Houston, January 2011

In Michigan, it's cold, snowy and dreary. We needed a break. Since the kids had a couple days off of school we decided to head to Houston. (Or in my opinion, head home.)
While there, we were able to help Wendy celebrate her birthday. I love this pic. Jorge told all the guys they could get near his wife for this pic, but at no other time :-) Funny man.
Since we were a couple weeks early for Naomi's bday, I made sure we celebrated together before I left.Last, but not least...actually the first thing that happened in Houston: Kyle got bit by our neighbor's dog. Well, former neighbor, that is. So we spent the first afternoon at urgent care getting stitches. Fun and games always for the Baldwins.
We came back to the cold and snow after some problems getting bumped from the Dow shuttle. Luckily I was able to spend an extra day in town and get a little shopping in.

I'll be back in Houston during crawfish season. That was one of the stipulations I made with Greg when we moved. I'll be returning for important events: like crawfish season.

What a trip!

Roomies

I was able to spend an afternoon with my old roommate, Jody, while in Wisconsin last month. We were roomies for one semester at UWEC and had a wonderful time. After that, I transferred to BYU and we didn't get to see each other much for the next few years....almost 20 years. Yikes. Are we that old? A little crooked picture, thanks to my little photographer who thought she was a papparazzo.


Our girls. They became bffs in about 10 seconds flat.

Happy 2011!

We spent quite some time taking pictures this Christmas since my whole family was together. The only problem: once we were all in the photo, there was nobody to take the picture. So, we had some fun with auto-timers and figuring out how to get 14 people in the frame. Here's one of our family.

I told Kyle that I couldn't believe he was 14 already. I told him that I was just 14. He looked at me and said, "No you weren't. You're almost 40!" Maybe so, but i FEEL like I was just 14. Remember it like it was yesterday, in fact.

Here's to a new start and a new year!

Our Trip to Hell-Almost

We tried going to Houston for Thanksgiving. Greg got us tickets on the Dow shuttle. Yippee. Only problem, we couldn't get tickets back without the kids missing a ton of school, choir, scouts, etc. We needed to get out of town for our own sanity, so, we loaded up the car and drove down to the Detroit area. Scary, I know. I mean, have you ever seen Detroit 1-8-7?

We spent a day at the Ford Museum, which was actually pretty neat. The kids got to help put together an old car. Every day the museum puts together and takes apart a model t with the help of kids visiting the museum. That was definitely the highlight of their day-- Or maybe it was the weinermobile.

Afterward, we drove around the city. Now, since Greg has this uncanny ability to get us to the ghetto of ANY city, I was a little worried. We did, however, stay pretty safe. When one of the kids had to use the bathroom, Greg wanted to drop us off at the bus depot. I had to put my foot down. I HAVE seen Detroit 1-8-7. And I know I was NOT going in there.

Kyle wanted to see the Joe Louis hockey arena, where the Redwings play. So we drove past that and then ended up on the road that leads to Canada. Too bad the kids don't have passports. We could literally see Canada, but we weren't allowed to go there. Kinda weird.

That evening, Greg discovered that we were only 40 minutes from Hell. Hell, Michigan, or course. He asked if we wanted to go there. I told him no. I thought I already lived there. He didn't like that comment very much.

Instead of going to Hell, we checked out the Detroit Temple and ate a very leisurely lunch while the Packer game was playing on the tv. All in all, it was a good weekend. It wasn't Houston. There's always next year.

Music and More

CLASSIC
Each year the middle school has a music department fundraiser. All the bands and choirs perform for about 15 minutes. Short and sweet with desserts at the end. Perfect. I just had to post this picture of the 6th grade choir warm up. They all remind me of Popeye!

Our visitor--Woody Woodpecker

On Saturday we noticed this HUGE woodpecker just ripping the bark off this tree. As much as I wanted to shoo him away, we were all mesmerized. I just had to get a picture. I got just a few feet away before I realized that if he came after me I'd be in deep trouble. I didn't need him to peck off my face.

After some investigation (thanks dad) we found out this is a pileated woodpecker...found in the northern states... and my backyard.

Fall 2010

Isn't it beautiful? Good thing we took a picture because now the leaves are brown, wet and EVERYWHERE. We have had wonderful family raking parties. The kids love it ;-)
The deer think they own the world. These two just stopped and posed for us just outside of Greg's workplace.

Our ward had a fun party at somebody's farm. The kids played all night on bales of hay stacked sky high.

See? He can smile! Well, he was all smiles til he fell off the bales of hay and landed on his head.

And, this picture is proof that my husband is a wise man. He knows that 'when mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy'. So, he got me tickets on the Dow plane for a quick, two-day trip to Texas to see my best friends and get my fill of Mexican food. Did I mention there's no good Mexican food in Midland, Michigan?? Probably because I haven't seen any Mexicans in Midland either. Go figure.

This photo lends itself to some kind of a joke: A Guatelmalan, an American, a Mexican and a Filipino walk into a bar....

We're with the owner of the restaurant--the man who hugs us when we walk in the door. Gracias amigas!

I had a WONDERFUL time.