frog juice (ranch dressing dyed green), Monster Brains (guacamole), Eyeballs (mini donuts to look like eyeballs), and a witch's brew!

 

Tol had to work at a Timberline Football game that night, but he took a quick minute to take a quick family photo. I took the boys out trick or treating while the witch and Mr. Clean handed candy out. I told Mr. Clean he could practice what he's good at and clean up my house while he was there...he said he was retired! It was worth a shot. We finished our night sorting candy while watching, "Monster House".

Emmett Triathlon 2008

Tol participated in his 2nd Triathlon on Saturday with his friends, Paul Rutter, Nathan Williams, and Alec Arhets.

Pre-Race at Black Canyon Dam

Alec and Tol about to swim.

Transition from Swim to Bike

Parker sleeping on the bridge..."where is dad?"

Tol at the Finish Line

Post Race

Tol Placed 2nd in his age division.

Let's Go Home!

TWIN FALLS TEMPLE

We spent the day in Twin Falls to attend the temple open house.  It was beautiful!

While we toured the baptismal font of the temple, Taylor leaned over to Brayden and said "This must be Heavenly Father's hot tub".

Tol and Nikki

Tol, Taylor, Brayden, and Parker

Cheerful Boys

"Shoshone Falls"

The boys loved viewing the powerful waterfalls!

Camping in Cascade with the Gropp Gang

Meet the two that started this crazy group...

Les and Sherry Gropp

(nice headband, Dad. Sweet tube socks, Mom. You guys rock!!)

Freshest sushi you'll ever find! Go for it, Brayden!

Scott and Amanda with a 1/2 dozen or so kids. Super Joe on the knee board! Tol showing off to the ladies on the beach.

Guess Parker wasn't too impressed.

Taylor and Brayden lived in the water from sun-up to sun-down.

Hangin' in the water...

Hangin' on the beach...

Building sand castles...

Hangin' in the sun with great company...paradise.

Something we learned on our excursion: Adults should, at all times, be in charge of the roasting forks at the campfire. Poor Jordan...after roasting marshmallows the darn roasting fork flipped back and branded him! It was so dark, we didn't know if it left marks or not. He was just screaming that it burned. So, Geri to the rescue...Silver was sprayed on his face to stop the burning. The next morning this is what he woke up looking like. Luckily no bad burns. He was such a good sport!

Overall, it was a really fun camping trip. Lots of laughs, sharing of memories, making new memories, and lots of dirt...glad we were next to water.