Jive Dance Concert

That's right, I did another year at Jive! Sadly, Bryton couldn't join us this past year due to pregnancy, so that left Jaleah and I holding up the dancing fort. We had a blast, as to be expected. The studio even upgraded their facilities so we actually had room to leap and practice our dances full out. That's a definite plus! Of course, the year didn't come without its stressful practices and frustrating encounters; but by concert time...all was the negative was forgotten as we had the time of our lives performing for friends and family.

Following suit with last year, the concert was held at the Covey Art Center and they had us perform FIVE seperate recitals! Two on Friday evening and three on Saturday. I still can't believe they do it that way...and charge $9 per person! But what can you do? Needless to say, I didn't go around selling tickets for my concert.

Due to last year's experience of bad choreography and extra practices, I opted out of dancing in the Opener and Finale...and of course this year it was actually decent, but that's just how it goes I guess. Our class of "retired" dances performed three numbers: a lyrical, hip hop, and character dance. Check out the pics:

Apologize

(Lyrical)

Jaleah, Randy, Cristal, Vicki, ...ah shoot I tried. Can't remember now

Jaleah and I

My Strongest Suit

(Character)

The Silver Girls!

Shazaam! Bustin' out of our suit jackets!

This Instant

(Hip Hop)

The dancers' lunch break at Guru's and Sammy's:

This year, two segments of the dances were recorded via cell phone:

My Strongest Suit

This Instant

Sadly, no video was taken of the lyrical dance, Apologize...which was my favorite and most technical of the dances.

My cheering section:

April, Mya, Karl, me, Nancy

Beautiful flowers from the hubby!



Girls Week - Vegas Edition

That's right, it's that time of year. Time for the annual Gruber Girl's Week. And this year was my year for planning and hosting. The only real problem, Jason and my apartment isn't quite the size you would hope for to sleep five women. The only real solution, going to Vegas!! Of course! My responsibility became finding lodging and activities for our weekend in Las Vegas. While being fun and stressful, the trip was such a success and so enjoyable! I can't say enough how much I truly love my in-laws! I got so dang lucky!

GIRL’S WEEK ITINERARY – VEGAS EDITION

THURSDAY

7:00 AM Nancy, April, and Emily depart for Las Vegas
8:40 AM Amy arrives in Vegas
11:10 AM Alli arrives in Vegas
Lunch On your own (Alli and Amy at the airport?, Nancy, April, and Emily on the road)
1:15 PM Nancy, April, and Emily arrive at LAS airport
2:15 PM Arrive at Worldmark (unpack, get situated, tour of the resort, grocery shopping, change)
Surprise Gift: Jamberry Nails
6:00 PM Dinner – Cravings Buffet at Mirage.
8:00 PM Walk the strip, see Bellagio Fountain show (every 15 minutes), pick up O Tickets

Hitting the road

We've arrived!

I have to take a moment here and thank my parents for their generosity for allowing us to use some of their WorldMark discount points to stay at the WorldMark Las Vegas! This was the most perfect and beautiful place. Just outside the strip and away from the bussle, but just a ten minute drive from all the action. I stayed here once with my girlfriends on my Senior Trip and remember being so impressed and loving it! We couldn't have asked for a better place for a better price!

Going over the itinerary for the weekend

Doing our grocery shopping

Fun pregnancy cravings: Greek yogurt and coconut creme pie

A few things that are worthy to note: On this trip we had to be very conscious of our activities, we had two pregnant women and one pumping mother. One of the pregnant women was about 8 months pregnant, the other was about four months pregnant and still experiencing some morning sickness. What troopers! Seriously! 

After grocery shopping and touring the beautiful resort, I surprised them with a fun gift. I wanted us all to have cute toenails for the weekend, so I got everyone their own Jamberry Nails set (I became obsessed with them the month before).

Here we are, preforming the labor required for applying the fun toe stickers:

The end result! Fabulous toenails!

Every Vegas vacation requires a buffet dinner! After a lot of time, comparing ratings, and comparing pricing I chose the Cravings buffet at the Mirage. It did not disappoint! So good!

 Enjoying bottomless desserts!

Afterwards, we did a quick stretch of the strip. Pregnant feet can only take so much for one day, and I asked quite a lot of them :)

FRIDAY

8:00 AM Breakfast
9:15 AM Leave for Las Vegas Temple
10:00 AM Endowment session (every 30 minutes)
Lunch Nearby fast food: Subway
1:30 PM Pool Time
5:30 PM Dinner Out - Hard Rock Cafe
6:30 PM Leave for Bellagio
7:30 PM O (bring jacket, can get chilly)
10:00 PM Arrive home (hot tubing/footing OR games and Kettle Corn)

To get everyone excited for the Cirque du Soleil show that night, I surprised everyone with a goody bag that morning filled with treats that started with the letter "O": Orbit gum, Oreos, oranges, and orange gummy treats.

At the beautiful Las Vegas Temple - always a great experience!

After the temple session, we headed home to take advantage of the many resort amenities!

We laid out at the pool, went swimming in the lazy river (tubes and all), played Around the World on the ping pong table (a hoot!), and just enjoyed soaking up the sun!

Here are my lovely videos that I took to send my parents of the resort; however, they give a good idea of what the pool areas were like. We were so impressed and amazed. The resort had three separate and huge pool areas, each unique and each beautiful.

Dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and our hilarious waitress...wish I could remember her name now...

Pictures at the Bellagio before the show

Ready for the long-awaited show!

Front row balcony seats, not bad for the cheapest tickets in the house!

 Check out the amazing ceiling!

Huge theater!

How to describe the Cirque du Soleil show, O?! Dang near impossible! So amazing!!! I recommend it to everyone and can't wait to see it again! This show is unique because it is part aquatic. The stage is awesome; it can rise and fall, shift, become a huge pool of water, phenomenal! Add syncronized swimming, diving, and top notch acrobatics...Loved it! Since there is no photography from the show, I stole some pictures from Google to give you a taste:

No regrets seeing this show. Well worth the price!

After the show, we walked around the Bellagio Gardens. So gorgeous!

 

SATURDAY

-- Wake up at leisure -- Day of relaxation
10:30 AM Poolside Action, Workout room
Lunch by pool- Sandwiches
3:00 PM Free Afternoon/Evening - Walk strip, see Venetian
6:00 PM Dinner - Pizza at home, Nertz, Kettle Korn

Sadly, I remember close to nothing when it comes to Saturday...must have been napping next to the pool

Nothing better!

Waiting for our car from the Valet parking

Tip for Vegas vacationers: Valet parking is the bomb! So worth it. Pay a few dollars and you have no stress or hassle of parking. Especially if you have a carpool of people, just a buck a person and you're ready to go!

SUNDAY

8:00 AM Breakfast
8:45 AM Leave for Church
9:00 AM Church - Las Palmas Ward
10:30 AM Change, snack, and pack
11:45 AM Drop Alli off at airport
12:00 PM Nancy, April, Emily, AND Amy begin drive home

The Last Lunch - a meal of mourning!

Goodbye WorldMark!

Goodbye Vegas!

Goodbye weekend of paradise!

Next year...Nancy's turn!