I know that's kind of a cheesy title, but I was going for something similar to "A Visit from St. Nicholas," trying to incorporate the fact that Greg and I had visited St. Louis. But anyway, this past weekend Greg and I had a wonderful Christmas trip to St. Louis! It was kind of our Christmas present to each other. The trip was prompted by the fact that the St. Louis Rams--my favorite NFL team--and the Kansas City Chiefs--Greg's favorite team--were playing each other in St. Louis. We stayed downtown at the Hyatt, which, as you can see, is literally right next to the Arch and the Mississippi River. This was the awesome view from our hotel room! The hotel was really nice, except that our room was right by the elevator, and at about 2:00 a.m., some drunk people got off of the elevator and were being really noisy. Just as Greg was about to call the front desk, we heard a hotel employee confront the rowdies. He said, "Hey guys, do you see that sign on the wall?" They said, "What sign?" He said, "The one that says shut up!" :-) It was so funny! Props to the hotel guy. We had some yummy St. Louis BBQ sandwiches for dinner at the hotel, and then the morning of the football game we had a delicious breakfast buffet. Mmmmm, all you can eat waffles . . .
Before the game we walked over to the Arch. It is always amazing to stand right underneath it--it is SO BIG and quite an engineering marvel. Leave it to a Finn to come up with something like that.
After checking out the Arch, we walked over to the Edward Jones Dome for the game. It's pretty amazing to be so close to an actual NFL field! It looks a lot smaller in real life than it does on TV.
I thought that Greg, in his Chiefs gear, was going to feel very outnumbered. But there were actually as many Chiefs fans as Rams fans there.
Before the game we were watching the teams warm up, and I was able to get the attention of #86 Michael Hoomanawanui (yes, he officially has the longest last name of anyone on the team), and he came over and signed my hat! He played at the University of Illinois, and this is his rookie year in the NFL. I also hoped to get the attention of Rams quarterback Sam Bradford. I thought it would be funny to tell him that I went to BYU and see if that made him mad (the BYU football team busted his shoulder when he was still playing at Oklahoma), but I didn't have a chance to talk with him.
As you can see, we had pretty sweet seats! Here is Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel making a play. He played a really great game, which is amazing considering that he had his appendix removed just over a week before the game! I thought back to how I felt one week after my gallbladder was removed, and I could barely get out of bed, let alone play in an NFL game. The chiefs ended up dominating the game and won 27-13, so Greg was very happy. It was okay with me though, because I also like the Chiefs. It was such a fun game! Then Greg and I came back up to Springfield and are now trying to get ready for Christmas.
Also, I forgot to post this picture that Mom took the other day when I did my blog about Utah. The mountains were so beautiful with the sun setting last Wednesday, so Mom took this picture of me outside. I've only been gone from Utah for four days and I already really miss the mountains!
Mom also wanted to see a picture of my former boss, Laura. I couldn't find a better one than this, but this gives you a good idea of what she looks like. If it appears that all of the wires in her head aren't connecting, it's not the picture's fault--that's just how she always looks :-) I must say, I don't miss working with her one bit!
Things were so peaceful last night. Today, on the other hand, . . . well, let's just say that there are red feathers and wrapping paper pieces strewn throughout the house, and there is a helicopter flying around my head--I'll explain more in a minute. But Greg took these really cool pictures last night of the Christmas tree and the condo with snow outside.
You can see the candles better in this picture than in the one I took. I do love our little condo. In this next picture you can see the entrance to our condo complex with the woods behind it--what a beautiful winter scene!
This is going to sound really cliche and possibly a little cheesy, but Greg and I took the dogs for a Christmas Eve walk last night, and the only word to describe it is magical. It was snowing and it was so quiet outside! The snow was up to Little Spike's belly, and the dogs were loving playing in the snow. It was the perfect Christmas Eve stroll.
Tiger Lily was the first one to wake up on Christmas morning. She started playing with the blinds at about 6:30 a.m., and then she jumped on my face. I don't know if she just wanted food or if she knew it was a special day. The dogs were very excited when we started opening presents. Here are the ferocious beasts with some of their presents. Lily somehow evaded all pictures, but she was thrilled with the red Santa boa feather toy she received from Pam and Greg. That's where all of the red feathers have come from. (Big Spike has decided he likes the red feather toy too.) Come to think of it, Big Spike has tried to play with everyone's toys.
Here's the toy I got from Greg: an Amazon Kindle--just what I wanted! I spent the entire day searching for and downloading books to read--and, of course, reading. As Greg so aptly put it, giving me a Kindle was like giving crack to a crack addict. But books are better than crack.
And here is Greg with his present: a football signed by the Kansas City Chiefs! Now we just need them to win the Super Bowl so that we can sell it for millions of dollars ;-) One present Greg received that I'm not so sure about is a remote control helicopter--it will surely be used for no good :-) Notice that Big Spike is in every single picture involving presents. Thank you so much to the Taylors, Bowles, and grandparents for the wonderful and generous money, presents, and cards! That's what Christmas is really about--the love of family and friends and remembering the true meaning of this Christmas season. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas today!
