Chicago, IL (Anniversary!)

For some reason all the pictures uploaded as html so I can't tell where to put the captions... so the format of this entry will be all text, and then all pictures. Sorry if it's less interesting!

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Aaron had a business trip out to Chicago, so he took me with him and we celebrated our anniversary there!! It was so much fun!! Aaron was LOVING it because they filmed a lot of the Dark Knight there, so he kept recognizing all the parts of the city where they made the movie. And while we were there, we ran into Oprah's 24th Season Kick Off Party, so we went! It was pretty much a big concert on Michigan Avenue. There was Black-eyed Peas, James Taylor, Jennifer Hudson, and Rascal Flats! It was my first concert!!! We had so much fun!!

We also went to Navy Pier and went on the Swings, rode the Ferris Wheel, and played Mini Golf. Aaron beat me at mini golf by ONE POINT! So lame... :) It was a lot of fun!! We got ice cream cones and walked around, it was really cute. We also saw a funny sign that said that McDonald's was the future. Aaron was cracking up over it, lol.

For our anniversary Aaron took me out to a nice Italian restaurant and we went to the Hancock Observatory. It was REALLY nice!! Then we went back to the hotel to eat our wedding cake... that's a sad/funny story... we transported the cake topper all the way from where we were married in Seattle to O'Fallon, IL. I carried the cake on my lap on for the entire two flights back home. Then when we moved from our apartment to our new house, I made a separate trip in my car just to get the cake topper from freezer to freezer as quickly as possible. So after all of that... we had to transport the cake topper once again to Chicago. So we went and bought a cooler and some ice and put the ice and the cake in the cooler and drove to Chicago! The ice was in a bag and the cake was in a bag. Stupid me.. both bags were porous! Anyway... the ice melted and the cake ended up soaking in water for three days. So when we went to get the cake from the cooler... it was a soaking wet mess! I tried to dry it out...but it was beyond repair. We still each had a bite of it, just to keep up tradition! But it tasted like dirty water :( It was pretty funny though!

So Chicago was fantastic! We also went to Madison on our way home to meet up with Aaron's parents for a football game! I don't have those pictures right now though, so I'll post on that later. Of course when we got home, we rented the Dark Knight and we had a lot of fun recognizing all the places we had just been!

Enjoy the pictures. :) There's a video at the end of me trying to show how gross and wet our cake was... it didn't turn out too well, but oh well!

Parker, CO

In August Aaron and I went to Parker, CO to see my family before they moved to Germany. It was kind of a mini-reunion because almost everyone came! We were missing Courtney and her kids, Amber, Stacia, Kaisha, Austin and Aunt Debbie. I did get to see Stacia later though! It was really fun to see everyone and be reminded that I still have family around even though my parents went to Germany. It was supposed to be a weekend thing, but my mom ended up in the hospital while we were there! Some complications with her previous surgery. She was having a really hard time. Things have finally all straightened out and she's doing very well now, but we were all concerned for her! And the vacation definitely got an unexpected extension!!
Here are a couple pictures...

The DeLaMare family! Greg, Lisa, Tanya, Kym, Grammy, Mom, Papa

Me and my Dad :)

Me and my baby sister, Macy! (she's in her PJs)

Also, when my parents drove out to Colorado, they brought a few of my things with them!! So I got some childhood items back :) I took some pictures, just for fun...

My dollhouse!! The furniture is pictured below. When I was about six, I was at a garage sale with my mom and we were looking for fanny packs, but I saw the dollhouse! I asked for it, but she said I had to choose between the furniture or the house because of the price. So I picked the furniture and we bought it and left. The next day, the family who had the garage sale showed up at our house with the dollhouse and just gave it to me! I remember opening the door to see two little girls holding the dollhouse with huge smiles on their faces. It was amazing! I spent HOURS with that dollhouse over the years. I love it! So it's really fun to have it back. Maybe my daughters will play with it some day :)My mom found this book and some old baby blankets of mine. So she gave them to me for my kids! (Do I sense some hints?? haha jk) Isn't the signature adorable?? lol :)

When we lived in Germany when I was about 12, I went on a dish run with my mom and a bunch of women and my mom bought me some dishes for my hope chest! I wasn't allowed to have them until I got married, so I hadn't seen them since we bought them and it was so much fun to finally get them!! I love the little fruit and flower border. They're so "country kitchen" :) This is a picture of the first meal I served on my dishes!! (Ignore the fork...)

And finally.... the surgery that my mom had that gave her complications was her hysterectomy and in some kind of celebration of freedom, she handed over ALL her old feminine products to me. And the best part is the bag that she put them all in for me... haha!! My dad got it at some kind of conference, and never thought to read it, so he brought it home and suggested my mom use it as a church bag. Good thing my mom read it first!!