Together Forever Wherever

Extreme Gyms, Parties, Pajamas, and Sweat Treats

2012-01-22T17:35:00.004-05:00

Landon started gymnastics (Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!) on Monday at Extreme Gymnastics USA.

Quianna, a young lady from our branch, came over and helped Hallie out around the house while Mike was at work on Tuesday and Wednesday. We got some snow on Thursday that continued off and on with accompanying cold weather through the weekend. Looks like winter has finally arrived. Let’s hope it just plans to stay for a short visit!

On Friday afternoon, we went to the Woodward Avenue Candy Shop. We had read on the store’s website that each day has a theme, so we took the kids in their fuzzy footed PJ’s. Landon got a kick out of being out of the house and dressed for bed, which added to the fun of our visit. Right as we entered, we were warmly greeted by Janie, the owner. She explained how she wants every guest who comes into the store to feel right at home. She was very attentive and positive, and we had a great experience.

(Photos from the store's Facebook page)

Saturday dawned in a blanket of snow. Mike and Landon shoveled and played in it until it got too cold.

Our friend Bryan celebrated his 8th birthday with a party at Continental Lanes in Roseville, a perfect venue for a family of avid bowlers.

While the rest of the crew partied, Mike attended an all-day meeting. Katelyn looked after the kids that night while we went out to dinner for our anniversary. Hard to believe we’ve already been married 13 years!

New Routines for a New Year

2012-01-15T23:29:00.001-05:00

The new year has brought with it a few new activities for family members. Mike started teaching classes Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and Hallie and the kids settled into a few routines of their own.

Hallie and the kids went with Sara and Chase to Macy’s 2nd Monday at the Henry Ford, where they explored the world of airplanes and took in the Wonderful Wizard of Oz exhibit a second time.

Landon started pipsqueak PE with Ms. Suzanne again on Tuesday. He'll start gymnastics next Monday to put even more of that boundless energy to work! So far, Eliza is content to use the home as her gym.

Landon takes to daredevil tricks on his trampoline like a bird takes to flight.

Fortunately, he is very patient as he teaches Eliza how to use it.

She learned how to bounce by watching him.

Hanging upside down she learned all on her own.

Hallie, the kids, Sara, and Chase went to Play Central at Barnes Elementary on Wednesday. Play Central is a nice blend of activities and academic centers for preschoolers, so this activity looks like it will be fun to continue!

Our nephew Haydn celebrated his 12th birthday and Eliza celebrated 11 months this week. How the time has flown by! We still remember when he was as small as she is now (and she's getting bigger by the day! She had two more teeth break through this week).

Palling around as Eliza shows off her waving skills

(Her curly locks really show after a bath.)

On Friday, the 13th, we got our first snow that stayed. Dad had bought some conversation hearts at the local bulk foods store, and Mom and Landon used them to decorate the gingerbread house we did not get put together after the New Year. Now we have a cozy romantic cottage (that is rapidly being dismantled).

In the evening, we went down to El Barzón in southwest Detroit for some authentic Mexican cuisine with a bit of an Italian influence.

On Saturday, the kids and Mike built a castle at Lowe’s while Hallie returned for her second chiropractic visit this week (this is not a welcome routine, but it does make her back feel better). We spent a chunk of time getting the upstairs spiffied up and the kids' rooms organized. We'll get to work on the downstairs tomorrow!

(Slowly) Getting Back into the New Year’s Groove

2012-01-08T17:24:00.001-05:00

After our fireworks extravaganza, we caught a few Zzz’s before going to church and visiting one more time with friends in Bridgewater. We had hoped to make it to the Kentville Ward, but we weren’t able to this trip. Next time, then.

With misty eyes, we hit the road again on Monday to return home. It was as if the weather itself reflected our mood as we drove through driving rain through the morning. We reached St. John, New Brunswick, by the afternoon. After a dip in the pool with the kids and some dinner, Mike ventured out to Freak Lunchbox. We ran out of time to go inside the one in Halifax when we went to the Discovery Centre with Janelle, so Mike was happy to get the chance to see what the buzz was all about. This candy store has a wide variety of common and uncommon loose and pre-packaged candies and other treats. Lots of fun! Mike bought a few treats for the family to try on the road.

We woke up Tuesday to a cold blast and a return to real winter. Our journey brought us down from St. John through to the LL Bean flagship store (among others) in Freeport, Maine, and on to Rochester, New Hampshire.

Yes, those are real fish (trout) swimming in a special tank that makes them feel like they are swimming in a river.

This clock chimes a tune every hour that you can see play in this large clockwork display.

The cold continued Wednesday as we drove from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York before ending our time on the road in Warners, New York.

We ended up passing up several interesting sites, including Palmyra and Niagara Falls, as we jetted through New York and Ontario on our way home on Thursday. We were definitely ready to be done with traveling by the time we got home in the afternoon. Hallie pinched a nerve in her back or something and was in a bit of pain, and the kids (troopers through it all) had finally gotten road weary (we’ve put 7,500 miles on the van since October—the van might be a bit weary too). Diamond and Miles helped ensure that everything was clean and in good working order when we got there (thanks so much!). Mike unpacked the car, and we crashed for the night in our own beds for the first time in three weeks.

Mike has been working while we have been traveling, doing some writing and getting classes ready for next semester. Friday he was able to get some work done in earnest in addition to getting things unpacked and put away. The kids played with their new presents. Hallie ran a bunch of errands and visited with friends in the evening.

Landon drew this picture of the four of us.

You can see full faces, and everyone has their arms and legs. Quite the artiste!

Eliza got a big kick out of her new Superstar Stage.

Dancing to the music

Then again, climbing seems fun too!

Diamond headed off to college at BYU-Idaho while we were away (Yay, Diamond! You rock!). As a result, Eliza now has a room of her own again. On Saturday, we spent some more time settling back in and moving Eliza back into her nursery/Mike’s office/Diamond’s old room. Mike and Landon also put together a new dresser for the boy that we had purchased before the trip. His old one, which has seen its share of wear (including being dropped from a moving pickup truck), finally appears to have given up the ghost. Mike’s convinced that the old dresser still has some life to it, but he could just be feeling sentimental because he put the old one together and painted it, so maybe he’ll repurpose it in the basement for a bit.

Hallie’s back pain has continued to persist through today, and after church she holed herself up in the bedroom with some pain killers and muscle relaxers in the hope that something would help. Poor Hallie!

Wrapping Up Another Year

2011-12-31T23:37:00.000-05:00

On Christmas Sunday we listened to Neil and other ward members sing and present a beautiful Christmas program. After we got back to the house, we gathered around the tree to open gifts. Landon and Eliza had gotten pretty overstimulated by the end of the day, and they had a hard time going to bed. Austin received the Monopoly Deal card game, and some of us played it to wind up the night.

Santa found Landon and brought him a Buzz Lightyear!

"These aren't the droids you're looking for."

"Try not! Do, or do not. There is no try."

We received a Christmas pickle to hide in the tree. Landon found it and got an extra treat!

Each year, the kids make a train. This time Landon and Eliza got to join in.

Monday was Boxing Day (practically speaking, it’s a lot like Black Friday in the US) and the third day of a four-day weekend, as most Canadians received both Monday and Tuesday off. A bit of new snow fell again overnight, so Landon and Mike played out in it, and a little later Austin came out to join us.

Heh, heh, heh!

Is this why you should never eat yellow snow?

That evening Neil pulled out the Anomia card game, a great Frenchys find (Neil finds the most amazing things at that store. It advertises itself as a used clothing store, but it is much, much more). Between Hallie calling out the category in addition to naming the item from that category and Mike reaching for the card as he was naming his items, we proved to be unconventional card players.

On Tuesday, Mike and Landon shot his bungee rocket in the back yard. That thing could get some real air and distance, even after it came apart. Later on, Mike, Hallie, Kathy, and the little ones went to Lunenburg for Hallie and Kathy’s spa treatment at EmOcean Spa. While the ladies indulged, Mike took the kids around town. Unfortunately, all the shops and museums, including the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic and the Bluenose II restoration, were closed. Still, we managed to see a few things.

Some of the characteristic architecture that helped put Lunenburg on the map as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Note the "Lunenburg bump," a uniquely local feature, on the front of the house.

The harbor at low tide. The red building is the Fisheries Museum.

That evening the Christmas tree came down. Bryce, Janelle, Austin, and Mike pulled out the LEGO VW camper van he received from Landon and Eliza (wink, wink) and had an epic three-hour LEGO build.

1332 pieces; . . .

. . . where to begin?

The engine and dashboard

Interior detail in progress

The camper top raises and lowers. Ooh! Aah!

Janelle and Austin's half: Completed!

With Bryce and Mike's half: The final result.

LEGO sets should definitely be built with friends. Great work, everyone!

Wednesday rain washed most of the previous days’ snow away. Mike, Kathy, and Neil worked, the boys hung out at home, and the girls and kids went to Halifax. Later, Hallie and Kira went over to Kathy’s mom’s house to complete work on a quilt Hallie and Neil had started work on a few days earlier.

