Vacation!

We had a blast in Florida and can't wait to go back!! What I am not so anxious for is the chilly weather Chicago has to offer. The last couple mornings have registered on the cold side of frigid! 

While we were there Jason attended a contact lens seminar held by Johnson & Johnson. He sat through guest speakers and did some work with patients. It was a very educational trip for him. I, on the other hand, just enjoyed the warm weather:) 

Cassie and Jeff made the trip as well, so I did have some company while Jason and Cassie were learning.  Jeff is a major golfer so of course we had to stop at TPC PGA Sawgrass course for a tour. On the plus side, we saw an alligator! 

On Friday night I got to meet Devon's wife Kim and their little girl Alanah for the first time! We watched the space shuttle, Endeavour, launch. It was carrying seven astromauts to the space station. It was an unbelievable sight. One of those things you can't believe actually happens. 

 I had to fly out Sunday afternoon but we enjoyed meeting with the friends and lunch afterwards. Turns out a few of Jason's old friends now live in Jacksonville, so it was fun to get acquainted with them again. We didn't take too many photos, but do have a few to share...

I know this picture doesn't look like much, but the bright light is the space shuttle and the small one is the moon

Jeff took this picture of the alligator..I didn't want to get too close!

This was my favorite beach. Instead of sand you were walking on broken seashells...it wasn't very easy on the feet, but made the waves sound awesome.

Where is my husband??

We stopped by the Fountain of Youth. There was a pirate convention going on that weekend...interesting...

Crazy City!

As you can imagine, this city has been wild with the recent election...and yes, we did have to take a little trip down to Grant Park for the rally...just to say we were there. Trust me, it was not my idea!! I had enough of crowds after the 4th of July and was a little scared to go, but how else are we going to have cool stories to tell our children? We ended up staying until they announced the president elect and then headed home before things go too out of hand.

This past weekend Brian and Gail came to visit us! Jason had the week off before he started his next quarter of school so we had plenty of time to relax. The weather took a dive for the 30s right before they arrived. In fact, they brought some lovely snow flakes from Oregon. But, like the tough city kids we have become, we donned wool coats, scarves, hats and mittens and fought the Lake winds head on! We found a fun little Thai restaurant, took a quick trip to Devon avenue for some authentic Indian food and hit up a few farmers markets...amazing the places you can go in a city! We also headed out to Medieval Times for a show! We were sad to see them go on Monday, but so happy they came! 

Wandering the streets of Chicago..

Brian trying to keep Gail from blowing off the tracks!!

Brian and Gail in front of the "bean"

Waiting for the show to start at Medieval times... 

This is it for now, as I desperately need to get to bed. I'm heading to the airport at 4am to go meet Jason in Florida!! We are excuted to stop and see Devon, Kim and Alanah while we are there!

Congratulations Mom & Dad

 Congratulations to my Mom and Dad who are celebrating their wedding anniversary today. 

31 years...

and 6 children later...

Still madly in love!!

Fall Football

 We live close to Soldier field so our extra parking lots have been packed full of Bears fans on game days. Since football season is now in full swing we were getting anxious to see some games.  Kee-won got a bunch of us together for the Northwestern vs Purdue game this past weekend. It was a beautiful day for football and we had an awesome barbeque afterwards. 

Ryan Field

 A few of the kids that came to watch the game.

Our first Big Ten college game!!

Lessons Learned

So today I've learned a few things about conjunctivitis (pink eye)...

1. It is disgusting

2. There are many different varieties

3. Waking up with it is painful

4. It is HIGHLY contagious

5. Doesn't make supervisors very happy

6. Leads to a five-day work vacation...

I should be a little more excited about that 5 day weekend but to tell you the truth, I'd much rather have a healthy eye! Hope everyone is enjoying their friday and has a wonderful weekend. I'm sorry for all those in MT with snow in the forecast.  Chicago, however, is predicting an 80 degree weekend!!:)

Playing Tourist

Josh and Trese came to visit for a few days and it was so nice to have them here!  Jason has been bragging up Chicago's architectural boat tours for a while now so we decided to try it out.  The boat takes you up and down the Chicago river, and we saw so many awesome parts of the city that I didn't even know existed.  

One of the many bridges that spans the Chicago river.

Changing Chicago's skyline is Donald Trumps building, humbly named, the Trump Tower.

Taking a break in Millenium park and grabbing a bite to eat at Downtown Dogs. I'd have to say this was the first time I have ever ordered a hotdog from a restaurant. Although it was pretty tasty! 

Waiting in line for the Ferris wheel on Navy Pier, one of my favorite things to do in the city.

I love this picture! Jason makes the exact same face...must come with the genes:)

365 Amazing days!

On September 29th Jason and I celebrated our first anniversary!! 1 wonderful year has passed and we are looking forward to many many more!

We wanted to get away for the weekend, but only had Saturday so we opted to see a little more of our home state. Jason surprised me with tickets to the broadway musical Jersey Boys, about Franky Valli and the Four Seasons. We got dressed up for the show on Friday night and then headed out early Saturday morning on yet another of our roadtrip adventures. 

We ended up in Galena, IL which was home to Ulysses S Grant, and is a small historical town turned  tourist trap. We enjoyed spending some time at the shops and then headed on to Dubuque, IA to see the Mississippi. 

This was a little fort along the way.

In front of U. S. Grant's post cival war home. This house was given to him by the city when he returned home from war as a hero.

The first lady and I

Jason enjoying an afternoon rest with the senior citizen tour

The grand Mississippi!

After meeting we went to lunch with the Millers, and then spent some time at the park. They have 5 children with their 6th on the way. Sounds like a Buckingham sized family to me!

Overlooking the Mississippi!