Kathryn's Bridal Shower

Kathryn's bridal shower was this afternoon. About 25 friends and family members came to celebrate Kathryn's engagement at Kiki B's Restaurant. We tried to incorporate some Greek traditions throughout the shower. This helped everyone understand what the wedding in Greece will be like. Towards the end of the shower, the men (Dad, Grandpa, Nate and Yanni) stopped by to visit. Many of the guests at the shower were meeting Yanni for the first time. I think everyone at the shower had a fun afternoon.

Christmas 2007

This year, Nate and I spent Christmas in Rockford with my family. All of my immediate family was there, it was a full house! The only one missing was Grandma... this is the first Christmas we are celebrating without her. On Christmas Eve, we opened gifts and had a big dinner at my parents house. We went to a Christmas church service later in the evening.

Yes, even Zoe had gifts to open...

Christmas Day we went back to my parents house for another big meal which Nate helped to prepare. It seems like we have been eating nonstop for the past week, but I suppose that's what you do around Christmas. Then New Year's comes and everyone makes a resolution to loose weight.... that might have to be my New Year's resolution this year. Nate too.

After all the food and excitement, everyone was ready for a nap. Zoe was first to fall asleep.

Kathryn and Yanni Come Home!

Kathryn and her fiance, Yanni, landed at O'Hare last Friday night. We are so glad that they were able to come home for the holidays. Yanni has never been to Chicago, or anywhere in the Midwest, so this should be an interesting experience for him! Our freezing temperatures and foot of snow is a big change from the 65 degree weather in Greece this time of year. Even more snow is predicted for the next few days... but we can't let a little snow ruin our fun! Kathryn and Yanni have so much they would like to do during their 2 week stay. Among the list of things to do: shop at Woodfield, IKEA, bridal gown shopping, Kathryn's bridal shower, visit the Chicago museums, finalize wedding plans, and- of course- celebrate the holidays with friends and family!

My mom still insists on making cakes for us, just like when we were kids. Above is a picture of the beautfiully decorated Welcome Home cake she made for Kathryn and Yanni!

Manny Monday!

Today my grandpa came home from his 5 month stay in Greece. We have been anxiously awaiting Grandpa's return... we have been referring to this day as "Manny Monday". My mom and dad took the day off work to drive to the airport and pick him up. We all had dinner together at my parents house. Grandpa told us stories from Greece and he unpacked his very cramped suitcase. His stories get better and better with each trip to Greece!

Zoe and Grandpa reunite...

Thanksgiving in Des Moines

Thanksgiving was great this year! My parents came with us to Des Moines to celebrate Thanksgiving with Nate's family. We all stayed at Nate's parents' new condo. It was the first time Nate and I had been there since they moved in last August. I don't think my parents had been to Des Moines since we graduated college. Nate's sister and her family came over for Thanksgiving also. Her two girls, Brianna and Alysa, have gotten so big! Zoe immediately became friends with Alysa, who loved to chase her. I love this picture of the two of them sitting together.

And this one of Alysa chasing Zoe...

The rest of the weekend Nate and I spent some time just hanging out with his family. We let the girls open their Christmas presents early since we will not be able to celebrate Christmas with them this year. We also helped put up the Christmas tree. On Saturday night we went over to our friend Dave and Janet's house for dinner. It was nice to see some of our Iowa friends and family!

Happy Halloween from Zoe!

Have you ever seen a cuter ladybug?! Although Zoe did not appreciate being dressed in costume, she got many compliments from trick-or-treaters. This is one of the very few pictures we were able to get of Zoe in her full costume. She kept trying to eat her headpiece. We spent Halloween giving out candy at my parents house (there's not much Halloween traffic at our house). My parents neighbors stopped by to trick-or-treat. Their two children, Nathan and Rachael, had the cutest costumes!

After trick-or-treating hours, we all sat down and had some apple pie! Of course, Zoe got some too! What a great Halloween!

I Love NYC!

That's right, I love NYC! Our trip to the Big Apple was amazing. Nate and I traveled with our friends Dave and Janet from Iowa. We had four busy days of sightseeing and experiencing New York City! We began our trip by going to see the Broadway performance "Rent" on Friday evening. It was a lot of fun, even better since Janet knew how to get us half price tickets. We spent the next two days on a bus tour that covered everthing from Times Square to China Town. Sunday night we were at the Yankee vs. Indians playoff game. We met my Aunt and Uncle and there two kids, Nina and Manny, at the game. It was so exciting being at Yankee stadium. The crowd was going crazy.

On a more serious note, for those of you who are wondering what Ground Zero currently looks like....

You can't see much of anything, it's just a giant whole really. There is a huge concrete fence surrounding the area, but we found a crack in the concrete where we stuck the camera through to get the above picture. Looks like a lot of construction is going on. Outside of the fence is a huge memorial wall which lists the names of all who died on 9/11. No matter what angle I took the picture from, I could not fit in all the names. How sad. Here is a picture of the church that is right next to Ground Zero. Amazingly, it was not harmed at all by the events of 9/11. It's a beautiful church that now serves as a memorial.

