Navy Pier 2009

Navy Pier put on a Winter Wonderfest this year and after spending a couple of days indoors, Matt, Quinton and I were ready to have some good old fashioned fun - you know the kind where you fight crowds and stand in long lines?

No matter, we had a great time and Quinton experienced a lot of firsts!

Quinton's first Winter Wonderfest and hopefully, not the last!

Quinton's first time ice skating!

He's luckier than I was! I didn't see real snow 'til I was 10 and didn't try ice skating until I was in college! I got on the ice with Matt and Quinton but once around the rink, hugging the sides, was enough for me! Quinton was kind of unsure about the whole thing at first but Matt was so patient with him and they both had a great time!
Quinton thought the ice skates were pretty cool, too. I think we'll buy him a pair so we can go to the local ice rink before the season is over.

Quinton rode his first big boy ride!

Lucky for him, he met the height requirement and rode this cool ride. It goes up high and then drops and then goes back up and drops a little more - you get the picture. Matt and I were both sceptical about how Quinton would do all by himself and were so excited when Quinton ended up loving the ride! It's so fun to see him do things independently!

We spent about 6 hours at Navy Pier enjoying a sunny but COLD day in Chicago. We love enjoying events like this in Chicago.

Matt and Quinton braved the cold to check out the boats on Lake Michigan. It looks warm but the wind really makes it cold.

We had a great day and I'm sure we'll head back again next year!

Happy Birthday, Lovah!

Happy Birthday, Matt!

Another year and another birthday!

With Matt's birthday so close to Christmas, it's sometimes difficult to get him thoughtful gifts for both holidays, but I think I picked a good one for his birthday this year! Matt, I hope you like my present (but he doesn't get it until Friday...mean, I know :).

For some reason, I have a knack for taking CLOSE UP pictures of Matt.

Cheers!
Here's to another 30+ years, Matt!

Happy Holidays!

This was a low-key holiday season for us. We did a lot of traveling last year and this year, we decided to stay home and enjoy the holidays with friends and lots of snow here, in Chicago.

This was also the first year was really into Christmas, which has been a lot of fun for me and Matt. Unfortunately, our one encounter with Santa this year was disastrous and Quinton wouldn't go near him so I don't even have one of those screaming kid pictures of Quinton sitting on Santa's lap. Quinton wouldn't go near the jolly dude in red, no way, no how!

Some of Quinton's Christmas highlights include Tinkertoys, Hot Wheels, candy, a trampoline and lots of toys from grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins! Quinton couldn't decide what to look at first when he came out of his room, Christmas morning but he was able to get into a good groove of opening his presents and then opening mine and Matt's! Even today, he wanted me to wrap up one of his toys just so he could open it!

Christmas Eve, our friends the Christensens, had us and another family over for a yummy ham dinner. After dinner, each family did a little 'performance' for the other families. The Christensen's played some great music on the piano, the Lunds belted out Little Drummer Boy and Matt read How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a good laugh or two.

Below is Quinton playing the piano. The look of concentration on his face make it look like he's actually playing!
Here is Quinton's favorite Christmas present so far.

There is an enclosure to go around the trampoline to prevent people from falling off of the edges but Matt is waiting for a warm day to put that part of it up and I don't blame him, it has been soo cold here!

Despite the cold, Quinton has been able to enjoy his trampoline, plenty. I can't wait until it gets warmer and we can jump for longer periods of time. Matt is looking forward to stargazing on the trampoline in the summer months.

Yesterday, Quinton and I heard on the news that people could go and check out the hockey rink built in Wrigley Field for the big Chicago BlackHawks v. Detroit Redwings game. Thanks to my dad's GPS gift to me, Quinton and I zipped down to Wrigley Field only to find out we couldn't go inside Wrigley to see the rink. There were LOTS of people around the stadium, though, getting ready for the game. It was pretty cold so we didn't stick around too long. Oh well, we tried!

Almost Roadkill...

Poor Quinton made the gruesome discovery this morning!

As Quinton and Miss M stepped out of the car this morning for preschool, I was hurrying them to step onto the sidewalk and off of the road and when Quinton stopped and said "Mom, lookit!" I thought it was just another shiny object distracting Quinton's attention from what he should have been doing when I looked over to where he was pointing and saw the saddest little puppy ever!

This poor dog was frozen almost flat with mud, leaves and ice all over it's poor furry body. My initial shock was worsened when I realized that this was Quinton's stuffed BOLT dog we'd been looking for for almost 2 weeks now! I even asked Matt if he's seen it in his car last night because I'd looked everywhere!

Lucky for me, Quinton didn't recognize BOLT under all of that crap, so I picked BOLT up and threw him in the back of the car, not sure if he was salvageable.

