Beach Volleyball in Vegas?

This summer we have gone to see the AVP Beach Volleyball tour down in California but last weekend they had an all star tournament in Las Vegas, and Chad decided to sign us up as volunteers. So we headed up there last Thursday and spent Friday and Saturday at the event. We were there for 12 hrs one of the days and it was so hot. I have decided beach vball is better at the beach! They hauled in a TON of sand and had their whole set up in the parking lot at the Mandalay Bay. We got to hand the balls to the players during the game, which doesn't sound too cool but it was because we were had the best seats for the games. This tournament had all the best players which made it really fun to watch.


Here is Chad volunteering at one of the games, the morning games were pretty empty since it was in Vegas.

Chad is congragulating Phil Dalhausser (Olympic Gold Medalist) after one of his wins.

Our cute matching volunteer shirts! They got is in free though for every game and a free lunch each day.

After our long day we went to the Rainforest Cafe for some dinner, but not till 11:30 at night.
The pool was a lot of fun, there was a lazy river and a wave pool.

Chad loved laying in the innertube and discreetly poured water on the passerbys.

Ellen and the Kings Game

I got tickets to see the Dave Matthews Band at the Ellen show outdoor concert. Im not a huge DMB fan but thought it would be fun to see them and be on the Ellen show. It ended up being a LOT of waiting for a little bit of show. We waited for about 2 1/2 hours in a hot parking lot, then a bus took us to the WB studios where we waited in the bus (which had a/c thank goodness) for another hour. Then we finally unloaded the bus and headed over to the outdoor concert. We were told they would be coming out in a few minutes so I didn't think I had time to go to the bathroom. A few minutes turned out to be an hour so by the time Ellen and the DMB came out to perform I had to pee SSSOOO bad. It was cool to see the performance but all I could think about was not peeing my pants. After they sang 4 songs it was over, and the show coordinater announced that the bathrooms were closed!!! I couldnt believe it, I started panicking and told Chad I really thought I was going to go in my pants I couldnt hold it. As they herded us back to the buses I remembered there was a bathroom on the bus, and that saved me!

We couldn't take cameras in so this is us right before we started our long day!

We were given tickets to see the LA Kings play, so we went from the Ellen show to the Staples Center in downtown LA. Chad and I both were pretty tired but we were excited to watch the hockey game. After we got stopped at Phillipes for their famous french dip sandwhiches we were good to go. The hockey game was great, there were a lot of fights, and a lot of action right by our seats! Thanks to our Bishop who gave us the tickets!

Palm Springs

Last weekend Chad was supposed to go to Ohio for work, but his flight ended up being delayed for so long he wouldn't have even been there for 24 hours so he decided to go another time, which meant we had a free night to go somewhere. We found a great deal at the Hyatt Resort in Palm Springs/Indian Wells and had a great time! We got in that evening, went out to dinner, then in the morning we played tennis and layed out at the pool for the afternoon. It was 111 degrees during the day! So hot that you had to be in the shade or the pool just to stay cool, but we still had a great time.

(We had to use the self timer and as you can see i didn't do too good of a job)

Labor Day Weekend

First can I just say I LOVE LOVE LOVE being back in California, it is so nice to be here with our families and be able to be more apart of their lives. On Saturday we went with Chads parents up to Oxnard/Camarillo and the Channel Islands area. We took PCH and drove all the way up through Malibu, it was such a pretty clear day. Then we ate at BJs for lunch, went to look at the Channel Islands, and had to complete the day with checking out the Labor Day Sales at the Outlets in Camarillo. It was such a fun trip and a great way to start the weekend.

On Monday morning Chad went surfing and I decided to tag along with him and get some pictures.

After surfing we met up with my family, aunt uncle and cousins, and my grandparents at Alamitos Bay for a FULL day at the beach. We kayaked, windsurfed, played smashball, went swimming, and ended the day with a bbq back at my grandparents. I love Labor Day!

Beach Volleyball

This past week we have dedicated to playing beach volleyball. Chad wants to enter the AVP tour next year (not really) but kind of! Its been perfect though because we got a heat wave here in California so the beach is at optimal conditions. We went to the beach everyday, twice a day and ended with a bang by spending 8 hrs at Manhattan Beach on Saturday. Its been a lot of fun playing with Chad, he has gotten pretty good. Here are my two favorite pictures of him playing volleyball.

Getting Caught Up!

I haven't blogged in what seems like forever, so tonight I told myself I needed to get caught up. Since so much has been going on I broke it up into two separate posts. Blogging is kind of tricky when its been so long, I hope to make our blog into a book so that is why I feel like I need to post what we do. I use this as an excuse not to journal (although I need to do that). But anyways the first post happened second and the second post happened first, if that makes sense! But I am going to get better at blogging, its hard though being on the road with no internet! Hopefully we will start to settle down soon!

Graduation and St. George

So we were in California for only a few days before we started our next trip- we are getting really good at being on the road these days! We headed up to St. George with Chad's mom Janice to see his Grandma Davenport. The trip seemed to go by so fast since we were used to such long days on the road. We spent our two year anniversery up here also (August 11) we went to Snow Canyon and hiked, then hung out at the pool and ended the night with a dinner at the Outback. Pretty low key but we have basically been on a vacation since we left Texas.

Then my parents picked us up on their way to Provo for my graduation at BYU. The ceremony was very good, I am glad that I ended up doing it. It was a debate since we weren't living in Utah anymore ( we aren't really living anywhere right now :) but we needed to get our truck so it worked out to do both at this time. Attending the cermony and having my name called made it feel like I really did it! Being at BYU was a great experience-definately different from what I had planned (nursing) but majoring in Home and Family Living has taught me great lessons about relationships and how to create a family based on good values and morals!

This next picture is the only other picture I took while we were up in the Provo/Salt Lake Area. This is Chad with our niece Claire. She really bonded with him while we were there, it was SO cute to see him with her.

From Salt Lake we went back to St. George, we really don't have a lot going on right now so we are just taking our time getting back to California! I had never been up to Pine Valley so we got sandwiches and headed up there for a picnic. Pine Valley is a escape from the heat in St. George, it is beautiful up there! This is me with Chad's mom and Grandma Davenport.

Up near Pine Valley is the Memorial for the Mountain Meadow Massacre, there is a nice memorial there. This was talked about a little in my graduation so it was interesting to see the site.

Tomorrow we will be heading back to California-we may make a stop along the way in Vegas to see some friends but I am excited to get back!