Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day at the Beach

Being silly for the camera...and Mommy!

My Thanksgiving Sunset

Since it's Thanksgiving Day and since I'm a very sentimental person, I should write something mushy about all the things that I am thankful for and how lucky I am to be in this world. However, I'm on vacation and I just don't feel like being that deep. So, to sum it up, to everyone out there who's reading this, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Daddy & His Girls

Geocaching in Ft. Walton Beach, FL

Such a beautiful day yesterday to be out Geocaching. Discovered many hidden beaches and parks and let the girls play in the sand and soak up the sun! It was about 68 degrees and not a cloud in the sky...what more could we ask for?

Plan to go again in the next few minutes but thought that I would post at least one pic-it's one of my favorites and I wanted to share it with you! It's supposed to be a couple of degrees cooler down here today but sunny so we will be enjoying as much of it as possible! We're sending sunshine your way, where ever you are!

PCB

So, just a super quick update tonight. We made it down to Panama City Beach, FL with no major hiccups and paid only $1.42 for gas in TN! Gas is more expensive down here in than in MI, which is really weird, but it's still under 2 bucks so we're not complaining!

It was about 70 degrees this afternoon with mostly sunny skies and a light breeze. We went swimming in the heated pool and hung out in the hot tub for awhile too! We are planning on driving over to Fort Walton Beach tomorrow to do some more Geocaching since we have a bunch of family activities planned for later in the week!

Hope that everyone is well-hope to post some vacation pics tomorrow!

Something to Smile About!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!

Rock it!

Tonight we are headed out with the girls to see the Radio City Rockettes at the Van Andel Arena. It's a gift from Grandma (who'll be joining us) and it will be the first time that the girls have ever been to a live show as big as this! It should be fun-let's just keep our fingers crossed the girls make it through the whole thing without a major meltdown or falling asleep!

***Health Update***

Saw the Dr. today as I do every few weeks and we talked about the debate to keep me on blood thinners for life or trying to wean me off on my 1 year anniversary of the clots. There is a strong argument for both sides and I'm not really sure how to feel. I trust my Dr. to look out for my best interests and right now, he would really like to see me be able to stop taking the drugs in the near future. So, to be able to do that, I am having a CT on my chest (heart and lungs) this Friday to access the situation. We are hoping for clear lungs and normal heart size/function.
I have been having dizzy/lightheadedness/nausea spells for the last week as well so I now have some anti-vertigo medication that I hope will help. One more reason to get checked out!
On a positive note, I have also been losing weight. I am now down about 50 pounds from last year that this time. I have a long way to go in that category but I'm feeling great about looking better! One step at a time, right? :)

And at some point this week, I should really consider packing for our trip to FL. I mean, we're leaving on Saturday and I have not even started! There's always tomorrow, I guess!

Music to my ears!

Well now, thanks to my friend (although we've never met!) Julia, I was inspired to add music to my page. I didn't know how to do and had to figure it out on my own but VOILA!

I added a few songs that are special to me but I really need to go back and pick a few more to add to my playlist. I think it really adds a special touch listening to someone's songs while reading their words-it really gives you a good sense of the person, another layer to ponder, ways to connect.

So enjoy some of my picks...or not! You can always use the "Mute" button :)

Hello Snow...

We woke up this morning to a wintry white and while most of it melted during the afternoon hours, it has continued to snow for most of the day. It is Michigan, it is November and it is cold. I do love the changing of the Seasons here but Winter is definitely my least favorite. I'm more of a "tropical" girl-ya know, palm trees and warm sunshine and pina coladas!

And speaking of tropical, we'll be heading down to Panama City Beach, FL in just a few days to spend Thanksgiving week with family and friends in the warmer climate. It's really hard to pack for trips like this one because it's so cold here and warm there-I almost have to have 3 sets of clothes for all of us!

