Number 51

To celebrate my 51st birthday, Matt took me to dinner at Bombay House because he knows my love of Indian food.  He ordered our food medium spicy because he knows that's how I like it even though he doesn't.  It was so yummy and certainly didn't disappoint.  

The next day, he took me to the Grand America for a night's stay.  What a beautiful hotel.  We enjoyed walking around the main level seeing their fun Christmas window displays and life size gingerbread house.  Our room was fabulous.  We had room service at night after we got there and also in the morning for breakfast.  It was so nice to spend that time together.  Matt spoiled me with a Dyson hairdryer.  If you know how expensive and awesome those are, you know it's a good gift.  Emma bought hydrangeas for me at Trader Joes which was such a lovely gesture.  I got to enjoy them for well over a week.  

Ohhhh Lily

Sweet little Lily Joy was born December 2, 2022.  She is blonde and sweet.  Most times when I see her on FaceTime, she is "singing songs" while she's napping.  It's precious.  We can't wait to snuggle her!

Vegas Thanksgiving

Matt, Emma, and cousin Justin went to Las Vegas to celebrate Thanksgiving with Josh and Megan.  They made a delicious meal together and then did one of our traditions of going to a new movie that evening.  They played games, ate more yummy food, and had a good time together.  No one in our family was alone this year for the holiday.  

Waiting For Baby In Michigan

I spent ten wonderful days in Michigan with Chelsea, Spencer, Piper, and puppy Minnie in November.  Chelsea thought she would deliver baby girl early.  She was already dilated to a four for a week or more.  I was happy that I got there before baby came because I really wanted to help with Piper when they had to go to the hospital.  I flew to Atlanta and then on to South Bend, Indiana which is 35 mins from their house.  The next day, Chelsea was having some good contractions and they decided to go to the hospital around 9pm.  She was monitored for a couple hours, and then they unfortunately sent her home.  But I was glad I could be there in their home while Piper slept instead of having to bug their friends nearby.  Days went by with no baby being born.  I spent lots of time playing with Piper and helping around the house.  Chelsea was able to rest more and not worry about entertaining a four year old.  She went on walks and climbed up and down their stairs a hundred times (not exaggerating, she counted) to try to move that baby out.  I had Thanksgiving with them.  Spencer used his new smoker for the turkey.  He did a great job.  Chelsea went to the hospital one more time to get checked thinking that it was the night.  But once again, they came home by midnight.  I was worried that I would miss this baby being born.  The due date came and went, and five days later, I had my return flight home scheduled. The morning that my flight was to leave, Chelsea had another doctors appointment.  She got scheduled for an induction the next day in the late afternoon, but there was no guarantee that she'd get started at that day and time.  I cried and had such a heartache about what to do.  I was missing Matt and home so bad and wanted to go home, but I also wanted just as badly to stay and continue to help them and get a peek at baby girl.  I decided to go home on the afternoon of day ten.  And as it turned out, that was the correct decision for several reasons.  Baby girl was born late at night a couple days later on December 2nd.  Spencer's mom arrived the next evening and was able to help them for the next week.  Matt and I will be going back to freezing cold Michigan to meet our second little grandbaby in mid February.  

Las Vegas With Megan and Josh (plus2)

Matt and I went to Vegas to visit Josh and Megan in October.  They are going to be parents of twins in May!  We are so excited about that! Here's the babies' first picture.

We stayed at the Paris Hotel & Casino.  We met up with M&J and had dinner with them at Wahlburgers.  None of us had walked on the Strip before.  It was pretty crowded with all kinds of people.  We stopped and watched the fountain show at the Bellagio which is a must-do when in Vegas.  Then we went to Shin Lim: Limitless magic show at The Mirage.  It was so fun! 

The next day, Matt and Josh played a round of golf while I stayed back at the hotel and worked a little on my paper and did some reading.  Then Josh and Megan came back to our hotel.  We had some yummy pizza for dinner, and then Matt played Black Jack for the first time back at the casino, and Josh played a slot machine.  Both of them won a little money.  

After two nights at the hotel, Matt and I stayed one night at J&M's house.  Josh made us awesome smash burgers for dinner on his new flattop grill. Before leaving town the next day, we all went out to the Seven Magic Mountains, a unique piece of artwork by Ugo Rondinone.  

Disneyland October 2022

My older sister, Kristen, loves Disneyland and has wanted my parents, siblings, and families to go together.  At the beginning of 2022, some of us committed to going in October.  My mom and dad, Kristen and Bailey, Heather, Rob, Evie, and me flew to California on Saturday.  Our first day at Disneyland was Sunday.  I'm sure my parents haven't ever done something like that on the sabbath (have I?), but this is obviously not something they'd repeatedly do.  We had so much fun together.  My mom and dad were rockstars from 8:00am to 10:30pm.  They did this four days in a row with just a break or two thrown in or a later start to their day.  My mom navigated around on the rented scooter without incident each day.  It was super crowded, so this was not an easy feat!  I did Disneyland/California Adventure on Sunday and Monday and flew home on Tuesday.  The rest of the crew flew home on Thursday after spending four days park hopping.  Kristen was such a great "tour guide".  She knows how to use the Disney app really well and showed us the ins and outs of it.  Also, she helped us schedule rides where we could use either my mom's or Evie's special passes.  My mom and dad, who are in their late 70s, and little almost-five-year-old Evie, rode a lot of rides.  Even Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!  My mom thought it would be like it was 30 years ago, but she quickly realized that it was NOT!  It was a bit too fast for her, but seeing her smile and laugh through it was priceless.  She googled about it later and found that it's been renovated twice and made more thrilling (actually faster than Space Mountain) since she rode it last.  I'm super proud of them for getting the most out of their time at the "Happiest Place On Earth".  Here's just a sampling of the many pictures we all took.  

Here my dad is showing his exaggerated disappointment when he realizes he's probably too old to go on Space Mountain