December

I can't believe it's December 1st already?  Where did this year go?  I love the holiday season, from Thanksgiving to New Years Eve!

It's now the countdown till Christmas, trip to San Antonio and New Years Eve!  So much to look forward to in the next few weeks.  Happy Holidays!

Indianapolis

We added another state capital!  On our way home from Chicago we took a slight detour and went to Indianapolis to see the capital.  It was a brand new drive for Scott and I.  I have only been to Indy once before with my parent and that was off the I-70 drive.  This time we were coming in from I-65 and it was very interesting scenery.  The wind was really blowing the car around but we saw a bunch of wild wheat, red barns and wind mills.

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Once we arrived in Indianapolis we headed straight to the capital building.  We took a couple pictures of us at the capital and then wandered past the Occupy Indy protesters and went into the building...then we found out that the building and tour stopped at 2 on Saturdays.  We missed the tour by 15 minutes!  Oh well, another trip.  But we did get the all important picture.

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We then headed towards the center of the city and found The Soldiers and Sailors Monument.  We took an elevator ride to the top for some amazing views of the city.

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[caption id="attachment_1696" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lucas Oil Stadium"][/caption]

Of course what trip to Indy wouldn't be complete without seeing Santa Claus riding a red Harley around town?



After hanging out downtown we decided that we needed to see the Indy 500 race track.  Of course they were giving tour of the actual race track.  We were able to do a lap around the track, now how many people can say they did a lap on the Indy 500 track?  It was very cool to learn about the track's history and that there is a golf course through it!

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The stop there was well worth it!  I think a trip bad to Indy is in order because I know there is a lot more to see of that city!

 

Windy City Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a little different than previous years for me.  I didn't go to Omaha or San Antonio or even stay in St. Louis.  This year we went to Chicago to celebrate with Scott's sister Jeni and her family and friends.  We drove up to Chicago after work on Wednesday night.  It was the first time that we had absolutely no traffic on the drive up and into the suburbs.  We got in a little before 11, even with a stop in Bloomington at a Steak 'n Shake for dinner.

On Thanksgiving, Scott, his mom and sister ran in the North Shore Turkey Trot.  A mere 10K bright and early and a little chilly.  After the run Scott decided to partake in a neighborhood game of football with his nephew, Mason, and Kevin.  While they played we started dinner.  I made an awesome turkey appetizer.  Jeni found the idea online and it turned out great!



After I finished the turkey I was ready for football.  Football consumed a lot of our day.  We had a great meal that Scott's sister Jeni prepared for us.  And we even went around the table to say what we were all thankful for.  It was a great Thanksgiving!

On Friday, Scott and I drove into the city to meet up with a couple of friends of mine from San Antonio.  We met up with Cody and Stacy at the Wilde.  We had a great lunch catching and laughing at old stories.  Afterwards we walked around the Wicker Park neighborhood and drove through downtown Chicago.

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I love seeing all the big buildings and everyone walking around the city.  Later that night Scott drove me through the neighborhood where he used to live while working for Kevin's company a few years ago.  Then it was back to the Bate's house to play Dirty Neighbor.  All in all a great get away.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing everyone a Happy Turkey Day from the Windy City!

Christmas Craft Fair

It's almost Christmas time and what a great way to get ready by going to the Lindbergh High School Craft Fair. We met a few vendors at the Kimmswick Apple Butter Festival that mentioned they would be at the Lindbergh Fair for us to get more goodies. We arrived right when it opened and there was already a line of cars waiting to get in.



When we got inside we were amazed with how many rooms inside the school that were set up for booths. We found the dip samples first and grab a few of those. Then we headed into the main gym and quickly found the people that made the wooden bear for our door and got 4 new outfits for him. I then found a new snowman. Zipf had a great time finding all kinds of deals on yard signs and sleighs.

Roaring 20s

   I love to have a reason to dress up fun and it not be Halloween.  About a month ago, while watching the Cardinals/Brewers playoff game we were brainstorming what to do for Zipf's birthday.  Scott came up with the idea of having a roarign 20s themed party.  Have everyone dress up and have it at her house.   That was a hit with her and the plans quickly came together. 

 

It was time to celebrate on Friday night.  We got all dressed up and made a few dishes, salsa and turkey cookies.  It was great seeing everyone dressed up.  Even those that didn't want to buy an outfit came with accessories.  Zipf planned to have some food and dips, as well as, a signature martini. 

 

Turkey

A few years ago my mom introduced me to a great Thanksgiving treat, making turkey's with Oreo cookies.  We gave it a whirl and it was a hit within our family.  Two years ago I showed the Birch kids how to make them and Mathew had a little more fun eating the ingredients than making them, but they were a hit at Benton's birthday party.  This year I've been wanting to make them, but didn't have a place to take them.

 

This year I'm taking them to Zipf's birthday party, they will be her "cake."  Last night Scott and I made about 25 turkey's and they look great.  Here are the ingredients:

Oreo's - Double Stuffed works a little better

Hershey Kisses

Candy Corn

Chocolate Frosting

Red Hots (this year I used M&M's because we could not find Red Hots)

First you layer the Oreo with the frosting, then add the Hershey Kiss.  Behind the Kiss you add the Candy Corn (fat end down) and then a little more frosting at the tip of the Kiss and add the Red Hot/M&M.  This is what you get: