Happy New Year 2008!

We spent New Year's Eve with a few friends this year and had a wonderful time. We went to an Irish restaurant and had some awesome Irish food. I had the chicken pot pie and Jason had the "Taste of Ireland." We will be going back there for sure!

Steve and Jill joined us for the celebration as well. They also enjoyed the Irish restaurant considering Steve's deep Irish roots.
This is Nathan and Virgina. They are friends with Jill and Steve and we had the chance to meet them last week. We had a great time hanging out.
Yea!! Happy New Year!! (Apparently judgment becomes obsolete around 11:30 at night.) Oh, well we all had a good time wearing our alien antenna anyway!
Brian was horrified, but we got him to wear some antenna for a picture. (He literally wore them for 10 seconds.)
Jill enjoyed her antenna, but Steve was somewhat opposed -- it must be the Irish thing. Anyway, we all had a good time and look forward to having a wonderful and exciting 2008.

Class Reunion

While we were home we had the chance to attend a mini reunion. It was really fun to see some of our old classmates. Angela Gardner Miller was nice enough to open her home for the occasion which was perfect because her house is very baby proof and the parents could relax and visit with each other.
Here are all the kids from the party. It was really fun because there are so many kids around the same age. From left to right --Jackson, Megan, Brooke, Christian, Sven, Gracie, and Logan.

Merry Christmas

Today we had a wonderful time opening presents, eating, and visiting with family, but we wouldn't have been able to do it without the sacrifice that Christ made by coming to Earth as a baby. In our bulletin in church on Sunday it said something that I thought was quite profound. It said that only God could have come up with Christmas. When man thinks of great, we think of Superman or Capitan Marvel, but no man would have ever thought that somebody that would change the course of history in such a total and complete way would enter this world as a baby in a manger.

Luke 2:The Birth of Jesus

1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.

4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ^[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace and good will toward men."

15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Santa Breakfast at Macy's

This weekend Jason's mom and Emily came in to take Logan to the Santa breakfast at Macy's. It was really nice. We had a wonderful time. They do a really good job with entertaining the kids and keeping it fun. Santa and Mrs. Claus come to everyone's table and they have lots of fun activities for all.
Logan and Grandma Gies had fun running around while Mommy waited in line to see Santa. Logan was dancing to the music and watching all the other kids.
Logan kept us both busy. He was, and always is, amazed by everything.
I love the Tiffany ceiling. The old Marshal Fields building is so beautiful. I really love the atmosphere down there at Christmas time.
We went to the FAO Schwartz store at Macy's. It was packed. They have such cool and unique toys.
I found the perfect man! As you can see this Batman was huge, but so was his price tag -- $27,000!
Standing out in front of the Macy's. The windows are done with the Nutcracker theme.

Christmas in Chicago

On Sunday we met with all the Chicago folks and we ate, of course, and then we exchanged gifts. Logan had a great time and he loved all the presents he got. Jason and I loved seeing everyone open their gifts and seeing the reactions of the recipients. We also received many wonderful gifts as well. It is fun spreading the holiday out for so long! Eric played Santa and helped Logan open his gifts. Logan is starting to get the idea, but he still sometimes takes a really long time to open his gifts.
Paul always jokes about going to the Bugle Boy store, so we got him some Bugle Boy khakis. They aren't as nice as Bugle Boy jeans, but they are still awesome!
Hadley was all dressed up for the occasion. She is so cute and she doesn't mind the hat so much. She is getting very big. Recently she has started sitting up by herself.
Sarah got this really cool game that was fun to watch and play. Paul had a definite disadvantage considering it was all about color though.
All of the kids had a fun time seeing each other and we were glad we were able to share this time with them together.

