Our First Bonspiel!

Bonspiel: (bon-speel) –noun. a competition or meet in curling at which teams from several clubs or districts compete with one another.



We went to our first Bonspiel in Triumph, IL the first weekend of March: The 2011 Waltham Mixed Bonspiel! Our team from the St. Louis Curling Club tried our best and had a great time!! Three of our four teammates, (Jamie, Lucas and Steve) had only been curling since January! That's amazing. Our Skip, Nancy, is a seasoned curler and did a fabulous job coaching us along and losing gracefully. :) We played and lost three games in total. But it's okay, because we had a blast and made several friends in the process! We even curled against an Olypian!!



Here is our team! Go St. Louis!!



Lucas, Steve and Nancy in front of the ice! Luckily the Waltham Curling Club has a heated room with seats in view of the ice. Also available - lots of food and beverages.



Another pic of a game....



And here's Lucas on the ice. I should be getting ready to sweep, but instead I am taking pics of Lucas. :)

Up, Up and Away!

This past weekend, we celebrated the showering of good friend, Amy, and her soon-to-be-born son, Joseph Gregory. Hosted at Dr. Jazz Soda Fountain inWebster Groves, we thought what better a theme than to complement their 1904 St. Louis World's Fair Decor? Amy, a St. Louis girl herself, loved it!! Who wouldn't love delicious chocolate malts and beignets, after all?









These cones were Martha Stewart's idea, not ours, but they are fabulous. The shower "game" was a personalized crossword puzzle. Amy, a big crossword puzzle fan, definitely enjoyed it!



I love this little onsie with his name - he also got a faded baby-sized Cardinals hat that was the cutest thing in the world.



Congrats Amy and Jason!! Can't wait to meet Baby Joey!! ;)

Some Exciting Things!

There have been some very exciting things happening lately. Here they are:

Month of January: Lucas and I have been enjoying our Curling League.




Nov 4, 2010: Niece, Mary Elizabeth, was born to Jason and Sarah!




Dec 6, 2010: Jamie got a new car! A Volkswagon Tiguan!



December 21, 2010: Nephew, Jack Miller, was born to Jennifer and Matt!



December 29, 2010: Niece, Ava Noelle, was born to Sarah and Marc!




We are very blessed and grateful for these exciting moments!

Thanksgiving Vacation!

Thanksgiving 2o10 was spent in the Smokies! Our cabin at Cobbly Nob was pretty fantastic! Our Thanksgiving meal of turkey, stuffing, yams, green bean casserole and cranberries, was prepared by Lucas and Nolan while Connie and I went on an adventurous hike of approximately 7 miles. I say approximately because, as you can see in the map, half of our hike is missing. We hiked from the intersection of the 3 black lines to the green dot #32. But then we turned and headed back to the black line (road), and made a triangle-like path. Its like if that stream was the second leg of our journey, only we didn't follow a stream the whole way... or did we? I don't remember... this was the portion of the hike where I blacked out from the scary deer encounter.



Let me back up just a bit. On our way to Gatlinburg, we stopped in Nashville and toured The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson. I really appreciated The Hermitage for it's costumed tour guides. That's always a nice touch. Below you can see Lucas in front of the tomb where Andrew and his wife, Rachel, are buried.



The next day, and our first full day in the cabin, was Thanksgiving, which I have already covered. Thanks again Nolan and Lucas for the great meal.

Friday was spent in Gatlinburg. We took the trolley, went to the Aquarium, and found a nice little wine bar in an old Dairy Queen.

On Saturday the four of us drove to Asheville to visit The Biltmore Estate. I loved the Biltmore Mansion, and I loved Asheville even more. We had lunch at The Red Stag Grill inside The Grand Bohemian Hotel. The things I loved about this hotel were the large central fireplace in the lobby, the grandiose atmosphere, the chain mail fabric hanging in the doorway to the restaurant, and the hexagonal granite tile floor in the restrooms. What's not to like? I asked Lucas if we could go back and stay there for our 10th wedding anniversary in 2016 and he said yes. !! So - see you in 6 years, sweet Grand Bohemian.



