The Midwest

We went to visit our newest family member. Annie! She is so cute, and we loved getting to hold her and play with Donnarae and Jon. We were able to hang out with them a lot, and can't wait until we get to play with them again.

Nora was a trooper. She traveled well, slept well and played hard.

We spent part of one day in St. Joseph. We had a fun time, and rode the carousel (in the building in the top right corner). It was fun...for Nora. She wasn't sure at first, but really got into the waving to Daddy.

We were able to spend some time at the Notre Dame campus. It was so beautiful, and we loved being there. We walked up there several times, and scouted it as a future school for Nora.

The first full day we were there, and Donnarae's birthday, we were able to go have a picnic right by the Golden Dome on the God Quad (both named by the people at Notre Dame). This is the door we came out of after touring the Basilica. It was beautiful inside, and we were told that on Game Day (which is a sight to see, we were told) the football team attends Mass here then walks out this door to go to the stadium. Above the door it says "God Country Notre Dame." One day Donnarae got a pass to go to the College Football Hall of Fame. Of any sports museum, this is the only one that would really interest me. We had fun hanging out, and trying to become Hall of Famers. Donnarae, Jon and Annie had a good time too...Annie's on her way to loving football.

The last day we spent walking around Chicago. It is a HUGE city. It went on forever. We saw lots of fun things, including Cloud Gate. It was pretty cool to see how things changed in the reflection.

This is Buckingham Fountain. We hear it's the largest, man-made fountain. It was quite large, and Nora loved to see the water and all the birds that were taking advantage of it. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to take a picture at the Cartier store. Oh, how we wish we had a stake in that store... we can dream.

It was a wonderful vacation, and we loved being able to spend so much time together and meet Annie. Thanks for taking such good care of us Jon and Donnarae! We can't wait to see you again!