We enjoyed our little holiday, but were saddened by the absence of Missy, who had to work, and the Chards, who were out having fun in southern Utah. Dave performed a masterful job of turkey carving, and we shall be certain to always have rubber gloves at the ready for future turkey adventures. Another cause for sadness was little Evelyn, who was battling a fever and absolutely not feeling well. She was content to be held by her Daddy for the duration, but her tummy refused to hang onto her dinner. Michele's sweet potatoes and apples were delicious, and Chris and Sami did a fine job of preparing the plain sweet potatoes. I think a fine time was had by all who were here.

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving to my dear family! Wishing you lots of good eats and great memories and maybe a nap or two thrown in for good measure.

We are hitting the road south tomorrow morning, headed to Pete's house (near Zion) for "Thanksliving" weekend. Friends will be trickling in from all over the inter-mountain west on Thursday and Friday and our big meal (Pete is expecting ~30 folks total) will be on Saturday afternoon. The weekend's festivities include a horseshoe tournament (Brandon and Tony are the reigning champs), the annual cribbage tournament (I've taken 2nd place the past 2 years in a row - it's my turn to win it all!), and a Turkey Trot 5K across Gooseberry Mesa (my idea - not too many folks have signed up for that one).

We will be thinking of, and thankful for, you all!
Love,
Julie

Welcome home, DJ!

And a belated blog-post happy birthday to you! Hope your trip to Philly was a success and that you your birthday dinner was worth traveling for.
Lots of love from Utah, Julie, Brandon and Gavin

12 weeks down, 24 to go

I think I spend more time counting down the days until summer break than my students do. This year we decided to take a week off every six weeks. So last week we celebrated making it through 1/3 of the year. We made the mistake of starting our celebration on Sunday by buying them new clothes, to replace the ones they've trashed or outgrown. Sami wore a new outfit every day and everyday between rain and wet leaves, she destroyed each one.

On Monday, we made amends with our library and returned very overdue books. Then we played at an indoor gym for awhile. On Tuesday, we hung out with Cousins Kathleen and Joey, at Cosley Zoo and McDonald's playland. Sami entertained Joey by pretending to sneeze so hard that her coat flew over her head. Then we came back here and decorated spooky Haloween cupcakes On Wednesday, we hung out at Brookfield zoo. We saw their new lioness, the first female lion they've had in 13 years. We spent more time admiring the professionally carved pumpkins than the animals. I think that every animal was carved into at least one pumpkin. The polar bear had a lot of fun with his pumpkin treat. On Thursday, after tennis lessons, we took our yearly trip to Tekawitha Woods. Since we are treeless, the kids enjoy playing in the leaves there. The trails were completely covered but we managed to make our way down to the river and then back up to the Nature Center. It never ceases to amaze me how running in the woods can completely change Sami's personality. They had a blast jumping in the leaves, sliding down leaf hills and climbing fallen trees. From there we visited Kathleen and Joey and my parents and helped to make some witches brew.

Thanks to our GPS, I braved a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry on Friday. Samantha saw a commercial for a new exibt, You The Experience. She really wanted to run in the people sized hamster ball. At the ticket counter, I received an unexpected surprise, admission was free. So we paid to see one of their special exhibits, the Smart House. Turns out this is the greenest house in Chicago. The tour was interesting and I was very proud of Chris and Sami's behavior. Sami even asked a couple of very relevant questions. The only downside of the day was that the hamster ball was being repaired. That and the rain on the way home. So, I guess we will have to go back again. This time with DJ who was a little disappointed not to be joining us.

Chris and Sami had a blast trick or treating. They went around the cul de sac with a neighbor boy. Then went out with their cousins and the fathers, by Kathleen's house. DJ was beat when they got back, but the kids were ready to keep on going. So they grabbed a flashlight and went to a couple of more blocks alone around here. Sami was so excited about going to what she called the scary cul de sac.

It was not fun starting back again, but we survived. These pictures are a small sample of the three hundred or so I took this week.

trip to the zoo

We had a great time last week. Dave, Evelyn and I spent the entire week together! It was such a treat not having to work. We went to a snowboarding convention in Schaumburg with some friends. Dave and I went downtown for Marissa's 30th birthday celebration. We also enjoyed the Halloween parade at Gram's and joined her one night for dinner. All of these pictures are of our super fun adventure at Brookfield Zoo. Dave started his new job on Monday. He remains at HSBC, but is now doing forecasting. Still accounting, but more finance. (that's what he tells me anyway) He's now working for 2 guys he worked with at Wamu, which is nice. So far, so good. But with a promotion, he will be traveling to Buffalo at least once a month.

Two,Two...

Happy Golden Birthday to Gavin!!! It looks like you had a fantastic time at your party. Wish we could have joined you...