Family Christmas

We were so blessed to have a wonderful family Christmas last weekend with my parents and siblings at my parents house in SC. It started Friday when we arrived with Tim and Lauren, who flew in from Chicago the night before. Grandpa showed Martin how to chop firewood while mom and Grace played outside. Joe and Crystal arrived later that evening, followed by Beth and her family and Chris and Samantha the next day. We enjoyed great food, lots of presents, and wonderful company!! We are so blessed to have such a large family that enjoys being together!! 10 adults and 7 kids in the house for the weekend!! What a wonderful way to enjoy the holidays!

Oh crooked tree...

Our decorations are out now and the stockings are hung--all we need is Santa!! The kids had a great time visiting Santa. No tears--just a squirmy Grace. Martin loved Santa and sat on his lap answering yes to every question he was asked!!

Well, today we ventured out in to the cold with a two year old and a sick one year old to pick out the perfect Christmas tree. It was full and looked beautiful on the lot, although we did look very quickly so as to get Grace back into the car. Well once we put it up at the house, it was a different story. The tree trunk was very bent!! After an hour or so of messing with the stand and tree, this is the final product--a crooked tree!! Oh well, the kids still had fun decorating it!!

A new accomplishment

I also completed my first half marathon on Thanksgiving day!! I ran through downtown Atlanta, which was a nice change from my neighborhood where I have been training. The race went well, and I am proud to announce I finished in 1:45.11, hitting an average pace of just under 8 minutes a mile.

A sad week, but lots to be thankful for...

As a lot of you already know, the last two weeks have been rough for me. I lost a patient under anesthesia (my first) and my cat Apollo was hit by a car, leaving me the sad task of putting him to sleep at 10pm while Eric held him. I miss him dearly and will not forget his little face popping up from under the covers when we would wake up in my apartment at school. RIP little buddy!

On to brighter news, we had the wonderful opportunity to spend a glorious weekend at the lake two weekends ago and were blessed to have my parents, brother Joey, and his wife Crystal in for Thanksgiving. We enjoyed wonderful weather on both occasions, along with great company and great food!!

The vulture

Driving home today I saw a vulture in the middle of the street in our neighborhood. Eric, Martin, and I walked down to take a closer look. Martin love the "big bird" that flew "into the clouds!"

Fall is HERE!!!!

WE had a great fall day with temperatures in the 70s!! We spent time outside playing in the leaves, which Martin really got into. Graces wasn't so sure...

Happy Halloween!

We had a wonderful Halloween weekend! My mom stayed with us from Fri through Sunday while my dad was on a retreat. He came by Sunday for most of the day and got to see the kids. He and Martin carved our pumpkin (yes, late for Halloween). Martin was a monkey and enjoyed getting the candy! Every night he asks for something from his bag. Grace came out for a few houses dressed as an MSU cheerleader but the rainy weather caused her and mom to head home to pass out candy.

Rainforest Cafe

We enjoyed a trip to the Rainforest Cafe while in MI and had lunch with Linda and my mother-in-law. It was a lot of fun and the kids really loved all the animals!!

We had a wonderful time on a recent trip to MI. WE enjoyed a tailgate and football game (GO SPARTANS!!) at MSU, as well as a wonderful week with Eric's family that included a party and a trip to the pumpkin farm.

OK, so I have been terrible about adding pics and updating. We are having some computer issues with pictures, so some to come soon!! Here's one I love from a recent trip to MI.

The water level drops!!

The water level has been dropping since yesterday (Tuesday) morning, and we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel (or should I say land on the other side of the water). It amazes me to see the damage that has been done within half a mile of our house in our own subdivision. I continue to count our blessings as the news post pictures from all over Atlanta of those that sustained major damage. Some of the homes in the front of the sub were also submerged up to the first floor and are severely damaged. We are working on cleaning up the damage in the basement and hoping to be back to work on Thursday if the road out of the sub is safe to pass. Thank you again for your prayers!!

Ok-how about an ark?

Well, Eric made it home yesterday after parking in a park, traveling though woods, across railroad tracks, and jumping a fence. He is so committed to our family--I was so relieved to have him home. The rain continued to fall throughout the day, and the waters continued to rise. I am continuing to count our blessings, though, as we sustained minimal damage to the basement, and we were safe and together. There are a lot of people in the front of our sub (pics show the water by their houses) and across Atlanta that lost a lot more! Thank you for the prayers!! We are waiting for the waters to continue to reseed and hope to be able to leave the sub by tomorrow.

Does anyone have a boat??

Well, we were woken last night to thunder and lightning, although it did not prepare us for what was to come. This morning when I got up I found our basement flooded! The front of out neighborhood where the only entrance/exit is also was flooded by the Yellow River. Needless to say, I did not make it work today! The big problem also was that Eric did, so he was on one side of the water, the kids and I on the other! We are still not sure how that problem is going to be solved yet!! For now, Martin and I are enjoying the "puddles in basement" as he screams with delight! Reminds me of the time our basement in Massachusetts flooded when hurricane Gloria came through!

My husband, the photographer

Eric has been taking some beautiful pictures recently. I think he is so talented and wanted to share some of my recent favorites (besides the ones of the children already posted). I am so blessed to have such a wonderful man in my life!!