October

Happy Halloween to everyone a few days late! All through October I have barely had any time to sit and blog. Time enough to sit and read blogs, sure. But I am sure we all go through this. So let me catch up. Earlier in the month Clayton's sister Valerina (Autumn's name for her) came to visit with her three boys. We caught up with them while they were at Alison and Clint's house with their three boys and their adorable Autumn. If you read my blog, you already know all about her. We planned to spend just the night but ended up a bit longer as the draw of games, kids and birthday cake is too strong a pull for us to resist. (Happy birthday Jonah!) Clayton spent the time mainly as an improvised bean bag/ punching bag. As seen here.

I also got a shot of the whole group as we headed out for an outing. Autumn is princess ready as usual. It was a great time.
I had a sleepover weekend with Jennifer's three youngest kids: Calvin, Jack Abby, where we did October crafts. Sadly I didn't get a single picture. Boo. We taught them how to play Clue and painted pumpkins. Here are my results. The kid's pumpkins were much cuter.
On the 20th my friends and I held a play-date for our husbands where we carved pumpkins. Here is Heidi's Josh's results. Mine is the star thing in the upper left corner of the photograph. Don't know why I didn't get Josh actually carving. I didn't get a shot of Sterling either. Some friend I am. But isn't his Ernie cute?
Here is Clayton with his masterpiece. The mouth reads "I EAT KIDS". Of course it does.
Here are Heidi and Shauna with their super-Martha pumpkins. So much fun to play together.
Next up is my Birthday! Hooray- not really. None too thrilled about how the numbers are creeping up. Anyhow, I got a great car-seat and base. Love the teal and brown colors. The idea is that it will work for girl and boy babies. As I hope to eventually have both.


Clayton spent a good hour in the bedroom wrapping my next present. I started to wonder what was taking him so long. How long does it take to wrap one present? The next picture should explain it all.
How cute is he? Pretty freaking cute is the answer. I have coveted these galoshes for a while now. Does everyone love them as much as I do? Yes, I believe you do.
Last week I helped Jenni make Halloween cookies for Megan's Young Women event. Allie helped. Here she is posing with Clayton.
And here she is diligently working on another "Barney" cookie.

And finally Halloween. We had a friend's show (Puppetgrinder!) to go to and costumes are a must. Don't need to twist our arms. Clayton and I both love Halloween. What to be when you are over five months along? Pregnant nun and dirty priest of course. My apologies to any Catholic friends out there. We thought about pregnant missionary, but that is actually possible with Mission presidents and families and stuff, so the joke isn't as good. By the way- I am huge, but not that huge. I did stuff an extra blanket in for good effect.

Sadly we waited outside the venue for about 35 minutes before I gave up. Too tired and too many smokers right next to us in line. So we missed Curt's show. Luckily we got to see him the next day for lunch while he was still in town. Thanks Curt!
Happy October everyone. Sadly the best month of the year is now behind us. Rain and snow and blech ahead. At least it means I stay indoors blogging! Or reading yours.

Chicago!

Hello! I had a 25 hour layover in Chicago so Clayton flew in to join me in exploring the city. We had a wonderful guide in Clayton's old friend Tosh. He has been living there for over 7 years and knew all the ins and outs. We took the train into town and met up with him at the Art Institute of Chicago. We had about a half hour before the museum opened so Tosh showed us the Millennium Park about a block away. They have some great public art pieces like this giant chrome jelly-bean. You can walk all the way under it, and take some crazy pictures.

Here is my self portrait of Clayton and I.

And here are Tosh and Clayton under the bean. It reminded me of James and the Giant Peach.
Here Clayton and I are in front of the Art Institute's bronze lions.
There are hundreds of notable works here that even the least knowledgeable person would know. Like American Gothic by Grant Wood.

Sadly an entire wing was closed for renovations so we didn't get to see a few key pieces that we were looking forward to. Like The Old Guitarist by Picasso. It is Clayton's favorite piece ever. Oh well, next time. Still there was plenty to enjoy. Like John Singer Sargent, one of my favorite artists. I thought I would take my four month tummy shot next to this one, but we didn't quite get it all in the shot. Um, ya- cuz' it's that big. Sure I'm kidding, but not really. I am getting bigger by the minute. I may just have to blog about my belly button alone... but I digress. Back to the art.

Nighthawks by Edward Hopper.

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges-Pierre Seurat. Can you believe he was only 26 when he painted this? Makes me feel like a slacker. Non-art fans may recognize it from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Which is required watching for a trip to Chicago. As is Adventures in Babysitting. Oh wait, is that just me?
Downstairs they have an entire exhibit of about 60 miniature rooms. Like doll houses on acid. These were incredible! Every fabric was hand woven , every chair hand carved. They looked so real. Pictures don't do the least bit of justice, but I included two so you could see the scale next to Clayton's gigantic head. I'm kidding- his head is normal sized, I'm the one that can't find hats that fit.

They had ones done in every major historical style of decorating. Did I mention they were amazing?

After the museum we walked downtown a bit for lunch. We hit the Billy Goat Tavern, a Chicago staple. They serve great burgers. It's a famous place due to the the eccentric former owner Billy Sianis. He actually owned a goat and in 1945 bought seats for himself and his odd pet for the world series at Wrigley field. They denied entrance for the goat, and Mr. Sianis cursed the Cubs that they would never win a championship as long as he lived. And they never did.

