Merry Christmas!!

I am finally taking a few minutes to post a quick update. We are in Michigan for a few weeks. When we left Kansas, we had intended to return in January. However, it seems with the economic downturn, many things are in a state of change. As of now, Guy is not scheduled to return until February. In an effort to keep things somewhat consistant for the kids, I will return to Kansas in time for the kids to return to the current school on January 5th. Guy will join up with us in February.

As expected, things have been quite hectic here as we attempt to do all the usual stuff to prepare and celebrate Christmas. We are trying to visit as many friends and family members as possible, but are finding time to be quite short. Christmas cards have been mailed, but may have not reached everyone yet (some may even get two due to the inability and lack of time to double check the list).

I will try to post more updates soon.

We hope everyone has been blessed this Christmas day!

(just had to share my favorite Christmas tree picture from our trip to Rome last December)

Thanksgiving 5K

Here are the kids at the Sprint 5K Thanksgiving Day Run. Grace did really well and completed the race approximately 120th (women) with a time of 25:55. This year the largest number of participants ever entered this annual event (over 5000 people). The other picture shows one lady dressed up as a turkey (her husband or boyfriend was dressed up as a cook). There were also a few people wearing feathers to represent Indians. The weather was great (no snow like in Michigan) and Grace was happy to be able to run in shorts!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! Here is our turkey after the legs were removed and we realized it was cooked upside down. It's really golden brown on the other side:). We had a wonderful meal with turkey and all the fixings with Jenny, Ed and baby Eryn.

Update...

Ok. Here's a quick post. I am not sure how everyone feels about the current economic crisis in the US, but here's a couple articles I will just say are "interesting" to read. Sorry if someone is offended by these.. no, actually, I'm not sorry. Happy reading!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/21/AR2008112101348.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns

http://www.freep.com/article/20081123/COL01/811230371/1210/BUSINESS

On that note, I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving!

Oh.. one more... you should check out the weekly (every Wednesday) articles posted at http://www.autoextremist.com/ too! Feel free to read some posts on this website from previous weeks. Very good reading!

I also added a "Feed Subscription" on the top right portion of my blog. Feel free to subscribe so you are notified of updates. If you have trouble with it, just let me know. I'm not too technologically advanced in my little world:)

The Latest News...

Grace was in the Pilgrim Pacer 5K Race on Saturday. The weather was very cold and snowy. The course was very hilly. Grace's shoes came untied about 1/2 way through the race (I guess her parents forgot to double check them this time) and she ended up losing one of her shoes near the finish line (of course it was the shoe with the timing chip on it). You can see several snapshots of the end of her race at the following link (pictures 9957, 9958, 9960, 9961, 9962).

http://00673d3.netsolhost.com/photoalbum_index.htm/11-15-08pilgram_action2/index.htm

She is also in picture 0001 enjoying her hot chocolate at the end of the race. Grace ended up getting 3rd place in the Women's age 10-19 category with a time of 27:47.

Zachariah was in his first Fencing Tournament on Saturday and seems to really enjoy it. I will try to get some of those pictures online soon.

Quick Update...

I don't have pictures downloaded from today yet (and I plan to add more vacation pictures soon), but wanted to post a quick update (so no one can give me a hard time). Grace ran another 5K today and I think it was probably the largest attended event she has run to date. It was "Abby's Run" (www.abbysrun.com) which was started as a result of a young child who passed away from Myocarditis. There's more info on the website so you can check it out. I'm not sure how Grace did yet (still waiting for the result to be posted). The event had 2300 people running/walking the 5K. It was incredible. They were able to raise $83,000 for further research for Miocarditis. Grace finished the race in about 26:20 (I think.. I need to verify this after the results are posted).

We are experiencing more beautiful weather here and have not needed "warm" clothes yet (yeah). Everyone is bracing for a cold spell that's supposed to hit us this week (and it might get as cold as 58 degrees during the day.. oh boy!). The colors on the trees are starting to change here and it is unusual for us to be able to enjoy the changing colors in shorts!

More soon....

All the sites...

This virtual tour would not be complete without a picture of the Hartsel Jail. Isn't this cute?

We found the BEST BURGERS!

We were a little concerned we would go hungry this day, but thanks to some great advice from a park ranger, we stopped in Hartsel, Colorado, and ate at H.O.B.'s. (no idea what that stands for, but they have the best Buffalo Burgers there). I had a Reuben Bison Burger.. yes, it had yummy kraut on it too! Here's a picture of Guy with the kids outside of H.O.B.'s.

