I'm back!

So...man...it's been a crazy couple of weeks! I feel so bad for it taking me so long to post these pictures...but life happens and you have to deal with it. :) After our travels and family visit Alia got pretty sick. She had a high fever for almost a week and it ended up being tonsillitis. The DR was pretty surprised it wasn't strep because of how nasty her throat looked. She went back to school for one day...and then didn't go back until two days ago. In the midst of caring for Elijah, working a TON of hours and trying to keep up with housework and meals, I made it my job to snuggle and comfort Alia. She was in a lot of pain so we filled her up with Tylenol and Advil and she watched a ton of videos: Cars, Care Bears movie, My Little Pony movie, Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo...and many other Backyardigans, etc.
We're just now starting to get back to normal (aside from me getting a migraine today).
So that's our deal as of now. Enjoy the pictures of our travels!

Jan 5

So, if you didn't know it, Jan 5 was my birthday. I had a pretty fun day. We spent the morning in Fresno because we had to take my sister in law and nieces to the airport. They were with us the week after we got back from Chicago. The cousins had a TON of fun together. They already miss each other.
Jason had a special dinner planned for my birthday. He kept it all a secret until it was time to be revealed-basically until we showed up at the restaurant. He had three friends of mine there (with their hubbies) and it was a fun surprise! We ate at a Japanese Tepanyaki restaurant (like Bennihanas) and it was sooo yummy. It was extra special to me because Jason had been planning it for weeks. He did a great job! Way to go husby!


Cayley and Elijah.
Alia and Avery.
Happy Birthday to me!!!
Here was my special cheesecake.

a variety of pictures

We went for a visit to Great Grandma's house. She had much joy in pushing Elijah around on her walker. Too cute!


Here's Alia holding her first puppy...this was a puppy of some friends.



Jason's parents had a set of Lincoln Logs. Alia enjoyed making the roofs on the houses we made...while Elijah enjoyed knocking the houses down. :)

Alia and daddy on the airplane to Chicago!


The kids...opening presents at Grandma & Grandpa B's house.


We went to the Winter Wonderland Train exhbit at the Bontanic Gardens. It was amazing to see all of the trains!


Jason and I took a date DAY! We did some shopping and ate at our favorite places: Dengeo's (an american/greek gyro fast food sit down place...we used to eat there all the time) and Twin Anchors (a YUMMY rib joint that is a local bar...we waited over an hour to be sat...it was worth it!)


While we were on our date day the sky let forth a TON of snow! This is the first snow man the kids got to make. Grandma & Grandpa took them outside to play in the snow, build a snowman, and get pulled around on a sled.

Shedd Aquarium

Jason's parents took us to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium. The kids had a blast looking at all of the animals. They really enjoyed the dolphin show. We had a fun day exploring.



The kids were fascinated with the fish, whales and dolphins they could see in the aquariums.



There was a lizard exhibit...I thought this would be a cute pictures.



Here's how tall Elijah ISN'T! :)

Dec 24

Before we left for Chicago we opened gifts at our house ont he 24th. We woke up and pretended it was Christmas morning. The kids were sooo excited about the things they got. Afterwards we went to McDonalds for breakfast and I left to go to work after that.



Here's Elijah and some of his goodies. His new chair and tray, his hot wheels carrier and his new workbench. :)



Alia LOVES her new My Little Pony things. She got this Pony Ice Cream Truck and she also got a Ponyville play set, too. She loves them!


Grammpa Jim sent Alia a new silver B of A piggy bank! Here she is proudly displaying it. She has started collecting coins to go inside.



Elijah got some Thomas the Train pull back trains. A hit in our house.