After lunch we headed up to the Hancock Center. We decided to go to the top there instead of the Sears Tower as it is almost the same height, and Tosh knew a secret to get us up free. (Completely legal.) They views were astounding. If you are headed to Chicago it is totally worth it to make time in your schedule for this. Here are Tosh and Clayton.
Here is one of the views of Lake Michigan. Note the sand at the bottom of the picture.
Well here we are on that very sand! A beautiful little beach in downtown Chicago. It is such an amazing city. After the Hancock Center we walked along the lake to the Navy Pier.

Here are Tosh and Clayton enjoying the view at the end of the pier.

We took a Ferris Wheel ride on the pier to rest our legs and enjoy the views.
Here I am next to the elevated train (the El). It is loud.
And here are Clayton and his tired, pregnant wife in front of the Sears Tower (sort of). We did it all in about seven hours and I still had to work my flight home that night. We walked our legs off- like we do in any city we are trying to conquer in one day. It's worth it for the experiences, but oh, we hurt today. A million thanks to Tosh for his expertise. We had a great time!
And here is the Sears Tower from the ground. It's a bit tall. You can't even see the top from this angle. We loved Chicago. It's like New York with a Seattle twist. Of course we had the most beautiful fall weather ever. I've heard the winters can bite, so maybe we will have to try it out then to get the whole feel.

Hawaii July 2008

So yes, we went to Hawaii again last month. What could we do? Our tans from the last trip were fading. Just kidding. Tom and Jenni got a killer deal on a condo in Maui and we had the hookup on flying so we really couldn't not go. We know, we know. We really don't deserve friends. That said, here are a ton of pictures. Starting with Clayton walking along the Westin property. They had three killer pools and the most amazing snorkeling right on the doorstep of the property. We saw eels, turtles and a billion of odd looking fish.


Here is our niece Allie with my brother Tom in the kid pool that has this huge pirate ship in the middle. Pools are way more fun with kids.


Allie learned a new trick.


On Sunday we drove up from the Ka'anapali area to the Ritz. On it's ocean side area are these really cool lava formations called the dragon's teeth. Clayton and I had been there on our first trip to Maui and wanted to show them to Tom and Jenni's family.


Walking back up the Ritz golf course, also a sacred burial ground. Originally the hotel was going to be built closer to the ocean but they found this spot and had to move it back. However golfing on burial grounds is ok. Whatever works for them.


On the beach back at our hotel Clayton made a masterpiece in the sand. Take that Borglum.


Allie (or Allen as the Siverts have named her when she wears her super suit. It's floaty.) loved to play in the sand. Tom and Jenni stopped by a yard sale on the first day there and bought a bunch of buckets, pails, shovels, towel mats, and a boogie board for just a few dollars total. We think the yard-saler was a hotel maid. I'm glad she's recycling that way.

Tommy got buried. Someone has to so I'm glad it's the teenager. However should the grown up men be having this much fun doing it?


Allie, Allie, Allie. I know. But she was our little shining star whether she wanted to be or not. I love her swimsuits.


Clayton and wife. I packed like two shirts. Ever do that? Think you are being so smart by packing light until you see in your pictures that you only have proof of one shirt. Oh well.


Megan and I got Henna tattoos on our feet. Megan also got a cute butterfly on her wrist.


Here we are with our designs. When we got back to the room Allie noticed first thing and started asking where her flower was. So we drew on her ankle too. Start 'em young right? Megan's foot is on your left and mine is on the right.


One day we drove up to Hale'akala crater. It was really cool. The entire vegetation changes and you are suddenly in this moon-like area. Here is the gang at the visitor's center.


Inside we found Tom a button that expresses his true heart's devotion. Saving wildlife. Ok, sarcasm aside, he really is a decent human being, but the joke is that he had to stop super hard on the way up so as not to hit two Nene birds that were crossing the street. In the visitor's center they have these Nene crossing buttons for sale. Tom is modeling it here.


At the tippy top of the area there is a ledge that overlooks the top side of the island with the vast ocean and sky beyond. Megan got the idea to jump so it looks like she is just in the air. We copied her and all took turns trying to jump. The shots of Tom and Jenni's family are fantastic. The shots of Megan are gorgeous. The shots of us are... awkward. My dancing days are far behind me sadly. Enjoy none the less.



I told you I brought one shirt. Here are Clayton and Tommy giving Allie a lift.

The graceful gazelle Megan.


On the other side of the mountain.



Clayton and I took a long walk one day and revisited the Eldorado Hotel where we stayed our first time. Here he is on the grounds.

And here I am in my other shirt in front of the beach of the Eldorado. Our Westin hotel is actually just up the beach a few yards.


Lovely Megan with the boogie board, heading to the beach.


This was our surfing day. Tom rented a board and some stuff to try. He and Megan did really well. Here we are watching him. Tommy Megan and Allie.


Clayton and I and our friend. For some reason whenever we posed for a picture, if Allie was near, she ran over and got in the shot. I have no objections with that. All in all we had a fantastic time. This should be our last big trip for a long time. I know I keep saying that, but we really mean it this time.