Family Tour 09

Recently James and I had the pleasure of visiting our families in both Virginia and Michigan. We took a whole week off of work and spent 3 days in VA and 3 days in MI. Our first stop was in VA, James' parents picked us up, and we had fun chatting and visiting with each other. The next day our friend Rob drove up from PA to see us. Shortly after Rob arrived our friend Paul came over too. James, Rob, Paul and James' dad Terry began to play cornhole. Of course regular cornhole was not enough of a challenge and soon they all were attempting to play with moving targets. It was quite a scene, and very fun to watch! Then it was off to lunch and more games at the park. Our friends Kevin and Drew joined us. Paul took us to a special park for kids that he helped engineer, it was like nothing I'd ever seen. (Check out the pics) It was really neat I wish they had parks like that when I was growing up :-) Afterward we headed to another park where the guys were able to run around and play more games. I had fun visiting with Drew and catching up on all that was new in their lives. When we returned home James' mom Doni arranged for the whole family to come over and have dinner with us. It was a beautiful night on the patio and we had so much fun seeing everyone! The next day we decided to go tubing with Terry, Doni, Kevin, and Drew. It was so much fun! We decided to go on the rapid one which took us over some rocks and had some faster moving parts. At some points we would bump each other over the rapids and pummel down the river. Other parts were lazy and relaxing. It was a really fun day and the weather was gorgeous! We came home exhausted but no too tired for friends. We had dinner that night with Kevin, Drew, Paul, David and Arielle. Later on Nancy and Michael came over too, and we were able to meet baby Noah who is still growing in Nancy's tummy. It was a blast to see so many of our friends! We have really great friends, if only they could all live in California....The next day we hung out at the Kanka's house. It was nice and relaxing. We were still tired from the day before. Later that afternoon Matt drove up to see us. He's been playing up a storm with his new band and we got to listen to one of his CDs. They were really good, and it was fun to hear about all that was new for him. Rose joined us all for dinner and we relaxed and enjoyed the wonderful company. Later we went to see Harry Potter with Matt, it was good but not as great at the other Potter movies. The next morning we packed up and headed to the airport to begin our trip to Michigan.

The flight was short and easy. Once we landed my parents picked us up and took us to see my brother, Brad, and sister-in law, Nicole. We went to eat at a great pizza place on their upstairs patio. It was nice and cool in Michigan, and I had so much fun seeing Brad and Nicole. After pizza we slowly made the drive back to my mom's house. Of course my mom's dog Mac was more than happy to see us! The next day we slep in and got caught up on our sleep. That afternoon we headed out to MSU campus with Mom and walked Mac around. We walked to the MSU dairy and all got ice creams, even Mac! Its funny how the campus has changed and yet it really hadn't. Afterwards we went to visit my Nanna and Boppa. I couldn't wait to see them it had really been too long :-) We watched a movie that night, Despero, it really wasn't very good though I was so excited about the story. The next day we went shopping with Mom and she bought a Wii! Once we were home we helped her set it up and immediately began to make our Mii characters. My Dad joined us for steak dinners and then it was time to play. We had fun boxing, playing tennis, and setting up the Wii Fit. Mom was pretty good she and Dad both beat me in boxing. The next day James and I went out to lunch with our friends Devon and Justin. I got to see where baby Violet in Devon's tummy. I had fun catching up with them, I miss having Devon around, but I'm so excited for this next chapter in their lives. My mom planned a big family dinner that night. Brad and Nicole came over early and we enjoyed playing Wii over some brews. Later the rest of my family joined, even my uncle Doug and aunt Jane from Indiana came up for a visit. We all had fun laughing, eating, playing games and catching up. Everyone took turns playing the games on the Wii and it was hilarious! My aunt Terry and uncle Bruce were able to join us and uncle Bruce even made me a necklace out of a collectors coin from 1882. It was beautiful! Cathryn and Matt updated us on married life it was fun to see them. For desert my Dad bought some pies from Traverse City at the Traverse City pie company. They were cherry and so delicious it was amazing. (And I normally don't like cherry pies!) It was a very fun night. The next day James and I headed to the airport for LA. We volunteered to be bumped from our flight and each recieved $300 flight vouchers, and $15 food vouchers. So we hung out at the airport for another 3 hours. We eventually made it to LA after a long day of waiting around. But it was so worth it! We had so much fun seeing everyone on our family tour, thanks to all who helped make it so great! Check out the snapshots from the trip, videos to come soon!

