Family, Food, FUN...

Luis and Rachelle brought the boys up and spent a quick weekend with us and it was far too short, but so fun! They came up on Sunday and we had a chance to just talk for a while. The boys loved our Planet Earth series, which worked out well for us because I was loving getting to chat.  We went to the Shedd Aquarium and had a blast, and also went for pizza. How can you not?! I seriously love their little family and loved getting to spend some time with them, no matter how short. Rachelle and I even got a nice little walk on Michigan Ave, while retrieving some Garrett's popcorn; Well deserved girl time, while the boys were taken for a fun trip to Fry's. Oh, the little boys went too... Rachelle and I hit up JoAnn's fabrics because she is a rockstar and getting really great at quilting. (Rachelle, I mean. Although I am sure JoAnn is good, too.) We then stayed up late chatting as" only us Wegers" know how! Ha. We had such a great time and hope to see them again soon. I swear I go through withdrawals every time they leave. Here's a mess load of pictures that get me through those tough times! Enjoy... 

 Jackson was being so funny. I was in the other room and when I came out, look at what he had done so silently in the kitchen! He wanted a better runway for his planes on our dining room table and seriously did not make a sound moving all the chairs into the kitchen. So cute. 

 Monday we took our favorite little peeps out for some Chicago dogs, and the world's best crinkle cut fries! I finally caught a rare Jacob smile... What a stud. HE was flirting with a table of girls across the way--looks like trouble.

 Maybe I am an awful person, but this was HILARIOUS...Jackson smacked his head super hard against the glass. Talk about an up close experience with the beluga whales!

 Seriously the cutest brothers ever! I especially like how Jacob had to get right down on the floor to see the fish at the very bottom of the tank.

 Awwww. Penguin Playground. Aren't they soo cute?!

 Of course it would be foggy and rainy the weekend they decide to come... Maybe when I get around to editing photos, I'll just photoshop a nice pic of the city behind them:)

 I love his cute face... That lollipop never had a chance... And check out the gulls that flocked around us when I gave the boys some bread to throw for the duck... It was waaay better than when we went to feed the ducks at the pond. Kinda scary too.. Those gulls are crazy.

3 years strong

Yesterday was a good day. No, a great day. Alan and I both took off work (shhh), and had so much fun together! We had a great workout in the morning, cleaned the house, and then we went to lunch at one of our fave spots... Labriola. Good things happen at Labriola:) For example: He gave me an incredible gift. (See below) and we had the most divine Napolean dessert. They have amazing gelato...

Perfect combination. Alan's 'graph' card and 'my' wrapping paper! Perfectly Us.

Told you.. Amazing gift.

Yummy lunch

I gave Alan the gift of golfing, but it was too windy, so our golf game had to be postponed for a later date. He was/is excited. We went out for a few more hours and walked around shops in town, just soaking in the time we had together before dinner at our absolute favorite restaraunt... Chama Gaucha (a Brazilian steakhouse that knocks the socks off of all the others!)

Amazing restaurant. That's a salad bar...

At dinner, we got to chat and eat--possibly my two favorite activities, and the staff brought us anything we requested. I requested a lot of lamb with mint jelly. Aaaaah, heaven. They even brought us a gorgeous dessert with "Happy Anniversary" written on the plate. We truly enjoyed our dinner. Too bad we couldn't enjoy all the lovely liqour they brought out for us:)

Mom sent us a package with some really beautiful gifts. Isn't she amazing?! Look at those adorable towels!

At the end of the day, I couldn't be more grateful for the marriage we share. I don't deserve the kindness and love Alan shows me day after day and I love how much fun we have together, no matter what we are doing. We ended our night dancing to our song (Everything by Michael Buble).We danced away together just like we did 3 years ago, and we'll keep on dancing through life for years to come. Happy anniversary to Us!

Time ticks on...

I thought I was being pretty clever with that title! I came home from work the other night and this is what I saw...

Alan made me a mini Easter egg hunt!

I made a dollar fifty in quarters!

And at the end of the hunt, this is what I received:

Isn't he sweet?! I have been using those $8 watches from Target all through school, and we have been looking for a nicer watch for me, but I didn't know he knew my taste so well:) I really love it. It has a nice sparkle around the face that goes well with my ring, and rose gold to add a splash of me. Now I can tell time in style! Thank you Alan for being so thoughtful... What a great week this is turning out to be!

Side Note: For those of you who read The Love Languages book... I am not a "gift" person, but I think I could change:)

It's all about me...

