Christmas Day

In our first Christmas alone as a family, we were lucky to be taken care of by good friends and neighbors. Upon arriving home from a Christmas Eve party, our neighbors surprised us with a bag full of presents. Julie made each of the boys their own fleece blanket and Shelly provided each with a toy. The boys loved it and I think those blankets are going to be a favorite. They are so warm and cute.

Christmas morning was obviously a lot of fun, but more relaxed than in previous years. When Thomas opened up a pirate ship from Grandma Blackner, we all stopped opening and took about an hour to put the thing together. We then took a break for sourdough pancakes. In all, we opened and played until about 1 pm. It was a lot of fun. In the afternoon, we joined our favorite neighbors for Christmas dinner with their family. Steve played Rock Band to his hearts content. That might be our first purchase when we make real money. Forget a new house. Rock Band it is.



They fell asleep together on Christmas Eve.


Putting together the pirate ship


Hewitt loves his new boots and train set.


What a mess!

Donny's present of this air ball popper from Grandma Smith turned out to be their present of the day. Donny and Hewitt played with it for at least five hours.

Hope everyone's Christmas was wonderful. It was nice to have time to reflect on our blessings and to celebrate our Saviour's birth. Merry Christmas.

Winter Activities

Michigan Snow
I have never experienced anything like the cold here in Michigan this past month. The weather hovers in the teens and then drops to below with the wind chill. We have had quite a bit of snow, but because its so cold, we can't really make good snowmen or snowballs. We have tried to play in it a few times, but we simply don't last long due to the wind. One thing I can say is I have found a new appreciation for snowblowers. Bless my neighbors who snowblowed our driveway. Those things are magical. Donny sat against that tree for about 45 minutes while Thomas and I shoveled and played around. He didn't smile, but he didn't cry either. I think he was trying not to move.




GingerBread Houses
Christmas wouldn't be the same without making a gingerbread house and thanks to one of our good friends, we were lucky enough to make a deluxe one with gingerbread this year rather than imitation graham crackers. It was a fun activity although it did end in tears. Hewitt kept eating handfulls of candy whenever I turned around. It just didn't understand that most of the candy should go on the tree. He did take a really long nap afterwards.



Visiting Dad at Work
We visited Dad for the first time this year at his dental clinic. The boys were in heaven. Hewitt wore his scrubs for the occasion. In this picture, he is eating an apple and watching a movie in the lunch room. That was his favorite chair as he could spin to his hearts content. Thomas, on the other hand, was busy pretending to be a dentist. He received a free mirror from the assistant and dutifully raised and lowered Hewitt in the dental chair while peering into his mouth. He had a great time. Maybe he will be a dentist someday.


Brining the Turkey
My neighbor, who is an amazing chef and whose Dad owns a restaurant, insisted that I ought to brine the free turkey we got from Steve's work. After insisting that the alcohol would cook out, my friend brined the turkey in beer, brown sugar, salt, and water. I must say that despite my apprehensions, the turkey was the best I've ever tasted. I couldn't believe how moist and flavorful it was. I would recommend brining to anyone. And apparently brining works with most combinations--nearly boiled water, salt, and sugar seem to be the staples. My Mom had a recipe for apple juice that she tried. We'll see how hers turns out.


Playing with Dad
Whenever Steve comes home from work, the boys absolutely attack. We have had to stay inside more so it seems like their energy is reaching a peak around 6:30 when Steve usually gets home. Thank goodness he doesn't seem to mind and just let's them crawl over him for a minute. Moms are different than Dads. I like to rough house once in awhile, but that gets old real quick.


Sleeping
With all of the excitement that December brings, Hewitt fell asleep while reading on the couch. This about sums up our activities. Even with the cold, we have found plenty of things to do with many good friends. I can't say I would want to live here forever though. This cold just gets to me!!!!

Christmas Tree

Last night we picked out our first Christmas tree. It was a lot of fun complete with the Christmas tree nearly falling off the back. Steve insists that the tree wasn't going anywhere, but as it's hard to see from the picture, the tree was hanging on horizontally on the edge. Thankfully, we only had to go a few blocks.

Thomas was absolutely bursting with excitement. He was running around frantically asking to put the star on the tree, ornaments, and lights. We just sat back and laughed until it got a bit too crazy. He had to go to timeout to calm down for awhile. Meanwhile, Donny and Hewitt tested the lights and then I put them on the tree.

