Surprise!!!!

Last weekend, Jess Savannah and I flew to Oregon for a quick trip and a surprise party for Jess's mom. She had people that flew in from all over the US. Pennsylvania, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois (us). She was completely surprised and we had a great time. Here are the photos if you want to take a peek!

http://imagevault.smugmug.com/AW/Friends/Pam-60th/10596890_vuFy6/1/736628988_Bo6ND#736628988_Bo6ND

So many reasons to give Thanks!

We spent Thanksgiving in Rockford, IL with Jess's Grandma, Aunt, Uncle, Dad, Step-mom, sister and other family. Savannah had a great time with her Great Grandma's dog, Sugar. And the day after Thanksgiving we went down to the Woodstock Square for the big lighting of the square. It is beautiful! We had dinner in the Irish Pub on the Square, stood in a long line of people waiting for Starbucks and watched the lighting of the square and listened to carolers. It was great fun!

Watching Savannah grow!

Savannah is almost 11 months and we have watched her grow up so much this year. She is doing the army crawl, she is eating our food, even her clothes are looking like big girl clothes! I wanted to show you a few of my recent photos.

Baa! Happy Halloween!

Savannah really is not so sure what to think of her Halloween costume. But it is oh so fun for me to dress her up! And perfect since today is cold and rainy. I took this picture of her while she was in Oregon after we went to the Pumpkin Patch with Nanna and Aunt Mimi (Michelle). We are going "trick or treating" to a couple Country Insurance Offices today. Just to show off the great costume! Baa! Baa!

Trip to Oregon

Savannah and I (Tricia) went to Oregon for a much needed visit with friends and family. It was Savannah's first time to Oregon and our first time flying with out Jess. It went well and we had a great time! Can't wait to come back for Christmas!

Uncle Jerod & Savannah at the beach.

Savannah, Nanna and I at the beach.

Savannah & Grandpa Fox at the Oregon Coast in Lincoln City.

Savannah hanging out with Granny & Papa Schwarz. (Jess's mom and step dad.)

Savannah hanging out with her cousin Silas. Remington is in the background.

Savannah and Papa Karl.

Savannah and Granny. Cousins are trying to toughen her up, I guess. Her wearing a Fox skater hat.

Hanging out with the Lucas's and Bains. Met my friends Ellie & Annie Lucas!

Savannah(left) playing with friends: Ellie Prunk & Emmy Meyers

Savannah (left) playing with friends: Elloise Adams & Sophia Thompson. Savannah cannot crawl or walk as of left. I am assisting her.

Hanging out after breakfast with Uncle Jerod.

With Nanna Fox at the Pumpkin Patch

Hanging out with Grandpa Fox while Nanna is at work! Hurry home Nanna we are having so much fun!

Taking a bath in Grandpa & Nanna Fox's sink! What a view! Hahaha!

We had a great time! Great to visit with all the friends and family!

Settling into the new house

We are slowly getting settled in. The house is actually very livable. And now we can park in the garage too! We had to hang 8 outdoor chairs on the wall of the garage that did not stack or fold up in order to do this. But as soon as winter hits, it will be well worth it. Thankfully this townhouse has a large loft, which we are using as an office and storage area. We still have many
boxes that we have not touched yet, and some we may never while living at this house. This townhouse is 2300 square feet smaller than the house we just moved from. You can imagine how much unusable space we had at our last house that we had to heat, air condition, and clean. I look forward to a lower gas and electricity bill and already a much more manageable cleaning area. And since it is a townhouse, no yard work! Yahoo!!!!!! It also means no yard to ourselves. But, for now, it is a GREAT trade off! Besides, there is a lot of common yard area for Wrigley to run. And Jess went from a 40 minute commute down to a 4 minute commute. That is better than his commute when living in Normal, IL, while working as a trainer in the corporate office, of 7 minutes!
Woodstock, IL is famous for the town square featured in the movie Groundhog Day. It is full of great activities. We have already gone down to the farmers market a couple times and will go again this weekend to get a Frapacino and walk the farmers market booths and see the art festival that will be going on this weekend.
Would love to hear from all of you. I have access to a computer this week! Next month we will be looking to buy a new home computer.


Savannah holding the dog's leash in the new front yard.

Savannah fell asleep on her morning walk. Too close to nap time I would guess.

The family photo in front of the new townhouse rental.

A new house calls for a new bath tub. If you squeeze the beak, it quacks too. It was a gift from my 3rd grade teacher. Thanks Mrs. Rasmussen! She loves it!

Visit from Grandpa and Grandma Joles and Great Grandma Nelson

1 week later, we got a visit from Grandpa and Grandma Joles, Jess's dad and step mom. We all drove over to see Savannah's Great Grandma and Grandpa Nelson in Rockford. We got to visit with Grandpa and Grandma Joles over the Labor day weekend. It was sure good to see them.

Savannah with Grandpa Joles.

Savannah with Great Grandma Nelson and her dog Sugar. Savannah got lots of kisses from Sugar on her toes and she giggled and giggled.

Visit from Granny and Papa to help us move

1 week back from our trip from Arizona we moved to a new rental townhouse. Granny and Papa Schwarz, Jess's mom and step dad, had planned a trip out to visit and it happened to fall on the time when we had to move. They were great sports about helping and we got it all done! We also went to a Chicago Cubs game and it was Savannah's first trip to Wrigley Field. It was a great time. Here are some of the highlights of those 10 days.

Jess and Savannah walking to Wrigley Field.

Granny, Papa, Jess and Savannah walking to Wrigley Field. I had to take some photos against this brick wall covered in Ivy. It is exactly what Wrigleyville is all about!

Jess, Tricia and Savannah in front of Wrigley Field. Looks the same as it did when it opened!

Moving Day. Sorry the photo is sideways. Still so much fun!

At the end of a long moving day! Wrigley worked oh so hard!

Papa Karl and Savannah the day before the move.

Granny and Papa and Savannah in front of the new townhouse rental.

Summary of Arizona

Every year Jess has worked as an agent or manager he has had an opportunity to earn a vacation based on his performance at work. This year, the trip was in Scottsdale, Arizona. Grandpa and Nanna Fox decided to bank in on their time share and meet us in Arizona for the week. And my aunt Carol, my mom's sister, flew to Oregon and made the drive down with my parents. We had a great time. It of course went too fast. We swam, Jess and my dad played golf. We did some site seeing around downtown Scottsdale and just hung out at the resorts. One night Country sponsored a big dinner and we all ate well, listened to music and there was a large room designated to carnival type games for the kids. The view of the golf courses and mountains were spectacular! We had a blast!

Grandpa Fox and Savannah in Arizona!

Nanna and Savannah in Arizona. Savannah in her 2 piece suit. Love it!

Nanna and Aunt Carol in Arizona.

Country Banquet: Savannah and I

Savannah: Gotta wear those hats in Arizona!

Family Photo in Arizona!

Hanging out at the Kierland Resort.

Daddy Daughter Photo! Gotta love it!