Thanksgiving Feasts

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We got to celebrate Thanksgiving twice this year. We started off the weekend before, when Jen and Bret hosted a dinner at their house. Adam, Erica, and Haven joined in along with Harlen, Jessi, Isabelle, and Helena. Steve, Melissa, and Jack had to miss out, unfortunately, as their family had come down with colds. We fried a turkey which turned out pretty good, and nothing exploded, so we deemed that event a success. The kids all seemed to have a good time playing with each other... at least when they weren't upset because someone was "sharing" their toys.

Then, before heading up to Grand Blanc to MPnA's house for Thanksgiving dinner, we headed out to the Detroit parade for the first time. Michele's mom picked up Alison on her way down on Wednesday night and we all spent the night in Livonia. Then, Thursday morning, we all got up early to head downtown. It was pretty cold, but the wind wasn't blowing much so it didn't seem that bad. We all had a lot of fun. After the parade, we headed north where all of the Anderson side of the family got together to watch the football games and have a delicious meal.

We hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving celebrations as much as we did. We have a lot to be thankful for.

Reunited

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It was really hard to type that title without feeling a little sappy.

Tonight, we got to test out our new web cam as we talked to the Pruss family. Neither Michele or I had done much, if any, video chatting since back when she went to Korea. The technology has come a long way, and I'm sure having an Internet connection that is 100 times faster helps a lot too.

Jake just recently seems to, finally, understand that Elle lives in a new house, so it was really great to see all of them again and be able to show Jake her new home. Jake and Elle both got a kick out of waving and screaching at each other. We even got to see Zack walking like he was practically a toddler himself. It sounds like things are going very well for them down in St. Louis. We can't wait to find a time to get down to visit them in person.

Fall One Weekend... Winter the Next

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You've got to love Michigan weather. A week ago, I got in nine holes of golf. Tonight, Michele and Jake made a snowman.

Here are few photos from the course of about a week showing a fun fall afternoon, followed by a rainy evening, and then a snowy day.

To think we were all in swimsuits yesterday. Granted, we were swimming and playing at the Rec Center. Jake got to ride down the water slide for the first time, and he LOVED it. Out of the blue, last week, he started asking to go swimming. He seemed to remember a lot of the techniques that he learned during swim classes.

We have a blog?

(Please click here for September photos or here for October photos.)

You know the saying, "time flies leaving little time for blogging". Or something like that.

In the last month (or so) since I posted, the following things have happened.

Lots of friends had babies. Craig and Kari added Aubrey to their clan. Harlan and Jessi welcomed Helena. And, Dana and Mike popped out (more Dana than Mike) Aaron.

People celebrated birthdays. Colin turned 5. I turned 30. Pete (Grandpa) turned more than 30.

Friends and families got knocked up (Jake's term... not mine). Mark and Kelly found out they should be having a little girl in March. Heather and Ryan found out they'll be having their first in April. Oh yeah... and we got to visit with Heather since she was in town while her sister had her second child. It was really nice catching up with her and seeing her niece, Sydney, again.

Michigan State finally beat Michigan at the Big House. Go State!

Jason and Jo completed their move to St. Louis. Jo and Michele are still connected by the miles of tears they shed.

Jake got to pick out a pumpkin, help carve it, and go trick-or-treating (over the span of a month or more). Jake walked around saying, "Trick or treat." Which he would then follow up by telling our neighbors that were giving him candy that he got "enough" at his school party! With Halloween falling on such a nice evening, he stayed up and helped us hand out candy. When he got bored, the M&M's and Whoppers (he REALLY liked those) helped fuel him as he ran around the yard and wove his way through the ornamental grasses.

This was also his last week in the Toddler's room at day care. Starting next week he'll be moving up to the transitional preschool room. He's going to be joining a few friends that he started with, and one girl, Grace, is moving up at the same time. Unfortunately, they are leaving his best friend, Lincoln, behind until he's old enough, in December. Everyone is concerned about how that split up is going to work out. When dropping Jake off one morning, I overheard Lincoln trying to convince Ms. Erica that he is a "big boy" over and over!

Hopefully we'll have some movies up shortly. I'll also try to make sure to put up a post or two before Christmas, but after this last span, I better not promise anything!