birthday weekend

The sun was coming up on one side of the mountain...
And the moon was going down on the other...
While up on top, the girls and I were talking about Vegas. I feel such a fond love the place I call home. It has it's own beauty and wonder & it's FILLED with fantastic people. Where else can you take a lovely hike in the morning and then go see a Broadway show in the evening?? I truly love this city.

Phantom was inspiring and beautiful. We had incredible seats at an unbelievable price. (Thank you, Leavitts!) We only snapped one picture before the show started... Jeff wasn't looking because he was terrified of the lady who was about to confiscate our camera. "No pictures inside the theater!!" (Aaron looks a little scared, too!)
We were SO lucky to have backstage passes. We literally got the VIP tour of the behind scenes of the show-- the stage, the dressing rooms, the crew. It was awesome! This is the Tony Award winning Anthony Crivello who was THE Phantom and Tina Walsh who was Madame Giry. Tina played the leading role in Mama Mia! in Vegas a couple of years ago and I still remember how incredible she was!
It was such a treat to go backstage. We shook hands and met these UNBELIEVABLY talented cast members. It's amazing that they are everyday kind of people who happen to "work" on stage. They open their mouths and magic comes out. What would that be like?
I didn't take the picture above (after we got scolded once, we put the camera away :) but I wanted to document Raoul's unbuttoned shirt. During the standing ovations at the end, Raoul came out with this shirt and I yelled (only for my husband to hear) "yeah baby! Take off your shirt!" Seconds later, Kristine came out to take a bow in her beautiful dress and Aaron copied my comment and yelled, "Yeah baby! Take off your shirt!" and then turned to me and said, "You started it." (Neither of us asked them to take off their shirts when we met them in person.)

Saturday I spent the morning reading my birthday blog. THANK YOU all for contributing. I will treasure it for always! Deb and I headed up north for my cousins baby shower who is having twin girls in a few weeks. (I wish we would have taken a picture with Kara and her cute belly.) And the highlight of the weekend was the Relief Society Broadcast. My sister and I left 8 crazy kiddos with my husband and enjoyed a QUIET broadcast and a yummy dinner. It was a fantastic weekend... filled with all of the best things!