Dogs, Dogs, Everywhere!

Talk about a photo-op! Couldn't pass up taking a picture of Ally in this cute pose. She is watching from her favorite chair as all of her loved ones put on their coats to go away - she's no dummy - it's almost like she's asking "why can't I come, too?" Well, the answer is - because there are already going to be 100's of doggies where we're going! Yes, we all went to a big dog show which was held at the McCormick Center in Chicago yesterday. What fun!

The kids had all gone last year, and thought that Scott and I might enjoy going with them this year. We certainly did! We could get up close and personal with many of the dogs, but they also had dog rings where the handlers of various breeds would "show" their dogs - run them around the track, etc. That was fun to see - we had a lot of laughs and a very good time.


Katie scored a free ticket just because she's so cute! (Really, some woman came up to her and asked her if she'd like a free ticket. Nice!)


This picture cracks me up. I call it "Gals at the Beauty Parlor."


Of course we looked for the Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. We enjoyed meeting this woman and her big boy "Splash." Some of you may remember that that was the name of OUR first Chessie. She owns several Chessies, males and females. Rachel asked her if she notices any differences in temperment between the two sexes. She said, "well the males are dumber." How about that? Just like in the human race! Ha ha - just kidding. Of course we were rooting for Splash, who seemed more interested in kissing his owner than anything else - but guess what? Splash won a ribbon! Good for him.


Katie and her favorite brother-in-law, Dave.



This kid was one of the more interesting dog trainers. He would put dog food pieces in his mouth before sharing them with his doggie. What? Don't get it. Katie and I had a few laughs over his crazy little gestures and commands. Had to take a picture - just for the memories....


It's very interesting to watch the dog handlers with their dogs. Combs are flying to groom the doggies up until the last minute; fur is arranged and re-arranged, legs and tails are put into position - it's quite a science!


Like the old Dick and Jane books said "See Spot Run."


Don't you just love her pigtails?


As you can tell, I was fascinated by the grooming stations.


"Can I pet him?"


As much as we enjoyed seeing all of the different breeds, we loved the Chessies most of all.

Family Birthdays, Family Breakfast, and TUSCANY!

Happy Birthday, Katie (celebrating a few days late)

The kids are all home this weekend to celebrate Katie's birthday (a few days late)...

Rachel and her best pal, Ally...

Fun in the snow with bumpers and my "cousin" Bella...

Family breakast at DeBoer's - a nice waitress took a picture of all of us.


Dad enjoying his blueberry pancakes...


Having fun.....how old are you again, Brenda? (inside joke)


Family birthday party for Scott's Dad -his 82nd. Time for cake!


Scott's brother Mark and his wife, Julie.

Grandpa got a new game from his granddaughter Amanda (Mark and Julie's daughter)

The host and hostess with the mostest....

Nice shot of Mom and Dad Hamberg...

Scott's sister Shelley and husband Mike.

The ice cream man....

Hold the presses! Alert! Carol Nykerk, Rachel Nykerk, Jean Hoffman and Jean Hamberg will be traveling to Tuscany from September 2-9, 2010! In a brave move, the four ladies decided to fling caution to the wind and take off on the adventure of a lifetime!

We can't wait! On a whim I sent an email to Carol last week about a great deal that had come through my "TravelZoo" weekly email - 6 nights in a Tuscan villa, airfare and car rental - the trick was that we needed four people in order to get the good price. Well, Carol was on board immediately. We checked with Rachel, who of course was getting ready to go on a cruise (have fun!), but when she found out we could go in the Fall, she was excited to go, too. I then called Bill, and asked him if he thought Jean might be interested. I told him to give her a couple of days to think about it - no pressure - we just needed to book by Friday (of this week). Well, an hour later, guess who calls me? Jean has been wanting to visit Tuscany for a long time, so needless to say, we had our fourth person! We are all looking forward to it - this will give us plenty of time to get our passports, and to do some checking on what we want to see. We will be staying in a villa in the area known as "Reggello" - it looks to be a couple of hours north of Rome. The villa is called the Frattoria Degli Usignoli. Here's the link: http://www.usignoli.it/en/info.htm

The kids are home this weekend for two reasons: To celebrate Katie's 28th birthday, and Dave/Rachel are dropping off Ally - we'll be having her here while they go to Florida next week for a wedding, which they're also making into a vacation. They'll be staying in Naples, on the gulf side of the state. Hopefully it will be warmer there than what it has been. I'll be making a birthday dinner for Katie here in a little while, followed by a few hands of canasta, unless we're too busy watching the Olympics.

Since I haven't posted in awhile, I'm also including a few pictures of Scott's dad's birthday celebration at our house a couple of weeks ago, and then some of one of our family breakfasts. The waitress was nice enough to take a group shot, which turned out nicely.

Scott has suffered from a chest cold all week, but is on the mend. He's got a REALLY deep voice - you know that commercial where the mucus guys get kicked out by Mucinex? Seems to be working for him.

Hope all of you are safe and cozy in your warm houses, and that Jen and Jason's family is over the flu. Stay well, everyone - just a few more weeks till Spring! Lots of love being sent your way - Happy Valentine's Day, too!