A kick off to the big trip! ~ Vegas/Phoenix (by Trisha)

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Vegas baby! When Monty’s dad, Michael Goldman, told us he wanted to treat us to a trip to Vegas for working so hard this summer, we responded with a “Hell yes, thank you thank you!” & quickly started planning like anybody would. After packing for a kite trip, a Vegas trip & a backpack through SE Asia trip all at once (grueling as you can imagine), we happily departed on September 29th and stayed at Mandalay Bay for 3 nights. There was basking at the beach pool, hitting the strip at night, yards of margaritas, eating great food, rolling dice, seeing LOVE, the Beatles Cirque du Soleil show, playing slots and more… Thank you Michael/Dad… we love you & will always remember it!

From Vegas, we headed straight to Phoenix to see the Dunn’s/my niece Kailee for a couple of nights. This was my third trip to Phoenix to visit & each time before, I was picked up in their minivan. I mean, they are a soccer family with three kids & naturally have large vehicles, right?! It didn’t occur to me to tell them that we were carrying two large kitbags each & our packs because they’ll have plenty of room. It didn’t occur to them that we were heading off for 10 more weeks straight from AZ, so they showed up in a VW Bug. Kailee says my face was “priceless” when they pulled up. Monty being such a good sport, climbed in the hatchback on top of the bags & all you could see through the rear window were his butt, legs & feet. His head came through the center of the car so he was only 4 inches from the windshield with his arms tucked under him. I sat in the front with Kailee. Not being the safest arrangement, Jason was nice enough to meet us close by & thankfully take the bags, but we laughed so hard our sides ached. In fact, laughter & fun was a theme during our visit. We had a dance party & Makenna showed us how to do the “Stanky Leg,” played a little Wii with Macallister, met their pet turtles, went to Barnes & Noble & bowling with Kailee (she kicked our butts) & ate out both nights at great restaurants. A whirlwind visit, but I’m so glad we were able to see them before another few months goes by. Thanks for having us guys! We love you…

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