Friday, February 27, 2015

Shout out to Chicago friends!

(I am attempting to update my blog a bit more than I did last year. I am fully aware I may not have many readers and that's ok. I do this mostly because I suck at printing pictures and writing down memories...so this is all I have really so the blog MUST continue.)
 
 
 
This past weekend my Mom and I drove up to Chicago. It was a BIG deal....we met my best friend's beautiful baby girl (Amelie Coraline). Amelie is Marina's 3rd baby (big brothers are Hendrix and Maddox). I couldn't get enough of this sweet baby girl but I had to share her and let momma feed her...but when I wasn't holding her, I was staring at her. I can't wait to spoil this little girl!!!!
 
 

 
 
I also got to catch up with other friends while I was in town and I REALLY loved the time I got with this little guy. This is Parker...my friend Pam's little boy. Isn't he just the cutest baby ever!!!!


 
 
 
The weekend wasn't only about babies (it mostly was) but I got some great quality time with my friend Kris (she was in town from Ohio) and also Jenny (in town from Japan) and Pam.
 




Before we headed back on Sunday we got together with Pam (again) and Becky too. Venessa wasn't able to join us because she was running her first half marathon in Disney World! Yay Venessa!!!!
 
 
I miss my friends when I don't see them for awhile and I miss their babies too!!! I am thankful for every chance I get to spend with them....and their babies. ;)

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

A lot of winter updates!

Looks like I let time slip away from me again..... I haven't posted and shared pictures in a few months. Whoops!
 
Of course there was Christmas.
We were all healthy for the holidays and had wonderful Christmas parties with our families.
 
 
Christmas Eve family picture
 

 
Christmas Day


 
We celebrated New Years Eve with family as well.
We went to Bill and Linda's for our usual low key family card game. 


 
The biggest highlight of our winter so far was our ski trip to Galena, IL. A few parents from Lucas' soccer/baseball team came up with the idea and 7 families decided to make the trip! I can't describe enough just how much fun we had. Galena is a really cute town about 5.5-6 hours away in the NW corner of IL...very close to both Iowa and Wisconsin. One of the major attractions in Galena is Chestnut Mountain Resort and we stayed at a nearby hotel with a great pool/water slide.
 
We got a great group rate at Chestnut Mountain for 2 days of skiing (it included a lesson too)...and for reference, this resort is much larger than Hidden Valley in St. Louis but obviously doesn't compare to the resorts out in Colorado. We all skied for hours and hours both days and took full advantage of our time there. By the end of our trip just about everyone from our group went down the big green trail and loved it.
 
We are all hooked and I think this trip is going to turn into an annual event.



 
Some of the girls.


 
The boys!


 
Our big group!


 
Just 4 days after getting back from skiing, Bob and I went to Vegas for the weekend. It was a very quick trip for a work event for Bob. We stayed at Vdara (very nice/no casino).
 I think we would have left Vegas on a better note if we didn't leave our money at the tables!!!! It was nice to get away though without the kids and the weather was amazing. 


 
Last weekend was a fun for Bob and Addison. Addison was looking forward to the school sweetheart dance for weeks. It was such a fun theme....a 50s sock hop. 


 
So, it has been a fun winter so far...and we even finally got some snow and a snow day today! Looking forward to spring though!!!