The best part...

of Thanksgiving was (other than hanging out with lots of family that I have not seen in a long time). OK, ok, the best single moment of Thanksgiving was- wait, the stuff leading up to it, you need to hear first.

My sister called me just as Steve was leaving Sonora and wanted my niece to go with us. Steve was going to pick me up at work, about an hour from where we live. Michaelyn called. I called Steve. Called Michaelyn. Called Steve. Called Michaelyn. Called Steve, at this point I got smart and told Steve to call Michaelyn so that I could be productive at my desk the last hour I would be there for a few days. Sure enough, an hour later Steve and my niece, Jenica, come walking into the office. They were a very cute pair. We drove to Reno (btw-driving in a car with a kid for four hours without any modern conveniences that many parents have like a DVD player, or books, toys, or anything that is slightly amusing is slightly annoying). I finally got phone service and purchased a game to play on my phone (another complaint, stupid new phones that don't come with any games for moments just like this).

We finally got to Reno, and helped my aunt do a lot of the prep work for dinner the next night. We hung out, played, had dinner, and finally left to the hotel.

This is where it gets good. Jenica has never been to Reno before, and she was amazed. One of my favorite of her phrases was, "This is so much better than Vegas." Oh wait, has Jenica ever been to Vegas, no. After we checked in and Steve and I decided the best place to take a kid when one is in Reno, Circus Circus. We saw a couple shows and won her a few stuffed animals. In the midst of all of this she ecstatically said, "THIS IS THE BEST NIGHT EVER!" It was very cute, perhaps my new favorite quote, and the best single moment of my Thanksgiving vacation. It loses a little umph in text, you'll just have to imagine.