Jenny wins. All of her answers were correct. There were three of the extra credit that she didn't answer. So here they are.
Pardon in Brittany by Gaston La Touche
Etretat: Beach and Falaise at d'Amond by Monet
and Chrysanthemums by Renoir

Finally some new furniture!! We have had the room painted and the floors finished forever it seems, but only now got around to the furniture part.

You will have to forgive my picture taking abilities, I was not allowed to use a flash and there were alot of people milling and jostling about, so I did my best. Anyway this is a little quiz for all the old Masterpiece players out there. Can you name the Title and Painter of the following?

These last five are extra credit.

Here is the Sears Tower a little closer. I always thought it was right on Michigan Ave. But it is actually a couple of blocks to the west. I took this picture standing on Michigan Ave, right in front of the Art Institute looking down this street to the west. Here is a huge bronze statue in front of the Art Institute.

This is the Facade of the Art Institute, I am standing right on Michigan Ave facing east, right behind the building is Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan.

The following are some pictures that I was able to take on our drive into Chicago, they are taken through the windshield of the car so the quality is lacking somewhat, but I think you can still enjoy This is the roof line of the Chicago Public Library. It was very impressive.

And of course the Sears Tower and Chicago skyline.

Here are a couple of pictures from AA and Maury's yard. You can tell they pit alot of work into it. This is a ornamental grass called Karl Foerster.

Here is a long view of the back yard with the fire pit at the very back, and behind the corner of the garage you can start to see the area where Maury has all his raised bed gardens. I can only wish I had something like this. I am sure Madison and Gabe are very grateful that I don't.

And here we have a nice view across the front yard out to Douglas Road. While I was there the Crabapple tree was getting ready to bloom and you can see all the daffodils around it are blooming nicely.

Gabe is 7! ! !

Well, Gabe was definitely feeling better after starting the week with strep! We had a great time for his birthday celebrations. The day of his birthday was kind of quiet, but we did have the missionaries for dinner, so they got to share his first birthday cake. But Gabe was ok with that. He knew the big celebration would be on Saturday.

The toy that he got for his birthday was called a balloon rocket. It is simply a bunch of long balloons with a pump. You blow them up and let them go. On Friday, we gave a set to Gabe's friend, Mattias (whose birthday was 3/5) and then went over to the parking lot at the park to set them off. They really had fun with them.
The girl in the middle is Mattias' sister: Mattea.

Here' how it works.

On Saturday before we left for the party, Gabe created this special look: it is his Halloween cowboy hat along with the birthday crown he got from school topped off with his sunglasses. What a picture!

What a goofball!

Ok, so these didn't go quite in the order I had intended, but you get the idea. We really had a lot of fun at Sara's -- Thank you so much!

As usual, when family gets together, there is always food! Gabe got to choose what we had for dinner that night: hot dogs, hamburgers, celery with cheese, carrots, and 3 kinds of chips. He even at a little potato salad! I was shocked!

When we went to the store to look at cakes, Gabe was set on having a Star Wars or other kind of fancy cake. I just wasn't too excited about all that. I finally asked, "Gabe, isn't there a cake Mom can make for you?" He said, "Ok. I want a banana cake." And that was that. No fuss, no complaints, just "ok." So. . . . Here is the banana cake. I actually made 2 cakes, thinking there wouldn't be enough, but we ended up taking one whole cake home. Which was ok, because that way we had left-over cake for a few days. And that cake does really well in the refrigerator!

I thought this was a cute picture of Whitnew and Hannah.

The cake with all 7 candles. . .

Legos!!!!

On Sunday, he sat at the kitchen table and put together the Lego helicopter. It took him almost an hour, but just look at what he did!

Gabe had a program the other night. The 1st Graders put on skits and songs and had a great time. It was the first time I've had to stay in Tooele for something other than my choir programs! Gabe and I made very good use of our time, though. Gabe had a simple cavity filled at the dentist, and we spent an hour at McDonald's letting him play on the playground and playing basketball. There were a few other children there, so he wasn't playing alone. He enjoyed his time.

This was Gabe's costume for his part of the program. He was a sheep. Look for him in the group pictures.

If I've got these videos right, this one should be part of the National Anthem. If I didn't, there's 3 songs: National Anthem, Song in My Heart, and I Love You.

This is the "famous" Alorah. Isn't she cute? There's quite a triangle going on here: Gabe likes Alorah, Alorah likes Thomas and Abby likes Gabe. We don't know who Thomas likes yet, but it would complete the circle if he liked Abby. Ah, first grade romances. . . Gabe has loved Alorah for 2 years now.

Can you see Gabe?










And with that, we'll sign off for this time. Skitterink a dink a dink, skitterink a do... We love you!