Las Vegas 2008

We had a great time in Vegas, despite crazy head colds, temps in the 60s and a crazy journey home- it was still a great time. Here are some pics...

Lamborghini dealership at Palazzo

Christina and Crystal after the Carrot Top show

so...that is the back of Stephan Bonner, a UFC fighter. We also saw Joe Rogan, Antonio Nogeria, Big John McCarthy (at MGM) and some of the contestants from Ultimate Fighter Season 8. It was pretty cool...may have been a bit star struck.

Eric, Crystal and Nate at Neon Boneyard...there may have been an incident with kicking one of the signs...oops...just one of those moments, the Rademachers will appreciate this one.

Nate's dad, Dean, at Red Rock Canyon

SIN- at the Neon Boneyard Museum

FINALLY! The City of Las Vegas figured out to put a parking area near the most famous sign in the world! The artist of this sign never patented her design therefore doesn't receive any royalities...what a shame.

The sun was beautiful, just what we needed...so bright that Nate decided not to worry about keeping his eyes open.

We had a great time! Even won a bit of $$$ to purchase some items we normally wouldn't have...good times, good times.

Vegas- 6 days

Oh Yes...in 6 days we will be in Vegas. Gambling, eating amazing food, drinking adult beverages before noon, taking in a show or two, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

We need a vacation. It's been quite the year. Job change for CP, dog almost died, Grandpa did die, money troubles, then- thankfully-no money troubles. Ah, the ebonflow of life! This is what it's all about. Ups and downs, mistakes made, lessons learned- and then at the end of the year we celebrate by treating ourselves to a 5 nights and 6 days in the Adult Disney World-

aka VEGAS! This will be our 8th trip (9th for CP) and we've been going since 2002...we went twice in 2004 (3 times for CP).

a few pics from Vegas 2007 are posted...

be sure to check back in a few weeks for 2008's highlights.

(This year, to mix things up, we are going to take all of the photos in black and white and when I scrapbook them I am going to use Vegas inspired songs as inspiration and titles...that's right, I'm a scrapbooking geek and have my plan already!)

Plans: Samba, Mon Ami Gabi, Jubilee!, a comedian (maybe Rodney Carrington), roulette, black jack, nickel slots, Vodka Collins, Toby Keith's Bar and Grill, Red Rock Canyon, Neon Boneyard, Tiffany's...I'd love something in a little blue box, Bellagio fountains, Christmas decor-

and that's just the first day...j/k...the first two.

We always get a little nervous to leave the girls (the dogs), no one can love/spoil them like we do...but it's good for them and us to have a break from each other.

As always, the invite stands firm to our friends and family- please join us whenever you'd like. We always go the second week of December, we'd love for you to join us!

August 08 for Mr. & Mrs. Phillips

August was certainly a busy month for us. Full weekends, birthdays of many women and a few guys, new adventures, old and new friends and pink hair!


This month we celebrated many birthdays: Faith Rattei, Melissa Stepan, Danielle Fischer, Bekki Hince, Crystal Rademacher, Jen Foster...am I forgetting anyone- good grief! Lots of important ladies in our lives to celebrate.


We went to a fun party for Nate's sister Danielle- some of the best, quality family time we've had in a long time.

The SPCC (my scrapbooking club) celebrated Faith and Melissa's birthday on the 22nd with tilapia, a slushie bucket, fruit pizza...oh and I guess we scrapped a bit too.

The Ratteis and Nate and I celebrated Faith again with a magnificent sushi platter on her actual birthday, the 29th and had some quality backyard/patio time. The dogs love running with the Rattei's dog, Lucy, in the Rattei backyard- it's bigger than ours therefore many more figure eights can be accomplished.

Nate and I also ventured out to Fogo de Chao with the Rademachers to celebrate Crystal and Eric's birthday this past Sunday. Oh- it was also their youngest son's, Aiden, birthday on the 25th- same as Crystal's birthday.

I still need to schedule some time to see Jen to properly recognize her big day. Hi Jen!!! Let's talk soon :)

Sometime during the month we also hosted friends and family for the UFC fight. Our little, 1941 home held a dozen people watching the fights with good food, great laughs and the fights weren't bad either.

I have been fortunate enough to reconnect with an old friend, Shanna (Moxness) Wright. It has been so fun getting together with her and getting to know her husband, Chris. Shanna and I took a walk on the wildside and got pink highlights. She is a hard working stay at home mom and I work from home- so it was fun to rebel a bit and do something crazy just for us. I wonder if Dr. Laura would approve???

Oh- what else? I was in Iowa, at my corporate office, for some training and bonding time with my co-workers.

We, as previously mentioned many times before, have our annual Vegas trip planned so its been fun planning with the Rademachers what we want to do when we are there...we are thinking about a little indoor sky diving...yes, that's a real thing. And we will visit the Neon Boneyard again this year. Lots of planning to do so we can hopefully just throw it all out the window and be spontaneous!

So as summer wraps up we are looking forward to our favorite season, autumn, and all of the fun that comes along with it. Apple Orchards, the Down Syndrome Buddy Walk, my birthday (you know the important things), walks in the leaveson the trail, high school football, college football, any football....good times!

Life is Good.

Hope yours is too!

Much love-

N&C

Ahhh...Vegas

We finally booked Vegas for December. We usually book in March or April but with me not working we thought we better wait; unfortunatley that also meant we had to pay a bit more- but it wasn't too bad. Especially since it's the only vacation we'll be taking this year.

Vegas- the ultimate adult amusement park and escape from reality that we need once a year. The strip is 3.3 miles long and is full of amazing food, great shows, (not so great shows), street entertainers, night clubs, gambling, alchohol, interactive attractions (i.e. NYNY roller coaster), people watching and shopping.

We'll be gone December 10th-15th and the Rademachers are going with us this year! They've been to Vegas a few times before so we think it will be interesting mesh our fav places and see where we end up. Crystal and I really want to go and see Jubilee; it's one of the last real Vegas show girl shows. However, I'd be happy to take in a Cirque show or a comedian instead- I'm not picky. I think we'll partake in the New York New York roller coaster. Crystal, Eric and Nate have "enjoyed" this ride before but I am a virgin NYNY roller coaster rider. I do not care for rides, especially roller coasters, however I don't want to be the dud of the group so I will fall to the peer pressure and take the ride.

(you can see the roller coaster in the above photo- it's the crazy red curvy mess of metal tracks)

My favorite part of Vegas, besides the yummy food, is the Bellagio fountain. I took this photo on my 29th birthday while the water moved to "Luck be a Lady" by Frank Sinatra. It was exactly how I wanted to spend my 29th birthday- it was one of those perfect moments. Nate and I had a great dinner at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris Hotel, the weather was amazing and to top it all off they play the fountains to a Sinatra song- ideal!

Upon our return I'll be sure to post photos from our adventures; but in the meantime I will post some of our favorites over the 8 times we've been in the last 6 years to help the countdown pass for us.