We woke up Thursday to no lights. Power came back on before7 AM, but we had the chance to experience near pitch blackness out here in the country. Landon did not understand why we could not either watch TV or go on the Internet. The weather had cleared up, bringing in its wake sun, wind, and chilly temperatures. We wanted to get the kids out of the house to burn off some energy, so we headed to town in the afternoon. Austin came with us as we had lunch and visited Neil where he works at the local hospital cafeteria. From the hospital, we went to the DesBrisay Museum, a true gem of local history.

We've already seen one of these up close and personal this week!

After going to the DesBrisay museum, we drove over toward Lunenburg to see the Halifax and Southwestern Railway Museum. This labor of love has an S scale (1/64 scale, the same as Hot Wheels cars) model of the H&SW Railway as it looked during its heyday. The curator, Duane Porter, knew all sorts of information about the historic railway. In fact, he even said he had a degree in bovine scatology!

We went back to Lunenburg and Mahone Bay on Friday after Hallie spent some more time with Hazel on her quilt. As we drove down to Lunenburg, we took the LighthouseRoute from Bridgewater along the LaHave River and the coast, a very picturesque trip full of scenic waterways, secluded inlets, and brightly colored houses. As we reached the top of a rise near the Topmast Motel, we were treated to an incredible view of Lunenburg Harbour:

We caught up with our friends, the Jewers from Lunenburg and the Davisons from Mahone Bay, and the kids had a chance to show off and get to know everyone. We missed seeing Janelle as she headed back up to Dal while we were out, but we’re glad to know we’ll still be able to keep up with her on Skype.

The last day of the year started cloudy with the threat of rain. We got the house ready for a party to bring in the New Year. Hallie, Kathy, Hazel, and later Neil all collaborated to finish off Hallie’s quilt. Here is the finished result:

Yes, they're American lighthouses,

but there's a Nova Scotia tartan on the back!

Landon, Austin, and Mike took a break to launch Landon’s Mentos and soda geyser.

For some strange reason, soon after we opened the soda bottle it started to foam, so Mike quickly clamped on the Mentos tube, dropped the Mentos in, and jumped back just in time to get this shot without getting too wet.

In the afternoon it finally did start to rain. Landon had some chocolate milk and had produced for himself a wicked good mustache. He didn’t want his picture taken, so Mike showed him how to make a finger moustache.

I mustache you a question, . . .

. . . but I'll shave it for later.

We popped open some Christmas crackers in the early evening.

Is someone afraid of the big, bad noise?

What kind of cheese isn't yours? Nacho Cheese!

As midnight approached, the Dorey kids and their dad fired off this set of fireworks:

Happy New Year 2012!

Reflecting on the year, we’ve had some ups and downs, and we’re glad to report that the ups have outnumbered the downs. We posted less than half as many entries this year as last, but they are full of memories to last a lifetime! Among the highlights: Eliza came into our lives and has grown from a tiny infant to a fast and curious (almost) toddler. Landon continues to amaze. Among his many accomplishments, he learned how to ride a big boy bike, graduated from his speech class, and appeared in a commercial. We were able to do a fair bit of traveling, again having visited both coasts of North America and spent time with family and friends in places both familiar and new. We have made new friends and hard decisions. We successfully sold the condo. We bought a new car. In sum, a lot of what went on this year was pretty ordinary, but we feel so grateful for each bit of it, ordinary and otherwise. We know 2012 will bring more dramatic changes, because that's how we seem to roll. As always, we’ll keep you posted.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2011-12-25T06:19:00.002-05:00

Once we arrived in Nova Scotia, we had a few errands to run, so on Monday Hallie, Janelle, Neil, and the kids went to Mahone Bay (where Hallie said the weather was amazing and the scenery was picturesque) while Mike stayed at the house grading papers. Once they got back to the house, the kids had the chance to get settled and get to know everyone. Eliza was cute when offered to share some of Kira’s ice cream. Later in the evening some of us had a rollicking time playing a DVD game version of $100,000 Pyramid. The boys won (yes!). Neil’s parents brought over a beautiful balsam fir to serve as our Christmas tree.

On Tuesday, Mike holed himself up in the bedroom as he finished grading papers. Hallie, Kathy, Austin, and the kids ran errands and did some Christmas shopping. We took pictures of the kids at Wal-Mart.

On Wednesday, we went up to Halifax with Janelle. Finding a parking space down on the waterfront was a joke, but we eventually found a spot and set off on our adventures in town. First, we headed up for poutine at European Food Shop on Pizza Corner. Janelle attends college at Dalhousie, and she said the poutine at this college dive was great, especially at 1 in the morning. After trying it, we agree. We then went to the Discovery Centre so the kids could play around in the exhibits and ended our time downtown with a stop at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and another for some ice cream.

Landon kept working on this puzzle until . . .

he solved it!

The Famous Freak Lunchbox: Where Willy Wonka comes when in Halifax

Hallie managed to get a pic with Wills and Kate at the AGNS gift shop.

On Tuesday, Kira put lights on the tree, and when we got back to the house on Wednesday, we decorated the tree with tinsel and the pewter ornaments from Amos Pewter the Doreys have collected since they first got married. Landon and Eliza both got a kick out of hanging the ornaments, although Eliza seemed more interested in eating them rather than placing them on the tree.

On Thursday morning, Mike and Landon tossed the ball in the backyard so we could take advantage of the relatively warm weather and so Landon could blow off some steam before the predicted snow began to fall. Kathy and Mike took Landon and Eliza to Kathy’s work, where Landon got to test out an International semi truck. Later, they met up with Hallie and Kira, who got their nails done down at the mall. We all headed back to Wal-Mart so the Doreys could have their family pictures. We ended the evening with supper at Swiss Chalet.

We woke up Friday morning to a blanket of snow. What the weatherman predicted would be about two inches rapidly turned into five by morning’s end. The guys went down to Bridgewater to run some errands while Hallie and Landon played some in the snow. While they were gone, the girls went to Papa D’s for donairs and pizza. After the boys came back, Neil and Mike made an improvised Margherita/Greek veggie combo pizza. We engaged in a flurry of present wrapping, listening to music, and watching movies in preparation for Christmas. Landon has really seemed to understand this year what is going on, and he’s excited.

We had a surprise visitor early Saturday morning. Mike came upstairs in the wee hours and was sleeping on the couch to avoid waking the baby. As he was lying there quietly, a small animal hopped on his head and jumped down onto the floor. He could hear the little animal making movements around the Christmas tree and under the love seat. At one point, the two of them looked each other in the eye, and Mike saw that it was about the size of a chipmunk. Not quite sure what to do, Mike just hung out with the rodent for a bit until Austin came out. Once he saw it from its new perch on the tree, Austin identified it as a flying squirrel.

Now you see him (lower right corner).

Now you don't! (He's the blur hopping off the arm of the couch into the tree.)

The two of them made an attempt to catch the squirrel to no avail. Soon, Kathy, Neil, Hallie, Kira, and the kids had joined in, with accompanying hijinks worthy of a Griswold family Christmas vacation. Neil, Kira, and Mike spent a half hour chasing the poor critter from tree to floor and back again batting at the tree with a broomstick and a wrapping paper roll before we finally wore the squirrel down and trapped it (Kira deserves the credit for actually getting the beastie into the bucket--quick hands!). Janelle and Kathy later dropped our guest off near town, (hopefully) none the worse for wear.

Trapped!

Careful. . . . Careful!

After our morning adventure, some of us went down to a municipal park (the MARC) to go sledding. Eliza didn't like the cold too well, but Landon took to the slope with gusto. After a few trips up and down the hill, we had our blood pumping and felt less winter chill. The older boys (including Mike) even braved "Suicide Hill" a few times.

Back at the house, folks had started preparing dinner. In the mean time, the kids played around:

1, 2, 3. Pin!

Eliza was kept busy chasing Bryce's laser light.

After a delicious Christmas supper, we sent the little ones off to bed and awaited Santa's arrival. More on what happened after he came next week!

On the Road Again for the Holidays

2011-12-18T22:04:00.000-05:00

This year instead of driving west on Route 66 to California, we’re driving east to spend Christmas with Neil and Kathy and their kids in Nova Scotia.

The kids ready to make tracks on day one.

On our first day, we made our way through Ontario to Niagara Falls, New York, where we stayed at a hotel with a pool. When we stay in hotels that have a pool, Dad and the kids like to take advantage to get some well-needed physical activity in, especially on the long driving days. The kids love going to the pool! Each time Eliza sees the pool, she lets out a little squeal and practically jumps out of Mike’s arms to get into the water.

From Niagara Falls, we drove past the Finger Lakes, through upstate New York, and into the southeastern Adirondacks before crossing Lake Champlain into Vermont. This is the first time any of us has been to Vermont, and we chose to drive through because of the many fun small businesses we know that are located there. More on that later.

