Visitors and Fun!

Look at this deliciousness...  maple syrup! (Did you think it was something else??)

My sister and her husband came to Chicago for work and we got the chance to play a little!  It was a blast to be together and just spend time enjoying the cold weather and great shopping in this city.

Erica and me

Karl and Erica (I never got a picture of Karl!  Didn't help that my phone died early in the day)

 We ate a very delicious breakfast at Meli Cafe.  

Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

Yummy Hot Chocolate

Walking downtown, we crossed the river just in time for the sailboats to come through.  Since their masts were so tall, they had to raise the roads, one by one, and then lower them to allow traffic to pass through.  It was neat to watch.

Shopping was awesome.  Chicago is replete with places to go to spend money.

These are all rugs and various fabrics.  I couldn't even walk inside because it was too tempting.

We went down Michigan Avenue and checked out a few stores.  This got my sister and me all giggly....

 At first I thought it was just an unfortunate mannequin.  Then, we saw this.

If mannequins have the same problem as half of America in keeping their pants covering their bums when they sit down, I'm thinking it is time to make pants that don't have as much gap across the rear.  Or, the people dressing these statues could just pull their pants up? 

Further down Michigan Ave, we took our time looking at Tribune Tower.  This building has all different pieces of various buildings and structures from all over the world.  Really interesting to see. (Sorry about the many pictures of me.  This is the result of your phone dying and your sister hating pictures of herself being taken.  I took one for the team).

Hey yo! 

 Our next stop was Millennium Park.

I'm never going to be a model. 

 We went to see the bean, and the gobs of people that had the same idea.  I met some new friends.  

There were a group of young guys, waving frantically at the bean.  I started laughing, and naturally they saw me laughing at them...so I tried to recover enough to ask them why they were waving.  Was there a friend across the way?  "No, we're waving to ourselves so we can see our reflection."

This is me laughing AFTER they explained why they were waving.  I think they were laughing at me at this point, too. 

Wanna know how to not make friends??!!  Don't laugh at them waving at themselves!  ...you can thank me later.  (I swear I do comb my hair and get sleep at least a few days out of the week)

It was time for lunch, and Hannah's Bretzel was lovely.  You can't go wrong when this is the first thing you see.

Just in case it's difficult to read - it's CHOCOLATE.  Not just any chocolate, but that from Belgium and Germany and Switzerland.  America is the land of the free, but Europe has claim on being the land of the Chocolatiers.  Erica didn't believe me until I purchased a few delights and she was able to sample the goodness.  She quickly understood.  Karl agreed, but isn't a lover of chocolate, so he wasn't too concerned either way.

Once we got back to the parking garage, we came to this door.  We weren't sure how best to proceed.

Hmmm....

It was a wonderful visit, and we were so happy to see them.  Thanks for coming, K & E!  Next time it's only pictures of YOU!


A few weeks later, we celebrated the beginning of fall break with some friends.  Poor Bryan made the mistake of wearing socks with holes in them.  He left with bigger holes.  I'm not sure how it happened.

Sometimes socks that have been worn a little too much end up ripping open out of sheer exhaustion.  They need to be put to rest. 

Definitely a fashion statement

And, lastly, I finished my craft/second bedroom!  The wall color was scary at first, but with all the shelves and other business, it doesn't bother me a bit.  Now, I'm rather keen to it.

I still have labels to make for the boxes, curtains to hang, and a few odds and ends to sort out, but it feels welcoming and full of potential for new projects.  It's nice to be rid of the stripes...don't miss them a bit.

Not only did we finish the craft room, but we hung pictures!  It took us almost three years to hang anything in our first place.  I guess we're improving.

These are prints Reid gave me as a wedding present a mere eight years ago.  They've been carted around and hummed and hawed over, as how best to display them.  I love them, and I'm not a terribly sentimental soul, but these have a special place in my heart and they have never found a place on the wall....until now!  

The Mesa, Arizona Temple