Cancun, Mexico!

Early in November Griffin and I took a week long trip to Cancun. I had never been to Mexico before and neither of us had been to an all-inclusive resort before - so we were really excited. It was a very relaxing trip for us. We read by the pool, played tennis, took walks, went bike riding, swam and enjoyed trying the different free drinks. We even got the chance to go zip-lining (so fun!) and visit a water park. The week went by fast but we enjoyed every minute of it. Nothing beats escaping the cold Wisconsin winter!

We were asked if we were on our honeymoon and when we said "no" they asked how long we had been married. Somehow they got the impression we were celebrating our 1 year anniversary. We were okay with that since we got champagne and chocolate cake. :)

The view from our balcony

Griffin (on the left) golfing one of Jack Nicklaus' designed courses.

Griffin (after finishing golf) and Kathleen (after finishing a morning at the Spa)

The resort was so big that they offered constant golf cart service. We tried to walk most of the time, but it was fun to hop on every once in awhile.

A view of the pool & ocean

Griffin in front of one of the Mexican buffet restaurants

Enjoying breakfast on our last day in Cancun

The Ewalds

Matt's 2nd Birthday

October 30th was Matt's 2nd birthday and we celebrated with him the weekend after at his Dinosaur party. It was a great day. He had lots of little friends over and received tons of toy dinosaurs. I cannot believe he is already 2 years old - he is growing up so fast!

the birthday boy!

Matt working on his dinosaur puzzle

me and Ricky

not sure where he found this purse.....

Kingdom Girls Reunion

My last year of college I lived with 6 other girls in a house deemed "The Kingdom" (named that for over 20 years - not sure why or how). We live in different states now but try to get together twice a year for a reunion. This October the reunion was in Milwaukee at our house. Griffin and I were so excited to host the girls. We made lots of food, served lots of wine, played games and all told many, many stories. It was a weekend full of laughter.

We hated to see the girls leave on Sunday - it was so fun having them all weekend. I can't wait for our next reunion!

Ashley, Jen, Melissa, Griffin, Kathleen

Aimo, Daisha, Liz

The Kingdom Girls

Griffin, Kathleen & Jen

Liz & Mel

Daisha, Ashley & Aimo

The Elftmann Family

The other day I received an email from one of my close girlfriends from college, Aimee. She included a picture of her sweet family and it was so cute that I had to post it on the blog.

Aimee and I were roommates our senior year of college along with 5 other girls - and the 7 of us have stayed close ever since. We try to get together at least twice a year for reunions but always try for more. All of us girls love Eric. He was our first "brother-in-law" and we love Gracie even more as she is our first "niece". Aimee and Eric are pregnant again and come early next year we'll have another addition to the group - another "niece"!

This weekend the girls are coming to Milwaukee for our Fall reunion. Griffin and I are so excited to host the girls and can't wait for them to get here!

Eric, Aimee & Grace Elftmann

Poor Ben Konop

Griffin and I have been laughing about this video for awhile now.   We've been telling friends to check it out too....so I thought I would share it on the blog.   The heckler doesn't put too much effort into his booing which makes it all the more comical.

Colleen & Ryan's Wedding

This weekend Griffin and I drove down to Illinois for my cousin's wedding.   It was a beautiful wedding, a beautiful day and an even more beautiful bride!     Here are some pictures from the day:

Siblings: me, Lauren, Ricky and Meredith

me and Griffin

me, my Mom, Lauren and Meredith

Colleen's bridal bouquet

Colleen and me

my Mom and Colleen

the beautiful bride!

my mom and my aunt Mary (mother of the bride)

Griffin and me

Lauren, me and Meredith

Pumpkin Fest!

This past weekend was the annual Pumpkin Fest down in Morton, Illinois.   Morton is the Pumpkin Capital of the world and you've never tasted true pumpkin ice cream until you've been to the Pumpkin Fest (or our wedding!).  This year the weather was perfect and we were all there to enjoy the weekend.   Griffin and Marcus ran the 10k run Saturday morning then we all enjoyed the pumpkin pancake breakfast and parade afterwards.   Our sweet niece Sydney had a ball at the festival.   She went on lots of rides and got plenty of candy at the Parade - and we all enjoyed watching her experience the joys of the Festival.  We are already looking forward to next year's P-Fest!

Sydney anxiously waiting the opening of the rides for the day.

Lots of sausage cooking for the pancake breakfast

Our good friends' little girl, Maeve Parker - she's absolutely adorable!

Our other good friends' little guy, Moses Keen.  Also absolutely adorable!

Eric and Moses Keen - getting ready for the big Pumpkin Fest Parade

Kathy and Sydney at the parade

Griffin and Sydney sitting together at the parade

Sydney enjoying candy and looking out into the parade for more.

Sydney on the train ride

Sydney riding in the fire truck - she was very good at steering!

Sydney and Marcus on the merry-go-round

Sydney enjoying a big slice of pizza from Domino's

 

Sydney at Steak n Shake

Sydney giving her Uncle Griffin a kiss to wake him up.   We were playing Sleeping Beauty and Griffin was the perfect Sleeping Beauty!   :)

Our First Anniversary!

Over the weekend Griffin and I celebrated our first anniversary downtown Chicago.  It was the perfect weekend.   Our hotel was well located and the weather was absolutely beautiful.  We had drinks outside on a rooftop, got pedicures, walked everywhere, took an architectural boat tour, went to the top of the Sears Tower, and ate at some amazing restaurants.    

Saturday night we finally got to eat at Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder!   It is a restaurant that had a spot on a Travel Channel episode on pizza about 3 years ago.   Ever since we saw it we have wanted to try it for ourselves.   This weekend we finally went and it was delicious!   They make a pizza pot pie which is different from any pizza we have tried before.   The wait was about an hour and a half - but it was well worth it!

We really enjoyed the boat tour as well.   We learned details and history about the buildings in Chicago that we never knew.   And the trip to the top of the Sears Tower was incredible!   I am not usually scared of heights but stepping out onto the plexi-glass box hanging from the 103rd story of the Sears Tower was scary.   And when the 7 year old boy next to me start jumping up and down - it was more than I could handle.   :)

Griffin and I have always had fun anniversaries - but this first one as a married couple was definitely my favorite.

Walking along the riverwalk

Behind Griffin are the Wrigley and Tribune buildings.  Both are beautiful but the Tribune Tower is one of Griffin's favorites

The famous Pizza Pot Pie (they serve it upside down)

Sunday brunch right on Michigan Avenue at the Grand Lux Cafe

Sears Tower from the river - if you look close enough you can see the plexi-glass ledges

Great shot of the double bridge (cars below & train on top)

O'Briens - one of the restaurants along the river walk that we ate at on Saturday

The boat tour went along the river and then out on to Lake Michigan

The view from Lake Michigan

On our way into the Sears Tower

A shot of Griffin's view looking down on to Wacker

Griffin stood on one ledge and I stood on the other (there are 3 and they are building a 4th).  We love this picture.   Really shows how amazing these ledges are - and scary!