Experiences in Chicago

This first pic is Aaron and I at the "do it yourself Messiah." Please see Aaron's blog for details....it's really fun so if anyone wants to come up next year, we'll see about getting tickets!









Last Weekend the Young Group came downtown to skate at Millennium Park. We had a blast (too bad Aaron was working, we missed him). This was Andrea's first time ever skating....she did a great job!












Here's the whole group that came down (yes there was only 6 of us, but for Chicago YG that's a great turn out!)











The girls, Kaitlyn Isaia Andrea Luthi and I.

Winter in Chicago

Snow "waves" on the beach. It was cool to see the snow drifts over the sand...you never knew when you'd step on a sand pile or sink knee deep in snow!












This is why I do not drive a car in this city. Public transportation for me. I love trains!










Just in case you thought I'd miss out on snow angels....I did find plenty of untrodden snow to leave my mark on the world.















Our place decorated for Christmas....it's great we get the lights and decorations without having to put them up ourselves!
ps that's Aaron standing outside our door.


Love you all! Booxy

This is for you, Grandma!

Hi All! We enjoyed last weekend!

Thanks again, Grandma (& Rebekah, of course), for the AMAZING gift. I still can't believe it...absolutely priceless! Believe it or NOT: I've already used it!!

Here's some pics...

Love to you all! Sarah

Christmas in Chicago

Here's a cheesy pic of Spencer and I decorating our "cute wittle twee." It's fun to have a tree again! I love Christmas in Chicago. We're all bundled up, scurrying around the city, buying Christmas gifts, listening to the street carolers and enjoying the brisk winter snowfalls.
We had both sets of parents up this last weekend for the Moody Candlelight Carols. It was a beautiful concert again this year, and we enjoyed a Saturday of shopping and seeing the city lights. A new discovery this year is the Zoo Lights. The Lincoln Park Zoo puts up a beautiful light display for the holidays, so Sat. night we headed over there to see them. It was very well done and quite impressive!
I'll miss you all this weekend. Have a wonderful Christmas...I'll be directing the 1-3rd graders for their song as well as the whole Sunday school's song, but I'll be missing you!
luv ya
booxy

Here's another oldie...

Isn't this just precious of Clarky?

Love, Sarah

Dave Jr....Uh, I mean Baby Willis...

Hi gals,

Mom & I visited Christa, Jack, & Baby Willis yesterday. Willis, looks so BIG for only being 2 weeks. Isn't he darling? We think he definitely looks like a little Kaeb!


Christa seems to be doing very well chasing a 14-month kiddo and taking care of a newborn. Whew! Wears me out! :)

Emitt watching Jack open Will's (yep, Christa is already calling him Will) gift.Emitt & Jack "playing" together. Mom & Will...
Sweet little Jack.

We'll miss seeing you all at Thanksgiving (Leah, Klint & I will be in Mexico visiting Seth)!

Love, Sarah

Too cute for words...

Love, Sarah

The last two weekends

This first pic is of Aaron and I in Minneapolis last weekend. We went up to Minn/St Paul for a getaway and spent time with some old friends swinging through Madison Wisc to eat dinner with Nick Steffen on our way home. It was a wonderful weekend, beautiful weather and much to do.

This last weekend we had Aaron's brother Brett's family and his cousin Brandon's family as well as Holly here. We had a great time going to the zoo, wandering through the conservatory and shopping (of course, always shopping in Chicago). This first pick of of Colette watching the baby chicks at the "farm."

Misha was exploring the egg.

And our walk back from the zoo. Mason was very disappointed not to see the Tigers. They were in the Lion house which was closed for trick or treaters. (We didn't want to wait in the long line)

Things I bet you didn't know Chicago Has!

This first picture is of the Lincoln Park Arboretum. Most people don't Even know it exists, and neither did Aaron and I until we moved into the area and ran across it while we were out biking. So last weekend we went down here to study for a while. Sorry the first picture didn't do well with colors, it was a gloomy day. But I played around with my camera to take the rest of these.

