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Entries Tagged as 'sue'

Kelly, Jessica and Tessa Visit Chicago

July 30th, 2012 · 1 Comment

Over the weekend, Jessica, Tessa and Kelly came to Chicago for a visit. They arrived late Friday night. On Saturday after a bit of visiting over breakfast, we headed to the Shedd Aquarium.

On the walk over to the aquarium from the parking garage, we passed by the Field Museum. I told Jess and Tessa about the dinosaur inside is named Sue. Tessa thought that her grandma Sue is probably older than the dinosaur named Sue!

Having flashbacks to when I went to the aquarium with Stephanie and the line just to get in the door was an hour long, I suggested we visit in the morning. I guess we didn’t get there early enough, because we had to wait the same amount of time. To pass the time we checked out the skyline and the boats on the lake and Tessa talked to her sisters on the phone.

By the time we got inside the aquarium it was about lunch time, so we went to the cafe and planned our day. Each of the girls told us what their top animals to see were and we made sure to go to those exhibits first. Their picks were:

Dolphins,

(Beluga) Whales,

and Penguins. Also, sharks, but I don’t have a photo.

We also saw:

Sea Lion,

Stingrays,

Leafy Seadragon,

Coral Reef,

Pufferfish,

and many other fish.

Jess and Tessa got to reach in and touch some real, live starfish and sea urchins.

Oh, and I can’t forget the jellyfish.

At the end of our trip to the Shedd, we hit up the store. Tessa picked out a couple gifts for her two sisters at home and Jess had a bit of spending money so she got some super fluffy and cute penguin slippers and a glass dolphin figurine. And then we were done. So tired!

That night we just took it easy. We had dinner and then played Wii. Kelly and I liked the classic Super Mario game, but Jess and Tessa sure didn’t! We also watched a lot of Summer Olympic swimming and gymnastic events. Jess and Tessa were really getting into it and “playing Olympics” during commercial. Tessa can actually do the splits and cartwheels, but Jess, not so much. Though, she did try, I will give her that.

In the morning Jess and Tessa and I ate a TON of blueberries, strawberries and raspberries and watched a little bit of Nickelodeon on Netflix while we tried to let Kelly sleep in. When she got up and we got motivated, we packed a picnic and headed to Haas Park, nearby our house.

All too soon, it was time for Kelly to drop Jessica back in Milwaukee and then make the drive back to Green Bay. Jess and Tessa hadn’t seen each other for quite some time but they fell right into it and it was so nice to see them having fun together. I had a great weekend, ladies! Thanks so much for coming to visit me!

Hawaiian Bridal Luncheon

December 1st, 2010 · 1 Comment

With my mom.

With my mom and dad. My dad gave me these flowers!

Festive Hawaiian Table

With Cousin Dawn

Cousin Kelly, Kelly’s daughter Margo, Mom, Mom’s friend Maureen

Cousin Kelly’s daughter Margo

Cousin Marla, Marla’s daughters Mya and Ella, Cousin Kelly and Kelly’s daughter Katie, Aunt Connie

With my niece Jessica and Cousin Kelly’s other daughters, Tessa and Charlotte

Aunt Connie and Charlotte

Mom & Cousin Dawn. I don’t know what they’re pointing at.

Aunt Connie, Mom & Cousin Dawn. I don’t know what they’re pointing at.

Ella

Aunt Deb, Cousin Erica and Erica’s daughter Ella

With Aunt Deb, Cousin Erica and Erica’s daughter Ella

Aunt Sue and My Mom’s Cousin Jane

Jane’s Daughter Jessica and Jessica’s Daughter, Abigail

With my sister-in-law Amanda

Cousins Skyonna and Katrina. I babysat for Katrina very regularly from her birth on!

Cousin Sky. I kept thinking she was older, but she is only 14!

Me!

Me and my mom.

Time for gifts.

Ella, My Niece Jessica, Abi

My Aunt Sue wrote a poem for me inside this card.

Ella helping out. Or something.

