An update, FINALLY

Well, it has been quite some time since our last blog, for several reasons. First and foremost, we are just busy, busy, busy. But, our computer crashed and we were out a computer for about a month. Now that we have a new one, I haven't taken the time to figure everything out, like how to get our pictures from the camera onto the computer. Which, I was kind of waiting for. Since so much has happened since our last blog, in September! I guess we will have to do without the pictures for now.

So, lets see, first of all... we got a puppy. As most everyone knows already, but he hasn't been mentioned yet, so lets consider this his 5 minutes of fame. :) He is a Springer Spaniel and we got him in mid September. His name is Buster. He has been quite a handful, but its been fun. He is the cutest dog ever, and is just full of energy and spunk. Austyn likes to play with him around and gets him a little too riled up sometimes, but it's fun. Sometimes we have Dewey and Susan watch him if we have to go out of town or are going to be gone for a long period of time and he and Buddy seem to have a lot of fun playing together too. It's always nice when Dewey takes him for a nice long walk when he has him so that he sleeps good that night. He finally sleeps through the night, but for a while it was like having a new born baby in the house, getting up every few hours to let him outside. It was exhausting!! But, he is getting better trained and sleeping through the night, so things are easier, which also makes it more enjoyable. I will try to get some pictures up soon.
Andrew and I have been both very busy with our jobs, at times it seems like we never get a break. Andrew has been getting some clients of his own, and is settling in well at his new job. He has to travel a lot out of town, from one end of the U.P. to the other. I just hope with the winter weather coming, that his travel time slows down. It's hard not to worry about him when he is on the road all the time, and it will be even harder with the road conditions getting worse. I am thankful that he got a new car though, which has all wheel drive. It's a nice step up from the Jeep, and was much needed, especially for the highly improved gas mileage. He got a 2008 Subaru Impreza. It's a really nice little car and so far we like it a lot. It seemed to handle itself well in our first snow storm of the season too. And, trust me, it was definitely put to the test.

Austyn joined cubscouts and seems to really enjoy it. He is fitting in well with the other kids, and it gives him something to look forward to almost every week. He is learning lots of new things and meeting new people, which is always fun. He made a toolbox which turned our really nice, I was very impressed with his craftsmanship. He also had parent-teacher conferences 2 weeks ago, and they went very well. He is very well liked by both his teacher and classmates. His teacher expressed how smart of a young man he is and how eager he is to learn, and how well mannered he is. He really likes to draw and seems to have a nice talent for it as well. He is turning into quite the little artist, which he does not get from me. They also had a food drive at his school, and we were able to provide Austyn with 2 grocery bags full to donate, which, was the most anyone in his class had done, so he got to be the helper of the day for 2 days in a row, which was very exciting for him. Lastly, on the school subject, last week was the "secret santa workshop" for his school. The kids get to bring in money and they have a little store set up where they can purchase and wrap their own gifts for their family members. Austyn really likes that, it gives him a sense of responsibility and control at Christmas time. I think its fun for the kids, and they keep it fairly inexpensive. He is very excited to hand out his gifts.

Andrew and I did Thanksgiving at our house this year, and it turned out really nice. It was just a little dinner, with our family, Dewey and Susan and my Dad and Connie. Everyone brought a dish, so I wasn't responsible for everything, which was very helpful. And Susan was even nice enough to do my dishes for me after dinner, which I could not have been more thankful for. All in all, it was a really good dinner, and a nice time for visiting. Our parents got to get to know each other a little better, since they haven't really had the chance to do that, and it was nice. Also, I should mention, that my Mom and Rich came up the weekend before, to buy the Jeep from Andrew, and we had Dewey and Susan over for a cookout that day too, so that BOTH sets of my parents could get a chance to visit with Andrew's parents. It was nice, food and weather wise. Actually, that was probably the last nice weekend we had weather wise. But I can't complain, being that we are getting our first snow really on December 9th. And the snow seems to be making up for lost time.
Anyway, I guess I will wrap this up for now. Just though I should post a "little" update on our lives since I have not been keeping up with our blog so well. Sorry it turned out to be a little more than little, hope I didn't bore anyone. Until next time....(with pictures I hope) take care.

Little Presque Isle

After the adventures in flag football yesterday, we decided to continue to enjoy the weather and head out to Little Presque Isle. It was awesome. I know I said it in my last blog, also written today, but I cannot stress enough how incredible the weather was.
Presque Isle is so pretty, and such a relaxing place, I love it there. It's one of the many places that I remind me of why I live here, even though I hate the winters. We are really lucky to have such beautiful places to spend our days during the summer and fall. It makes it worth it to tough out the winters here.

Austyn wanted to go over to the island, Al and I were not dressed for the walk through the water, but Andrew was, so he took him. They did a little hike, not the entire island, maybe next time.

