Where the Deer and the Antelope Play

After our search for snakes we headed further West... and we found the antelope really DO play out there on their "Home on the Range". Actually I didn't necessarily see any of them "playing". This is a picture of the antelope hanging out as we fly by (one of many shots I took on our trip while speeding down the road).

Our Drive to Royal Gorge

We left Colorado Springs (only because it was a cloudy and a little rainy and you can just pick up and leave when you have nothing actually scheduled:)... and headed West. We originally planned to drive to Gunnison, Colorado, but somewhere along the way, we decided to switch gears and go south to Royal Gorge. Along the way, we happened upon a beautiful valley. Here's a picture of the kids hunting for snakes (didn't find any). The view was beautiful as the mountains surrounding us were full of snow. Again, a little cool for June so we don our sweatshirts with shorts:).

Garden of the Gods

This was a really nice place to visit in Colorado Springs. We really enjoyed walking around (and climbing until we found out we weren't supposed to) and checking out all the natural rock formations. Beautiful place to visit.

Apparantly Sasquatch Lives In Colorado...

On the way down from Pike's Peak Zachariah started getting sick from such an abrupt change in elevation (probably shouldn't have gone so high the first day in Colorado). We HAD to stop for one quick picture of the warning sign (which I have never seen before). We did not see Sasquatch during our visit to the area, but took the warning seriously:).

Guy Loved the Hummer...

Here's his wonderful parking job at Pike's Peak (there really were no normal spots left and I don't think he was disappointed). The bottom picture shows the kids enjoying the snow. We weren't expecting to have snowball fights in June!

Pike's Peak - "Summer, 2008"

So after our move to Kansas City in June, we left 2 days later for an "adventure" out West. Here was the first main stop just outside Colorado Springs, Colorado. We drove to the top of Pike's Peak and yes Guy and I are wearing shorts with jackets and sweatshirts because it was quite cold.

Please Vote For My Picture!

To anyone who will be in the Kansas City area (and specifically at the Kansas City Zoo) during the month of October, please take a moment to check out the pictures on display for the Kansas City Zoo Photo Contest and vote for my picture! You can see it here... this cute little bird just stood on the fence post and posed for me. Grace and Zachariah were within arms reach of him.

Of course if you are at the zoo, you can see this guy in person. Not sure what kind of bird he is (other than big and cute), but he can be found in the Australia area at the zoo (Zachariah's favorite place:).

Michigan Storm

So as we prepared for our journey out the Kansas, Michigan decided to send us off with one big storm. Here's a pic of one of the big branches that almost hit the Hummer. There were quite a few branches down and Guy spent some time cutting things up with the chainsaw. The storm also "fried" the power source on our computer so we moved our "dead" computer out to Kansas in the hopes of getting it fixed. Many schools in the area were closed due to power outages. We were fortunate to only lose power for a few minutes.

Many thanks to Mary Jo and Jac for taking care of the branches in front of our house that no one would pick up. We REALLY appreciate the help!

Kindergarten Graduation

Anastasia graduated from Kindergarten in June. She had such a wonderful year! She is standing next to a caterpillar she made.

Guy on a motorcycle

Here's Guy checking out Karen's Harley. Good to see you before we moved, Karen.

I am FINALLY getting some new posts out here. Sorry, it has been a busy summer for us. I was told I have to get summer pictures out here before Labor Day weekend so I will do my best in the next few days!

Happy Memorial Day!

Hope everyone is having a great holiday today (unless you are outside the US, then hopefully you're just having a good day:). We have had a whirlwind of a weekend with packing, birthday party for Grace, Christmas pictures taken, cookout at Gary & Cindi's, cleaning out the basement (again), and a memorable visit from Karen.

It has been a busy, busy weekend here as usual and I have a few GOOD pictures to post so check back and hopefully they will be up soon.

Happy Memorial Day!

The Latest...

Here's Grace in the Long Jump event at the track meet on Saturday. She did ok in Long Jump (7' 1") and improved her time in the 1600 m event (7:02). She ran the 800 m in 3:14. She worked hard and ran hard.

Saturday night we were treated to dinner at the Weihl's. We were happy to help break in their new grill. Melanie also introduced us to a couple things made with "quark" (you learn something new every day, don't you?). Yummy!

Guy was home for the weekend. Went back on Sunday. Since this weekend is a holiday weekend, he will be driving back some time this week.

Piano lessons wind down this week and we continue to scurry around preparing for the move...

Jennifer and Matt..

And here is Jennifer with her husband, Matt, at the wedding. It was great to see them again!

Jennifer was at the wedding...

