Big Announcement

Jill and I have always been a big fan of JUMBLE and so we thought this was an appropriate way to make the big announcement to our Small Group at Church. Although I wanted to shoot off a huge confetti canon my wife was there to control me and keep me in check. (I am sure that the custodial staff is breathing a big sigh of relief). But, with a similar announcement coming about every other week from someone else in the class, we thought that we needed to do something different because as soon as someone says “We have an announcement…” all the girls start shrieking and the guys stand up to shake hands as it is the basic assumption that the couple is pregnant. So instead, we decided to do the JUMBLE to announce our news. And while I don’t know if it was the chocolate brownie cupcakes or the announcement itself that made everyone excited, we were certainly ecstatic to share the news and excited of what is to come.

If you haven't unscrambled the above Jumble then scroll on down for the answer.

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CHICAGO!!!

Chicago – July 4th
We decided to take advantage of the holiday weekend and took a trip to Chicago over the 4th of July weekend. Although the trip was a bit against our nature as it was somewhat of a last minute decision, it still worked out really well. We were able to squeeze in another day in the city because of the holiday, it was Taste of Chicago week, we were able to watch the fireworks display with 1,000,000 other people along the shoreline of Lake Michigan, and we were able to get Cubs tickets. All great events and happenings that we wouldn’t have been able to enjoy unless we went on that particular weekend and so it turned out to be some great timing.
In addition, to the special events that were happening that week we were also able to take in all of the tourist attractions that the city has to offer. We spent time in a couple of the museums, went to the Shed aquarium, looked over the city from the top of the Sears and Hancock towers, went to Lincoln Park zoo, visited “the Bean”, walked up and down Michigan avenue, spent time at the Navy Pier, and saw Jersey Boys. Needless to say we squeezed in a lot in the four days that we were there and the time went by very fast but it was a great weekend getaway that couldn’t have turned out better even if we had planned it a year in advance!

Sears Tower

"The Bean" at Millennium Park


Navy Pier

One of the big highlights of the trip were these cinnamon rolls!! Words cannot describe how delicious they were~!

Waiting on the "L"
Fireworks on Lake Michigan

The crowd after the fireworks-- Don't look Mom and Dad

An owl pellet dissection at the Museum of Science and Industry

Night at the ballpark

Lincoln Park Zoo

John Hancock Building

Taste of Chicago

Largest T-Rex
Field Museum

Shed Aquarium

Picking Blueberries

One of my favorite summer activites for the last couple of years has been picking blueberries. This year my parents had some friends that had to many for them to pick so we got to enjoy them. John Paul enjoyed the day as well, even though he did not like to eat them at all!!

Yum-- Fresh blueberry muffins