Christmas & New Years 2007-08

We had a great Christmas and New Years this year! We hope you all did as well. My parents came into town on December 22nd and were with us to December 30th. On Christmas Eve Eve we went and walked around the little Chicago suburb Long Grove.

It is a cute little town but it was about in the 20's that day and VERY windy. We had to bundle up and run between shops, literally. At least it was warm in the tavern. Jim had a very tasty hearty stew that was made with butt trimmings...no joke! It kept him warm the rest of the day.

On Christmas Eve there was free general admission to the museum of Science and Industry. We had not had a chance to visit this museum yet but both of My parents remember going there as kids. Dad was born in Aurora, IL and both of my mom's parents grew-up in the Chicago land so it was fun for them to revisit this HUGE museum.

In one of the exhibits at the museum there was an impressive model train. The fun thing about this train model was that there were only two major cities represented Chicago...

and Seattle...

Look...even the EMP was in the model!

We were amazed that of all the cities in the USA they choose to use Chicago and Seattle. They must of expected us!

Jim's favorite exhibit was the U-505. This is a submarine that was used during WWII it was part of the Nazi Wolf Pack. It was impressive. Unfortunately we could not go in it because all of the tickets were sold out but, we still got a good view.

Christmas morning brought us LOTS of presents under the tree.

Dad's favorite present...

...a fart machine. He turned red he was laughing so hard. One of Mom's presents, her very own garden gnome.

Both Billy and Chewy liked their stockings...

Jim and I got some great presents too!

One thing is for sure...we sure made a mess!!

After we opened gifts we had a nice brunch and then went over to our friends Chris and Stacy's house for Christmas dessert. Chris' parents were in town so it was nice to get the parent's together. Thank you Chris and Stacey for a very nice time!

After Christmas dessert we headed home for dinner. On Christmas, dessert before dinner is expected! We had a very nice dinner with turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, the works.

You can't enjoy Christmas dinner without a new toy and a paper crown which can only be found in a Christmas popper.

Who invited the pirate?

The day after Christmas Dad and Jim built some new shelving in our office closet and mom and I went shopping. That evening we all went to dinner at Quigley's Irish Pub. It is not a trip to Naperville without a night at Quigley's.

The last event of the parent visit was dinner over at my Dad's cousin Joanne's house. We always have a good time over at Joanne's especially when Aunt Kay is there. Aunt Kay is 91 years young. Do you want to know her secret...2 Whiskey and waters a day.

Above: Cousin Joanne and Dad

Above: Aunt Kay and Dad

Even Chewy and Billy were sad to see my parents leave.

On New Years Eve, for the 2nd year in a row, we had some people over to our house. It was a nice evening which included quite a good dusting of snow.

Who is that guy in disguise?

Chris and Stacy...

I hope everyone has a healthy and happy 2008!!!

Amy's B-Day Weekend...Prime #s Aren't Too Bad...I Guess

This past weekend was my 31st birthday. We had a very nice weekend...beers at Rock Bottom, Greek food, sideways snow, and a holiday party at Frank and Manuela's you can't get much better than that!

Friday night we had dinner and beers at Rock Bottom. Is it bad that I ALWAYS order the same dinner there? For my money you can not beat their Smoked Turkey Enchiladas.

Saturday night we headed into the city into Greek Town for Greek food. This has become my birthday tradition in Chicago...this is our second annual Amy birthday trip to Greek Town. Last year we ate at The Greek Isles and this year it was Rodity's...next year who knows. We will keep on trying them all until we find our favorite. There are about 6-10 Greek restaurants in Greek Town.

Another fun thing about Saturday night is that the snow was coming down in buckets especially in the city with the lake affect snow. As we where eating dinner the snow was coming down at an angle.

Needless to say...getting home took a bit longer than expected.

Sunday...the birthday day...we attended a very nice party at some good friends of ours, Frank and Manuela. It was a very nice party. After the party ended Jim and I stayed for a little extra holiday cheer. The night ended with German liquor called Killepitsch (I have NO idea how to spell it but...Jim sure seemed to like it) and a trip through McDonald's drive through.

Thank you for a GREAT birthday!

Finally, no post is complete without a picture of the kids...

The Most Perfect Tree EVER...

On Saturday we drove to a local tree farm and picked out our Christmas tree. It took us about 5 whole minutes but we managed to find the most perfectly shaped tree I have EVER seen.

Timber....

Now...we take it home...



...and decorate!!

Chewy even decided that he wanted to help well...sort of.

Merry Christmas everyone!

First Snow of the Season

This morning we woke up to 4 inches of snow. Look I can prove it...

The measurment is a bit hard to read on the picture so you are going to have to take my word for it. Here are some more pictures of our winter wonderland.

Chewy is in heaven!!!

Who knows...we might have a white Christmas.