Chicago--day two

 Tiger got the majority of the loving from Anja. He wanted her attention so bad, but I think he was glad when we left!

 The three of us left Elsi at home and went into the city. We spend most of the day at the Field Museum--AMAZING!

 Anja is looking out on the City of Chicago!

 Playing music!

Anja took a picture of Scott and I standing on the steps of the Field Museum with the stadium behind us--and her finger in the picture!

Chicago!

It's a strange thing when the baby of the family has a baby..but that's what happened in September when Scott and Shelbi welcomed little Elsi Claire into the world. We were so excited. Before she was even six weeks old, my parents had made four weekend trips to see her. Unfortunately, it took me until October to see her. Anja and I hopped on a plane and the two of us set out for Chicago to see the newest cousin.

 Although the trip was labeled as a trip to see the baby, I think Anja secretly wanted to see Olive, the dog..

 ...and Copper and Tiger the cats.

 When Elsi finally woke up the next day, Anja did her best to 'play' with her--including introducing her to the wonderful world of American Girl Dolls--this is Ella (formally called Be-Be).

 The cats got a playmate during our visit. Regardless of their willingness, they played dolls.

 Anja had fun holding Elsi and feeding her. She left diaper changing to Scott, me and Elsi's grandma Ann who was also visiting.

 Oh yeah, and there was that uncle there too.

Funny thing about uncle Scott--he may have a baby of his own but he still knows how to have fun and make each of his nieces and nephews feel special when he's around.

Halloween!

I was a little shocked and hurt when Anja decided to be Daphne from Scooby-Doo. It wasn't a princess, cut costume at all! But then Rich pointed out...

...Anja puts on a princess costume every single day and parades around the house so dressing up like something she does everyday is not 'dressing up'. That made me feel better.

Jensen was some video game character named the Master Chief

And Carter was death. Nice, huh?

Anja with Bailey and Madison Huntsman

Anja with her best friend Robbie Shae Lundgren.

All three of them at the Bywater's trunk-or treat.

Cousin Pictures

Before Nadia and Marcus headed to NYC, we took pictures of all the cousins (Elsi wasn't born, yet). It was fun and hard.

We've been lucky to have these girls grow up together. Most cousins see each other once in a while. Not this group. We are as close as can be.

All the boys together. I'm not sure Marcus is thrilled with the idea.

Beautiful brother and sister.

Then we had a little fun and showed our sweet side....

...and our playful side.

It was a fun day.

Little Angels?

I'm seriously considering using this as the picture for this year's Christmas card and putting something like "Merry Christmas from our little angels" on it. Does that make me a bad mom?

Catching up...

It was a fun summer but the last month was so crazy! Carter started school in July, which I hated, but that didn't matter one bit when Uncle Scott came to town..we went to Lagoon. There isn't a person on earth who's more fun at Lagoon than Scott.

But the biggest news of the summer was the school opening. The doors opened to Endeavor Hall on September 6, 2011. No small miracle.

Three of us board members were there dropping off kids. Me, Jennifer Perry and Greg Robinson. We're the original three who jumped on this ship when it wasn't more than just a blueprint and the three who saw it through. I never thought I would say I opened a school--nice line on the resume!

Jensen's class with Ms. Meg Suess.

Jensen at recess with his best friend Connor Hughes. It was a good day.

School also started for Anja along with dance class. It's been interesting to see who much she's improved just with her age.

Not sure what move this is but it's funny.

Ah, this poor neglected blog..how I miss you. I will be back, soon.