Jared's 33rd birthday in pictures

Part I: High rolling

We stopped off in Las Vegas on the way down to Arizona. I had booked a room at the Riviera on Priceline and wasn't expecting anything great -- just a place to crash. We left Utah late and didn't get to Vegas until 3 in the morning. The nice lady at the desk felt sorry for us and upgraded us to a penthouse suite. Happy birthday, indeed! The pictures can't do justice to how huge this place was -- 2 1/2 baths and way bigger than our house in the LBC.

This bathroom had an all-glass shower.

This one had a jetted tub.

The in-suite wet bar, where we partied the wee hours of the morning away.

An enviable view of Circus Circus.

Jared looking pretty cute in the hotel bathrobes (worn over his normal clothes, for some reason). I guess he wanted to be extra-modest.

A toast to the good times ahead.

Part II: We dine. We smuggle out some pecan bars.

Jared at The Rio, surrounded by a bewildering assortment of beverages.

I look like a possum here, but oh, well. At least I was enjoying my milk.

Part III: We actually get to Arizona and see our nephews for the first time in months.

We stayed with Jonathan and Noelle and their kids. We went out for some great BBQ and also went and looked at model homes. Unfortunately, we didn't take pictures of any of that. A couple of pictures of Jonathan, Jr. and Jesse is about all we came away with, so here you go:

Jesse, intellectual.

Jonathan, Jr., bon vivant

Part IV: We go to Nascar

I already wrote about this extensively here but I thought some illustrations of the adventure might bring it to life a little.

Here I am shouldering my camp chair to begin the 2 mile hike in.

The arena is distantly visible from where we parked.

We were right across from the race pits, which was kind of cool.

Part IV: We wend our way home.

On our way back, we stopped at the Glen Canyon Dam, which created Lake Powell. I threatened to stay in the car because it was so freezing cold, but eventually relented so I could have Jared take a picture of me with the cool bridge.

Bridge near the Glen Canyon Dam.

A strangely manly picture of me.

On the way home, there was an actual snow storm outside of Beaver. The end of April, and it was snowing. Ridiculous.