Life with our little family of 3...

These pictures were taken during our trip to Michigan. We had a wonderful dinner with my cousin and her husband.Here I am with my Aunt Sandy and my wacky brother Brian. Here we are with my cousin Ann. Here are Gabe, Brooke and Emma playing a game in the hotel. They got along so great! Emma cried though when we left them at the airport. That is one of the hardest things about living so far apart... guess it means we'll have to travel to Texas one of these days!

We had dinner with my cousin and her husband one night during our trip. Andy is a musical genisus when it comes to the piano. Emma came up with the idea to have a piano playoff. She decided that Andy needed to be blindfolded to make it more even. Here they are playing a piece together. Though he is so good that he was able to duplicate what Emma played without looking! My niece Brook is looking on and waiting for her turn! Finally she got her turn! Here is Emma attempting to play with her eyes closed. Ms. Kelly would be so proud... because she did it!

While we were back in Michigan we visited the Michigan Firehouse Museum in Ypsilanti. This firehouse was constructed in 1898 and was made into a museum in 1998. It was a great museum that I highly recommend to anyone traveling to the area. Here is our little family... with Emma being almost 8. She is going through a faze where she does not want her picture taken. It drives me crazy especially during times like this! This is one of the original fire trucks for the city of Detroit. I like this picture because of the reflection at the end. I was playing with the camera when I snapped this one. This is the intake for the pumper. This was a fun museum! So much history! It makes you realize how far we have come in technology when it comes to fire fighting!

What is a week it has been. We flew back to Detroit to attend my Grandma's funeral. She was 94 years old and lived a long, good life. My Grandma was born in 1916. She lived through the Great Depression. She was the first in her family to graduate from college. She lived downtown Detroit when it was a bustling and prosperous city. She raised 3 girls which resulted in 3 grandkids and 4 great-grandkids. Our trip was bittersweet... Saying goodbye to a loved one is never easy but knowing she lived a good full life made it less hard. Being able to spend some time with my brother and sister and their kids also made it easier. This was the first time all the cousins were together in one place. (Both of my siblings and their kids live in Texas.) Neither of my Grandparents were able to meet Emma. I was pregnant with Emma when my Grandpa passed away. He did know that I was pregnant before he died. Robert and I were able to say goodbye to him before he slipped into a coma and passed away. If ...

I don't normally watch movies since I am not much of a movie person. However my family just loves them! This morning I watched a movie with Emma called "An American Girl: Chrissa Stands Strong". EXCELLENT! The movie deals with bullies, especially girl bullies. Chrissa is a new girl in school where there is a "popular girl". The popular girl, Tara and her friends are really mean to Chrissa. To the point that it made me cry! The movie has several great messages and incidents. The adults are good, strong adults who aren't too overbearing or cheesy. The movie ends well without any bad examples of what not to do when dealing with a bully. This is definitely a keeper!

Robert and I have been married 11 years as of Saturday. It's hard to believe that it's been "that long" already. We've had our share of ups and downs, good times and bad times. But through the grace of God, he has seen us through them and will continue to. We spent part of our anniversary with Emma at the "Fisherman's Fall Festival" in Seattle. It was a nice day with nice weather. Then we went to a restaurant that we've been to when we lived in Seattle to bring back memories... well you know how "old memories" are... they are always better in your head! Oh well the food was edible! At least we were able to finish it off with a slice of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory! Happy Anniversary to us!

Thanks to a much needed break in the rain we took a walk at a local nature park. It was a great way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. We saw these beautiful mallard ducks hanging out in the pond. Emma loves to compare her height to everyone and everything... finally this grass was something that was almost taller than her! :-) Emma found a little friend... "Catapilly". She really wanted to take her home but we just couldn't.