KTIS Family Reunion Finalists!

If you are from Minnesota and listen to Christian radio, you are probably familiar with KTIS.  Every spring, this radio station holds a contest for a "Family Reunion" to take place at their Joyful Noise Family Fest in June. 

Families submit entries about themselves and what a family reunion would mean to them. The entries are then narrowed down to the radio station's top 5 families. This year, my hubby entered our family and we are now one of the top 5! 

Our story aired on KTIS last week. Now this week, voting has begun. Listeners can go to myktis.com and vote for the family that they would like to see win the family reunion. 

Here is what is included in the prize: 

20 round trip domestic flights 

10 hotel rooms 

50 tickets to Joyful Noise on Saturday, June 8th

A tent with a catered meal at Joyful Noise

I may have mentioned this before, but hubby is from upstate New York and all of his family is still there. He is very close to his family and talks to them often. However, we don't get to see them as often. Now, with a baby on the way, it has been even harder to create a connection for Baby Christian to his family in New York. 

Because we go to a big church, baptisms are only done every couple of months and they are large group baptisms, not individual. Knowing that we wanted to baptize Christian right away, we scheduled his baptism far in advance and already know that he will be baptized the morning of Saturday, June 8th...the same day as the family reunion! 

It would mean so much to my hubby and me (and Christian too!) for our New York Family (and some of my out of state extended family) to be able to meet Christian soon after his birth and be able to share in his baptism. This Family Reunion is not only a once in a life time opportunity but so is Christian's baptism and he will only be a baby for so long. 

Please feel free to share this with your family and friends! Help us win the family reunion and be able to share Christian's baptism with our whole family! 

Please visit KTIS online to read more about our story, listen to our interview, and vote for us (The Foote Family)! Winners will be chosen by the end of the week, so please vote now! 

Thank you so much for your time and your vote!!! 

VOTE NOW

Weekend Recap

As I shared in this post last week, hubby and I headed to Chicago over the weekend and just got back late last night.

It was a sad trip but yet such a blessing. Jim and I were able to spend some time with my mom and grandma. Jim also got to meet some of my extended family which he had yet to meet and my grandma even got to see cousins that she hadn't seen in MANY years! We were in Illinois for my Great Aunt Donna's memorial service on Sunday. It was a very beautiful celebration of her life. I wish that I could have known her more as it has been probably almost at least 12 years since I last saw her.

We decided we better take advantage of the photo opportunity. Here is my grandma and her brother, Bob with 3 of their cousins whom they hadn't seen in quite some time! 

Of course we also got a full Bollenbach Family photo. There was a bit of a glare from the sun on the left which we were unable to escape. Hubby and I are the last 2 in the front row on the right :) We were rocking the matching outfits. 

We even matched with our coats on! 

We got to Bolingbrook, IL Saturday night and spent some time with my mom and grandma catching up at our hotel. Then on Sunday we headed to a church in Naperville which was similar to the church we attend in Minnesota, Hosanna! Then we grabbed some quick lunch before heading to the memorial service. After the service we grabbed a late lunch/snack with family and caught up some more. Then we ran some errands and headed to dinner. 

Monday was our last day in Illinois and we made our way to downtown Chicago. On the way, though, we made a stop in Joliet, Illinois at the prison. If any of you are fans of Prison Break, this is where the show was filmed! Along with The Blues Brothers movie. If you haven't followed Prison Break, check out the youtube clip below, but be careful, you may become hooked! Jim has seen all the seasons but I have only seen the first episode of season 1. And I know I'm going to be addicted. It was crazy to be at a real prison (that is no longer open) but was also where a show we watch was filmed! Unfortunately, they don't give tours, so we were only able to see the outside. 

After the prison, we made our way to another movie set location...does this house look familiar? 

If you guessed the house from Home Alone where the McAllister's lived, you are right! How crazy cool is this!?! If you notice, there is a sign in the lower left hand corner by a tree. This sign states that it's private property so no knocking on the door, etc. People live there there! It was recently on the market for over 1 million dollars and was previously listed for approximately 2.4 million dollars. I wonder if Kevin was home? :) 

Finally, before heading to dinner and making our way to the airport to head home, we made the trek into downtown Chicago for one last even more memorable experience....