Overall, our trip was fantastic. We got a lot accomplished in only four short days. We are forever indebted to our friend Janet who got us our hotel room for free through her work. That saved us about $500+ that we could spend on other things... like Coach bags (HA! Just kidding)

Our 2nd Anniversary!

Today marks two years that Nate and I have been married! It's hard to believe that two years have gone by already. They've been filled with so much joy and happiness. We look forward to celebrating many more anniversaries together. Nate and I both worked today and I had my masters class afterwords so we didn't do much to celebrate. We are leaving on Friday for a trip to NYC, our anniversary gift to eachother. Our good friends Dave and Janet will be traveling with us. I have never been to New York before, so I have been looking forward to this trip for a long time. Check back again soon for NYC pictures. The picture above was taken at our rehearsal dinner, the night before our wedding.

Happy 30th Birthday, Nate!

Nate's 30th birthday was yesterday, September 28th. Today we had a party/BBQ at our house to celebrate. Nate's parents, sister, and nieces all came to Rockford for the party. We also shared the day with many other close friends. About 40 people came to the party. It was nice to see so many of our friends. The weather was beautiful, fall weather is finally here! It was a perfect day for grilling and hanging out in the backyard. Zoe loved being outside with us. She made many new friends and loved being the center of attention. Zoe's birthday is next week, so we considered it her birthday party too. Also, my dad's birthday was today so we were really celebrating all three birthdays. Happy Birthday Nate, Dad, and Zoe!

Another school year...

Another school year officially started today! Today was the first day of student attendance at Dennis Early Learning Center. I have been preparing the classroom for the last three weeks (yes, it takes that long) and going on home visits. It was great seeing the students again today, many of them are returning from last year. Though I would love to post pictures of my students, I don't think I can leagally do that. So instead, here are some pictures of my clasroom. Each classroom at our school has a different habitat theme (frog pond, bat cave, woodpecker nest, etc.). My room is the ladybug house, hence all the ladybug pictures. I changed the set-up of the classroom a little bit from last year. Nate helped me put up a rainbow canopy over my reading center. How cute! Now the kids have a cozy place to look at books. I found a cute ladybug bean bag on ebay and had to buy it for the class. The walls are still bare, I am waiting until next week to start doing art projects. Soon the children's artwork will be up and the room will look much more colorful. I am looking forward to another fun school year!

Labor Day weekend- Cubs game

Nate and I spent Labor Day weekend this year with our friends Dave, Janet, Jon, and Rachael. We went into Chicago for the Cubs game on Saturday afternoon. The cubs won, it was a really exciting game! The weather was gorgeous, though we did get a little sunburned. Of course Nate and I forgot our camera, so the pictures above are thanks to our friend Janet. After the game, we spent the evening downtown. We walked around for awhile and visited a few bars. During our walk downtown, we saw Cubs player Derek Lee. He was standing outside of a bar we were passing. Our friend Jon was the only person brave enough to go and say something to him. Jon shook Derek's hand and said something about how great the game was earlier that day. That was probably the highlight of our trip. We spent Saturday night at a hotel on Michigan Avenue and drove back home Sunday afternoon. It really was a great weekend. It's always nice to hang out with our Iowa friends.

Summer Remodeling Projects

This summer we decided to do a little remodeling and redecorating. First, we started in the kitchen. We desperately needed new countertops and a cooktop. Our old countertops had a glue-like sealant on them and everything would stick to the counter. The cooktop would never lite properly. It was time for some serious changes. We ordered new countertops... they're Meganite, not Granite (maybe our next home will have Granite). We decided to go ahead and get a new sink, faucet, and garbage disposal as well. Might as well do it right! The kitchen was finished on August 13th and we've been loving it ever since.

We also got some great new furniture for our guest bedroom. Nate's parents moved into a condo this summer and were looking to get rid of some of their furniture. They had a beautiful antique bedroom set which is over 100 years old. Nate and I gladly accepted the bedroom set. We drove it all the way to Rockford from Des Moines. We looked like such hillbillies with the matress and box spring strapped to the top of our mini van! It was well worth it though, our guest bedroom looks great. Want to come visit?

P.S. See if you can find Zoe. She's hiding in one of the pictures.

Kathryn's Engaged! August 5, 2007

My sister, Kathryn, got engaged in Kapathos on Sunday, August 5th! Nate and I are so happy for her. Her finace, Yanni, is a great guy. My parents made a quick trip to Greece to be there for the engagement party... which was really more like a wedding. About 60 people attended the party which was at a beach front restaurant that our cousin owns. Sounds like there was a lot of drinking and partying going on well into the next morning. I'm sorry that Nate and I couldn't be there. My parents took so many pictures that I feel like I was there. Above are a few pictures of Kathryn, Yanni, and some other family members. The wedding is tentatively scheduled for next June in Karpathos. Guess we'll all have to start planning yet another trip to Greece!