Happy Gotcha Day Cami!

Today we celebrate the day Justin, Ben, and I got each other as a family. Five years ago we were in Korea waiting to finally have our little girl forever. We feel so blessed that her foster mother and father loved her and took care of her. She was very bonded to them. It was a difficult transition for her and for us. We felt joy that we had our little girl, yet sadness knowing that she was grieving the loss of the only parents she ever knew.

We celebrate 5 years together as a family and love every minute that we have with her. We thank and praise God for the precious little girl that he blessed us with.

Happy Gotcha Day Cami! I am so thankful that we GOT each other!

First Basketball Game

Ben had his first basketball game today. He is a little shy, but is doing a great job of dribbling and getting the ball down the court. He is so excited to play Upward basketball this season through Door Creek Church.

First Lost Tooth on Friday, January 15!!!

Ben finally lost his first tooth. This has been a long, hard process since his two bottom adult teeth starting coming in about 2 months ago. The baby teeth have not wanted to let go despite the tugging and pulling. With a little incentive, Ben finally got his first tooth out on Friday. His bottom tooth went into his tooth fairy pillow, along with a note. We told Ben that the Tooth Fairy brings something extra special for the first tooth the kid pulls out themselves. So, Ben wrote the Tooth Fairy a note asking for money to play Laser Tag. The Tooth Fairy wrote a note back congratulating Ben and giving him $7.50 for the game of Laser Tag.

On Sunday, we headed to the Laser Tag place. They offer free games for parents on Sundays, plus we had a buy 1 get 1 free coupon, so, Ben, Cami, and Justin had a great time and I stayed in the car with Ian as he slept.

Our last Midwest Airlines Non Rev adventure

Cami on the shuttle bus

Today marked our last trip as standby/ non rev passengers on Midwest Airlines. Two weeks ago Dana received a letter from Republic Airlines, the new owner of Midwest Airlines, telling her that they are terminating every furloughed Midwest employees flight benefits.

Originally, the flight benefits were suppose to last until September 30, 2010. We are thankful that her letter was in the second batch that were sent. The first batch was terminating flight benefits effective December 31, 2009. The second batch will have flight benefits terminating on January 15, 2010. We are thankful that our entire family was able to travel to California to spend time with Ma and Pa and with Mike, Allison, Austin, and Kylie. Dana enjoyed time with friends in LA for the People's Choice Awards for a few days. Justin and the kids ended up flying from Milwaukee to Phoenix since the LA flights were oversold. They rented a car and drove 6 hours to California. They made a stop in Irvine so the kids could play and spend time with their cousins before heading up to LA to see mommy.

We enjoyed time together in LA seeing Mann's Chinese theater, where the kids and Justin saw Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeaquel while Dana slept in after her night at the People's Choice Awards and After Party. Dana met Sam Waterston in our hotel.

We were all excited to head to Irvine after our stay in LA so we could spend time with Dana's mom and step dad and Mike's family. We took the day to go to Disneyland. We are thankful for Clairol's $500 American Express gift card that was part of the prize for spending money while in California. We were able to use that to pay for a day at Disneyland. The kids LOVED being at Disney with Aladodo and Papa and with their cousins. We went on rides, took lots of pictures, and enjoyed a long day together. We also ran into the Boppre family who was spending the day at Disney. We all had a great day. The kids even came home with a few souvenirs.

After our last family vacation on non rev tickets, we headed back to the airport. Dana had a paid ticket from her winnings and thankfully Justin and the kids made it on the flight non revving back to Milwaukee. The 12+ years at Midwest has lead us on many flying adventures. We have enjoyed flying for free or reduced fairs all over the United States and three times to Korea. We will miss our flying benefits. The kids have never known flying without a Plan B and Plan C to get to our destination or to get home. It has made them very easy going and flexible travelers.

Although the airline industry does not pay well, I enjoyed my job and the flying benefits that came with the job. We are proud to say that we utilized our flying benefits and thank Midwest for the time that I spent there. I am sad to leave after flying over 6 million miles working and several hundred thousand as a non-rev. For my children flying was an adventure they enjoyed...

107,962 miles Ben has flown; 71,372 that Cami has flown; and 25,649 that Ian has flown all as a non rev.

Pictures on the beach

Today we headed to the beach to take a family picture. This is the first time in almost 2 years that we are all together. My mom and step dad, Bruce, flew down from Eugene, OR on Thursday. We all went to Disneyland on Friday and today we will take hopefully be the first of many family pictures.

Disneyland

After a great time in LA for the People's Choice Awards, we headed to southern California to spend time with Mike and Allison and kids and also with mom and Bruce. We headed to Disneyland for a day of fun! We used the gift card from Clairol that we won. Unfortunately, 5 people going to Disneyland for 1 day used up a good chunk of the $500 gift card. Nothing could be better than a day of fun at Disney with family.

Picture at the front gates of Disneyland

one more time on the rocket daddy.

Fly us to the moon!

Hold me close Aladodo

I have to have one of these mommy!

I bet I can get more points than you daddy

I can see everything Papa!

I am a cool dude with the hat and glasses Aladodo and Papa got for me

I love it here Aladodo

Aladdin's castle

We ran into the Boppre family at Disneyland. Cami was happy to see Abby.

Cami, Abby, and Becca enjoy the Dumbo ride

The boys sticking out their tongues

Austin and Ben on the Dumbo ride

Grandma and Grandpa with grandkids

A family portrait w/ Austin hiding behind Ian's head

Ian's ready to drive around in Mickey's car

Grandma and Ian in Mickey Mouse's car

Mommy and Ian meet Mickey Mouse

Nothing better than some cousin time at Disneyland!

We saw elephants during the boat ride

Aladdin and Jazmine greeting Cami with a hug

Cinderella is VERY impressed by Cami having matching shoes. Beautiful glass slippers.

