We experienced a very full winter, full of a lot of work, fun and immense connection.
The very next morning we arrived in Blissfield, we got down to business sorting and packing up Grandma Long's items. Along the way, Kierce (in her fro wig) found one of my favorite really silly stuffed puppets to play with :-)
We worked very long hours packing, removing wallpaper, painting and cleaning everyday for about 4-6 weeks before moving in.
The first event to crack our work streak was my mom's Christmas concert. The performance was amazing!
I was super excited to head to my friend Kelly's annual Wrap and Write party at the beginning of December. It was so wonderful to get out and do something other than work on the house. We had fun just chatting, even though I had no gifts to wrap or cards to complete. We obviously thoroughly enjoyed a few group shots in front of the camera.
December sure brought us a few warm days, and we sure soaked in this time.
Blissfield creates a skating rink, for residents to enjoy free of charge, offering the potential for future fun!
My good friend Julie came to the house to help us get settled in when we first moved here, and it just so happens we realized we both are owners of red snowsuits. How does this happen??
Rowan and I were excited to spend some time with my parents and the Trins, watching Brynn's choir concert.
Speaking of Trin <3
When I walked into my Aunt Susan's bedroom at our Christmas celebration the Sunday before Christmas, my heart was warmed by this view. These cousins had surely missed each other, and were really enjoying some group fun.
The goofball in my siblings will never dissipate, and has quite obviously spread to our children. Chris and I competed for the crown.
Really, the entire family should have been in the running. The crown goes to...
Christmas Eve came quickly, and I was blessed to spend the precious night with my Grandma Long.
Christmas day was spent with all kinds of family, including Chris's family...
...my parents...
...and goofy Gamma. It was a time filled with so much love, joy and if I remember correctly a little snow too! The next morning the girls departed on a train with my parents for a visit to see their aunt, uncle and cousins in San Diego.
One of Merrick's Christmas gifts was a rocket.
Ryan, in all of his hunky-ness.
Shortly after Christmas, we got together with Aunt Lynn to have our own little holiday celebration. The girls were out of town during this time, so it was just me and the boys. Aunt Lynn knew just what the kids would love, these sleds sure came in handy. <3
Merrick and I enjoyed visiting some of the ladies I rowed with at Eastern one afternoon. It had been many, many years since I had seen a couple of these girls. It was such a blessing to have this time with them.
After we met up with the girls, Merrick was mesmerized by a magicians stand at the mall. We spent about an hour there, and eventually left after Merrick had learned five tricks and had bought a few to take home with him.
What would a winter in Michigan be like, without a trip to The Light's Before Christmas? We just had to indulge :-)
One of my most favorite animals has always been the hippo. Aren't these guys just too cute?
On our way out to the car from the zoo, we noticed this quite famous leg lamp, from one of my all time favorite Christmas movies - The Christmas Story
We rung in the New Year with my good friend Julie and her family. Here she is loving on her youngest daughter Izzie.
Merrick and I took advantage of some snowy weather, before the girls got back from their trip.
Having these girls gone for close to three weeks was one of the most difficult experiences I have endured. Merrick and the girls were so elated to reunite. They had missed each other so much!
Ryan and I were so happy to have our girls back, safe and sound.
Merrick was so excited to share the fresh snow with the girls he had preserved for their return.
A trip to the Imagination Station with friends was just the trick for some cabin fever.
One snowy Sunday just before Valentine's Day, we had an opportunity to celebrate my parents 45th year of marriage at the catholic church in Deerfield.
Here is the devoted couple.
Our Grandma Long celebrated her 96th birthday this year, with family all around her she was filled with lots of love and joy...
...and a little goofy too ;-)
Later in February, we celebrated my friend Kelly's (blue shirt) birthday. It was great to get together with these girls, and enjoy some laughs.
Boy were we glad to spend some time with my cousin Lorie and my Aunt JoAnn (her mother) toward the end of February.
I met up with Lorie at the home where my Grandma Long lives. Lorie read a card that had come in the mail for Grandma.
While visiting Grandma, the kids have all kinds of opportunity for fun, including holding a cat bigger than Garfield.
Merrick really enjoyed playing basketball at a local church which offers a sports program called Upward. He had a great time meeting friends, having fun and interacting with his dad, who happened to coach. The beginning of the games started by introducing the team players and having the kids run through a tunnel of cheerleaders. They also offered a game for the kids during half time. Ryan and I were really impressed with the program.
Since both Ryan and I played basketball growing up, it was really fun to get to watch Merrick play. It was pretty neat to witness all of the kids grow and develop their skills over the course of the two months. Merrick had a great time, making friends and working on team building skills.
The boys and I decided to head to the local malt shop and bakery after one of Merrick's last games, to enjoy some hot chocolate and yummy treat.
We made a visit to see Gamma, and she had some red lips just waiting for them when they arrived. Of course the kids had a blast with these!
She also had a to do list for us to complete a few chores. We really enjoyed checking a few items off the list, and leaving Mom happy :-)
We have all fallen in love with our new cat named Liddy, who sort of fell into our lap. She has melted our hearts, mostly because she acts like a lap dog.
The kids have grown to love visiting Grandma Long at the farm. Besides, loving on Grandma, Merrick gets geared up to help Michelle (Grandma's caretaker) gather chicken eggs from under the porch.
Grandma needs to be fed most of her meals now due to arthritis in her hands, and her failing eyesight. However, she can still hold onto some types of finger foods, banana being one of her favorites. Another one of Merrick's favorite activities is playing with Michelle's granddaughter Ezra. She walks him all around the house, speaking her own precious and unique language. The relationship between the two really melts my heart.
My dear sweet Rowan always travels with me to visit Grandma. These two don't do a lot of talking, but they really enjoy just being together, and I really enjoy spending time with both of them myself.
