Texas Bowl

On Wednesday John and I went to Reliant Stadium in Houston to watch U of I take on Baylor in the Texas Bowl game. Much thanks to Grandma, Grandpa and Super Duper Auntie Tish who watched Anabelle for us. We thought that she would be quite a handful at the game if she went with us, and we probably wouldn't see much of the game b/c we'd be chasing her all over.

Getting to the game was quite a challenge. The weather was pretty terrible, a torrential downpour with thunder and lightning was wreaking havoc on Houston. We went the wrong way and had to backtrack a little, and traffic as pretty bad. Reliant Stadium had no signs marking where to park, and then we had to run through the pouring rain to get in. Once we made it to the door we were told it was the wrong door! Back out in the rain we ran to the correct door and finally we made it inside; we were soaking wet! That's ok, at least we were there. We grabbed a drink and headed to our seats.

We had pretty good seats; in the corner of the end zone, in the 1st section. We settled in to watch the game. Illinois did a great job and kept the lead for the whole game. Baylor decided to put up a little fight, but U of I held on to the lead. We had a great time cheering for them, munching on snacks and enjoying our "date night". After the game we decided to stick around and watch the trophy ceremony and see the players run into the tunnel. We got to see some of the bigger players sign autographs and lots of fans having a great time cheering for them. Go Illini!!

The game

The top of the tunnel that the players run through

Do we look like those couples at Great America that wear matching outfits? LOL!

Illinois scores and the flag comes out

Final scoreboard

John was very happy to see his alma matter win a bowl game!

Champions

The quarterback: Nathan Scheelhaase

MVP Mikel Leshoure: he broke 5 records during the game

The coach Ron Zook giving someone a hi-five: this was his first bowl game win

Christmas in Houston

This year we are in Houston, Texas to celebrate Christmas with John's family. We flew in on December 23rd, late in the evening. Anabelle did pretty well with the flight, sleeping for the 1st hour and then waking up, once up, she was a little cranky. We were able to tide her over with books, singing, and raisins-the kid loves her raisins!

Since we have been in Houston we have been enjoying lots of time with family and of course lots of good food. John's Great Aunt Tish, also referred to as Super-Duper Auntie Tish, flew in from Las Vegas to visit. John's older brother Mike, wife Mary, and their 4 kids also live here in Houston. We are so happy that we get to see them all when we come to town. In John's family they have their big celebration Christmas Eve. Their tradition is to eat Italian sausage for dinner, have a family sing-a-long to Mitch Miller's Christmas Album, and then open presents. Then on Christmas Day there are lots of snackies and a big turkey dinner. Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we had a great time!

Merry Christmas!

Mary and Mike

Dominick (6), Taylor(12), Donte(15), and Giana(8)

John entertained us with some guitar playing

Anabelle testing out the doggie beds

Anabelle chatting with Super Duper Auntie Tish

Giana models her reindeer antlers

Anabelle and Dominick take a look at Mike's sheet music to the Mitch Miller Sing-a-Long. I love how her little hand is on his back, so cute!

Singing with Grandma and Aunt Mary

Anabelle liked to give people the Santa hat to wear.

Dancing with Aunt Mary

Dancing with Dominick

Go Anabelle, Go Anabelle!

Time to open presents!

Anabelle is in bed, it's time to play a game. Here we are playing Bubble Talk, a fun game that we got Giana for Christmas. That game had us all laughing.

Christmas Day, Sullivan is ready for dinner

Yum!

Anabelle woke up from a nap just in time to have some turkey dinner!

I tried to get a good picture of all the cousins together. It is really hard with Anabelle, she doesn't sit still very well. These 2 were the best.

We will be in Houston till the 31st and then it's back home to Chicago. I am sure I will have more fun pictures to post before we head back, so check back in a day or two. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Brookfield Zoo: Holiday Magic

On Sunday we decided to take a trip to Brookfield Zoo to check out their holiday lights display. John's family (Dad, Pat, Zac & Abbey) decided to brave the 17 degree weather and join us. We got all bundled up and headed over around 6 pm. We had never gone to the zoo in the winter before, but had heard good things about the light display. For anyone who wants to go and is wondering about cost it is $9 to park and then $13.50 for Adults, kids under 3 are free. I felt like the cost was pretty high, maybe next year we will try Lincoln Park Zoo, which costs $17 for parking and admission is free. Despite the cost I am glad we went, at least now I know what they have to offer and it was a fun family Christmas activity.

We wandered around the zoo ducking into indoor exhibits when we got too cold. The zoo was decked out with lights and decorations and they even had lights synced up to music that flashed. Anabelle really enjoyed the music, rocking out as best as she could being all bundled up. We saw quite a few animals, and some of them Anabelle seemed to be able to see clearly and comprehend that it was an animal or at least something different. Those animals were the gorillas while being fed carrots, a sea otter that swam right in front of her face, and a penguin that swam right in front of her. The rest of the animals were either too small, too camouflaged, or too far away.

After a while Anabelle let us know by screaming that she had seen enough and wanted to go somewhere warm and eat dinner. So we did. We went to Irish Times a cute pub nearby the zoo and had a nice dinner. John's brother Joe and his girlfriend Kari (along with the rest of the family) also joined us for dinner. Even though it was late and Anabelle was quite sleep deprived, she was pretty well behaved and we enjoyed a nice family dinner. A fun winter activity that I hope becomes a tradition.

Before the zoo, getting ready to put on coats.

At the entrance to the zoo

Belle takes a ride on the lion

Dinner at Irish Times

Cookin' in the kitchen

Smith Family Christmas

On Saturday the Smith family celebrated Christmas. The morning started out with Grandma and Grandpa bringing Anabelle home, they had babysat the night before. They brought with them Anabelle's Christmas present, a play kitchen. Here she is checking it out.

After a nap we headed over to Michael and Stephanie's for the rest of the Christmas festivities. We had a lot of fun opening gifts and watching Anabelle open and play with her new things. We also had a delicious dinner. Here are some pictures from the fun.

Mikey and Steph got Anabelle a rocking horse.

Here is John opening the U of I garden gnome I got him.

Grandpa and his girl, just hanging out.

John and I got Anabelle a ukulele, to start her collection of musical instruments.

Each year Grandma and Grandpa get Anabelle a bell, here she is ringing it.

Stu getting some love and attention from Mom.

Auntie Steph and Anabelle.

Ooohh a new outfit.

Anabelle is exhausted after a busy day and lays down next to her pal Stu.

Stu opening his gift

Pepper all curled up on the couch

Uncle Mike, Belle, and Auntie Steph

Brother and Sister

The only picture of our little family, too bad it didn't turn out so good, oh well!

We had a great time celebrating Christmas together. Thank you Mom, Dad, Mikey, and Steph for all the fun, food, and gifts. Merry Christmas!