While we had decent weather Wednesday, Thursday started with rain and never let go. We were in such a hurry to get packed in the morning that between Mike packing the big bags and Hallie making sure the kids got settled in the car, we forgot our laptops at the hotel! About two hours down the road, Mike asked Hallie about the computers, and come to find out each thought the other had brought them out. Fortunately, we live in a miraculous modern age. Rather than having to schlep the two hours back to Niagara Falls only to have to retrace our steps for yet another two hours, we made a cell phone call to the hotel to verify the laptops were in our room and another to FedEx to arrange to have them shipped to the hotel we’d be staying at Friday evening. Even as recently as five or ten years ago, making the problem go away would have required quite a bit more time and effort. Of course, not so many people had the kinds of problems that laptops and smart phones (amazing little computers that they are) both cause and resolve.

Still, what could have become a road block merely became a speed bump as we continued to make our way through scenic rural New York admiring the stately old New England architecture and homes decked out in Christmas cheer. It started to get dark at around 3:30 (yikes!), what with the rain clouds and all. By the time we reached the Adirondacks, we only had headlights and Christmas lights to guide us on our way. Eventually, however, we did cross Lake Champlain and into rainy, dark Vermont. Not a great first impression, but things got better.

Once we made it to Middlebury, we found our lodgings for the night at the Middlebury Inn, a historic hotel that has operated continuously for over 180 years. Our room had actually been two rooms at one point, as evidenced by the two bathrooms and the framing between the front and the back of the bedroom. One of the great parts of going on a Christmas road trip is seeing how different parts of the country bedeck themselves for the season. We saw many candles in windows, garlands over doors, and multi-colored lights along roof lines. While these features can be seen all over, they seem more picturesque when the homes they hang upon predate the last century or two.

Our room at the Middlebury was so big that we could have had Landon sleep in the closet.

When Landon woke up the next morning, the first thing he did was jump out of bed to trap Eliza in the closet. Oh, boy. We hoped his antics would not be a sign of things to come. Landon does enjoy road trips and staying at hotels, but he doesn’t always behave so well when we take these long trips. Frankly, it’s hard for a big person, and much more so for a wee one like him. We had breakfast at the inn: Waffles with Vermont maple syrup and an omelet with maple cured ham. They’re big on maple in Vermont, and with reason. Five percent of all the maple syrup in the world comes from here.

From the inn, we embarked on our “Made in Vermont” tour. Our first three stops were right in Middlebury, which is an area that has attracted many creative people. We stopped first at Maple Landmark Woodcraft, a company that sells handmade toys and knickknacks made from maple and other hardwoods. The smell of wood being sawed and sanded sent Mike back to those times when he would help his parents with woodworking projects like cutting wood panels for the living room and his bedroom or headboards for his and his sister’s beds. Love that smell! We bought Eliza a colorful little rattle with a bell and Landon a truck to build and a yo-yo to learn how to make spin. Both kids seemed very content to play with their new toys for the rest of the day and beyond.

From there, we went to Danforth Pewter, known for its jewelry, Disney ornaments, and snowflake ornaments inspired from the prints made by “Snowflake” Wilson Bentley (more on him later). We have a few of the snowflake ornaments, so we wanted to see where the magic happened. We had an interesting conversation with the shopkeeper, who said that the owners still come in each day to work on their craft. Judi Danforth hand carves in wax the molds for each of the company’s creations, and Fred Danforth does the holloware creations (vases, cups, plates, etc.). We found some baubles and a couple of keepsake boxes for the kids. Beautiful work!

Next, we traveled back down the road to Beau Ties, Ltd. of Vermont. Mike has bought bow ties through their online store, so we thought since we were here, it would be fun to stop in. We met the owners, Bill Kenerson and Deb Venman, who come in most days to see how things are running. The sales room was all of 14 feet square, and the factory floor consisted of a team of maybe a dozen women sewing ties from beautiful and exotic fabrics in a longer room that could be seen through a window in the sales room. Of course, we had to get some ties for the road. Strangely, Landon expressed no interest in getting his own tie. Apparently ties make his neck feel tight (Have we mentioned that Landon really does not like dressing up for church on Sundays?). “Ain’t that the truth?” Mike agrees.

We were surprised by how small each of these businesses looked in person. Each business consisted of basically one large(ish) building with a retail store that looked onto an area where customers can see workers either saw and sand wooden toys, work and pour pewter, or cut and sew bow tie fabric. You get the sense that these are products made right here right now by real people with skill and creativity.

We left Middlebury to go up to Shelburne and the Vermont Teddy Bear factory. Several years back, when they still lived in Provo, Mike and Hallie bought each other two Vermont Teddy Bears (Maggie and Ebenezer) for their anniversary in the days before they had kiddos of their own. Now the four of us got to see where Vermont Teddies are born. We took a pun-laden factory tour with the requisite workers actually sewing and assembling the bears, and we learned that not only are the bears assembled in the US, but that they are made from American materials. We bought Eliza a little bear to be friends with the one Zoraida bought for her, and Eliza seemed to like that idea. Landon was very helpful and drew Eliza a picture before going to the children’s play area to build himself a foam log and stone house. Mom bought the kids cute pajamas at a great discount at the PajamaGram outlet store (Vermont Teddy Bears and PajamaGram are sister companies).

Daylight was burning, so we pressed on to our next stop: Jericho, home to “Snowflake” Wilson Bentley and the Jericho Historical Society located in the Old Red Mill. Mr. Bentley was a pioneer in the field of photomicrography, and over many years he took more than 5000 pictures of snowflakes. His work was published in National Geographic and Scientific American. The Old Red Mill has a store and a Snowflake Bentley exhibit, so we went over to take a look.

We ended our day in Waterbury at the Ben & Jerry’s factory tour. We saw a movie about the company’s founding and history, watched ice cream being made and packaged in the plant, and had samples of ice cream. Yummy! As part of Mike’s tour, he got a T-shirt that read “Body by Ben & Jerry’s.”

Our new motto. Not to be frivolous, but life's too short not to do what inspires you and gives you joy!

One thing that struck Mike about Vermont as we went on the tours was the quiet sense of pride Vermonters seemed to feel in their independence and spirit of entrepreneurship. It’s telling that Vermont was an independent nation for a few years between the end of the Revolution and its becoming the 14^th State of the USA. Some of that independent spirit seems to have continued to the present day.

When we arrived at our hotel in Waterbury, our computers had arrived to greet us. After another dip in the pool, the kids (and grown-ups) were more than ready to hit the hay.

"I'm happy to sleep right here, thanks!"

We spent most of Saturday and Sunday on the road in earnest, traveling first from Waterbury, Vermont to St. Andrews by the Sea, New Brunswick, and then from St. Andrews to New Germany, Nova Scotia. On Saturday, we began the day a little late due to the fact that, despite the weather reports to the contrary, it snowed during the night. Well, it is early winter, so we shouldn’t have been surprised. Still, we dropped twenty degrees from Thursday to Friday, and about ten more from Saturday to Sunday. On Sunday morning, we awoke to a thermometer reading of 13 degrees. And we’re going further north?!

We concluded our drive through Vermont by passing through Montpelier (pop. 7800 +/-), the smallest capital of the 50 states, and moving from mostly maple and spruce into stands of birch. While the area is asleep now, signs abounded advertising summertime camping and fishing attractions. We imagine the area must be magnificent in the fall, judging by all the hills filled with now-dormant deciduous trees.

As we entered New Hampshire on Saturday morning, we had our first bit of morning drama when a lady made a left turn right in front of Hallie into her lane. Nothing like a near collision to get the blood pumping and set the paranoia into high gear. We continued down US Route 2 and Interstate 93 through the Washington Valley, and as we reached the top of a crest, we looked down to find Santa’s Village. While many might think Santa lives at the North Pole (and some of us still remember that he used to live in Southern California), it turns out he lives near Jefferson, New Hampshire! Too bad we couldn’t stay to play and visit, but we had miles to go and daylight was a-burnin’. The previous night’s snow had left the Mt. Washington Valley dusted with a light layer of new fallen snow, and clouds still shrouded the top of Mt. Washington, home to the wildest weather in the country.

We wound our way through New Hampshire’s hamlets and into Maine. By 3:30 it started getting dark again, and homes started lighting up for the Christmas season. Out here many people not only decorate their homes, but if they don’t have a lit evergreen tree out in their front yard, they may have one decorated up on their front porch, in addition to the tree inside. The whole area is quite rural, so we would come across a house or two only every so often as we progressed from Bangor to Calais and St. Stephen. After making a last minute stop at the Wal-Mart in Calais for some items we forgot to pack, we finally entered Canada, where we lost an hour as we moved into Atlantic time.

We stayed the night at the Fairmont Algonquin Hotel in St. Andrews by the Sea, a grand old lady in the style of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island or the Hotel Coronado in San Diego. Our room had been upgraded, so we had plenty of room to move around. Although we had basically spent the day sitting, we all settled down pretty quickly for an early bedtime. Here are some views of the hotel:

Some views from St. Andrews:

Look closer to see the mist rising off the water as it the moist air drops to below freezing.

On Sunday, we drove from New Brunswick to Nova Scotia. Nothing special to report about the actual road trip. We had mostly dry roads with some snow part way through the trip. Once we got to the Doreys’, we were just happy to be done for a bit. The kids enjoyed getting out of the car to stretch their legs and visiting with everyone. Now we can look forward to experiencing a Nova Scotia Christmas!

