What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!

Even though K turned 30 a couple weeks ago, this past week was the ultimate celebration. We left on Wednesday for a trip to Vegas, with several surprises along the way that I'd been working on for about 3 months. I wanted so much for this to be a wonderful birthday for him!!

Surprise #1: Ryan and Leah

Ryan co-owns our boat with K, and the two of them have been friends since long before K and I started dating. He and his wife Leah are an amazing couple who are not only so much fun to hang out with, but are also very generous and loving with true servants' hearts. Their laid back personalities and great friendship made this trip all the more memorable.

As we were riding the escalator down to baggage claim at the airport, a crowd of people holding signs awaited us. K looked over at me and jokingly said, "Where's my sign?" 2 seconds later, he spotted Ryan and Leah in the crowd holding this:


He ran, jumped in the air, and gave them both huge hugs with a look of surprise and excitement on his face. The suspense had been KILLING me up to that point, so needless to say I was so relieved and also way excited to see them there!

Surprise #2: Flo

I cannot take claim to this surprise as it was all Ryan and Leah's doing. As we walked out of the airport, they escorted us to Flo - a cherry red 1948 Ford Cabriolet that they had rented for the day. That night we cruised up and down the strip with the top down. We felt like movie stars. :-)

Surprise #3: Stan and Carolyn

Stan and I worked together for several years before his recent departure to Bank of Texas. Over the past few months, I have gotten to know his wife Carolyn, and they have also gotten to know K. They happened to be in Vegas at the same time celebrating their 4-year wedding anniversary. It was a real blessing to be able to share parts of the trip with them. They are such a fun and relaxed couple, so easy to get along with, and truly enjoyable to be around. Another very memorable addition to our Vegas memories.

They met us up on the balcony at Margaritaville after we had checked in to our hotel on Wednesday. As he walked up to our table, K turned to me in amazement and said, "Is that Stan????" Yes, yes it was Stanton indeed.

Surprise #4: The Barrett Jackson

So before I met K I never heard of the Barrett Jackson. Apparently it's this ridiculously famous car auction held every year in Scottsdale, AZ. K often watches old reruns on Speed TV - how entertaining. This was the inagural year for it's premiere in Vegas, held at Mandalay Bay. I have to say, Leah and I did not anticipate enjoying it nearly as much as we did. Listening to the auctioneer himself was fascinating. I mean, he talks faster than the Micro Machines man in those old TV commercials.

Most of the cars seemed to be going for dirt cheap. K was very tempted to register, but in the end held out. We took thousands of car pictures. This happened to be one of his favorites:

Surprise #5: O

We spent our final night by having dinner at Penazzi in Harrah's, then going to see O at the Bellagio by Cirque du Soleil. The show itself was AMAZING!!! The acrobatics and even just the stage itself was unbelievable. Much better than Mystere, and less random than a big blow-up snail ending.

Earlier that day we toured the casinoes. The first picture below was taken at the Wynn, 2nd is of course the fountains at the Bellagio, and 3rd is of us with Stan and Carolyn before O.




We stayed at the Flamingo, which ended up being a great location - centrally located on the Strip and close to everything we needed. Our "Go" rooms were quite modern, flamboyant, and hot pink, but well worth it. The best part? Being able to watch TV from the bathroom mirror while getting ready in the morning. They also had a really cool pool that we laid out at on Friday afternoon.

Thankfully we returned on Saturday to have Sunday to recover. We didn't gamble too much - mostly played slots and ended up breaking even thanks to a last-minute win on the Tobasco machine before leaving our last day. We will likely return one day, if not to Vegas for the Barrett Jackson again then to Scottsdale for the auction in January. Maybe next time we'll even come home with a hot new ride....