Sore Thumb

Las Vegas is a cRaZy place. Although I've visited there many times, I can never seem to get over the excess, the gluttony, the filth, and the worldliness that IS Las Vegas. Picture this: The strip is lined with massive hotels bejeweled with sparkling chandeliers, fountains, and floor-to-ceiling murals that contain shopping centers, restaurants, clubs, theaters, rollercoasters, and, of course, casinos inside. The casinos are bustling with flashing strobe lights from slot machines, game tables, and jumbotron TVs and wreak with cigarette smoke and the mingling of so many people dressed in their finest/scandal-iest. Though sunny, the sidewalks are packed with pedestrians in various stages of inebriation, pan-handlers dressed in bizarre costumes and holding tip jars, and benign-looking women passing out pornographic flyers and advertisements. Then picture me: pink cardigan-wearing, mother of five, stroller-pushing, straight from Utah conservative mom. I could not be more proud to say that I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb while I accompanied Aaron on his business trip to Sin City. Prior to our trip, I had been contemplating the visiting teaching message about reflecting the light of Christ and living in such a way as to be a match in a dark place, so I actually found it both amusing and complimentary every time a stranger would ask me (and I was asked often) if I needed help and whether I was lost. You would think that in such a blaringly loud, colorful, anything-goes place it would take major effort to stand out, but I seemed to draw attention everywhere I went...I'd like to think by radiating something different, something wholesome. At one point, I was in an elevator, returning to my hotel room, when a stranger asked Aaron and I where we were from. When we responded that we are from Utah, the stranger looked at us, me holding Rocky, and said, "shouldn't you have five kids in tow?" He laughed when I told him that Rocky IS number five and that we left our other four at home with grandma.

Since Aaron was occupied all day with his business conference, Rocky and I spent our time hanging out and exploring with Nana Z. We didn't venture very far or do anything especially exciting, but it was a treat to spend a little time with my mom.

I loved getting to spend some one-on-one time with Rocky and devote all of my attention to just one little boy, instead of dividing myself five ways.

One night I borrowed my Dad's ID badge so that I could join Aaron for a private concert featuring Journey! Partying with a bunch of middle-aged business men, listening to 70s rock music, was about as crazy as our trip got.