Here's some pictures from the rest of our trip to MI:

This is my Uncle Bozo. I can't remember why they call him that but I love him! One of my fondest memories from my childhood was hearing him read the Christmas story from the Bible at my Grandma's. I got his email address so we'll be able to keep in touch better. Isn't that great!
Here's Laura and Adam with their cousin's, Matthew and Catie. They are my brother's kids, and of course Adi's too- HI ADI!!

Here's my bro Chris. He's showing of his low-flying, zoom-past-so-close-to-your-head moves with his electric plane. It was neat to see him having fun like a kid.

This is at my Dad's. The cousins went swimming but the rest of us were too white to put on a suit.

It was great to see everybody. Thanks to Amy and Adi for their help in making my selection when we were shopping. On the way home my wonderful husband took us to The Outback Steakhouse for supper! THANKS MY LOVE!

We bummed around all morning and then figured we should get out in the mild weather. My Dad, pictured with us here, is into doing GeoCaching ( http://www.geocaching.com/ ) so we did a few with him today. He has done many of them locally and then also when he travels as they are all over the country and even the world.

Pictured: Laura Adam Matt my Dad Amy

One of them was at the Rockford Dam so we took some nice pictures.

My sister Amy and I

We're in Michigan. We've been at Dad's. This morning we went out so we could find swim suits for the kids since i totally forgot to pack them (so they could swim at my dad's pool). No such luck. we told laura she could go in a t-shirt and undies but she didn't really like that idea. so instead i got a pack of little boxers, one for adam and one for her to wear w/ her t-shirt.

we stopped at the gym i used to work at so matt and the kids could see it. i was the secretary there and also taught a few classes.

This evening we went to my mom's for Christmas. We got a very nice card table which i've been wanting. she recently got high speed so we had 3 laptops going and coffee- it was our Internet Cafe. it's late so goodnight.

The roof was the main project today.

This is upstair with the dormer
Our front porch with a railing will run along the front of here. I took the picture from down the hill. Matt will make the drop off more gradual.

Here's our Motley Tobogan Crew! We went up near Cleveland and went toboganning and it was a lot of fun. No we don't have snow. It was on a track that they ice down. (Sorry these pics are junky, that's what you get with cell phones but it was better than nothing.)

Back Row: Jimmy,Susanna,Christian,James,Heidi,Anthony,Matt,Emily,Heather

Front Row: Jen,Adam,Caroline,Laura

We always mixed up so we all were with different people. But this group here for some reason went the farthest.

IT HAS BEGUN!

7:30am

8:15am

9:30

For 2 hours we had to make some deliveries of stuff that Matt brought back on the return load.

1:30

2:15

3:00

3:15

4:30

8 hours later...

Bored + Camera Phone + Photoshop= This ---->

This is what the MICE eat when the CAT is away (It's salad w/ chix strips on it if you can't tell.) Another Furniture run. Matt, James and Susanna, their niece who is up from Texas right now, loaded all day. Right now M and S are running up to Michigan with it. Obviously she's going for the company of Matt and that's sweet (she just rode 2 days in a vehicle to get here). So where are they going?? None other than the area I grew up in! What are the odds! There wouldn't be time for visiting so I didn't see the point in going since I have much to do around here.

I told you it was a little tree. today, matt went up to the loft and got the Christmas stuff. it is always fun to reminisce about the ornaments when we go to decorate the tree. one in particular was a handmade one from the Nelson family our first year in chicago. and then the cutest snowmen from my mom.

After church we went to get our Christmas tree at the Pine Tree Barn http://www.pinetreebarn.com/default.htm

We got a cute, small one for the house and a bulbed one that we thought we could put in the new house since it has to be cold and it will be. Then we will plant it along our drive.

Last night we went to Akron and saw a Christmas show at the Civic Theatre. It was really good. Matt did some plumbing for this couple who own the Lamplight Inn in Berlin and they gave him tickets to this production that they run called Christmas Music Spectacular. It was really good and we all enjoyed it. There was an orchestra, choir, ballet, tap dancing, a ballroom dance number. one really big hit that the audience enjoyed was all the men from the choir came down and did a dance with reindeer antlers on their head. It was neat to see grown men not afraid to having a good time being silly. They had all kinds of music, including a band from Germany as a guest appearance! One of my favorites of the night was a song about when December slips by, and all the decorations are put away and songs are done, the real reason for Christmas still remains.

On Thursday Matt and I took the trailer to a warehouse and loaded Amish Hardwood Furniture and headed to Chicago. This is something we just started doing on the side to make a little extra. We didn't get to the store until midnight OH time. We left the truck running all night and slept, or tried. Then the guys got to the store at 8am to unload. It took way longer to unload than we thought. On the way back through we stopped and saw some friends for a too-quick-of-a-visit. We got back at 11:30pm. The kids stayed w/ Grandma since they had school. Next time we make a run I will take some pictures so you can see us in action. Matt and James will be switching on and off taking a load every week.
Here's Matt fueling up.

Not much going on so I thought I'd dig up a picture. This is Matt and the kids back in April down by our pond.

I finally finished reading Robinson Crusoe. I won't even tell you how long I've been working on it. Now I can watch the movie. Although I can tell you I know i will like the book better. it was chock full of challenging and spiritually thought provoking sections.