Tennessee

After a busy holiday weekend Mike, Ben and I drove down to Tennessee to visit family. The weather was great while we were there and we were able to spend a lot of our time outside. On Thursday we hiked in a State Park where my cousin is a 'jr' ranger (just kidding Aaron-he is a regular ranger). We got some great pictures and we think Ben really enjoyed himself :0)

At the bottom of the steps to the Stone Door,

not to be confused with the 'stone table' from TLTWATW.

The Sikora boys fearlessness is rubbing off on Mike although I think if Justin or Jeremy would have been with us this would have been a much more dangerous pose.

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year and were very thankful to spend it with our families. We started off our Christmas Wednesday night at home opening gifts and listening to our favorite Christmas songs. Our next four days were spent at different family gatherings around the state. We have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, please enjoy our pictures below!

Ben getting ready to open his gifts at home.

Posing in his new "Radio Flyer" -thanks Grandma and
Grandpa R :0)

Michael was very excited to get all of his new tools/toys!

Ben loves his new truck-thanks for the gifts Aunt Joanne and Uncle Dick!

Sledding

Today we were able to take Ben sledding for the first time thanks to the 6+ inches of snow that we got in Champaign over the last 24 hours. We live across the street from a great park that has a sledding hill. All three of us got bundled up, Mike and I not quite sure how long our adventure would last, and we headed across the street to have fun. Everything started out pretty well, but I think the cold and Ben's lack of mobility in the snow kind of dampened his mood. Mike and I had a great time and are planning to try taking him out again tomorrow.


Thanks again Grandma and Grandpa R for the great snow suit and sled. I hope you can come visit soon so that we can go sledding together :o)

Laundry Help

Ben loves when we are folding laundry. He loves to take things out of the laundry basket and throw it on the floor. He loves to take the things on the floor and then put them back in the laundry basket. He loves to play with the laundry basket. Tonight, he took all his wash cloths and put them by the TV. He was very serious, so obviously the wash cloths were put there for a reason.

Playdate with Lucas

This Saturday Uncle Alex, Aunt Sarah, and cousin Lucas came for a visit. While Mike and Alex when to the Illini v. SIU basketball game, the cousins and Sarah and I had fun at our house. Ben and Lucas had a blast playing together and Ben was pretty good about sharing his toys thankfully. Lucas keeps up with Ben pretty well and they are about the same size which makes it lots of fun to watch them play. Thanks for coming to visit, I hope we can plan another playdate again soon!

Aunt Sarah with the boys.

Starved Rock State Park

This past Sunday we drove up to

Starved Rock State Park which is outside of Utica,IL.

We had a great day with family and enjoyed

beautiful weather as we hiked.

It is a definitely a place that we would like

to explore again in the future.

Here are just a few of the pictures from the day.

Trick or Treat!!!

Ben took part in his first Halloween tonight dressed as C3PO and had a great time. It took him a while to realize the people were trying to give him the candy. He wasn't as willing to grab into the bowl when people offerred, but loved it when they handed the candy to him.

Sorry, Grandma and Grandpa, no Almond Joys or Baby Ruths.