viva las vegas!

Last weekend, Wayne and I went to Vegas for the Las Vegas Rugby Invitational and the USA Sevens Tournament . . . me and Wayne and half of Provo and Laie ha ha. This trip was our very first time leaving our girls - and it was a BIG deal for us. I debated till the end whether to go or stay, but having my mother-in-law here, with whom the girls are totally comfortable and happy with, helped me decide to go. . . and I am SO glad we went! It was such a fun, little vacation - we left Utah Thursday morning and arrived back early Sunday morning. Honestly, I've never really liked Vegas much, but this trip was awesome. First, we stayed OFF the strip (a MUST for future trips) and second, we were busy and entertained the whole time with the rugby going on - so we didn't have to spend money! ha ha I loved it!


Me, Toree, Elsie and Kina a.k.a. the best fans in the world. The Invitational involved teams from all over the country. Our first game was against a team from Ohio and we won!

Wayne played for the Provo Steelers. I took this pic right after he made his first try. Gooo Wayne!! . . . and Gooo rugby shorts!! ha ha

The Bellagio fountains - my favorite.

The Steelers played a couple times a day plus there were teams from Laie and BYU that we watched so, needless to say, by days end we were pretty tired. I think this pic was taken right before I fell asleep at one of them.

The Provo Steelers - finished UNDEFEATED! Woohoo!

Wayne said not to post this one cause I look like a homeless woman. Hey, it got really cold at night, okay? ha ha

On Saturday, the Invitational was over and the USA Sevens Tournament began. There were professional teams from all over the world. I loved it! - it's only seven players and two 7 minute halves for each game so they are super quick and fast moving. After watching it I've decided I'm never watching regular rugby again!! ha ha

Toree, Elsie, Fui, me, Wayne and Kina

The weather was GORGEOUS! My favorite teams to watch were New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji and South Africa - they were so good! And the winner for the most fans? DEFINITELY FIJI! The crowd was a sea of light blue.

During one of the breaks we went down to the Fan Festival and learned how to throw a rugby ball. We also shopped a little at the booths. There was one with a Samoan lady selling jewelry. We bought some earrings from her and she gave us a discount because she said Wayne was the cutest husband she'd ever seen - everything I tried on he was like, "Yes! Get it! I love it!" ha ha

Toree, Elsie, Tupu, Kina and me

We stayed at the stadium till the last game. It was freezing, but so much fun (that's a USA we're making. . . in case you couldn't tell)

I'm so glad I went. It was fun and honestly, a nice little break from the daily grind of being a mom. It was so weird to not have to worry about strollers, diapers or naptime the whole time there, but I think we drove our family crazy talking about Malia and Kina and how they would've reacted to every situation we were in. I missed them so much that when we saw them again on Sunday I cried. ha ha

Oh, and highlight of the trip? Definitely the Jack in a Box next door to our hotel. I counted it up and between the two of us, Wayne and I enjoyed 16 sourdough Jacks in 2 and a half days. LOL! So shame!! Hey, I had to take advantage and get my fix. I think I'm good till we go again next year. I'm already looking forward to it!!

Oh, and SAMOA won!! CHEEE-HOO!!