Mary Jane Falls

This past weekend we went on a fantastic hike to Mary Jane Falls up at Mount Charleston. Jim and I both agree that this is our favorite hike we have been on here in Nevada. It was a bit of a tough hike though. There were quite a few switch backs and poor Chewy came home limping but...the views along the way and the views at the top were amazing. The hike ended at the base of cliffs with water falling down on us. I definitely want to do this hike again when there is more water from the melting snow. Here are a few pictures from the hike:

Father's Day

This year we had a very low key father's day. We were going to go out to dinner but instead we decided a lazy day around the house is exactly what the doctor ordered. We spent the day relaxing, swimming, grilling, and some more relaxing.

Thank you Jim for being such a great dad for Abby!

Grandma Brick Comes to Town

Last Saturday my Aunt Ellen and Grandma came to town (Abby's Great Grandma). My Aunt was coming to town to spend some time with some of her high school friends and my grandma came along with her to spend some time with me and Abby. My aunt headed to the strip on Sunday and then we had a great visit with grandma. We took a dive through Red Rock Canyon, went to the Aquarium, went to story time, spent some quality time in the pool, and more.


Thank you for visiting us Tutu!

Abby is Going to Have a Sister

We found out today that Abby is going to have a little sister...Jim is definitely out numbered now!


When I told Abby that she was going to havr a baby sister her responce was...UH OH!

Dr. Joe Rogers

Last weekend we headed to Seattle for Joe's (Jim's brother) graduation from the University of Washington Medical School. We had a great but very busy weekend!

We flew into Seattle on Friday afternoon and Abby did great. Actually, she slept most of the way there...


As soon as we got off the plane and got our rental car the visiting began. We headed right to University Village to meet up with Remy (my sister-in-law), her mom, her brother, Jim's parents, and Joe. While we were at University Village we ran into our friends Ethan and Elin who were actually in town from Virginia visiting. It was a very happy coincidence to run into them.

For dinner on Friday we all of us, plus my parents, headed to one of our favorite micro-breweries Hale's. We LOVE their cream ales!!!

Saturday was graduation day. After an undergrad, masters, and a doctorate Joe is FINALLY done with school.

It was a long ceremony but very much worth it.

After the graduation, Jim, my mom, Abby, and I headed out to lunch. We tried to go to one of our favorite old places, Paddy Coynes but, due to Miss Abby we were not let in the front door. We ended up finding a place down the street, Southside Grill. It ended up being very tasty. Plus, it was such a beautiful day we were able to eat outside while Abby took a well needed snooze in her stroller. After lunch we tried to go to one of our other old stomping grounds, Feierabend but again, Miss Abby did not allow us through the front door.

Next, we headed over to my uncle's studio for a quick visit. It is always great to see Animal and Bennett but Abby caused us problems again. Due to our little one we were not able to sit at the coffee shop/bar connected to my uncle's place. Instead we headed down to Starbucks. Corinne was also able to meet us so we had a great visit before we headed back to meet the graduation group for dinner.

For dinner we headed to Fondi, an upscale pizza joint...YUM!

After dinner my parents took Abby home and we headed out on the town for some more celebrating with Joe, Remy, Russell (Remy's brother), Soonie (Remy's mom), and several of Joe's classmates...back to Paddy Coynes and this time they let us in! It was a fun night and I was VERY happy to see Jackie, Ed, and Corrine. They were able to meet us out for a little bit.


On Sunday we met the people that were still in town for a great brunch at The Broadway Grill. Then, Jim was able to go for a run at his favorite spot...Discovery Park. I wish I could have joined him but Abby and I had a great time running around the park while we waited. The best part of Sunday is that Jim and I got to go to dinner, by ourselves, to La Rustica. La Rustica means a lot to Jim and I. It is where we had our first date, where we were engaged, and many special days in between.

Dinner was as delicious as ever and it was a great night out.

On Monday, it was time to head back to Las Vegas but first we headed over to my Aunt Ellen's for brunch. My grandma was in town so it was great to spend a little bit of time with the two of them.

I didn't think she would but Abby was so exhausted from the weekend she slept the whole plane ride home even though it was not nap time.

It was a great trip to Seattle but of course there is never enough time when you go home.

Grand Canyon

For Memorial weekend we headed to the Grand Canyon. I had not been there since I was a kid and it was Jim and Abby's first time. Plus, it was Abby's first time camping ever. I first went camping when I was 5 months old so, we figured, it was long over due.

We headed out on Saturday morning and it took us about 5 hours to get there. Luckily Abby did sleep 2 of the hours and was a really good passenger the rest of the time.


Our camp site was great! It was really big and we didn't feel like we were too close to our neighbors.

I would like to say that the first night was uneventful and relaxing but, I can't. We had a great dinner...
But, after dinner Abby had a small accident. While relaxing around the campfire...

She tripped and her arm touched the metal fore ring. The poor dear has a burn on her arm. We felt awful but after a few minutes of crying Abby was back to exploring.

It was the first night that we learned that Abby is not a huge fan of sleeping in tents. We had her set-up in her own area in the tent but she didn't stay there for long...she ended up sleeping with us. This was not all bad because she did provide Jim and I with a little extra warmth...it was in the 30's at night. With the little one between us we did not get much sleep.

The next morning, after having a nice breakfast, we headed to see the canyon. Unfortunately, we left Abby's hiking backpack at home but there was a great paved path that went along the South rim.

After nap time we headed out on a drive to check out more of the canyon. It is truly an amazing site.
One of Abby's favorite camping activities was playing in the dirt. She loved it SO much that we have decided to change her name to Pigpen...Abigail Pigpen Rogers.

Unfortunately, the second night in the tent was no fun. Abby decided that 1:30 am would be a great time for some screaming. She didn't go back to bed for a couple hours. As a result Jim and I Went without much sleep for the second night.

While we had the camp night reserved for 3 nights we decided that 2 nights was plenty...we decided the pool was calling us.

Our First Pool Weekend

Last weekend we had our first pool weekend. We had a great time and the whole family got involved...



We even fired up the hot tub...


We look forward to many more fun in the sun weekends in our own backyard paradise!