Viva Las Vegas!

Annie and I took a little minication to escape the inversion that Boise always suffers during the month of January, and to get a much needed break from work. We wanted to go somewhere close that wouldn't cost too much, but that would also be a little warmer than Boise. So we decided on Vegas. We got a pretty good deal on a flight through Southwest and a great deal on the hotel through Hotwire.com. We rented a car while we were down there too, which came in handy for getting our In-N-Out fixes.

Looking out the plane window over a sea of clouds with the mountains just poking through. It was so nice to see the sun again.

Welcome to the Wynn Las Vegas! Nice thing about staying here, Valet parking is free. (well not really because of the price of the room, but I still enjoyed it.)

The hotel lobby. I'm guessing the theme right now is Chinese New Year, because a lot of the hotels had Chinese decorations up.

Entrance to our hotel room.

The bathtub and shower.

The rest of the bathroom, and yes that is a tv in the wall to the left of the mirror. Annie and I were getting ready to go eat.

Our room, it was so worth the price!

The view from our window. The hotel in the center of the picture is Treasure Island.

There is a Ferrari/Maserati dealership in the Wynn hotel. We didn't go and check it out because it costs money to look at the cars. Of course. :( I took this picture mostly for my dad. :)

One of the ships at Treasure Island

This was right next to the ship

This is where they perform the show, Sirens of T.I.

Gondola rides in the Venetian

The Bellagio Botanical Gardens.

Cute little panda bear made out of leaves.

Bridge and rock formation


Chinese Water Buffalo to symbolize the Year of the Ox 2009.


Waiting for PF Changs

The Paris Hotel

The Eiffel Tower Restaurant

Statue at the Hoover Dam

Two of the Towers showing Nevada time and the Colorado River.

They were working on building a bridge across the Colorado River while we were there. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be working on that bridge, hundreds of feet up in the air. No, Thank you!

More of the Hoover Dam

This is the view from our room at night.

We were killing some time before going to dinner so we went over to the Fashion Show Mall to wander around. While we were there, they were putting on a fashion show. It's hard to see from the picture, but the room with the blue lights, where the models change and walk out, is coming up from the floor. The runway came up from the floor as well.

Inside the Forum Shops at Ceasar's Palace

Me and Annie with a statue in Ceasar's Palace

Me and Annie after eating at Bobby Flay's restaurant Mesa Grill. Super delicious steak and killer mashed potatoes, but I've had better dessert.

Our hotel at night

The baby dolphin at Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage.

They were taking the Dolphin through the motions of getting it's blood drawn so that when the time came for it's blood to be drawn, it would already be used to the procedure.

The White Lion

Five baby white tiger cubs, they are 9 months old.

The Leopards taking a snooze.

One of the white tigers.

My favorite, the baby leopard cub, he is only two months old. They only bring him out for an hour a day and we just happened to be there at the right time. The pictures are so blurry because he kept jumping around. I should have taken a video instead. Oh well.

How I would love to be the one in there getting to play with that cute baby leopard.

New Year's Eve

This New Year's Eve was a little more low key than it usually is. Annie's cousin Krista invited us to come to Leku Ona where she had rented out one of their basement rooms. It was a lot of fun hanging out with Annie's cousins, having some good laughs and just enjoying some good company. Due to working early that day, we called it a night around 10:30, came back home, flipped through the channels, opened up a bottle of martinellis, watched the ball drop and said "Happy New Year!"

Annie with her cousin's Lisa on the left and Krista in the middle

Annie, Lisa, and Me.

Annie, Krista, and Me

Outside Leku Ona

Happy New Year!

Family Christmas Parties

The Sunday before Christmas, I was invited over to the Bodily's to join in their annual Christmas party. This family has been a second family to me for over 16 years now ever since they moved back to Caldwell when I was in 5th grade and Allison and I became best friends. There are very few childhood memories from 5th grade on that don't include either Allison or her family. I even went to prom with her husband! :) I loved spending time with them getting to join in their family traditions, eating delicious food, and having some good laughs. I'm especially glad for the time I got to spend with them since Mom and Dad Bodily are moving to Wyoming for a while and they will be greatly missed!

Here's the family enjoying some delicous soup and rolls for dinner.

Jeremy and Kaylee Park. Such a cutie in her little santa hat!

Meagan with her little girl Abigail and her cute little santa hat.

Dad (Gary) with Kaylee. It was the cutest thing to see him interacting with his little granddaughter, just melted my heart.

I stole Abigail from her Daddy after he had gotten her to fall asleep and she was ejoying a nice little nap on my lap.

Rees and James playing in the toy box.

Getting ready to play the present game. It was pretty similar to the white elephant game, but with a lot more practical gifts that were selected off of wish lists.

Trying to open the present with oven mitts.

Kevin opening a present with the oven mitts.

These are the awesome Santa slippers that I got from the game. You can't tell from the picture, but Santa's face lights up when you walk. :)

Christmas Eve I went over to my sister's apartment for the annual lighting of the Bitsch Christmas tree. Brandon's family was there as well to enjoy their first ever Christmas tree candle lighting.

Me and my Dad

My mom and Brandon's Dad Brad.

Ty, Brandon, and Heather

Me and my Mom

Patti and Jesse

Up close shot of the candles on the tree.

Isn't it beautiful?! This is one of my most favorite traditions, especially when we get to share with people who have never seen it before.

Christmas day my family was getting together in the morning, but because the road's were not the best, I decided that it would be best to stay in Boise this year. Annie's family took me in and let me share in their Christmas feast. We had dinner over at her Aunt Sue's house and it was delicious, like all of her Aunt's food. They are an awesome family who laugh a lot and know how to have a good time. I'm very grateful that I was able to be a part of their family that night since I wasn't able to spend Christmas with my own family. Thanks Aunt Sue and Uncle Bill! I didn't get any pictures while I was over there (shocking I know!) unfortunately so this will have to do. :)