"What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas"... Or So We Hope.

I recently returned home from not-so sunny Las Vegas. My amazingly sweet and generous dad treated me to a fun get-away to Las Vegas to watch the BYU Cougars take on the Wildcats of Arizona in the Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl. The day we flew out of Sea-Tac Airport, schools were cancelled, roads were icy, snow was dumping from the sky and dozens of flights were delayed/cancelled. We felt excited to escape the storm and flee to the desert (although I must admit, the mother hen in me felt a tad bit guilty leaving the kiddos behind, even though I knew they were in good hands). Little did we know that Las Vegas had just experienced a record breaking snow storm of its own. The day prior to our flight, Las Vegas schools had been closed due to snow. It was the first school cancellation for Las Vegas in the last 30 years!! So basically, we fled the cold in one state to arrive to the chaos of bad weather in another state. Oh the weather outside was frightful! Actually, by the time we arrived, the snow was mostly gone, but the temperatures were still frigid to me.

Lay the shock and surprise of freezing weather aside, and the rest of the trip was so much fun. This was the first airplane ride I've taken in several years without children. It was heavenly! (I won't list all of the reasons. You fellow mom's can imagine my list.) I felt footloose and fancy free, to say the very least.

Dad and I had fun roaming aimlessly all over the Vegas Strip. We are both people watchers and found great pleasure wandering around the different hotels and observing. Of course, we partook of the varying cuisine. Where else can you say you had dinner in "Paris" (Paris Hotel),


lunch in "Italy" (Caesar's Palace)


and dinner in "England" (Excalibur Hotel)?


Our waistlines definitely took a buffet beating.

Jason and Amanda and their adorable kids also traveled to meet up with us for the weekend. It was so fun to see them. Little Jordin (our newest niece, is a doll. We miss them and wish we could see them more often.



As for the reason for the trip--the BYU vs. Arizona game.



Let's just say, the game gave me a whole new appreciation for the saying, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." The Cougars, a definite favorite to win the game, clearly didn't have their game faces on. I sure hope that level of play stays in Vegas. I don't want to remember the devastation or the loss. Regardless, the game was still fun despite the loss, and I feel so grateful for the incredible treat it was to travel with my dear old dad. Thanks Dad! I love you.





P.S. Thanks to all of the wonderful people who made this trip possible for me! To Jodi and Laurie, thanks for helping watch my kids while Josh was at work. To Mom and Cami, I love you and appreciate your help with Landon. Josh, you're the best husband a girl could ever hope for. Thanks for letting me go on this trip and holding down the fort! Love you.

An "Unfrogettable" First Birthday!

A couple weeks ago, we celebrated the 1st birthday of our little miracle--better known to the world as Landon Knight Carver. His first year of life has been wonderful. He has brought our family so much joy and filled our home with endless laughter.



Why do I refer to him as "our little miracle", you might be wondering? He was and is our miracle in so many ways. Here are just a couple:

As a woman who has struggled with infertility her entire married life, you can imagine my suprise upon discovering in the Spring of 2007 that I was pregnant without having had months (or years) of temperature charting and blood tests, medical appointments or Chlomid treatments. We were elated to find out that for once, all on its own, my body was able to provide the proper environment to not only create a life, but also provide a temporary home for our soon-to-be third child.

We were in the middle of a move to our new home. I knew a fair amount of fatigue was normal and to be expected as we were busy cleaning and packing and transporting our "stuff" to and fro. But, when Josh caught me taking 20 minute "power naps" in the car while he single-handedly loaded dressers and mattresses into the moving van, we started having our suspicions. Sure enough, I was pregnant. This was the first miracle.



Things in my pregnancy seemed to progress normally. At around 16 weeks, I remember going in for some routine blood tests, one of which was a check for Down Syndrome. I honestly didn't give the test a 2nd thought...until I received a phone call from a nurse two days later letting me know my results were positive for Downs. You can imagine the days that followed were full of many emotions and questions. I was relieved to receive a follow-up call from my OBGYN who explained to me that the results of my lab tests, combined with my age and other factors put me in the high risk category for Down Syndrome, but that it didn't mean that my baby would definitely be born with Downs. He explained to me about further testing I could opt to have done, that could verify our baby's condition, but with those tests came certain risks, including miscarriage. I'll never forget what my doctor then said to me: "Jennifer, if the results of an amniocentesis won't change what you choose to do about your pregnancy, I'd advise against it. Even a small chance of miscarriage is not worth it." (My doctor was LDS by-the-way, and had a good feeling that I would not be choosing to terminate the pregnancy, regardless of the outcome.) Of course I assured my OB that we would not be terminating the pregnancy under any circumstances and that we would love this little baby with or without the syndrome. I asked the doctor if there were any other, less risky tests that could be done to give us some sort of idea about our baby's development. He said that a more intense ultrasound could be done that would check for markers that would be indicative of Downs.



We scheduled the more thorough ultrasound, organized a family fast & Josh gave me a priesthood blessing. We felt a great peace.

On the day of the ultrasound, the ultrasound tech assured us that from everything she could observe, the baby appeared to be healthy and "normal". We felt so relieved and grateful that Landon appeared healthy and free from disabilities. Our little miracle was born on December 13, 2007.

We love him so much and look forward to celebrating many more birthdays to come.

Sending Big Birthday Wishes...

First, before I get to the meat of this post, I have to apologize to a few sister-in-laws whose birthdays I didn't recognize on my blog (you know who you are...). I'm sorry. It's not that your special days were any less important...I probably just wasn't stuck at home with several inches of snow on the ground and nothing to do. J/K. I love you too and hope your birthdays were extra special! I'll make a tribute to you next birthday. I promise!

O.K...now that I've apologized, we can get this show on the road.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN!

Lauren is one of those people that adds so much excitement to everything. She's a planner/organizer extraordinaire. She loves the nitty-gritty details and has a magic touch to everything she does. Her cooking is amazing. She has a designer's eye for decor. She can create and imagine in ways that I cannot even begin to fathom. I love her spunk, spontaneity, humor and craziness. It brings so much fun to our big Carver crew. She's also sentimental and sensitive, which I love. She's one of the first to want to stick to traditions, to say she's sorry if she thinks she might have hurt your feelings, and definitely the first to try to add the element of fun to any situation. Lauren LOVES surprising others and being surprised! We hope you get lots of fun surprises on your birthday!

We love you Lauren. We hope your day is extra special!