It's been a while...

It's been a while since I've posted on this blog but I really feel the need to today. Happy Mother's day to my wonderful, beautiful, loving mom. She has always been such an example to me and has raised the four of us children so well. I hope she knows how much I love her and admire her.

I have been trying to find ways to deal with my PCOS and I have been struggling with the infertility that comes with it. Today was difficult. My ward is so full of children and pregnant women that every conversation in the halls seems to revolve around motherhood, a blessing I want so desperately. Well, I was not doing very well today and then the primary kids sang. They sang the adorable song "Mother, I love you."

Mother, I love you.
Mother, I do.
Father in Heaven has sent me to you.
When I am near you
I love to hear you
singing so softly that you love me too.
Mother I love you,
I love you, I do.

I know these lyrics so well. I learned this song in primary. I could sing it in my sleep. But to my surprise, I did not hear the same lyrics that the children were singing. Instead, I heard the lyrics that came from elsewhere, sung straight to my aching heart.

Mother, I love you.
Mother, I do.
Father in Heaven WILL send me to you.
Though I'm not near you
I can still hear you
praying so softly that you love me too.
Mother I love you,
I love you, I do.

Happy mothers day to all  future mothers. We will all be mothers eventually!

Vegas: Part One

Our first night in Vegas! We ate at the Peppermill. If you ever go there, plan to share a plate with someone because their servings are huge! This is my mother-in-law, Patricia, and Bill.

A pirate ship at Treasure Island. Their show wasn't running.

This bike was winnable at Treasure Island. It is a siren's body, complete with breastplate, long hair, a face, and boots.

This is a tusk off of some prehistoric creature. They believe that this is only a quarter of the actual length. Throughout generations people have carved the ivory creating military figurines. As you go to the tip of the tusk you can see the differences between generations in weapons, armor, etc.

The whole tusk was like this.

This horse is sculpted entirely from jade!

Mandalay Bay

The frame is covered in bottle caps and locks.

Luxor

NYC

Excalibur 

M&M World!

Overly priced M&M's anyone? I was very disappointed that they didn't have any crispy M&M's. I miss them.

This is the signature of the driver (I'm assuming)

We were walking to the Volcano show and suddenly heard music. There were masked performers at the Venetian.

Wynn

Such small tiles. 

A curved escalator!

Rain Forrest cafe

Lions at MGM. They were sleepy. Even their handlers couldn't get them to play.

Each crystal is hanging by an individual strand. Ridiculous!

These Paris Pics are for you, Alecia. The Vegas Eiffel Tower is 1/4 the size of the real one!

Bellagio light show

Inside the Bellagio are hundreds of individually blown glass flowers.

Behind the Bellagio reception desk

Bellagio Christmas Tree

Completely made of flowers, sticks, and pinecones.

Even the Polar bears were made of flowers.

Caesar's Palace

Antony, Cleopatra, and Dude.

We ate at the Flamingo Buffet. Huge!

Flamingos

More Volcano. This was my favorite part of Vegas!

The pre-show curtain for the Blue Man Group. This show was great! I wish I could have taken pics! The blue men don't say anything the whole performance. I have a lot of respect for those kinds of performers!

Inside the Venetian. The ceiling is painted to look like you are outside. It works!

He was singing to the people!

I think the biggest thing I learned in Vegas was how dumb people are. They go to Vegas and spend thousands of dollars and don't remember any of it the next day. While we were there, we went to art galleries, stood in awe at the majesty of it all, and watched people miss it all! They would walk into a building and not even notice that the door handles were swords, or the tile butterflies. Billions of hours were spend building these beautiful buildings and everyone was too drunk to notice. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have and that I can take the time to admire art and appreciate it! It was fun being there! I got lots of great ideas for design and theatre! (I took lots of pictures of the floors.) Coming next: The Dance Competition that we actually went to Vegas for!