Johnson Cousins in Illinois.

We were thrilled when Aunt Julie emailed and said that they'd be coming out to our neck of the woods to help Larry (Uncle Walt's Dad) sort through, dejunk, and pack up his house.  We have gotten so few family visitors here in Normal let alone cousins so we were ALL very excited :0)

Some of the highlights include: Avanti's gondolas for lunch * Having everyone sleepover at our place * late night chat with Uncle Walt & Aunt Julie * watching you kids play with your cousins * seeing baby Aimee and baby Carrie together * Dad & I teaming up to watch Isaac, Thomas and Kyle for 24 hours (I was honestly a little nervous to have 7 kids under our roof, but Dad had a great and adventurous attitude and proposed that we just make it really fun.  His attitude really shaped the time in to something great & memorable!)-- visiting the Caterpillar Visitor's Center in Peoria, free Frosty's from Wendy's, Pizza Party, movie party and sleepover * Uncle Walt & Dad taking all of you kids on the Monticello train while Aunt Julie & I worked on sorting and packing * Memorial Day BBQ * Brie, Isaac & Aunt Julie playing set * the Johnsons gifting us with the Story Cubes game *

26-31 May 2016

Thanks again for visiting us.  We just LOVED having you here!

Double Birthdays.

Dear Grammie Ruth and Grandpa Ed planned a trip to come visit us for a day and to celebrate my and Ruth Anne's birthdays.  We exchanged gifts, us girls did a girls outing to Clothes Mentor and Sally's and painted nails.  The whole crew (minus mom) went to see the ISU campus while I worked on prepping a pizza party and birthday cake.  Ed & Ruth Anne were good sports when I tried to adding & baking freshed toppings to an already baked pizza...and burning the pizza!  But the chocolate cake was a winner.  It was wonderful to finally reconnect with them.  Til next time!

Petersens come to visit!

A few days after Ben & Ashley found out that they were no longer fostering their little guy (the story is here) they decided to take a road trip to come visit.  We were so glad that they did!  I can't start to understand the heart break that they were experiencing :0( but was glad that we could provide them with a listening ear and love and support.  

That weekend we had a pizza party, we played fusbol and air hockey and the kids had a grand time together.  In true Petersen-Graden style we pulled off a really fun international day where we bought supplies from the Dollar Tree, did crafts with the kids, decorated, made African food and watched "Captain Phillips."  It was wonderful having them at church with us and that evening we had the Silveys over for crêpes (and a delicious green smoothie ;0)) and games.  We are so grateful for the Petersens and their priceless friendship.

GNO, Chicago Style.

10-11 November 2015

One day I got a promotional email from Frontier Airlines about a BIG special they had going.  I emailed it to both sides of the family in hopes that it would facilitate someone coming out to visit.  Within a few hours Rach and Starla had bought tickets!  We kept it on the down low so that it would be a surprise for you kids.  Dad had plans of visiting Utah and attending the Provo Temple while there, but this would be my one chance to attend the temple for November.  We decided it could be a dual purpose road trip so Rach, Star, Bry and I started scheming.  We decided that Brie would enjoy coming along and that sweet little Miss Aimee needed to come along (to be with her M.O.M. = Maker of Milk), so I got a babysitter for Tuesday afternoon to watch the boys til Dad got finished with lectures, and Dad said that he'd take care of the rest.  I had the car packed with overnight bags, snacks and even (the top portion of) Aimee's bassinet then picked you, Brie, up from school with an excited grin on my face.  When you climbed in the van and spotted the stuff you wondered what was going on.  I handed back a snack bag with a clue in it, it mentioned something about "the snacks for our GNO road trip to Chicago"!  I had to be pretty tricky to not let on that we'd just happen to be meeting up with two surprise visitors as well :0)  The drive up was great and I tried to be sneaky when Aunt Rach called to give me updates of their location. We made a side stop at McDonald's to pick up a little food and do a Pit stop AND so that the timing of "our pickup" would be spot on.  After our stop we got back in the van and I had you cover your eyes so that "the next stop" would be a surprise.  We drove the 5 minutes to the O'Hare Airport, slowed down and pulled alongside the curb Just as I was opening the van door and you uncovered your eyes, they stepped over to your seat and said surprise!  You were so surprised and excited.  It was the best!  I LOVE when surprises work out :0)  Anyway, we went to Portillo's for dinner then drove over to a courtyard Marriott for the night.  Aimee was beyond tired so I was especially grateful that her little bassinet fit perfectly in the closet.  She slept while we had fun.  I pulled out little "Chicago GNO" popcorn snack boxes I'd put together, Aunt Rachie pulled out some really fun coloring books and colored pencils and we colored, snacked and watched the Food Network.  