With Thomas back in action, the ornaments were quickly placed on the lower third of the tree. Hewitt put about eight bells on one branch. The bells were a good idea as they could keep moving and dropping them at will. Donny also managed to taste each one. We got a three dollar star tree topper that didn't even come close to fitting on the tree. Oh well. The whole event was really fun and we now have a nice smelling Christmas tree.

Dressing Up

Just like any other time of the year, but at least at Halloween they don't look quite so freakish, my boys love to dress up. Thomas can be Buzz, Spiderman, a doctor, fireman, pirate, or knight on any given day. Thanks to our friend Terry in Philly who made the boys a pair of scrubs, Thomas and Hewitt have loved dressing up like Steve. Maybe someday they will both be doctors. Unfortunately, I know what that would take and already feel bad for their poor wives if they decide to choose that path.

Fall
Along with our dressing up, we also have enjoyed raking and playing in the leaves. I finally just threw our leaves into the street which is what they do here. Crazy huh. You don't bag em up like in Washington or Pa. Just rake them straight into the street and apparently some truck will come around and suck them up. I hope I'm home to see the magic. We were also lucky enough to get invited over to our neighbors to carve pumpkins. Steve never had time to help in the evenings and I wasn't about to break out the knives by myself. I am grateful for my good neighbors everyday. Hurray for warm weather and the Phillies winning the World Series.

Cranbrook

Located not too far from our house is one of the coolest private schools in the country. The campus feels like it was transported right out of Athens, ruins and all. It's totally out of this world and mystical. The lawns are immaculately kept at times and then you find yourself stumbling upon some broken down Greek theater complete with a dirty, moss covered fountain and crumbling statues. You feel that some of the little porticos and stone steps haven't been touched for years. I loved it. My neighbor introduced me two weeks ago and then I brought Steve on Sunday. If you would like to send your High School child to Cranbrook, it costs a ton and you can even board them so that you only see them on holidays. Straight out of Dead Poets Society. Although from what we hear, sending your kid to Cranbrook is an invitation to an Ivy League education.








We did manage to take one family picture on our way out. At the time, we didn't even notice that Thomas had pretended to break his arm and made himself a cast. He must have found that blue ribbon in the field. When we got back to the car and asked him about the tape, Thomas said that he broke his arm, but don't worry, he was tough and didn't cry. Whew. I was just sad that the pretended broken arm made it into the picture. Oh well.

Fall, Pumpkins, and Donuts

Fall is my favorite season. I love the changing colors, the relief from the constant humidity, pumpkins, fresh donuts, picking apples, and preschool. Michigan is definitely the place for me right now. Today we visited a local apple orchard with our good friends and neighbors who showed us the best spots to hit. We bought fresh donuts and drank frozen apple cider from a local store and then headed out into the orchards. We took our time at each spot, which was nice. We spent probably 45 minutes walking through the pumpkin patch in an attempt to find our favorites. Hewitt tested each pumpkin by sitting on it. He just kept saying the word pumpkin over and over again.


Thomas, on the other hand, ran through the entire patch picking up pumpkins and talking incessantly about jack-o-lanterns and Halloween. He also gave a running commentary on the status of each of the pumpkins. He was definitely a dedicated raspberry picker despite the fact that he won't eat them. He was proud of his efforts.

We finished the day by picking a half bushel of amazing, crisp apples. My boys had their share of tasting before we left the orchard trees. Hewitt even tried this nasty one that had fallen on the ground. Oh well, what can you do.

The time flew by and about three hours later, we had worn the boys out. They slept all the way home. For as much dread as I have for the Detroit winters, I need to have as many positive Michigan experiences as possible. So thank goodness for the Fall and thank goodness for good neighbors.

Michigan Football

Thanks to Uncle Matt, Steve, Donny, and I got to attend our first Big Ten football game in at the University of Michigan's Big House which holds 100,000 plus. We got there one and half hours early, but still barely made it to our seats on time. If you can see the crowds of people behind the band, it was absolutely amazing. Although we love Cougar Stadium the best, BYU just can't compare to this kind of following, atmosphere, and devotion. People had been tailgating for hours. We were happy to be there, but don't think we will be attending again anytime soon. Little too crazy for me.