New Years Photos

As promised I've got some New Years photos to share with you all! Kyle and I headed to Boyne City to ring in the new year with the Wurtzel's, Linds, Nick, Erin, Matt, Scotty, Julie and Dave. We left Murph at home with Uncle Andrew and some friends and never looked back!!

Thanks Dr. and Mrs. Wurtzel for having us and for a great evening of fun- gotta love a good game of Cranium!!


Dave and Julie enjoying the shrimp cocktail


Scotty and I having a camera education session over beverages


Linds and Erin are all smiles


Kyle... no he's not picking his nose


Nick and Niemo preparing for the ball to drop


Happy New Year!


Last New Year's as Lewy!


Let's hear it for the girls!


We took it one step too far... maybe we were channeling Madonna?

Inspiration

from Creature Comfort

Christmas Recap III

As I mentioned earlier, the day after Christmas we headed down to Indiana to celebrate with Papa and Aunt Sue. After a long but comfortable ride 6 hours south of home we made it safely to Muncie, Indiana just in time for dinner and one more Christmas.

On Saturday it was nearly 70 degrees! I cannot tell you how amazing it was to walk around barefoot in jeans and a t-shirt. I love four seasons and I love living in Northern Michigan. But, if we had 3 months of winter I would be okay with that too! On Sunday we went to round up the remnants of the Christmas sales- just wait till next Christmas when you see the amazing wrapping paper I got for $0.75 a roll, finished some projects around Papa's house and made Nana's famous German Filled cookies. Come Monday morning we each had our coffee, packed the truck and headed home.

This time Kyle played Santa and Murphy was the elf!


Dad and Murphy.


Somehow Andrew still hasn't "grown up." The only difference between this picture and a similar one taken over 15 years ago is that the size of the cars have grown proportionately with him!


Aunt Sue bought a Wii!! After I kicked Kyle's butt boxing Aunt Sue kicked Dads!


We thought we'd teach Papa how to bowl. He came in second (to me which is unheard of) with a 135.


Pure bliss.


Again, we hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas filled with family and lots of love!

Christmas Recap II

On Christmas Day we left the house pretty early to get to Boyne in time to celebrate with Kyle's family. My list of to-bring items were packed and Murphy was ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa's to play reindeer games... or so I thought. It was then that I committed an Alicia-crime. I forgot my camera!! If Kyle's sister sends us pictures of us in Boyne I will post them but for now just imagine us opening presents, eating lots of food and digesting with a leisurely game of ice hockey. Yep, you read that right, ice hockey!

After Boyne we packed up and headed back home to my parents for another Christmas and more great food. I love honey glazed ham! Since Dad has just as many cameras as I do (well almost) I was able to use his camera to take some pictures, enjoy!

Something funky was going on with the camera but that's Kyle waiting to open presents!


Cayman was pouting. He gets very jealous if I don't show him enough attention while Murph is over... how could I not pay attention to him? Look how cute he is!


All the stockings hung in a row by the chimney with care.


Hudson is dressed as a present!


And he also wants to help Mom unwrap hers! Yep, the dogs all unwrap all their own gifts!!


Dad's new hat= J.Crew mailer.


This sums up the evening. Andrew in his tall wool socks, shorts, t-shirt sipping a glass of wine before dinner. Gosh I love my family!

Christmas Recap I

I'm not sure about you all but Christmas totally blindsided me this year... it could be that we had one less week between Thanksgiving and Christmas or it could have been the insanely busy time of year! Nonetheless I still managed to get all the shopping, baking and decorating done just in the nick of time.

Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love spending time with family and friends playing games, eating great food and celebrating the true meaning of the season together. Here are some pictures, in no particular order, of our laughs and thanksgivings this year!

For outdoor decorations this year we kept things clean, simple and nostalgic. I wanted one tree lit with my parents old C9 lights from our childhood home. It was a great effect pulling into the drive and looking out our patio!


Tina and the girls came over to bake biscotti (our first attempt) and watch Sex in the City. Our gingerbread biscotti was amazing, despite it's appearance!


While we were baking Murphy and his girlfriend Lola were playing in the snow. Murphy likes to bury himself and play hide-and-go-seek!


Santa and her elf on Christmas Eve- we just put out all the presents under the tree!


Ta dah!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Kyle, Murphy and I wish you all the best for a blessed 2009!

For the holiday this year we spent the evening with friends in Boyne City and had a great time... stay tuned for some fun pictures and comments from the evening!

On a side note, we just went to see" Marley & Me" today. About three Christmases ago my mother-in-law bought the book for me and I could never bring myself to read it. Everyone I knew that had read, or was reading it, said how upsetting it was and how much they cried. (A very dear friend, who will remain anonymous even said he even cried! Let's just say he's no leaky faucet.)

The day after Christmas, Kyle, Dad, Andrew, Murph and I headed down to Indy to visit Aunt Sue and Papa. In an effort to decompress I elected to not turn on my computer (the reason for delayed postings) and read a book and a few magazines that are piling up. Jennifer Aniston is one of my favorite actresses. Ever since "Friends" when we shared the same haircut I've felt a huge bond. Owen Wilson cracks me up every single movie I watch him in. I knew that I wanted to see the Marley movie yet it was a matter of preparing myself.

In an effort to curb the uncontrollable sobbing I feared would happen I opening the book and dove in. John Grogan is an incredibly talented author. By far a great laugh-out-loud read... at one point people were making fun of my random giggles when no one in the room I was reading in had said anything funny. My favorite line... "he (Marley) had the attention span of algae and the volatility of nitroglycerine."

Grogan writes with a tenderness and brutal reality that makes readers fall in love with this big loveable beast. His unfailable loyalty and devotion, spastic bursts of energy and truly intuitive nature make Marley a page turning read dragging you along for the ride! As I neared the end I knew our four legged friend was also approaching his. About a year ago there was a great email forward that my Mom sent me. It had something to do with the shortened life span of dogs compared to humans. I don't remember the full email nor could I find it but it was something like this... dogs don't need to live as long as we do, for they have loved greater than any human in a fraction of our lifespan.

As I finished the last page I wiped my eyes and the snot that was running down my face feeling lucky to know and experience first hand the love that Grogan writes about. My family has had two wonderful Golden Retrievers. Squirt, our first, was the Old Wise One. He never barked and was always the gentle giant helping me get over my fear of dogs. Our second who is five is Cayman. The crazy yet loveable goof who stole my heart the moment he came home with us. And then there is our little angel- Murphy, who has me wrapped around all four paws so tight that sometimes I swear he really is a small, furry baby!

Walking out of the movie was a lot like closing the book. Not a dry eye in the hallway- except the snot that was on my face was now on my scarf (I forgot kleenex). And the best part of all... my strong, loving and amazing husband was wiping his eyes and in such a hurry to get home to see our Mr. Wiggles.