Goodmorning!!

Sunday morning we did more of the same thing--Guitar Hero, Apples to Apples, and Shrek Super Party. We also had a great breakfast. I made pancakes, Rick made scrambled eggs, and we also had cinnamon roles!

Probably my favorite picture from the weekend---do you think they are related??

Jenn and Me!!!!!

Yes, I do play Guitar Hero too---just not very well.

Look at this stud!!

Meg-O is deep in thought!

We had so much fun with the girls!! We can’t wait for our next sleepover!

Long Weekend!

Having a five (Katie)/four (Rick) day weekend has been so great! We were able to spend time with celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday and Friday and then spend Saturday and Sunday decorating for Christmas and with Jenna and Megan.

When we got home on Friday night Rick and I decorated our Christmas tree. I wasn't feeling too well, but Rick put the tree together and I then I was able to help decorate. Decorating our tree is one of my favorite times of the year. I will probably make an entire post just about decorating our tree. While decorating we watched A White Christmas.

Rick and I got up on Saturday morning and went to Target. The trip wasn't for anything in particular, but we ended up spending much more money than we planned. Once we got back home we started cleaning (and doing other various tasks). Rick switched our car insurance and saved a quite a lot of money. He hanged Christmas lights on the windows and vacuumed the house. I cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms and the all of the baseboards upstairs. We then showered as we were expecting our guests. Jenna and Megan stayed the night with us! What a time we had!

Jenna and Megan were toasting a great night with their sparkling grape juice!

Guitar Hero for all!! The girls are very good....much better than me!

Megan and I baked some brownies. We didn't take any pictures of the baking, but here I am cutting them up to be served over a game of Apples to Apples Jr.

Rick is the Apples to Apples pro!

Meg is ready for bed-- "leave me alone"

During our game of Apples to Apples we stumbled upon the topic of kissing. Megan was the center of the conversation, but ended up on the floor from laughing too hard!

Cheers to more Sparkling Grape Juice--Jenna's ended up in her mouth, Megan's ended up on the floor.

This is Meg's impression of how to finish off a bottle of wine--does she have experience with this??

Shrek Super Party!!

Time for Bed!! Goodnight!

The Day after Thanksgiving!

Rick and I got up early on Friday to go Downtown to meet my parents. We wanted to take the train from Lockport though so this meant getting up at 6am to catch the 7:11am train. The temperature had greatly dropped in the past 24 hours so we bundled up in our biggest jackets.

It was a great train ride because there were only four stops to get to Union Station. Since we got there at 8am and my parents weren't arriving until 10:30am we walked to Barnes and Nobles. When we got inside Rick said my cheeks were very, very red. He took this picture, but I don't you can really tell just how cold it was outside. We stayed there and read until about 10am.

We were meeting my parents to go to the Art Institute so we headed toward their train from Indiana. It was running late, but we were able to see the wreathing of the Lions outside the Art Institute. This event draws quite a crowd if you can believe it.

Once my parents arrived we had a snack at Corner Bakery and attempted to call the Turkish Consulate. My parents are going to visit Andrea next month and needed to get clearance to go to Turkey. The website said they didn't accept walk-ins on Friday, but this didn't stop them. We talked down Michigan Avenue to consulate. They were able to get in (after clearing security and emptying EVERYTHING out of their pockets). This was quite an effort so Rick and I didn't go in. We took the backpacks and went back downstairs to wait. Before getting on the elevator Rick noticed it was quite a beautiful view of the 14th floor of this building and took this picture.

Rick and I were cold (and apparently not very happy) as we waited in Corner Bakery for my parents.

The consulate was able to get the passports signed for my parents, but they needed to come back at 2pm to pick them up. So, we walked back to the Art Institute. Rick likes to get the action shot! We weren't at the Art Institute too long, but we took Rick to the Impressionist Paintings. Although I do not like the Art Institute I am always reminded that I have a lot more knowledge of art than I think or acknowledge.

After the Art Institute it was time to walk BACK to the consulate. We stopped along the way to take some pictures of the Bean and the ice skaters. Rick also took pictures of my mom taking pictures!

After the consulate we had lunch at Bennigans. Even though it was freezing it was not too cold for ice cream so we attempted to go have Ben and Jerry's. Unfortunately, they are now closed (It wasn't cold enough for any other ice cream). We went into Borders for a while before it was time to catch our trains.

While we were in this part of town we saw this performer. He poses and people pay to take this picture. He puts up a sign when unpaid people try to get a shot. Rick was far enough way that he got this picture of him.

On our walk back to Union Station Rick crossed the street as the on-coming traffic was coming. I yelled his name as he ran across. I am not sure if it was to alert him or to say "what the hell are you doing?" Rick took this picture as I crossed the street a few seconds later.