Happy Thanksgiving

Every year I enjoy Thanksgiving a little bit more. Yes, there is a lot of work cooking and getting everything ready, but there isn't the pressure of gift giving or anything else. It is just time spent with ones we love. Time spent to look at all the things we have as blessings, which is a good reminder as we start the season of buying. Mom, Sarah, Dad, and Logan hanging out on the couch. Logan really enjoyed having a large audience to watch his antics.
Jason fried our turkey. It was awesome! He injected it with flavoring and that made the outside black, but it was definitely the best tasting turkey I have ever had.
If I could put one collective thought bubble over everyone's heads it would be, "Hurry and take the picture. We are hungry!"
I love this picture of Logan running from Sarah. He loves having his cousin's attention.
Hannah and Stephanie were playing the game of Life. The kids really enjoyed playing games and hanging out together. The adults spent time talking and watching football.
I saw an idea in a magazine to make a "thankful" tree. It was really nice to see all the things that everyone was thankful for.
My nephew Kristopher was able to get a ride up from Bob Jones to be with us for Thanksgiving. Here he is with Hadley.

Vacation Fun

We just came back from a short trip to Cancun, Mexico. It was super relaxing and enjoyable. We went with several friends from all over the country. We stayed at an all inclusive resort and spent most of our time either eating or lounging by the pool. Jason went on an snorkeling/powerboat driving excursion with most of the group while Heather M. and I stayed back and painted at the resort. Anyway, here are some pictures of our trip. There will be more later. I let others take some of the pictures for us rather than having everyone take the same picture on five different cameras.


The color of the water is indescribable. There are so many shades of blue and green. It was amazing!

It was fun hanging out together as well as hanging around will everyone else.
For our morning breakfast we ate at the morning buffet, then for lunch we either ate at the lunch buffet by the ocean or at the little lunch bars. For dinner we went to several of the nicer resturants. The food was good but the presentation was really cool!

Hanging by the beach. The water was warm, but the beach was a little rocky. Much of the good sand was ripped away by the hurricane.
Dinner with Steve L., Phill, and Matt Tracey
Jason and Steve M.
Candace and Phill after dinner one evening

Happy Halloween!

Boo! Boo! Boo!

Happy Halloween from the Gies family. You can figure out which pumpkin belongs to which family member.

Jason and I carved pumpkins last night with no help from Logan or Lucy. Logan kept wanting to empty to garbage can and Lucy was eating the pumpkin guts that hit the floor.

This is Logan's costume. He is one very cute little chicken boy. We have been working on walking down the street so we don't have to crawl! Check out Logan's blog to see more picture of him.

Here's what's up with us.

Well, we have been pretty busy lately. Logan is walking now and he is keeping us pretty busy. Having him walking is fun because he can get around when we are out without crawling on the ground. He still wants to crawl on the floor at the mall and the library (much to my chagrin) but he is getting better at walking all over. He attempted to escape from our little class at the library on Thursday, but I am still faster! Yesterday went for a walk and Logan walked for two houses (with a lot of falling down in between.) He has got to get better than that before Halloween, but I think he will be okay. He loves to run around the nursery at church. He loves going there now. For awhile he wasn't quite sure, but he is fine with going now. Jason has been working hard and has been taking some training classes this week at work. I have been keeping busy cooking and running errands. I have been looking for some students to tutor as well. All in all, we are having a fabulous fall!

"Best friends" Logan and Lucy. I don't think they could get any farther apart for the picture.
Here is Logan sitting with our pumpkins and our corn stalks.
Here is our house offically decked out for Halloween. Notice the silhouettes in the front window as well as the crazy "demon-eyed" dog.
I had some time a few weeks ago so I painted part of Logan's room. I still have two more walls to do but I finished the fish in the tree wall. I also wrote the saying around the top of the wall. It says, "Today is gone. Today is done. Tomorrow is another one. Everyday from here to there, funny things are everywhere."

A Visit From Em

This post is a little late, but better late then never, right? Emily came to visit last weekend and we had a great time. On Friday we hung out, watched TV, and went to the mall. On Saturday my parents, who were also in town, came and picked up Logan. Jason, Emily, and I went downtown. Em hadn't been downtown in a long time so we gave her the tour.We are standing in Millennium Park looking at some of the skyscrapers.
This is the Trump building that Bill Rancic is working on. They will be opening up the lower portion before the top is finished.
Jason and Emily standing under the Bean.

Edy and Em at the Bean.