Austyn was too busy swimming to get into a family picture with us this time, we will get another one. I am sure this won't be our last trip out there this year.
















While Andrew and Austyn enjoy the water, I like to just lay around and enjoy the sunshine and sand. I was quite comfortable.

Al and Buddy came along too. We found a tennis ball someone had left on the beach, so Andrew and Al took turns throwing it for him. He was loving it.

All in all in turned out to be a really great day. We made really good use of our time off together and the enjoyable weather. Hopefully we get at least a few more weeks like this before the cold and snow close in on us.

Another Beautiful Weekend... perfect for flag football!

Austyn has been asking me for at least 3 years to play football, and the time is finally here, sort of. It's flag football, for now, but it's still fun and exciting for him. This Saturday was his first practice, and he could barely contain his excitement. It was a beautiful day for it too, not too hot, not too cold, sunny and gorgeous. So, we have about 5 or 6 weeks of Saturdays at the football field, and hopefully the weather is just as nice, or close to it as it was this weekend. I added a few pics for everyone too.




They all got to take turns playing quarterback, and also playing offense and defense. I absolutely love the middle picture. :)

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend here in the UP was beautiful. We had some of the nicest weather that we've had all summer. I had a softball tournament, which was in Big Bay. Its an annual one they have up there, along with the one for the 4th of July, and I have played every year so far. There are usually around 20 teams in it, and its fun, but quite competitive. There are a lot of really talented ball players up there, and it's a pretty large event. Our team took 3rd place this year, which was huge for us. We usually do fairly well, but have never placed, so it was very exciting and fun for us.
After that ended on Sunday, we went to camp Hiawatha to spend the night with Dewey and Susan. Austyn was quite excited about it, and actually, Andrew, Al, and Austyn left before I did to head out there, as I was still playing ball in Big Bay. They took Austyn's mini bike out there too, which I believe Andrew likes to ride just as much as Austyn, even if it's not exactly his size. It was a perfect place for them to ride it, with little to no traffic to worry about. I think Austyn's face below describes how much fun he has on his mini bike.

The next morning, we had a nice pancake breakfast, then headed across the lake for Austyn to do some shooting with his bow and his bb gun. He was loving that, and doing quite well, considering he doesn't get much practice shooting since we don't really have an area for him to do so. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera to get any pictures of him shooting, maybe next time.

Later that afternoon, we decided to spend some more time on the lake. Dewey had an inflatable row boat that Austyn was insistant on trying out by himself. So, after quite an effort to get it blown up, and a short rowing lesson from Grandpa Dewey, Austyn was on his way in the lake. However, as you can see from the picture, he figured out it wasn't as easy as he had hoped, and needed Andrew to help him out. So, I stayed on shore to take pictures, while they went off on their boat ride, and Dewey and Susan went off in the row boat.

All in all, it was a very nice weekend. When we got home from camping, we headed out to my dads house for a cookout. He prepared some fresh walleye that he had caught, burgers, and some of the venison from the deer he got last year. It was all very good, and a perfect ending to a wonderful holiday weekend. We loved it out at camp Hiawatha, it was very relaxing and a perfect place for some quality family time. We hope to get at least one more trip out there this year before our cold and snowy UP winter closes in on us, and many more next summer.

The Rope Swing and Lake Superior Waviness

Okay, here are some more pictures from the fair first. Austyn met a new friend; he is a robot. The robot was pretty cool, he made jokes and even told Austyn to give him bunny ears.

After some rides and games, Grampa Dewey graciously bought me and Austyn a hotdog, elephant ear, and soda. Despite the look on Dewey's face, he is really enjoying that bratwurst.















They had a bungee/trampoline for kids there too. Austyn really liked it, and didn't wet his pants, which was good.











The waves were really kicking on Saturday, so I jumped in for a while. It was cold, but worth it.














































And here is the rope swing. It's a lot cooler than it looks in these pictures. You can swing from about 30 feet up, from a platform. But Sabrina told Austyn he better take it easy and swing from pretty low.










So this is some of our fun summer stuff.

The Fair and Summer Tree Chopping

So, summer is quickly winding down up here, it seems. This summer has been pretty cool anyway, but the last week has actually felt like fall. Leaves in our yard are changing, for pete's sake! We found out a couple weeks ago that our neighbor to the rear is pretty handy with yard work stuff, including a chainsaw. We learned this after a tree in our front yard got struck by lightning, and the neighbor helped Sabrina's dad, Dave, cut it down. So this evening the neighbor, Mike, cut down three more dead trees in the back yard. So now we have a huge pile of firewood for the fire pit, and a much larger back yard...at least it feels larger, without those big, looming dead trees.

In other news, I won a sweet grill from our bank for Customer Appreciation Week. It's a good one, which is cool, because we've been grilling out a lot this summer. We don't have it yet; still arranging transportation, as it won't fit in either of our cars.

