Snowy Day...

We had a snow day this past Friday, so we decided to take advantage of having a free day... So, we headed out to Mayberry State Park with Vander and ventured out into the snow! :)  Since Vander LOVES the snow, he truly enjoyed this experience! :)  It was the perfect way to spend a snow day! :)

Heading out for our walk...

Look at that adorable face! :)

I can only imagine that he was probably thinking to himself here, "I wish she would stop taking all of those pictures and just hurry up so we can start on this walk!" :)

We opted to head to the fishing pond...

Vander was loving the fact that he could wander through the woods!  

He had to explore every nook and cranny! :)

I love how everything looks with a fresh blanket of snow on it...
So pretty! :)

Clearly he was bummed that we didn't pack a picnic lunch! :)

Apparently it was time for a break! :)

Say Cheese!!
Brian just "loves" my attempts at self-portraits! :)
*giggle*

Time to head home!
Looks like it's almost time for a new crate! :) 

Winter Microbrew Festival...

A couple of weekends ago, Brian and I headed up north with our good friends, Sherry and Billy, to check out the 3rd Annual Traverse City Winter Microbrew & Music Festival.  What a fun time we all had! :)

The Microbrew fest was held outdoors in the Village of the Grand Traverse Commons.  It's a pretty cool location considering it used to be the home of the Traverse City State Hospital (formerly known as the Northern Michigan Asylum).  They've renovated many of the hospital buildings and turned them into indoor marketplaces filled with eclectic shops and fun little cafes and coffee shops.  Meanwhile, they've turned the grounds into a very pedestrian friendly park with hiking and biking trails. It's definitely a far cry from what it used to be! I'm definitely eager to go back and check it out this summer... From what I hear, they hold lots of festivals and concerts there during the warmer seasons... And, to make it even more enticing, they have a farmer's market set up there during the summer... Woohoo!!  I'm definitely going back! :)  But, I digress... Let's get back to the Microbrew Fest... :)

The festival consisted of about five huge tents set up around the grounds.  Each tent housed about 10 different Michigan Microbreweries, a couple of food stands selling local eats, and a music stage.  And, being that it was pretty chilly outside, the tents were also heated... Yay! :)  So, we basically wandered around from tent to tent, sampling lots of delicious beers (all of them being from our lovely state of Michigan! :)) and listening to some really great music!  There was typically a theme for each tent, and we found ourselves attracted to the European themed tent (go figure!) which consisted of beers which are typical to European countries.  We also found the music in that tent to be far better than any of the other tents we were in!  They had a fabulous modern polka band called the Kielbasa Kings that we loved listening to!  They played modern music with a touch of polka...  Lots of fun! :)  And, the food in that tent was delicious!!  Pierogies and Kielbasa... Yum!! :)  And don't even get me started on the beer in that tent...  Lots of yummy hefeweizens, Kolsch style beers, and some delicious "hoppy" IPA's! :)  (I have to admit, after our few years in Germany and my love affair with hops, I'm now finding myself drawn to the hoppy flavored IPA's... Delicious! :))

Overall, it was such a fun-filled evening!!  It was so fun to wander around outside in the snow, warm up around the bonfire, listen to great music, sample fantastic beers brewed in Michigan, and just enjoy spending time with good friends!  We're already looking forward to next year's festival! :)

Sherry and Billy waiting for the shuttle to take us to the festival... 

Can't wait to get there! :)

The Village at Grand Traverse Commons...
This used to be the old State Hospital... 

Good times with great friends! :)

Sherry prosting to a fun-filled evening! :)

Prost!!

Sherry fell in love with Grandma's Perogies!  They were delicious! :)

Clearly, Brian was enjoying his Kielbasa! :)

The Kielbasa Kings...
They were fantastic and so much fun! :)

Singing and dancing along with the Kielbasa Kings! :)

Brian and Sherry were making friends around the bonfires! :)

Cheers to a great festival!!
Can't wait until next year! :)

40 Years...

January 17th marked a very special day... It was 40 years ago, on that date, that my mom began her teaching career in the small town I grew up in.  Since that date, she has dedicated herself to educating and nurturing all of the children within our community.  As a child of a teacher,  I remember spending many evenings after school, weekends, holidays, and summer vacations in her room helping her to get things organized or put up bulletin boards (I think my sister, brother, and I became quite knowledgable about putting up bulletin boards by the age of 5! :)).  At the time, it was the most annoying thing ever... Imagine being stuck at school when school wasn't even in session! :)  But, as I get older, and now that I'm also pursuing a career in education, I now fully appreciate all that my mom did.   My mom has worked tirelessly putting her heart and soul into her career.  She loves teaching and working with children.  She gets so much joy out of watching children develop into responsible citizens of our community.  And through the years, no matter how crazy things may have been at home (it can get rather crazy raising three children, and we definitely didn't make it easy on her! :)), she never gave anything less than the best in her classroom, and her students have gone on to accomplish many great things because of it.  She has truly made a difference in the lives of so many people within our community.  I've always admired what a wonderful teacher my mom is.  I can honestly say that I've never met another teacher with such drive, dedication, compassion, and determination in all of my schooling.   My mom is my role model, and I can only hope that I can make half of the impact on my students throughout my teaching career as my mom has on hers.

In order to mark this very special occasion, my sister, brother, dad, and I decided to host a surprise luncheon for her.  It was a small gathering of teachers and it was held in the teacher's lounge of her building.  We made the decorations, organized a tasty smorgasbord of food, prepared a scrapbook which we filled with comments and memories from her past students and old coworkers, and dad ordered her 40 long stem roses to mark each year of her teaching career (and they were absolutely gorgeous!!)... And we managed to do this all without her knowing! :)  On the day of the luncheon, my sister and I stealthily set everything up (and we were very jumpy in doing so for fear that she would walk into the lounge at any given moment! :)).  Mom's principal also worked with us in getting her out of her classroom and giving her time during the day to enjoy her luncheon.  And, when she walked into the lounge, the look of surprise on her face made it everything worthwhile. :)  After all that Mom has given to our community over the years, just being able to give something small back to her, meant more than anything. :)  And, to top off an already exciting day, the weather managed to take a turn for the worse that afternoon, and school was actually cancelled at 12:30...  So, Mother Nature apparently wanted to show her gratitude for mom's 40 years of service as well, by giving her an afternoon off! :)

So, thank you, Mom, for being a role model to so many and for being such a dedicated teacher through the years (as well as a wonderful mom throughout!! :))  You have made a difference in the lives of so many, and for that we are forever grateful!! :)  I'm so proud of all that you have accomplished!  I love you, Mom!! :)

The set up...
The decorations were all handmade by my sister and I... From the banner to the centerpieces.
Gotta love being crafty! :)

The smorgasbord of yummy food! :)

40 long stem roses from my Dad... Absolutely beautiful!!
(I found that I kept standing by them and smelling them throughout the day! :))

The cupcakes we made...
Apples and chalkboards!!  :)

The centerpieces...
How creative is my sister for coming up with this?! :)

More centerpieces... 

The surprise!! :)
Mom was definitely not expecting any of this, so the look on her face was pure shock! :)

Mom and Dad... :)

The girls! :)

Kaden really enjoyed the festivities as well! :)

Our family... :)

To Date...

... this is definitely my favorite Vander photo!  I love it! :)

Vander at 14 weeks...