Colts Game

For Joel's birthday I bought him tickets to see the Indianapolis Colts play the Tennessee Titans. Unfortunately, I made a mistake and instead of buying tickets for the game in Nashville I bought ones for Indianapolis. I think Joel really enjoyed seeing the "greatest quarterback of all time" on his own field. So it worked out for all involved!

Belle's Dance Recital

Belle had her first dance recital on December 13, 2009. She did a great job and looked absolutely adorable. The recital raised money for the American Cancer Society. We were so proud of her.

And here she is in true Belle form!

Chicago

We had such a great time in Chicago. It was actually very relaxing. We did a lot of walking, some shopping, sightseeing and hanging out at the hotel. Josh and Belle went on their first cab ride. Josh thought the first cabbie was rude and Belle thought his car stunk! We would like to go back and see the museums and Navy Pier.

Yes this picture was taken at the top of the Sears Tower looking down. The left side of the picture is the actual building. How did I get this picture...

This is how... The sky deck has 4 glass encased boxes that extend from the building. You can walk out and take pictures. Belle had no problem and thought it was really neat. Josh was nervous and had trouble stepping out. It really plays with your mind. I was not nervous at all until I went to step out on it and completely froze. I couldn't do it. So I got lots of pictures. I did take the picture above and it really freaked me out.

Looking out the windows of the Sky Deck

Eating Chicago style pizza at Gino's East.

Our hotel-the Sheraton

This guy was so good. He could stand like a statue for a really long time.

Look real close that is the kids at the feet of the man!

American Girl

Belle had her first experience with American Girl Dolls. She was in doll heaven. She immediately found the doll she wanted and started finding outfits. This place was amazing. It had window displays all over the store. Upstairs there was a salon where your doll could get their hair fixed and their ears pierced. You could get your picture taken and have tea with your doll. Next time we go we will make reservations to do some of the other activities. Poor Josh did not want to even look at the store. At one point we had to walk through it to get outside and he said oh thank god there are other men in here.

One of the window displays outside of the store

Belle with her doll at the hotel.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with Joel's Aunt Cindy and her family. It was a short visit, but we had a lot of fun. We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and had a great dinner. Belle latched on to Kelly who played lots of Polly Pockets with her. Josh and Meg became fast buddies again. Thanksgiving dinner was delicious. There were 26 people at dinner. They set up one very long table and it was so much fun laughing with friends and family.

Kelly and Belle coloring

Josh helping with the Turkey!

Lego Discovery Center

The week of Thanksgiving we went to Schaumburg to the Lego center. It so neat to see everything made out of Legos. The kids had a ton of fun. They had rides, workshops and 3D movies. Of course the best part for Josh was the Lego store.

They had a room that was a replica of Chicago made out of legos of course! The detail was amazing. The lights even replicated the sun. So every 5 minutes or so the sun would rise and then set and the lights in the city would come on. It was neat later in the week when we were downtown and the kids could see the actual buildings that they saw here in legos.

Josh would have spent all day here. He just studied every little detail.

Josh and Indiana Jones. You cant tell in the photo, but it really did look like Harrison Ford.

Joel's Building

We are finally seeing progress on Joel's building! They are in the process of bricking the building. Then the parking lot, driveway and curb will go in. Joel hopes to be moved in in 3-4 weeks!