We needed to spruce up the basement and make it lighter and more fun for Cara to turn it into her play room! She was scared to play in it before because she said it was too dark and seemed like it was nighttime.

Before: dark blue with a black faux finish on it

After: bright orange and looks much bigger! I love the new art work I found for the walls! We also got new wall sconces that project much more light so Cara gets her wish!

Valentine's Day!

With this being Aunt Cyndi's first valentine's day to celebrate with Cara she went all out and brought Cara a big bag full of goodies!

A yummy box of chocolate!

Happy Valentine's Day to my two loves!  I don't know what I would do without you two in my life!  You both complete me and for that I am so grateful!   I love you Scott and Cara!

Snider HS Jazz Festival

Scott always takes his jazz band to the Snider HS jazz festival (his alma mater) in Fort Wayne. It gives Cara and I a good reason to visit Grandma and Grandpa Abbott!

My Birthday

Wow, another year older! But I have lots to celebrate so I shall not complain!!

My parents, Aunt Cyndi, and my Grandma joined us for dinner at Cooper's Hawk! Yum!

I was born on my Grandma's birthday so we try to celebrate together every year! She was being diffigult with getting her picture taken :)

We went back to our house for dessert and Scott and Cara had made me a cake!  Cara did a beautiful job decorating it and writing on it!

The 3 of us!

yet again, she wouldn't smile for the picture even though she knew Scott was taking it :)  I guess you have that right when you are 86!

Super Bowl Day

Cyndi had to work the first time we went down to Super Bowl village and was bummed when her other plans to go fell through, so we all agreed to go downtown on Super Bowl Sunday to experience the fun!!

My dad was quite a trooper and offered to drive us downtown and pick us up later in the day so we didn't have to deal with parking!  Once Cara realized she could spend the day inside playing with Grandpa instead of walking around in the cold  she dumped us!

The roman numerals were a little less busy on Sunday morning than during our previous visit

The line for tickets for Jimmy Fallons live show that night was crazy!  We would have loved to see his show in person but enjoyed it just as much from the comfort of our home

A little starbucks to warm us up on this chilly morning

They had just finished filming on WISH TV when we were in the huddle

Ice sculpture

Loved all the signs on all the buildings

Completely surrounding Lucas Oil they had placed fencing and barricades for security reasons.  This was the closest we could get on game day

We stood in the crowd for a while when they were filming on ESPN, the camera kept panning the crowd but not sure if you could ever see our faces!

We wanted to do a little celebrity stalking at the Conrad, so we to the wine tasting restaurant in the corner of the Conrad and enjoyed some cheese, fruit, wine and water (my drink of choice for the day :)

Ran into some members of LMFAO in the lobby of the Conrad, also saw Lenny Kravitz whole band load up to head to a pregame concert

So proud of our city and the great job they did transforming us into a legitimate Super Bowl town!
What a fun day.  Once the crowds were picking up we knew it was time to head home to rest up so we could enjoy the big game later that day!!

It's A Boy!

We had an ultrasound and wanted to introduce our news.... It's A Boy!!

Cara kissing my belly!

We took Cara out of school early so she could go with us because this was a special time for our family!

Super Bowl Village

One of the most fun things about your hometown hosting the Super Bowl is getting to experience all the excitement downtown in person!

We walked through the convention center which hosted the NFL experience, but we did not get tickets for that part!

The zip line was a huge success for the city and sold out everyday

There were crowds and tents everywhere

Pan Am Plaze, this is where ESPNset up shot for their daily news coverage

Georgia Street had heating lamps to warm up, they felt good but only if you were right under them.  Cara was lucky to get a little closer thanks for Daddy

ice sculptures...they can't do this in Texas or Florida

More ice sculpture

What was formerly Nordstrom department store in Circle Center mall became a huge attraction with tables to rest and warm up on the first floor.  A huge gift shop on the second floor and lots of bathrooms!

Wish TV filmed their news from the Huddle the week before the game

Giggles while warming up inside "the huddle"

The large maps along the streets were very helpful, especially if you were from out of town

On the monument circle they placed the large roman numerals

They had a race car lineup and each NFL team was represented with a race car

All the downtown buildings were covered in signage promoting the Super Bowl.  What a great experience for our city to shine!  We had a great time taking in the festivities!!