Christmas 2010

This year we drove out to Ohio. Rhonda and the kids live in a small town outside of Cincinnati. It's very quaint and very Christmas-y with the snow. Initially, the drive was treacherous thru Indiana, but we persevered. It was so worth it because Santa via Grandma Nancy got Ethan the Polar Express train and it has not gone untouched since. This was also the first time in, I-don't-know-how-long, the whole family has been together. We ceased the opportunity and snapped some family photos - SOME chose not to cooperate ;) Regardless, we had such a great time, and Ethan bonded with Matt because he took us sledding.

Summer Stay-cation 2010

This year is the first time since I started working full time that I have taken 11 consecutive days off. The nice thing is - Larry took the same week off. We had a great time going to the Gramley's trailer, Mom and John's in Peoria, and hanging out around town. Except for the fact that Ethan got the flu on the second day of vacation and Larry caught it the third. Bummer. All-in-all, I was grateful to spend the time with my family - sick or not.

Our good friends, the Gramley's (Chris, Stacie, Dylan, and Connor) have a cabin in Lee County. It's not too far and the area has a pool, fishing lake, and tons of activities. We had a blast riding their scooters, swimming, and just hanging out. It was so relaxing. We managed - er, shall I say, the kids managed to find a stationary train, which has now been named Blackie the Train in Amboy at the Amboy town museum and a whole Thomas section at the local pharmacy. We went for old time soda's and malts (which were delicious by the way). Of course there were tears shed as we left the pharmacy empty handed.

Ethan recouped quickly, but Larry took longer since he's older I suspect. We just took it easy for a few days. The following week, we went to Peoria to spend a few days with Mom, John, Rhonda, Allie, and Chelsey. It was fun going to dinner on Thursday just us and the Johnson's. Rhonda and Gang arrived later that evening. Friday, we went to the indoor water park and Ethan had a blast watching Chelsey on the big slide, and playing in the pool. Larry taught him to hang on the side of the pool and kick, and now he is just all about that. We made pizza's on the grill and laughed with each other. Saturday was time to go.

Ethan and I ran errands on Monday - he was such a trooper, and entertained everyone he came in contact with. We went to the All Aboard Diner as a reward and he could hardly stand it, he was so excited. That place is ridiculous! It is every train-obsessed kids dream!

Today, we went to visit Dad at work, and see Toy Story 3. We made it about half way through and he decided he could not sit still any longer and needed to go home immediately.

Peoria 2009

Yes, I know y'all are jealous. I am off for another week. My life is so hard (sarcasm). Just kidding. Ethan and I got to spend a few days with Grandma (Nancy) and Rhonda, Allie, and Chelsey. Larry drove us down to Elmwood on Sunday to spend Rhonda's ahem... 29th birthday with her, then Larry drove back... alone. Ethan and I stayed. Monday we went to the Peoria Zoo! This was so much fun because they had just finished a new Africa addition. It was awesome. Then, we headed to Starved Rock to the Grizzly Jack's Grand Bear Resort. The resort was fairly new. Larry and I have been to Starved Rock - camping, but not this. The resort had a water park, an amusement park, a miniature golf course, a playground, etc... it was reasonably priced and very near. Of course, there was also a shuttle for the grounds, and guess what? It was a train... how fortuitous for us (more sarcasm)! Luckily, Aunt Rhonda had her Tom Tom to help us navigate through town.

All we heard about was the shuttle "train" and where is it? Ethan had a blast with Chelsey, copying her and being her little shadow. He adores her. We had fun playing in the water park and Grandma went down the water slides. I went on some rides with Allie, and I don't think she wants to do that again. We don't spend this much time with Grandma, so this was so much fun. We are so grateful for Rhonda and her flexibility and to Grandma for her generosity and willingness - thank you for the wonderful time, it was so much fun!

(Grandma has more photos - more pics later)

Gooooo, Allie!

This is our niece, Allie. Isn't she a doll? We are so proud of her - she is graduating this year from HS, where she is both on the basketball team and the cheer squad.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

60?

Mom's (Nancy Johnson) birthday was on the fifth, but we celebrated last night.

John and Rhonda planned a surprise birthday party with friends at Alexander's in Peoria. Nancy thought it was just going to be just the kids. So, we drove down yesterday afternoon and went to the fair up the street for a few minutes, then got changed and went to dinner.

Boy, was Nancy surprised when we went in and she saw her friends waiting. It was fun to see her so excited and I think she really enjoyed it, even though the hostess publicly announced her birthday :0

Here are the pics from Kim...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Birthday Rhonda... belated!

Okay, so I'm late with the birthday wishes, but intentionally. Here's the deal. Rhonda, my sister-in-law celebrated her "29 again" birthday last Saturday by coming to Chicago with her best friend, Kim, who flew in from Florida. They stayed at the newly remodeled Renaissance Blackstone Hotel. Rhonda is a Lt with the Ripley Fire Dept and works part time for another nearby dept as well (sorry, I forget), she is mega busy with two jobs, 3 dogs and Chelsey! So, this trip for her was much needed. Anyway, I met them downtown to celebrate because really, this was the first time Rhonda and I would get to hang out as friends - and, I love the City.

We had so much fun! I had never met Kim, but she was a blast. Kim is Carla's picture twin - she was snapping pictures left and right for everything. It was awesome. So, that's why the blog post is late, I was waiting for some pictures, still don't have them, but I am posting the pictures I have regardless.

Rhonda and Kim were awesome because they were so easy-going. We first went to Taste of Lincoln Avenue. I always have fun there, we picked up my friend Debbie, who lives near and we walked over. We always run into someone we know, and we did! We saw Vedran and Canadian Steve. We hung out there for a while. On the way back, Kim saw a bicycle rickshaw - this is so wrong on so many levels, but we hopped on... this cannot be safe with the 6-way intersections on a Saturday night in Illinois. The poor "driver" was carrying a load, let me tell ya. We were laughing all the way - the WRONG WAY! He completely went down the wrong street, and admitted he was not from here, but just got his personal trainer license and was having a yoga party next week. Then we went back to the hotel and changed for the night.

We stopped by Frankie Z's to say "hey" to Casey (Larry's best friend since knee-high athletic socks), we met up with Jessica at Frontera Grill, then went to get Rhonda and Kim a late night pizza snack. There, I tried to get a drink, but had a ticket and the waiter would not accept the paper ticket with my Sam's Club ID - ridiculous. I had a discussion - I didn't win, but on purpose to make a point (Here, in IL, if you get any kind of ticket, the police officer issuing the ticket will either give you an option to pay cash for the ticket amount of the offense on the spot, surrender your license, or post bond - this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. I don't have bond insurance - didn't know I needed it because even in Utah, we don't do such ridiculous things - and if you surrender your license, the paper ticket should suffice as your DL).

After that, we headed to Jilly's Piano Bar where Debbie and her 'date' grabbed a table. We only hung out there for a bit, and Jessica had to leave to catch her train back to Evanston. Debbie and date left too. Rhonda and Kim wanted to go dancing. Well, I thought I'd show them a good dance club. Bad idea. We went to Crem, which was bought from some friends of ours and used to be called Sauce. It was not at all what I, nor they, thought it would be. After a bit of wandering around, we sat on some benches and a guy - who seemed to be 18 - preceded to hit on Kim. Kim has a son, mind you, that is probably his age. Rhonda and I were laughing. We were laughing so hard, I couldn't breathe! All-in-all it was a super fun time, and I am so glad I got to hang out and share those good times with Rhonda!

Love ya!

This is our very gorgeous niece, Allie - she is 16 yrs old and on the cheer squad in HS. We think she is a doll.