O.K. This is a long one...

Our first day in Michigan we got together with a group of friends from our days at MSU. We missed the friends who couldn't make it, but had so much fun catching up with the ones that were able to come. Aaron's mom was a great hostess! This little group has grown quite a bit - five years ago, not even all of us were married yet, and now there are five little ones with another one on the way. Thank you friends so much for coming to see us. We had so much fun!

We had to take the kids for a walk to Curwood Castle.



Claire and Xavier rolling down the hill.
Kameron and Noel - born only a week apart.

We saw some baby ducks, so had to make a trip back to feed them.

Noel had to snag some bread for himself while Daddy wasn't looking...

Katie and Dave were able to come with us to Potter Park Zoo.

Claire got a pony ride
Kam impersonating a tiger!

Noel Tiger
and Claire...
Daddy and Noel deep in thought
Kam and Noel with a Babboon
We took a trip to MSU to the red cedar river. Grandma was able to handle some business in the administration building while we hung out with this goose.
Noel making the goose a little nervous...
We went to the children's garden at MSU. This was one of my favorite places to visit when I was a student. We didn't live too far away and we would always takewalks here especially when it first opened.


Jumping chimes
On our last day in Michigan Grandpa took us on a ride in his fishing boat.

The kids enjoyed it - even though Noel was almost consumed by his life jacket.

Are we there yet?

Then we started the trek back to Texas. We had a great visit. I hope to be able to get some pics from our trip up north too. Michigan was so lush and green and pleasant while we were there we wondered why we ever left. Then we remembered, 13% unemployment, winters that last six months... We are praying for our friends and families who are seeking work and for those need to get homes sold.

The trip was really wonderful over all. The ride home we broke up over three days. We stayed in St. Louis the first night - I had the worst headache ever - and Noel fell off the bed in the hotel and sustained a mean rugburn - stayed with my parents in Oklahoma the second night. How cool is that? The kids got to see both sets of grandparents on our trip! Even though the ride home took three days it was actually a lot less stressful than the flight to Detroit.