Here are some pictures from the drive. Not much busier than downtown Minneapolis, but I was still glad to be the passenger and not the driver! Check out those blue skies, too! It was 41 degrees and we had the windows rolled down! Okay, maybe not down down as in all the way down...But the sunroof was open and the windows were cracked. We were loving the fresh air! 

Now where was our last stop? Check back later this week to find out! It involves Baby Foote! Any guesses? 

Monday Madness

It's Monday!!! Again. But this Monday is a little different. It's President's Day. This means hubby is working from home. So technically its not FULLY a work day, right? :) 

{The Weather} Its looking pretty dreary this morning, but not super chilly. Currently 30 degrees but feels like only 25 degrees with a high of 31 degrees. It is looking like the rest of the week might be a bit chilly with highs in the single digits tomorrow and snow on its way... But NEXT week might bring some heat! Highs of 35 degrees by the end of next week! Fingers crossed it comes true! 

{Weekend Recap} Where did the weekend go?? What did we do?? Friday night we hung out with some friends from church and played games. Saturday I met up with a friend from high school. Well, I might as well say a friend from Preschool because I have known her that long! Such a joy to catch up and pick up right where we left off. Time with her is always filled with laughter! Then came home to relax a bit until Saturday night church with some more friends and dinner after church at "The Chart House"....can I say YUM! First time there but it was really good! AND I got a free super gorgeous rose that was leftover from Valentine's Day. AWESOME. 

{Sad News} On Friday we got the news that my Great Aunt Donna had passed away that morning after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. She put up a good fight. We will be heading to be with family for her memorial service in Illinois next Sunday. 

{Weekly Menu} So I'm not really sure what we ate last week, I know I cooked and we had a few days of eating leftovers, but many of the things on our menu this week haven't changed from last week: 

• Broccoli Soup
• Stir Fry 
• Fajitas
• Ravioli and cooked carrots
• Turkey Burgers and sweet potatoes
• Vegetable Soup

{My To-Do List} Looking over my list from last week, I got everything done except for working on our 'Before You Were Here' Book for Baby Christian. However, the pictures I ordered for the book have not gotten here yet, so that project has been delayed. 

Here is my list for this week: 

1. Copy my stack of recipes onto recipe cards to file away 
2. Start working on a photo book of our honeymoon
3. Research how to patch slight holes in your wall so I can start working on getting some painting done
4. Hopefully finish up my photo organizing once the remaining pictures get here

Plus my regular weekly duties: 

• Cleaning
• Laundry
• Couponing 
• Grocery Shopping

{Weekly Words of Wisdom}

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." ~Colossians 3:16 

Our church just started a new series for Lent called "40 Days in the Word" and our small group will be starting the accompanying study and devotional on Thursday this week! Looking forward to it. Check out sermons here

Have a great week! 

So Thankful...

Thanksgiving is such a great reminder of all the reasons we have to be thankful, something we should really think about every day!

Here are some of the things I am thankful for this year:

• My amazing hubby who loves me even when I'm the crabby, hormonal, sick pregnant woman that I have been lately
• The baby I have been blessed to carry 
• The option to stay at home and raise our little one. My last day of work is going to be Monday already. Looking forward to starting some nesting :) 
• A home to share with my husband 
• Family- both near and far, blood and God given as friends
• Health insurance! As the doctor visit bills come in for baby, I am so glad we have insurance...and good insurance at that! 
• A great church to grow at and be involved in
• Food on our table...even if food doesn't always sound good to me :) I am thankful for options!
• For a job that I was able to work at for the past almost year and a half
• And on a slightly less serious note, but seriously, I am thankful for Christmas movies! Love them! 

Even in the midst of imperfect life, there is plenty we can find to be thankful for. 

Ephesians 1:3 ~ "All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ."