Pictures with Santa

Jackson and Drew with Santa at the Bass Pro Shop

Pictures of our family at our church's annual Breakfast with Santa

The First Christmas

It's a story known the whole world 'round
About a shining star and a little town
Shepherds watching their flocks by night
Saw the star, saw the light
Three kings traveled very far
Guided by the shining star
They reached the place where the baby lay
Away in a manger on that special day

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:11

Merry CHRISTmas!!

On Thursday, we took the boys for a little surprise (a last-minute visit to Santa). When we got to the parking lot of Bass Pro Shop, Andy said we are going to see "someone who is very important this time of year." He asked them to guess who it was. Jackson immediately yelled, "JESUS!"

More Chicago

On Monday, we took the boys to the Shedd Aquarium. They were fascinated by all the fish and Jackson loved the interactive screens. Each of them had to measure their height by this huge fish.

Jackson's favorite part of the aquarium was the sharks and all the bigger fish.

Drew loved all the turtles. He loved to find them in the tanks. Both of the boys also found Nemo or some other orange clown fish which they were thrilled to see.

There were even penguins there and the kids could pretend to be penguins and play in the polar area. Drew is modeling a nice penguin suit.

There was a great view of the Chicago skyline from the front of the aquarium. Jackson and Drew would always point to the "tall, tall tower" (Sears now Willis Tower).

For lunch, we went to Ed Debevic's which is a 50's style diner. It was a really neat atmosphere and the servers are rude to you and joke with you the whole time. Jackson thought that was so funny!

Andy and Rebekah (all photos of us are courtesy of Jackson)...not bad for a little photographer!

After a quick dip in the pool at our hotel (which I may have counted as the boys' bath), we headed to the corner of Clark and Addison, Wrigley Field. It was so fun to be back there. Not much had changed from when I was younger. Wrigleyville is such a neat area. We had fun walking around before the game and seeing the rooftop seating (which had been added since I was there, people used to just stand on the rooftops). Here are some pictures of us at Wrigley Field. This was our souvenir stop for the trip--Andy and I got shirts, Drew got a hat, and Jackson got a pennant and Wrigley Field sign.

We sat on the first base side under the upper deck.

Family photo under the lights at Wrigley Field. Luckily the score cannot be seen on the scoreboard. The Cubs lost the game 18-1.

Chicago

For the past 3 summers, we have visited a different MLB stadium and see a game. Our travels have included Atlanta, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. This year we decided to go to Chicago and see 2 baseball games. Chicago is really fun and exciting city. When I was younger, my family went several times to see the Cubs play. It was neat to be able to take Jackson and Drew to the Windy City. On Saturday, we drove to Chicago and ate dinner at Portillo's (a fun hot dog place) near our hotel in Skokie. Their chocolate cake shake was amazing! On Sunday morning, we ate breakfast at Walker Brothers Pancake House. It was yummy...Andy ordered their famous apple pancake which was a huge apple fritter.Jackson and Mommy enjoying our pancakes and french toast.
After breakfast, we decided to make the 40 minute drive to Wisconsin. Why? Well, Andy and I would like to visit all 50 states and neither one of us had been there. After a short photo shoot at the welcome center, we headed back to Chicago to ride the train to US Cellular Field.

Both of the boys enjoyed the White Sox game against the A's. Jackson decided he wanted some nachos (which he and Drew devoured) and a "throwback" Sox hat.
Family photo at US Cellular Field
When we left the game, we went to eat dinner at Giordano's, a Chicago style pizza place. Here is the wonderful pizza that we all enjoyed.
Jackson and Drew loved it!
Following our delicious pizza meal, we walked to Millennium Park to see the "bean." Here are the boys posing under the bean.
Here are the boys in front of the Buckingham Fountain.
Jackson loved that we got on the El train at Jackson station. One of Drew's favorite parts of the trip was riding the train and the shuttle bus.

Holiday World

Jackson and I went to Holiday World with some friends of mine from college and our sweet kids. We all decided to take the older kids, and they had so much fun. Melissa, our friend who lives in Kentucky that we miss so much, has a sister that lives in Santa Claus. Jennifer was a wonderful hostess, and the kids loved her playhouse. When we arrived they played outside until dinner and then went back outside to play some more. They all had a big sleepover downstairs! Jackson loved it! The mommies had lots of fun chatting upstairs. The next morning we headed to Holiday World. We did several rides in the park before heading to Splashin' Safari. This water park is huge and incredible. Jackson's loved the wave pool and kids' slides. All the kids had so much fun together! We are going to try to do this every year.Katie Anne, Sawyer, Jackson, Carter, Emma, and Grace take a break from playing

The whole gang before heading to Holiday World

UT Picnic

Last Thursday, we decked out in our Big Orange and headed to the UT picnic to meet the new coach Derek Dooley. Drew really wanted to see some football players and watch a game. Jackson was excited to wear his jersey and meet the coach. Andy won a contest on 104.5 and we got an opportunity to meet Coach Dooley prior to dinner. As a bonus, we also got to meet Bob Kesling. Our family was very impressed with Coach Dooley. What a gracious and nice man (a change from last year)! Only a few weeks until "It's Football Time in Tennessee!"

Mother's Day

Birthday and Bon Jovi

For my birthday, Andy took me to the Bon Jovi concert at the Bridgestone Arena. We had so much fun rocking to the songs. I remember singing You Give Love a Bad Name in the hall in the fourth grade. Bon Jovi has been a music staple for so many years, and it was amazing to see them in concert. Also, thanks to our amazing babysitter-Miss Emily!

After the Country Music 1/2 Marathon, we celebrated with dinner at The Cheesecake Factory...yummy! I was also very blessed to have a "surprise" at Baskin Robbins with some of my sweet friends...thanks!