Archival journal - November/December 2006

Thanksgiving 2006:

We had Thanksgiving at our neighbor’s home, the McGuires. It was an amazing meal and we all had a lot of fun. Bridget's meal was amazing and it was nice to be a part of a family when we were so far away from ours. After Thanksgiving, we started to pack for our trip to Chicago.

Chicago-November/December 2006:
We got off to a late start, but made it up to the Intercontinental Hotel around 3:00. We unpacked and then headed off to Daley Plaza for the Christmas Bavarian festival and tree lighting ceremony. They had tons of booths filled with Christmas trinkets and food. We stopped for some spiced wine, potato pancakes and a chocolate crepe. There were so many people there, that it was hard to move around. Jackson and I ultimately got separated from Brian during the actual tree lighting, and we heard several fights broke out in the crowd. Regardless, it was a wonderful event. On our way out, Jackson saw an “L train” decorated for Christmas and he yelled: “Look! It’s the Polar Express! Wait for me!!!” We had dinner at Jackson’s favorite place: The Rainforest Café.

On Saturday, we did a little bit of window shopping and spent time at the Lego store. We hit our favorite place: Pippins for Chicago style hot dogs and then made our way up the Mile to get a picture with Santa. Jackson told Santa he wanted a Donkey. When Santa inquired “why”, Jackson said: “So I can play with it.” Hmmm. Boys.

At 5:00 we watched Mr. and Mrs. Claus arrive by boat to the Navy Pier and cut the ribbon celebrating the beginning of the Christmas season.

Sunday we went back to the Pier to watch “Happy Feet” on the IMAX screen before making the trip back to Peoria.

On the last day of November, we got hit with a huge snow storm. Thank goodness it was Friday and thank goodness I had been to the grocery store and the cleaning lady had come! We got about 18 inches of snow. On Friday, we were all stuck inside, although Brian was furiously trying to figure out how to get out, as he was schedule to fly out to Denver that afternoon for a Seahawks game on Sunday. As fate would have it, Brian was snowed in. We spent the day inside, and I made some comfort food for the boys to enjoy. In the evening, we ventured out into the snow and played.

On Saturday, our water wasn’t working. After hours of trying to find someone to come out to help, we finally found a plumber. Apparently there was a problem with our water softener. After getting the water back up and running, we continued shoveling snow. It took Brian four hours to shovel the driveway, and I spent a good two plus hours shoveling the sidewalk and a path in our backyard.

On Sunday, we made it out to Sams Club where we bought some supplies for our Christmas party on the 9th.

Schools were still closed on Monday and Tuesday, but by Wednesday things were getting back to normal despite the frigid temperatures.

On Saturday the 9th we had Brian’s regulatory work Christmas party. It was a huge success. Brian surprised me before hand with a diamond necklace and matching earrings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had a full house and everyone enjoyed themselves. One paralegal got so toasted she let Jackson open up a couple of his Christmas gifts! Luckily, they were only books.

We spent Sunday recovering from all the Holiday “spirit” and didn’t venture out too far.

December 2006 -- memorable quotes from Jackson:
Getting out of the car on the way to swimming, I asked Jackson: “Why is it that you can’t listen to me?” Jackson responded: “I don’t know –it’s a secret”.

Getting dressed for our holiday party, I removed the towel wrapped around my hair and Jackson exclaimed: “Uh Oh mommy – you’re hair is a mess. It looks terrible.”

After the big snow, Jackson went outside to play with our neighbor, Cody. Cody and Jackson built a snowman. However, when Jackson came inside that night he said: “We put the hat on the snowman but he didn’t come to life!”.

Christmas 2006 -- traveling to Seattle.

We had a great time over Christmas 2006. First, we got stuck in Chicago on our way home due to the big wind storm in Seattle. Jackson and I had to stay in a hotel that night and try to fly out the next morning. While we arrived bright and early in Chicago, the hotel said that they could not give us a room until 3:00 p.m. They changed their mind after about an hour of Jackson and me camping out in the lobby with all our crap. Brian drove up to spend the night with us and help us get on the flight the next morning. I’m sure glad he was there, because they had forgotten to rebook Jackson!

The poor boy was so tired, that he fell asleep right away on the flight, only to wake himself up after about an hour because he had peed himself. Ahhh...the joys of traveling. Thankfully we were in the last row, so I let his pants dry over the seat. People love to sit around us when we travel.

Arriving in Washington, we were happy to see Grandma, Grandpa and Brandon. The power was still out, so we got Jackson’s hair cut, went to the mall and then had a late lunch before heading over to the Petersen’s.

I spent the night at Jeanette and Kurt’s, while Jackson went to M.I. to sleep between Grandma and Grandpa in the cold. The power was still out!

We ran more errands that day and then attended the Rainier Club’s Santa Supper that evening. Afterwards, we drove down to the lake to get out of the Petersen’s hair.

In Olympia, Jackson got to visit with Chelsea and see the great grandparents. We helped Great Grandma and Grandpa Burleson put up and decorate their tree, and we had all the great grandparents over for a pre-Christmas dinner. Jackson was so helpful in passing out food to the great grandparents. He also said a nice prayer before dinner.

After a couple days in Olympia, my dad decided to hook up a generator to the M.I. house to get some heat going. Stephanie and her kids were due to arrive on the 21st and the power was still out! We managed to get the tree up and decorated, and the generator made it possible for us to sleep in a warm, albeit dark home.

On the 19th, mom, Jeanette and I saw: White Christmas at the 5th Avenue. It was wonderful!

Brian arrived on the 20th and Steph and the kids arrived on the 21st. We decorated a train cake; watched movies and had a great time.

Brian and I visited with Margaret Redman, Brian Way, and other friends from high school. Before you knew it, it was Christmas Eve! Brian dressed up as Santa again, and all the kids went nuts. I think Matthew was a bit upset because he saw “dark hair” under Santa’s hat. I’m not sure how much longer Matthew will “believe”.

Christmas was great – even though we got off to a slow start waiting for the Petersens. Jackson got cooking stuff for his pretend Kitchen, he got a new back pack, train tracks a magic set/costume and an apron and hat for his kitchen.

We spent the next few days shopping, visiting friends and playing. Mom, dad and I took Jackson to the Pacific Science Center and to the Pavilion where there was a great train set up.

Our flight home was a bit smoother than the flight out. We were upgraded to first class, so we got a bit more space. Jackson's bladder didn’t make it through this flight either. On our descent down into Chicago, he peed his pants again.

When we arrived in Peoria, we unwrapped a few more gifts. Jackson called Grandpa and said: “I got a kitchen and it’s just my size!”.

2006 (Jackson was three years old).