Some Photos From After Our Sealing

2011-12-12T19:50:00.001-05:00

Here are some photos Kelsey took of us at the Los Angeles Temple. Enjoy!

Where We Live, Santa Doesn’t Need Reindeer

2011-12-11T21:51:00.001-05:00

This week was mostly about getting back into the routines of daily life at home. Part of that meant that the kiddies both had colds and jet lag. Poor Eliza has some serious gas that is causing her to smell pretty . . . unladylike. Is it a holdover from her stomach bug? Hope not.

On Thursday, Landon, Eliza, and Hallie went to the Grosse Pointe Moms Club Christmas Business Social. Landon had fun running and playing with kids. Eliza had fun showing off her walking skills. Hallie had fun chatting with other moms. To make sure Mike had some time to get grading done, the three amigos went out to lunch at Olga’s with Sara and Chase. They did not cause any waitresses to quit, so they deemed it a successful lunch.

Thursday continued to be a busy day when Hallie headed over to have a teacher conference with Miss Deb in the evening. Our 15 minute meeting concluded with Hallie signing the papers so that Landon would be exited from speech therapy. We are proud of him and his accomplishments, and we thank the staff at Barnes for all of their help. Now he says he wants to keep going to school, so we will have to look into the next chapter of preschool. Hopefully we can keep him at bay until the fall with school at home and gymnastics classes.

The evening concluded with Hallie attending a performance of Wicked at the Detroit Opera House with three other ladies from church. Mike took great care of the kids, and all was well when she returned from her amazing evening of being enlightened and “Defying Gravity.”

On Saturday morning, we went to the Grosse Pointe War Memorial (formerly the Alger family mansion) down by Lake St. Clair. After we had breakfast in the ballroom, Santa Claus rode in not on a sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer, but in a helicopter!

Santa greeted the children at each table and let us take his picture. Eliza wasn't too sure what to think about the big red man with the white beard.

After our visit with St. Nick, we headed downstairs to the auditorium where the kiddies had a concert with the Merry Music Maker and danced to tunes from the holiday season. Landon danced in the pit and Eliza bopped in her seat.

After the concert ended, we went back up for a more formal photo op with Santa.

As the picture shows, the kids are really excited to be visiting with Santa.

Hallie bought a storage bin for Eliza’s toys earlier in the week, and in the afternoon the boys put it together. Landon did a great job using the Allen wrench and assembling the pieces together. Such a good helper and such a big boy! He watches “This Old House” and “Dirty Jobs” with Dad, and he has recently expressed an interest in learning how to use “dangerous” tools. Oh, boy.

Speaking of big kids, Eliza is now 10 months old, walking, and too busy to hold still to take a picture with her bear. Better watch out!

Spending Time in the Happiest Place(s) on Earth

2011-12-04T22:30:00.001-05:00

We had the opportunity to attend two of the happiest places on earth this week when at the beginning of the week we went to Disneyland and at the end of the week we had Eliza sealed to us in the Los Angeles LDS temple.

Like dominos falling, family members continued to succumb to the stomach virus early in the week. Eliza got sick on Sunday, and we actually hoped Hallie would get sick too just so she could be done with it. No luck.

The kids went to visit their cousins in Simi on Monday, and Landon, Lucas, and Haydn went hiking in the hills behind Grandma and Grandpa O.'s house.

We headed to the Disneyland Resort on Tuesday, going first to Disney’s California Adventure. Here are some details from our hotel room. Little Disney and Mickey ear touches everywhere:

The mural lit up with fiber optic fireworks, and the accent pillows read, "When you wish upon a star. . . your dreams come true."

Lamps,

bathroom tiles,

faucets,

wall sconces,

and event the carpet all had mouse ears.

Of course, we had to make a stop at the LEGO Store in Downtown Disney on our way to the parks.

We started at California Adventure with a few rides, shows, and visits with animated characters.

Landon took off like a rocket on all the roller coaster rides whose height requirements met, including the Tower of Terror. In fact, he rode it twice, and the second time he rode, a guy in the same row as us seemed more interested in seeing how the boy would handle the drops than in his own thrills! Landon never ceases to amaze.

Dad hamming it up while the guy to his left looks to see what Landon will do, which is be awesome, of course.

Getting ready to ride the ladybugs

Cars Land (coming in 2012, dang it!!)

Alas, Hallie finally got sick late Tuesday night, and Eliza was still a little under the weather. However, iron lady that she is, Hallie grinned and bore it through the nausea. Bummer for her that we had a character breakfast! She couldn’t eat, and Landon didn’t eat because he was too excited/distracted by the characters. Mike was not about to eat for three because he didn’t want to puke on the roller coasters. Joy, joy. In spite of it all, we took in the whole Disneyland experience, and Landon continued to show a love for fast rides in Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Mickey’s Toon Town, and New Orleans Square (he’s not so fond of the “scary” Haunted Mansion, however).

Morning play time

Eliza liked Pluto.

Er, maybe.

Pluto really liked Landon (nom, nom, nom).

Eliza was really not sure about Dale, so Dale kept his distance.

On the other hand, Chip got right into the action.

Princesses are more what Eliza seems to like.

Poor baby had a diaper blow-out, so Mom had to buy her something to wear.

We bought little hats for the kiddos.

Landon chose to use some of his birthday money to purchase an upgrade.

About the talent of these steadfast tin soldiers, all we can say is, "Wow!"

It's a Small World decked out for Christmas, inside and out

Landon's strong, but it's almost as if those weights were stuck to the ground or something!

We watched the Christmas parade and fireworks and saw the soap (er, I mean, snow) fall over a magical Main Street all decked out in holiday cheer.

Mike and Landon went to Disneyland by themselves on Thursday morning, going to the parts they’d missed the day before. They started the morning in Adventureland. After riding the Jungle Cruise twice and climbing around Tarzan’s Treehouse, Landon led Mike on his own little adventure when the child wandered off. Thank you, thank you to the wonderful Disneyland cast members and security staff who quickly and calmly found the boy and reunited father and son. We’re putting Landon on a leash next time. ;) Hallie and Eliza joined us a little while later, and after some more exploring of Main Street, New Orleans Square, and Frontierland, we decided to pack it in before traffic hit between Anaheim and Thousand Oaks and so we could get ready to go to the temple.

So long, Disneyland! See you in a few years!

On Friday we finally were able to have some family members and friends join us for Eliza’s sealing. Of course, we had just a few last minute dramatic elements to sear the event into our memories. First, Hallie woke up in the middle of the night with an upset stomach (not illness, just popcorn that disagreed with her). Then, Eliza had a bit of a relapse with her illness, only this time her problems had migrated downstairs. Mike and the kids headed to the temple first, with Hallie and Carly following a few minutes later and Dwight and Marilyn following a bit after that. Mike and the kids managed to get through traffic and to the temple on time, with his parents next in line. However, we were not yet in the clear.

We had been all prepared the week prior with changes of clothing, photographer, adoption decree, and so on, but a lot of that preparation went by the wayside when we went to Disneyland. Mike washed the shirt he was going to wear for family pictures . . . and then left it hanging rather than bringing it. We had the adoption decree in Mike’s computer bag all ready to bring, . . . and then we left the computer bag at home. Mike realized this part way into the trip, but when he tried to reach Hallie, she did not respond (she had misplaced her phone). Getting no response from Hallie, he tried Carly a few minutes later. She and Hallie were too far along to turn back, so they contacted Dwight and Marilyn, who drove back another hour in LA traffic to pick it up. In order to be sealed, we had to confirm with the temple that Eliza was in fact our legal child, hence the need for the adoption decree. No decree would have meant that the whole trip had been for naught.

When Mike and the kids arrived at the temple, he let the workers know that Hallie and the decree were on their way, but the workers let us know that we would have to wait to get the decree before we could really do anything. However, the workers let Mike put the kids in the youth center to get ready while the grown-ups sorted things out. Eventually everyone and everything required arrived and we were able to be sealed to Eliza. Seeing our babies dressed in white and knowing that we are now really and truly a forever family made all the drama disappear.

We have just a couple of candids here. Eliza kept running away from the camera. More pics to follow.

All too soon it was Saturday and time to return to Detroit. We only had slight delays getting to and leaving our layover in Denver, but after a day’s worth of flying, we finally arrived home safe and sound with piles of mail and packages and laundry to sort through. But that’s all work for another day. In the mean time, we’re trying to get the kids acclimated back to Eastern time and old home routines. As of this writing, Eliza does not seem interested in settling down and getting some needed rest (four hours trying and counting). She’s still trying to get over the bug, which has settled in to her guts and doesn’t want to go away. Poor baby!

