Happy 2009!

Hello everyone,


We had an amazing Christmas and New Year! Hope you did as well. As always we had a great visit in Chicago although I am a little concerned that I may be turning into an Arizonian because this year it seemed really cold there! Alex even decided this year that it was a good idea to wear her coat, hat, gloves and even socks! Rory on the other hand wasn't even happy keeping a sweatshirt on let alone keeping a coat and socks on and we didn't even bother with the hat and gloves. I am pretty sure we will not win the parents of the year award.

This year Chicago had a very significant snow fall early on, so Alex got to enjoy snow on almost a daily basis. When it started to melt she was very disappointed. For the first time Alex and Daddy built a snowman together. Because this was an unplanned event we didn't have all of the proper accessories...we used MM's for the mouth and Peanut butter cups for the eyes. Yum Yum!! Rory didn't get to participate much, she refused to wear her coat so she couldn't say out long.

Alex and Rory looked unbelievably adorable for out annual Christmas Eve party. Don't you agree? Santa was joined by Buddy the Elf this year and the audience loved the show. We are hoping for a repeat performance. Catherine had a very special Christmas present that arrived on Christmas Eve. Kyle flew in from Phoenix to ask her to marry him and she of course said yes. It made for a very exciting night for all!

Christmas morning brought much joy to two little girls. They love all of the presents they received. Alex and Rory had to work out a little swap though, Alex received a doll that Rory really loved so Alex gave it to Rory in exchage for a new My Litte Pony set. Both girls are now happy and those are the only two toys they don't fight over. :)

New Year Eve day we made a visit to the Shedd which is always a fun adventure but even more fun after that we visited the Bean at Millieumn park. If you haven't seen it yet it is worth the trip and we can't wait to go back on our next trip. The poor kids (and adults) were so cold we couldn't spend as much there as we would have liked.





We are all happy to be home and are slowly getting back into the grove of things. We hope you enjoyed your holidays as much as we enjoyed ours. Wishing you a Happy New Year!