Auto Show 2009

Last night we went to the Chicago Auto Show. We had a great time and saw some nice cars. The Chicago Auto show is very different from the Detroit show, but was still worth going.

Logan liked seeing all the cars and running around, but he really didn't like getting in the cars. He would freak out and cry if we put him in one. Here is Logan and Jason in one of the Cadillacs.

Logan and Edy in front of the Converj, the car that Jason's dad worked on at GM.

This is probably my favorite car at the show, well maybe it tied with the Camero. That was pretty awesome too.

Jason's dad worked on the interior. Logan liked the idea that Papa "built" this car.

Logan really liked this little car. He wanted to climb the little fence and go behind the wall.

Bumblebee from the Transformers movie - untransformed.

Bumblebee transformed. This is probably my favorite car from the show. It is awesome!

This is the Corvette Stingray concept. It is also in the new Transformers movie.

One of Jason's very cool car photos - notice the Stingray detail.

Jason in his dream car - the Chevy Camero.

The Jeep exhibit had a trial drive for small kids. Logan loved it!
The helmet was a little tight. Shocking!

This is one of Logan's poses. He was so excited to be driving in the car. He thought he was such a big boy.
Jason had to supervise Logan and help him steer.

According to Jason, Logan is a terrible driver. He mostly enjoyed crashing.

We enjoyed sticking Jill in vehicles that she would never drive including a mini-van, a pick up truck, and a Sprinter.

We loved the Mini-Cooper convertible.

This Ferrari is gorgeous!

Even though we weren't there for the charity preview we still saw some celebrities including the transformers and the little bug. Das Auto.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's weekend was really fun for us. You can check out Logan's blog to see what he did, but we had a good time as well. Hannah spent the weekend with us so Jason and I took advantage of her excellent babysitting skills and went out for dinner on Friday night with just the two of us. (Eating slowly without someone pulling on me is a treat in itself!) Valentines morning we had a pink breakfast with blood orange juice, strawberry waffles, and strawberries.

Later that evening Jill Lagger had a dinner party for a few couples. It was Jill and Steve, Matt and Jill Scalzetti, and Jason and I. She made steak, potatoes, and green beans. I brought desert. Once again it was great sharing adult conversation without being interrupted.

The table looked very professional and beautiful.

I brought the cake. It is a variation on Baked Alaska and it is Jason's favorite.

I am surrounded by Jill! Seriously this is Jill, Edy, and Jill. They were roommates at Bob Jones.

Steve and Jill

Matt and Jill

Jason and Edy

Teaching at 4H

Last week I had the exciting opportunity to visit the 4H group that my sister and nieces participate in. This year they have been studying China. They have done projects, learned phrases, and tried the food. Below you can see them all in their costumes.
Hannah is on the far left with the fan and Sarah is on the right in the back with the umbrella.

I brought a lot of my stuff from China and passed it around. I really enjoyed teaching again. It is definitely something I will always have a passion for. The kids seemed to enjoyed it and I tried hard to keep it interesting and relevant to them.

I was so glad that Gwendolyn had asked me to do this. I love being close to her and seeing her often.
While I was talking Logan occupied "Aunt Gen" with running up and down the halls of the church where the group meets. After it was over, Logan found the "Lucky Duck" game that the girls had made.

Christmas Part II

This post is made up of the pictures from our time at the Gies's house.

As soon as Logan walked in the door he saw the tree and train. Papa showed Logan the train and Logan loved it. He laid on the floor and just starred!
Bobbie laid on the floor with Logan and watched the train with him. Logan absolutely loved it. It was very sweet to watch.

After a couple of days of train watching Logan found even more fun ways to play with the train. He and Papa would line up the big toys and they would watch the train go around together.

The little toys would ride on the train and Logan would say hi every time they drove by. If you look closely you can see the open box car with the little cars in it. The picture below is a close up of the little people on the train car.

Who doesn't love a train ride?

Logan also had a great time playing with Papa. Again, look closely and you will see that Logan is in the bucket of toys that Joe is dragging around.

One night Jason and I went out and Bobbie and Logan baked cookies for Santa. Logan was very specific and he was careful to place sugar on each cookie.

He had so much fun doing this. He still talks about baking cookies for Santa. He was very proud of this accomplishment.

Christmas morning was very fun. We opened so many presents. Logan got overwhelmed because he would open one very cool toy than that would be ripped from his hands only to open another cool toy. He got into the ripping and even enjoyed helping others open their gifts.

A favorite toy for Logan was actually Jason's gift. Jason's mom gave him a Mr. Bill toy that Logan just loved. He would do the little voice and everything. "Oh no, Mr. Bill!"

Uncle David bought Logan this monstrosity. Logan played with it for awhile then all the cousins had a blast in it. It is kind of a soccer field plus ball pit.

We had a fabulous dinner made mostly by Nancy. The kids enjoyed their table and playing together.

We took the opportunity to take some family pictures. Logan was not in the best of moods as you can see here.

Everyone was taking pics at the same time. It was hard to tell which camera to look at.

Jason's cousin Jed had a really nice camera with a timer so we all squeezed together for a big group shot. (This is almost the entire Cusimano clan. We are just missing Jay's family.)

The little cousins all opened their gifts together. There are so many around the same age. It is a blast watching them all play together.

Haley really wanted a pony so Dave gave her this one he won at Dave and Busters. She loved it, obviously!

At the end of the evening the kids settled in the family room and watched Ratatouille. You can see this was an intense part of the show!

We had so much fun seeing everyone and spending this wonderful time of the year together.

Christmas Part I

Well, we have had a lot going on the last few weeks. I have almost 400 pictures so it is rather hard to condense them into a few blog posts. I will break it up and post as many pictures as possible. This post centers around pictures from all the Booth family members coming in for my parents 50th wedding anniversary party.

Mom and Dad opening presents.

Josh and Hadley. Hadley had a great time seeing all her cousins and they enjoyed seeing her too!

On Christmas Day Logan opened presents with my sister Gwendolyn and he loved playing with everyone at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

My dad, "Grandpa Motorcycle" got a motorcycle riding Santa clause who sings, "Born to Be Wild. from my aunts. Logan thought it was very cool.

Logan wanted to wear Gwendolyn's Santa hat, but only when he was opening presents. After that he insisted everyone else try it on.

Christy and Stephanie

It was really fun watching all the "kids" open their presents. The "kids" are much older than they were last time we were all together. Now some are in college and Stephen has graduated. It is still fun watching everyone interact and hang out together.

Stephen and Emily

Eric and Ryan

Hadley enjoyed opening her presents. She really enjoyed reading this book.

Zach doesn't get enough snow at home in Phoenix so Fred let him get up close and personal with this snow pile. (Yes, that blue blob under Fred is Zach.)

We had a fun gift exchange and my dad ended up with this hard hat. He gave it to Logan who enjoyed banging on his head with the hat on.

Hadley

Hannah, Kristopher, and Sarah

Christy and Kristopher