Visiting in VA

We spent the Thanksgiving Holiday with Aunt Michelle and Uncle Mickey, my aunt, mom's sister. We played cards, shopped, cooked, ate, had the obligatory family "work it out talk" and some drinks. Chris, Tony's brother came up from Ft. Bragg for the Holiday. It was a wonderful time to catch up and relax. The weather was not really warm, but we had some nice 50 degree days and took a boat ride and went to Virginia Beach. We also went on the boardwalk Holiday light tour and the one at the Botanical Gardens. They are serious about their Holiday lights down there. It was amazing! I guess they have to make up for the lack of snow. :)

Kaleb and Aunt Michelle~ Look at that love!


Hamming it up!
That goofy uncle Chris. Always gets Kaleb to smile!

Getting dinner ready~ Grandma Wiggles, Grandma Sophie and Aunt Michelle

Playing some cards...

Uncle Mickey on the boat with Kaleb and Tony

Abby, Julia and Kaleb on the boat

Kaleb driving the boat. Not sure if that's legal! :)


Abby, Mom and Julia


50 degree's is warm enough for the beach, right?!



Mom and Michelle

Yes, Kaleb is licking his momma in this nice family shot.

On our way to VA...

We left Grand Rapids, Sunday morning and drove about 11 hours to Haggerstown, MA about 1 hour outside of DC. We swam and relaxed and spent the night. Monday we drove into DC and picked up Aunt Julia. Kaleb was very excited to see her, and so were we. We parked and took the Metro into the downtown area, "the mall" and visited the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. Kaleb LOVED the Metro, "the train" and thought the dinosaur's were pretty cool. He enjoyed a diorama of soil erosion the best however. I guess you never can guess with kids. :) Next on to Norfolk...

Kaleb having some quiet time with his DVD player. A saving grace on the trip!

On the Yellow line Metro into DC
Kaleb daring to get close to the alligator
Watch out Julia!
Abby and Julia
Tony and Kaleb looking at some big bones

the family
Kaleb and Julia checking stuff out

Santa Parade

Kaleb and I joined our friends down town for the Santa Claus Parade. It was a little chilly but a good time. There were some random participants like the star wars folks and the water ski club. Lots of treats and cool things to see.

Kaleb's school picture

Such a cute picture this year and he looks so much bigger then last year.

Goodbye Amy and hello snow

Amy's visit ended just after the nice weather ended. She was able to enjoy most of her time in MI with pretty awesome weather. We went to my mom's house for dinner a few days before Amy flew home and had big wet snow flakes the whole way. Here are Amy, Mom and Michele enjoying a soak in the hot tub and a little snow and the outdoor play structure with some light dusting. :( I guess it's got to come sometime, right?! Why do I live in MI again?!
We love you and miss you already Amy!

Baby Jane for a whole weekend...

Theresa, Tony's sister came for the weekend for a dog show in Grand Rapids. She brought 4 month old Jane, our niece along. Tony, Kaleb and I got to spend Saturday and Sunday with Jane while Theresa was away. It was so much fun to have her there. Kaleb loves her very much and was very helpful. I think he is ready for a little brother or sister. We did have a few jealous moments, but they were not bad, more Kaleb wanting to be babied or held as well. I hope that this is one of many weekend visits for baby Jane.

Playing in the yard with the neighbor's

Our neighbor's are just great. Imagine driving home from a busy day and pulling up to a yard full of friendly faces who can't wait to play. Kaleb has so much fun with all of the kids on our block. Some are much older but they all play together well. It may have been one of the last great nights for play this year so we all took advantage of the night. We will miss our friends this winter.

November's beautiful color's

We were very lucky to have a few weeks of wonderful weather during the first part of November. The color's were prefect and the weather was still warm enough to play out side. Here are some pictures from Uncle Jack's visit, Amy on the porch and an afternoon trip of Amy and Kaleb's to Lake Michigan. Who could ask for more!

Adult Halloween Party

We had a pretty sweet Halloween Party on Sat night. There were lots of friends and everyone had a great time,. The weather was still warm (not as warm as Halloween it's self) but warm enough for a camp fire and outdoor seating. Thank you too all of our friends for coming and enjoying the night with us!


Megan and Abby

Megan and Amy

Mark and Amy (MAC)

Tony, Jeremy, Anna, Rachele, Luigi and Aimee around the fire

Abby (roller derby gal) and Chris (Absolute costume ~vodka)
Jeremy and Tony at their spot by the fire.


Neighbor Sean poking fun of our lone pumpkin (rot spot and all) and Jo


Aimee (Sarah Palin) Kerri (Elf Gal) Megan (Princess Peach)

Jess, Todd, Jeff, Keri (cowboys and Indian's)

Amy (Sally-Nighmare before x-mas), Amy (Velma), Shelley and Colene (Lavern and Shirley)

Mark and Audry (Ed bring the lady the million dollar Check)