After dropping off of the kids and heading straight home, I quickly went to work trying to revive this beloved dog, all the while having flashbacks of the movie Toy Story, where toys are alive when no one is watching and they know what's going on around them. It made me sad to think BOLT was lying in the cold and muddy gutter for almost two weeks!

It's weird, though, by the look on his face, he didn't mind the inconvenience one bit :)

After a full dousing of Spray N' Wash and TWO cycles by himself in the washing machine, I knew I had saved this dog's life!

Now, I can believe the smile on his face!
When Quinton got home today and saw BOLT sitting on his chair, waiting for him, Quinton picked him up and hugged him and never let Bolt leave his side until dinner!

I have to give a big shout out to the Disney Company for making a COMPLETELY washable plush toy! They totally saved by bacon! Our local Disney store has been sold out of BOLT paraphernalia for weeks so there was no replacing BOLT without paying a pretty penny!

Dreams really do come true, y'all!

Happy Birthday, Sara!

Happy Birthday, Princess Sara!

My little niece turns the big 4 on the the 10th!

Sara just learned about blogs from my dad, her sidekick, Silly Grandpa. I'm hoping she enjoys having a blog post all about her!

This summer, we met up with Sara at Dinseyland and had a great time!

This is Sara camping last year.

I wish I looked that good when I wake up in the mornings!
This is Sara two years ago, right around this time.
Isn't she one of the cutest little girls, ever?
Happy Birthday, Sara, from all of us! We wish we were there to give you a big smooch!
Love, Us!

Let's Thank it Up!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for and we had a great time in Tulsa for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Despite the 12 hour drive up and back and two written warnings for Matt, the travel time was worth seeing our friends after 8 long months away.

This is a shot of Quinton during the trip to Tulsa...he wasn't too happy about the camera flash!

We stayed at my friend Erin's place which was so fun! Her kids were great to be around and Quinton acted like he'd never left Tulsa. We rolled into Tulsa at 3 am on Thursday morning. Luckily, our hosts didn't mind us sleeping in and then we had a delish turkey lunch and later that evening, we were able to have dessert at another friend's house.

You may not know this about me but I live for Black Friday! I dragged Erin with me to the Wal-Mart right next to her house at 3:45 in the morning! We were super lucky that her Wal-Mart is a 24-hour store because we were able to walk in, find the doorbuster deals we wanted most and waited next to them until 5 am when the deals started. I was able to pick up some SWEET deals. After Wally World, we headed to to the mall and a few other places for some awesome deals. I was not disappointed this year in the good deals!

Saturday, I took advantage of an early Christmas present from me, I mean Matt, and got my haircut by a girl who gave me a great haircut when I first moved to Tulsa. I just love my new bangs!

We had a great time visiting so many friends and our old neighbors. Leann and her girls were SO FUN to be around, it really made me miss our little house in Broken Arrow. I am so thankful for all of our friends in Tulsa who have blessed our lives. We are definitely thankful for many things including Matt's stable job and we are all healthy... *cough, cough*... sort of.

We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too!

Thanks for visiting, Silly Grandpa!

I can say with 100% accuracy that Matt, Quinton and I had a great time with my dad in town!

Not only was it a HUGE blessing for my dad to be with me when Quinton whacked his head at the Museum, he was so fun to have around! I love my dad! He is the best dad, ever! I know some people might think they have the best dad, but it's only because you might not have met my dad, yet! I love both of my parents for the lessons they have taught me and their talents they have passed on to me.

Someone recently asked if I thought I was more like my mom or my dad and I have to say that I think I am a good mix of both of them. I do love my dad's sense of humor, his easy going nature, his talent for acting like a kid and having kids love him almost instantly. I was really sad to drop him off at the airport. I wish he could have stayed a month or two!

As an early Christmas present, I treated my dad to a night out on the town! The town of Waukegan, that is! I used to work as a fundraiser for a theater that was under renovation in Waukegan, IL. When we moved to Arizona in 2004, we missed the grand opening by a few months and I'd never seen the theater fully renovated.

Lucky for me, the weekend my dad was in town, the Genesee Theatre was hosting Bob Newhart. Some of you may not know who Bob Newhart is but I remember, as a kid, my dad laughing at the Bob Newhart show. This was a real treat for Matt, me and my Dad to go and see Bob Newhart live! I think Matt and I were the youngest in the audience by about 25 years, though!

The weekend my dad was in town, there was no snow but it was VERY cold. My dad said he forgot just how cold Chicago can be, especially with wind whipping at you!

We literally drove up to these photo opportunities, jumped out, took a picture and jumped back in the car, it was so cold!
What is a trip to Chicago without visiting the silver Jelly Bean!
If you've known me for a while, you might remember that my dad won a smile contest on a Utah radio station, where he lives. He was chosen to receive $30,000 in dental work to fix his smile. You can tell from these pictures that he loves to smile again and he really has a sparkly smile, now!

Love you, Dad!