For Every Thing (Especially Family), We Give Thanks

2011-11-27T18:59:00.001-05:00

We’re spending a couple of weeks in California in part to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and in part to be sealed to Eliza in the Los Angeles Temple. It is a vacation for Hallie and the kids, but poor Mike has to work (or at least make a worthy effort). We are staying at Hallie’s parents’ house, and two of Hallie’s siblings and their families have also been here. In addition to Carly and her family who live here, Riley and his family drove down from Utah. As an extra surprise, they brought with them a stomach bug that made its way through the household. Starting with little Porter, it seemed like one night after another someone came down with the pukes. We were due to go to the temple on Saturday, but Mike and Landon woke up in the middle of the night before with upset stomachs and continued that way throughout Saturday morning. It would not have been quite so bad, except that the boys had eaten Tommy's chili cheeseburgers. Needless to say, we had to reschedule our appointment. So disappointing! We’ll try again next Friday.

Illness and delay aside, we enjoyed spending time with extended relations from Hallie’s and Mike’s sides of the family, who both live in the area. The kids really benefited from their time with family. Landon, Cru, and Porter played (and fought) at full throttle. We took advantage of the sunny and warm weather to walk down to the playground at the local park.

Porter getting ready to slide

Uncle Shad building sand piles with the boys

Eliza giggling as she swings on the swing set

Eliza made real progress with her walking this week. She moved from taking a few steps to taking long walks all on her own. She also has become quite a chatterbox:

That summer Saturday when the Chrysler people came to film on our block has continued to have ripples in Landon’s life. Last week we received word from an ad agency that Landon would be in a print ad in USA Today’s weekend print edition, and on Wednesday we found out from our neighbor that he and the neighbors’ kids would be in a spot during the Lions-Packers football game. In case you missed it, here it is. He's a blip about 18 seconds in:

Ad Week's Ad of the Day for November 22.

Here are the words to the poem "See It Through" by Edgar A. Guest that was recited in the ad:

When you’re up against a trouble,

Meet it squarely, face to face;

Lift your chin and set your shoulders,

Plant your feet and take a brace.

When it’s vain to try to dodge it,

Do the best that you can do;

You may fail, but you may conquer,

See it through!

Black may be the clouds about you

And your future may seem grim,

But don’t let your nerve desert you;

Keep yourself in fighting trim.

If the worst is bound to happen,

Spite of all that you can do,

Running from it will not save you,

See it through!

Even hope may seem but futile,

When with troubles you’re beset,

But remember you are facing

Just what other men have met.

You may fail, but fall still fighting;

Don’t give up, whate’er you do;

Eyes front, head high to the finish.

See it through!

We spent Thanksgiving morning and afternoon with Mike’s family and the evening at Hallie’s enjoying football and food and all the trappings of the day. We feel very grateful especially this year for our children and our family. We are blessed to have our extended family and to have the ability to share our lives with them.

A little worn out there, Grandpa?

Hallie and the ladies stayed up until midnight on Thanksgiving to shop and then took to the mall again on Black Friday. Mike and the kids spent Friday with Mike’s parents, sister, and nephews. At Grandma and Grandpa O.’s, Landon and his cousins Haydn and Lucas climbed and swing on the new rope swing and played catch with Shep, Grandpa’s Malinois, in the back yard while Eliza practiced her walking skills.

While we did not get to go to the temple on Saturday, we did get to celebrate Riley’s birthday with his favorite trifle. Eliza learned how to ride a hobby horse, and her Aunt Carly painted her toenails for the first time.

They headed back up on Sunday, but not before we got some photos of the cousins, including Eliza in her Sunday best.

We Love Road Trips, Even If This One Was the Pitts(burgh)

2011-11-20T19:00:00.001-05:00

We’re putting the kids through the paces and getting them used to taking upcoming holiday trips. Part of their preparation has included countless hours of listening to Kids Place Live on Sirius XM Radio over the past month as Hallie tools them around town. Prior to this point, we would listen to the same CDs ad nauseum. Now we’ve been introduced to a whole new world of chipper tunes aimed at the wee set.

Random picture having nothing to do with what we wrote above. Just cute!

Mike had an educational leadership conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and we all went together. More on that later. Mike had meetings up at Wayne State early in the week, and Hallie took on the lion’s share of getting things organized not only for our Pittsburgh trip, but also for California and Nova Scotia, both of which will follow in short order now that Thanksgiving and Christmas are near.

Early in the week, we received some great news related to that Chrysler 300 commercial that was filmed on our block a while back. While the kids did not end up in the commercial, we did get asked if Landon’s picture could be included in some print advertising, so he’ll get paid a little something for that. Good thing, too, because we know just where to put it: Gymnastics. Landon has started doing forward flips without touching his head to the ground and doing headstands without support. His antics are fun to watch, but they’re a little scary too. It’s time to see what else he can do, given the right equipment!

Eliza now walks 10 or more steps at a time. She has this cute little Frankenstein walk she does to keep her balance, and she has some real muscle! She’ll pull herself up to a standing position or do pull ups (see photos below). She’s getting better at getting down from chairs she has climbed up onto, but we have to keep looking after her constantly to make sure one of her explorations doesn’t end with her face down on the floor.

Landon keeps Eliza in fits of laughter when they play together. She constantly has to know what he’s up to, so she will follow him from place to place and want to play with his toys. For the most part, Landon plays patiently with her. Sometimes he doesn’t know his own strength, so we let them do their own thing, but we keep an eye out from a distance.

Anyway, back to the week’s activities. We left Wednesday morning bright and early so Mike could make his first session in Pittsburgh by the early afternoon. While Mike attended the conference, Hallie and the kids tooled around the local area taking in the sights and window shopping. When Mike was available, they took in more sights, shopped some more, and played in the pool. Highlights included tooling around downtown and going to the Children’s Museum. Two historic buildings, the Allegheny Post Office and Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science were connected by a large glass structure and converted into the present museum. What a neat way to repurpose these beautiful buildings!

As he was walking through part of the third floor, Mike noticed a wall inscription of more than passing interest to the Latter-day Saint community:

1 Corinthians 15:41. This is the only view Mike could get from the museum.

Here's a better view from before the planetarium was added to the post office part of the museum. (Photo courtesy buhlplanetarium.tripod.com)

The museum is rated as one of the ten best of its kind in the country, and with good reason. Landon and Eliza spent their entire time there moving and playing and discovering all sorts of new colors, textures, machines, and toys.

Budding artist painting a triangle and other shapes he knows.

She could walk around like this for a good long time.

Making paper out of pulp

You can see the dome of the old planetarium in this big play space.

Building paper rockets

3, 2, 1, BLAST OFF!

We finally figured what will stop Eliza in her tracks: a ramp. She can go up, but she doesn't know how to get down yet!

Doing pull ups? No problem!

The "sand" is actually bird seed. Genius!

The Children’s Museum also has several pieces of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood memorabilia, so Hallie and Mike took their own little walk down Memory Lane.

The Owl and the Pussycat's tree house

King Friday XIII's castle

Remembering the old days with Daniel Stripèd Tiger. Good times!

After our excursion to the museum, we took in some of the local road food at Primanti Bros., "almost famous" for their corned beef (and other) sandwiches each topped with tomato, sweet cole slaw, and natural cut fried potatoes. A bit unusual, but quite tasty! Thanks to Rick and Lisa for the tip!

Too bad we were there on a Saturday. ;)

Mike’s final meeting was on Sunday morning, so after that, the clan hit the road back home. We don’t have much of a chance for a break in the action, because on Monday we’re off to California!

A Day to Celebrate Adoption

2011-11-19T10:30:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to all those families who will grow a little bigger today as they finalize their adoptions today, National Adoption Day!

According to its website, "National Adoption Day is a national day of celebration of adoptive families and an opportunity for courts to open their doors and finalize the adoptions of children from foster care. Since 2000, more than 35,000 children have had their adoptions finalized on National Adoption Day.

"On November 19, 2011, families, adoption advocates, policymakers, judges and volunteers will come together and celebrate adoption in communities large and small all across the nation."

Today we celebrate with all those whose lives have been touched by the miracle of adoption!

Wee Beasties at the Zoo, at the Circus, and at Home

2011-11-13T18:45:00.001-05:00

Eliza had her well visit and is at the 50th percentile in all categories. She’s a healthy and strong little girl. She’s taking more steps in a row and makes herself known with all her chattering. She has even learned how to climb up on small chairs and stools. Once on top she stands up and blows raspberries at you as if she is saying, “Look, I can do it!”

Hallie took the kids to the zoo on Tuesday. We’ve really enjoyed the mild November weather and are taking advantage of being outdoors while the temperatures are still in the 50s and 60s. Some hay bales had been arranged into a maze for the Zoo Boo, and people could still walk through. Landon had other ideas as he climbed onto the bales and leaped from one to another. To his worried mother, he remarked, “I always land on my feet.” And generally, he does. He played like this for more than an hour, and even with the crisp weather, he was sweating.

The new enclosures allow people to get close to the animals (perhaps too close for this arctic fax?).

While we typically don’t start decorating for Christmas until after Thanksgiving, we did add just a little holiday cheer to the living room with a Lego winter village. Both Landon and Eliza have really wanted to get their hands on the minifigs, trucks, and wagons that come with the buildings. Landon has an easier time not destroying everything like a raging giant monster. With Eliza, we have to make sure to watch very carefully so that a villager doesn’t make an unintended trip down her throat. Eliza has two small teeth now, and everything she can grab (cereal puffs, paper, dust bunnies, wrappers, etc.) goes into her mouth. We have had to be very careful to try to keep the house tidier than before she got so mobile. This has been a bit of a challenge this week between Mike’s cold and Hallie’s sore back. Either the parents are showing their age, or the kids just naturally keep one step ahead. Landon helped Dad put the yard to bed for the winter by raking and piling up leaves. He’s a great helper and a hard worker who loves to get out his gardening tools anytime Dad’s out in the yard.

