Holidays

Well, for those who know me, I am a true believer in celebrating Christmas, as the birth of Jesus Christ! But, since I have been an absent blogger, I am adding Thanksgiving pictures to our two Christmas celebrations, so the title "Holidays."

Chris, Kim, Jack and Natalie stayed with us for Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful meal with Kim's family. Of course Conley came often to play with Jack and a tractor ride is always on Jack's mind.

We got a couple great family pictures, and Natalie is in both families! She's just such a magnet! After all, it was Natalie's first time to celebrate Uncle Mike and Aunt Joy's birthdays.



A visit to Colorado is always full of adventure. After a challenging ride over Rabbit Ears Pass we arrived safely to Dan and Angie's Christmas house. The first evening, all the children helped with the gingerbread house. The finished product is seen above.

The next day was sliding in a neighborhood, and a living nativity.





I was surprised when I took a solo ride on the saucer, picked up speed and did an airborne flip landing on my head. I really need to learn to act my age!
After church on Sunday and nap time, we opened gifts and enjoyed a wonderful dinner.
The children are all dressed up for a Christmas party at daddy's work.





After a dance performance by Claire and her dance class and as guest reader at Hudson and Claire's pre-school, we traveled back to Michigan.

It's Christmas! Mike and Chris and their families joined us on Christmas morning for breakfast and opening gifts. So where are all my pictures? Maybe it was caused by the medication fog I was in for my root canal problems. Well, its all about the children who are our great joy givers! Happy 2011, my blog viewers!

October, it's not over until it's over.

Well my last post was about the month of October. I guess I was thinking I would just wait out the next few days until November appeared on the calendar. I was wrong, you know it's hard to have a son, daughter-in-law and four grandchildren far away in CO. I can only stay away so long, then I yearn to be with them.

Hudson and daddy go to an hour class on hitting, throwing, catching and soccer ball kicking. Hudson did great in all areas, he's pretty coordinated for a 4 year old.


There is also a lot happening back at the "playground" as Claire's friend calls her backyard. Claire is busy making a cake to serve with sweet tea.

Tucker is a true rugged cowboy, he takes his shirt off to enjoy the sun and play in the snow.

Cooper is pretty good at riding his tricycle that seems to steer quickly towards the mud. But we any always count on that smile!

Halloween began with a church service. When we got home Em and G fixed a wonderful chicken dinner and set a festive table, even a monster cake.


The big event of the day is the Halloween Stroll on main street downtown.

It seems the whole town turns out, adults, children and dogs dress up to celebrate.


Angie isn't so happy with this picture but I like that it captures the moment, the children all enjoying their treats

October

I can't believe this beautiful month is almost past. We have been blessed with warm, sunny cloudless days for nearly the entire month. Today is a mixed bag of weather. Earlier today it rained and I was in the basement due to a tornado warning and a watch is on until 6PM. The wind is blowing the last of the leaves off the trees and the dark sky is lit by brief moments of sunshine. Last week we moved the patio furniture and cleaned out some of the annuals to prepare for winter. I want to hang on.... I feel a sense of sadness during these dwindling days of autumn.

Yet, this was a month of celebration! Starting with Conley's 4th birthday. She celebrated for a week with her family. These are pictures of her princess luncheon.



We also celebrated time together with new found cousins from Nova Scotia who came to visit our known cousins in Kalamazoo. In this picture, Dolly who is my mother's 1st cousin at 92, is enjoying the visit with her daughters, their husbands, great grandchildren and cousins from Holland, MI and Nova Scotia.


It was on one of those beautiful Saturday's when we went to the orchard to pick up some cider and donuts. Yum! Conley and Tom pose in front of the big pumpkin and they look a bit lonely. Last year Conley was here with her Aunt Angie and Uncle Dan and cousins, Hudson, Claire, Cooper and Tucker.

I couldn't wait to give my sister her Christmas Present! So to celebrate genealogy weekend I gave her the book, "The Road to Englishtown," that contains the genealogy of our mother's side of the family. We read our books together and scoured over old pictures. We also visited with our brother, Gordon to hear his stories of his visits with our grandparents, we never knew.

This past weekend we traveled to Wheaton, IL to watch Jack and Natalie while Kim and Chris celebrated 6 years of marriage. Conley came along to play with Jack and be a "big sister" to Jack and Natalie. She was a big help to grandma and grandpa! We sure did get a big smiling greeting from Jack! There is nothing like a grandchild to make one feel important.

Natalie is an easy going baby who loves to lay on a blanket and roll to her toys and watch her brother and cousin. She also spent some time sitting up in the saucer while they danced around her.

So this is October 2010, and a beautiful one it was, praise the Lord! This is a picture from our woods earlier today. I suspect after another day of high winds, the leaves will be a golden path in the woods.

Surprise Visits

A few weeks ago, our son Chris flew to Japan for work so Kim decided to pack up Jack and Natalie and come home for a few days. It was fun and unexpected to see them. I loved having them for lunch and invited Joy and Conley to join us.

Jack wasn't interested in getting into the tractor, a few weeks ago, but when Conley got in with grandpa, Jack wasn't far behind.


Well, it's not a trip to grandma & grandpa's house without a ride on the "scooter, Conley shows Jack what a girl carries in her purse.

Natalie was glad to get out of her infant seat and stretch her legs on a blanket that I laid on when I was her age!


So the next surprise visit was the one we took to Wheaton when Tom's passport didn't clear the airport scanner. This was pretty frustrating but there is nothing like the cute faces of grandchildren to make you smile and feel better.

Birthday Weekend

Hudson and Claire turned four on August 15. Again this year, Dan and Angie planned a day at the outdoor water park in Denver. I guess we were way too busy having fun to take many pictures on that day. Everyone went on a ride. For some the faster the better, others of us liked the slow and easy. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day! but that was only part of the five days in CO.

We enjoyed a stroll through the botanical gardens in Steamboat, a wonderful lunch with Em in Oak Creek, Hudson and Claire time at MacDonald's, the library and park not to mention watching a construction site while eating donuts and chocolate milk. Oh, yes and one cartoon in the hotel room. We also had time with Cooper and Tucker at the Farmer's Market, at home and a short jeep ride before driving to Denver. While in Denver we met up with Aunt Nancy, Hiland, Em and Gary. Then it was birthday cake, gift opening, water slides, fountains, ice cream and the Butterfly Pavilion.

So here are a few photos that captured part of the fun:






All wishes come true as they blow out their candles.


"Oh, my own laptop." These children are so savvy!

So which one of these 1200 butterflies is the prettiest?


"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream," and we did.

Now, time to clean-up. Four jewels in the fountain which one will the fountain bless? All of them are blessed and a blessing!!
Another memorable celebration!


All the partyers!