A Very Vegas Thanksgiving!

We got to spend Thanksgiving with the Cardon family in Las Vegas this year. We arrived in Las Vegas after an hour and a half weather delay at the airport on Tuesday evening. Thankfully Taylor also was able to catch a ride with Missy and Jedd and family to St. George, and then a shuttle from St. George to Las Vegas after his ride cancelled at the last minute. We got up and headed to the Paris Hotel and Casino on Wednesday morning. They have a fabulous breakfast buffet, but after waiting in line 45 minutes, we missed the breakfast buffet and got the lunch buffet. It was still very good.
Plus the kids got to sample the ice cream machine. After brunch, we wandered around the Paris
and the Bellagio. The Thanksgiving display at the Bellagio was impressive. The enormous pumpkins and the water fountains were really cool.

Thursday morning, Jon, Tom and I got up early and went hiking in Red Rock Canyon. It was a beautiful but cold morning, but it was fun to see a different part of the Las Vegas area a way from the strip.


We got home and I jumped into chef mode and started cooking. We had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with a brined turkey that was so moist and delicious
and all our favorite side dishes.
We hung out and watched movies that evening.
Friday, Sara, Lucy and I headed to Primm, Nevada (an hours drive on the California border)to a great Outlet mall. We got some amazing Black Friday deals and are thinking maybe we need to make an annual Black Friday pilgrimage every year to Primm. Tom, Taylor, Jon and Zachy spent the day hiking at Red Rock Canyon and catching some Black Friday deals closer to home. jWe watched the BSU/Nevada game that night and were disappointed at the outcome.
Saturday was Tom's birthday! Happy Birthday to Tom!!! After a pancake breakfast, we headed out to the Valley of Fire and loved hiking and climbing on all the beautiful red rocks.

Taylor (Mufasa) and Zachy (baby Simba) at the Pridelands.




Tom loved hiking around and would have stayed all day, but because I'm an obcessed BYU fan, we hurried back to Las Vegas to watch the BYU vs. Utah game. Sara and Jon's friends had a DVR so we watched it at their home. Unfortunately, luck seemed to be on the Ute's side so the game didn't turn out as we hoped, but I still love my Cougars and was glad we could cheer them on.
We went out to a great Memphis Barbecue place for dinner that night
and then had Mud pie to celebrate Tom's birthday.
On Sunday, Taylor caught a ride back to Provo with a kid from Boulder City (thanks Sarah P and Darlene for setting that up). They had quite the snowy drive but thankfully made it back to Provo after a 9 hour drive. Tom and I enjoyed spending Sunday with the Cardon's. Sara and I made chocolate covered puffs to give to Sara's visiting teaching families and friends. Monday we packed up and did some more shopping at the Outlet malls, ate lunch at In and Out Burger

and then boarded our airplane and headed back to Boise. We had a wonderful time and are so appreciative to Sara and Jonathan for hosting us. It was a fantastic week filled with counting lots of blessings.