2013 Wrap Up

Christmas!

Barbecue for Dawn's BDay

 Not much better then pork in the smoker..

 Yosh at Color Guard

 Barbecue at -30

 Brrrr....burgers were good though.

Football Time!

 Michael ready to tear it up

Michael's 12th Birthday Party

Another year gone. The older you get the faster the years

fly by. We had a good year. Michael worked hard at

Football. I can't wait to see him play in JR. High next 

year. Yosh is going to letter in Color Guard I think...

pretty cool. We did quite a bit of traveling. Our 

trip to California was a blast. We also managed 2 trips

to Vegas, a long weekend in Seattle, a couple days in 

Spokane and I drove out to Minnesota. All in all a

good year.

Sunsets in Big Sky Country

Some amazing sunset pictures taken off my deck in beautiful 

Montana.

An Evening of Fishing on the Missouri

 The Missouri River near Hardy Creek

 This bridge was in the film, 'The Untouchables'

 Holter Lake

 The mighty fisherman

The long, cold, windy winter is starting to get old. Pictures like

these really make me look forward to summer. This was a fishing

trip we took one evening in late August. We drove out to 

Hardy Creek and tried the Missouri. It was way too mossy so

we thought we would try Holter Lake. It was a blast. In an hour

or so we caught a couple Walleye and a few Perch. Being able to

do these kind of things in an evening is what makes Montana

such a great state.

Las Vegas Summer 2013

Brunch at Morels. Dawn had the Banana & Marscapone

Stuffed French Toast. If you read my blog you've seen 

this picture several times. Dawn gets it every time.

Must be good....

 I had the French Dip with Ementhal cheese and the sugar doughnuts.

The French Dip was tasty...the doughnuts average.

 Big winner on the Michael Jackson slots. We actually

did pretty good this trip. I think Dawn won 100 bucks here.

The kids at Circus Circus

 Michael's big win!

 The view from our room

 The whole crew minus me

 A family picture outside Wynn

 The Sunday Brunch at Wynn. It was outstanding...probably 

the best buffet I've been to. Pricey though

 Volcano!

 Fried Mac & Cheese at I Love Burgers

 In-N-Out on the way home

Our summer trip to Vegas was a big hit...how can a trip to 

Vegas not be? We took the kids this time. It changes what you 

can do but it was still fun. My mom and dad took them to 

dinner one evening at Treasure Island so Dawn and I could 

have some time to ourselves. The kids, Lynn and I went 

to Rock of Ages one evening. That is such a cool show! 

If you like 80's rock it's a can't miss. We did our usual 

things, Wholefoods, Chinatown and See's and a couple

things I hadn't done in awhile. Since the kids were along

we hit Circus Circus. It's such a dive but a great stop for 

kids. They had fun on the rides in the Adventure Dome

and playing all the games inside. It was a good time....

the next trip can't get here fast enough!

Las Vegas Summer 2013

Thai Style Noodle House

Stuffed Wontons

 N.H. Style Pot Stickers

 Chicken Satays

 Yellow Curry

 Spicy Chicken Tom Yum Noodle Soup

 Pad Thai

Thai Style Noodle House is an unassuming little shop

in a strip mall next to an oriental market we frequent. 

A few years ago we decided to give it a try and have been

going back ever since. Their Tom Yum is one of my all

time favorite soups. It's super spicy but very tasty. 

Dawn liked her Pad Thai and Yosh liked her Curry. 

After a small meltdown Michael ended up liking his 

chicken. If you're in the Chinatown area the Thai 

Noodle House is worth stopping in. Its a nice break 

from the high prices in the strip. Everything is very

reasonable with nice sized portions.

Thai Style Noodle House

Las Vegas Summer 2013

Sushi Samba, Public House & Max Brenner

 I can't remember what these drinks were. The waiter suggested

them to us. I do remember how they tasted though.

Horrible! Mine tasted like a glass full of rum. No 

sweetness or fruitiness at all. Dawn dumped sugar 

into hers. They look nice though.

 Yellowtail with jalapeno and lemongrass

 Berkshire Pork Gyoza with Kabocha Pumpkin puree

and su-shoyu dipping sauce

 An assortment of rolls. From right to left. Pacific Roll: king 

crab, avocado, asian pear, soy paper and wasabi-avocado crema 

California Roll. BoBo Brazil Roll: seared wagyu beef, 

avocado, kaiware, shiso, red onion and chimichurri. 

On the left are 2 Kani (king crab)

Public House

 Dawns Caesar at Public House. Check out that shrimp!

 Poutine: French fries, duck confit, cheese curds and 

stout gravy.

 Roasted Bone Marrow: with bacon marmalade and 

grilled bread.

Max Brenner

 Banana Tempura Fondue and The Spectacular Melting

Chocolate S'mores Sunday

Some people go to Vegas for the gambling. I go for the food! 

This was our first day in town. Lunch at Sushi Samba sounded

good and didn't disappoint. The Spicy Yellowtail is one of

my favorite sushi items ever. Very good! The rolls were all good 

too. I will say this about Sushi Samba. Boy it's expensive

for what you get. The Yellowtail dish is 14 bucks for 

four small bites. Needless to say we were still hungry

when we finished. Not a problem in Vegas tho...we just 

swung in Public House for some Poutine and Bone 

Marrow. The Poutine at Public House is about as good

as it gets...finger licking good. I love the bone marrow

but everyone else seems grossed out by it. Oh well. Later

that evening we had dessert at Max Brenner in the Forum 

Shops. Check out the sunday Yosh got....its as big as her 

head. Dawns fondue was good but i don't think she would 

get it again. Michael and I had milkshakes.