We're home!

Okay, we're home, and have been home for a couple of days. But I've been slow in getting back to the blog. We had a good time in Michigan..enjoyed the family reunion, went to Mackinac City, and LOST TWO BOYS!!!! No, they're not actually lost, but the older two boys are staying with their grandparents until the baby comes. It was all such a last minute decision, but they were stoked to be staying. I haven't even talked to them yet because I don't want to be the "over-paronoid mom," but I'm calling them today and gonna talk to them. I've heard that they are having an excellent time, so no need to stress out. Right?

Here's some pictures from our trip.

Some reunion pics

We celebrated Jake's birthday again up there. It was pretty late when we finally went out to eat at Jet's Pizza, but he didn't care. Shoot, the kid got to play at a wanna-be Chuck E. Cheese, eat pizza, and then go shopping afterwards...not to mention stay up till almost 12:00. It was definitely a good day for the little guy.


After church on Sunday morning we went to Fort Michilimackinac and Mackinac City. I love the pictures of the kids at the beach.

Ha!!! here's a picture of them in the latrine all sitting on the pot.

And then we went to the house of mirrors where there is a maze of mirrors to go through and them crazy mirrors at the end.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was good and relaxing. We spent it in Michigan at Eric's parents house. Before we left though, I had the boys write five things each that they were thankful for and then we put them on leaves, cut them out and put them on our fall tree the basement.
Blake: going to Michigan, our toys, George came over, planets, Jesus died on the cross
Luke: there was no fire in our house, Bible, family, cousins, Jesus died on the cross for our sins
Jakeb: house, church, bones, God, co-op
Kaleb: mommy and daddy, school, brothers and sister, health, birthday

Our trip was fun too. My sister in law straightened my hair. I LOVED it. Check it out! Let's see what else did we do while we were there in Michigan. We played some family games after the kids went to bed. We also watched movies, played the Wii (on loan from a great brother-iin-law), and just had a nice relaxing time. We also took the kids sledding for the first time

and then to warm up after they got back, they were able to get in the jacuzzi for some bath time fun. Kaleb was not too impressed with tub, but Makenna was dying to get in. Check out this picture.

My mother in law and I did some heavy duty shopping on Friday. Fortunately we didn't have to go out early. We simply went out about noon and got everything that we wanted. We did spend about 45 minutes in line at Kohl's though. That was a long line!! It wrapped around the entire store. Sheer Craziness!! But so worth it.

On Sunday we went to see Eric's old pastor who was filling in as an interim pastor about 1 hour away. Afterwards we were introduced to the BEST PIZZA EVER at some podunk small town restaraunt. And that, my friends, pretty much wraps up our trip to Michigan.

Labor Day Weekend

We went to the Pelkey's this past weekend. What fun!!! We ALL had a great time. I think I seriously gained 5 pounds just from all of Betsy's cooking. She's amazing! She made homemade bread, rolls, cinnamon rolls, brownies, cookies, blueberry buckle...oh...and she made those little Hostess cupcakes...you know the ones with creme in the middle and frosting on the top. YUM! Not to mention all the other homemade things she made us. She makes the best food ever!

We arrived on Saturday around lunch time and hung around the house for awhile. Well, Eric and Anthony went and played golf, and us girls hung around the house while the kids played. That night we took all the kids to a park. The park was pretty cool because they had a MONSTER slide. Everyone had fun on that thing even mommy and daddy. (Oh, and check out the bottom right picture. Betsy was taking a picture of me when she realized there was a not so wonderful word nicely carved into a tree above my head....hence the reason there's a huge CENSORED on it. We got a huge kick out of it.)

