Chicago

During Univeristy of Michigan's winter break we decided to take a quick, weekend trip to Chicago since we hadn't spent much time there yet. It was a prrrreetty cold weekend to be out and about but it beats staying indoors with two (er, three) rambunctious boys! :)

As soon as we drove into the city our first stop was the Lincoln Park Zoo. It is one of the few free zoos left in the country. Some of the exhibits were pretty cool because they outlined where the cages used to be. It was sad to see where the enclosures once were. But, I am so glad to see how much zoos have changed for the better. We all had a great time!

The next day we went to the Shedd Aquarium which was AWESOME. It was so big and full of amazing sea life! We got to see sharks, a beluga whale, penguins, dolphins, every fish imaginable, etc. It was very diverse and there were some neat activity areas for kids to play. Oliver and Calum's favorite was the penguin play area. There were penguin costumes, fake ice slides, penguin nests to sit in, etc. for kids to waddle around right next to the penguin exhibit. It was so cute!

We also went to the Field Museum and were blown away by how many things there were to see! We were especially excited about the Terracotta Warriors exhibit, the dinosaur exhibit and (my favorite) seeing the famous man-eating lions of Tsavo. It was pretty creepy standing right next to the lions who once hunted down and ate 135 railroad workers in Kenya. I loved it!

The other thing I want to say is how great the food was! We ate deep dish Chicago style pizza one night and the other day we stood in line for almost an hour to eat at The Angry Crab, which was SO GOOD. It is a Cajun boil place where you order seafood by the pound and tell them which spices you want it boiled with. We ordered crab legs and mussels. Then they bring it out in giant plastic bags which you can dump on your table or eat out of the bag and throw all your trash on the table. It was the most messy and delicious meal. Definitely unforgettable!

At the Lincoln Park Zoo

Oliver loved the sharks 

Post deep dish pizza coma

Our hotel was a really cool, historic building with very lavish ceilings and decor.

At the Field Museum with my loves

Calum and Oliver enjoyed the front steps more than the inside. haha! Figures...

Seeing the Terracotta warriors exhibit was really cool!

Calum napping on the go! Poor kid...

Standing in line at The Angry Crab was SO worth it!

The mussels were to die for!

Calum's 1st Birthday!!!

My baby is 1. Part of me is mourning the loss of his precious first year... I will never have his adorable, chubby baby self again. But, another part of me is celebrating his growth and how much more fun he is now that he is becoming a functional human being! ;) In another few years he will be hiking mountains with his own two legs, swimming in the ocean without me fearing he might drown and setting up his own little tent to sleep in... the older he gets the more adventures we can share!

I know everyone says that time flies... but MAN! This last year really has disappeared on me. I cannot believe my little baby Calum is 1 year old! Calum is such a special boy who just radiates goodness! I have always felt that he is a kind soul and as much as I don't want him to grow up, I also look forward to seeing the person he will someday become. 

He currently has 6 teeth, he says around 10 words on a regular basis (Mama, Dada, Bruh bruh... short for brother, bottle, no, hi, more, water, dog, woof, more, etc.), he eats EVERYTHING, he is a speedy crawler and he loves to walk along walls and furniture. He definitely has an explorative nature and he is a very determined boy when he wants something! For instance, Oliver used to get away with snatching a toy from Calum and walking away. But, now Calum will chase him down and take the toy back by force! haha! It has started to cause some strife... but overall, they get along wonderfully! 

Calum fits right into our family of explorers! He loves nature, going on lots of walks outside and all kinds of animals! He especially loves aquatic life (which could just be because of the bright colored fish and bubbles and what not). So, since he loves aquatic life so much we decided to spend his birthday at the Toledo Zoo and Aquarium. He loved touching all the sting rays and horseshoe crabs and seeing the sharks and sea turtles. And, he especially loved our new wagon and riding around like a big boy with Oliver!

Later that day we invited a bunch of friends over to sing "Happy Birthday" with us and eat the gigantic (by accident) cake that I made. Oliver was so excited about the cake because he helped me with some of the decorating and he knew that the inside was rainbow. He couldn't wait to dig into it! 

Overall, it was a really great 1st birthday celebration! We could tell that Calum knew it was a special day. He was smiling from ear to ear all day long. We sure love our little Calum man!

Brothers!

I love his toothy little grin!

Calum loves aquatic life!

Oliver actually smiling for a picture?!

The new ride! 

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Calum!

It didn't take him long to figure out a better way to eat his cake!

Christmas Time!

Christmas was so magical this year! Oliver loved every bit of the season. We made so many cookies together, read lots of books about Santa, made gingerbread houses, drove to see Christmas lights, made an igloo in the fresh snow, visited Santa, wrote Santa a letter, etc. 

At our house, we try to keep Christmas simple and fun and, most importantly, focused on Christ! Yes, we do buy gifts for each other... but we try to limit our spending and use our money on family activities instead of buying things. We have a family motto: we collect experiences, not things! And, we try to stay true to that even during Christmas time. 

Every year on Christmas Eve we attend the Live Nativity Pageant at The First Congregational Church of Ann Arbor. It is so much fun! They re-inact the birth of Jesus with all the children from the church and also with live animals (inside the church!!) including camels and donkeys. It is so much fun. It is also really spiritual as we all sing Christmas songs and listen to the story of Jesus. 

Then we head home and have a candlelit "Dinner in Bethlehem" where we eat lentil stew, fattoush, hard bread, etc. and we read about the birth of Jesus in the Bible. It is always a nice, simple evening that is focused on the Savior. 

On Christmas day we opened presents and had a big breakfast. Then we immediately started cleaning and making sure last minute things were taken care of before we headed to the airport to fly to SLC. We spent the next 10 days in Idaho visiting both sides of our families. We had a really great time!

At our church Christmas party

Pants-less boys decorating the Christmas tree

We made homemade gingerbread for gingerbread houses and Oliver ate the whole thing the next day!

The tree provided hours of entertainment for this guy!

They like each other a little bit.... :)

I taught Oliver how to play "Elves in Santa's workshop" and he loved it!

At least Oliver had a nice visit with Santa!

Christmas Eve Day

Christmas Eve Live Nativity Pageant

After the pageant we have a candlelit "Dinner in Bethlehem" at home

We eat lentil stew, artisan bread, fattoush, etc. and we read the story of Jesus' birth from the Bible!

Oliver was so excited to leave cookies and milk for Santa

Then we read a few Christmas books

Christmas was so fun with Oliver this year! He was super excited for Christmas morning!

The boys were spoiled spoiled spoiled!!!

Christmas Recital

My students performed so well at our bi-annual recital this December. I have been teaching some of these students for a few years now and seeing their progress is such a reward to me. And some of my students just began lessons this Fall and were performing for an audience for the first time. I was so proud of each of them and their hard work to prepare for this performance!

My studio (minus 3 students)

Chocolate Mexican spice cake with vanilla bean buttercream

I always love making cakes for my recitals and the kids always love eating them! :)