January Finale

Well, January has been pretty uneventful, and relaxing for us. As you can see from the picture to the left, we have spent most of our time lounging around. (This picture also shows how BIG Buster is getting already!) The holidays were fun, but they were exhausting, and it has been nice to not have to do anything, or be anywhere at any certain time.
So, being that we haven't really done anything, this blog is actually going to probably be pretty boring and short. haha.



Last week, when I went out to start my car before work, this is what I saw. Austyn had left to get on the bus while I was in the shower, so he didn't get a chance to tell me goodbye the way he wanted to apparently. So, he decided to write it on my car. I thought this was so cute, and very sweet, and had to get a picture. He is such a sweet kid and so thoughtful, (most of the time :) ) I just love him.
Also, that amount of snow on my car is the most snowfall we have had in over 2 weeks. It has been pretty "warm" (for this time of the year) and quite sunny and pleasant. It's not that good for business where I work, since we plow in the winter, but other than that factor, I have NO complaints on the sunshine, now melting and little mid-winter heat wave. Now, its back to reality though. This week has been very cold and gloomy, still no snow though. Personally, I would rather have the snow, than single digit temperatures. Oh well, spring will be here soon, I hope!

And lastly, this Friday, Jan. 29th, Austyn and some of his classmates were offered the opportunity to sing the National Anthem at the NMU hockey game. He was pretty excited about it all week, practicing and such. On Friday, he was a little upset that we couldn't find his Wildcats shirt, but... we were able to come up with a wildcats paw tattoo, that he sported on his face to show his team spirit. He did get a little nervous when we got there, I think when it finally hit him on what was going on and how many people he would be singing in front of. They all did really well though, and I was proud of him. I took a picture, but I was in the wrong spot, and only got their backs, and they didn't turn the lights on, and so its really dark and hard to see. So, instead, I put up a picture that Austyn took during the game. He took quite a few good ones, but I figured this was good. It was a good game, they played Alaska, and it ended up going into overtime, which still resulted in a tie. So, they did a shoot out, and NMU won!! It was very exciting and a great ending.

Speaking of endings, I don't know how great this is, but I think I am about finished with this entry. So, I hope you have enjoyed this most recent peak into our mostly non-eventful life, and hope all is well with everyone. Maybe next time I will have something a little more exciting to post for you. :)

Goodbye 2009, Welcome 2010

Happy Holidays everyone. We had a busy and exhausting, but fun, holiday season. There was so much going on with family, friends, company parties, shopping and travel, I don't really know where to begin.
We had several different Christmas celebrations to attend this year. They were all fun, and we had the opportunities to see lots of family that we haven't seen in a while. First, we had Austyn's holiday program for school. The theme was Christmas around the world. They did songs from around the world, and it was pretty interesting. Austyn even had a solo speaking part, which he was very excited for, and he did an excellent job.




On Christmas Eve Eve, we went to Dewey and Susan's for a family get together, since Ethan and Angela were up, and we would be gone for the Christmas weekend. It was very relaxing, and nice to see everyone together. The dinner was delicious, although, so were the appetizers, which everyone was filling up on before dinner. All in all, everything turned out nicely, except that I forgot to bring the camera, so I didn't get any pictures.
We did our little family Christmas on Christmas Eve, since we planned on leaving that afternoon to head downstate to see my mom. Austyn was soooo excited, that he could not get to sleep that night, he finally did around 1 a.m, but did not sleep for long. He was up and about at 4:30 a.m. and knocking on the bedroom door at 6. We told him he needed to wait until 7, because we needed our sleep for the drive later on. I remember being that age and the anticipation, so it must have killed him to have to wait another hour. :) I think the wait paid off though, as he described this Christmas as the best Christmas "of his entire life". What an accomplishment for us to be able to pull that off. I think the Wii that we got him was the deciding factor for him this year. We figured it would be fun for everyone, but we really had no idea just how much fun it was going to be. We have all spent the majority of our time playing the wii and are thoroughly enjoying every second of it, except in the morning when we wake up very sore. Andrew really gets into the bowling, and I really like the tennis. Austyn just likes all of them I think, but he seems particulary fond of the pool.

My Dad and Connie came over for Christmas Eve morning before we left. I made breakfast for everyone, then we exchanged gifts. Austyn got the wii sports package from them, which he was really excited about. We all took turns checking out the games. That thing really is fun for the whole family.

Early that afternoon, we started our journey to Traverse City for rest of the holiday weekend. My brother Chad and his wife Libby were home for Christmas from Louisiana. They are expecting their first child in March, and its probably the last time I will get to see Chad before he goes to Afganistan. So it was very nice to be able to spend some time with them. My mom always does a theme for the Christmas tree, and this year it was Dr. Suess. I think she pulled it off quite nicely, as the tree could not have been any more lop sided or weird looking than it was. The dinner was awesome, and there was plenty of food for everyone. We spent the evening playing cards and catching up. It was really nice to have all of the kids together for Christmas. I wish I could have gotten a picture, but my battery died on my camera. :(

For NYE, Andrew and I decided to stay home and enjoy a quiet evening to ring in the New Year. So, I invited my dad and Connie over to join us, and made a bunch of snacks. We just hung out playing games, playing the wii (of course), eating and relaxing. It was a lot of fun, and really nice to be home and not out and about at all the parties and stuff for once. For New Years Day, Dewey and Susan came over to have a late breakfast with us, and watch Andrew play the wii. I am telling you, I don't think that thing ever gets any rest, except when we sleep. It is just way too much fun. Later that day, we went into town to do some shopping, have a little lunch and go to a movie. Kind of a date afternoon I guess you could say. Then on Saturday, we headed to the bridge to pick up Austyn from his week long visit with his dad. We are glad to have him home, and now he is joining us with the addiction to the wii.
All in all it was busy, but fun and relaxing. It was nice to see everyone and have a chance to catch up. Now its time to clean up, get back to work, and lose all the weight we gained from all the delicious meals!! :)

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.