Christmas Tree

It's December, so I thought I should post a pic of our tree. Some say it looks more like a bush, but it is a tree!

A special ornament we received from a friend.

Luke & Maggie (she's on the ladder, see her? It's like Where's Waldo!) decorating the tree.

January 2010

Did you get your copy of Creating Keepsakes, January 2010??

Check out page 20!!

*smile, giggle, teehee!*

Luke's 10th Bday Chicago Trip

In celebration of Luke's 10th birthday (early) we took a trip to Chicago to see the Lego store!

Here is our group--Jesse, Mom, Ali, Luke, Maggie & myself.

We rode the "South Shore" train to and from Chicago, which boarded at the South Bend Airport.

The train ride was 2.5 hours each way (3 on the way back b/c of a problem), but both kids enjoyed it! Maggie was up and watching out the window almost the entire time.

The Lego store was on the third floor of the mall. This is the "Pick a Brick" section where the kids could pick their own assortment. They loved it!

This was the section Luke was looking forward to. He even made a list.

Argggghhhh, matey!

Our knight in shining armor!

There were cool Lego setups all over the store. This is the "Bionicle."

Another build your own section--this time for Lego guys! They were able to pick their own custom heads, chests, legs, hats and accessories!

Just a building section where they could sort thru pieces and spend time building.

Maggie building!

Jesse hanging out with his good friend, Darth.

Lego man in the hallway in front of the store. He had a pigeon on his head! (See the Crocs store next to us?).

Mom and the Lego lady bonding.

The APPLE store! Oooh, it was awesome! Apples set up everywhere and a glass staircase to an upper level.

The Giant Bean. Ali told us about this, otherwise we would have missed it!

Ali, the kids and the bean.

By the Chicago River.

Maggie thought these maps were pretty cool.

We found a Sanrio store (Hello Kitty, Chococat, etc.) and Maggie was loving that!!

Wool Shop

Luke trying on hats in one of the shops in Frankenmuth.

Two headed Bo Peep..hmmm?

Pretty Lil Bo Peep!

A trip to Frankenmuth to see the Wool Shop was a lot of learning fun!

Our crew: Maggie, Mia, Hannah, Noah, Quinn, Elijah & Luke.

Grandpa & Grandma & Playground

Maggie at the playground.

Grandpa & Grandma came for a visit!

Fun in the Leaves

I love Fall in MI. It's soooo beautiful! Here are some shots of the kids playing....

Our Vacation

We took our first official family vacation....we traveled to the Montague/Whitehall area to the shores of Lake Michigan. We had been to this area previously with Jesse's family and loved the shoreline. We found this cabin to rent and enjoyed some time together. There were 107 steps from the cabin to the beach, but worth every step!

The beach was sandy and beautiful! The grass you see was back from the water near our campfire area. The weather was warm a couple of days and we were able to swim.

This was taken on our last day, Maggie's 6th birthday!

We found a cool park with tons of stairs in the Muskegon area. You could see everything from the top of the stairs!

Fishing in Montague off the "Fishing Bridge." We didn't catch anything, but had a nice time.

Maggie wasn't too excited about fishing, but she tolerated it!

Luke taking a jog on the beach with Koko nipping at his heels!

Me!

Luke, Maggie & Jesse spent a lot of time digging in the sand on the beach. Maggie & Jesse would make 'recipes' and had a great time!

Maggie with her Daddy.

Us! We enjoyed our time and we will go back again someday!!

Picking Wildflowers

The kids and I picked some wildflowers the other day. They were so sweet and cute!

I bought Maggie this flower crown, I couldn't resist. She looks so sophisticated to me!

My sweet kids!

Maggie with her sweet little crown.

TMNT

After watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Luke decided to make some Nunchuks out of Legos and be a ninja!!