Hallie took Landon to the Ringling Bros. Circus on Friday. They had excellent seats right near all the action. He laughed at the mock super hero clowns. “Clowns are hilarious!” he quipped. He decided that elephants are his favorite animals. The great beasts stood and lay down and did other amazing tricks as the crowd applauded. Landon liked watching all the acrobats tumble and fly and balance high up in the air. At the end Landon told Hallie that he wanted to do that one day. He marveled at the motorcyclists defying gravity as they rode in the huge spherical cage. Such fun! However, he actually found the small toy Mom bought for him to be much more mesmerizing. Strange how it’s the little things that seem to grab the kids’ attention.

OK, it is a pretty cool toy, after all.

People were invited onto the floor prior to the performance.

We ran a bunch of errands on Saturday in preparation for our upcoming trips. We’ll be back and forth from home quite a bit leading into the holidays between a trip for Mike’s work, Eliza’s sealing, and visits with family in California and Nova Scotia. We’ll have turned into regular road warriors by the time we get done. Landon is looking forward to watching movies in the car as he knows no movies unless we go on an adventure. Eliza will be looking forward to getting to our final destinations so she can get out and get all of her wiggles out. Look forward to lots of fun pictures in upcoming weeks.

Trick or Treats, Sick and Sweets

2011-11-06T17:04:00.001-05:00

We received Eliza's blessing dress in the mail from Grandma Dorey on Monday. So adorable!

She wouldn't hold still, so Landon tried to help. . . .

On Halloween night Landon and Hallie went trick or treating.

Landon with some friends from the branch.

Mike, Eliza, and Diamond stayed home and passed out candy. Not all the kids (teenagers, mostly) wore costumes. Mike and Diamond had them do at least a little something to get a treat, and most of the kids took it in good humor. Highlights included a Spanish speaker and his friend, a French speaker:

Kid: “Bonjour, Madame.”

Mike: “I’m not a ‘madame.’”

Kid: “I just told you I was a French speaker.”

Fair enough.

Another kid said he could do a back flip off the porch, but then he decided not to. No treat for him. Our last visitors of the night were a teenage girl dressed in black with a painted nose and whiskers accompanied by a young man in round wire-rimmed glasses and a mock turtleneck shirt. “What are you?” Mike asked. “An intellectual,” the boy replied with a formal reserve worthy of the most erudite academician.

On Wednesday Eliza woke up coughing and sneezing. We thought it might relate to her teeth coming in, but that evening Mike came home from work sounding froggy. So, from Thursday through the weekend we had two sickies spreading the joy throughout the house. Mike’s voice is completely shot. Hopefully this clears up for him by Tuesday, otherwise he’s going to have to get creative with the live spoken portion of his online classes. Eliza has had a hard time sleeping and eating because of her stuffy nose, but she keeps smiling through it all. That is, when she’s not coughing, sneezing, or crying.

Between selling the condo, buying the minivan, and consolidating the finances, we’ve had a lot of recent activities designed to set our house in order. This last week, Hallie, Diamond, and Sara organized the kids’ old clothes and toys to sell them at a mom-to-mom sale at the War Memorial. They sold about a third of what they set out, including a few big ticket items. Sweet! Plus we have things all set for another mom-to-mom or yard sale in the spring.

The kids played around a bit in the den yesterday afternoon. Landon hid under the futon cover and had Eliza giggling up a storm playing peek-a-boo with her. Eliza also showed off her climbing skills by scaling from a chair to the couch to the baby gate. It would have been all downhill from there, so Dad nudged her back over to the couch.

"Gotcha!"

(Love that wiggly tongue! That she's using it to clean her snotty nose, not so much.)

Eliza has really taken to standing and walking a few steps at a time. She’s so quick at crawling now that she’ll even bear walk when she’s really in a hurry.

Landon graduated from his preschool program and now has extra time for Play and Say, Play Central, and Pipsqueak PE. He’ll have plenty of opportunities to learn while he blows off steam through the winter.

More Birthday and Halloween Festivities

2011-10-30T18:27:00.000-04:00

We had more fun this week celebrating Landon’s birthday. Early in the week, we went to Hallowe’en at Greenfield Village with Derek, Janel, and their family. Always a (trick or) treat!

These guys were cute. Noticing Landon dressed in camouflage, they said, "That's a great costume! What are you, a ghost? All we can see is your head."

Singing Jack O'Lanterns, a new feature this year.

Eliza watching joke-telling pirates. "How much do pirate earrings cost? A buck an ear!"

We ended the night in Sleepy Hollow, . . .

where we found the infamous Headless Horseman.

Ichabod Crane mugs for the camera.

Another boo-rific Halloween at Greenfield Village!

We put together a “big boy” LEGO set he received for his birthday. It took three sessions over three days to build Lightning, Mack, and Mack’s trailer. Landon was very patient with his dad while Dad insisted on following the directions.

Landon has learned how to draw faces and squares in addition to circles.

The green squiggle inside the face is the brain.

He showed off his knowledge as we carved a Jack O’ Lantern.

I love looking at his hands.

That look of intense concentration

Steady. Steady!

With the finished product: A Landon original.

After pumpkin carving, it was time to make scary shadows!

Fall colors have really started showing in Detroit, and we missed the snow! We feel bad for all of you in the mountains and back east. We’ll have our turn soon enough, but until then we will take our crisp clear autumn days.

Landon received a Hot Wheels motorcycle race track from Sara and Chase for his birthday. Thanks!

We spent a very busy and enjoyable Saturday with our friends Sean and Jen, their kids Katelyn and Bryan, and their family as they went to the temple to be sealed together as an eternal family. We are so happy for them!

Mike was up and on the go from the early morning to the night time. He never got a chance to change out of his suit until the evening! From the temple, we trekked back home to pick up the kids and take them to Fishbones in St. Clair Shores to continue the celebration before we headed down to the church for our branch’s Halloween party. Lots of kids attended, and games, food, and treats were enjoyed by all.

Today (Sunday), the children aged 12 and under participated in our branch’s annual Primary program. Landon and the other kids had been preparing to share music and words on the theme “I Know the Scriptures are True.” Landon, Katelyn, and Bryan sang “I Love to See the Temple,” in part because all three of them have or will have special temple experiences this year.

Eliza continues to amuse and amaze. She is generally quite social, and she enjoys making flirty smiles at everyone. She had a hard time last night. It could have been all of yesterday’s excitement, or it could have been that her first tooth broke through (yay!). Mike was feeding her at church, and he felt it then. It’s barely poking through, so we’ll try to get a picture whenever she lets us close enough.

Remembering Grandma Andrus, 1918-2011

2011-10-25T21:13:00.000-04:00

Winifred Andrus, Mike's "adopted" grandma, and a very special lady in our family, passed away last week. We love her and are grateful to have known her. Her kind influence will be felt for generations.

Eliza got to meet her great grandma when she was a week old.

Mike has many memories of coming up to visit his Aunt Karen and Grandma Andrus and playing with his cousins, Grandma's biological grandchildren. Grandma had several children and grandchildren who lived locally, so Mike and his sisters (whose cousins by blood were all older and lived far away) had plenty of playmates. Between the dairy farm, the rural setting, and the shelves full of books, there was always something new going on!

Her home in Marion, Utah, always has a special spirit about it. In a lot of ways, it's a little slice of heaven on earth. We will miss you, Grandma!

Aunt Karen sent Grandma's obituary from the Deseret News. Read it for a small glimpse into the life of an elect lady.

Milestones

2011-10-24T11:03:00.000-04:00

Eliza is on the verge of reaching a few milestones: 1) she has two bottom teeth that are just about ready to sprout (with all the accompanying drool and moodiness); 2) she has proven to herself that she can get up on two feet, stay up, and take a few tentative steps; and 3) she has learned about "ma-ma-ma" (feed me!), "da-da-da" (I'm having fun making this mess), "na-na-na" (Landon), and the gestures for "yes" and "no":

First teeth, first big steps, and first words will be following in short order.

Birthday Celebrations from Oz to Zoo (Plus Some Halloween Too!)

2011-10-22T23:09:00.002-04:00

We have spread Landon’s birthday celebration out this year, giving it to him in small chunks over several days. We started Monday by taking him and a couple of missionaries to the Henry Ford Museum. While they explored the exhibits, the four of us went to The Wizard of Oz Children’s Educational Exhibition. The kids ran around learning all about science concepts tied to the book and movie.

"I have a feeling we're not in Detroit anymore!"

This little girl is so ready to walk!

Ready-made Halloween costume

Flying high, fast, and far with the elders

Later in the week, Hallie took the kids out to Troy and the Somerset Collection, where they bought Landon’s teddy bear some new threads.

