Happy 80th birthday party

On November 8, we had a family party for Waino who was celebrating his 80th birthday that week. 

We thought it was a good idea to take some family pictures while we were all together.

One of Summer's cute friends came over to take some pictures in our neighbor's yard.

It was fun and the weather was great.  (a few complications with getting the pictures, but we figured it out in the end.)

 Here a few samples of family pictures...

Chicago

In October, I went with Rick to Chicago for a Medical Conference.  Well, he went to the conference.  I did other stuff.

The first day we were there we just walked around town.  The streets were so pretty with the fall decorations.   We walked down to the Navy Pier.  The weather was perfect for walking around town.  There was a kids Halloween thing going on at the Pier.  Millions of kids and other crazies wandering around in costumes.  We walked about 7 miles and finally ended up back at our hotel.  

One thing we were sure to do was go to the Chicago Institute of Art since I did not get to go there last year when we chaperoned MMHS choir tour.  We were across the street at Symphony Hall, yet we never made it to the Museum.  So, I vowed that I would get back to see it one day. 

 It was important for me to see this painting.  We got this as a puzzle a few years ago and I spent the entire Christmas break putting this puzzle together.  I feel very familiar with every inch of this work.  Especially all of the green parts.

Rick caught me taking a selfie!!

It was a lot of fun.  Pretty sure we walked 7 miles that day, too.  And most of it was in the museum.  

I had packed lots of warm clothes. scarves. a rain jacket. boot.

I overpacked.  The weather was super.  Record breaking warm, actually.

A few days after we were at the museum, Rick got done early in the day from his conference and we went to the Skydeck in the Willis Tower.  I had already done this once before, but it was fun to do it again.  Especially since there weren't very many people there since it was during the day on a Wednesday.  We had a lot of fun.  The skies weren't quite as clear as some of the other days that we were in Chicago, but it was still awesome.

I made Rick lay on the glass floor with me.  It's freakier than it sounds.

We took a lot of pictures.  Most of them like this one.

Then we walked to the Bean.  Because.  well. just because.

Can you see Rick?

On Sunday evening we went to a reception for the UMC students and graduates who were attending the conference.  It was pretty formal.  We walked around for a few minutes trying to see if anyone was dressed as casually as we were.  They were not.  Oh well.  We went in.  Rick talked to a few people that he knew from Mississippi.  We fixed a small plate of fancy food from the buffet.  We drank a diet coke while everyone else in fancy gowns and tuxedos drank sparkly stuff in tall glasses.  And then we ran out as fast as we could.  Trying not to laugh.  And when we got out of the hotel.  We took this selfie.  We are not fancy people who drink sparkly stuff in tall glasses. awkward!!

 This was the view from our window.
We were right on the River--Wacker Drive,  between Michigan Avenue and Wabash Drive.  We were on the 21 floor and the view from our window was amazing.  It offered plenty of entertainment for me throughout the week.

I found it quite entertaining to just watch the busy city.

There must have been a fire station on our block because there were sirens about every 5 minutes.  All day long.  And all night long.

We ate at a lot of yummy places...Giardano's Pizza, a sports grill, NafNaf Grill (our favorite).

This is the last meal we had before we took a cab back to the airport.

The Billy Goat Tavern and Grill.

It was a hoot.  Pretty entertaining.  Pretty cheap.   Not the best food.  But worth it for the experience.  I guess.

This is Halloween

Just needed to document that Halloween really did actually happen.  

And this picture is really scary.  Messy counter.  Honey harvest in the works.  Cactus on the counter.  Pantry door open (what a mess in there).  Mess by the back door.  

She wore this to school.  Seriously.  Oh well.  She didn't get kicked out.

Ever since my MS days, Halloween has been a big deal.  In a fun way.  Not like my neighbors growing up--the Rose family--who celebrated Halloween like Christmas and didn't celebrate Christmas at all.  I've enjoyed having neighborhood parties and Street of Treats.  I kinda think of myself as the Halloween Queen.  (or something like that.)  At least until a couple of years ago.  The year of the anonymous note and other overwhelming issues like bullying and stuff.  Which is why I checked myself out of Halloween last year.  No Halloween Queen for me in 2013.  But, I was back in 2014.  It's kinda hard to put myself out there like I used to.  First I was afraid of another hate note.  And second, I was afraid that nobody would come.  But, thankfully, we had 70 degree, recording breaking weather on a beautiful Halloween Friday night.  A handful of people brought treats.  I set up a table with snacks and water (instead of the planned Hot Chocolate--it was plenty warm without the hot chocolate).  And lots of people came.  My street is more busy now that it is not a dead end street.  So, we went across the street and filled up the Shmule-de-sac.  I passed out flyers to the ward members a couple of weeks earlier (with the help of lots of friends).  It was a great night of visiting with neighbors and exchanging candy.  The kids love it.  And there was still plenty of time for folks to go out and get more sugar by trick-or-treating the old fashioned way.  I had a great Halloween.  It was a good way to end October.