The next morning we stopped by Mariano's (an AMAZING grocery store that Sharon Sagers recommended) to get pastries for breakfast.  Oh my goodness, the selection blew us away!  We definitely got our fill of sweets as we passed around our {group selected} sampler of donuts, pastries and such.  Afterwards I got dropped off at the Chicago Temple to take part in initiatories.  I came out to the sun streaming and a gorgeous fall day and felt so much love from Heavenly Father.  I was so grateful for Aunt Rach and Starla making time in the day and watching you girls so I could attend the temple.  The rest of the day we spent in downtown Chicago: walking Michigan Avenue, doing an architecture boat cruise, eating more hot dogs :0), going to Dylan's Candy Bar and visiting the American Girl Doll Store!  And can I just add that those two were SO sweet (and stubborn ;0)) and wouldn't let me pay for anything??  THANK YOU, GIRLS!!

In order to not get home too too late we decided that we get dinner on the way home.  We found a pizza place that was about an hour in the direction of home.  We ordered a Chicago deep dish pizza with tomatoes and sausage, we were really excited about it, but none of us really liked it.  Maybe if we had gone with different toppings?  It was fun to at least try.  Aunt Rachie was such a good sport to drive us home in the crazy CRAZY weather!  It was a complete deluge of rain with lighting and almost constant wind.  We were so grateful to pull up to the house safe and sound.  And I was so thankful for Dad working from home on Wednesday AND watching you boys so that us girls could enjoy our day in the city.  Thank you, honey!!

Spooky Kitty Party.

Before Aunt Emmie came in to town, on Instagram one day I saw the idea of doing a Spooky Kitty Party.  With Em having recently gotten her kitty {Gracie Lou Lou}, Halloween around the corner and Em's birthday being just over a month away, I decided a Spooky Kitty Party was in order during her visit.  Thanks to the Dollar Tree, some banners I designed, printed & strung together and some items I had on hand, things came together easily and turned out to be purrty darn cute.  It made me happy since Aunt Em always puts so much time, thought and effort into making things special.

Em bought the black cat from Aldi.

 Our Kitty Crew.

 I felt like a giddy little kid decorating this stuffed animal table :0)  I couldn't help but make it look fun, with the set being newly renovated (the chairs and table legs had all been different colors so we made them uniform with a few cans of white spray paint).  I picked a favorite stuffed animal friend for each of you: Dino for Roo, the panda for Alex, Minnie for Aimee and the ballernia bear for Brie.  Some masks and felt kitty ears were the purrfect touch :0)

Dinner was simple, Pizza and lemonade.  I was going to do some sort of veggies but didn't get that far.  For dessert you guys decorated (gluten-free) "oreo" cookies to look like cats.  You read a monster story and put together a glow-in-the dark puzzle with Emmie, we listened to some fun Halloween music, she gave us our Halloween box with goodies and that was our evening.  So fun!

I had to include a few of these darling pictures of Aimee and Emmie.

August visit.

In conjunction with a conference in the Midwest, John & Marlene came down to visit us again!  It was such a wonderful weekend with them here.  You kids had recently gotten your summer reading coupons, so we cashed in on them to go to Monical's Pizza (Lij you were over the moon about your very own personal pizza :0)) and go bowling at ISU.  Marelene also took you kids to pick out toys at Cute as a Button, helped Brie coordinate a dozen outfits for school and looked through all of your school supplies for 1st grade. OH and snuggled sweet Aimee.  I think she was tempted to take you home in her luggage ;0)  John cooked up a storm, making us several batches of waffles, cookies and catastrophe.  We just loved every minute!

so spoiled!

