Pizza Hut Connect Holiday Party ON A BOAT!


Andrew

Samantha

This year our Pizza Hut Connect Holiday party was on a river boat. But not just any boat, this boat had glass walls and a glass ceiling so you could take in all of the views as you floated around the Chicago River. I heard it was so new that it had been on less than two dozen voyages so far! Dallas went to the Cowboys vs. Bears game, so Kristin came along as my +1.

Chris, Esther

A bunch of the leadership team flew in from Plano and spoke briefly. Artie is the CEO of Pizza Hut and Carol is the CTO of Pizza Hut.

A lot of recognition awards were given out by different leaders. This is Laura, our HR Director, recognizing someone.

To my surprise, I was recognized by my boss’s boss, Chuck. I was literally taking a bite of my salmon, when I looked up and was like “uh, he’s talking about my team.” A few seconds later he called out my name to come to the front.

Steve, Chad, Jatan, Jerry, Mayur

Jatan, Sampath

Chris, Esther

Jeremiah and his wife, Emily

Umesh, Kishore, Vinay, Elric, Tanya, Tanya’s husband, Kishore

Samantha and her husband

Janet and her husband

Savannah and Carol

Marc and Jeremiah

Madhan and his wife


Madhan and his wife

LaShunda and Umesh

Jess’s friend, Casey, Allison, Jess

After dinner there was a lot of dancing! Members of my team, especially Kishore, pulled me out onto the dance floor! Jim, the owner of Quikorder, attended the party and he even got pulled out onto the dance floor!

 Umesh, Jessica

 Umesh, Vinay

Back: Jeremiah, Madhan, Kishore, Chris, Fred, Sampath, Peter, Sheena, Harish, Jatan, Tanya
Front: Vinay, Umesh, Kishore, Mayur, Esther
Back: Jeremiah, Madhan, Kishore, Chris, Fred, Sampath, Peter, Mayur, Harish, Jatan, Tanya
Front: Vinay, Umesh, Kishore, Esther

 Savannah, Andrew, Carol, Umesh

 Susan, Jerry, Carlos

Casey and her husband


Allison, Carlos, Jessica, Susan

Susan, Me, Esther, Guadalupe

Catherine, Casey, Susan

Jeff, Samantha, Tom

Fred and his wife, Kerri, and Peter

Erin, LaShunda, Chuck, Sampath, Kishore

Fred, Kerri, Baby #3

Vinay, Jatan, Sampath, Kishore, and Kishore

After our 3-hour boat ride, everyone got off the boat and walked into River North to go out some more. I walked with them for a bit, but then got a ride home to relieve the babysitter (Ms. Lauren). Great time. So much fun hanging out with everyone outside of work. I wished I could have stayed out longer.. but then the next day I heard some people were out until the sun came up, so I was actually kind of glad for an excuse to go home!

Family Reunion in Neenah, WI

Dallas had to work, but Makai and I headed to Wisconsin on a Friday afternoon. On Saturday we had a big family reunion. My mom and dad spearheaded it and reserved a pavillion at Schildt Park. They made the meat and everyone else brought sides and desserts. It turned out great and everyone had a fun time!

 Aunt Connie + Riverlyn

 Juniper, Mom, Aunt Connie

 Riverlyn + Margo

 Riverlyn + Makai

 Riverlyn

Annaleigha + Riverlynn

Annaleigha

 Margo, Makai, Riverlynn

 Pat + Kelly

 Collin, Sabrina, Richard, Jill, Keegan

 Riverlynn, Katrina, Mom

 Uncle Rich + Ella

 Aunt Deb + Erica

 Uncle Steve, Kacey, Sierra

 Aunt Wanda, Aunt Connie, Molly

 Phil + Amanda

 Dawn, Annaleigha, Miranda

 Peter, Uncle Dave, Juniper

 Dad, Kelly, Mark

 Riverlynn, Katrina, Ciara, Skyonna, Juniper

 Phil, Amanda, Bethany, Brianne

 Peter, Juniper, Dakota

 Makai

 Cousins! Amanda, Bethany, Kacey, Sabrina, me, Dawn, Erica, Richard

 Jeff, Tessa, Charlotte

 Mom, Aunt Connie, Aunt Wanda

Mom, Aunt Connie, Aunt Wanda

 Me + Makai

Cousins! Kelly, Katrina, Richard, Sabrina, Molly, Me, Dawn, Pat

From Tessa:

Makai’s WI Vacation

We were barely home from our 3-week trip to Hawaii, when Makai went to Wisconsin for 10 days! He had off a few days for Fourth of July and Dallas and I each only had one day off. So we asked my parents if he could go to their house. But the timing for pickup and drop off really extended the visit. He loved it, of course! He didn’t even miss us! He did so many things in those 10 days:

Party at a nearby park and a nighttime parade.

Lakehouse day with my brother and Jill.

Helping grandpa wash his truck.

Crashed my cousin Skyonna’s wedding.

Celebrating Fourth of July with my cousin Kelly’s family – Jeff, Tessa, Margo, Charlotte.

Visiting a park on the Fox River.

Hanging out at home!

Easter Celebrations

We were lucky enough this year to celebrate Easter on several different days, each time with different friends and family!Our first celebration was in Oak Creek with my family. It was the weekend before Easter. My parents made easter baskets for Makai, Steph and Jess. Everyone dyed eggs.

Dallas’s parents visited the week before Easter, including the holiday. On the day before Easter, Makai, Kathy and I met up with Gus and his mom Huyen at Unity Park for some Easter fun! There was an egg hunt, some games, a contest to guess how many jelly beans were in a jar. The Easter Bunny was there but neither Gus nor Makai wanted to go near him. They had the most fun just playing together in the park!

Last year Makai bad been staying at my parent’s house before Easter and on Easter day, we picked him up. When we got home we found that the Easter Bunny had visited our house. This year we had plans to go to Doug and Naoko’s house later in the day. Makai thought that the Easter Bunny would come when we left the house so he wasn’t even suspicious on Easter morning! When he went downstairs to watch a show he was super surprised! The Easter Bunny brought him Peter Rabbit, a Razor scooter, Duck Tales toys, a Captain Underpants book, a Geronimo Stilton book, and a bit of candy.

Heather and Jeff usually host Easter at their house, but they moved that weekend, so Dough and Naoko had everyone over. Each family brought some eggs for the Easter egg hunt. Aunty Gail went to the bank and got 75 gold coins to put into 75 of the 400 eggs. Some people loaded theirs up with quarters too! One lucky person (Kenji, I think) found a $10 bill in an egg!

A few more photos from Heather:


Finally, I made these cookies two times for the celebration in Oak Creek and the celebration in Palatine. They were super cute and really tasty. Here is the recipe:

Easter Egg Sugar Cookies
From: A Pretty Life in the Suburbs

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 small package of eggies (chocolate Easter eggs a candy shell)
  • 1/2 cup of butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • in extra sugar for rolling the dough

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  • In a mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.
  • Add the egg and vanilla. Mix until well blended.
  • In another bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
  • Add the flour mix, alternately with the milk, to the butter mixture, mixing until well blended.
  • Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  • Shape the cookie dough into 1 inch balls.
  • Roll the balls in the extra sugar, and place them on a cookie sheet. Do not press them down.
  • Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until edges of the cookies are lightly browned.
  • Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool for 2 – 3 minutes. After this time press 3 small Easter eggies into the middle of the cookies. See notes.
  • Let cool completely on a wire rack.

NOTES

  • Make sure you give the cookies enough time to cool down. If you move them too quickly, the Easter eggs will crack.