Happy 10 Years!

Fountains at Bellagio looking towards Paris.

A view of the Wynn golf course and the strip from our room at the Renaissance.

Venice Canals.

Remember when? 10 years ago today!

Ten years ago today, many of you were gathered with us in a church in small town Texas. On that cold, West Texas day, you joined us as we became a family. Can you believe it's been ten years?

We celebrated our big 1-0 in "high style" this past weekend. Grandma came and stayed with Colin while we dashed off to Vegas for an early anniversary celebration. In keeping with with our big 1-0, we thought we'd a list of top 10 from our trip to Vegas:

10) Stay at an off-strip casino if possible. We enjoyed the ultra hip Renaissance, and it was a brief walk to the monorail with access to all of the big casinos. As an added bonus, it is casino free (no listening to "Wheel of Fortune" each time you walk in the lobby.) The hotel was right by the Convention Center, which was preparing for CES, so the place was buzzing with all of the consumer electronics big names - our hotel was even wrapped by one of the booth exhibitors (their exhibit marketing makes the marketing work I did look like child's play!)

9.) Yummy dinner at Emeril's Cajun/Creole restaurant, just off of MGM Grand. We both had the grouper, but the other dishes looked divine, as well. Get a spot near the glass for great people watching.

8.) Check out the lions at the MGM while you are at it. So cool to stand under the glass while a big lion just lounges 4 feet above! The rotate the cats out from their ranch, so each cat only spends 1-2 days a month at the casino.

7.) Shopping! Oh where to start? We hit the Fashion Mall at the north end of the strip, and also enjoyed Caesars Forum Shops. there were many others between, so we just paced ourselves! Matt hit 3 Tommy Bahamas, and I found about 4 Ann Taylor Lofts.

6.) Ka was awesome! This Circ Du Soleil show at MGM was just incredible! The acrobatics were unbelievable on this stage, which sometimes rotated up to a complete 90 degree angle. Whew! It was the story of an epic journey for a brother and sister, though it uses no words other than an intro in the very beginning.

5.) We stayed at the Luxor the second night. Thanks to CES, the Renaissance was full, so we took the best Priceline had to offer. Yeah, not so much. We woke at 8:30 am to sanding and hammering 4 floors up. So much for sleeping in after a late night! Note to self: Ask about construction in the building when booking a hotel room!

4.) For a megga meat feast, we hit Pampas Brazilian Grille. Yummy! This is the kind of place where they bring around "cooked beast" until your heart is content. Matt and I were so full we probably got a weeks worth of iron in one sitting!

3.) I just love the fountains at the Bellagio. we missed them at night, but it's also great during the day. The water is choreographed to Andrea Bocelli's opera song, and you feel momentarily whisked away to Italy!

2.) Our two other favorite themed hotels were Paris and New York, NY. They each exude character from the cities they imitate. Very cool to walk through!

1.) Aside from the food, $4 worth of gambling, shopping, and some very tired feet from all of the walking, we most enjoyed just getting a chance to be together and hang out. Alone. Sans Kiddo. Pretty cool!


And today, exactly ten years after saying "I do," I could not have imagined what I would be doing exactly 10 years later. Our little man developed the tummy flu right around 3:30 Central time (the time of our wedding.) So, in the true spirit of motherhood, I traded my beautiful white veil for about 3-4 changes of clothing for both of us throughout the afternoon. Good thing for an early break to Vegas!