That night I succeeded in kicking butt in one of my favorite games ever....Mexican Train! Who-hee!!!! Of course, we had to play house rules which are different from mine, but they worked well in my favor!
On Sunday, we went to church with them. They had a potluck and an afternoon service instead of an evening service, so that freed up our evening. Betsy made plans to walk the boardwalk and then over to the beach to grill out. Notice the two kids who were entirely NOT happy on the boardwalk?? The beach was absolutely beautiful and the sunset was AMAZING!! Monday we vegged around the house while the boys went golfing and then the us girls went shopping on Monday night. Too bad we forgot it was Labor Day and most stores closed early! GRRR... We still managed to have fun shopping at Target and Walmart. We tend to not like each other's taste. Okay, we actually make fun of each other's taste. We took pictures of each other's taste....and we want to take a poll. Who do you think has better taste?? (I personally think it's all a matter of opinion. Seriously, could you see me even looking at that white basket with pink little flowers on it? HA!!!) So which one do you like?

This is Betsy's pillow. She seems to think that if people saw the pillow of the shabby chic junk...that more people will vote for her! Blech!!Anyways, we had a great time at their house, and hope to do it again sometime!! Thanks, Betsy and Anthony, for EVERYTHING! You guys ROCK!

Going to Gatlinburg

For the millions of readers that my blog receives each day, I am sorry to inform you that it will not be updated for at least 4 days. I know, it might be hard to carry on throughout the next couple of days without your daily dose of the Alma life, but you must "carry on." Because I will be going to Gatlinburg with my best friend, Niki. No, that was not a typo. I said my best friend, Niki. I did not say Eric, Blake, Luke, Jakeb, or Kaleb; I said Niki.

In case, it's still not clear. I will be going out of town tomorrow for four glorious days without my husband and my four sons. It will be a girls weekend out! I'm pretty pumped and excited. Now, while the excitement abounds, there is some concern in the corner of my heart for Eric. I mean, four boys six years old and younger. Two of which, he must have school with in the morning. So, if you remember, please say a quick prayer for him and the boys.

This trip is long overdue. When Blake and Luke were born, we started a thing where I would go out of town for one weekend by myself. Well, we lost that along the way. I haven't been out of town without children and husband for over three years. (Unless you count 2 overnight ladies' retreats....) And two birthdays ago, Eric promised that I could go anywhere in the continental US for one whole week. Well, I'm only going for four days. I might save those other days for another occasion.

Anyways, I'm off like a wedding dress. Try not to miss me too much.

We're BACK!!!!!

We had such a good time visiting my brother. Eric will even verify it. We arrived on early Friday evening after sitting in some crazy "DC traffic." The kids were thrilled to see their cousins. They learned all about Wonder Woman while we were there. (My brothers kids love Wonder Woman and Superman.)
On Saturday it rained, but we still managed to get in a some sights of D.C. We went to the Ford theater where Lincoln was shot, and we went to the house where he died. We also went to the Lincoln memorial and the Vietnam Memorial. They were fantastic. The Vietnam Memorial always overwhelms me because so many American died when it didn't really seem necessary that died. Now, don't get me wrong. I admire and greatly respect any man who fought in the Vietnam War. In fact, I have the utmost respect for them because they went where their country told them to go no matter the cost. They are true patriots because they were sent to help another country get freedom.
Anyway, not sure how I got on that, but.....then Sunday, we had church. On Monday, it was Kaylee's Birthday, and we visited Mount Vernon, George Washington's home. It was intriguing,especially some of the colors for the walls. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the house or I would show you the GREEN walls.
After Mount Vernon, we went to Chuck E. Cheese in celebration of Kaylee's birthday, then back to the house to open presents. It was so much fun that I think that we might have to make it into a bi-annually trip!!! Plus, it was educational too.

D.C.

So we're going out of town to visit my brother in the DC area. I probably won't have "easy" access to a computer, so I won't be back to blog until Tuesday or Wednesday. Hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend. Here's some of the sites I expect to see. It's actually counting as a "field trip" at least on one day. I havent' been there in 2 years, and Eric hasn't been there ever. The kids are dying to go and see their cousins, Kaylee and Andrew.

So, while it might be hard, try not to miss me and my family too much.