On the weekend, we set the celebrations into high gear. First, we took the kiddos to Chuck E. Cheese’s (which Mike is now convinced is a casino for children—although we did win quite a few tickets). Landon bought himself a baseball and bat, a slinky, and a crazy straw. We then had dinner at Bob Evans and went to the Detroit Zoo for Zoo Boo (this last bit was thanks to a friend of Hallie’s from the moms’ club who couldn’t go).

"Get these tights off me!"

Four little monkeys who can do no wrong

Amazingly, she sat still for the face tattoo. Eliza's really teething now, so she drools all the time and uses her fingers as a chew toy.

He approves of the new carousel.

One of the many themed jack-o'-lantern displays

We even saw a fun 4D pirate ghost movie!

The next day, we celebrated Landon's birthday in earnest with themed cupcakes . . .

. . . and presents!

Upon seeing this LEGO set, Landon said, "A big boy game! I'm a big boy now."

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa! Landon called this his favorite present ever. Who knew? How quickly we forget about the bike. . . .

Eliza wondered what all the excitement was about.

Uh, oh! Here comes trouble!

Happy Birthday, Big Man! The time is passing way too fast.

Let's Hit the Road (Yet Again?)

2011-10-16T22:40:00.001-04:00

Eliza continues to show that she’s almost ready to walk. Sheroutinely stands up or pulls herself up onto her feet by grabbing onto whateveris convenient (a wall, a chair, a big brother, etc.). She takes one or twosmall steps before plopping back down. She also pulls herself up onto a windowsill or a chair or a laundry basket—anything taller than she is—and lets herfeet dangle in the air.

OK, I'm up. Now how do I get down?

Hallie attended Time Out for Women, an inspirational event forwomen sponsored by Deseret Book. She had been planning to go alone, but thenight before, we mulled it over and decided that we didn’t really have a reasonfor us all not to go. After all, Mike would be looking after the kids inMichigan just as much as in Cincinnati. Besides, the hotel had a pool!

So the following morning we quickly packed up the minivanand started our trek south. This was also the van’s inaugural run as ourlong-haul vehicle in preparation for trips in November and December, and itpulled through with flying colors. Landon could actually see where we weredriving, so he had plenty of insights to offer. The van also had a regularpower outlet, so Mike could sit in the way-back and get some work done.

Before she had the rest of us as her guests for the journey,Hallie had planned a little itinerary of her own based on a story she had readcalled “4 Ultimate Food Trails,” one of which just happened to be on the wayfrom Detroit to Cincinnati! Because this was originally Hallie’s trip, we wantedto make sure she got to do and see everything she wanted, so she got to makeall the decisions about stops and so on. She took us on a tour of culinarydelights along the back roads of Ohio.

We stopped first at Dietsch Brothers in Findlay, a store thatmakes chocolates onsite and has an old fashioned soda fountain. We bought somebuckeyes for the road and had some handmade ice cream sundaes there in thestore. Even though he was a young man, the attendant at the fountain behavedlike a throwback from an earlier time. Hallie loved sitting eating our sundaes and watching the men in the back make chocolate. Now you know it was not imported from somewhere else with a label of their own slapped on. We like going to local businesses, andwe learned about something called The 3/50 Project from the Dietsch Brothers’website. The 3/50 Project essentially encourages people to invest in the localbusinesses they love to ensure their continued success. The project even has an app so you can find your own local favorites!

From Dietsch Brothers, we continued down Highway 68 to the Country Variety Store and Country Baked Goods, an Amish shop north of Bellefontaine, where we got apples and decorative gourds. They were also known for their sky high Angel Food Cake. Landon got to pick from plain, strawberry or raspberry and he chose strawberry. We did not touch it until we got home and since arriving home it has not lasted long.

We continued to West Liberty and Marie’s Candies, which is housed in an old train depot. The cashier was where the ticket office used to be. The ladies fawned over the kids, which netted Landon extra samples, the sly devil!

By the time we left Marie’s, time had run short, so we had to beeline to Cincinnati (actually, Covington, Kentucky) to get to the hotel and then take Hallie to the convention center. After we dropped her off, Mike and the kids went to the Penn Station sandwich shop. After hanging out at the hotel and watching the kids bounce off the beds and walls and ceilings as they got their wiggles out, we went back to pick Hallie up and finally get to bed.

With Michael McLean

After breakfast at the hotel the following morning, we took Hallie back to the convention center, and Mike and the kids played in the pool. Around noon, we picked up Hallie again and set off on the road back home. We took in some of the places we missed on the way down. We started at The HomePlace, another Amish shop. The store had a wide variety of homemade foods and beautiful wood furniture.

We then went to Peifer Orchards to try some apple varieties,and we almost (should have?) bought some potted chrysanthemums. We thought we’d come back after we went to the next stop, which turned out to be a mistake, because Peifer closed at 5 (who closes at 5 on a Saturday during the harvest?!). Oh, well.

Mum's the word in the Midwest at this time of year.

Landon was looking at the flowers and pumpkins when he says, "Dad! Dad! Come here!"

Turns out he saw a grasshopper hidden among the blooms!

Love the smile on this little girl!

We headed up the road a couple of miles to Young’s Jersey Dairy for more agri-tourism. We took pictures with pumpkins, fed animals at the petting zoo, watched cows get milked, and rode around on farm equipment. Landon even rode on a train caboose shaped like an airplane. We made one more stop for handmade ice cream over at the dairy store before heading back to Peifer Orchards (only to find it closed).

The things a goat will do for food pellets . . .

A Cornucopia of Fall Colors

"Can't you just let a girl eat in peace?"

By this time, the sun was getting a little lower, and we knew we’d arrive home pretty late if we didn’t make our way back to the interstate, so we blew back on through some of the towns we’d stopped at the day before and got back home in time to see that miserable bottom of the third inning where Texas dashed the Tigers’ hopes of another match-up against St. Louis in the World Series. Then the Lions lost today (against San Francisco, so Mike’s not so sad). Still, we love our Motor City Kitties!

Days to Bottle Up and Remember

2011-10-09T19:45:00.003-04:00

Hallie bought Landon some glow bracelets. This week she got them out, and the kids had fun having a bath in the dark.

We mentioned earlier that Landon had learned how to ride this week. He and Dad continued practicing, and they even brought Eliza on the kangaroo seat. She loves feeling the rush of wind as she rides, and she coos and giggles as we go along.

We had some fun time traveling this weekend. We decided that, as this is the last fall weekend that we won’t be involved in something locally, we would take a last minute trip up north to see the fall leaves. We didn’t go as far as the tunnel of trees north of Petoskey and Traverse City (all the hotel rooms were either booked or pricey), but we did go up to Cadillac and take in some country roads along our route. What a weekend to travel in Michigan! Clear skies, temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s, and dry air with hardly a hint of humidity.

We stopped off at Uncle John’s Cider Mill just north of Lansing. Landon and Eliza tooled around in the playground, and we bought apple cider and donuts to give us sustenance along our way.

The afternoon light at our backs showed off the beautiful hues of yellow, orange, and red that continued to deepen the further north we went. The following morning we headed south and west. We saw more amazing trees and even some deer as we took a fall foliage route along the back roads.

With Landon in our own tree tunnel

The above are views from the Caberfae Scenic Overlook in the Manistee National Forest outside of Cadillac

We played in the early afternoon in Holland, a gem of the Lake Michigan shores. A couple of years back we took a trip there, so we wanted to take advantage of being out roughly that way to take in the farmers market and the beach (and Gandolfo’s Deli, a taste of New York by way of Utah). Instead of returning to Tunnel Park, we opted to go to Holland State Park this time. Hallie bought Landon a kite as a surprise, and he set it flying as soon as he got onto the sand.

After a bit of that, Landon, Eliza, and Mike went down to the beach while Hallie relaxed in the shade further up shore. Eliza played a little on the beach with Landon before the two of them ventured into the lake’s chilly waters. It didn’t take us too long to get used to the water, and Eliza jumped and splashed with Landon (with Dad’s help to keep her upright).

Practically flies itself!

Nothing like a little grit to clean out the system

(Similar scene two years ago. What a difference two years makes!)

The coordinating outfits are purely coincidental.

"Big Red" and boats entering and leaving Holland Harbor

Lots of people were out enjoying the warm sun and cool, dry breeze. In fact, one shop owner joked that all of Chicago had come to town. We didn't bother to take a crowd shot.

Landon decided he wasn't hungry for dinner, so we took his sandwich back to the hotel. Eliza found it.

Caught!

The following morning, the kids and Dad enjoyed the hotel pool. Once again, Eliza could not get enough of playing in the water and swimming around with her big brother. We celebrated Landon’s birthday with lunch out on the patio of California Pizza Kitchen. The kids behaved themselves, our waitress was very friendly and attentive, and of course the food (BBQ chicken salad and Thai chicken salad) was delicious. Eliza could not get enough of Mike’s meal. We remarked about we wished we could take days like these and bottle up the memories!

Landon + Bike = Wow!

