Happy 70th Papa!

Papa turns 70 next week so we took him to BlueWater Grill for a early birthday dinner.

 We hope he enjoyed the evening and has a great year!

Happy Birthday Papa!

Thanksgiving

Grandma and Papa flew down for Thanksgiving and we had a great week with Taylor home too!

We spent the day watching football, cooking our favorite Thanksgiving meal

and then sharing lots of laughs with the Lebitski's who joined us for dessert and games.

LA Day

We played tourists in LA today!  First stop was the painted Micheltorena Stairs on Sunset Blvd.  There were several flights with different designs in a really funky neighborhood.

Then it was off to The Broad Museum just a few miles away.  It was 2 stories of varying art displays, some cooler than others.  I loved these glass tulips

 and gigantic balloon dog.

I think we all most enjoyed the gigantic dining table and shared lots of laughs when Leslie and Taylor got yelled at for touching the artwork!

We walked a few blocks to the Grand Central Market for dinner.  Such a cool space with multiple food vendor options so everyone was happy with their dinner choice!

We all agreed on McConnell's for ice cream before walking over to Angels Flight.

 I've seen this in so many pictures and was excited to see it was in the same area as the museum.  It was a dollar per person to ride the tram up the steep track

and a first for all of us!  I love exploring new spots and we had a great day!

Sunny's Sweet 16 Hoedown!

I joined Allie for Sunny's Sweet 16 Hoedown.  They had the cutest set up at her grandparent's house

with a cute drink station and delicious BBQ dinner.

They even hired the line dance instructor from The Stampede and the kids loved it!

This is the sweetest group of friends that make Allie so happy.  Happy Birthday to Sunny!  Now they all can finally drive!

Happy Halloween

It was tough getting into the Halloween spirit with it falling on a Tuesday and a busy schedule, but we managed to "drill" some pumpkin designs

 for the front porch.

 Allison also dressed up for school

with a group of friends as frat boys...ha ha!  I hope those red solo cups were empty on campus!

Halloween Work Bash

Matt and I attended a Halloween Bash with several of his co-workers.  We weren't very creative with our costumes, but did alright with a day's notice!

 There were some that put a lot more effort in

and it was nice getting to meet all of the people Matt works with.

Jesse goes all out with his party each year.  He built this awesome battleship-type game using beer shots instead of ships

 and festive shots in syringes that didn't look to appetizing!  

Glen Ivy Ladies Day

SDSI spoiled us today with  a great girl's day out at Glen Ivy Hot Springs!

We spent hours in the mud bath,

 sipped on cocktails,

ate a tasty lunch

and shared a relaxing afternoon in several of the different pools.  I love working and playing with these ladies!

Gotta Love the Companion Pass

Thanks to a free companion pass on Southwest, I spent the weekend in Lawrence while Allison was at KWU!  I worked at McLain's while Taylor went to class and then joined her for her Ambassador lunch at the Oread.  

 Then it was off to the Hawk and the Bull for Friday "free beer"!

 She has the sweetest friends!

 I went on a pretty hike at Clinton Lake Saturday morning while Taylor volunteered for the Endowment Board.

 We met up at Allen Fieldhouse to watch KU Women's Volleyball play Iowa State.

 Andrew and Taylor were good sports waiting in line in the freezing cold with me at Joe's KC BBQ.  Well, Andrew sat in the car for part of it since he wore shorts!! It took almost 2 hours to eat BBQ at a gas station,

 but it was so worth it!  

 Sunday morning we tried out a new spot called Top Golf in Overland Park.  Such fun!

 We are a competitive bunch and didn't stand a chance against Andrew, but the weather was perfect and Taylor and I improved as the day went on.  

I had to leave a little early to pick up Taylor and Keilani at the airport, but it was such a great weekend!

KWU Visit

Allison received an offer to go on an "official visit" to KWU this weekend!

 Her friend Keilani from Arsenal soccer days received one too so she traveled with us.

The girls were picked up at KC airport by Coach Matty who drove them to Salina for the weekend.

They stayed in the dorms with the players, attended practice and video sessions and ate their meals with the team.  Allison also got special keeper training with Coach Henrich that she really enjoyed.

They also had time to tour Salina, attend a host family birthday party and meet some of the boy recruits.  

I met them back at KC airport Sunday afternoon.  They were starving so we talked about the weekend over lunch at Jack Stack's BBQ.

I showed around KC a bit too before we needed to be back at the airport for our flight...World War 1 Memorial,

 Union Station

and shopping at Country Club Plaza! I think they both really liked KWU and will wait for their offers to come in!