Sunday, September 20, 2015

Hello Chicago!


Our Johnny plays college soccer, 
so we took a road trip to watch him and the team!



The other players on the team love the kids!


And the kids love them!


So we did lots of cheering and lots of high fives!


All of the children got purple Tommie gear so we can support the team!



It is so heart warming to see how much they love their big brother 
and how much he loves them!


This was the first time we ever saw
"a praying mantis"
in person!
It was HUGE!

The team won their first game 1-0 against Elmhurst!


We had the second day to ourselves to "site see".

FYI, in MN -
everyone goes to their cabin on Labor Day weekend!
We LOVE it when everyone goes up north and
we have the town to ourselves!

Well,
we learned that's not the way it goes in Chicago!


In Chicago...
EVERYONE goes downtown...


We had quite the fun day planned with 
hopes of seeing 2-3 sites
within a day...
WRONG!
Very wrong!


It took us 2.5 hours to get to the top of the Sears/Willis Tower.
We could have gotten the "fast pass" (for 15) but then hubby would need a second job.


We were happy to finally get to the top and snap a few pics!
It was a little hazy outside but the view was still amazing!


110 stories tall and it's the tallest building in the USA!


The had a "glass" viewing area the projected out of the side of the building.


We went site seeing in Chicago with the older kids (14 years ago).
But we chose a less busy weekend and were able to do so much more.


By the look on Emma's face she must be thinking
"Why is my Mommy doing this to me?"
Sweet girl is not so sure this is a good idea!
Actually, it made me nervous too!



We spent a half hour up there and then decided
 we would drive through part of Dwtn just to point out a few sites to the kids.


Once again,
wrong!

The traffic was horrendous!
And we headed out of town as fast as we could!


So instead...
we went to the movie
WAR ROOM!

It was the BEST movie!
Most of our kids loved it!
A few wondered when will the cartoons start!
And one little guy took a nap in his Daddy's arms!


I shared a bed with Melissa.
Melissa does not snore or kick...
so I thought!


It's just not a vacation without a morning evacuation!
Possible fire on the third floor.

The first thing I did was gather the children and ask
were any of you in the hallway?
Did any of you pull the fire alarm?
Once I knew we were in the clear, we evacuated!


The next day the team won their second game against Puget Sound 3-2, in overtime!


We ate Chicago Hot dogs and Chicago style pizza!
The last day we had a wonderful dinner at Ditka's 
with Johnny to celebrate the team winning the tournament!


Johnny finds it relaxing to spend time with his family!
We love that!

Chicago...
we will be back...
when you're less crowded!

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

The Reveal Party!


I love the reveal parties that they have
"nowadays"!
It is a wonderful way of sharing the joy of a new baby 
and celebrating what's to come!


A couple days before heading to MPLS,
 Katie and Andrew found out "what" they were having through an ultrasound!



 The night that Katie arrived she picked up white cupcakes 
with a colored frosting inside-
blue or pink!
We needed and wanted to find out ahead of time so we could plan the party with her!


We were so happy to find out our little grandchild was a ...!


We invited family and friends over on Friday night!


The cousins first met when they were 2 months old and now they meet again at 16 months old!
They are 3 weeks apart!



Willa has a big brother West, who is 3 yrs old and their Momma- 
(my niece Meghan) is having #3 just 3 weeks before our next grandbaby!


Love these two!


Katie's BFF Cori just had a baby girl 2 months ago!
Katie and Cori have been friends since Cori was born and Katie was 9 months old!
We were next door neighbors!



It was so wonderful having them here!
It's not easy having a grand baby so far away...


It was so hard keeping the secret from the littles all week long...
I am surprised they did not find out!
They can be quite resourceful when they want to be!
I was sure somehow we would "let the cat out of the bag" 
OR
they would see "something" that would give it away!


We had fun with the whole event!
Sarah was sure it was a boy and 
only slipped her name on the girl section
"after"
everyone knew!


It was so wonderful having so many wonderful friends and family to our home!


The children LOVE IT when we have a party!



Hubby is our #1 cook!
He does such a great job managing the timing of the food and the quantities!
Thank you Honey!


And then it was time for the FUN!
The stork pinata was hung and everyone went outside to see 
what color candies and goodies were inside of it! 


We were afraid it would break tooo soon 
but that wasn't the case!


After all of "our littles" and cousin West gave it a try, 
we moved on to the "bigs"!


Everyone tried their hardest to break it open!


The "bigs" hit it as hard as they could!


We broke a plastic bat and had to move on to the a metal one!


It took over 25 people to break it open!


And then out spilled pink candy and toys!


Yep!
baby girl #2 is on her way!


Auntie Barbie and Grandma Tracy with her little grand baby, Willa!


We don't get to see them very often so I wanted to take a pic but my camera overexposed the pic...


So I asked if I could take one more!
Willa said NO!
I did it anyways!



One month from the party day will be Katie's 30th Birthday!



Since we were almost all together we wanted to celebrate!



Awwwwww!
It's not often I get the gift of having so many at home, 
at the same time!



God is good!
No, God is great!



Happy Birthday to my first baby girl!
She always wanted to have a sister!
Now she has 9!
And soon two baby girls!



The guest have left and the littles are in bed!
The guys are "sympathizing" with Katie!
It's been a long and fun day!



Very, very thankful!

All praise and glory to you
Lord Jesus!