Happy Birthday, Annie

Twenty nine years ago, I became a mother for the first time.  At 9:42 a.m., I gave birth to a 7lb. 7 oz. baby girl.  My husband picked out her name--Anne.

Thanks for being patient with us, Annie, as we fumbled our way through this new adventure called "parenting".  You turned into an amazing person in spite of our trials and errors.  We love you more than life itself.  Happy Birthday, Pumpkin.

Love,

Mom (and Dad)

Anniversary

Thirty one years ago, my husband and I went on our first date.  I had met him at a party on Valentine's Day and he asked me out for Feb. 17th.  Of course, I said yes and then immediately thought about what I would wear.  I decided on a pink sweater and jeans.  It worked.  We were married one year later.

For some reason, I saved the sweater and pull it out every Feb 17th.  It still fits, although it's a little tight in the armpits.  It must be muscle.

Christmas Recap

After all the preparation, it's hard to believe the holidays are almost over.  Our two younger children have come and gone and our oldest daughter and son-in-law have just left to celebrate New Year's Eve with friends in Grand Rapids.  My husband is napping and I'm enjoying the peace and quiet.

The past week has been a whirlwind.  It was great having the kids home. Here are a few pictures of our holiday.

Annie opening the last door on the advent calendar.  

It's always a race to see who can get there first on Christmas morning.

 Katie opening a gift while Peter (her boyfriend) looks on.

It was great to finally meet him.

Annie and husband Jason admiring her Nook.

 My sister-in-law with her sweet grand daughter, Makinley.

 The dinner table.

 Do we really have to take another picture?

 Katie and Peter just before leaving for the airport.

We obviously had a green Christmas.

 We met up with Dave's girlfriend and her parents in East Lansing

the day after Christmas.

We had my extended family over on the 27th.

My niece's little boy, George, Jr.

 My nephew's daughter, Makinley.

 My other nephew's little girl, Ava.

My nephew's wife, Amy and their little guy, Ryan.

I love spending time with my family at Christmas.  It's truly what makes the holiday so special.  

Happy New Year to everyone.  May it be filled with blessings.

Christmas Mayhem

Why do we put ourselves through this every year?  Decorating for days, spending hours wrapping gifts, writing in and addressing Christmas cards, and baking endless treats that make our clothes too tight.  Basically, because it's tradition.  Unfortunately, it takes our focus off the real reason for the season--the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Every year, I say I'm going to make everything more simple so I'm not so frazzled.  I was going to get our Christmas cards done last summer.  We took our picture when everyone was home for Christmas last year.  I even had the cards to put the picture in so I could address them in July.  Of course, it didn't happen.  So once again, I'm getting them out at the eleventh hour.  Oh, the best laid plans of mice and men.....

Next year.

Memories

 (From left to right) Dave; my hubby, Mike; Dan; my brother, Mark

Seven weeks ago today, my husband's best friend and business partner, Dave, was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  A glioblastoma multiforme, to be exact.  He had had no complaints of headaches nor had he had any seizures, something the doctors were amazed at because of the size of the tumor.  His wife and my husband had noticed some subtle changes--he was more quiet and he was leaving things in odd places.  Dave died early Wednesday morning after spending three days in a coma.

A few words about Dave:
He was the perfect example of selflessness.  He always thought about everyone else ahead of himself.

When we would pick him and Karen up early Saturday mornings for the Michigan football games, he would have gone out to get everyone coffee for the trip.  And Dave didn't even drink coffee.

He always made sure Karen's car was filled up with gas. (She's had to learn how to pump gas these last few weeks.)

He took his mother-in-law to her class reunion last summer.  Now that's a great guy!

In high school, he would carry his younger sister's books to school for her.

These are just a few examples of the kind of guy he was.  We are going to miss him so much.  He and my husband both have December birthdays, so we always celebrate their birthdays together.  We've gone on countless fall golf trips together and we always have them over to watch the Super Bowl.

In keeping with Three Good Things (see blog from 10/26), here are three good things about this past week:

1. Dave never complained of pain until this past Tuesday.
2. Dave's mom and sister, from Alabama, arrived in time to have four good days with him before he went into a coma.
3. Dave, on Tuesday, was able to tell Karen and his daughter, Joy, that he loved them.
4. Dave knew Jesus Christ as his Saviour and is in heaven today.

Okay, I know that was four good things.  I couldn't help it.

Please keep Karen and Joy in your prayers.  When all the extended family have gone home, they are going to need them.

We have a huge hole in our hearts with his passing, but we're so thankful to have had him in our lives.

Dave and Karen at a Michigan game with us.

Last July at a fish boil.

Happy 25th, Katie!

Today is my baby's 25th birthday.  For those of you wondering, I was 10 years old when I had her.  Well, that obviously isn't true or this blog would be called, "Feeling Fab After Thirty."  It was a Saturday and all throughout my labor, the Michigan football game was on.  (Maybe this was a foreshadowing of her college choice.)  I was competing with that for my husband's attention.  For the most part, the Wolverines won out.  She was born at 4:25 p.m.  What a great addition to our family!  Here are a few pictures chronicling her life.

 

September 27, 1986

Annie was so excited to have a little sister.

7 Months Old 

 I had a perpetual burp cloth on my shoulder 

for the first year of her life.

