Great Thanksgiving Week

We have just finished a fantastic Thanksgiving week. I think this was the best ever. It started last Sunday when Pops and I flew to Las Vegas to celebrate our anniversary. 29 WONDERFUL YEARS. YES, 29!!! I can't believe it. It seems just like yesterday when we met in drivers ed.

This was our 8th trip to Vegas since 2002 and probably our best. (I was thinking about this and decided that it is only right that your last vacation be your best - that just means they get better and better). We usually go straight to the hotel, but this time, I gave in to Pops desire for years to go see Hoover Dam. He really wanted to go to the Grand Canyon, but I drew the line at Hoover Dam. We rented a car and went to the dam, had breakfast at Bob's Diner (really good) and then drove around Vegas and went to Red Rock Canyon.

This is our first time to rent a car and drive around and I was very impressed. There are some really nice areas outside of the strip. We returned the car a few hours later and then took a cab to the Bellagio. Next time we rent a car, we will remember to go to the gas station and fill it up. We forgot until we pulled into the garage and they charged us $6.99 a gallon to fill it up. He originally was charging us for 11 gallons, but I talked him down to 8. The gas cost more than the rental.

The Bellagio is by far my favorite hotel in the world! I still love it. We laid out by the pool, had massages, facials and pedicures, ate lots of great food and saw Menopause, The Scinta's and KA. The best meal we had was at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. It was so good. We came home about 10:00 Wednesday night, just in time to get up and start cooking for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is always a great time with our family. Janelle and Jacob came home for the weekend and Kayla was home from college. We are a very close extended family and when we all get together there are 30+ people. There is always a domino tournament going on and this year the Gainer's hosted a Monopoly tournament that went on all weekend. We are so blessed to have such a great family.

Pops and I finished out the weekend by eating at The Porch Saturday night. We had eaten so much "fancy" food all week that we decided to scale down some for our anniversary. The Porch was delicious. It will be added to our rotation. It is upscale home cooking. We started with the sliders which were chopped smoked brisket on a slightly sweet homemade roll with BBQ sauce, coleslaw and a pickle. I could have eaten that as my meal. I had a Green Goddess Caesar salad with Parmesan Crisps. Pops had the Shrimp and Grits and I had Short Rib Beef Stroganoff. It was all good. The noodles in the Stroganoff tasted homemade. We ended with hot Apple Cobbler. It was a really good meal. I can't wait to go back.

I have done a little shopping, mostly online and made some tags for my gifts. There is lots more to do, but I feel good that I have finally gotten started.

Happy Anniversary Pops. I can't wait to spend the next 29 with you!