• Michigan clothes-sweaters and fleece
• Tennessee clothes-jeans and long sleeves
• Florida clothes-shorts and t-shirts

Since we are driving, we will be traveling through a total of 6 States (almost 1000 miles straight North to South) and the weather can vary significantly. I just like to be prepared for anything, especially with the little ones. All THEY really care about is packing their swimming suits. Getting to the pool or hot tub is their number #1 priority so maybe I should pack those first!

I hope that everyone had a great weekend! It's sure to be another busy week ahead....

Family Fall Picture on the Grand River

I wish that I had time to write more. Here it is already Thursday and I've posted nothing all week. We are having a big New Year's Eve party at our house again this year for all of our Geocaching friends and then another big Geocaching Event 2 weeks later. It's a Road Rally that we are hosting and it's sure to be a ton of fun! However, mixing that in with our already busy lives, a trip to Florida for Thanksgiving in a week and Christmas only 6 weeks away makes for a little craziness around here! I am really looking forward to all of it and I'm working hard to get as much in place ahead of time to make each of these big moments go as smoothly as possible!

Wish me luck!!!

I need Medical Attention!

Sorry that it took so long to get these posted! Lauren wanted to be a Doctor and Tara wanted to be a nurse. They both looked really cute in their costumes and now have fun outfits to use for dress-up! They really had a ball and with the temp's close to 70 degrees and sunny skies, it was the nicest Halloween that I can remember!

Those empty trick-or-treat bags that you see were so over-flowing by the time they returned home, that there was a trail of candy up the driveway the next morning! They made quite the haul and are already talking about NEXT Halloween! I wonder what they will want to be then?

Thursday

We made plans earlier in the week with some good friends of ours to have dinner out at Texas Roadhouse. They now have a deal where you can get 2 Dinners for 13.99 M-F 4-6pm. Anyways, they arrived before us, got us seats (parties of 8 are always tricky) and we let all the little girls sit at one table and all the adults were at another. This worked out surprisingly well and we were having a grand time!

We got our drinks, ordered our food, had our soup/salads, rolls and we ordered an appetizer. I know...where am I going with all of this? Things were progressing smoothly when all of a sudden strobe lights started flashing and the loud "waaaap" "waaaap" "waaaap" of the fire alarm started going off. We were all like, " You've got to be kidding me!" but our waitress came out and assured us that is was just a false alarm, the building was not going to burn down any time soon and our food would be up shortly. No harm done...just annoying flashing and beeping while you're trying to carry on a conversation.

However, as we waited and no food came out and the alarm was getting more annoying, that's when we started to worry. And as we feared, the waitress came back to the table to explain that all the grills and ovens were down-automatic precautionary measure-and they would not be able to serve us afterall. We were all given cards for a free meal next time and they did not charge us anything for our pre-dinner food or drinks. And now that I am sitting here thinking about it, I realize that we probably still should have left a little something for our waitress. It certainly wasn't her fault what happened and she did a great job up til that point. Might have to see what I can do about that...

The funniest part was just a month or two ago, Mike and I were at a local hotel for the night (a gift from my brother and sister-in-law) and at 3am we were awakened to the same sounds. And yes, we had to get out of bed, use the emergency exits and stand out in the freezing cold in our jammies until we got the all clear from the Fire Department to go back in. That little nightmare was caused by 4 guys smoking and drinking and catching their bed on fire a floor or 2 above us. Nice, huh?

So, to the entire X4 family, we apologize. The "fire" last night was clearly brought on by you guys having to hang out with us. At least you weren't caught in the elevator! Ha ha ha ha..... :)

Wednesday

So, I'm a little behind in keeping up with my blog, but I really have been busy. Wednesday was a great day and I want to tell you about it. But before I begin, I have to give you a little background first, so here it goes!

The week of April 21st, 2006, we received an e-mail through our Geocaching account from another cacher who had solved one of our "Puzzle" caches. They wanted to verify that they did indeed have the correct coordinates before hunting for it. When responding, we noticed that this player was from GA and was an airline pilot, so we started a conversation through e-mail and found out that he had 2 Geocaching Accounts, (1) for when he cached at home and (1) for when he cached on his layovers or overnights as a Commercial Pilot. Mike of course, thought that this was really cool, and so we offered to pick him up from his hotel on the morning after his flight into GRR, and take him caching around our town until his scheduled departure later that afternoon. What soon followed was a friendship that has grown over the past 2 1/2 years into something special and unique. He has flown in several times over the years, and in January of this year, his family was gracious enough to have us stay with them for a short time while on our way to FL for vacation.

