Chicago!

In celebration of our anniversary, Matt and I took a trip to Chicago! Happy 6th!!!

Grandma and Grandpa Burak bravely agreed to take care of the kids for us (thank you so much again!!!). So, we we set our plans and took off on our first ever "fly away" trip together. We had such a great time taking in many of the sights of the city: Sears Tower, Wrigley Field and a Cubs game, Museums (Matt's fav was the Museum of Contemporary Art...be sure to ask him all about it!) The John Hancock Observatory, an architectural tour on the river, as well as an incredible performance by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra! We enjoyed mostly nice weather, with only one rainy day. We ate PLENTY of fantastic Chicagoan treats...Chicago Style hot dogs, famous deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati's, as well as "the best steak ever"...

It was so wonderful getting to spend a little one-on-one time with my husband, my best friend... I'm so grateful we had the opportunity! Let's go back again someday!


This photo was taken from our tour on the river...

The building in the center back, with the big, yellow globe on top was our hotel!

We only stayed for 3 innings of the game...

And Matt got several inquisitive looks as well as

a couple comments for wearing his Twins baseball cap!

Here was the zoomed in view of the Navy Pier from the

94th Floor of the Hancock Observatory

6 years of Marriage....and almost a decade together!

I love you!

Big news!

Hello all! Yes, I know... Once again I have not done very well at keeping this page updated. I apologize. I will do my best to get some photos up soon!

ANYWAY!! Back to the big news from the Saari household! After many, many weeks of crankiness, drool, chewed fingers, teething rings and baby orajel, Maija's first tooth has FINALLY made its way through! Very exciting! It's barely sticking through her little gums, but it is definitely there and it's sharp! (which is at least another reason to be thankful for her being a bottle baby!) It's so amazing how quickly she seems to be growing and changing and figuring out the world around her. Sometimes I wish there was a pause button for life...

Slacker part II / New Poll!

Ok... so I've reeeeally slacked off with the ol' blog once again! Ugh. I don't know. I wish I had a super great ("you say super, we say great..." ha!) excuse for the abandonment of my blogger duties... Perhaps I could say that I've been busy with three children, and weekends of fun, family company... I guess those are my excuses...and hey! They are actually very decent! Not to mention the fact that the entire Red River Valley has been turned into a lake in the past few weeks... Thankfully though our home and neighborhood is fine. We are far enough from the river to be directly affected. However, many others in the community were not as lucky and will begin the trek down the long road of clean-up and repairs in the weeks ahead.

Anyway! So I accidentally erased the previous 'Idols' poll that I put up... Whoops! So, I added a new one. As you can see this one asks who your favorite idol contestant is... Not who you think will win...perhaps they are one in the same... but vote again anyway!

American Idol Fans?

Hey! I've created an American Idol poll... As a fan of the show, I thought it would be fun to see if anyone else who checks into the Saari blog has been following the American Idol excitement? I'll update the poll once contestants are voted off! It will be interesting to see who comes out on top of season 8!

Take a minute to cast your vote... If you don't watch the show... That's ok! Vote anyway! :)

An Update on Us!

Hello all! I've been neglecting my blogging duties lately... So here is a sort of "general update" to inform what's been happening here in the Saari world!

*As I posted yesterday... Uncle David has been deployed again. He made the trip over to Afghanistan last week. He calls when he can and we will be sending him many care packages filled with books, magazines, pictures and good stuff whenever we can!

*Uncle Matt moved into his new apartment here in Moorhead!! Yay! We've been enjoying having him so close! He's even been wonderful enough to babysit for us on a couple of occasions! Which is awesome and so appreciated!!!

*Matt and the boys took in a Monster Jam Show at the Fargodome (Monster trucks for those of you "not in the know") a couple of weeks ago. That was a HUGE hit! Very exciting to hear all the glorious details... Which, by the way, included three...that's right THREE couples being married in the center of the dirt track during intermission. Now, I don't know about you...but I think Jeff Foxworthy would be in his "...You might be a redneck" glory if he heard about that one!

*Mommy was super spoiled with an awesome Valentine's gift! An afternoon at the spa!!! Yes indeed it was a fantastic experience!!! After a bit of shopping around town, I enjoyed 4 fabulous hours of being pampered! To begin, I had a relaxing, moisture intense facial (SO GREAT!) Next I was onto a therapeutic massage --which I must admit hurt more than was expected... The massage technician was VERY into his job and was trying to "explain" to me how certain pressure points work and make it a learning experience or something... I kept thinking to myself "DUDE! I just want to lay here and relax! Please stop pinching my shoulder that way...it is NOT enjoyable." But alas, I just went along with it and hopefully made him feel like he accomplished something! *Note to self...do the 'hot stone' massage next time! After that I was in absolute foot heaven with a fantastic pedicure! Ahhh! (by the way, you should know my toes still look great and my feet are still soft!) To end my spa experience I had my very first manicure. Which unfortunately I also did not enjoy as much as I had hoped. Don't get me wrong, most of it was wonderful...however having someone filing away at my fingernails was awful! It was like that "nails on a chalkboard" feeling without the horrible screeching sound...Sorry if the thought of that makes anyone shiver!


*We have made several trips to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream galore!!! This is no doubt the yummiest ice cream I've ever had... And I must include an interesting choice from Brady our wonder-boy! Blue cotton candy ice cream with mini chocolate chips mixed in. It takes a special pallet to enjoy such a concoction!


*Today Matt purchased some "Sham WOW's" at Bed, Bath & Beyond. This was super exciting for him as he has been wanting to get them for quite a while! If you have not seen or heard of Sham WOW's before, you'll have to stay tuned.... I will fill you all in on the "wowiness" of these "super cloths"!


*To end our update of happenings... I have a few new pictures of our little lady!!! Enjoy!

What a sweet smile!!!

Maija has discovered the wonderful joy that she has FEET!

She loves looking at them...and trying to touch them!

And as you can see...

Our once little peanut girl is getting chubbier by the day!

As evident by her beautifully round

cheeks, belly, wrists, fingers, and so on and so forth!

Hope, Good Thoughts & Prayers

As most of you know, David is currently serving his second, year-long deployment to Afghanistan with the ND National Guard. Our family and friends are very proud of everything David, (and all his fellow troops) is doing for our country. The strength and bravery of all men and women who are serving overseas, and sacrificing so much, is nothing less than extraordinary.

I ask that you would please take a moment in your busy day to say a word of hope, send a good thought or prayer for David and his comrades... It will be a long year...and a long road home. All we can hope is that it will be a safe and successful one...

**We love you, David. Be safe! Stay strong!

Slacker...

Ah yes. I've done it again. We've gone almost another month without any new posts. I apologize to those three or four of you who have been kind enough to check in with us from time to time! :)

I promise to have some new pics up tomorrow!!!

*On a side note.... HURRAY, it's March! I hope this means spring will be showing itself SOON!