LAS VEGAS!!!

As most of you already know, we went to Las Vegas for Ryan's 30th birthday, which was a complete surprise to him!! Luckily everyone was fantastic and no one let the secret slip (well at least not that Ryan picked up on!) =b I have been really slow at getting these pictures on here, sorry about that! My sister, Dionne, and her husband Ken came with us and Ryan's parents met us at the airport when we arrived. Francois and his girl MJ and Clay and HIS girl Celeste also met us there for a big birthday supper the night we arrived. I don't have any pictures of the start of this whole thing, Dionne and Mom-in-Law have all those ones, but here are some of the other highlights...

We stayed at the Bellagio, and definitely got spoiled there, now we'll never be able to go there and stay anywhere else! Soooo we'll likely never go again. =)

The fountains in front of the hotel, pretty amazing show.

In the lobby there was a section of the ceiling filled with these hand blown glass flowers. It was pretty amazing!


Ryan and I in front of a display in the botanical gardens just off the hotel lobby. I guess they have the whole display on platforms that lower and get moved in and out from underneath so when they change it they don't have to haul it through the hotel... which would be pretty impossible anyways, considering the size of some of the things in there. They had an autumn display throughout the hotel, with big glass leaves hanging from the ceiling everywhere.

The Pool

I think this was one of my favourite parts of the trip - hanging at the pool. =) Though I am a wimp about cool water, and while the weather was amazing, the pool water could still have been a little warmer for my liking! Here's the view from our room of the pool area...

Dionne and I relaxing in and out of the water.


They made really amazing pina coladas that were served to you wherever you were in or out of the pool. Of course mine were all virgins... =)

Other Places

In front of Caesar's Palace... there were statues EVERYWHERE around that hotel! Pretty amazing though, big gardens and fountains too.

Ryan in front of a fountain at one of the malls. Maybe they should try this type of mall decor in Saskatoon!

Me, in said mall. Aaaaannnnd another gigantic statue.

Ryan in front of his favourite restaurant that we went to - The Social House. Fantastic sushi (which we miss here!) and a good view of the pirate show at Treasure Island (where the S.H. is).

In front of the Mirage. This apparently has a volcano that erupts at the top of the waterfall, but we never saw it go.

Graye's Fort

Forts

Since the video is really a bit shoddy (christmas list [big ticket] item - video camera) here's a couple pictures of the work of art as well...

Great Grandma

We went for our first visit at Great Grandma Hawryluk's last weekend. She had the best toy ever there!

Faces

Graye has been making faces for us for awhile, but he was on a roll the other day! Quite the entertainer...

Cookie Monster

Mmmm... cookies....

Think I can fit the whole thing in?

Ummm.... was this supposed to have sprinkles?

Standing up a lot lately, but still only one or 2 steps unaided until....

...back down into standard mobile position.

Kinsmen Park

Friends from Ontario (the Delbaere family) came to visit this week so we took aaaalll the kids... thier 3, our 1, plus another friend (Joanna Listoe) and her 2 to the park for the afternoon. I think Graye tolerated the train ride and the merry-go-round, but the ferris wheel was a big hit!

Fun in the Park

After the rides we went and hung out at the playground (such as it is! Reno's going on...)

Bit of a crazy smile, but too funny not to post!

Sooo many fun things to do...

Boys watching trucks...

Graye and David bonding. =)

Bike Riding, Curry Eating DINOSAUR!

Graye in his new Dino jogging suit...

Mmmmmmm.... curry!! Want some?

Going for his first(ish) bike ride with Dad.

Bath Buddies

Graye got to become quite good friends with Kayla and her brother Zach over the weekend! The Spivak's came to visit from Alberta and Graye loved the entertainment they provided!

Goodbye!!

Good bye and tons of good luck to our neighbors and very good friends Corey, Lindsay, and Paige who have moved to Chesterfield Inlet in Nunavit! We got to have Paige to ourselves the last day she was here as her parents tried to organize movers and get everything going to the right place. She and Graye got some good playtime in - he'll miss her!! Check out their blog for updates if you want to see what's it's like in Northern Canada... no they aren't livning in an igloo!

Camping!

We went camping with Lindsay, Corey, and Paige before they left - lots of fun during the day... NO fun at night. Poor babies don't like to sleep outdoors, only play there I guess!

Graye and Paige getting in some quality time

Graye being cute (and needing a haircut!)

Ryan was spitting sunflower seeds, which was apparently the funniest thing Graye has seen since dropping a wooden spoon on the floor!

Our campsite

Family photo before we become four...

Tornado (of '07?)

We had a tornado come through town at 3:30 am the night before Graye's big birthday party! We almost had to move venues, but a lot of work and some very quick power and phone people let the party go on! Our 2 gigantic trees in the back took a lot of damage, one is still up and ok, but the other is mostly down and the rest of it will have to follow sometime soon. Luckily they fell away from the house and we still have everything else intact! Most of the town just had a lot of trees taken out, one house lost part of its roof and there were various forms and colours of siding caught in power lines as well. The first picture is near the road that goes to our place, the rest are our yard and trees. Lindsay is actually standing in our alley, which is usually a road with a big field on the other side. Instead the road is covered in our trees! Makes me a bit sad, they were beautiful big trees, but again we are VERY lucky they were all the damage we took and they didn't do any damage to the house. Scary night, but the most excitement this town has seen in a while! Sure got everyone out of the house in the morning! Haha!