Weekend to, in, and returning from Michigan ...

Now that we're home again it's time to try to play catch up this week (with more than just blog posts!) ...

Everything EXCEPT the driving was wonderful about the trip. The driving was however, if not construction traffic hell then at least purgatory! We hit construction as soon as we crossed into IL and it took us about an hour to drive about 5 miles ... then it was two hours through Chicago ... then MORE construction ... and then after I left Shawn in Kalamazoo (Shawn spent time there with our friend Morrie and while he really enjoyed the time there you'll have to ask Shawn for any other details) -- thinking it was just a mere 2.5 hours to Detroit and my hotel ... yep, you guessed it MORE construction and stand still traffic at midnight!!!! So, it was after midnight before Nessa and I made it to the hotel that night but she was a trooper about it all. Luckily the drive home was MUCH better.

Saturday I spent the day near Detroit at a friend's home along with some other friends. Some of us had met IRL (in real life) before and some of had only met through our online ICAN group. It was a great day seeing everyone and spending as much time as possible talking to some real friends and wonderful women. And of course it was fun to see all of the kids too!

We spent much of the day outside in the beautiful late summer weather, including grilling hot dogs and hamburgers (thanks Misha!). Luckily after eating we were able to move to the back yard which is fenced in because Nessa kept me going chasing after her as as usual she only wanted to run in one direction -- away from me! Nessa also attempted to master climbing while we were there ... she wasn't always successful though.




The kids all had a fun day too -- directly above are Nessa and Asa having a wagon ride -- or at least wanting someone to give them a ride! For awhile Asa pulled Nessa in the wagon! :-)

Below is the whole gang! If you count 11 kids, you're close as the eldest was actually taking the picture. :-)

Off to Michigan ...

Well we're off (but not by much) ...

Yes, we're packing again. We'll be visiting friends in both the Kalamazoo and Detroit areas. We leave early tomorrow morning (Friday) and will get back Sunday night.

Then next week it's settling in and cleaning and organizing around here ... and maybe some more blog posts with the rest of the vacation posts as well as regular updates which I'm behind one. I hope everyone else has a great weekend too.

Happy August!!! :-)

Washington D.C. pictures

Remember that trip we took? Well I'm finally getting around to sharing a few photos ...

Wednesday July 26th we spent the day in D.C. -- it was hot and humid and sunny and we walked A LOT (ask Megan about her blisters) in part because Nessa hated the tour bus and SCREAMED the short time we were on it ... luckily the bad parts are quickly fading from memory though. :-)




Here's Megan in front of the White House or at least as close as we could get to the White House without getting tickets months earlier (we didn't try). When I was a little younger than Megan I went with my parents and sat right on the steps of the White House -- times have changed since the 70s.




Shawn took this picture of the rest of us at the FDR Memorial. I'm ashamed to say I didn't even know this memorial was there until we went there (it was built in 1997 -- I had last visited D.C., well, um maybe 1991 or so) -- and it was the most moving memorial for me and walking through it was a very emotional part of the day. I highly recommend going to see it if you are in the D.C. area. Here's a link about it: http://www.nps.gov/fdrm/






And here Megan and I are at the Lincoln Memorial which we found out is how Megan expected all of the memorials to be (big statues of *people*).

We also saw a few of the other memorials while we were there and saw Union Station because that's where we parked because it was close to the tour bus -- you know, the one that we were hardly able to ride after that initial trip ... it was a longer walk from the White House to Union Station than I thought. :-)

All in all it was a nice day though and we ended it by sending Megan home with Grandpa and Grandma Brooks while Shawn, Nessa and I had a wonderful supper and delightful evening visiting friends in the D.C. area.

More vacation photos soon ... and as always, you should be able to click on the pictures to see them larger (will take awhile to load on slow connections)

Anniversary Flowers

Remember that wonderful man that I married two years ago this past Monday? He sent these to me at work on Friday (surprise, surprise!) Did anyone notice what colors my bouquet flowers were in the wedding picture I included? Yep-- yellow, orange and red ... how sweet, how cool, how romantic ...

For anyone that was like me (when I was young and foolish) and says that flowers don't matter -- they do!

Megan and Ahnika on the pedal boat

This was Megan's first time taking the pedal boat out on her own ... she did great (Ellen was watching; she didn't go far).

More photos from fun on the lake this past weekend

Cumberland, WI -- Sand Lake -- Grandpa Don and Grandma Karen's pontoon
(also known as a weekend with Tami's parents ... aren't we lucky ... Mom & Dad, thanks for the great weekend)

Nessa on the pontoon

Well, the rest of us were having fun!

2 years ago ....

It was two years ago today, August 7th, that I married my best friend --





Shawn, as I did then, I again promise --

To share with you whatever life brings us
To support you with strength if you falter
To stand behind you with pride when you achieve
To comfort you with tenderness when you are sick
To encourage you with hope if you despair
To rediscover you with joy as you change
To hold hands with you when we are old
And to love you on each tomorrow as much as I do today.

Happy Anniversary my love --
Always and Forever,
Tami