The Road to Cincy Goes Through Vegas!

I had the pleasure of hosting Mom and Don on their way back to Cincy (they're back in Cincy now, repeating the mantra "Embrace the cold, embrace the cold, embrace the cold...").

We had a wonderful time, even though the trip was short, only one full day, but I'll take what I can get! It was also particularly nice because it broke up Hubby's two week absence.


It took three tries to get Don to give an appropriate smile, but it was worth the wait!

We spent the afternoon "greening" my backyard. We are now in the herb business here in Las Vegas...


We had a lot of fun planting. Now all but the rosemary have saran wrap on top which will hopefully prevent them from being damaged when the temperature drops below freezing. No joke, it occasionally drops below freezing at night.

Mom was eying the sides of the house as a possible future location for a milk cow and chickens. I'll agree as long as she sticks around to milk the cow!

After playing gardener, Mom and Don took me to my favorite Las Vegas restaurant, McCormick & Schimdts, a seafood place near the strip. The food did not disappoint and we had a great time.


We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and chatting. Brumbee was even nice enough to share the couch with Mom and Don, albeit reluctantly...


I had a great time with them and am looking forward to Mom's visit in April to help to put together the nursery and probably take a plethora of belly pictures.

To further my herb growing efforts, Mom got me this totally cool inside herb garden.


It did not arrive until after they had left, and I love it. In 4-6 weeks I will have a seven different beautiful herbs including two different basils and dill.

For the blog poll last week, a disappointing 50% are not decorating for Christmas. I'm sure that means that everyone is traveling for the holidays!

This blog...what is you favorite sport to watch on television?

What a Thanksgiving!

Yes, it is possible to have the best of all worlds! We indulged in great company, great food, and great scenery over Thanksgiving weekend, definitely the best of all worlds, located in one cabin 12 miles outside of Yosemite National Park.

On turkey day Mom graciously agreed to stay with the dogs and prepare the Thanksgiving feast while Don, Hubby, and I left to explore the Yosemite Valley...


Don was an excellent tour guide and made certain we saw all the sites!


The weather was perfect, no rain and cold enough for hot coco.


After spending several hours in the park, we headed back to the cabin just in time for the Thanksgiving feast. I don't have any pics of the food, but trust me it was delish! As proof, we finished all three pies before Sunday. I did bring home a smattering of leftovers and will be enjoying them all week.

For Friday and Saturday we had a wonderful time hiking on trails outside the National Park, where the dogs are allowed. The hikes were incredibly beautiful and as a very special bonus, there were hardly any other people, we had the place to ourselves.



The entire area was absolutely beautiful, we had a great time taking it all in.


The above picture shows only about 1/4 of the ladybugs!




What can I say? I was happier than a pig in slop!

We finished every night with bridge, a movie, and comments about the fact that I can't keep my eyes open past 9pm! I took the comments as compliments!

I know it would be foolish to try talking Mom and Don into making the Thanksgiving retreat with us a permanent fixture, as I would probably be beaten silly by my brothers, sisters, and friends who are looking forward to resuming Thanksgiving festivities in Cincy next year. We're looking forward to being in Cincy next year also, and I'm hoping to run the Turkey Day 10k as a post pregnancy goal.

The results from last week's poll...slightly in favor of "boy", Hubby thanks you for the support, he's hoping for a boy.

This week, pretty simple, are you decorating for Christmas?