Anniversary Trip Part 2 Hoover Dam and Laughlin Nevada

After getting breakfast at McDonald,s right across the street from Mandalay Bay we drove down the Las Vegas strip and parked at the Bellagio to see their fountain show. We always try to see it at least once whenever we are in Vegas because it's pretty impressive. 

I didn't take any pictures of the water show but I did get one of the beautiful glass flower ceiling inside. 

Then we took off for Laughlin NV with a little side trip to Hoover Dam.

 This is the bridge they built to keep a lot of traffic from going over the top of the dam. The picture doesn't really show how huge this bridge is but take my word for it, it was huge!!

The Colorado River is the boundary between Nevada and Arizona. It's kind of hard to see but Nevada is on the left and Arizona is on the right.

The last time we were there back in 1997 I remember looking out over the edge of the dam to see the bottom. Not so much this time, I could barely walk up to the edge so looking over it was not going happen!  I was slightly freaked out the whole time we were up there! Can't handle heights any more I guess!

From there we drove South for about a hour and arrived at our destination for the next few days, Laughlin Nevada.

Laughlin is a small strip of casino hotels right on the Colorado River. 

We stayed at the Aquarius Hotel and Casino on the 17th floor. This was the view from our room.

I took this panorama from the other side of the river so you could see the whole little strip of hotels. Ours was the second from the right. 

This was the view at night. Kind of bright like Las Vegas but much, much smaller and less crowded. We really enjoyed out 4 days here.

Next: Cousin time and Oatman, AZ

40th Anniversary Trip part 1

I have been off of work since last Friday so Rich and I could take a anniversary trip.

We decided to spend a few days in Laughlin, Nevada.

First on Friday we flew into Las Vegas arriving at about 5:30. I hate to fly so I was a little anxious. I hadn't flown since 2009. Anyway, it was almost a 4 hour flight made a little easier because we had screens on the seat in front of us.

Rich watched our flight:

I watched Gone with The Wind

When the plane was almost landed it suddenly took off again! The pilot came on the intercom and said there was an issue on the runway and we had to circle the airport.

I was glad to get on the ground!

 We grabbed our rental car and headed to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino where spent the first night. Beautiful room and grounds but huge so we did a lot of walking around.

It's kind of hard to tell from this picture but this was a two story wine tower. This picture is taken from the second floor. When someone orders a bottle of wine the bartender hooks to a harness and get carried up to retrieve the bottle! 

If you look close you can see the harness wires on either side of the tower. 

We didn't get to see anyone do that unfortunately! 

 

We only stayed one night in Las Vegas but I was happy to catch a beautiful sunrise over the mountains the next morning.

That day, the 18th , was our 40th anniversary.

We had time for breakfast and to take a picture before we headed out of  Las Vegas.

Next: Hoover Dam and Laughlin Nevada

Cross Stitch

Back in the day I used to love to cross stitch and did a lot of it!

Most of the stuff I made I have given to people for gifts and such, but there are a few things I still have and also a few I that I made for my parents and took from my dad's house when we moved him out.

 This was one of the first things I made.  My SIL helped me frame it. My mom loved it but I could see a few mistakes in it and I wanted to fix them but she wouldn't let me touch it!

This one my mom actually bought the kit and asked me to make it for her. Then my dad made the frame for it. It hung in their dining room for 27 years!

This one is one of my favorites because the dove is beaded and it was a lot of fun to make.

This one I made for Rich when we were married for 10 years. So long ago!!

This one actually was made by my mother-in-law. Then my sister in law framed it and gave it to me after she passed away. I love it especially because she never finished the bottom of the rose stem!

Then I got bored with it and moved on to other things.


About 20 years ago I designed a pattern of my mother in laws favorite poem.

God has not promised
Skys always blue
Flower strewn pathways
All our lives through

God has not promised
Sun without rain
Joy without sorrow
Peace without pain

But God has promised
Strength for the day
Rest for the labor
Light for the way

Grace for the trials
Help from above
Unfailing sympathy
Undying love

I was going to make it for her and give it to her to hang in her room in the nursing home.

Well, you see how far I got......

But I still have it and maybe some day when I have more leisure time I may finished it.

In case you couldn't tell from the anniversary cross stitch picture, Rich and I are coming up on our 40th wedding anniversary. We are planning a little trip out west. I'll tell you all about it the next time!

Until then......

Working On The House

Well, we've been trying to fix up this house a little bit with the thought of selling in a year or so and buying a much smaller place.

A few weeks ago we tore up all the ugly, worn carpeting in the living room and dining room. We took our time, tearing up a strip, rolling it up and taping it. Then we pulled about a million staples from the floor. We took two days to do it so it wasn't too hard.

Last we we hired someone to come in and paint the walls in the living room, dining room, front hallway and foyer, stairway, and upstairs hallway.  Well worth every penny because that is a lot of painting! What would have taken us  week they did in one day!

Anyway, here's some pictures.s

Before

And after:

The walls were a off white and now they are Escape Grey by Sherwin Williams, which to me looks more like a greenish gray. Anyway, I love the way it looks now.

We are planning to be install a laminate floor ourselves. It looks fairly easy and we will be doing that after we come back from a vacation we are planning to take in a few weeks. More about that later!

In other exciting news, we got to babysit sweet Maxwell last night while Shauna and Brad went to dinner and a movie.

Our first time babysitting and I loved every minute of it!

This sweet boy is going to be 2 months old next Wednesday!

Until the next time.....