In addition to the garden there's the zoo (which everyone's heard of) and the conservatory. They are all great places to visit...and all free. What more could you ask for! And we'll even supply 2 bikes for the ride (though it's only a mile from our place).
So come visit!
Booxy

Need An Opinion..for Hoffmann eyes only

Hopefully this doesn't totally spoil our Christmas card but I need some opinions. I'm going to post a few pictures on the blog. Please respond with which one you like best. Number 1 is the top picture.

Wrigley Field

Aaron and I took Joe to a Cubs game for his Birthday....yes I know his birthday was in April....but this is when we got tickets for the game. We had a great day. Andy and Joe picked us up from work. We dropped the car at our place and jumped on the EL. We ate dinner at a place called Minnie's. It's a fun restaurant in which all your food is miniature, so instead of one hamburger you get to pick 3 sandwiches or pizzas that are all small. Joe enjoyed is tall root beer and pizzas. We then jumped back on the EL and headed up to Wrigley

The Cubs didn't win against the Brewer's that night, but we still had a great time. Wrigley is a great stadium and Joe was fascinated by the game. I've never seen anything hold his attention so long! Luv ya Joe! Thanks for coming up to visit us!
A. Booxy

Cute kids!

Thought you'd appreciate these cute pics of a few of your great grandchildren Grandma. They're awefully cute! Hudson pointing out his Pizza and showing me how to blow on it.
Drewber being ornery
Emitt, well, being Emitt

For those of you who wondered where we headed off to so quickly. Aaron and I had made plans to entertain Joel and Amber Virkler for the weekend. We did one of those, we new we had plans Labor Day weekend but didn't assosiate Labor Day with the last weekend of August. So over booked ourselves for the weekend. This was their last weekend in the area and were so excited to spend it in the city we could hardly turn them down. So we came home from the picnic, picked them up at the train station and then showed them the town. A very nice day which ended in ordering sushi (which is suprisingly good).

Love you all and miss you, I wish we could have stayed longer last weekend! Hope you had a great end of the day!

Booxy

Feeling Guilty.....

I'm feeling kinda bad for putting that picture up on the last post...........

Will you forgive me, Sarah?!?

I'll try to use up alot of

space, so you don't have to see it !!

Because I DO want you to check this blog, and I REALLY want you to still talk to me & love me!

:)
:)
:)
:)
:)

SO.....about this Saturday! A Bonnie, could you refresh me of the details?? I didn't write much down. (What should I bring, what time, etc) Josiah has his first SOCCER GAME at 9:00a.m., but we plan to leave right after that. Can't wait to see & be with everyone ~ but VERY dissapointed that it's quite possible Mom & Sparks won't be there. BUT I'M NOT GIVING UP - I'M PRAYING THAT THEY CAN BE HOME BY THEN!!!

And how's Grandma?

OK, I hope I've used enough room here, so our furry little friend is gone :)



Love You All!!


Kristy



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This is for you, Sarah!

OK, I'm so sorry.....I just wanted to show you the spider I caught. (this is just an image I found...but it looks just like it)

Please don't hate me!! : ) : ) : )


Are you doing ok?? Take a deep breath......it's ok......It's NOT REAL! I LOVE YOU!!

Help!

OK, I need someone to do a minor investigation for me. I cannot remember how much each of us paid for our 2 nights at Beachwalk this past May. I keep forgetting to look this up, for Klint & Sarah, and I want to make sure I give her the right amount. So if someone could look-up how much they paid us, I'd GREATLY appreciate it! (So sorry I've not gotten back to you, Sarah!)

ALSO... I'm so bummed with how they LACKED in handling our 'ordeal'. (Problems through the weekend, no lights in the guest house, etc.) I was "assured" we should get some form of refund or credit to our next stay, and I followed up 2 times, but each time I called I was just told the manager is out, he knows the situation, and I'll have him return your call as soon as he works this out with the home owner. Well, I've never gotten a call back OR a refund! Now what do I do?!? I hate being in these situations. OK....sorry I got a little heated there :)

On a different note, Mom & Dad & Clark got a 2-day pass to DC! So they took the metro in today! They were excited. Just waiting for all the paperwork to go through before they can head home! PRAISING GOD FOR HIS MERCY!!

Love you all! Kristy

more pics

Precious Aria
The kids for a photo op.
Me and Doozer
Having fun!