Mulan invited Cami to visit her in China.

Princess Aurora

Minnie Mouse says "cheese" with Ben and Cami while Ian sleeps in the stroller

It's been a fun and tiring day. Time to head out!

A great day at Disneyland!

People's Choice Awards

On Tuesday, I left Madison with 6 of my girlfriends and headed to LA. We enjoyed breakfast at Nonna's in the Milwaukee airport.We arrived in LA around noon, got our rental car, and headed to the Roosevelt hotel. The hotel located on Hollywood Blvd and is directly across the street from Mann's Chinese Theater. It is a great location and is an amazing and historic hotel. We each settled into our rooms and then gathered in my room where I presented each of the ladies with a gift of a $500 American Express gift card from Clairol to cover all of our expenses (hair, makeup, food, and shopping spree!) while we were out there. The car and hotel were already paid for, so $500 is a nice treat! We were also connected with Jessica from People's Choice, who brought us our tickets for the show and the after party.

At Pig N Whistle

We headed to the Pig N Whistle for an early dinner. This restaurant is right on Hollywood Blvd and opened back in 1927. It was a hot spot for many movie stars for many years.

After a good nights sleep, we all woke up on Wednesday excited for hair and makeup people to arrive at our hotel. My sister in law, Allison, referred me to her stylist, Barbara, who was happy to drive up to LA from Irvine to do everyone's hair. She is an amazing stylist and did a great job. She also brought along makeup artist, Jamie. Jamie is an amazing makeup artist and made everyone look fantastic!

Jaime, the makeup artist

In the limo, headed to Nokia Theater

At 4pm, the limo arrived to take us to the Nokia Theater. People were everywhere trying to see the celebrities. As we walked out of our limo, we heard the celebs names being called out as they walked the red carpet. We took a lot of pictures and then attempted to find out how to get to the tent to walk the carpet. The security people gave us differing directions, so we were completely confused. After a frustrating attempt to get past security and take our walk on the red carpet, we gave up and proceeded to enter the theater before they locked the doors. We were shown to our seats, which were on the floor, left of center, right on the aisle. We were SO close to the front. We couldn't believe it! We were 4 rows behind Chevy Chase and Jackie Chan. Eight rows behind Taylor Swift, Sandra Bullock, Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman, Johnny Depp...the list goes on and on. We were so close to the stage where Queen Latifah was hosting.

Kimberly, Marcia, me, and Lisa in our seats

Johnny Depp accepting his award

After the show, we headed to the Conga Room for the after party. The place was packed! There was delicious food and drinks everywhere. We enjoyed many selections, including food prepared by Wolfgang Puck. We ate, drank, danced, and met so many interesting people. It was a surreal experience.

All I can say is WOW, what an amazing night! I have a lot more pictures on Facebook, if you would like to see them.

Chris and Dana toasting to a great night

Reupert, Survivor winner, one of the people we met at the after party.

Kimberly dancing with our new friend, Paul, who is a VP at CBS

Falling behind yet pushing ahead

I have 2 blog posts started, however, I have had trouble uploading pictures, so it may be a week or so until those entries are finished. We have had a lot of fun these last two weeks with the kids being off school. We visited the Wausau area (Athens) for a long weekend over Christmas. We always enjoy our time with Justin's parents. The company is wonderful, the kids enjoy time with grandma and grandpa, Justin and I enjoy time to just relax, and the food is delicious. After the long weekend, we came home unpacked and then seemed to repack for a night at the Holiday Inn for New Year's Eve. We stayed with 3 other families at the hotel, which is near our house. They had a package deal which included the room, unlimited pizza buffet, ice cream sundae bar, movies, snacks, drinks, games for the kids, scavenger hunt with prizes, extended pool hours, and breakfast for everyone in the morning. For less than $100 for a family of 5 , it was worth it!

New Year's Day we arrived home and got ready for company. Our friends from Minnesota stayed with us with their 3 kids for two days. We always enjoy their company and the kids have a lot of fun playing with their kids. The ages match up well, so everyone is happy!

We are now busy packing for our next trip. We are headed to LA this week to enjoy a trip Dana won this past spring. She and 6 girlfriends will be flying out on Tuesday. They will be pampered and attend the People's Choice Awards on Wednesday. Justin and the kids are flying to LA on Wednesday and will join Dana at the hotel. We are extending our stay until Sunday so we can spend time with Dana's brother and sister in law and the kids for the weekend. Dana's mom and step dad will be flying down from Oregon on Thursday to celebrate a belated Christmas with everyone. We are especially looking forward to a trip to Disneyland on Friday. The kids are excited to see their cousins and their Aladodo and Papa. They are also excited that they have had the last 2 weeks off school and will only have to attend 2 days of school this week.

Dana received a letter from Republic Airlines, the company that purchased Midwest Airlines, this week. The letter stated that they have decided not to honor their original agreement of providing travel benefits for 2 years from the day she and many others were furloughed and that they will be terminating all travel benefits effective January 15. It will be an exciting trip to see family, but a sad trip knowing this will be our last free flight on Midwest airlines on Dana's travel passes.

We look forward to sharing pictures from our trip this week, including pictures on the red carpet at the People's Choice Awards!

May God bless your New Year!

New Year's Eve Fun!

We headed to the Holiday Inn American Center for this year's celebration of New Year's Eve. We had the Elliott, Murphy, and Glassford families join us for this overnight fun. The hotel included dinner, a movie, late swimming hours, a scavenger hunt, and breakfast for guests who stayed over night. The kids enjoyed staying up until midnight with their friends. We enjoyed the time with other adults while the kids kept themselves occupied with their friends. We were all exhausted the next day, but it was worth it!

swimming time