Chicago '12

I went to Chicago last week to attend a physical therapy conference.  It was a really great learning experience where I was able to attend a lot of classes and see new things related to the field of physical therapy.  I was also able to enjoy a few of the sights and smells of the Windy City.

I did have some of their famous deep dish pizza, and if anyone asks you...Giordano's is by far the best place to get it.  I only had one Chicago style hot dog and to be honest, it wasn't everything I had dreamed of...but it was only one place, so I'll probably have to give the other places a shot the next time I go.

I did experience a wide variety of public transit.  It never ceases to amaze me at the kinds of people you meet while on the ride.  The subway was pretty nice, but I was surprised at how many apartments we rode by on our way into town.  I don't know that I would ever be able to get used to that if I lived there.  I did fear for my life once while riding in a taxi.  We were on our way to the airport, not in a hurry by the way, but the taxi driver I think thought we were, because he was going like 55 mph, swerving between cars and honking at them if they got in his way the whole way to our destination.  Needless to say, I was glad to get out of the car.

All in all, it was a good experience.  It was cold, I mean it was mid February, so that was expected, but it was good.

Our Little Addiction

Barrett Jackson's Scottsdale car auction was held this past week and although I wouldn't call ourselves car enthusiasts we couldn't help but get sucked into watching it for the entire week.  Maybe it's Truman's addiction of cars that has rubbed off on us OR maybe it was a combination of the really cool cars along with the absolutely ridiculous amounts of money the people were bidding to purchase them.

For example, the first picture you see is of a 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge that sold for $64,900.  My dad used to have one of these cars when he was younger...sure wish you hadn't sold that one dad.  The next picture is of a 1958 Chevy Corvette (Julie's favorite car is a 1957 Chevy Corvette Stingray) that went for $82,500...chump change!  The next is of one of my favorite cars, a 1971 Dodge Challenger.  It went for $85,800.  Lastly, the 1954 Mercedes Benz 300SL, went for a cool $2.2 mill.  Throughout the week the auction made over $80 million, a nice little sum in a week I'd say.

So although they're dream cars, that's probably the only place we'll ever own or get to drive one...in our dreams.

Christmas 2012

We headed down to Scottsdale when Rick was done with finals and spent his break there warming up. We did Christmas Eve with my Dad's side and Christmas day with my Mom's side as usual. We did Christmas Eve at Bill's house and he had some awesome Mexican food for everyone and we did our usual gift exchange, which I love. And then Christmas Day we had our traditional Christmas ham and buffett over at the old folks place and did a lot of visiting out on the porch.

We had Christmas morning to ourselves (my parents were volunteering at Randolph) before we headed to Church. Truman knew who Santa was this year, but he didn't really understand what Santa does, which was fine by me. But he did like opening up presents. We let him open his stocking and his little presents before Church and left his big present for after Church.

Christmas Eve

 Bran wearing Amanda's gift from the gift exchange while she was on the crapper.

 Uncle Chuck made Truman this awesome little table and Grandma Barbara helped paint it.

Christmas Day

 We snagged this life jacket for bear and coco at a second hand store and couldn't pass it up.

For my immediate family, this year we did a "Craigslist" Christmas. For us this meant that whatever you gave as a gift had to be second hand or handmade. I really thought it was a fun idea and thought that all of the gifts were very unique and thoughtful. I think someone mentioned that we should do it again next year and I am all for it. I had a lot of fun trying to think of what I could make or find second hand. One of my favorite moments was when Amanda was opening the gift I had made her (it was a bag) and when she pulled it out Truman was standing right there in front of her and he said, "Wow!"  Here is something Stef made for Truman and what my mom got from Amanda.

And finally, Truman got spoiled by his Uncle Brannon and Aunt Amanda...

All in all it was a great Christmas. I enjoyed going to Church on Christmas Day to remind me of what we are really celebrating and as always the best part of the season is spending time with family and reflecting on the things that are most important. I am grateful for my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and for all of the many blessings that I have been given through their grace and mercy.

Harry Potter ?

Heavenly Father or Harry Potter? You be the judge...

Nap Time???

We put Truman down for a nap at my parents one day, but he had fallen asleep in the car for a little bit before hand. Thus, he wasn't super tired and we could hear him playing in there, which was fine, then he was quiet for 20 minutes or so and we figured he had gone to sleep...but here is what I found when I went to wake him up.

My response, "Ummm, Rick, we have a situation in here!" Then, I wanted to laugh, but didn't want T to think it was a good thing, so went into the explanation of how we only color on paper, not walls, doors, toys, beds, shoes, carpet or our bodies....always an awesome parenting moment when you are trying to hold in the laughter. Of course I was slightly panicked at first because it's not my house. Luckily it was dry erase marker so it came off of all of the toys and books really easily, it also came off of the door and wall with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. It came up pretty easily from the carpet as well. The only permanently damaged item was the sheet. My parents thought it was hilarious and mostly wanted to know if I had taken pictures.

Santa Claus 2011

Truman went to the Bass Pro Shop to see Santa Claus this year. To be honest with you, I don't really know which he liked more, Santa Claus or all of the boats, quads, fish, stuffed animals and carousel that were on display. There was a long wait to see old Saint Nick, so in the mean time we perused the store enjoying what the store had to offer.

or...

hmmm...

Train Park 2011

Scottsdale has a park where there is a little train that is capable of giving rides to kids and their families. Every year around Christmas they deck the park out with Christmas decorations and invite Disney characters and other kid favorites such as Tigger, Elmo, Cookie Monster and some Polar Bear to help entertain the kiddos. There is a carousel, a playground, a couple of train cars that are open to the public to walk through and a large open space in a building for model trains to run around in. Although we didn't get to ride on the train that night (the line went out the park), we had a great time with the family (Cross' and Gunnell's).