Our other Christmas Happenings

Sunday (21st) we went to Church where they put on a beautiful Christmas Cantata. I love Christmas music. It was a great way to start off the day.

After church we went to Kyle's Dad and Step mom's for Christmas Breakfast. Gary always makes us a big batch of Cabin Mash and it is so yummy. It is a mixture of potatoes, sausage, egg and cheese done in a skillet. After breakfast we opened presents. I was so happy to get the new red kitchenaid Toaster I had been wanting. My old toaster needed to be kicked to the curb. It never worked very well and I always felt like I had to wrestle with it to make toast!! We had a great time just spending time with everyone. Kyle, Chuck and Nick had built new cabinets for Gary's wood shop(with help from Gary's friend Jerry). Before we went home everyone went outside to the shop and we put our hand prints and names on two of the cabinet doors. It was a fun project.

Later that day we went to Kyle's Mom and Step dad's house for dinner. The kids all got new ice skates for Grandpa and Grandma and were so excited and kept asking when we could go ice skating. Emily got lots of cute clothes and lots of new noisy toys!! I got new Paula Dean kitchen pots and pans (in red of course). They are so nice. It is great to be able to cook an egg and not have it stick! Kyle got the new layout blind for duck and goose hunting. His brother Nick got one too. Look around the fields next fall and you might see them laying around in the hunting ( or taking a nap!)

On Christmas Eve Day we went to my parents house for dinner. We had a full house. We had ham and turkey and all the fixing's, plus way to much dessert to eat. The kids all got a new board game and their favorite candy, snack and pop. They loved that! Later a group of us played Hannah's new game apples to apples. It is really fun and gets everyone laughing.

So we had a great few days spending time with family. We had great food and made lots of new memories. It was so nice to see the kids be so thankful to everyone for their presents and really get the real reason for Christmas too.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends! Hoping everyone had a great holiday with their families. Remember Jesus is the reason for the season.

I will be posting very soon about our Christmas get togethers....

Christmas at our House

We celebrated Christmas with the kids on Monday. The kids opened up their new pj's the night before so they would look cute and cozy for pictures. We bought the kids a new Wii. This was their big gift. They also each got a game for it and a few other small gifts and their stockings. Emily got a really cute pink chair that is just her size. I made pancakes, sausage and french toast for breakfast and then we just hung out in our pj's all day. It was nice being home all day. I got Kyle some new hunting trail camera's, a new cowboy (Ted Nugent style) hat, and misc. other hunting items. I got my new Bow! I had been wanting one so I could start bow hunting deer. I also got a new Kitchenaid Knife set. We desperately needed new knives.

Some happenings in our life...

It sure seems to be the theme around the holidays!! BUSY BUSY.

Sunday the 14th we visited Hannah and James church in Hartland (where they attend with their dad). Hannah was in their yearly Christmas Concert. It was called the "Christmas Star". It was a nice evening of singing and fellowship. She did an awesome job and she even got to play the part of a wise man too. She really enjoys singing and performing. My parents went along with us and we stopped and had dinner on the way home with them.

On Tuesday the 16th our MOPS group had our Christmas brunch sponsored by our steering team. It was very yummy. We had breakfast casseroles, fruit and a chocolate fountain and other yummy things! We also did our final gift exchange for our secret sisters. It was a nice morning. I am really enjoying getting to know everyone better this year and enjoying the new friendships that are forming. Later that same day Emily came down with the flu. UGH This was her first bout with the flu and she actually did really well with it. She was finally feeling better by Friday. I was not feeling to well on Thursday and Kyle was lucky enough to catch it by the weekend and spent all day Saturday at home. Hopefully we are free of the bug now. Everyone seems to be doing better.

I really enjoyed the snow storm we had on Friday. I stayed home in my comfy clothes with Emily and Brayden all day long. School was closed here. Brayden played outside for a couple hours and later in the day Kyle got the snowmobiles out and took Brayden for a ride. Emily is really enjoying the snow now. We have a little purple sled that Katy and Chuck passed on to us that she loves to be pulled around in. It's quite a workout(according to Brayden and Kyle, I get off easy since I am always holding the camera). The whole time she is outside she eats the snow and then tries to eat the snow off the ground whenever anyone walks in the house with snow on their shoes!



On Saturday evening we went to a potluck dinner on my mom's side of the family. It was my Aunt and Uncle (Dave and Marilyn) and their 4 kids and their families along with my siblings and their families. It was nice to see everyone and catch up. It seems that time goes by way to fast and we only see each other a few times a year. There were a lot of kids and they had fun playing and running around with each other. Kyle stayed home due to the nasty bug and missed out on all they delicious food.


