Long distance relationship

No one in our family is stranger to the long distance relationship. Our marriage is the product of one and since this is our 6th year in Michigan , we maintain plenty of long distance relationships with all those we love in Colorado( and now Arizona as well as Washington and California to name a few). I am forever grateful for the technology that helps to bridge the gap between the miles. Lately, we've been Skyping with my mom and my sisters. Mackenzie absolutely LOVES it. She insists on giving tours of our house ( staring with the tree and her bedroom) and then begins the entertainment portion of the chat. She sings and does sommersaults as well as dances and spins for whomever happens to be on the other side of her computer screen. Since " Skyping" , Mack has been asking more and more to go to Gram's house. While we will always miss being in the actual presence of them, I love seeing my sister and her kids or mom huddled around the computer , drinking in the latest and greatest of Mackenzie's repertoire:

Getting a glimpse of Brooklyn's lost tooth:
" Everyone clap!" And they did:

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a great Thanksgiving with our usual crowd ( although we missed Aunt Meg who was in California soaking up some Chloe love!)

We headed to Mary's for breakfast. We ended up staying there all day. Gramma and I started up a round of Scrabble:

Mike and Mary worked on dinner while Mack colored:
Since Mack doesn't nap any more, she rested for about 3 minutes on Grammy's bed. She had company:
Dinner was so good, I couldn't pry myself away to get to my camera. Here we all are playing cards after dinner. G.G. taught us how to play *ahem * Bitch Rummy. It was then that I nicknamed her " the Warden" since she managed to keep track of everyone else and their rule following all while beating the pants off us!
Thanksgiving 2010:


Thanksgiving 2009:

Thanksgiving 2008 ( pre-turkey appetizer ):

G.G.

We were so excited that my grandma could make the trek down from Ludington to be with us for Thanksgiving again this year. We had such a good time with her and I feel very fortunate to have her so close by. Unfortunately, with the unpredicatbly fierce Michigan winter, we ususally don't see her again until spring so we try to soak her up!

First things first- anyone coming to our house has to see the tree and then the bedroom. Here Mackenzie is opening a gift from GG - a personalized snowman ornament!
They chattered back and forth. Mackenzie wanted GG to draw a spider web ( after she informed GG that a spider is an arachnid and has 8 legs)

It's Christmastime!

Mack has been declaring " Christmastime" for about two weeks now although she is disappointed that we don't have any snow for snow angels. We traditionally put up our tree on Thanksgiving but jumped ahead a few days so it'd be up for my grandma's visit:

Mackenzie had so much fun decorating this year. The lower half of the tree was hers to decorate and she had enough of her own ornaments to more than fill it.


Mackenzie wearing her stocking:

Mommy and daddy were glad when it was done and we could relax:
More tree pics to come.....

No snow but lots of rain

Michigan hasn't had it's first snow fall yet but we've had plenty of rain. What a great time for a final stomp in the puddles!


By the time we came in, our pants were soaked to the hips and rain poured from our hats. We undressed at the door and made a bee-line for the hot chocolate!

Dress up

Mack is old enough to really enjoy the dress up box. Though she is rarely the one being dressed, she enjoys adorning whomever is present with goodies from her dress up box.

This is her favorite outfit and it's not complete until you place the 1981 tassel over the ear:




Here she proclaims " I'm a swimmer!"
This isn't dress up but she was pretty darn proud of herself for this:

Daddy date

Nearly every day that Mike isn't working, Mackenzie asks him to take her to a) the farm or b) Greenfield Village. Last week was no different so Mike snatched up one last chance to visit the Village before it closes. They visited all things train at the Village and the museum:

It was Daddy day from start to finish. Here Mike and Mack are reading a bedtime story: