The Beginning of Another Wonderful Year!

This new year we got lucky and were able to start 2010 out with some awesome visitors! On the Monday after Christmas, Kevin's brother Craig and his wife Sara flew out to spend a little quality time with us! When they arrived, they came bearing gifts. The winning gift for the season was the tutu and butterfly wing combo that they got for Brooklyn. As you can see from the picture below, she absolutely LOVED the dress up toys and has been wearing them on a daily basis since they left. (Which incidentally, makes it a little hard to get her on and off the toilet...but its still cute!)


The visit ended up being a nice mix between going out to see things and just relaxing at home. The boys logged in many hours on the Wii and their Warcraft game, while Sara was able to catch up on her blog and share some pretty funny online videos with us. Craig even took a little extra time to show Brooklyn how to use the Playstation!

When the computers and video games were off, we got the chance to play some speed Scrabble, take naps, and share funny stories with each other!


After some relaxation at home, we all braved the cold and took a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. There were a lot of really cool things to see and do. Brooklyn loved playing with Lego's and watching baby chickens hatch, and we all enjoyed the interesting displays. However, I think the winning display was the U505 submarine that we toured inside and out. Kevin and Craig even got special treatment and were able to see a part of the sub that no one else got to see! LUCKY!


Here is Brooklyn enjoying the Lego tables in the Architecture display! She and Kevin built a pretty cool tower, but it fell down before I could get a picture. I guess the engineering behind it wasn't well thought out. :)


Brooklyn stared at the baby chicks forever! She is pretty fascinated with animals, and eggs for that matter, so It was a pretty cool thing for her to see that chickens come from eggs!


There was also a huge model boat display at the museum. In the middle they had this steering wheel so we seized the moment and got a picture of Brooklyn with Aunty Sara and Uncle Craig!

Another adventure took us to Lincoln Park on New Years Day where Kevin and Craig ran the New Year's 5K! Due to parking troubles, they started a little late but still finished in good time. Also, I believe it was around 8 degrees outside when they ran, and they held the distinction of being 2 of only 4 people who ran the race wearing shorts!!


Here are the boys running to the race start after everyone else had already gone through! Oops! And take a look at those cold little legs! Ouch!


The water was frozen, the Wives were frozen, and the Brooklyn was frozen, but we had a good time and enjoyed cheering the boys on through the finish line. What STUDS!


Here are Kevin and Craig sporting their new 5K shirts after the race...they look a little warmer in this picture than when they actually finished running!

After the race, Kevin and Craig pulled on some pants and we drove over to the Willis Tower (Sears Tower) to take in the view. There was a 2 hour wait though so we took a chance and drove over to the John Hancock Building Observatory instead. We'd never been there before and it ended up being really cool!



The picture of Craig and Sara in the middle is at the base of the Willis Tower. The rest are of us inside the John Hancock building.


Here are Craig and Sara pushing the stroller toward the building in the FREEZING cold weather!


Kevin and I were even able to take a picture of ourselves in the observatory. We did a pretty good job getting both our faces AND the buildings in the background!



Here are Aunty Sara and Brooklyn playing around by the windows. Brooklyn absolutely loves her Aunt Sara and asks me every day where she is and when is she coming back!



Uncle Craig and Brooklyn having a very in depth conversation about life. Look at those intense faces...Whatever they are saying, it must be interesting!


And last, but not least, here I am with Brooklyn at the top of the building. We had a great trip with the Provo Hanks family and miss them already! Thanks for the visit guys. It was a fantastic Christmas present and a terrific way to start out the new year!