Hi Everyone,

I thought I would do a quick update before we left the US for fiji. Since we last wrote we stopped off at the grand canyon and the hoover dam before hitting vegas. Neither of us had been to Vegas before so we had no idea what to expect - although everyone had told us how big the casinos were I dont think we believed it until we actually saw them. We tried not to do to much gambling (we stuck with low stakes - but we did end up about $5 up so we were pretty pleased with ourselves). New years eve was fantastic- they close the stip off from about 6pm so you can just party in the street all evening. The day before I bought a souvenir of the eiffel tower filled with strawberry dacquiri and so for new years we made our own vodka and lemonde concoction so we were sorted for the evening. The fireworks that they set off were fantastic.

After 3 very tiring days we left las vegas and headed back to LA. Pretty much spent the last 3 days doing all the tourist things - Hollywood, Beverly Hills (tour of the stars homes, although we didnt see anyone famous), rodeo drive, universal studios ( for desperate housewives fans we saw the wisteria lane set!) and sea world.

We head to fiji tomorrow which we are both really looking forward to. I hope you are all enjoying being back at work after the holidays!

love lois and ben xxxxxx