More pics of my Parent's house

Here are more pictures of the kids enjoying the great outdoors at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I have even more but this gives you a good idea of all that they did.

Pic 1 - Nate fishing off grandpa's dock; Pic 2 - Mikey, Nate, R.J., Christian and Kolbe posing for Mom; Pic 3 - Austin up to bat; Pic 4 - R.J. and Austin showing their muscles; Pic 5 - R.J. and Mikey taking Kolbe for a ride in the canoe.

Fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house

When we went to Michigan we stayed at my Mom and Dad's house. They have such a beautiful home and setting. As you can see they have a large yard that goes to a lake. The kids had soo much fun. They fished, canoed, swam, hunted for frogs - and even caught a few big bull frogs - played baseball, and more. It is such a great place to run free and play. We are so grateful that they put up with us for two weeks of a fun filled vacation. I have more pictures of the fun they had but I could only put this many on the post. I will have to add more to a second post. Stay tuned

Pic 1 - Christian and Nate hunting for frogs ; pic 2 - the yard from the deck; Pic 3 - maggie enjoying a Fudgecicle on the deck steps; pic 4 - Maggie and Christian swimming ; Pic 5 - Nate going down the slide into the lake.

Having A blast!!

Hi everyone - I thought I would update you all on what we have been up to.

Wednesday we went to noon Mass at our former parish Christ The King. It was so wonderful. Fr. Ed did a wonderful job as usual - I sure miss his homilies. After Mass we spent about an hour just saying Hello to many any friends. It was great but he boys were getting hungry and so we had to scoot.

Later that day my brother came over to my parents and we all had dinner together. Nothing like pizza and family!!! It was so good to just hang out togther. We used to do that all often when we all lived in Michigan.

Yesterday we hung out with our dear friends the Faraj's. It was soo good to see them. It was like we never left. They have 6 girls so Maggie ahd her share of Girl time!!! We went to another friend's house to swim. Their pool is amazing. It has a slide and a diving board. Needless to say my kids were in heaven. I even went down the slide!!

After our fun day we had dinner at my parents with my sister and then I went to Women's Group. What can I say about that ? It is such a wonderful group of dear women who love and serve Jesus, who love each other, and strive to improve in everything they do for love of God, their family and each other. I missed them so much.We shared, laughed, ate etc . What a hard thing to leave behind. I am so glad I was able to be here for it though. They are amazing !

I will have to add pictures later - my Dad's computer does not take my digital card so I will have to wait. I will be updating again soon. Today we are visitng more friends and Austin and my parents get back from hockey camp in Traverse City.

We are Here!

Sorry - I haven't figured out my Dad's computer yet so there are no pictures. I will post some as soon as I figure out how to get mine on his computer.

We arrived safe and sound late last night. Thanks for all your prayers - everything went very smoothly. The boys fished and played baseball this moning and then we went to Mass at Christ The King. It was amazing! I missed it so much and it was so good to see so many people. This is going to be a wonderful vacation.

I will have more later but for now - Happy Feast of the Assumption and thanks for all those prayers!!!

Getting Ready to Go!

Well - we leave in about 45 minutes for the airport for our trip to Michigan. Our flight leaves at 6:30 tonight and we get back the 28th. Please keep us in your prayers as it is me and the kids without mike. We are very excited and looking forward to seeing family and friends. talk to you from Michigan!!!

Happy Anniversary Mike!!!

Happy 13th Annivesray to my husband Mike. It is so hard to believe it has been 13 years! The time has gone by so fast. God has blessed us so abundantly in these 13 years together. We have our faith, each other, and our 8 wonderful children.

Mike - all those years ago when we were 12 you said you were going to marry me! Well - you did! Thanks for waiting for me to come to my senses. I am so glad I did! I love you!!!!!! You are an amazing husband and father. I hope we are able to spend many many more years together!!!

Maggie Swimming!!!

Today Maggie was in the pol with Mike and the boys. Mike gave her the noodle and she started to kick her feet and she was off! When he told me I could hardly belive it. As you can see for yourself Ms. Independent has started to teach herself swimming basics. I am sure it will be a while before she is swimming completely on her own but this sure is a great first step.

Everything is breaking!!!

Why does it seem that everything falls apart all at once?

Mike just got his car fixed - again!. the joys of an old car. My dishwasher has been on the fritz for a while. It does not get the dishes all the way clean and so I do most of them by hand - Oh yea! Our van has been without air conditioning for 6 months now and it is getting to the point where I cannot go anywhere because my car is over 100 degrees with only a little breeze coming in. Now it is my washing machine. It has been a week now and am I ever behind on laundry. The repair guy came today and tells me he will let me know in a couple of days what they are going to do. Apparently the barrell, shocks, etc are all worn and not in working order- I have a front loader - and that is why the drum is hanging down. He says it is a three hour job to do the repairs so he is going to try and get them just to replace the machine. I must say I would rather have them replace the machine but I hope they hurry up. We leave for Michigan in 6 days and I NEED to do my laundry!!! Pray for my sanity and that nothing else breaks down.

The Count Down Begins....

Today begins the one week count down to our trip to Michigan! We cannot wait! It has been over tow years since we have all been able to go visit. The kids are so excited and so am I. There are lots of friends and family members we have not seen in a very long time. Many have never seen our little Maggie in person - boy will that be a treat:) I can't wait to post lots of pictures of all of our adventures in Michigan.

He's home!!!

Yea!!! Mike came home from St. Cloud today. We missed him very much. It was the hardest for me at nigth when I was trying to go to bed. I would stay awake until my eyes were burning and then I would sleep with a light on.

Mike has a great time and was able to learn a lot and watch Austin play some really good hockey. He was also able to relax some and just catch a break. He did not have that much time to spend one on one with Austin as the boys stayed in dorms and the parents stayed at nearby hotels. He was able to talk to him in between games and practices and spent the most time with Austin the last day when they were finished with their games.

Mike also had time to speak to scouts for the OhL, colleges and to some different agents. They had presentations on Wednesday where the kids and parents learned different aspects of the hockey world. It was a very god time, but we are all glad that he is home with us:)