Christmas Eve and Christmas

The Newmans left Cincinnati on the 23rd and we were supposed to be getting a couple of inches of snow. Well, it snowed for over 24 hrs here and was freezing rain south of us and they crawled along for hours. They made it as far as South Bend, Indiana in EIGHT hours and decided to get a hotel room. The lovely people at Mariott gave them the presidential suite so they had quite the setup! They made it here the next morning and we were thrilled to see them, six months is too long to go without getting together!

Grammy arrived from Grosse Pointe and we all headed off to church. Ella fell sound asleep during the entire service, it was too cute.

A big dinner and new Christmas jammies for all and we were tucked in our beds.

We were up by 9am and chaos ensued with 5 kids and 5 adults and one spoiled dog opening presents. Santa ate the cookies we left out and the reindeer went to town on the carrots. We had fun playing rock band on wii and with all of the toys and then the kids headed off with Grammy to swim at the pool at the Days Inn where she is staying.

Christmas dinner and cookies and sleepy kids (except Matthew who was just caught under his covers with a pile of candy!)and we are winding down. We'll start again with the arrival of Papa Pete and Grandma Janet in the morning.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

We took the boys to their first official concert on the 23rd to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Words cannot describe this show. This is the 8th year Jeff and I have gone and we have had seats in all areas including 1st row, 2nd, 3rd, 15th and the sides. This year we decided we weren't going to go but we both were sad and missing it and we got tickets a couple weeks ago. They were on the side of the stage and it was fun to see it from that angle too. The lights, lasers, snow, pyro, and fireworks cannot be described by mere words. The spirit and music are out of this world. The boys were speechless and sat watching the whole thing. We were glad we changed our minds and went and took the boys for the first time. It's tradition and we won't miss it again.

Random GH pictures

We have had almost 50 inches of snow in Grand Haven this month alone!! It's been pretty rough going but we have had some fun too. We're supposed to have heavy rain and warmer temps this weekend and flash flood warnings.

Some random pictures from home and the boys Christmas party at school.

Christmas in Flint

Sunday, the 21st, we went to Flint to Grandma Cindy's and had Christmas with them and the Henry cousins too. It was bitterly cold and snowy but the kids still played outside. Grandma made the boys capes and they LOVE them! They have been having great adventures with them. Jeff and the boys stayed overnight and I ventured back to Grand Haven where we had had 20 inches of snow and hit blizzard conditions on the way back thanks to the wind and snow. It was not a fun drive!

Happy holidays to all

Matthew was sitting at the breakfast table and the boys were goofing around and not being very pleasant. I told them they better behave seeing it's Christmas Eve and Santa is watching and getting ready to leave. I told him I could email Santa an update on his behavior.

Matthew replied, "Mom, I will give you all my money not to tell him"!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not above accepting a bribe, is that bad Mom behavior???


We're eagerly anticipating the arrival of the Newman family. They traveled through horrible conditions yesterday and only made it as far as South Bend and stopped for the night. They will make it today although it is snowing, again! We have had over 25 inches of snow in the last 5 days and it just keeps coming! We're on track to set December records. Yesterday, I heard "White Christmas" on the radio and even I said, "WHITE ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!".

We took the boys to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra with us last night, I will post pictures later. What a fun experience!! It was the 8th year for Jeff and I to see them and they never fail to amaze us.

Merry Christmas to all....peace, joy and happy family-filled times. We'll be back with lots more updates soon, if we aren't buried in snow.

Trip the weekend before Christmas

We went to Grammy's for the weekend last week. We made cookies, did some sledding, and Grammy watched the boys while Jeff and I went off to see "Wicked" again. It was a great show, my cousin Blake is in it and we went backstage and saw him and had a nice visit with him. Lots of snow in GP and on our trip. It was just the beginning of a verrrrrrrrrry white Christmas.

True words!

Matthew's new shirt from Grandma Kris and Papa Mark:




The boys also got their first report cards ever this week. I will post them later tonight.

Kelley Christmas and the Jingle Bell Parade

Took the boys to see the Grand Rapids Griffins Friday night. Chris Chelios was playing with them to get back in shape from his leg injury. It was fun to see him and $10 tickets for fifth row seats plus dollar beer and hot dog specials can't be beat. We are going to try to get to more games soon.

Despite the blowing snow all day, we had lots of fun hosting Kelley Christmas at our house yesterday. Poor Jeff had to shovel the driveway, the snowblower wouldn't start and he had waited until just before company arrived. That was not fun. Hayley made a new friend with Uncle Mark and they shared lunch. The kids played wii in the playroom and didn't even notice the rest of us were eating. It worked well, they were the second shift at the table. Jonathan was not a happy camper that he had two gifts and Matthew was proudly exclaiming he had four. All was well when Jonathan saw there were many gifts inside one! I bonded with cousin Teagen, all it took was my baby doll, a light up Christmas necklace and some webkins to play with. Little girls are so much fun, I told her mom we need to borrow her more often! Grandma was happy to have almost all of the family together (Papa Mark and Grandma Kris are in Arizona and cousin Michael was busy snow plowing) and said we need to have a family picnic in the summer. We're sure up for more gatherings if they are all as easy and fun as this one was!










Then, we bundled up beast and boys and headed downtown for the Jingle Bell Parade. It was snowing like crazy and the wind howling but so pretty and so much fun. The boys got bags full of candy and giveaways. We met up with the Stoepkers and were so busy chatting and watching the parade we didn't take many pictures. It's such a fun parade.





The boys were asleep in less than 10 minutes after getting home. A day full of fun. Today's mission is to find the perfect Christmas tree!! That, and steal, umm borrow, Papa Mark's snowblower. Lucky guy won't need it!

Snowy December

We have had over a foot of snow this weekend. I had beautiful snow on my back deck, with just a few dog footprints going through it. Picture perfect....




Then....boys!!! Goodbye beautiful snow! Every house on our street looks so pretty with their white sparkling lawn. Our yard looks like someone has been driving a John Deere repeatedly across it. Oh well, the boys are having fun and so is Hayley.