December where have you gone?

 Our little Christmas tree that we got from Ohio at a tree farm down the road from Grandma and Grandpa Hansen.  We put it IN the van.  Decorating resulted in only about half a dozen broken ornaments.

 Forgot the camera for Thanksgiving, but right after my sister flew in to see us, so we went to Kalahari water park.  Turns out my sister loves roller coasters and thrill rides, just not when they involve water.  Go figure.  The hotel had all these cool African animal statues.  Couldn't resist the water buffalo.  Ever hear that song by Veggie Tales? 

 Colton almost fell asleep in this tube- after rushing from one slide to the next for a whole day.

 Lydia loved the wave pool. 

 Josie liked the little fountains that sprayed. 

 Colton's class did a Christmas singing program.  So cute!

 Josie loves to eat shredded mozzarella cheese.  Don't give her cheddar.  Don't think about Colby.  Mozzarella- and it has to be shredded too.

 At the church Christmas party, the kids enacted the Nativity.  I think Colton liked being a shepherd because he got a stick.

 My little angel.

Yogurt tastes much better if you paint with it.

Let it snow? I don't think so!

Yesterday I found a radio station playing Christmas music.  I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it all day long- until it started snowing.  That wasn't quite what I had in mind. 

Michigan- beautiful and Urban

 This last week we got to see how different various areas of Michigan are.  30 minutes North of us you find this beauty.  Lakes, fall colors, biking paths, blissful solitude.  Love it love it love it!

 30 minutes East of us is downtown Detroit.  Tall buildings, abandoned buildings, and not so delicious hot dogs.  We ventured here on Saturday, but I must say, I would prefer to visit Chicago, even with it's crazy traffic.  The above photo is Colton at a historic restaurant we ate at.  It was supposed to have great coney dogs, but none of us found them to be so great.  In fact, we all choked them down.  Maybe I just don't know a good coney dog- I don't know.  But the view was cool.  The building was triangle shaped and we had the table at the very tip, right at a 5-point corner. (Why is Colton grumpy?  I don't know- we hadn't even forced him to eat his hot dog yet)

 They had these cool chairs in front of one of the buildings.  So fun.

You could also play chess.  Colton was very disappointed that someone was already playing. 


We also did some back yard raking.  Mike and the kids played football with the end zone being the leaf pile.  Then they came in for hot chocolate.  It  was perfect!

It's late, so this will be quick

 Sisters

 Colton and his new best pal Mike Wazowski!

 "Look Mom!  I'm so silly in this bucket!"

 "Ow! Ow! This isn't fun!"  I did put down my camera long enough to help him out. 

 Spiderman, a scrumptious strawberry and Batwoman.  Quite the housefull this rainy Halloween.

 This one is going on the wall.  We had a fun impromptu photo shoot in the backyard.  There are photos of me as a toddler giving this same look.

What Lydia and I did this afternoon since she had school off.  I forgot how much work raking leaves can be!

My Love Hate relationship with Facebook

I was just on facebook.  I like facebook to keep connected to my friends, however, I can only stand it in very small increments or I feel overwhelmed with all that is going on out there!  You went on vacation?  So and so had another baby?  I can watch the next season of Downton Abbey already?  How did you find time to do that project?  Sometimes it makes me feel like I am not doing 'enough'   UUGGHHH. . . I HATE that feeling!!  And so I retreated to the safety of my blog.  This is what is going on in my life right now.  I suppose I will throw it out there to continue with the overwhelming clutter of cyberspace. . .

 Don't you hate it when your sucker gets stuck on your head?

 Apple Orchard.  I had never been apple picking before and as it turned out, I only picked one apple.  Colton was a very efficient apple picker.  Thanks for inviting us new friends of Michigan!

 I wish Colton could do more of this.  What childhood is complete without jumping on hay bales?

 Mike's parents, his brother's and their families visited us last weekend.  Very fun.  Everyone came to Colton's game to cheer him on.

 My crazy husband told Colton he would have to walk home if he didn't get any flags at the game.  Colton got several flags after that.  Poor kid thought he was serious.  (It's a half hour drive to where Colton plays) 

 While the Hansen's were in town, the brothers ventured into Wolverine territory and enjoyed seeing a game together in The Big House. 

Oh I love these three darlings.

 The busy smallest little darling.  I hope she is looking for pants in that pile, but not likely.

 My beautiful girl before the primary program.

 Cousins.  So cute together in their Purdue gear!

Kim Kim!  Mike's sister is graduating and asked me to take her Sr. photos.  I can't wait to start editing these bad boys! 

Someone turned 5 and a few other tidbits

All this catching up and I realized I missed Colton's 5th birthday in the mix.  We celebrated with friends a little early since we were traveling so much. 

 I made this fun pirate cake.  Colton loved it.  But gravity took it's tole and about an hour after I put it together, the Jolly Roger sank- or rather split in two.  More like Titanic really.  Surprisingly, Colton didn't let it get him down.  He decided that it just split in two because the sharks bit it.  Works for me.

 Aarghhh Matey.

 Blowing out the candles on the dilapidated cake.

 Blueberries came on in July, so we went to pick.  More for the fun of picking than anything.  Our fun got that much better when we ended up there at the same time as some of our best friends! 

 In the words of Duck Dynasty: Happy

 Happy

 Happy

 Mike also has something to contribute to this post.  He did a spring triathalon in July!  You swim- I don't know how far.  Then bike 10 miles and run three miles.  Here he is coming in from his bike ride

 And here he is running to the finish line very very tired.   The run killed Mike, but he rocked it on the swim. 

Mike trained with our good friend Alex.  Thanks for keeping Mike motivated!  Alex actually took 2nd in his division.  Way to go!  It was really fun watching Mike compete.  Now the kids want to do it too!

And there you have it.  Nothing like speed blogging. 

Michigan

Things I knew about Michigan before I moved there:
1.There are a lot of lakes
2. Ohio State's biggest rival is Michigan
3. If you want to know where someone lives in Michigan, they show you their hand and point to a place somewhere on their palm. 
4. It's cold
5. A lot of people like to camp there
6. Detroit is an industrial, economic mess

There you go.  That is Michigan.  And there are INDEED many many lakes and it IS cold- at least colder than Indiana.  And I like it.  We are in the suburbs of Detroit and it is fine.  I would like to do some more exploring and go to some of those amazing camp sites and trails I have heard about.  This fall weather has me itching to eat glazed donuts and play in some leaves.  But anyway, to continue with my storyline- We moved three days after we got back from the cruise, but we had movers which was oh so nice.  It did feel awkward at first just watching them work and not pitching in though. And there are only a few things I can't find- like my favorite bib I use for Jocelyn and my over the door wreath hanger.  And I have absolutely NO idea where they are, or if they even made it to our new place.  But seeing as I ended up with a rug that isn't mine, I am just going to assume they are gone and if someone else did indeed end up with them, I hope they enjoy them as much as I am enjoying the rug.  Keeps my toes nice and warm when I'm washin' dishes. 

 Our first night in the new place before our things arrived.  Nothing like eating pizza on the floor with paper plates. 

 Our little family in front of the house while the movers were busy at work.

 Jocelyn's favorite thing to do in the front yard.  Pick up the little rocks, drop the rocks.  pick up the rocks, scatter the rocks.  Pick up the rocks, give some to mom.  Pick up more rocks. . . you get the idea.

 Colton playing in the backyard.  We love having a backyard, but Colton has had to adjust because all he has ever known is having a playground a friends right out the door.   Below is the street from in front of our house.  It's a great little neighborhood.

I happened to have my camera a few days ago when I went shopping and I saw this in the parking lot.  Notice anything great about this semi?  It may seem like an ordinary semi to you, but those Idaho plates make it an "Idaho Gem"  When I realized how far away from home that truck was, it made me feel a long way from home too.     But never fear!  I do miss home, but there are great things to see and do here.  Like the following:

 Starting 1st grade

 sliding down turf on a piece of cardboard

 playing in a splash pad

 starting preschool

 going for rides

 coaching football

 Going to the Henry Ford museum and seeing this REALLY big Canadian snowplow.

 Riding on Rosa Park's bus.

 Playing your first football game

 watching your son score a touchdown

and just being at home and reading stories

Life is good.