"Grandpaw" John & "Grandmaw" Marlene and cousin Michelle came out to visit us in June.  It amazes me how much fun we squeeze in to a short time while they're in town.  Their visit of course included yummy food--chocolate chip waffles, chocolate chip cookies, catastrophe and dinner at Bandanas.  They were SUPER generous and bought us a Kitchenaid to facilitate the preparing of the yummy food.  We felt SO spoiled.  Marlene just LOVED holding little baby Aimee who was just about six weeks old.  Can't forget them bringing gifts for us (including 2 gallon ziplocks full of micro mini chocolate chips :0)), taking the kids to Walmart to pick out some new things, AND Marlene gifting me a BUNCH of fabric.  Oh and making cute envelopes for the primary assignments, creating marshmallow creatures AND Michelle and Grandpaw dancing out in the rain like crazies!...it was awesome :0)

5-7 June 2015

5-10 June 2015

Michelle stayed several days longer and was here on her birthday!  She is SO thoughtful and generous so I was really happy to have the chance to celebrate her and spoil her a bit...well, minus the running around doing errands in an unairconditioned car ;0)  Aside from that, we went shopping, made fruit loop necklaces, Brie learned how to jump from a swing, we decorated graham cracker houses, made watermelon rice crispies to wish our neighbors a happy start to Summer, went to Brie's gymnastic classes, had a birthday BBQ, did a supermarket sweep (Joann's, Dollar Tree, Target and Sonic) and sewed an apron for Marlene.  Not only is Michelle super helpful with anything that needed to be done (cooking, the kids, doing dishes, etc.) but she is so much fun to hang out with.  If only she lived closer!  In any case, we just loved having the three of them here to visit! Til next time :0)

the Kirks.

30-31 May 2015

Our good friends (from St. Louis) the Kirks were driving through from Michigan to Kansas and stopped in for the night.  Although Kate was coming down with a nasty cold which shortened their visit, it was great to reconnect, see how big Sam has gotten and to see Kate's growing baby bump!  We love you guys!  Let's make a goal to all be healthy next time we see each other :0)

Chicago.

10-12 April 2015

 When realizing that Aunt Emmie had already been out to Normal 3 times without visiting Chicago like she'd been wanting, and with plans of her roadtripping from Utah and visiting us over her Spring Break, we decided a weekend trip to the windy city was a must!  We all drove up on Friday afternoon, checked in to our hotel and Aunt Em very sweetly agreed to hang out with you kidlets (took you swimming, ordered pizza, watched some cartoons, put you to bed) while Dad & I had a quiet dinner at Maggiano's and then did sealings at the Chicago Temple.  It was a lovely evening!!  The next day I was feeling pretty nauseous (it may have been from eating my unrefrigerated shrimp pasta leftovers too late at night), but thankfully Dad gave me a blessing and I felt so much better after that.  We drove in to the city and spent the majority of the day at the Museum of Science and Industry.  Thanks to someone telling me about the reciprocal children's discovery museum passes we got free admission and only had to pay ($22) for parking.  And what a COOL museum it was!  You kids especially loved the transportation and farm areas.  Once we got loaded in the van (around 3pm) you boys were out like lights, so Dad dropped us girls off (Brie included) to go check out the Bean while he circled the block.  The weather and temperature was PERFECT!  Not hot, not cold, not windy...just a slight breeze.  We definitely blessed out!  At that point everyone was awake so we stopped at a sandy area along Lake Shore Drive.  I sat down in the shade (feeling very large and immobile) while Dad played with you kids in the sand.  He is such a great dad!  Little by little I'm trying to be a more involved mom.  Too often I've opted to take a break while Dad plays with you...but I'm missing out on too many great moments.  For dinner we tried out Cassava, a gluten-free café that serves a variety of empanadas.  It was laid back, family friendly and had great-tasting food.  That evening (thanks to Bompa getting us an amazing discount and Em paying the tab) we checked in to the JW Marriott downtown.  It was an amazing hotel!!  You kids enjoyed a bath in the BIG tub and Dad put you to bed while Aunt Em and I went out on the town for a GNO.  Our awesome bell boy advised us to leave the van and take taxis instead, glad he did.  We got dropped off on Michigan Avenue in front of Millenium Park.  We walked and window shopped and walked some more, trying to find a unique place for dessert. Unfortunately most of the places close early, but we did get some fun night shots along the river, bought chocolate togo from Fannie Mae's, then took a taxi back to the hotel's restaurant, the Florentine.  There we ordered a delicious gluten-free pasta dish and two decadent desserts to share--the Torta and the Semifreddo (Thankfully our second server was more familiar with all of the gluten-free menu options otherwise we would have just ended up with sorbet.)  We chatted and fine dined til this pregnant lady's cankles were ready for bed.  Thank you, Bry, for making our GNO possible.  What a catch you are!  And what a fun evening out, Em!!  The next morning we were up early, dressed for church, packed up and back on the road.  We dropped Em off at the Midway airport and said our goodbyes :0( then drove the 2 1/2 hours to Stake Conference in Peoria.  It was a wonderful weekend and I look forward to our next venture up to Chicago.