2011-10-04T15:45:00.001-04:00

Here's a little video of the boy riding his new bike:

Motown Meanderings

2011-10-03T23:11:00.000-04:00

We’re a little late this week. Fall is in full swing, and the leaves are turning yellow and orange and red all around the neighborhood. We got hit with a downpour Monday morning, so Landon got to put on his rain gear and jump in the puddles while Dad funneled water away from the side of the house. Fortunately, as quickly as things flooded, the water disappeared once it stooped raining.

Flooded much?

On Monday night, we bought Landon a “big boy” bike as an early birthday present so he could get some riding time in before the cold weather sets in. Mike put the bike together after Landon went to bed, and the following morning he took it out for a spin. He’s been riding a glide bike for over a year, so he had already mastered a lot of the skills he needed. On Tuesday morning, we took the bike out, he climbed aboard, and after a couple of minutes getting used to the idea of pedaling and braking, he took off like a natural.

We took a trip to Detroit's Motown Museum, the home of Hitsville, USA, on Wednesday. We learned how Berry Gordy, Jr. took an $800 loan from his family bank (a success story in itself) and turned it into a multimillion dollar recording empire. Our docent explained that it boiled down to a formula of taking one song and arranging it so that it appealed to listeners of different genres. So, you have a song like “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” Gladys Knight & the Pips sing it on the Soul label, and Marvin Gaye sings it as an R&B ballad on the Tamla label. Both times, the Funk Brothers are there in the background doing the instrumentals. Same parent company, same studio, same house band, same song, different covers for different tastes. Pretty potent formula for success, eh?

Barry Gordy, Jr. bought one house, then another, then another until Motown ran from eight houses on the block. A harsh reality of the era is that because Black folks could not rent office space in the commercial parts of town, they would buy two apartment flats, live on one floor, and run businesses (e.g., law offices, doctor's offices, music studios) from the other. To this day, some businesses still run from these two flat houses.

Friday was a busy day for Hallie and the kiddos. They spent a lot of it with Jen and her kids shopping, lunching, and watching Jen’s kids bowl.

She's still small enough (barely) to fit in a bowling ball bag.

Prior to watching General Conference on Saturday, we went to Morley’s for their “wonderfall” celebration, which included photos, pumpkin painting, face painting, hot dogs, and (of course) samples of yummy chocolatey goodness.

Wearing a hand-knitted sweater from a family friend

He started to get a little antsy, so the boys went outside to play tag and blow off some steam.

"Hold still! We just want to paint your face."

Then we headed to church to watch the conference broadcast while we let the kids roam the gym. It’s actually easier on everyone that way rather than watching at home! ;)

Hail to the Victors

2011-09-25T22:01:00.000-04:00

We’re getting into a regular daytime schedule with the kids. Landon goes to his play-and-say class a couple of days a week, and Eliza goes to story time at the library.

On Tuesday after his class, Landon, Eliza, and Hallie went over to Sara’s to play with Chase and enjoy the sunny afternoon.

Thursday was a crazy busy day. Landon and Hallie went to the Mom’s club, then Hallie took the kids to Ghesquiere Park. Sara taught Hallie about couponing, and Mike discovered Pinterest. Uh oh.

Our friend Jenny from California sent Eliza a beautiful blue sweater her mom crocheted. Just in time for winter! Photo to come soon.

The grownups had a bit of a big kid play date on Saturday. After leaving the babies in the care of Jen and Sean and their kids, Hallie and Mike went with Sara and Jason first for a big breakfast at the Original Pancake House and then out to the “Big House” (Michigan Stadium) in Ann Arbor to watch U of Michigan play San Diego State. There were 110,707 of us attending, and this was the 234th consecutive game with over 100,000 attending. Crowded into our 12 inches of seat space apiece, we sang and cheered and booed and jeered as the Wolverines pummeled the Aztecs 28-7.

Mike wore the wrong colored jacket. Good thing he had on a Michigan shirt underneath!

Mike has seen games at the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl, and watching Michigan play at home in front of such a big crowd was tremendous. We’ve attended BYU-Utah rivalry games, and based on what we saw for just an ordinary game here, the rivalry games at the Big House would put that small tiff to shame (sorry friends living in Utah, but it’s true). We sat in a sea of blue and maize dotted with wee red islands here and there. Every time Michigan did something (not just scoring), the band struck up Hail to the Victors (classic!), and the whole stadium joined in cheering on their team with fists raised high. When San Diego made a mistake, the band struck up Temptation, and at the end the Michigan fans in one voice yelled, “You Suck!” Tacky? Maybe. Effective and funny? For sure! All that said, Mike grew up watching Michigan occasionally come into Trojan Country to play the Rose Bowl, and under those circumstances he was more than happy to see Michigan lose and lose hard. Moreover, as a part-time Utah fan, Mike would have loved to see the stadium silent three years ago when another team in red kept the raucous home team fans in check.

"Hail, Hail to Michigan"

QB Denard Robinson runs it in for a TD.

We couldn’t ask for better weather. While rain had threatened in the morning, all we got at game time was a mix of sun and cloud with temps in the 60s. After the game, we walked over to Hallie’s friend Renee’s tailgate party. These folks don’t mess around. They had three TVs hooked up to a generator and a satellite feed to watch the game, and they had prepared a Mexican food-themed lunch/dinner (Renee bases the menu for each game on the region or mascot of the rival team). We didn’t stick around to indulge too much, and instead we went to the Mexican Town Restaurant in southwest Detroit to do our themed dining. Quesadillas y un burrito mojado. ¡Qué ricos!

Tailgating, complete with blue margaritas and a satellite dish

Why go to the game when you can watch it with commentary?

We got back to our kids just in time to put them to bed (well, almost). Landon told us all about his day at Bryan’s soccer game and Jen’s company party at CJ Barrymore’s, where he played laser tag and drove a go kart. Meanwhile, Eliza crawled around and charmed everyone with her cuteness. We don’t think they missed us a bit.

Readin’, ‘Ritin’, & ‘Rithmatic

2011-09-18T20:54:00.001-04:00

While the temperatures have continued to cool down, we have continued to enjoy the sun. For Macy’s 2nd Monday at Greenfield Village, our friend Anna and her daughters Emmy and Maggie joined us and the kiddos as we learned all about how school used to be in the olden days. Landon was excited to show off to the teachers there all he has learned at home.

Totally spontaneous!

The learning continued when the kids went to story time at the Southfield Public Library. Later in the week, Eliza went to her own first story time at the local library.

In other learning news, Landon started preschool again. Go, big man!

We even had P.E. this week, as Landon started playing soccer Saturday.

We can’t wait to see BYU beat Utah next year. Too bad the Cougars didn’t come out to play the Utes this year (wink, wink). So, so sad. . . .

We Remember

2011-09-11T22:48:00.002-04:00

Mike’s sister Alison passed away four years ago during Labor Day weekend, so the traditional end-of-summer weekend is always a little bittersweet. We have made a point of getting out of the house on Labor Day, and Michigan has always delivered something fun to do. This Labor Day we went with Jen and Sean and their kids to the Renaissance Festival in Holly.

We came across the Queen's Court.

"We are not amused." Eliza did not take too kindly to the courtier's attention.

Landon and Mike respond quite differently to authority, it would appear. To his credit, Queen Elizabeth did compliment Mike on his bow.

"Good Queen Bess" gave our little queen a royal blessing.

Bryan was recruited to become a pirate--er, a privateer. We told Sir Francis Drake we'd drop him off when we got done.

Happy to be out of the car seat!

"Higher!"

Lately Landon has found himself going around in circles.

Watching the Zucchini Brothers

A day at the festival would not be complete without a joust.

"Thrust! Parry! Riposte!"

Sharing a brew (brewski?) with the Washing Well Wenches

Eliza continues to amaze with her feats of strength and daring. She and her big brother seem cut from the same cloth. She’s almost to the point where she can pull herself up to rest her elbows on the window sill and look out the window. She constantly chatters and burbles and blows raspberries to let us know what she wants. Hard to believe she’s only seven months old.

We have had some crazy weather this week with wild thunderstorms and mild flooding. Our unfinished basement “weeps” (sobs) when we get too much rain at once. It drives Mike nuts. On Saturday, Landon and Mike built a police car at Lowe’s Build and Grow. The kid’s becoming a natural with the hammer! While we were at Lowe’s, Mike bought a few more shelving units to get items off the basement floor. Once home, he and Hallie set about taking care of some of the reorganizing they had been meaning to do for a while. The potential for water damage seemed a good incentive to actually do something. It’s amazing what three new shelving units and stacked plastic boxes can do to free up space. We also now have the items we intend to sell at a future garage sale all in one place. You have a couple of kids, and the stuff seems to multiply out of control!

Also on Saturday, we stopped by the LEGO® Store at the Somerset Collection, and the boys got some fun sets for Landon’s upcoming birthday and Christmas. Hallie was feeling generous and even let Landon have a set early! He and Mike built it as a second father-son project Sunday.

With Landon, it would of course be a Cars-themed set

Sunday was Stake Conference, Mike’s dad’s birthday, and the 10th anniversary of 9/11. We honor the memory of those who died and those who both gave their lives and put their lives at risk during the events of that terrible day. We remember you.