Just For Fun ~ My Celebrity Look-alikes

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

I did this for fun. All of my blogger friends found pictures that worked for the Look-alike meter with their kids. For some reason I couldn't... so I decided to try this one instead. What do you think?

Girls Weekend Getaway ~ Chicago 2008

Last weekend my sisters, soon-to-be sister-in-law, mom, grandma, and I went to Chicago! We did this in celebration of Amy's birthday (Feb. 2nd), my mom's birthday (Feb. 15th), and my birthday (March 2nd). It was soooo much fun! The pictures tell the story of everything we did...

Friday night we got into our hotel (The Historical Palmer Hilton) late, so Mamaw and my mom went to bed. Ali, Amy, Natalia, and I went down to the main floor and enjoyed some wine. Believe it or not, we drank a wine called "Four Sisters". It was perfect and we had some special bonding time with Natalia. She asked us to be bridesmaides in their wedding. How cool!

Saturday morning we woke up and had a birthday party in my mom and Mamaw's hotel room. They had our breakfast delivered to their room and we ate and opened birthday presents. It was great!

Natalia was taking the picture.

The birthday girls.

We were being goofballs at our party...

Around noon we drove to a suburb of Chicago to visit some of Natalia's relation... her cousins Dave, Julie, and Estelle. They were wonderful hosts and made us a fabulous authentic Indonesian meal for lunch. We had a great time! (Estelle is the number one gymnast for her age group (13 years) in the state of Illinois! She also plays piano and violin. We were impressed.)

Later on Saturday we drove to my uncle David's new apartment in Chicago. My brother Adam was staying with him all weekend while Natalia had her "girls" weekend with us. We got a tour of David's apartment and then walked down to an Italian restaurant for dinner. It was snowing and so pretty outside. I didn't get any pictures of this :(

Once back at our hotel that night, my mom and Mamaw went to bed, and the rest of us girls got ready to go out. We first stopped by the famous "Empire Room" in our hotel. This was a room that celebrities use to perform in and it was broadcasted by radio all over the country. We took a couple of shots on the stage in this room...

We attempted to find a fun place to go hangout... but it was FREEZING outside and we never found a suitable spot to go. We ended up back at our hotel... on the main floor once again... for a cocktail. We thought our variety of drinks were pretty enough for a picture.

Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast in a little cafe on the corner. This is us before breakfast...

David and Adam met us for breakfast as well. After we ate, Adam asked David to be his best man at their wedding. David was very touched. Here is a picture of the two yahoos... they were cracking up because a wedding song came on in the hotel lobby as I was taking this picture. We jokingly said, "let's get a picture of the happy couple".

After breakfast we walked to some stores and went shopping... and finally headed to the much anticipated broadway musical, "Wicked". What a show it was! If you haven't seen it, you must. It is so cute. Here we are, after the musical, freezing to death trying to get a picture in order to document the moment.

Thank you, my girls, for this wonderful birthday weekend. It will go down in history as one of the best birthdays ever! I love you all.

Movin' Up In Rank ~ Krue is a Yellow Belt!

Last Thursday, Krue was awarded a yellow belt in Taekwondo. He was so excited! The instructors were giving him a hard time when he showed up to the belt ceremony. Krue: "I'm getting a new belt tonight!" Instructor: "Really, are you getting a white belt?" Krue said, "Nooo, I'm getting my yellow belt!" Instructor: "Are you sure?" Krue: "I sure am!"

Krue has now moved up to the third color belt out of ten. He is at an age that he is starting to understand goals and working hard to reach them. He really wants to get that black belt! We have a wooden rack hanging in his room that we display the belts he has tested out of. Krue was very proud to place his old orange belt up on on it. Kiefer was pretty proud of him, too!

Here are some cute pictures from the ceremony...

The beginning of the ceremony. All of the taekwondo students who tested out of a belt color.

This is Krue getting his certificate from Mrs. Margie.

Proudly getting his yellow belt put on.

Patiently waiting for the rest of the kids to get their new belts.

Kiefer and Anna Heath have became buddies during Krue and Ian's taekwondo classes. They love to share raisins and chase each other around.

Krue's biggest fan, Kiefer, watching the belt ceremony.

I love this picture. Ian and Krue with their brand new yellow belts! Keep up the good work boys.

Lee's Golf Trip ~ Jacksonville 2008

The Golfers

The end of January Lee went on a golf trip to Jacksonville, Florida... home of Jon Nodine. Jon arranged for 20 guys to fly down and play a ridiculous amount of golf in 3 days. I don't know how they did it. I would go nuts ~ they had a blast! The guys on the trip ranged from my dad's age group (including my dad) to Lee's age group. Jon invited some of his friends from Jacksonville to play with them. The entire group meshed well and good memories were made.

Lee did a pretty good job of taking pictures on the trip.

Here are a few of my favorites...

Holmes, Lee, and Joe (Jacksonville Native)

Dinner after a long hard day of playing golf.

Lee said the courses were really scenic and pretty.

Chad, Holmes, and Saint

New Songs

My Mom and Dad got the boys a cute dance music cd for Christmas. We were listening to all of the fun songs on it tonight while Krue and Kiefer were taking a bath. The songs reminded me of dancing and singing with my Dad at wedding receptions, skating parties, and in the car when I was little. These are pretty special memories for me. I thought I would share some of them on the blog.

Love you, Dad!