So, we were blessed when CaptRussell or KBI called us late Monday. He let us know that he would be coming in Tuesday night and wondered if we could get together for some geocaching on Wednesday. OF COURSE! DUH! It was wonderful that Mike was actually in town and not out in CA like he was supposed to be. It was glorious day with a light breeze, clear blue sky and 70+ degrees...in NOVEMBER! We had a wonderful breakfast and then went caching for a few hours before grabbing some quick lunch and returning Russell safely back to his hotel. It was a perfect morning and it went way too fast as usual!

We also had dinner plans with some friends of ours from GE that we have not seen in way too long. It was really nice to reconnect. They have a daughter who is about 2 1/2 and have another daughter on the way. Girls-now that's something we know a little bit about!

Stay tuned to find out about our fun night with fire on Thursday!!!!

Say what ya need to say!

Busy day today...had to make a trip to the Post office (with all my eBay sales I have been there more in the past month than my entire life!), take the girls to preschool, Mike and I went and voted, pick the girls up, and so-on-and-so-forth....

On a historical day such as this, I thought it was fitting that we broke the record for the warmest day ever on this date here in Grand Rapids, MI. We hit 73 degrees! On November 4th! It was over 70 on Monday and will be tomorrow too-we will then set the record for the most consecutive days over 70 in a row in November! Now, I'm not disillusioning myself, because I know that the cold weather is very close...but this weather we are having right now is FANTASTIC!

They are projecting that Obama will win the Presidency. I am not surprised in the least. I did not vote for him and some of you may gasp at the shock and horror of it all, but I thought he was going to win anyway. I am not going to be embarrassed or feel ashamed of who I voted for either. I just felt that McCain was the better candidate this time around...and I love that I can vote for whomever I feel like in this great Nation of ours...GO USA!!!!

We have a lot happening tomorrow and I will fill you in later. And I promise that those Halloween photos are on their way!

Standing out in a Crowd...

Here are a couple of pics from our trip to the Pumpkin Patch a week or two ago. I love PhotoShop and am slowly learning how to use all it's features. I am currently working on layers and now have the know-how to "colorize" objects in a B&W photo. It's quite fun actually!

My Plea for a Longer 24 hours!

Seriously, is there any way to stick in a couple more hours? I swear that the days are getting so short now that by the time I get myself up and dressed in the morning, it's time for bed again! Our life has been on overdrive lately and with the Holidays approaching at an all-to-rapid pace, I'm afraid....very afraid.

Granted, Mike has had a lot of catching up to do, not just at home but with work and Geocaching, friends and family, etc. Being essentially gone for 5 months can do that to a person. Plus, Halloween is always busy with the twins. Lucky for me (not), they got to be 2 things this year. They were both Ladybugs for their Preschool party (their school preferred they were either a Christian character from the Bible or something from nature that God made-not my rules but I'm ok with it) and for Halloween, Lauren was a Doctor and Tara was a Nurse. I will post pictures tomorrow. There was lots of running around getting everyone ready for Trick-or-Treating and "I" was in charge of the class craft project for school on Thursday which was totally new for me. Everything went well and the kids all did a great job-I was exhausted though by the end of it and there are only 5 kids in their class!

Did a bunch of Geocaching this weekend as well. Although there are a lot of home projects to work on, with November here, the cold and snow with be arriving in short order and the nice weekends will be few and far between. We just had to take advantage of the sunshine and warmer weather-I will also be posting some pictures from this weekend throughout the week.

I am setting a goal for myself to BLOG every day this week. I have fallen behind recently and I don't like that. It's important for me to get my thoughts out there, even if I'm the only one re-reading them! Ha ha ha ha ha.......