Boyd and Jina in Chicago

Boyd and Jina (Jonny's parents) came to visit us over the weekend. They were only here for a few short days, but we sure had fun and did as much as we could. And of course we played the Wii and Wii fit a lot! I think Boyd is addicted -but at least he got his daily workout!

The first day they were here we picked them up from the airport and went to lunch at Portillo's- one of our favorite places here. That night we took them to the Riverwalk, this time I got some good pictures in the daylight! Its so pretty!Jonny and the famous Chicago style pizza. It was SO yummy! It was the thickest pizza I've ever seen- really like a pie. They cook the crust, then the cheese (tons) and toppings and then they put the sauce on top. Yum. It was so good, but definately not on our diet menu!

So of course you can't be in Chicago and not take a picture with Michael Jordan!

On Saturday we spent the day downtown. It is ginormous- a little bit bigger then hometown Idaho! Jonny took this picture of his parents walking and holding hands :)
In front of Sears Tower..... bad lighting in the pic but it was the best we could do......
this building is seriously SO tall- I got dizzy looking up to the top!

On the elevator ride to the top! 103 floors! We stood in a line, watched a cool movie about the building of Sears tower, then crammed into the elevator. Let me start by saying how much I hate elevators- and this is like the King of elevators. It goes 16 miles per hour and is not a very smooth ride, especially when you have smelly people standing in your bubble :) But I was brave and pretended not to be terrified! And luckily the power didn't go out and strand us in the elevator like I was worried about, huh Jonny?

I know you can't really see this picture very good- but i wanted to document everything! Okay so these 2 pictures are of the parking lot across the street that we parked in. The top one is not zoomed- but the bottom one if full zoom. That just shows how high we were! Our car is 2 to the left of the big RV in case you were wondering.
And of course I zoomed in on Soldier Field. GO BEARS!

It has the most pretty view of the city (this is only one side view of the city, imagine this all around) and the water. The lake is huge, its hard to think its not the ocean! You can't even see land on the other side.



Jonny, Jina, Boyd- on the water taxi. The river runs through the city and so you can take these "water taxis" to different places. It was so nice to go to the tourist spots without having to worry about driving/parking. And it was pretty!

NAVY PIER

More Chicago

Last weekend it poured for about 3 days- seriously the rain didn't stop. It wasn't a light drizzle either, it was the hurricane storm I guess. There were a lot of problems with flooding around the area and we had our own little flooding in front of our house! These two pictures are our front door and patio.

Jonny and Geoff thought it would be fun to jump in the pool when it was raining. Ha they're so funny- it was SO full because of all the rain and it overflowed everytime they jumped it. You can see how full it was in the pictures.

Jonny is so sweet all of the time and does thoughtful things when I least expect them. The other day he brought me home flowers and the sweetest card... and bought me a new pair of jeans! woo hoo! he's so good and i'm a lucky girl!

THe other night we went with some friends to the Riverwalk in Naperville. It was a lot of fun. We went to dinner then walked around the river. I know the pictures are dark but it was so pretty, I can't wait to go back sometime in the day.
This is Jonny on the bridge- you can kind of see the river with sidewalks on both sides.
Across the river they have a monument for 9/11. They have a huge wall with faces carved in them. The faces were drawn by school kids in the area... We couldn't resist taking pictures by them!

Life in Chicago

On the beach at Lake Michigan... ... a little different from the beach in San Diego. (they really do have a little beach, we're just standing on the rocks). The lake is HUGE, it really just seems like the ocean but without the big waves. You can't see anything but water!
Last night we drove to downtown - it is AMAZING! It is the coolest city, there are so many cool buildings and bridges. some of the city is on the water, its really neat. Unfortunately, once we got by the lake it got really foggy so we didn't really get any good pictures of the skyline. The tall building is the Sears tower, it is seriously the biggest building ever. I just look at it and imagine how tall the twin towers were and I can't comprehend it!
This picture is really blurry- but we're by the pirate ship.
Ha Jonny reminds me of a little kid in this picture. This is how foggy it was- we couldn't see in front of us! I was sad because I wanted to see all the city lights, but we couldn't! Navy Pier- It is huge and so fun! They have tons of shops, places to eat, carnival rides, boat tours, etc. So much to do and so lively!
I thought this was a cool pic- it was so foggy that the lights were all reflecting. One day we'll go on the ferris wheel, when we can actually enjoy the view!These were the funnest mirrors! Sorry you can't see them very good, it was getting dark and i couldn't use my flash to take them.
Navy Pier- again its a little dark, but it was such a fun atmosphere I wanted to show everyone!

Us at the entrance of Navy Pier.

We're having so much fun! We haven't been able to do a lot because of Jonny's crazy work schedule, but I guess that just makes us cherish the fun times we have. Chicago really is a neat place and I'm loving the opportunity we have to live here for a little bit! Oh ya- I tried to get Oprah tickets the other day and was unsuccessful :( I tried ALL DAY! There is only one day a month that they open the phone lines for the following month. So last week they opened the tickets for October- the last month we'll be here. So it was my only chance. I tried all day and just got the busy signal. Now I believe people when they say they try to years to get tickets! Maybe one day.....

Boating with the Johnsons

We were able to spend some time with Jonny's family too. It was good to see everyone and hang out for a few days. Boyd and Jina took us boating one day.... Here's some pics!