Jessica & Abi

Ella & Jessica.

Cousin Marla, her daughter Mya, Kelly’s daughter Kate, Aunt Connie, Cousin Kelly

Cousin Kelly & Aunt Sue made these coasters for us using our engagement photos.

Margo with a lei!

Everyone was so generous with the presents!

My mom gave us this sculpture that looks like two pieces but really is one.

Ella & Tessa helping out.

Maureen gave us these personalized towels.

Abi and Ella helping out.

My cousin Erica and her daughter Ella.

Ella drawing.

Abi and her drawing.

Chocolate macadamia nut brownies.

With Aunt Sue and mom.

With all of my mom’s sisters: Alice, Sue, Wanda & Connie

Jane’s Husband Gene and my dad

My Aunt Ali

Tessa trying to see how many leis she can wear!

Cousin Skyonna

Charlotte

Margo

Jessica

Sister-in-Law Amanda and Niece Jessica

Dad

Mike came to pick up Katrina. They are engaged too!

Jessica being crazy!

With my Uncle Dave

Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, my mom hosted a Hawaiian-themed bridal luncheon for me. My parents really went all out on this one with the food and drinks. We had

Salted Macademia Nuts
Chocolate-Covered Macademia Nuts
Taro Chips
Fresh Coconut Pieces
Fresh Pineapple Chunks
Fruit Salad
Lettuce Salad w/ Toasted Macademia Nuts, Toasted Coconut, Pineapple, Bacon and a homemade Pineapple Vinaigrette
Macaroni Salad
Sweet & Sour Meatballs
Kalua Pig on Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
Teriyaki Chicken and Pineapple Skewers
Pistachio Pudding Salad
Orange Dreamsicle Puff
White Chocolate Macademia Nut Brownies
Hawaiian Party Punch (with or without Skyy Pineapple Vodka)

Amanda, Stephanie and Jessica were in charge of decorations and party supplies. They did such a great job with wall hangings, garland, plates, napkins, utensils, drink umbrellas and stir sticks, leis… so much fun Hawaiian/tropical party things.

Since my brother lives and hour and a half from us here in Chicago and my parents live about two or two and a half hours from my brother, many times we meet there and do things around the Milwaukee area. Or even just hang out at my brother’s house because it’s kind of a central location. This is great, but also means that I don’t see a ton of my family that lives farther away, farther north. It was so great to see so many of my aunts and cousins. I was so happy that many of them were able to make it to the party.

I did not want anyone to feel obligated to bring gifts, I just wanted to see everyone, but my family was so generous and brought gifts anyway. My aunt Sue even wrote a poem for Dallas and I. And she and my cousin Kelly handmade coasters for us with our engagement photos on them! And we received so many great things for the kitchen and bathroom. And new luggage. And a beautiful Kenyan wedding sculpture. And I could go on and on. A big thank you to everyone for being so generous!

Thanks so much to my parents, Amanda, and my nieces for planning everything. And to all of my aunts and cousins for coming out and making it a great day. We will be thinking of everyone while we are away in Hawaii and you will be there with us in spirit, I know!

Our First Thanksgiving Turkey

November 28th, 2010 · 3 Comments

This year for Thanksgiving Dallas and I decided to try to make our own Thanksgiving dinner. I’d made Thanksgiving dinner with Kelly and Jeff and Aunt Sue many times (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006), but I never made the turkey before. We started out by brining the turkey overnight in a mixture of salt, broth, orange juice, and spices.

Jeannette used to make a pre-Thanksgiving feast when I lived in New York, so I asked her for some turkey guidance and she delivered! She sent us all kinds of tips, mostly from Cooks Illustrated.

We quickly learned that the big secret is….. BUTTER! Buttering the skin. Dallas also lifted the skin a little and shoved butter between the skin and the meat.

After the first check, this is what the turkey looked like.

We rotated it on all 4 sides to get even browning. Each time we rotated, we applied more butter.

And then one time we cut off some fresh sprigs of rosemary and stuck them in.

More butter!

