on and on and on........in Vegas

Sep 14 (cont): After a torturously long trip from the Stratosphere ---> Harrah's, we meet up with Jenny's Aunt Lynn & Uncle Mal and eat at Toby Kieth's 'I love This Bar & Grill'. I had a pulled pork sandwich and it was pretty sweet. Then we crossed the street to Caesar's Palace and ate at The Cheesecake Factory!! Yeah!! This was our 1st Cheesecake Factory experience, and it did not disappoint. We were all pretty tired after that, and headed home to bed.
Sep 15: We got up and did our 3rd (and last!) timeshare presentation. Our pickup was scheduled for 12pm at Circus Circus and we were told it was to be a two hour presentation. Our bait: $100 cash and a $25 restaurant voucher. From start to finish, the experience lasted 4 hrs, and when our manager realized we were not there to buy, he was extremely rude to us and took a couple of shots at the fact we were ministers. During the presentation he even used a story of the death of his mother to try and sweeten the timeshare experience! There certainly are some disgusting people here in the world, even in Vegas, weird! Over and over they kept saying, "We don't sell our product, our product sells itself!" Yet they tried pretty damn hard to sell their product to us! Even going as far as using the "health and wealth" doctrine to try and lure us in! This company (which I refrain from using their name so that they may not get even more business or website views, etc) has ruined our timeshare experience and we definitely will NOT be going to another. Thats ok though, because we already aquired 2 shows, 3 all-u-can-eat buffets, a $25 food voucher, a 2 for 1 buffet, and $100 cash! Not bad, although that is time we will never ever ever get back.
After that horrendous event, we walked up to the Tropicana for a buffet supper, and then walked back down to Planet Hollywood for 'V: The Ultimate Variety Show', our first show in Vegas. It was good, but I'm glad we didn't actually pay for the tickets; it wasn't THAT good.
On our way home, we talked with Micheal, who was a Vietnam veteran. Mike lost his right arm in the war, is now confined to a wheelchair, and is almost unintelligible. The rest of his story is hard to completely believe; but the man loves Jesus and chooses to believe (in the midst of his hardship) that Jesus loves him more than anything. We gave him some change and let him pray for us.
Sep 16: Cruised around to more hotel/casinos, seen an awesome water fountain show at the Bellagio, ate some great food at Paris Las Vegas, and talked with more homeless people. We also went and seen magician Steve Wyrick at Planet Hollywood. He was really good, but not good enough to pay for, in my opinion.
Today: Went and seen The Venetian, which has canals running through the hotel complete with gondolas! Then we went and seen some lions at the MGM Grand. We also ate at the Monte Carlo. We also went and checked out Hooters.
This evening we were picked up by Jan Kluever and we went to a church and helped out with feeding the homeless. A ministry called Amazing Grace feeds the homeless every wednesday. Tonight we fed about 150 people and after that, 10 stayed around for a church service. The percentage that stayed was disappointing, but we believe for revival in Vegas to start from the bottom, which it does.
Tomorrow is our last day in Vegas before we head back to Canada. It has been a great honeymoon, but we both look forward to getting to the Island, and making further plans for Cambodia.
Oh, and I just raided Joy Waide's photo collection from Vegas and got a lot more wedding photos. Check out our complete wedding photo collection -->HERE<--.

since last post (Las Vegas)

Lots to tell:
Sep 11: We rent a car and cruise 20 miles to Red Rock Canyon to see the desert and do a wee bit of hiking. Red Rock Canyon was absolutely awesome. Highly recommended. To see the full set of pictures from Red Rock Canyon, click -->HERE<--. We rested upon return and in the evening Jenny, I and Heymans cruised down the strip to check out Caesar's Palace, and the MGM Grand. Caesar's is so far the most impressive place we've been to, and the MGM Grand is the 2nd biggest hotel/casino in the States! BIG!

Sep 12: We take Heymans to the airport and he is off to Bethel. Las Vegas drivers are crazy! Not to mention a little impatient; settle down everyone. A bit later, Jenny & I toured Circus Circus and caught an amazing juggling act; I mean, this guy was the best juggler I've ever seen. Then we met 3 homeless people and chatted with them for 30 minutes or so. I love talking with homeless people, their stories are so interesting. We hope to meet up with them again.

Sep 13: Someone approaches us on the Strip (a common occurance here in Vegas) and asks us if we would be willing to give up a few hours of our time to come see a presentation and take a tour of the Grandview Resort, in exchange for an All-U-Can-Eat Buffet at the Excalibur, and 2 tickets to 'V'. It was long and boring, but we got to have a great discussion with a manager about Jesus and stuff, it was sweet. After that we checked out the Luxor, then had our salvation confirmed by a random preist on the Strip whom we got to pray for us. Then we did another presentation with Vacation Network Inc in exchange for 2 tickets to Steve Wyrick, 2 All-U-Can-Eat Buffets at the Tropicana, and a 2 for 1 buffet at Monte Carlo. Great deal. So we got 2 shows lined up for this week! Nice. We have been trying to scam some Cirque de Soleil tickets for free, but have had NO luck with that.

Today we went to the First Presbyterian Church of Las Vegas and were invited back to the house of Jack & Jan Kluever. Jack actually worked on the Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) and was a test pilot for NASA and the US Army. They fed us tacos and were so nice to us. Their house was awesome (see the pics in our Vegas album -->HERE<--). We also met the Pastor, Rev Jim Houston-Hencken, who wants us to keep in touch and maybe be a contact while we're in Cambodia. He has some interest in digging wells over there. God puts things in place rather well.

Tonight we are going to Harrah's for supper with Jenny's aunt and uncle. 

For more of our wedding pics, click -->HERE<--.

NYC

Yesterday was pretty sweet. We left the AWESOME apt we're staying in at 9:30am and did not return till 9:30pm. It was a loooong day of walking and our feet were all in protest.
First we went to the Empire State Building and looked around NYC. Then we went to Cold Stone where the girls enjoyed ice cream and I enjoyed a cherry cheesecake milkshake!!! Best IN THE WORLD!! After that deliciousness, we went to Times Square. Then to Central Park where we got some pictures taken. After that, we were off to the site of the WTC. It is being rebuilt and should be completed by 2012. Next we went down to look at the Statue of Liberty. We all though it would've been bigger :(. And finally we went to an Irish Pub for food. And, of course, we got o take one final walk by the Flatiron Building on our walk back to our AMAZING apt. For the full set of our NYC photos click -->HERE<--. Today we jump on a bus and head back to HH for the last session of the summer. It is just about done.
The best part of Jenny and I's yesterday though was when Kylene went into a Starbucks to get directions to McSorely's (the Irish pub) and we noticed a homeless gentleman leaning up against the glass sleeping. We approached him and spent a bit of time with him. His name was James Miller and he did not have a place to live. He is constantly in and out of hospitals and alcoholism has destoyed his life and his body. James literally has no place to go and noone to turn to. He has tried shelters and programs to get clean but his disease has him defeated. We asked if we could pray with him and believe for God to work a miracle in his life, similar to mine, but he wouldn't receive it. James was obviously bitter against the church, and shut down when he thought we were there under its guise. It's sad. The Church should be a place James can run to :(. We are praying that God heals James and turns his life around.