On Our 2nd Date of Christmas...

After a week of being sick and indoors we decided we were well enough to head over to the downtown Macys to check out the story-book windows and indoor decorations. I was NOT disappointed! It was beautiful! I love the architecture of this Macys, and I especially love how big it it! We got lost a few times trying to find certain things...

Look at that ceiling!!

Christmas Trees everywhere.

After Macys we walked down State street and did a little Christmas shopping and window shopping. Then we turned the corner and saw the Daley Plaza's Chistmas Tree. I LOVE big Christmas Trees (although I do have to admit, I was hoping this one would be a little bit bigger) but it is surrounded by an awesome German Market, The Chicago Christkindle Market, so that made up for it. We joined the crowds and oo'd and ahh'd over the beautiful glass ornaments, intricate wood nativities, and everything else they had out on display. If our stomachs were back to 100% we definitely would have had a Brat, or a Feta and Spinach pretzel, but instead we just admired the nutcrackers, and dolls and clocks, and little villages. I love love ornaments and it was amazing to walk through and see so many beautiful ornaments on display. My feat of the night, however, was NOT buying an ornament from the German Market for myself. It was quite an accomplishment.

Gotta love these awesome life-size nutcrackers!

And these larger-than-life Nutcrackers.

I think my favorite part of the night, though, was walking by a church in the city and seeing this on display. A true reminder.

At this point we were starving, and the only place open was the food court in the Olgivy Transportation Center, so we loaded up on Popeyes Chicken and Taco Bell and headed home to watch a classic Chicago Christmas Movie.

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On our First Date of Christmas

my true love gave to me ...A beautiful Christmas Tree.

We went out in search of the perfect Christmas tree. We went back to our pumpkin lot and looked around there ... but didn't see anything that jumped out to us. In fact, we were in price shock (I should have known trees in the city were 2-3x the amount they were in Minnesota) so we headed over to Costco to check out the trees they had there. Unfortunately, the downtown Costco in Chicago wasn't selling trees!! Only the fresh wreaths. Bummer. So we decided to try Home Depot. While on our way, we were stuck in traffic and I saw another little tree lot, so we pulled over. We looked at lots of trees, and finally found one we liked. Lucky for us the salesman was this nice guy from Wisconsin and gave us a deal (the first time I have been successful at negotiating for a Christmas tree!) We got it home and immediately starting decorating.

Gotta Love the Christmas Tree "office" here in the lot.

The little city tree lot.

Tree on the Xterra.

Our only photo from that night. Not the best, our camera was dead, so its from my phone.

My cute husband putting the star on the tree. The Jazz might have been playing while we were decorating...

All finished! Updated photo to come soon with our new tree skirt!

Merry Christmas! Look for the rest of our 12 Dates of Christmas this month :)

Sweet Moments at home.

I just scrolled through the photos on my phone and found these amazing shots of my favorite nieces and nephews-- I had to share. These kids are so much fun & have so much personality, I love it!! I loved being around for these sweet "everyday" moments that Tarin has with her amazing kids. See captions below each photo.

Nic loves to take my camera and take lots of photos. He took over 100 on Thanksgiving day!

Nic just lost his 2nd tooth!! Such a great smile.

Caidence after dance class.

Somehow I got her to pose for me!

Classic Charlotte look. She's wearing Ashley's high heels.

She loves to dip her head back.

Caidence opening her belated Birthday present.

Caidence loves her present!

Charlotte LOVES glasses. She kept stealing Kelly's reading glasses and wearing them all the time.

The kids all have their own snuggies to wear at Kelly's house and they love them! SO cute.

Charlotte snuggling with her momma.

Watching a movie with the fam.

Sweet Family. Charlotte would kiss Tarin's tummy and then snuggle on her tummy. She was talking to Sawyer. So cute.

Action shot of her kissing Tarin's tummy.

I miss getting to see these guys more often.

Disney & The Greatest Idea on Earth.

I found out about this new Disney Volunteer campaign early in January 2010. You give a day of service, and get a free Disneyland ticket. Does life get any better than that? So of course I immediately logged on and found a really cool volunteer opportunity for us to do in April. In the urban neighborhoods of Minneapolis they have these urban gardens for young children and young adults to learn how to plant and harvest. This teaches the kids about sustainability, and small business, as well as getting them off the streets. The non-profit needs volunteers to help them maintain the gardens, as their youth programs include more than taking care of the gardens. We spent the day pulling weeds, hoeing, raking, etc, etc. We had a blast getting to know other people in the community and working together for a good cause. The best part about it is that we got FREE tickets to Disneyland for our efforts. 

She's not much to look at in early spring. Also, we failed to take any pictures of US working! Oh well.

So soon after we did our volunteer service, we got our Disneyland tickets. However, at the time, we were in the middle of selling our house and moving to Chicago and realized we may not get a chance to use them! With the move and all trips we had this year with work and family, I just didn't know how we'd squeeze in a day at Disneyland. Last week while we were in Bakersfield, I had a brilliant idea. Our flight to Chicago was out of LAX at 6:30pm -- plenty of time to hit up a half day at Disneyland. AND it was my little sister, Ashley's birthday this week, and Disneyland is her FAVORITE, so of course we brought her along!! 

As we drove to Disneyland I got more and more excited. When I lived in Orange County I had an annual pass and went almost weekly, so I've been many many times. But every time is magical and unique. I love going to Disneyland. There's a magical feeling of being at the Happiest Place on Earth! And especially when you are at Disneyland for the first time with your husband (who hadn't been to Disneyland since he was 6!). 


We got to Disneyland early in the morning, and to our surprise, the park was practically empty!! The longest we waited in line was 25 minutes--it was amazing! We had such a great day. 

I love all the Christmas Decorations at Disneyland!

In front of the giant Christmas Tree!

I love all the garland and wreaths!

Can you see I totally killed Ryan in this game?! It was pretty intense.

Pirates was Ryan's favorite ride. Why? Because it gives you the best ROI. Short line & long ride.

I love this alcove in the park. And especially with the Christmas Tree!!

New Orleans Square decorations.

The Haunted Holiday Mansion all decked out.

Tom Sawyer's Island.

So Space Mountain was a big deal. When Ryan was last at Disneyland, at age 6, all he wanted to do was ride Space Mountain. Well, he waited in line for 2 hours and while in line, Nan got him an ice cream cone. But he got to the front of the line and couldn't ride the ride with his ice cream, so he missed his chance at Space Mountain. Now, 25 years later, he redeemed himself.

Sweet Ride!

Matterhorn.

On the ride.

I love the castle decorated for Christmas!

Christmas Wreaths.

Love love love big Christmas Trees!

The weather was gorgeous, and like I said, no lines, so who could ask for a better day at Disneyland? In 5 hours we rode: 

Buzz Lightyear

Space Mountain

Pirates of the Carribbean

Indiana Jones

Haunted Mansion

Thunder Mountain

Finding Nemo

Matterhorn

Peter Pan

If you've ever been to Disneyland, you know how good that is!! We also had gumbo in a bread bowl for lunch & a churro for a sweet treat. Love love love Disneyland! Thanks Disney for giving us a free day of fun and adventure! I can't wait to go back!!

We love Disney Give & Get!