Pumpkin picking & carving/painting...

On Saturday, we went to Kuipers Farm to go pumpkin picking. The weather was not ideal (a freezing 45 degrees with a nasty wind chill), but we put it off until the weekend before Halloween, so this was our only chance. It was a quick trip, but nonetheless we had a lot of fun choosing our pumpkins and looking at the goodies they had in the Barn Store.

Our two pumpkins...
Prepping the table for carving & painting...
Painting in progress...
Kaila & her finished product...
Cisco hard at work carving...
Before...
After...
Our finished products out on our stoop...
Happy Halloween!

Vandal Gameday!!

The big day was Saturday, or as we call it back in Idaho, "Vandal Gameday." We were hoping and praying that the weather would be nice, since the forecast called for lots of clouds and some rain. Boy, were our prayers answered. The weather was spectacular for a fall day: temps in the mid-60's, lots of sun, with a few clouds here and there. We got all decked out and headed over to the Husky Stadium.

Idaho cheerleading outfit on, ready to roll!

Before the game, we stopped by the bookstore for souvenirs for Mike and Erin. The Husky fans were very nice to us, complementing Mom, Mike and Erin for making the trip out.

Tailgating animal, with fellow UI College of Business alums.

Happy to finally have gotten to our seats, and seeing our boyz out there.

Happy Vandal family

The Boss with the sideline passes.

Getting down to the field during pre-game warm-ups.

Cisco and Mike in heaven, as Kaila is amazed by how big the people are.

Still in shock that they're down on the field.

Cisco saying hello to a player he used to work with in the weight room while still at Idaho. He was able to say hello to a few, not all of them. Didn't want to distract them.

Trying to get a pic next to Big Mike Iupati (#77 wit the long hair), an NFL-bound offensive lineman.

One last pre-game pow-wow with Coach Akey

Getting pumped before the game!!

Opening kickoff!

Our first offensive possession.

With Grandma and Grandpa.

Saying that we're #1 with Auntie Erin

"I-D-A-H-O, IDAHO, IDAHO, GO-GO-GO!" At the end of the weekend, she could say that pretty well.

Loving the fact we were leading pretty much the whole game.

Back on the sidelines in the 4th quarter. Got them backed up in their own territory.

Akey and coaches giving the offense some advice during a timeout.

It was THEIR honeymoon too.

Cisco calls this the "victory formation," take a knee to end the game.

"SCOREBOARD!!"

Players singing the fight song with the Idaho fans. *goosebumps*

"Came a tribe from the north, brave and bold....."

It was such an awesome experience. We held off a late NIU surge to win the game. This was a big win for the program, one that's been in shambles for almost a decade. We were so happy to have been able to experience a monumental win, in person. Cisco was even able to be interviewed during half-time by the Idaho radio announcers. Basically talked about being a Vandal in Husky country. Such a great time, and a great win. So proud to be a Vandal.....

The weekend came and went. It was short, but absolutely fun. Kaila had a lot of fun with her Grandpa, Grandma, Auntie Erin, and Uncle Mike. Hopefully we get to see them all soon. GO VANDALS!!

Vandal Week in Illinois - Chicago Trip

Two weeks ago was a very special week for our family. The Idaho Vandals were coming here to play NIU for football. We had this day circled on our calender for over a year now, and just like that, it was time. The game brought Cisco' s parents and our best friends from Idaho to DeKalb. Just like we thought, the time spent with them went by super fast, and it was probably the best week we've ever had here, because of many reasons. It was so nice to get a taste of Idaho, even if it was only for a few days.

They all came in on Wednesday night, not without drama. Mike and Erin's flight leaving Boise was delayed, so they missed their connecting flight in Minneapolis. They thought they were going to have to spend the night in Minneapolis, but fortunately, they were able to get a later flight. As for Cisco's parents, his mom's luggage never arrived. And their GPS system was packed inside that lost suitcase, so they had no directions on how to get here. After many phone calls for directions and some yelling, they finally arrived safely *whew*.

On Thursday, we passed by Cisco's office just to check it out and say hello to a few people. We then headed out to Geneva to do some shopping. Then, we were off to Midway to go pick up Cisco's mom's suitcase, and drive around downtown Chicago for some sights and sounds. Mike and Erin wanted to stop by a Wells Fargo to deposit some money. No big deal, so Cisco looked it up on his iPhone, and there was one a few minutes away in Naperville. This is when the adventure started. We get to the "bank" in Naperville to find that the bank has been closed down. So Erin called and we found another Wells Fargo on the other side of Naperville. We headed down there to find out that they were only a home mortgage branch, not a bank. So we asked them where we could go and they mentioned that Wells Fargo and Wachovia has merged, and the closest Wachovia was in Elmhurst. So we headed out there, which took awhile because of traffic. When we got there, Mike and Erin ran inside, since it was almost closing time. They talked to the banker to find out Wachovia couldn't process any Wells Fargo accounts, since the computer systems haven't merged yet. He said the closest Wells Fargo bank was in Wisconsin. So in other words, we spent about 2-3 hours driving around for a bank that didn't exist! At the time, we were all frustrated, but looking back on it, it was pretty funny.

Cisco got some flack for his Idaho pride during the week at school. But let's see who had the last laugh.....

Representing for Idaho......

So we headed to Midway to pick up Cisco's mom's luggage. That took awhile because of traffic. We did drive through the ghetto, which Mike enjoyed. He may be a skinny, white kid on the outside, but he's pretty "hood" on the inside, which Cisco loves. After, Kaui and Erin had a craving for Boston Market. Fortunately, there was one close by Midway. By the time we ate, it was dark and we were tired, so we scrapped our driving through Chicago idea.

On Friday, we headed into Chicago for them to walk around and see the city. Below are pics from that day trip.

Cisco's parents with the Chicago River

Us with the Chicago River

THE BEAN!! (Cloud Gate)

Kaila with Grandpa and Grandma Aiyeese

The Girls......

.....the Boyz

Kaila holding up the Bean all by herself.

We all had a nice lunch at Giordano's. Awesome pizza.

Us at the Lakefront, at Museum Campus

"Whatchu talkin' 'bout" Willis Tower

By coincidence, Kaila's Nanny Jana and her family happened to be in Chicago the same week. So Kaila had a nice dinner with Nanny Jana.

At night, we headed to US Cellular to catch a White Sox game. None of us are Sox fans, but it's always nice to go to a professional sporting event.

Our view from the nosebleeds, which actually weren't that bad.

One last pic before we headed out.

Excuse the blurriness, trying to get pic with the city lights.