Trip to Ruthie's

My BFF Ruth Melvin, and I try to rendezvous every summer for a long weekend.  Last summer she came to California and this year it was my turn to travel to Las Vegas.  Her husband, Dwight, works for Harrah's and one of the chefs at their fancy, exclusive restaurant invited him to bring his family for a free meal.  This is a perk that Dwight does not take advantage of very often, so it was really a special evening.

It always makes me smile to see Toby Keith in front of his restaurant " I Love This Bar and Grill" in Harrah's.  Too bad the flash showed or it would almost look like the real thing. Bless his heart. 

 

Ruth and Dwight, the happy couple.  Love them to pieces.

 

Ruth takes such good care of her darling Mom, June.  She just turned 88.

 

Jake is Ruth's youngest son.  He's just a year older than Josh. 
He's still single girls!

 

After a delicious meal, we were just about ready to leave and they brought out this glorious dessert tray for us.  All of it!  I had my first creme brulee and hopefully not my last!  Everything tasted even better than it looked.  The straws are made of chocolate.  This picture does not do it justice. 

 Ruth is the most generous person I know.  She picks out the funniest cards and the best gifts.  We both love to read, so she gave me a few new books for my stack.  I still haven't converted to an e-reader.  I love a hardcover. 

 That night after we got everyone settled at home we went and played tourist at the Belaggio and watched the beautiful water shows.  We saw four different shows, all set to different music. The water shoots higher than the hotel in the background. It is so powerful and so beautiful all at the same time. 

 We went to two movies while I was there.  We thought we were going to see THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, but somehow we ended up in  MOONRISE KINGDOM.  It turned out to be a sweet, quirky, funny movie and we were so glad to discover it.  Any movie with Bill Murray is a win win for me.  We both loved it.  Then we went to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel the next day and we LOVED it too.  I will purchase both. 

The morning  I left, Ruth had her kids all come over for a big breakfast so we could see each other.  I love and adore her kids - they are more like family than just friends.  We are Auntie Ruth and Auntie Lissa to each others grandkids. 

I love Ruth. And I love her family. We always have fun, whether we're at Women's Conference at BYU, in a lovely Barstow or Mesquite Hotel or just hanging out.  On the way to and from I listened to the latest book by Richard Castle, so it was a fast, easy drive.