Well I should go. The kids have been sleeping for a couple hours and I need to pull Kyle away from his new Cabela's hunting game that he is playing on the new Wii game system. We had busy day yesterday, but stayed home all day today and celebrated Christmas with them. Ok, I will fill everyone in on that tomorrow night.

Misc. Pictures from last weekend...

The kids posing for christmas pics

Emily wearing a dress that Hannah wore. Look at that cute smile!

Marhea was playing hairstylist with Emily. Katy cut our hair on Sunday night and this is what they did while we were there!!

Hannah and Emily looking cute.

Our Snowmobile Trip

Kyle had the week off from work so on Tuesday night we headed to Grayling to get a days ride in. My sister Julie came over after work to stay with Emily for us. She has Wednesdays off. It took us an extra hour to get to our hotel because of the winter storm up north. We got there about 10:30pm and unloaded the sleds to get a quick ride in. We rode about 23 miles. The next morning we headed out and spent the day on the trails. We started at 4 Mile Rd, just south of Grayling and rode about 70 miles north to Alba. We ate lunch at Starvation Lake. The trails were beautiful, hardly any other people on them. They were the smoothest trails I have ever rode on. We ended up in Alba and got gas. We turned around and headed back to our Truck. We ended up riding 150 miles! That's a lot in 8 hours. It felt so good to be on our sleds out in nature. It was a good way to unwind after a busy week. We are already looking forward to another trip soon.

A busy Monday

Monday was Grandpa Gruesbeck's funeral. Lots of tears were shed. It was nice to hear stories about Grandpa I had never heard. He sure loved his family. He will be deeply missed but we can rejoice that he is pain free and with our Lord. Continue to pray for Grandma as they were married for 67 years and I'm sure she is missing him.


On Monday night our church had a Christmas by candle light dinner. It's for the ladies in the church. My mom did a table last year and it turned out nice. So this year we sponsored a table together. We picked a theme of blue, silver and white along with snowflakes. The idea is to create a table with lots of candles. We had finger foods and desserts and ate by candle light. We also had a couple come in named Bob and Becky Brunton and put on a Christmas concert. It was so nice to sit and relax and soak up the music. It was a nice ending to a very emotional and busy day. We are already planning our table for next year!!

James' Birthday Party

Wow, we have had a very busy week. I will start with last weekend. We celebrated James' 10th birthday on Saturday night. We had a full house and ate pizza and bread sticks. James birthday meal choice was pizza from Little Ceaser's. I baked a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and James decorated it with his John Deere Tractors and farm animals. It looked cute. He loved his gifts. It was a nice night at home with our extended families. Everyone kept saying " I can't believe he is already 10!" My baby is 10! WOW

Remembering Grandpa Gruesbeck

Grandpa passed away last night. Please continue to pray for our family. It is a difficult time. He was a very hardworking man who loved his family. I only had the privilege of knowing him for a few years, but in that short time he touched my life. We live next door to Grandpa and Grandma and I loved driving by in the summer and seeing his beautiful garden. He had the best garden in the county!! He was always busy around the farm. Knowing that he is in heaven and free of pain gives us comfort.

Emily's boo boo

Well Emily fell a couple nights ago and banged her head up. This is her first major boo boo. Of course she does this right before I want to take some Christmas pictures!! It is looking better today. I should have taken a picture the night it happened. The goose egg has gone down. I'm sure we will have many more falls and scrapes to come now that she is running!

Prayer Request

Kyle's Grandpa Gruesbeck is not doing very well right now. He is at home with Hospice care. Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers. He is very loved by everyone.

Happy Birthday Carolyn

Today is my mother in law's birthday!! Happy Birthday Carolyn. Everyone loves you and I know you have a lot going on right now with Grandpa being sick. Just know that we are praying and here for you if you need us. I am very blessed to have the best Mother in law in the world!

Let it snow!!!!!!!

I love snow! Waking up today to a winter wonderland was awesome. Kyle and I can hardly wait to go snowmobiling. Kyle bought me a new sled last year for Christmas, well not brand new, but new to me! I only rode it once for about an hour. We did not go on any trips up north last winter partly because we had a newborn and the weather did not cooperate. We are possibly planning a quick trip to Grayling around Christmas time and then another longer trip later in winter. I love that my husband loves being outdoors and that we have so much we like to do together. We hunt, kayak, camp, snowmobile and even plant our garden together.


So back to the beautiful snow. I took a few pictures of my front and backyard. I love, love, love living in the country. Looking out my windows and not seeing another house right next door or behind me. Almost every night I can look out my windows and see deer running around. The kids absolutely like having a big yard and woods to play in. There is nothing better than a day outside playing and using their imaginations.

Well I should go for now. Emily is up from her nap and I have some errands and housework calling my name. Have a great day and enjoy the SNOW!!