Here we are at the Grand Bohemian Hotel lobby.



And in front of the Biltmore...

The Biltmore was, of course, spectacular. It was all decked out for Christmas. It had 40 Christmas trees with room for more. There was a gingerbread house made to look like a tiny Biltmore. Yumm! It would be interesting to visit again when it's not decorated for Christmas and not so crowded.

Aw Yeah, Jersey Shore, Yeah!

Happy Halloween! We had a busy weekend, and here's a photo that sums up our Jerseylicious Holiday. Aw yeah.. looks like T-shirt Time, yeah! Jersey Shore, baby!

Las Vegas 2010

I'm a little late of this one - but this past June, we had a mini-vacation in Sin City with friends, Frank and Amanda! It was a great long weekend - lots of seeing the sights, sitting by the pool, and drinking frozen beverages out of giant boots. These are all things you must do in Vegas. Oh, and we gambled just a bit.

First I will begin the recap with tell you about Lil, our tour guide. While she didn't vacation with us, she was with us in spirit the whole time. Lucas met Lil on our flight west. She told Lucas all about her many Vegas Vacations, and several memorable moments on the strip. ....All about the hotel grand openings she attended in the 60's, how she could have been an actress but she had a baby instead, and how all the employees at Bally's know her and her husband by name. Thanks to their in depth conversations and Lucas' great attention to detail, it was almost like she was there with us the whole time, showing us the sites and bringing back good memories.

We stayed at New York, New York. Lots to do right in our own hotel. We all got burned by the pool, tried the New York style pizza (yum) and enjoyed the Nine Fine Irishmen bar. Frank and Amanda even rode the roller coaster!

Much of our time away from the hotel was spent walking the strip and going in and out of hotels and casinos. We played a lot of penny slots and roulette. Id like to say we broke even, but that would be a lie. :( Below is a picture from the Venetion.


Here are some pics at the Bellagio. We spent some time in the Botanical Gardens. This indoor garden houses the largest known collection of cultured olive trees in the world! Frank and Amanda are seen here.


One of my personal highlights of the trip was when, there we were, just walking through the shops at Ceasar's Palace, we saw a cluster of people and flashing lights! Of course, we were like, "I wonder what celebrity it's going to be!?". Well, none of my travel companions were nearly as excited as I was when I saw, drum roll please... Holly Madison! No way!! I immediately took 2 not so good pics and then called my mom. We LOVE the Girls Next Door, and Holly is hands-down the fan-favorite.

We also had the opportunity to see The Lion King and do some other Vegassy things. And thank goodness we have a few more smashed pennies to add to the collection!! - including one of a monkey playing roulette (our favorite game). All in all it was a blast and we are so glad we went!!!

Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and DC

We are home from our Mid-Atlantic tour - a long overdue trip to visit friends and family in Pennsylvania and Virginia.

Our first day started with a whirlwind tour of Baltimore. Not many pictures from Baltimore, but we had a delicious lunch at Phillip's Seafood, right on the Inner Harbor. We had crab cakes and shrimp, crab and avocado salad, and crab bisque. Oh, and we also had butter. Lots of it.

That night we rented a car and drove to Pittsburgh to visit with Aunt Mary, Uncle Bob, and cousins Ashley and Bobby. It was a great time! Highlights include Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water, a scenic drive through Nemacolin (the closest thing to Kellerman's resort from Dirty Dancing that I've ever seen in my life), Ohiopyle, IKEA, and church with the Noltes.

Back in DC, we mastered the Metro and visited such sites as the Washington Monument (close-up pic of Jonah and Lucas) , the White House, the National Archives Museum (saw the Declaration of Independance and the Magna Carta), the Museum of Natural History(Hope Diamond), the National Galley of Art (great museum-lots of impressionism), the National Zoo and Chinatown.

After visiting DC and Pittsburgh, Lucas was able to double his smashed penny collection! (I think he should start a smashed penny blog, but I don't know how he feels about that). We are glad to be home, and so is Chip.

Thank you to Jonah and Jesse and Mary and Bob for being so hospitable!! We can't wait to see you all again over the holidays!!