Closing the St. Louis Chapter.

24-25 March 2015

The same week we moved in to Park Forest in St. Louis, the Gubler family also moved in.  I remember meeting Cynthia at the DUC on a very rainy afternoon.  They had two little boys and we had Brie...and now both of our families almost have 4 kids.  Bry officially finished his PhD in February and Tim will be finishing up in May.  Cynthia grew up here in Normal and connected us with the awesome Ringer family when we were house hunting a year ago.  Before their move to California they came to visit Normal one last time.  We had gonodolas from Avanti's, the kids played, Andrea came to meet the newest Gubler, we chatted, had dinner together, Tim & Bry got the door bell fixed while Cynthia showed me some of their favorite prospects for houses, they spent the night and after breakfast we said our goodbyes.  With them finishing up and moving, it feels like the PhD Park Forest chapter is officially closing.  It'll be sad to no longer have them there when we go to visit.  The Gublers have been great friends over the years and we wish them the best as they start out on their next adventure!

a shortened visit.

16-17 March 2015

For over a month we'd been planning for the Hintzes to come visit.  As the time grew closer everything seemed in place and like we were good to go.  Then the morning of Alex woke up saying, "ouchie, my stomach hurts." I knew this wasn't good.  For whatever reason Alex seems prone to throw up.  Sometimes he'll throw up once and seem just fine, other times he's out for a day.  I texted Laura to give her the news.  The rest of the morning was a roller coaster as Alex seemed to be better and keeping things down and we were trying to decide if Laura and her 4 kids should make the trip out.  She finally decided to come, survived the drive and arrived around lunch time.  Thankfully Alex stayed in his room all day, napping and watching movies on our faithful little TV/VHS player.  And Dad was able to come home early to help out.  The day went really well, Normal offered its best spring day yet, the kids played in and outside, we chatted, made dinner and even took the kiddos out to DQ for free ice cream cones (as promised to Hannah & Brie since they had stopped sucking their thumbs!!).  The girls stayed up late, got their nails painted and Dad read them "Hercules."  After the kids were in bed Laura, Bry and I worked to get a fun and festive St. Patrick's Day breakfast together.  It was a great day and so fun to finally have our friends come visit!  But once I was in bed I was super nauseous, tossing and turning all night and miserable.  I must have gotten what Alex had.  In the morning I wanted to imagine it away so I could enjoy the final few hours before Laura and the kids needed to leave...but I knew I was out with something and wouldn't be up for doing anything :0(  I was so bummed to have to foil plans and have them leave that morning, but I'm so glad that we got to live it up for one day.  Thanks for making the trip!!

Home Tour in Panorama.

After spending an hour trying to find random pictures of our house (scattered throughout blog posts) to show Grandma Stevenson, I decided I would do an official home tour post...in panoramic pictures.  Out of sheer laziness I'm not showing all of the rooms, but this will at least give you an idea of what our house is like.  We are just LOVING our home!!!

MAIN LEVEL:

Entry.

Front sitting room.

Formal dining room.

Kitchen.

Family room.

UPSTAIRS:

Master bedroom + mini baby corner :0)


Master bathroom.

Boys' room.

Brie's room.

My craft room!

DOWNSTAIRS: 

Movie room.

Toy room.

Guest room.

P.S. Photoshop decided to not blend the different layers on some of the panoramic pictures (boys' room, brie's room, guest room), so they look a bit funky.  Oh well, c'est la vie.

Fabulous Food, Friends and Fun.

Dad was going to be gone for five days (for a consortium and conference in Palm Springs, California) so we invited Tiffany and Kenzi to come visit.  They drove all the way from Kansas City and stayed from Wednesday night to Saturday morning.  Other than Lij being sick and a bit miserable, we all had a fabulous time!  Some of the highlights include: sewing bright & cheery burp cloths for our babies on the way * chatting, chatting, chatting * making yummy food (monte cristo crêpes, pita pizzas, lemon blueberry muffins) * doing a valentine's day photo shoot and designing a postcard * Wonder Pets movie party * Tooth Fairy Adventures * ALL of Tiff's help with dishes, holding Lij, wiping up spilled drinks, more dishes, midnight garbages-to-the-curb run) *

 

 

Tiff (expecting a boy) and I are only due 3 days apart.  It's been really fun to keep up with each other's pregnancies over text and Facetime.  Now that we're in third trimester we're both trying to get our baby corners ready and decide on names, and in a few months we'll see whose birthday comes first.  Thanks for coming out to visit!!