We have officially entered MONTH 6!!

Well, school is out for the year, much to Austyn's excitement, and he is heading into 4th grade next year! Wow, time flies, I can still remember his first day of school, and how excited he was to be going on the bus. :) Now, he's already asking when the last day of school is, on the first day! haha. Didn't take him long to decide he didn't like it. Hate to tell ya son, you have a long way to go before it's all over. Despite his lack of excitement for school, he does very well. He got all A's, or the 3rd grade version of them on his report card. He was top of his class, and excelled in all subjects. We are so proud of our smart little guy, and can only hope he continues to grow and excel the way he did this year. He is quite the talented artist as well, I will have to scan some of his drawings to upload to here, so everyone can see how awesome he is at it. I am glad he found something that he is not only good at, but LOVES to do, and hopefully he continues on with his drawing, he really is great at it.
In addition to the last day of school, his end of the year pack meeting was this past week. I guess we are wrapping everything up all at once. :) Which is good, since he is leaving on Monday to go to his dad's for summer visitation, so I am glad he was able to be here for this. I wasn't feeling well that day, so I didn't get to make it, but thankfully, Andrew remembered to bring the camera, take pictures AND video's, so I didn't completely miss out. All the boys in his pack received their bear badges, for finishing the bear program. I am so proud of him, and glad he decided to join such a great organization for young boys. He really likes it and I think he learns alot from it.

And, lastly, We are into the 6th month of this pregnancy. A few more weeks to enter the 3rd, and FINAL, trimester!!! YAY! Week 24 actually crept up on me a bit, and it was weird the excitement I had when I realized how far along I am. Surprisingly, it has been going pretty fast for me, unlike my first one, but I am still getting antsy and anxious. I can't wait to meet our little man!! Oh, ya, IT'S A BOY!!, for anyone who didn't already know. Our ultrasound went great, it took 2 hours!!, but everything looks good. We have a healthy, fast growing little boy that everyone is excited to meet. Andrew has been VERY helpful, and that has been really nice. I am still feeling really good, except on those really hot days. I feel the baby moving alot now, he is quite busy, and Andrew is finally able to feel and see him moving around too. It's really cool. I hope the remainder of this pregnancy goes as quickly as the first part has, I can hardly wait to meet our new little addition. Below I posted a new pregnant belly picture. I think Austyn's expression is hilarious, and shows his excitement for his little brother to be quite well. Or maybe it's just his awe of the size of me, haha. Either way, it's cute.

We also celebrated Father's Day this weekend. With no pictures, sorry, can't remember much these days! haha. We went to Dewey and Susan's on Saturday for dinner and family time with the dad's and dad's to be. It was a very nice and relaxing dinner with delicious food. I gave Andrew his card and gift from me, Austyn and Hudson this morning, which was a football. The dog had chewed up his other one, and I thought it was a nice gift for the soon-to-be daddy of a little boy. Hopefully he can hang onto it long enough to play catch with Hudson before the dog gets ahold of this one too. This afternoon we will be going to my dad's house for dinner and family time, and that should be nice too. I just like to eat, so all these "special occasions" are awesome! :)
So, there is our update for the month. We will try to get better about posting more frequently. Hope all the dad's out there have a wonderful Father's Day! Take care everyone.

A beautiful weekend in May...

This weekend was BEAUTIFUL! Finally!!! Some nice weather. We have all been waiting for it, and it couldn't have come for a better weekend.

First of all, this weekend, Saturday, was mine and Andrew's 1 year anniversary. We took a trip to Escanaba, enjoyed a scenic drive, and some nice alone time. We went to dinner at a local cafe, then stopped at a roadside park with some "falls", although they weren't much of falls, more like rapids. It was pretty though. We weren't much into pictures though, so, I have nothing to post of that little trip. I also don't have any pictures of our wedding on this computer, so I can't post some then and now pictures like I had originally planned. I would like to say though, this past year has been the best of my life. Andrew is the love of my life, and I look forward to many more wonderful years with him. He is a wonderful husband and stepfather, and I am positive will be a great father, and will have the chance to prove it soon! :) Love, love, love our life!!!



Sunday was even nicer, weather wise, so we decided to continue our outdoors adventures, and make it a family day at the beach. The first one of the season. Austyn wore jeans, as I thought it might be chilly by the lake, like it usually is, but it wasn't. It was pleasantly warm, and he was a little disappointed he didn't wear shorts. He didn't let it stop him from wading in the water and attempting to bury himself in the sand. He and Andrew took turns throwing sticks for the dog, (who is finally getting into the water), and then skipped stones together.


Little Presque Isle is one of my favorite places near my house, it is just soooo beautiful. I think these pictures capture it well.



All in all, it was a wonderful weekend, we could not have asked for more beautiful weather, and I am getting very excited for summer time and spending more time at the beach and having picnics, bbq's and lots of family time.




Lastly, tomorrow, (the 17th) is Austyn's 10th birthday! I am glad the weather is going to be nice, its so up in the air this time of year. He is growing so fast, I can't believe how time flies!!! His party will be next weekend, which he is extremely excited for, of course. I am so proud of what a smart, polite and handsome young man he is becoming! Before I know it, we will be doing a blog about his first formal dance, and high school graduation! :)




Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this update, and the pictures. For those of you who don't get to live in as beautiful place as we do, sorry, and try not to get too jealous! hahaha. If it wasn't for our 7 or 8 months of cold, wind, rain and snow,
we could pretty much say we lived in paradise. :)

Big News; Bigger Belly

We have big news. Most of you probably know by now, but we haven't blogged in a while, so here is our blog-announcement: Sabrina and I are having a baby! She is 17 weeks along now, and doctors say everything is progressing nicely. We are finding out at the end of the month the baby's gender. Hopefully the summer will not be too hot, since that is when Sabrina will be at her most pregnant. The due date is mid-October (doctor says 9th or 13th).

She has been craving a lot of sweets and dill pickles, so I think that's a good sign.

Our dog, Buster, has been living up to his name. He is very active; never seems to stop running around and lookin' for trouble. He's a good little guy, though.

Work for me has been going well. We are a very busy firm, and have cases all over the upper peninsula, so I travel quite a bit.

Austyn has been enjoying Cub Scouting. He likes the kids in his den. He also is doing very well in school, according to his teacher at our parent-teacher conference.

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.