Thanksgiving 2012

I have been woefully lax in keeping up with  my blog. There are several reasons, but mostly I simply have tried to do too many things at once. Working, holidays, birthday--all took up my time. So here I am getting caught up.

We went to Indiana to be with family for Thanksgiving.

We hadn't been to Indiana since June, so we were ready for a road trip.  We stopped in Grand Rapids for lunch, and Aaralynne was a silly girl while we waited for our order.



We stayed with my brother and went to my sister Kathy's for Thanksgiving Day. My daughter Christine and her family were there, along with some of her cousins.

Annie, Aaralynne, Scott (hiding behind Aaralynne), Allison, Emily holding Nicholas, Matthew, Christine and Daniel



Kathy and Christine enjoying time together

A few more candid shots from the family get-together. 

My brother's granddaughter Sophia came later and we all hovered over her. She was a little shy, but went right to Emily. She loves Kathy and began to relax. I finally caught a smile. She is such a sweetie.

Aaralynne and I stayed as long as we could at Kathy's, while Christine's family left to spend time with her husband's family. Sophia took a little nap, so Aaralynne had the older cousins to herself. She sat on their laps and played with their phones, talking to each of them on the phone. Then she decided she should just have both phones and talk to herself. It was pretty funny and we all had a good laugh.

On Friday, Aaralynne and I went shopping with Kathy and the girls. Christine begged off so she could spend time with her husband's family and head home in the afternoon. We had a great time and headed home ourselves on Saturday. We stopped to see Aaralynne's Great-Grandmother on our way and had a nice visit with her.

We got home before the snow started, but enjoyed seeing a little bit of white in the morning. 

Just enough to get us in the mood for Christmas coming. But first, some little girl I know turned 6 just a week later. More to come.

Surprise!

I am blessed to have a very special family. I have two sons whom I love unconditionally, and I know they love me as much as a mother should be loved by her sons. I am lucky to have two daughters who are my best friends. We talk all the time and share our day-to-day lives with each other.

A couple of weeks ago, my youngest daughter, who lives in Oceanside, California, got a sitter for the evening and drove to San Diego to attend a book signing with an author that she and I and my oldest daughter follow. This author wrote a memoir about the birth of her Down Syndrome daughter, and the life changing journey she traveled to accept this challenge in life. This author writes a blog several times a week and shares pictures on Instagram. She writes beautifully and from her heart.

This author grew up in Michigan and comes here for visits. She was here this summer and my oldest daughter and I hoped to run into her when she was in Traverse City. We didn't and were pretty disappointed that we didn't.

So when we heard this author was going to be in San Diego, we hoped that my daughter would be able to go there and see the author in person. When I asked her if she was going to the book signing, she said she couldn't get a sitter and was sad she couldn't go. I was sad for her, too.

A few days later, my daughter told me she had mailed me and her sister a package and to look for it. It took 4 days and I finally received my package. She wrote on the back "Call me before you open this." I had just spoken to her, and knew she was running errands at that time. I called her and she told me I could open it. I did and found the book. She prompted me to turn the pages and I found the signature of the author. I was beside myself with excitement. This was sooooooo cool that she got to go to the book signing and she gifted me with an autographed copy of this very special book.

My daughter said she was happy she could finally share with me and her sister the experience of the book signing. She later wrote a blog and included pictures of herself and the author.

My daughter told me this was my Christmas present this year. I laughed and told her it was better to receive it now rather than at Christmas. Because it was truly a surprise!

If you haven't read this book, I recommend it highly. Be sure to have a box of tissues close by, because you won't be able to read it without feeling the emotions the author experiences.

And you will love it!

Fall

It's Fall, and has been for a month. We had so much fun this past summer, that I am still amazed with the cooler weather, and that the leaves are near the end of their color season. I know I really wanted the summer to never end, but living in Northern Michigan, that won't ever happen. Oh well, the colors were beautiful on our only walk in the last month.

  Caterpillar

It's rained enough this fall to make up for the dry sunny summer--at lease in  my mind. But I would trade a wet fall for the dry, beautiful sunny summer we had. No complaints. And so we have spent lots of time inside.

I've begun working, not full-time, but enough to get back into a routine of not being home all the time. I really loved my 15 months being a stay-at-home Mom to Aaralynne. But now reality has set in. I must work if we want to eat. My former employer has contacted me as she has needed a little help. As much as I have sent out resumes and worried about what I am going to do when my unemployment runs out, I remember what my Mother used to say to me all the time: "Don't worry, God will take care of you." It seems no matter how much I worry about things, most of the time the right thing happens at the right time.

During the summer, when I would work a day or two here and there, Christine was gracious enough to take A. for me and I didn't have to worry about her. As I was wondering what I was going to do about daycare for A. after school started, that fell into place also. I was at a birthday party about a week before Labor Day, talking to a neighbor. I mentioned that I was looking for daycare for Aaralynne and she said we should talk. Turns out that she was looking for something to do during the day. It's working out so far. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I drive up to Leelanau County as many of our clients are there. The colors are beautiful on the drive. I have thought about stopping to take pictures, but am always concerned about time--getting to the client's on time or getting home on time to pick up A. I've taken a few pictures from my car just to document the beauty of the colors. I'm not sure I was very successful.

One day while I was in Suttons Bay, I had a little extra time. I walked down to the marina. The sun was not shining on the water and the boats, but took a picture anyway. I took another picture across the street from where I was working. It brings back such nice memories of when we lived there for 18 years.

My grandson's birthday is the end of September, so we helped him celebrate. He turned 7 and we all had a great time with friends.

On our way home we stopped at the marina to take a few pictures. I loved the rainbow.

We play outside as much as we can, and I am cleaning and cutting back the plants in preparation for winter. A. chases the cat most of the time. Every now and again Babe will let A. pet her. They both are looking at the fence as the dog on the other side is barking at them.

When Babe has had enough, she goes under the fence to the neighbor's yard.

Here is a look at my yard in the fall. The flowers that are still blooming are a variety of anemone. It spreads like crazy and I usually pull the runners out like weeds. But when they bloom in the fall I think they are pretty and won't cut them back until after we've had a little snow, and then it's time.

 Side yard next to the house with two dogs.

Last week we walked down the street to Aaralynne's friend's house and played with them for a little while. He has a little brother and they were throwing and chasing after a tennis ball. It was about 70 degrees that day.

We've only been able to make it to one soccer game this month because of all the rain. I told Christine I am a fair weather fan, and not too fond of standing in the rain. I only got this one shot of A. and D. They have such a good time together. It was the last game of the fall season.

We had our Indian Summer last week with temps at 78 one day. But yesterday the temps fell and has been in the mid 40's. A. pesters me to go outside beginning after breakfast. I was busy on the computer and finally around 2:00 we went outside. She played and ran around so the chilly temps didn't bother her. I cleaned up some of the plants, and we came in around 3. One hour outside at 43 degrees was enough for me. I did get a lot done, though.

Recently I have thought that my blogs are a bit long. I am going to try to keep up a little better and not wait so long between writings. I'll be working full-time for 3 weeks straight while my employer goes on vacation, so I may not have time to take many pictures. But we'll see. I'll keep you posted as we enjoy the rest of the fall.