What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...

Of course, nothing crazy happened in Vegas...just stayed at a great hotel, dined at great restaurants, took some fun walks to see sites, did a little shopping, and enjoyed time with family...

When Joel & Hye-Young were here for Thanksgiving, they mentioned they were taking a weekend getaway trip to Vegas in December just for fun.   They asked if we wanted to join them, and we said sure!  I have never been there, and Addie obviously has not either (we realize it's not really a popular place to take a toddler).  Patrick has been there a few times on work trips but for very brief periods of time.  I must say, it's quite an interesting place to visit!  We had a great time with Joel & Hye-Young.  Adeline was an awesome little traveler and just went with the flow so we were quite proud of her.

Adeline enjoying her own Jamba Juice smoothie at the airport

With a tummy full of a smoothie, Addie took a little snooze on the flight

"Uncle Joel" & "Auntie Hye-Young" are on the top 10 most frequently used words by Addie after spending the weekend with them...

Going up the escalator like a big girl!

Happy First Anniversary Joel & Hye-Young!

 Patrick took his girls to Paris (that is, the Paris Hotel, in Vegas)...

This is the view out our window!  It is a beautiful hotel!

Daddy and Adeline dancing to some tunes in the hotel room - He's a pretty wonderful dad, if I may say so!  How many dads dance with their 2 year old daughters on a bed in a hotel room and has fun doing it?!

Across the street from our hotel is the famous Bellagio and every night, they have a beautiful water show!

The Bellagio had an impressive Christmas display inside on their main floor!

Addie coloring in her "hello kitty" coloring book at the hotel before bedtime

From time to time, Patrick catches an episode of "Pawn Stars" on cable TV.  It's about people who come into this Vegas pawn shop to either sell or buy very unique and interesting things.  Since we were in Vegas, we went and checked it out.

We tried many different great restaurants while we were there.  If you ever get to Vegas, try out "Spago."  It's a great place to eat!

Addie's Nativity Set

Addie now has her own nativity set, so as we've displayed ours in the house, she has been busy playing with hers.  She has been learning who all was at the manger the night baby Jesus was born.

 After Addie tipped all of the little people over, she told me that "everyone is going nigh-night."

Addie loves our Christmas tree and amazingly enough, she has been very "gentle" with the ornaments.  But notice that there are no gifts under our tree yet.  Addie became quite a pro at opening gifts after her second birthday so.....we've kept the Christmas gifts hidden until Christmas day. :)

Snow

Can you tell it's winter in Minnesota?  It is beautiful here right now...everything is so white and clean!  Adeline loved her time playing in the snow.  Last year, she wasn't too keen about it, but this year's a different story.  She didn't even mind that it took so long to put her snow gear on!  Addie was all smiles playing and being pulled on the sled by daddy.

Our Christmas Tree

I say this every year (Patrick tells me), but I think we have the most beautiful Christmas tree ever this year!  First of all, I think it's the largest tree we have ever had, but more than it's size, it's just beautiful...the color, the branches...everything.  I wish all of you could see it in person.  Here is a recap of our adventure in getting our tree set up!

Thanksgiving Guests

My brother Joel and his wife, Hye-Young, stayed with us while they were in Minneapolis for Thanksgiving.  Addie couldn't get enough of her uncle and auntie...she had so much fun playing with them!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope all of you have had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Today, we were with my extended family...dad, brothers & wives, aunts, uncles, cousins and all, and we had sweet sweet time together.  Even though we weren't able to be with Patrick's family today, we were fortunate to be able to see and spend time with his parents and a few of his siblings in the past few weeks.  

God continues to be so good, generous, and faithful to us.  As we look back on this year, we clearly see God's love and provision in our family's life. With that...we are so delighted to share with you that we are expecting baby #2 this coming May!  As you can see Adeline is quite thrilled about being a big sister (Little does she know how much her life will change!).  We thank God for this gift of life and look forward to meeting this new little one!

Grandparents

Adeline has loved seeing all of her grandparents in the past couple of weeks!  We had a great weekend with Grandma & Grandpa from Iowa when they were here, and we were able to go down to Chicago this past week as well.  Addie is so interactive now and remembers people well.  After we spent time with the grandparents, she talked about them for days that followed.  It's quite cute.

Addie giving Toby some lovin'