Addison's 1st Communion

What a wonderful day!  This deserves a post of it's own!  Addison worked very hard this year to prepare for her 1st Communion.  Mark did a lot of the teaching at home with Addison and her BFF Jenna.  They also had to take additional classes to prepare for the big day.  Addison did awesome and we are so proud of her! 

She wore Lauren's dress for her 1st Communion and looked beautiful.  She picked out the bobby pins to style her hair as well.  

Lauren looked gorgeous as well in her dress! 

Of course, I had to take all kinds of pictures!  I love this one!  

Mark, Addison and Uncle Pat, her God Father.  We were so happy Uncle Pat, 2 cousins, and Grandma Harding were able to make it down to celebrate Addison's big day.  

Isn't she just beautiful?  

Miss Diana was Addison's teacher for Religion Class every Wednesday evening.  She also taught Lauren and we just adore her! 

Jenna, Sage, and Addison.  These 3 go to school together as well and we all live in the same neighborhood.  

It's always fun to have a friend to go through this big day with.  

Lauren was asked to be a greeter for the service.  Since she was a little nervous, Mark helped her out.  They both did a great job.  Way to go Lauren! 

This was just half of the class!  There was a 2nd service a different weekend, and a Spanish service as well.  We love our church and they do an amazing job preparing the kids for their big day. 

Grandma Harding made the trip down.  We loved having her for the weekend. 

Gramps and Nana also came to celebrate the big day.  

After the service we came back to the house to celebrate Addison.  She wanted to keep her cake simple and wanted it to be a cookie cake.  It turned out great! 

We enjoyed cake and opened presents after the ceremony.  It was fun to hang out with family before they headed back to Omaha.  

The girls had so much fun with their cousins this weekend.  I love this picture I found on my phone for so many reasons.  Their smiles, crazy Mark, and all the memories created this weekend.  

Way to go Addison.  We are so proud of you! 

First Family Camping Trip

After months of begging from the girls to go camping and actually stay overnight in a tent, we finally did it this past weekend!  We went with our neighbors down to street and their boys, Cody and Andy.

I told Lauren to pack a hat..and well, she listened! 

This one can look beautiful anywhere.  When we pulled up to the campground it took forever for the guys to get us checked in, so the girls started playing in the car...Well started hanging out of the car, out of the sun roof, getting into snacks, you name it!  

We finally got in and started to get settled.  Thankfully Brandon was there to help us with out tent and Addison made sure they were doing it right.  

Just about done and a perfect tent for the 4 of us.  

Then we decided to take a hike in the woods, although Addison was not real thrilled.  

Looking for poison ivy...I think. 

But she perked up and had fun after a while. 

Our goal was to make it down to the lake.  The kids really liked it. 

But, then it was a long hike back to our tents.  Addison was on my back most of the time, and at the end Lauren got on Mark's shoulders and I made Addison walk for a little while.  

Super Dad, Brandon, carried both boys for a short while.  Little Andy helped out by holding the boys drinks.  Little Andy is a lot like Little Addison...enough said.  

Then we finally settled down to relax for a while.  

Addison rested.  

Lauren played.  

Then it was dinner time and the girls were thrilled that I bought root beer!  

Smores were next...

Addison loved them.  

This hat came in handy in the morning.  It was only about 60 degrees outside, but it was chilly.  Both girls slept pretty well, after they settled down and finally fell asleep.  I was warm in my sleeping bag, and thankfully Mark packed a sweatshirt with a hood to keep him warm throughout the night. 

The kids rode their bikes a lot.  Morning and night. 

Donuts around the fire for breakfast was great in the morning.  The boys were up at 6:30 and that woke us up.  It was an early morning! 

We hung out for a while, relaxing, enjoying the morning before packing up and heading home.  

Addison was pretty tired and hung out here for a while in the morning when we were cleaning up.  I don't think she actually fell asleep, but I am sure she could have.  We all came home and took naps this afternoon.  It felt great!

Our first family camping trip was fun.  Relaxing once we got there, but a lot of work prior to and once we got back.  We had several ticks to take off of all of us and that was no fun.  We did lots of laundry and finally got all settled down tonight.  Definitely something we will do again.  A great, relaxing way to spend a Saturday night and an incredible memory for the girls.  Tons of fun for sure.  

Surprise Trip to Chicago!

Last week before we went to Mexico, we made a stop in Chicago to see a Cubs game.  We flew out Saturday morning from KCI and landed in Chicago before 9:30.  We were able to do some sightseeing around the city we absolutely love before heading up to Wrigley.  

Our hotel (Palmer House) was in the Southern part of downtown, one block off Michigan Ave. It was a short walk to the Art Institute and Millennium Park.  

We strolled through Millennium Park enjoying all the art work all the people.  

The famous bean...

Next, we headed up Michigan Ave. looking for a local deli for lunch.  

We walked all the way up to the river and found a great deli.  Perfect for lunch.  We cooled off, had lunch and then walked along Michigan Ave. a little longer to catch the red line up to Wrigley Field.  We realized we did not have our train passes and ended up wasting $20 on more passes (the train machine did not give change...ugh)  

We hit one of the local bars for a beer before heading into the Stadium.  It is such a fun atmosphere all around the ballpark.  It is a true  love of baseball up there.  

The view from our seats.  Behind home plate but way up high!

Then we decided to walk around for a while...

and found new seats....

Then we went and got a snack..and new seats again!  Mark said that was the most fun he had at a Cubs game.  Wondering around looking for new seats.  It was a fun game with a Cubs win!  

With the use of our phone and the train map we can get around Chicago very easily.  

We noticed this steakhouse when we headed up to Wrigley and decided to try it out for dinner.  When we walked in it was packed, and they did not have any openings until 10:00 that night!  They said we could sit at the bar if we wanted...so we did.  Then we noticed were were completely under dressed and steaks were $75.  Ouch.  But, we were able to find something less expensive and enjoyed a great dinner.  

Then we headed back to the hotel to crash for our early flight out of O'hare in the morning with our final destination of Riviera Maya, Mexico.  

The next morning we caught the Blue Line up to O'hare.  It was crazy how dead the city of Chicago is at 4:40 in the morning.  But, I could not believe how packed the Blue Line was.  Full of travelers, and employees for the airport.  

I took these pictures and sent them to the girls Sunday morning.  Early morning flight, tired parents, coffee in hand, destination Mexico.  It was a great day!