So the background to the title is this...

Around New Year's, I was thinking about all the incredible things that are going to be happening this year and I just got so excited. I told Alan "2012 is going to be all about Me!" I meant it in a good way, but now I think it sounds kind of self absorbed... oh well. Alan agreed that this year is going to be very good to us, and we feel very blessed/fortunate to have so many wonderful experiences behind us as well as ahead of us. We count our blessings daily and it is so humbling to realize that the Lord truly does have a hand in our life.

2012 brings the following:

-I turn 27...

-I graduate and Will pass Boards to be able to practice as a licensed PA! wahoo!

-We are moving to Charlotte, NC for Alan to continue advancing in His career.

-We plan on buying our First Home while in Charlotte (anxiety/excitement levels UP!)

-We are going to Europe, my life long dream... for 18 days! Hello London, France, and ITALY!

See what I mean? It's all about me:) I am looking forward to every new adventure we have coming this year and can't wait for the fun to begin! Of course, every day with Alan is an adventure. We love this early spring time weather and today we took our blanket and books to the park. It was sooo nice! Sorry, no pics, but I wanted to update for my own sake this time and remind myself of this incedible time in our lives. Life is good!

Back to studying....

A New Year Anyone?

2011 in Recap...

Liz in school.

Alan at work.

One blast of a New Year Party!

We went to Utah for the week after Christmas and had so much fun hanging out with the Lamb clan! We had a little Christmas celebration and spent a lot of time playing games, getting pedicures (the boys Loved it!), going snowmobiling, and visiting friends. I was able to reunite with old mission companions and roommates from college, and Alan got to see a few of his. The Lambs took us to dinner at The Roof, which was delicious, and we were also able to experience a traditional English prime rib dinner at their home. We had a great time and are so grateful for all the time we spent with family away from family...

at the lodge where we snowmobiled...

So... funny story. Alan is a little dare devil and I was reaaaally nervous about him doing something crazy and wrecking the snow machine. Well, turns out that my obsession with safety turned out to be the death of me. There were a lot of tracks in the snow, and not much by way of fresh powder on the mountain. I found out a little late that the slower you go... the less control you have.

Yep. Me and the tree. Don't worry, I'm fine. My pride is all that was hurt.

New Year's Eve delights!

Did you know that if you leave the avocado pit in the guacamole--it keeps it from turning brown?! IT's true.

I have a turtle neck on under my jammies because we got them really into The Big Bang Theory and I wanted to be Howard... It was funnier in person maybe:)

Happy 2012.

Our Theme for 2012 is: "It's all about Me." More to come....

Christmas Flashback

We had a blast with Christmas this last year. Alan's brother and his wife, Chris and Becca, came to visit for the week, and we basically did all the fun things we could think to cram into our time together:) We went to Gino's East for Chicago style pizza, had Chicago style hot dogs, went to the Lincoln Zoo in the city, walked Michigan Ave, visited the German Christkindlmarket and ate sausage, visited the Museum of Science and Industry, saw Dr Seuss' exhibit, played games, and thought really, really hard about going to see "A Christmas Carol"- but we're too poor:) We got to spend lots of good time together and I am so glad we have such good friends as family.

ice sculpting at the Zoo

The Bean...

This kind of really cracked us up! The museum had Christmas trees from around the world and we found this one from Guatemala. Apparently the best they could come up with to describe Guatemala are burlap sacks. Because everyone walks around with their belongings in a bag on their backs:) right.... too funny.

The Phillipines, where Chris served his mission

Isn't she a lamb?! (her maiden name, if you didn't know...)

Puerto Rico! yay for missions.

Christmas morning stockings. Prepared ever so carefully by Santa through the night. I made cream cheese Danishes just like momma's, and we spent the morning opening gifts, listening to Christmas music, and relaxing together before Church.

We started a fun tradition where we found ornaments to describe each others' years. Chris was really into sand castles this year and Becca is an extraordinary crochet-er...

Alan bought me an ornament with books, and I bought him a metal that says "American Hero". It's a joke between us because throughout the year, when he would play war games on his X box at night, I would beg him to come home safe to me. Then he would get busy saving the world. I don't know about America, but he sure is MY hero.

The true spirit of Christmas...

It was really nice to have a chance to establish some of our own traditions and to celebrate Christmas in our own ways this year, but we definitely missed seeing our other loved ones. Good thing Christmas comes every year and we get the joy of Christmas all year round! (our tree perhaps has or has not been taken down yet...oops!)