Short Trip Home

As some of you may know I took a trip to Michigan for a long weekend. I flew home to celebrate my cousin's wedding shower and my Grandparents' 80th birthdays. I was so excited to go home. My plane was to leave on Thursday at 11pm CA time.

There were a billion things to get done before I got out the of work. As I was heading out of the building I decided to go down a stairwell I hadn't gone down before. Well I got down to the bottom lobby floor and pushed...but the door would not open. I kept pushing and pounding but still it wouldn't budge! I hiked back up to the third floor where my office is and that door was locked too! I had a key so I tried it, but the key was not for this particular door.

It was hot and all I could think was "ugghhhh....I really don't want to miss my flight!" Luckily I decided to call everyone I could think of in the office and pounded on the door as loudly as I could. A co-worker heard my banging and came to the rescue, though slightly confused as to why I was needing rescuing. There was really no time to explain. But I made it home and to the airport fine, despite being stuck in the stairwell at work. My flight was delayed an hour but I still managed to land in Lansing, MI by 10am on Friday.

After working all day and taking the red-eye to MI, I was pooped by the time we landed. But the sunshine did wonders and my Mom, Nanna, and I began to shop for the last minute wedding shower needs. Once home Mom had us help with assembling the decorations and preparing the food. My Boppa even came over and assisted us with putting little boxes together. It was fun to chat with everyone as we assembled the items. Shortly after Boppa arrived my Uncle Doug and Aunt Jane stopped in. It was so much fun! My brother and his wife Nicole arrived with their dog Bailey around dinner time, and my Dad came in from work. We were done with the preparations and enjoyed a relaxing night eating pizza, one of our favorites!

I awoke early the next morning for our double party. The shower first and the B-day dinner later. We packed up the cars and headed to the church. My family is amazing, they all came to the church early to help set up. Everyone pitched in and I believe the wedding shower was truly wonderful and beautiful thanks to everyone's help! My cousin Cathy and Matt had a great time and it was so nice to see everyone there to support them. Shortly after the shower was over, we had dinner at my Grandparents' favorite restaurant called Hersheys. It was wonderful to have the whole group there, minus James. We took pictures, had great food, and spent time chatting and catching up.

The next day I was able to see my friend Devon whom I don't get to see very much. It was such a joy, to see her again and pick up right where we left off the last time. Devon joked that our visits are are like an eclipse, rare and far between. We had fun talking about all the updates and where the Lord is leading us in our lives.Hopefully we'll get some more time again when I come home in October for my cousin's wedding. After visiting with Devon, my cousin Cathy and I had some one on one time too. How fun it was to catch up on her life and to hear all the wedding plans and preparations. It wasn't too long ago when James and I were in the same boat :)

Later on Sunday my Mom, Dad, and I went to the East Lansing Folk Festival. It was great! There were many really good bands playing. My favorite was an Arcadian band from Canada. They sang some songs in English and some in French. They danced and played at least two instruments each. So fun!!! The weather wasn't holding up though and it rained, so we went to see the movie "Swing Vote". A very cute movie with a great message.

Monday during the day my Grandparents and my Dad came over to each lunch with me and chat before I went to the airport. It was nice and relaxing! Before I knew it I was on a plan ride back to CA again. On the flight home someone had an allergic reaction and the plane took an emergency landing in New Mexico. So I didn't get to bed until late. When I came home James had fresh flowers for me!

It was weird to come back to CA where everything is dry, brown, and warm. MI had beautiful green grass and trees. The weather was even slightly cold and rainy. It's strange how when you're here in CA you start to miss the rain...even if it does make you want to stay inside. So that was my whirlwind trip to MI. I miss my family already!

James is working on a music video today! He met some great people over the weekend on the short film project. He went in really early this morning and I'm still waiting for him to get home. I so happy for him to have this opportunity. I can't wait to hear all about it. You'll have to check out his blog for more info on what it's about. I can't wait for this weekend. I'm hoping to finally get some quality hang out time with him.

The next two weeks are a little crazy at work. There are a lot of people coming into the office for meetings. It should be fun but busy! Some other fun news is that I recently found out that I will be going to DC for a work trip the week before my cousin's wedding. James will be able to join me and we'll most likely be able to see our family and friends in the DC/VA area! How cool huh?

Well that's it for now soon I'll post the pictures from my short trip home!