Additions!!!

We are so overjoyed to announce we have two new additions to our family!!! We're very excited for what this will add to our lives here in Chicago and are already searching for extra room in our small apartment for them to call "home." Jason is also concerning himself with making extra room at our dinner table. One's a little smaller and sweeter than the other, but both are adorable nonetheless! I have posted what pictures we have gotten so far!

Here they are!!

We were given a fondue pot for our wedding and have since fallen in love with this style of cooking! Our two new pots will join the likes of an oil/broth pot, a cheese pot, and a chocolate pot!

This is a dessert pot which can be used with chocolate or caramel for dipping such things as apples, strawberries, bananas, pineapple, brownies, cake, calories...you get the idea!

This lovely cherry red pot will be used with either a broth or oil for cooking meat, poultry, sea food, or vegetables! Please stop by for dinner as we have pots enough for plenty!!

Winter - midwest style

Weather....I know...not exactly an interesting topic. However, I wanted to give you a glimpse into the craziness of our winter. We went from weeks of what the weather broadcasters coined "bitter cold" to 40 degrees and raining. Now they are predicting wind chill of -40 tonight.  Thankfully our building is required by the city of Chicago to provide heat of 68 degrees! During our "bitter cold" spell we would wake up in the morning to a beautiful view...or what would be beautiful, if we could see out our windows!

They would completely frost over! 

I used my blowdryer to thaw the windows, unfortunately it didn't last long.

On a side note, today marks four months of wedded bliss for us! 

First and foremost, Jason is recovering nicely. Not 100 percent just yet, but getting there! He has been working really hard to make up tests and lab time that he missed. It has been a blast having Beth with us, and we're glad she still has a few more days! It's been fun to play tourist again, and see all the sights Chicago has to offer. It's just our luck that most of the museums are having a "free week" this week, so entertainment is cheap:) We are heading to the aquarium this afternoon and then some of the bigger museums tomorrow and tuesday.

Beth's first day in town I wanted to show her the areas that I frequent, so I took her to my favorite produce market. She was quite impressed that you bottle your own Extra Virgin Olive Oil. They make pickles in a huge bin as well and you just pick out the ones you thinks are ready. It's pretty awesome, has great prices and makes shopping kinda fun.

Later we decided to take the bus downtown to go through the parks, see the Buckingham Fountain and a few of the popular buildings as well as do a little shopping. We tried to hide our hick side and refrain from gawking at the crowds of interesting people. However, it did come out at one point when the Green Peace cornered us and tried to persuade us to join. Beth, frankly but kindly, informed them that our father is a logger and our cousins are whalers. They cleared their throats and sent us on down the sidewalk. Thank you Bethany.

Before we left the house Beth made sure she was well prepared for our neighborhood!:)

It started pouring rain while we were downtown so we stopped into Ghirardellis for some Classic Hot Chocolate. It was perfect!

Jason heard over the radio that Heartland was putting on a free concert for Friday night. We only knew one of their songs but decided to check it out anyway. Tyler and Dana joined us and we had a blast! They played for 2 hours, plus two other bands played before them so it was a long night!

Quick update

Just a quick update on our ever so hectic life! Last Thursday Jason began feeling a little queasy, only to come home from school the next day with sharp stabbing abdominal pains. Suspecting Appendicitis we went to a doctor who immediately steered us in the direction of an Emergency Room. The closest hospital was Northwestern Memorial which just happens to be one of the best in the nation, so there we went. After 4 hours in the waiting room we were seen by a doctor, and then by about seven more. They decided that Jason most definitely had appendicitis which they considered a surgical emergency. So he was put on antibiotics and scheduled for surgery first thing in the morning. It was now about 3 am so that only gave us a few hours to try to sleep. His surgery went great, it lasted about 40 minutes and the surgeon said his appendix was definitely "unhappy." They kept him in the hospital one more night for some blood work and then he was discharged Sunday evening. He is making a great recovery, although the stress of school doesn't seem to be helping.
On the brighter side, my sister Bethany is in town for the week and we have plenty of sightseeing planned!!

Welcoming 2008!

There was a beautiful fresh coating of snow on the ground so we took a slight detour to Keller Ferry on our way to Montana. It is such a pretty area!visiting Dad at work...

...he gave us a demonstration on log scaling. It was the first time I had really seen what my dad does everyday!

Dad and I in the log yard.

A few pictures of the yard

We ventured outside for a few hours of sledding daily...

Jason received a late wedding gift from Cody that he wanted to wear everyday.

My reaction...

Jason's reaction...and poor Cody ended up with all the blame:)

Tristan enjoys drinking out of a glass like a big boy and is quite possibly the cutest one-year-old around!

There was plenty of game playing!

A few of us who survived the midnight celebrations

We had quite the eventful New Year with snowboarding, sledding,hot spring sitting, games and food all before midnight..then, Sarah S. had the bright idea that we run to the mail box barefoot. However it was quickly shortened to the fence, then halfway to the fence once we revealed our barefeet in 3 degree weather!

The "runners" Julie, Leah, Sarah, Sue, Jason, Beth

Winter Beauty

Montana in December. We woke up to 6-8 new inches of snow! It made for perfect sledding!

Christmas in Waterville

Despite the drudge of winter travel (we missed our connecting flight, our baggage was delayed only to arrive a day late with handles completely shattered and Jason's parents drove 6 hours to pick us up 20 miles from home) we had wonderful holidays packed with family, friends, and snow! We got to spend Christmas and a few more days in Waterville. Grandma and Grandpa Demmon and Aunt Jan made the trip up as well. Waiting hours to board our delayed flight from O'Hare to SeaTac

We went to Mittelstaedt's for a night of games and desert where the ladies succeeded in beating the men in every category of the game Catch Phrase! I would also like to post a disclaimer for Jason's outfit...I was completely unaware until our arrival :)

Jason's dad recently bought a new tractor to help with the farming. We only had time for a quick visit before we left town, but Jason is anxious to take it for a test drive!