Our Twelve Days of Vacation

We had a wonderful Christmas trip to Michigan and are now home in MinneSNOWta! Our trip to Michigan can be summed up in the 12 days of Vacation below!

12 days of vacation
11 inches of snow
10 hour drive to Michigan
9 questions of "Are we there yet"
8 Breadsticks from the Portside (probably more)
7 Stupsky's jammed into a church pew
6 hours of Wii Yahtzee!
5 hundred trips up and and down Whitman Sledding Hill
4 Doting grandparents
3 (G) iPhone for Danielle
2 days of presents
1 Happy 4-year old girl

Okay, so there was so much more to our trip. We had such a great time that Teagan cried for almost two hours as we were driving out of town. I can hardly blame her - when she's there she has all her grandparents doting on her and she gets to spend quality time with her cousins; something we don't have in Minnesota. For her it's like a perpetual party and I get it - I totally understand how she feels. I remember when we first left Marquette coming back home was the best feeling - coming back to what I know; the people, restaurants, atmosphere. It's been so many years and it's not exactly the same feeling, but there's still that magic and excitement when we see the sign "Welcome to Marquette".



As you can see it was a fun Christmas morning for Teagan. She must have been a really good girl - she earned her first set of wheels from Nanny and Poppy! For now she can ride it in the basement - but once the snow melts watch out world!!!

It was also really nice to spend some time with Sierra - she's been living with Nanny and Poppy (and her dog-brother Max) since we put our previous house on the market. She's been spoiled since she arrived there and spent the summer running around at the Lake. In the winter she spends her time roaming the woods next to the house - she's a pretty lucky senior dog-citizen.




As I mentioned - we're home. No magic as we crossed the "Welcome to Minnesota" state line but it sure feels good to be back in my own bed. We're still trying to unpack all of the suitcases and boxes from the trip so it'll likely be a few weeks before I'm back on here. Here's to wishing you all a very Happy New Year! Since you only have a day or two you better hurry and complete your 2008 resolutions...in just a few days you'll be making more.

We are thankful...

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! I know I'm a bit late in posting our Turkey Day fun, but I just came out of my turkey coma and I'm ready to get back to reality.

This year we had a very laid back Thanksgiving, for the first time in as long as we can remember it was just the three of us. We tried to keep up some of the long-standing traditions like playing a new game, watching football and skipping lunch in lieu of dips, chips and other snackies but it just did not feel the same.

Teagan woke at the crack of dawn and was so excited to be able to wear the new dress she got from Nanny and Poppy. She looks to find any excuse to wear a dress, I guess there's no better reason than a holiday! She looked adorable and complimented her look with white ballet shoes (did I mention her ballet shoes have become a very important fixture in her life?).



Teagan had hoped for some snow on Thanksgiving so we could go out and play - the weather called for snow, just not in Minnesota. I write this blog 6 days post Thanksgiving and we still have yet to enjoy any type of snow accumulation. This was as close as she got to snow this day - still pretty cute!



Even though it was just the three of us we still managed to cook a meal fit for an army. My favorite part, as always, are the rolls. Teagan and I watched them rise all day until they were FINALLY ready to go in the oven. Teagan was happy (as was I) that she could stop asking "Are they done yet?" I promised her she could butter them when they came out of the oven and she was happy to help!



After dinner the fun began! Really, I have no pictures of dinner. I've never really understood why people try so hard to coordinate the cooking times of things such as the turkey, sides and wine pouring only to spend 20 minutes taking pictures of everyone sitting at the table ready to dig in like gluttens...when it's finally time to eat it's a surefire bet the potatoes are cold and the wine bottle is almost empty due to the stress of trying to figure out how to work the automatic timer.

I do, however, have pictures of the pie - simply becuase Teagan's only request this year was that she get to try Pecan Pie. What? A 4 year old wants Pecan Pie? We humored her even though neither of us have ever had a pecan pie and it seems so unbearably gross. To my surprise a Pecan Pie is filled with creamy caramel - very rich and delicious. They need to come up with a better name - Pecan Pie just does not sounds as tasty as Gooey Caramel Pie topped with Pecans. Here's a picture of heaven in a pie pan along with it's proud owner:




To top off the day we received a visit from a cute little Elf! He arrived while we were outside lighting up the house. When we got back in the house Teagan noticed him sitting on the ledge and could not believe her eyes! He brought along some special treats for Teagan and his book so we would know what to do with him. Santa sent him to watch her and each night he flies back to the North Pole to report on Teagan and her activities. If she's well behaved she might find a small holiday treasure the next morning near the elf. It's really been a lot of fun watching her try to interact with the elf. Each night when he returns from the North Pole he lands at a different location so each morning she runs around the house to find the elf. Did I mention she named him Elfie; quite appropriate! If you want to learn more about Elfie and his other elf friends you can at http://www.elfontheshelf.combut please don't ruin the magic for Teagan.



I'm hopeful you all had as much fun as we had on Thanksgiving! Now get out there and get your Christmas shopping done!!