Sunday, February 20, 2011

Time to celebrate!

I turned 28 on the 18th! It was a fabulous birthday, thank you all for the birthday wishes! To begin my birthday celebration I went to my Mommy's Group, which I really enjoy talking with other mom's and meeting new friends. Then I went to lunch with Benton where I got my favorite, a turkey sandwich at Potbelly Sandwich Shop...yummy! Thanks Bent for taking me out to lunch...
 
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We headed out to Chicago on Saturday to continue the celebration of me! Starting out in Bolingbrook, where I lived from the ages of 6-10. It was surreal driving past my old neighborhood and elementary school. I honestly didn't think I'd ever see it again. To my dear family, it looked really ghetto. I knew we slummed it up for a few years but in my memory it looked a little better than what I saw...scary I know. Anyways, I enjoyed driving past, I had my childhood memories swarming back to me. Here's our house and elementary school(the paint on our house was actually white and blue when we lived there.)
 

 

 
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Next adventure, Ed Debevic's! Since this was my birthday trip, I picked places from my childhood that I had great memories of. Ed Debevic's is such a different place than your use to. The waiters are suppose to be deliberately rude to you. For example, I was walking to the rest room and was in the way of a waiter so I said "Sorry!" trying to get out of their way and their reply "You should be!" It's a 50's diner and we both enjoyed the atmosphere, it was a family friendly restaurant and we really enjoyed lunch!
 

 
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After lunch we went to Navy Pier and walked around. Cute family pic by the pier...
 
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lighthouse...
 
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At Navy Pier they have shops and restaurants and as we were walking by a cute hat booth I saw my niece's picture displaying how cute the hat's were...I was shocked to say the least. I asked Benton, "Is that Reanna?" totally confused we called Aimee my sister in law and she told us that she has taken pictures for that company and used Re as a model. I loved seeing a picture of her out of the blue like that but it sure did make me miss our family! Re is the cute blond in the middle...
 
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Take a look at our view from our hotel room it's the Willis Tower formerly named the Sears Tower, it was beautiful!
 

 
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We stayed in the Greek district in Chicago, so what better to eat than Greek food? We ate at Greek Islands and it was really yummy food. Benton's dish was lamb with potatoes as seen below, it was seasoned perfectly!
 

 

 
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Today we decided to go to the Shedd Aquarium since it's a free day...little did we know it would be 1.5 hour wait...in the rain...with no blanket for Cambree...and horrible shoes for me (flats that have decorative holes in them.) So after sitting in the freezing cold for 2 minutes we decided we couldn't wait that long. So we walked to the Field Museum which is right next door. Sad that we had to pay a lot more than expected but we'll go back to the aquarium another time, I was just excited to be going to the Field Museum. When we walked in again my childhood came rushing back to me, you know how a certain smell can just make you happy because you had forgotten all about it but then you smell it and it takes you back to different time? Well that's what this museum did to me, my mom use to take us 4 kids to the museum and it brought back wonderful memories.
We first had to eat breakfast and feed our little camel...
 

 
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So once we're all fed and ready to go...what do you find at the Field Museum? Dinosaurs, 3-D movies, any animal you can think of or that ever existed...
 
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mummies...
 

 
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the bird exhibit...
 

 
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and so much more, you seriously have to come to a museum in Chicago they are unbelievable! We were sad to leave but glad we had the chance to come to Chicago again, hopefully the next time we come it'll be warmer. Here we are on our way out...
 

 

 
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It was a long day as you can tell Cambree was exhausted!
 
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It was such a fun weekend! Turning 28 wasn't so bad after all, thanks Bent!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Saying goodbye...

Benton's grandma Derielle past away on February 8th, she was 90 years old. Her and Benton's grandfather Don, who passed away last year were married for 62 years. For me their marriage was inspiring. Not many couples last that long anymore, it's sad but true. They were such a great example of true love and how if you work at your marriage you can make it last.

Benton's sister Rachelle posted this on Facebook and I thought it was pretty neat...
My grandmother Derielle picked blueberries in New Hampshire and spoke fluent French as a little girl, her parents died days apart when she was about 10, she was raised by nuns in a Catholic orphanage, as a teen she sewed linens for the White House during President Roosevelt's term, she met a man from Wyoming in D.C. and moved West........

As you can tell she went through a lot growing up. I was honored to have been her granddaughter, she was always so nice and loving to me. She was like a grandma to me, probably because she reminded me of my grams. Every time I saw her she'd always give me a big kiss and tell me she loved me. I'm really going to miss her smiling face, I loved being able to visit her and hear her stories. I'm sad I wasn't able to go to her funeral, but am happy Benton was able to fly out and be with his family.

 
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We love you grandma Deri and will miss you terribly!

So old!

Cambree turned 8 months old this past week!!! This is what she's been up to...

My little Roxy dog and Cambree have become quite close...
 
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Cambree leaning in for a kiss...
 
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Roxy not being able to control herself, she'd lick Cambree all day long if I let her...
 
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The kiss...I love how Cambree is closing her eyes...
 
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Cambree LOVES to drink out of a cup, it's adorable...
 
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Still no crawling, she is just rolling everywhere. You name it she's rolled there. She gets herself stuck under the couch, tv stand, her crib, the kitchen table, you name it...
 

 
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Right now she can get herself on her knees but then she just flops down to her belly and sticks her legs and arms out so only her belly is holding her up...it's pretty cute.
 

 

 
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Cambree is a daddy's girl, she squeals with excitement when she sees Benton, it's so darling.
 
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Can't imagine our lives without her! Love you stinker bug!

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