Happy 10th Birthday James!

Wow. I can't believe he is 10 already. As I was going to bed last night I was thinking about going into labor for him and how quickly he was born. Time sures flies. Last night he said to me " this will be the last day I am a single digit number." He has grown from a cute chubby baby boy into a handsome young man. Have a great birthday James and know that we all love you very much.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. It's hard to believe it's here already. Here are some things that I am thankful for this year.

God
My Husband Kyle
My kids James, Hannah, Brayden and Emily
My extended family
Friends
Having a warm home
Plenty of food
Living in a country where we have freedom

There is such much more to be thankful for of course and I am very blessed. Take time tomorrow to think about and thank God for what you are thankful for.

Cousins

This morning I watch my niece Kada. She is about 10 months older than Emily. Anyways the girls had fun playing. They read books, put buckets on their heads and played get every toy out in the house!! Now that they are older I am hoping they will be good friends. They only live a mile from us so that makes it nice. We will be planning more play dates soon.

Our hunting weekend

Well opening morning was very cold, rainy and windy. The deer were not moving much and we did not get a deer in the morning hunt. Kyle ended up getting 2 on Saturday afternoon and evening. He got a 6 point and a button buck. He was the only one out of 5 of us hunting on opening day. We got up early again this morning and headed out to my blind. Not to long after daylight 2 does walked in. I was able to shoot one!! She is a nice big doe. My biggest deer yet. I can't even begin to describe the adrenaline rush you get!! It's awesome. I never thought I would like hunting, but decided I would never know unless I tried, so four years ago I went out. Kyle bought me a 20 gauge shotgun for Christmas in 2004. I know how romantic!! He also got me earrings that year, just in case! I did not get anything my first year. My 2nd year hunting I shot a smaller doe. Last year I went out 2 weeks after Emily was born and shot 2 deer within 30 seconds!! So I am still hunting for a buck and hoping this will be the year.

Being outside in the woods this morning was awesome. The snow was falling and the woods was covered in a white blanket. Squirrels and birds were everywhere. It's fun to watch the squirrels running around and gathering corn and acorns for winter. The are very busy and noisy. It's hard not to think about God and how awesome he is and be in awe of everything he created!

So tonight we will be making breakfast sausage, hunters sticks and summer sausage. We will be putting good meat in our freezer that we will eat for the next year.

I will be going out again soon. Gotta get rid of my buck fever!!

Getting ready to hunt

Kyle and Nick built me a stand for my deer blind this year. Yesterday we went out in the woods to check it out. I had not seen it and I wanted to climb in it once before opening morning on Saturday. We took Emily out with us. It was actually warmer yesterday afternoon. She had fun and even got to go in my blind. I have major buck fever this year and I am hoping to shoot my first buck on Saturday morning. There are major signs of deer near my blind. Anyways I will update everyone this weekend. Wish me luck...

A visit to the Doctor

Today was Emily's 12 month checkup. She is doing great! She weighed 22 lbs 4oz and is 31 1/2 inches tall. Dr. Mager's loved her "what's that". She says it constantly. Here are a couple pics from the doctor' office. She loved the paper on the table and had it shredded by the time the doctor came in to see her.

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Emily's Birthday party!

We had a busy weekend. On Friday night we went to Chuck E Cheese for Keegan's Birthday party. The kids had a blast playing all the games and Emily followed Chuck E around and kept trying to hug his leg! It was to cute. On Saturday James and Brayden went to a tailgate party and the MSU Football game with Grandma Carolyn. They got to go ice skating at Munn Ice Arena and eat yummy food. They had a lot of fun, even though it was a MSU game! GO BLUE!! I took Hannah and Marhea to see High School Musical 3 on Saturday afternoon. It was a good movie and we got full on popcorn and candy. Saturday Night was Emily's party. We had it at Kyle's Mom's house. Thank you Carolyn and Dan. Their house is much bigger and we had a lot of people. Emily was as cute as can be and did great with everything. She got tired towards the end of the night and did not make that big of a mess with her cupcake as I thought she might. Easier cleanup for Me. Anyways thanks to all who came and helped us celebrate her 1st birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday Emily Ann!!!

Wow. This first year has flown by so fast! Every day she amazes us. Always smiling, you can't help but smile back at her. Her favorite things to say are "whats that" in a cute little whisper and she say's "woof woof" at every animal she sees. She learned to walk a month ago and is now working on running! We are looking forward to this next year. I'm sure she will keep us very busy and bring so much joy and love! We love you Emily Ann.

Daddy, Mommy, James, Hannah and Brayden

Ok, the pictures did not get posted that well! Sorry. Love the one of her upside down. Anyways, some of our favorites from the past year.