november 2015

Please hold your applause for the November update actually coming the day after November ended.  It's pretty impressive.  (Literally still have so many pictures; these are all from my phone.  No camera updates yet).

matching mom  //  running forever  //  leaves forever

pint sized skeptic  //  selfie stick with dad  //  selfie stick with mom

matching dad  //  swinging before it is too cold  //  haley visit

snuggles with grandpa  //  tess visit  //  corks forever

waiting with grandma  //  matching with tony  //  matching with grandpa

dad jumping the car  //  snuggles with jackie and derek  //  running again (because she is always running...and because I accidentally did the same picture twice)

snapshots: christmas travels 2013

I've always traveled a lot during the holidays.  In fact, I've only been home on Christmas day once in my whole life.  We always all piled into the conversion van (then the mini van, then the SUV) and made the rounds; we traveled two hours to my dad's parents, then four and a half to my mom's parents and made it back to our house about a week later, exhausted and present-laden.  We braved icy roads and screaming toddlers, played thousands of car games, and watched Ace Ventura in the car too many times to count (and Ace Ventura 2: When Nature Calls...obviously). 

This year, we did all of our traveling before Christmas.  We went to my mom's side at Thanksgiving and had an early Christmas.  We stopped by my dad's side on the way to Luke's side and did it all in one weekend.  And then we spent Christmas day at The Burrow. 

I photographed our travels, but didn't take any pictures of our actual Christmas day at The Burrow.  My parents came over, Luke's parents traveled two hours to spend the day with us, and Blythe and Travis came over.  Most of us were in pajamas all day (okay...some of us...mostly me).  We had stovetop cocoa.  We had a fire going.  We played Mexican Train Dominoes We watched Christmas movies (The Grinch!, It's a Wonderful Life).  We ate too many cookies.  We had Christmas at The Burrow.

Here are some of my favorite shots from our travels the weekend before:

and at our next stop...

There are more Christmas posts to come...stay tuned! (It's just the beginning of the Christmas season!)

Friends & family...feel free to share these pictures wherever you would like, the buttons below make it easy!

first lake weekend of 2013

Last weekend, for Memorial Day, we spent time at Coldwater Lake, Michigan.  Here's a brief timeline of our families' time at the lake over the years:

1954: My grandparents go to Coldwater for their honeymoon.

Dorothy is such a babe.

1955-1985: My grandparents continue to go to the lake, renting the same cottage (almost) every time with their kids (my dad and aunts and uncles).

Dad, Tom, and Susie

Great-Grandma and a fish.

1986-2004: My parents start taking their kids to the lake, renting a house a few down from the one my dad used when he was a kid.  My uncles bought the cabin next door to the original cabin.

Mom, Grandpa, Derek (on shoulders), Dad, Grandma, 1987

Dad, Me, Derek, some fish, 1990

Pretty mom and Travis, 1993

Me and Derek, 1994

Dad and Travis, 1996

Travis and Dad, 1996

Derek and Dad, 1999

2004-2012: My parents buy the original cabin (in 2004) that my dad and my grandparents went to for years.

Ansley (cousin) and me, 2010

Me and Kim, 2011

Ansley and Uncle Mike, 2011

Derek, 2012

2012-present: We still own our cabin, and Luke's sister and brother-in-law bought one four houses down. Our family is taking over the island and it's great.

Bill and Jamie, 2012

Sunset at our cabin

This past weekend, we had: Jamie, Bill, Christy, Andrew, Tony, Izzy, Joey, Audra, Mark, Mitch, Haley, Ansley, Mike, and Missy (plus Luke and me).  It was a super fun time.

Haley, me, Ansley, 2013