In still more news, Sabrina had a softball tournament last weekend, so I took Austyn to the UP State Fair, which was a lot of fun. We rode quite a few of the rides. Austyn and I became near-obsessed with a game, too. It involved catapulting rubber frogs onto lily pads that were floating in a pond. Austyn got the hang of it, and actually won some cool prizes, which I didn't think was possible at the fair. The most I ever won when I was young was a ring-pop and pixie stix.

Another Weekend, another waterfall...

Andrew and I had this past Saturday all to ourselves, so we decided to do a little hiking and take some time to enjoy the nice weather and awesome scenery. First, we decided to go out to Laughing Whitefish Falls. They are about 30 minutes from our house, between here and Chatham. They are so gorgeous. I absolutely love waterfalls, and enjoy taking day trips to go see them. I try to go to different ones all the time, and make sure I always take my camera. Although, the camera cannot quite capture how beautiful it really is. The Laughing Whitefish are close, and one of my favorites. Its about a half mile hike back to the falls, and then the stairs that take you to the very bottom. Usually by mid to late summer the flow of water has slowed enough that you can actually walk up the falls and get right underneath them. Its really cool. The pictures didn't quite capture what I would like to show, but they are good. I guess you will just have to go for yourself to get the true experience.

After the falls, we headed into Chatham to visit my Uncle Steve and Aunt Donna, and my cousin Rachel, her husband Gil and their 2 kids Stevie and Gavin. It was a nice visit with them. My cousin Rachel has been living in Mexico for the past few years, so it was nice to have her back and get to spend some time catching up.

Then, we were on on way home. We tried to make it to the top of Marquette Mountain for the sunset, but unfortunately we missed it by about 10 minutes. It was still a nice view, but not quite what we were shooting for. Maybe next time. We did make a trip to Presque Isle on Sunday night after a little popcorn snack with Dewey and Susan. That time we did make it for the sunset which was nice. That was the first time I have seen the sunset from Presque Isle. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera, so no pictures this time.

So, thats the latest. So far we are thoroughly enjoying our summer and looking forward to more outdoor activities and visits with family and friends.

Weekend in Big Bay

Sabrina and I went camping this weekend in Big Bay. Sabrina had a softball tournament. It went okay. They won two and lost two, so I guess you really do win some and lose some. We took a decent little hike on the Fourth to Yellow Dog Falls. It was pretty, but the water is still way too cold to do more than stick your feet in. It was a nice weekend; we've gone camping two weekends in a row, which is cool, because I hadn't gone in a while. It's been good having the same work schedule. We both pretty much work 9-5 Mon to Fri, so we get to spend time together on the weekends. Weekends: We're lovin' it!

So, that was our Fourth. Nothing too crazy; just nice and relaxing. And tomorrow, back to work for both of us.

Summer is finally here, i think.

I think summertime is finally here. We are hoping anyway. With the actual first day of summer, (as well as Andrew's 30th birthday), quickly approaching this Sunday, I have to say that we are ready for it. Its nice to have warm weather to sit out on the porch after work or go for a walk after dinner. I play softball in the summertime too, so its nice to have this weather, instead of standing on the ball field, freezing and wishing the game would hurry up and get over.
Andrew got a new job with the law firm Hyde and Swajanen last week, and has been quite busy already for his first week. He is really enjoying it, and I think this is a very good thing for him and our family. I am really proud of him, and he is working very hard, learning lots from them.
Austyn went down to his dads for his summer vacation last weekend. Just in time for Fathers Day, which is nice. I like him to be able to spend time with his dad as much as possible, but I miss him quite a bit while he is gone. So, Andrew and I have been using our "alone" time to get stuff down around the house that's easier done without kids, such as cleaning the carpets and rearranging furniture and all that. Its been a lot of work, still in progress, but it gives us a good feeling of accomplishment. We are also enjoying just being able to spend time together, with no interruptions and being able to just up and leave to do whatever we want, whenever we want. That is also a nice little change. Like I said, we miss having Austyn there, but we are making the best of it. Its our own little honeymoon at home in a sense and it has been really nice.
So, that is what has been going on so far this summer for us. We are looking forward to a few upcoming events. We have some camping trips, softball tournaments, trips downstate and visits from family and friends that are all on the list of happenings for us that we are excited about. So, I hope everyone else is enjoying their summer as much as we are. Till next time...

Well, Andrew and I, (mostly me) try to keep up on family and friends through either facebook or their blogs, so I decided that maybe we should have one too. Its just too busy sometimes to get time to sit down and make a phone call to catch up, so I figured this would work best. I try to keep up with Angela and Ethan from their blog, then inform Andrew of what is going on, and now our family and friends can do the same with us. So, here it is, the beginning of our blogging. I will try to put more up soon, with some pictures, and try to keep up with it, and get used to it and learn what i am doing. :) Hope you enjoy reading ours as much as we enjoy reading yours.