The Great Hall at Union Station decorated for the holidays.

Just waiting for the train- I was pretty tired at the end of the day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent Thanksgiving Day in Cicero with Cindy, Jackie, and Alex. Alex is still sick, but he was still in a pretty good mood. He took a nap not long after we arrived and when he woke up he just stared toward the window for about 5 minutes. Everyone else was in the kitchen, but he didn't seem to even hear us!

Grandma and Alex

Jackie and Alex

Jackie, Cindy, Alex, me, and Rick


Right before dinner started we all went around the table and shared what we were thankful for this year. As we took our turn, Rick took our pictures. Alex went first!

All of the delicious food!

I was in charge of bringing dessert, but as you can tell from the picture, it was not the highlight of the meal. I was making an "Upside Down Apple Tart". The direction have you flip the dessert from the pan onto a plate after it is cooked. Rick and I aren't very good at flipping things though so a lot of it ended up in the sink. It did taste better than it looked (the part that didn't end up in the sink). Needless to say I will be sticking to cakes and cookies in the future!

The many faces of Alex on Thanksgiving!

Rick and I have so much to be thankful for this year. We are fortunate and blessed to have such a wonderful family and friends. Thank you to all of you who have meant so much to us this year!

Our weekend!

This past weekend Rick and I drove to Muncie to visit with many of our friends. We left early from work on Friday. Since I-355 is now open we took that south all the way to I-80. This allowed us to miss a lot of traffic. The ride down was very uneventful. We saw an accident involving a deer on I-65 south. We arrived in Muncie around 9pm. The first picture we took was of LaBamba's. Their slogan is "Burritos as big as your head". Rick enjoys this slogan and tries to modify for jokes on a regular basis. He also knows my mom likes this. This picture is actually on our way out of town since it was light then--the pictures in the dark did not come out as well.


When we got to Muncie we went to dinner right away with Matt and Johnny. Their company is always enjoyed and we laughed a lot. After dinner we went to Matt's apartment (where we were staying for the weekend). Johnny layed on the floor and almost fell immediately asleep. He did readjust a few times as you can see in the next pictures. He is also laying on our air mattress--he didn't stay there too long since he needed to get plenty of rest before his "fighting" lessons on Saturday.



On Saturday morning Rick and I went to breakfast with Jeannine and had lunch with Ro. This part of the day went by very quickly since it seemed like all we were doing was eating.

This weekend was filled with most of the RA staffs having their Retreats. This meant that some of my friends were stopping in and out as their time was free. Hilary came to visit in the afternoon and even though her visit was short we had a nice visit. Rick played the fatherly role and asked her 20 questions.

The mission for the afternoon was to find "old school" Nintendo controllers. Rick loves playing RBI Baseball (so do Clint and Matt). Rick brought the Nintendo, but forgot the controllers. After asking many people and many students we figured out best bet was to have a hall director key into Keeley's room and get the controllers from her (Keeley was out of town, but we knew she had some). After a lot of phone calls, Keeley called her hall director and gave her permission to enter her room. We then picked up the controllers from Christina. Problem Solved.

It took a long time, but we finally decided to go out to dinner at Johnny Carino's. Before we left Rick took a pole to find out whose birthday was next--the winner was Clint. So, we let the waitress know it was his birthday. The whole room sang to him and he got ice cream! Our dinner party included Johnny, Marianne, Matt, Clint, Mindie, Rick, and me. The food was delicious!

Happy Birthday Clint!

Rick photographing Johnny and Marianne!

Again!

Rick, Matt, and Clint--the RBI Baseball TRIO!!

After dinner we played a fierce game of Monopoly. Before we started Bridgette and Elliott came by to say hi! Finally, the game began. I am a fan of monopoly up until all of the property is bought, but I don't have any interest in houses or hotels. I tried to give away my money and property but that didn't work. Clint was finally the winner even though Johnny tried his best to buy out everyone else.

Johnny is a strong man---he can hold his girlfriend and my husband!

I don't exactly remember what was so funny but Matt started laughing and couldn't stop. I am not sure if he was in more pain or if it was more painful to watch him laugh :-/



Sunday morning Matt, Rick, and I chatted with Kayte on Skype. We filled her in on the details of the weekend and chatted. It was like she was there with us. Rick and I left around 10am. We drove to the north side of Indianapolis and met Adam for brunch. We ate at Cafe Patachou. The food was excellent-the company was better.

Adam and me outside of the cafe. He gave me a little help on the height factor by letting me stand on the sidewalk!

We cut our visit with Adam short so that we could get back for Oak Lawn Park Department showing of the Christmas Carol! Our cousins, Jenna and Megan, were in the show! We were so glad to be there and they did a great job! After the show we had dinner with all of their family and friends! It was a great end to a great weekend!

Jenna and Megan after the show!