Jennifer and I worked together at Dow Chemical in the late 80's and here she is at Sheila's wedding. It's always interesting to see people from different parts of your life mixing together. Jennifer's daughter was the flower girl for Sheila (and did a fine job).

another cute wedding picture

Here's a picture of Bill and Sheila with some guy with a plastic "hard" hat. I just thought this was a moment to remember... a "Kodak" moment if you will. I assume Bill and Sheila know this guy! Either way, he looks like a fun guy that should be at everyone's wedding to liven things up.

It's a Class Reunion!

As a thank you gift from Sheila, she also arranged a mini High School Reunion at her wedding. Sorry to those who couldn't attend! Heidi, Brenda, Sheila, Karen, and I all had a great time. I scrunched down a bit so I didn't totally tower over everyone else!

A Rare Occasion...

Leave it to Sheila to coordinate a day for Karen and I to see each other! We live only 15 minutes away from each other (currently) and NEVER seem to be able to cross paths (rather I am never home when Karen stops by apparantly).

Anyway, it was nice to see Karen and Bill at the wedding!

A Beautiful Wedding...

After the track meet, we attended Sheila and Bill's wedding. It was so nice of Sheila to pick the date that would coordinate with the track meet, wasn't it?

It was a beautiful wedding. We wish the newlyweds infinite years of wedded bliss!

Track Meet in Saginaw...

Last weekend we went to a track meet in Saginaw. Grace did a really good job and REALLY improved her times for the 800 meter and 1600 meter events.

800 m - 3:18.66

1600 m - 7:14.58

A Baby shower...

Last week I attended Patricia's baby shower. This is her first baby and ... if you can't guess from all the blue she is wearing, she is having a boy (due in June). Patricia (from Mexico) is seated here with Mi Young (from Korea). Both nice ladies that everyone should know:). Congratulations, Patricia!

The Groundhog

Here's the menacing creature that is living under our shed. I am hoping Guy can transplant him to a new region before he begins feasting amongst the leaves on the top of the mulberry tree!

Traffic

So one day I decided to take pictures of the cat just to play around with my camera a little bit. Here is one picture from his photo shoot.

Julian likes pie!

Here's a great picture of Juliean enjoying his Michigan 4 Berry Pie. We had Melanie and Gerhard over for a barbecue rib dinner one night while Guy was home for an extra couple days.

Track Season

Grace started track season and is doing quite well. This is Grace at her first meet 1 1/2 weeks ago. She ran the 800 meter and 1600 meter events. It was such a cold day (we were all wearing winter coats and the kids were running in shorts and tank tops). Grace is the one with the yellow top and blue shorts.

Field Trip

Anastasia's class took a field trip to Dinosaur Hill in April. It was a nice trip. She made a pinwheel too. The warmer temps in April were a nice surprise.

New Camera pictures

So I finally am posting pictures from my new camera. Of course they were taken using the "auto" setting because I haven't had time to read the instruction novel that came with the camera. Anyway, here's a picture of the kids on a warm day in April.

Grace places 4TH!

Saturday was a LONG COLD day at a Grace's first track meet. Grace ran really well and placed 4th in the 1600 meter "dash" with a time of 7 minutes, 42 seconds. She also ran the 800 meter "dash" in 4 minutes, 51 seconds. It was such a cold day... hopefully it will be warmer for her next meet on Wednesday night.

As soon as I get some time to load up some new software on the 'puter, I will get some new pictures on the blog.

Jane says goodbye:(

Today Jane stopped in to say goodbye to us at the ESL class. Jane and her husband are moving to North Carolina tomorrow where her husband will start a new job (on Monday right away). We wish them all the best as they start a new phase of their life in a new place.

(Don't I look REALLY BIG next to tiny Jane and tiny Marilyn?)

Buick....

Nice looking car. This picture was taken at the Beijing Autoshow this week. The car is displayed on top of a pool of water with fountains around it... pretty neat!

One of these days I will get some pictures of our family out here again... maybe after the track meet this weekend....

A Quickie Little Update

So... it has been a while since I have had time to update my blog, but here's a quickie... pictures to follow (soon I hope)...

Guy returned from Germany for Easter and after being home a week and a half we packed up his stuff and he moved out to the Kansas City area. He has been able to come home most weekends so far, which has been nice.

Grace started track and her schedule (along with the piano students that come for lessons and Spanish class for Zachariah) keeps us hopping after school these days. Grace just LOVES running though and has her first track meet in Lapeer this Saturday. She will be running the 1600 meter and 800 meter events.