Finished. Perfectly browned skin.

We stuffed the turkey with onions, carrots, celery, thyme and rosemary.

I made some gravy with the giblets.. another recipe from Jeannette. Dallas browned the bits in the pan so I could add them to the gravy. By the way, this gravy was kind of a pain and took a long time, but it was like the best gravy EVER.

Dallas then carved the turkey.

And we could see that it was cooked perfectly all the way through.

This was our whole Thanksgiving dinner.

I’ll have a few recipes to share in the upcoming weeks. As for the turkey? It was SO good. Very moist and flavorful. All in all, we agreed that this was one of our favorite meals we’ve ever cooked together. I know we won’t cook Thanksgiving dinner every year, but it’s nice to know that we can!

Kelly & Jeff’s Holiday Party

January 3rd, 2010 · No Comments

On the second day of the year 2010, we went up to De Pere (near Green Bay), WI for my cousin Kelly and her husband Jeff’s holiday party. I’d only been to their house one time before and Dallas had never been there so we were long overdue!

Kelly & Jeff

My parents, my brother’s family, Kelly’s mom my Aunt Sue, my other cousin Kelly and her daughter Katie, and my cousin Sara’s family all came over. Jeff made a big pot of chili and cornbread and Sara brought cornbread muffins as well. There were lots of dips and sweets to round the meal out. ha. Here’s a photo of my brother and sister-in-law since apparently I didn’t mention them at all the last time I saw them and it cannot be implied that they were present without proof. haha.

Richard & Amanda

Steph got a guitar for Christmas so she was practicing with a book. My Aunt Sue was also showing her how to do some things.

Stephanie

Margo is only about 3 months old.

Kelly, Katie, Margo, Mom

I tried to take a photo of Jessica and Tessa, but it is hard.

Tessa, Jessica

This always happens:

Tessa, Jessica

Bribed to hold still.

Jessica, Tessa

Charlotte happily posed for a photo.

Charlotte

There was a fierce white elephant gift exchange. My dad got the first pick and opened something nobody wanted. It’s this annoying Packers toy dinosaur that dances and has blinking lights and plays the most annoying song on earth. This has been circling through our family for a while now.

Dad

Dallas got the Bodyguard soundtrack on cassette. ~~Luckily~~ Unfortunately, our car has a tape deck and we had a 3 hour ride home.

Dallas

Tessa really wanted to keep a hold of these granola bars in the swap. She may have cried the first time they got stolen away. I can’t remember who ended up with them. It was either Tessa or Sara.

Tessa

After the gift exchange, we played a lot with the kids. Here’s my cousin Sara’s husband Cam and one of their twins, Fiona, I think .

Fiona, Cam

Intense round of the fish game, except in the princess edition I think they catch jewels.

Jeff, Charlotte, Elise, Fiona

Fiona

Fun day. Wish we could have stayed longer, but we had a long drive home. Luckily there was no traffic and the roads were clear. Can’t wait for next year’s swap. We have some ~~junk~~ lovely gifts to give away!

Family Visit to Chicago

August 24th, 2009 · 1 Comment

This past weekend we had a bunch of my family down from Wisconsin for a visit to Chicago. My cousin Kelly, Jeff, Tessa and Charlotte came on Friday night and stayed over til Saturday. My parents and my Aunt Sue arrived on Saturday and stayed over til Sunday. My brother Richard, Amanda, Jessica, and Stephanie came down for the day on Saturday. We hung around on the roof deck, played bags, had a barbecue, and went to Palmer Square park. After a lot of people left, my dad and I played Mario Karts on the Wii and my mom and I and Dallas played Tetris on the Wii. Sunday morning my parents and my aunt and I went to brunch at Dunlay’s on the Square and then walked through the Logan Square Farmers Market. It was fun to have everyone down for a visit!

These photos are from Palmer Square. Except the last one of Charlotte, who didn’t go to the park. She wasn’t feeling well on Saturday but we did manage to get a few smiles out of her.

tessa_1
Tessa