Merrick has been taking guitar lessons with his grandma, he is so in his element with this instrument in his arms. Rowan is still really enjoying the cello and taking private lessons. I love the sounds of raw music filling the air here at home.
Some Friday afternoons we enjoy visiting the Toledo Art Museum, to take advantage of free art classes.
We have some friends that enjoy meeting us for the fun. Merrick loves to create with Julie's son Jackson. Notice Merrick's backpack made out of a box?
The kids are always coming up with some of the most creative inventions and works of art, using all kinds of materials and supplies provided.
My friend Julie was strung with Jackson's upcycled artwork, and the girls thoroughly enjoyed sharing their creations.
Rowan and Julie's daughter Lexi, always have fun freeing their mind.
One Friday per month, a special guest artist shares a presentation with the class. This particular week, a photographer shared unique ways to create art from pieces of artwork through photography.
Kierce took a tour with some of the kids and the visiting artist. Using my camera, she created some of her own artwork.
Ryan was more than stoked to have the opportunity to finally attend his first Eastern Michigan Baseball Alumni Dinner. We enjoyed a really fun night together, and were able to give back to the program that allowed Ryan to live his passion, ultimately playing a role in bringing us together.
Beautiful Liddy cat enjoyed watching the largest snowfalls of 2014/15 winter.
This particular snowfall, we received about 14". This was Ryan's first snow shovel for the year; he mentioned that it felt really strange to be shoveling snow again, after such a long hiatus.
While the snow was piling up, we walked over to my parents house to watch the Superbowl. The snow was still coming down pretty heavy after the game, so we ended up staying the night and walking back home the next day. I caught a moment of love when we returned home. These girls really are best friends.
I came up with a wacky idea to get us outside and having some fun with our friends. We filled up water balloons with food colored water, then smashed them open on the white snow canvas. It was definitely a pretty sight.
We had a blast to say the least. This got us all wishing we had filled up more balloons.
The kids mentioned that the snow looked like a colorful crime scene!
To celebrate Valentine's Day, Ryan and I were able to sneak away for some authentic Thai food. It was great to spend this intimate time together, since most of our time is spent as a family.
Speaking of family time, one afternoon we played a game of truth or dare. Somehow Kierce was double dog dared to run outside and roll in the snow. After getting pumped up, she got the job done.
One of Rowan's dares was to pop a pink balloon. She asked for Merrick's help, and before we knew it, Kierce jumped in to help too.
We were all just cracking up, as we engaged in this good old fashioned fun.
Later that week, we met up with friends to check out the skating rink from my childhood, which is near their house.
The kids were all really excited to get their groove on, and practice roller skating. Merrick was especially elated about this adventure, since he is all about skating, even in the snow.
Ryan had planned a meeting with a client in Kentucky this last month, so we decided it would be the perfect time to visit cousins Allie, Luke and their little girl Collette. We absolutely fell in love with this sweet thing, who is now a big sister!
We were blessed to visit with Aunt Lynn as well, since they were nearing in on baby Oliver's entrance into this world. Our time together was short, but so full of love and joy. We had fun snapping a group shot before heading out to visit Cha Cha Andi.
While visiting Ryan's sister Andi, we drove to Nashville to check out the downtown area.
Merrick, my niece Hailey and I got photo-bombed by Andi and Ryan in the background.
Nashville, TN
Rowan is growing up before my eyes. Although when I look at her, I still see the face I saw the day she was born. She will always be my first baby, paving the way for her loving siblings.
Myself, Rowan, Andi, Hailey, Kierce, Merrick, Ryan and Skylar
We took Andi and the girls to eat at a nice restaurant downtown called the Wildhorse Saloon. Half way through our meal, we were blessed with some stage entertainment and line dancing. Before heading out I had to snap a picture of the brother and sister duo, after our group shot.
The girls were seriously concentrating on a really important task. They know how much their mom loves to eat raw butter from the farm, so they shook and shook and shook these jars of raw cream, until they suddenly turned into butter. All of the kids were more than amazed by the butter making process.
Kierce and Merrick have been putting on the chef's hat over the past several weeks. I experienced a fracture to my leg, which has allowed the kids to really step up to the plate. They have certainly had to help out more around the house. I think greater responsibility has sort of grown on them - maybe only a little ;-)
These two have even created contests for the most creative food dish challenge. It has been fun to watch these guys flourish and get more and more comfortable in the kitchen.
Last Saturday, our family was overjoyed to volunteer with packing meals for Kids Against Hunger. We helped prepare enough meals to feed 20,000 people. Plus, we all really enjoyed working along side beautiful people of all ages. We each left feeling super connected and really blissed out.
Our beautiful girls at the Kids Against Hunger event.
Ryan has been doing his body good in the kitchen the past few weeks. Instead of drinking caffeinated drinks and other loaded beverages, he has opted for creating gallons of homemade juice.
We visit Grandma Long at the farm weekly, and at one of our recent visits Merrick found an enormous amount of eggs for Michelle. He really appreciates the special odd jobs Michelle assigns him, when we stop over for a visit.
We love our time there at the farm so much, it's usually pretty difficult to say goodbye. We end up staying for several hours because it's a place we all love to just Be.
Just last week, Kierce begged me for another special hair style, so much so that she pretty much put the scissors in my hands. You'll be happy to know that she absolutely adores the side shaved cut; we have even thrown in some fushia highlights to add some flare. I thought it would be fun to capture a few photos of the lovely young lady, who really owns her personal style no matter where she lives.
With the special super new moon, eclipse and equinox just this past Friday, we are all ready to shed anything which no longer serves us and really embrace this fresh start. Spring, here we come.