Today was the day all the kids heard different authors speak to their classes. They each received books signed by the authors and are thrilled to receive new books signed by the author. Since I was working in Anastasia's class this morning when their event was scheduled, I was able to hear Lisa Wheeler speak (very good speaker, by the way). If you see Anastasia, ask her about it... she will tell you all about Lisa and what it means to be an author (Lisa may have even made Anastasia switch gears to think about becoming an author rather than an illustrator.. not sure yet).

Tomorrow after Bible Study, I am headed to Dinosaur Hill for a field trip with Anastasia's class. The most important part for Anastasia is that she doesn't have to wear her uniform (ugh.. I dread these days).

We are looking forward to this weekend when Guy will be home again (and actually stay home a few extra days this time).

I bought a new camera and am just starting to learn how to use it. Hopefully I can post some pictures (albeit not too exciting) very soon.

We are experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures here this month (and really LOVING it). I was able to go for a long bike ride today when I blew off everything else. It's like summer in April ... a pleasant treat after the EXTRA LONG winter we had here in Michigan.

Hope all is well with you!

Friday, December 7, 2007

My last post of the night. Here is a picture of (left to right) the owner of the restaurant (don't remember his name), myself, Guy, Reiner and Walter. The owner's wife and daughter (who also helped serve us that evening) ran into the kitchen and would not come out again once we asked them if we could take thir picture. Maybe they heard about my exciting blog and didn't want to be a part of it? Hmmm...

Anyway, last post of the evening. It's time for me to get back to everything else I am putting off so I can get some sleep tonight. The next group of pictures will take some time to sort through as Reiner went a little crazy with the camera after dinner on this night. I can't possibly post all of them!

Friday, December 7, 2007

I decided to add just a few more pictures tonight then I really need to quit procrastinating on other pertinent things around the house...

Top picture is Guy trying to steal my mushrooms (his meal did not come with mushrooms, but he got "krauterbutter" so it was probably an even trade for him).

Middle picture is Guy and I sitting at the table with Reiner. This is pretty much the entire restaurant. Walter stood by the door to ge a picture for us. There is only two other tables in the restaurant you cannot see. Cute place, huh?

Bottom picture is our food. It was all very good. You can even see the krauterbutter (herbed butter) on Walter's plate (it's the speckled looking stuff on some purple lettuce near the top of his plate.. bottom of the picture).

Thanks again, Walter. I'll make ribs for you in K.C., you just have to come and visit us there:).

Friday, December 7, 2007

Here we go.. back in time again.. still try to "blog" our trip to Germany, etc. from December, 2007.

Here we are in the cutest little restaurant you could ever imagine finding. Walter (see picture three) took us here and thank goodness he drove because we would have never found it on our own (and will probably never find it again without his help).

Second picture is Reiner at the restaurant. This place had only 4 tables and is only open for business on Friday and Saturday night. You must have reservations (I think) to get in. Well worth it.


Thanks so much, Walter, for taking us to this great little place.

More pictures of our adventure with Walter that night to follow... please check back.

Dance ... March, 2008

So things have been quite busy for us lately (what's new, right?). Guy is traveling a bit more and is in Germany again until just before Easter.

Grace is playing Upward's basketball again this year at Woodside Bible Church in Troy. She's has a really nice team and she is really improving her skills (you surely do not want to play against her when she is playing defense and she's really good at faking out her opponent when she is on offense and can get half way across the court before they realize she even moved!).



Last week Zachariah's class toured the Morley Chocolate Factory and we bought a bunch of chocolate (sorry, Guy, couldn't wait for you to come home to start eating them.. and by the time you get back we will need more, so PLEASE bring chocolate home with you.. and don't give any to the big guy at customs either!).

Last week Grace's class visited Lansing and toured the Supreme Court Building, the Capital Building, and the Michigan Historical Museum (sorry we missed you there, Bryan). It was a great trip. I hope to take the entire family back there some time... maybe after our return from K.C. It was a great trip.

And, for those not living in Michigan, we are experience the EVERLASTING WINTER! Ugh. I like the snow because it looks better than brown, dead stuff all the time. But these COLD temperatures really must stop soon. Fortunately we did not get hit with the storm that dumped 20 inches of snow on some parts of Ohio, but we are sure feeling the cold temps that hover north of the storm!

Today there was a "Daddy/Daughter Dance" at school so Guy's brother, Gary, was kind enough to step in and take Grace and Anastasia. The girls made a couple crafts, ate pizza, and had their faces painted. They danced a bit too I hear. The 2nd picture is Anastasia with her friend Allison. Grace had a kiwi painted on her face (because Mrs. Shelata couldn't paint a Mango).

One of these days I hope to finally add some great pictures from Rome ... what a great city.

Check back for more updates (hopefully sooner than the last one).