Christmas 2013

We had a wonderful time in Palatine at Christmas.  We got to spend 6 days having fun with Granny and Grandpa and the Chernesky's and Burke's (and we got to see and play in the SNOW!).  We also enjoyed new traditions (Chippy the giving elf!) getting ready for Christmas and the time off of school and work once we returned from our trip (during which Treehouse Masters became our new favorite show).  For more photos, click on the one below.

Our first trip to the drive-in!

A few weeks ago we spent a family night at the drive-in watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and Gravity.  It was a lot of fun and a great deal!  We look forward to going back soon.

Summer long weekend in Austin

For our last family trip before Tyler starts school we took a long weekend in Austin.  On the way, we stopped at Louie Mueller's BBQ in Taylor where I had the best BBQ that I've had since we moved here (and we mistakenly ordered 7 ribs until we discovered that they each had about 1.5 lbs of meat on them).  After that, we headed west of Austin to Enchanted Rock where we had fun hiking to the top.  The next couple of days we had fun around Austin swimming, hiking, and, of course, eating.

Click on the top photo below for more pictures.

Easter 2013

Well, since the Easter season is almost over, I thought I'd finally get around to posting our pictures.  We had a wonderful day with another outdoor egg hunt and a very fun dinner with the Raney's.  Enjoy the pictures by clicking on the photo below.

Wintertime Fun

Wow! I'm pretty behind with posting. We've had a great winter (although we're ready for Spring). The weather has been kinder than last year, but we still got two snowfalls with enough snow for the kids to play. We also took a very fun 2-day trip down to the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg. Enjoy more pictures by clicking here.


Quick update on the kids:

Megan is starting to come out of her shell (although she still needs a few days to warm up to people) and loves to sing, put everything back in its place (e.g., she LOVES to put trash in the garbage can) and is a bit stubborn at times. She still loves Elmo and Mickey Mouse (not Minnie) and loves to imitate her big brother.

Ty is still his social self, quickly making friends with anyone he meets. He just started reading and loves to show off his new skill. He is also usually very caring with Megan, trying to teach her and take care of her whenever he can.

We're looking forward to more fun times as we wrap up winter and journey into spring (how is it already March???).

Celebrating 2010

We've decided to change it up a bit this year and take our holiday letter paperless. We've once again been very blessed and decided to take this turn our holiday update into a "thankfulness letter."

We still love our home (especially since Jeff has now completed 3 bathroom remodels, a kitchen remodel, and has moved our laundry room from the first floor to the second). We are both still happy in our jobs and have both been given increased responsiblity this year (with me returning to full time). The kids are happy and healthy and attending a new school which they both seem to love.

Enjoy a glimpse into everything that made us smile this in 2010...

Note: You may need to pause the video on the text slides.

A wonderful celebration

Our last week has been full of activity and celebration. Here are some highlights:

• Granny and Grandpa Schmidt were in town all week and were a huge help. Ty loved playing numerous make-believe games with them and Megan loved being held by them.


• Tyler had his holiday show at school during which the whole class dressed up as angels and screamed a multi-cultural version of "We wish you a Merry Christmas." The words were "We wish you a happy Hanukkah, we wish you a happy Christmas, we wish you a happy Kwanzaa, and a happy new year." Tyler will now not let anyone sing the Merry Christmas version without telling them that they're singing the wrong words.


• Ty actually sat on Santa's lap--a huge accomplishment after being terrified of him the past couple of Christmases. He whispered, "May I please have a Backyardigans' DVD?"


• Tyler has memorized almost all of the words to "The Night Before Christmas". I guess it helps that we've been reading it since early November.


• We had a great Christmas dinner with Granny and Grandpa and our friends, the Bushroe's.


• We all enjoyed our best Christmas gift this year, little Megan Avery.

For photos, click here.