This picture is Jonny's Dad- He's really good at skiing (I don't know how to spell slolam? ha ha) anyways- ya he's good and we always like to see his big spray.This one is Josh when he's practicing his flip- or trying :) ha I love this picture, his head crashed right in the water! Maybe next time Josh! jk I can't make fun because at least he's doing it! He's really good on the wakeboard (when his head isn't crashing in the water that is).

These 2 are me and Jonny on the knee boards- don't let this fool you tho! I was only on it for about 10 seconds- literally. I'm not the biggest fan of being in the water, i guess you could say i'm SCARED of crashing! seriously tho..... i'm a wimp.

This is me and Jina on the tubes- our "princess ride." Thanks Jina for going slow with me! ha We had fun.

Jonny and his brothers

Jordan and Jonny on the knee boards- they're always really fun to watch cuz they splash each other and stuff.

My jonny on the board- woo hoo! He was so excited he got to wear his wet suit from high school

Trip to Idaho/West Yellowstone

Okay I didn't take a whole lot of pictures on our trip to idaho. We had a family reunion in Rexburg, which was super fun. I saw a lot of family that I haven't seen in a while. It was at my Grandpa's house and we just hung out, played volleyball, had fires and roasted mallows. It was good to see everyone. Hopefully I can get some pictures from my parents.

We also spent some time in West Yellowstone watching my brother at the Playmill theatre. We go every summer and I love it- I look forward to it every year. I don't know what I was thinking by not taking pictures! Cameron did SO good- he was Curly in Oklahoma. We also saw Hello Dolly.

On Saturday my Dad and Uncle Scott ran in the Mesa Falls marathon. Its a fun marathon to watch because you can drive along the trail and cheer them on along the way. Since all of our family was there that weekend for the marathon there was a lot of us. At one point I counted 9 cars following them. We'd drive ahead about a mile and wait for them, cheer when they came, then drive ahead and do it again. My uncle scott had matching shirts made that we all wore. They did so good and we were so proud of them!

I know he was thinking in this one "get that camera out of my face!" Ha ha
Uncle Scott showing off with his shirt off. He would dance for us- i think the running made him a little loopy
Mom, Cam, Jonny, Me- in our matching shirts

Jonny and the girl cousins who loved him! Notice all of the cars in the back that were following dad and scott.

Dad- almost there!
Finally, the finish line! My brother and Jonny ran the last mile with my dad. Some of the little cousins did too. On the last block we all ran with them- it was really cool! There was probably 20 of us running with the 2 of them. Seeing the finish line really makes you want to run a marathon- but its crazy, I don't think I ever could. I respect the people who do it though. good job dad and scott!

Our last California Adventure

Okay so I'm really far behind on my blogging- as I always seem to be. So i'm gonna catch up- lots of posts and pictures! Sorry!

This is our last little hoorah in California. We went up to stay with my brother in Ventura. We met him in Santa Monica and rode bikes along the beach, to Venice Beach and back. Venice beach is crazy! There are crazy people, crazy shopping, and crazy people fighting! You could say its the "free spirit" beach. It also has Muscle Beach, so of course we had to get a picture there! It was a lot of fun. We walked around the Santa monica pier and its huge! Its like a mini carnival on the pier. Poor Jonny got pooped on by a bird- what a mess!!! He didn't think it was quite as funny as Nick and I did. :) Sorry Jonny!

THen we drove the scenic route to Ventura along the coast through Malibu. It was such a pretty drive! We stopped to eat at Neptune's- this little restaurant thats in lots of movies (Fast and the Furious, etc). It was pretty good even though it was kind of a little dump :)

This is the view across the street from Neptune's. i LOVE LOVE sunsets! especially on the ocean!We went to six flags the next day too. I definately feel like I'm getting old- the roller coasters were way fun- but seemed more brutal this time around. I think we all left with some pretty big headaches.

This first picture is on the scary boat ride. Sorry you got so wet nick! He took all the water for the rest of us!

The boys were actually really excited to get their pictures with the pigs..... seriously?? ha ha

So that was how we spent our last weekend in California. We spent the next days packing up and cleaning the apartment. We for sure miss it lots there!

Driving, Family, Driving, and Driving

Its been quite an eventful few weeks. Jonny and I are now in Chicago! We left San Diego, stayed for a night in Las Vegas, then drove to South Jordan, stayed a night there, then drove to West Yellowstone. I had a family reunion in Idaho and we spent a few days in West Yellowstone watching my brother Cameron at the Playmill Theatre. My Dad and uncle ran a marathon that weekend too, it was fun to have lots of the family there to support them. After a fun weekend in Idaho we spent the week with Jonny's family in Utah. It was fun to see all of them and they were so nice to take us boating (even though I'm such a scaredy-cat!)
Saturday we began the 20-hour drive to chicago. We stopped in Omaha and stayed at my brother's house for the night. Thanks Kris and Cami! I wish we could have spent more time with them. And now here I sit in Chicago while Jonny is at work, and I'm not quite sure what to do :) We're so excited to be here and see this part of the country. So in about 2 weeks we drove through 10 states and spent over 40 hours in the car! Yikes!
Soon I'll post some pictures, I have lots to post! But I wanted to give everyone a little update!