 Two Years Old

Gotta love that smile!

Christmas Morning

Three Years Old

Hmm.  I wonder why they never dress alike anymore.

Great America, 1990

Katie's dress-up phase - pretending to be

a cheerleading Laura Ingalls Wilder 

 Katie and Best Friend, Molly

First Day of Preschool

Katie's YFCA I.D.

She looks like the poster child for abused children.

She had the remnants of a black eye

from standing too close to her brother while he was swinging a bat.

 Disney World with Grandpa and Grandma

Katie coerced Grandpa into carrying her most of that trip.

Colonial Williamsburg (she loved that hat).

After seeing Disney's version of Pocahontas, 

they were quite disappointed with the real deal.

Skiing in Vail

Katie and Sarah at a gymnastics meet.

She never complained about the "rips" she would get

on her palms from the uneven bars.

 Rock climbing at Smith Rock in Oregon

Sailing/Snorkeling trip off the coast of Maui.

Katie was the only brave one to swim in the 

Seven Sacred Pools near Hana. 

Katie and Regis

Katie (next to the guitar player) got to sing at the White House.

 Moving into the dorms at U of M

 Who knew that it was Katie and her brother, Dave,

in Star Wars, not Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford?

 Graduation from U of M

It was the only year they didn't have the ceremony

in the Big House (due to construction).

 Katie and Dad in the Boston Commons

I wish Boston was a little closer to home.  We don't see Katie as much as we would like (everyday would be my preference).  Knowing she's happy makes it a little easier.  I love you Scoots.  Have a wonderful day.

Moose

Moose

Moose is a chocolate labrador retriever from Germany that was adopted by my husband's brother and sister-in-law.  He is a handsome guy with the sweetest personality.  Supposedly Moose is a purebred, but I swear, there has to be a goat in there somewhere.

Moose has definite traits of a retriever.

He loves to swim.

The doggie paddle is his favorite stroke.

His nose can sniff out food a mile away, like the pizza leftover by construction workers that was not even close to the sidewalk we were on, or the pieces of hotdog in the little boys' pockets that they were using as fish bait.  The worst is the dead fish head he found in the grass (I still have nightmares of his crunch, crunch, crunching as he devoured it).

There's nothing like a good fish head.

There is no holding him back once he gets a whiff of something.

The first episode of abnormalness (I know it's not a word) was soon after they had gotten Moose.  My sister-in-law was walking him and noticed his feces that day were totally white.  Upon closer inspection, she found it was the insides of one of the kids stuffed animals.

Then, my nieces' panties started coming up missing.  Most of the time they made it all the way through his digestive tract.

His latest conquest was a 12-pack of Charmin (double roll, no less).  I'm amazed he hasn't gotten a bowel obstruction.  

 What delectable morsel is under those rocks?

What's next, Moose?  An electric blanket?

Turn Up the Volume

My husband has hearing difficulties, especially when I'm the one who's talking.  That said, yesterday, I noticed his hair looked a little different.  It was bigger.  When I asked him about it, he said he used my conditioner.  He remembered that I had talked about how shampoo opens up the hair follicles and you need to use conditioner.  Well, as it so happens, he had remembered only part of what I said.  I was talking about the volumizing shampoo and conditioner that I use and how they need to be used together.  He missed the whole "volumizing" part of the conversation.  I'm sure he heard it this time.  (If only he had done this 22 years ago, maybe he could have gotten the part of Kramer on Seinfeld.)

Indiana State Fair - Miscellaneous

A 444 pound pumpkin

The home arts at the fair were amazing.  There are so many talented people out there. (It seems unfair that talents weren't distributed evenly--some people have many, and some, like me, have none.)

The quilts were gorgeous.  I can't imagine the number of hours that goes into something like that.

There was a Lego exhibit of the Indianapolis Speedway that was incredible.  It even had the museum and the golf course that is inside the track.

Look at all the people!

There was a canned good sculpture competition.  All the canned goods go to Gleaners afterwards.  The winner was a Super Bowl theme (since the 2012 Super Bowl will take place in Indianapolis).  The cans used in the sculptures were chosen not only for color, but for how well they can be used in menus of the families that will eventually get them.

The Vince Lombardi Trophy and Lucas Oil Stadium

We watched a bit of the watermelon seed spitting contest.  The winner spit a seed over 18 feet.

 The beauty queen gave out the ribbons to the winners.

The runner-up had to sweep up the seeds between each contestant.

Of course, they had a competition for home grown produce.  The judging must have been at the beginning of the fair (it goes on for about three weeks), because a lot of the fruits and vegetables were shriveled up.

 You wouldn't have to worry about Halloween pranksters 

stealing this one off the front porch and smashing it.

Of course, there were a gazillion competitions, from the best fruit pies and baked goods to photography.

One of the oddest things we saw at the fair was the Blue Monkey Sideshow.  In one act, a guy put carabiners in his earlobes and then hooked a bowling ball onto them.  He not only lifted the ball up but swung it back and forth.  Now that's talent!  (You have to wonder who came up with that one.)

So this is it--my last post on the Indiana State Fair.  We probably won't go again for another 2-3 years.  Who knows, maybe I'll be hanging a bowling ball from my earlobes by then.