Las Vegas Reunion

I haven't had a chance to post anything from my trip to Vegas with my friends. Things here have been so crazy. It was actually this weekend...while I was in Vegas...when the rain started and in a matter of two days dumped about 20 inches on Nashville.

I had such a blast with these guys. We re-lived our ACU roommate days and reminisced about our place on Westheimer. But, that lasted about 30 minutes. The rest of the time, we spent laughing about life and sharing about our families and jobs and faith. And...being stupid. It's so fun to be stupid with these guys. I'm pretty sure that we had a contest one night walking down the sidewalk to see who could get the most "legitimate" high fives. Stupid.

Chris Doggett, me, Stephen Bailey and Craig Fisher

You never know who you might run into on the street in Vegas. This was just priceless. This guy was taking a break...in full KISS gear.

We ate at Bobby Flay's restaurant one night and it was seriously one of the best meals I have ever had. Incredible! Yeah...I took a picture of my food. I sure did.

Vegas--NYC hotel

This pawn shop is the setting for a popular reality show called "Pawn Star" which is, as I understand it, kind of like a ghetto version of Antique Road Show. :)

Craig loves that show. We came here to humor him.

I have several friends out in Vegas who are in shows. We got to see Tim Johnson perform. Tim has worked for Gary Musick many times and I've hired him for a couple of shows. He's a great guy and did a fantastic job!

I wanted to see my buddy Travis Cloer in "Jersey Boys". He plays Frankie and is AWESOME. If you go out there, go see it. We ran out of time this trip to see it, but next time!

It's funny that after 20 years, you can still pick right back up. It's like not skipping a beat. We've all been together over the years and shared family time, but this was our first time to be away with just the four of us. I'm so glad we did this! It was totally worth it!

In true Chris Doggett fashion, Dog explains our trek to the famous "Pawn Star" pawn shop. What a name. These video clips are but a wee taste of the fun we have when we're together.

There were so many moments I wish I had captured on video from our few days together. I was laughing so hard most of the weekend that I forgot to film anything! we had such a blast. Here's to being 40, boys. And here's to 20+ years of friendship!

Viva Las Legas!

Stephen Bailey, Chris Doggett and Craig Fisher have been some of the best friends a guy could have. We're goin' on 22 years of friendship now. We all lived together at ACU on Westheimer and had more crazy experiences than we could ever recount.

There were several important fixtures in our house that have lived on. Craig's glass sculptured heads affectionately named "Glassy and Glossy". Those were passed down to Sam Souder (Craig's nephew and our good friend) who will graduate from ACU this May. Who knows where they'll end up after that. There was also a safari hat that was deemed "sick hat" (to be worn when ill). Then there was the blow up skeleton that we got one Halloween who was named "Boner". "Boner" sat on the couch in our living room for a long time. (Sorry. We were in college. What can I say?) There was the electric piano that played a pre-programmed song that we named "The Good Night Song". Craig had a special dance he made up that went along with it...and if it was an extra special occasion, Doggett would blow bubbles in the air behind him.

There were several other notable characters...one was Daisy. Daisy was Clint Fendley's dachshund. Daisy hated Stephen (and the feeling was mutual). She would go and poop or pee under Stephen's bed. We look back lovingly on Daisy.

Another was the shopping cart that lived on our front porch every now and then. I still have video of late night races down Westheimer in that shopping cart. I am holding it for ransom. (Craig...you know what I mean.)

It seems like just yesterday that we were sitting in our living room watching "Saved By The Bell". Over the years, we've married, had kids and shared life...the good and the bad. This year represents a big change for each of the 4 of us. The big 4-0. So, we're doing our "City Slickers" cattle drive...Vegas style.

Tomorrow I will fly to Vegas with Stephen, Chris and Craig where we will sit and laugh and talk about how old we are for several days. It is the best gift I could have gotten. I can't wait to be with those guys! If you have a chance, you might want to offer up a prayer for us. We might need it. :) Thank you to our wives for loving us enough to let us go away together for the weekend. It's going to be a blast!

Here are some pics through the years...

Siggie golf social circa 1989

ACU graduation 1992

ACU Homecoming 2007

Taken at Craig and Beth Ann Fisher's in 2007.