Grandpa's 86th Birthday Party

We were able to celebrate my Grandpa's 86th birthday with a party at my uncle Ray & aunt Debbie's house. We played bingo, had some great food and my Grandpa got lots of Panera gift cards (his favorite place to enjoy a cup of coffee). Griffin enjoyed playing The Simpson's Pinball game with my nephew Matt.

playing some Pinball

family photo

Johnson family photo

Ornament Exchange

Some of us girls got together for an ornament exchange. We went out to dinner and then drew numbers for a grab bag exchange. It was a lot of fun and I got to take home a beautiful ornament for our tree. In next year's picture we'll have to hold up the ornament that we got to keep.

Thanksgiving 2009

This year's Thanksgiving was a busy one. We first celebrated with my side of the family on Thanksgiving day and also on Friday. The food, as usual, was extremely delicious. I don't know how my Mom does it - cooking for that many people! On Friday the boys came over for a visit since they didn't come over for Thanksgiving. Jack absolutely loves his Superman outfit and could not wait to show it off for us. I tried to get better pictures but he moves so fast in the outfit that it was hard to catch a good shot of him. Matt was feeling a little sick so we got some good cuddle time with him on the couch while watching a couple of his shows.

Then on Saturday and Sunday we celebrated Thanksgiving with the Ewalds at Marcus and Kathy's house. Also delicious food! Kathy made a butternut squash soup that was the best I ever had. We tried to take a family photo for the Christmas card but we're having a hard time getting Sydney to smile big for the picture. We realized later that all she wanted was to put on her "pretty" dress and once she got changed she was all smiles. We walked around Naperville a little seeing the decorations and checking out the land that will be the future home for Kathy, Marcus and Sydney - very exciting.

The holiday was busy, but very fun. We were so blessed to get to see both sides of the family. It worked out perfectly.

Superman

Matt & Griffin watching Bob the Builder

Griffin & Matt

Now Kathleen's turn to cuddle with Matt - poor little guy had a cough and a fever

Grandpa Rudy, Grandma Paula & Sydney

Trying to take the family photo while all wearing red - Sydney wanted her pretty dress on though

Another try......

Sydney all smiles now that she has her pretty dress on! And isn't she adorable!?!

Walking around the new neighborhood in Naperville

Sydney kissing the Christmas tree - she loved all the lights and ornaments

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