Happy Channukah - visit with Grandma Beth

We had a lovely visit with Grandma Beth from Las Vegas, just in time for a local Chanukah party with cousins Larry & Naomi. Samantha got into the holiday act as well, sucking on some chocolate and making a grand ol' mess to clean up :-) We enjoyed her stay, and look forward to seeing everyone real soon.

It's a snow day!

So if there is going to be snow, let it be fun. Remembering, somewhat fondly, the snowdays of our younger years, we venture out into the cold weather. If 20 degrees is cold what does that make 8 degrees (with wind chill saying, "Feel's like -14 degrees). Anyway, although short lived, our outdoor adventure was fun.

The theme "It's been cold"

For the last few weeks here in Michigan, it has been a bit chilly. Well, a lot chilly. We've passed the evening time bundled up enjoying a relaxing dinner at home. Samantha is a huge helper in the kitchen and knows exactly what to do while I'm getting dinner ready. And Ginger. Well, she's got her own agenda during that time of day. Ginger got a haircut recently and they dressed her up for the holiday's coming up! We're enjoying good health and great times.

new foods -- > CHOCOLATE

I couldn't resist allowing Samantha to partake of Hershey's chocolate. She's a fan. She went from being very talkative to very deep in chocolate heaven. Here's a small piece for you!

My 1st birthday!

We apologize for slackin' on our bloggin'! November kinda flew right by, and into early December we are! Michelle planned a combined birthday party for Samantha (1 year) and myself (31 years) at the house. We had friends over from work and our neighbors, Samantha was overwhelmed with all the delicious food and noise-making presents! We had a great time, Samantha got right into her birthday cake with food galore all over herself. We have a lot to be thankful that she did so well with her surgery, and look forward to many more years of health and happiness.

FUN TIMES IN LAS VEGAS!

We made a trip to Las Vegas with the family (excluding Ginger this time) to attend the annual AOA convention and catch up with family.
Everybody was particularly excited to see Samantha after her recent surgery.
It was a terrific week with perfect weather!!!
We spent time at the park keeping an eye on the birds and dogs and making sure that everybody knew that we thought the Yankees should be playing in the World Series. We rooted for the Rays too! Better luck next year.

"I tried Olive Garden for the first time. Leave an extra trip for Mike the waiter cause it's gonna be messy."

The Great Grandmothers!!! (GGs)

Samantha had a ton of different balls and toys to play with. It was hard for her to make up her mind which to play with first!

Ginger stayed home to guard the fort and keep it safe from "Trick or Treat"ers. :)

Fall Foilage

We all were able to enjoy some beautiful fall weekends recently. Last month we drove to northern Michigan and explored some areas in the middle of the state: Tawas City, Oscoda, and Bay City to enjoy the fall scenery. A lot of beautiful sights alongs Lake Huron & the Saginaw River. And then more recently we checked out the Plymouth Orchard to see the pumpkin patch and delved into some fresh apple cider and pie.

Happy New Year!

Samantha is just such a happy girl. She's all dudded up and ready to go. Common Mom! Our friend Rosine made this gorgeous sweater for her. As you can tell, Samantha's a fan.

We're eating FUN foods

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Samantha is moving from only infant foods to regular "people" food. Cheerios, cottage cheese, yogart... the possibilities are now endless!7

Tampa/Orlando

Michelle & I wrapped up the end of August with a reunion of sorts in Western/Central Florida. We stayed for two nights outsdie Tampa reuniting with our cousins and seeing colleagues from residency. We then spent the rest of the week in Orlando as Michelle attended her ACCP Pulmonary Review Course. Yours truly was her chauffeur as well as babysitter for little Samantha. We all rented a villa for the week, staying with my mother as well as Aunt Gladys and her grandson Julian. All in all a great time!

Sweet times ...

Michelle, Samantha & I were able to catch the last weekend of Chocolate Exhibitation at the Henry Ford Museum. Very fun & interesting learning about the history of chocolate, how it's made, etc. etc. We then walked around Greenfield Village for a while before heading home for the day. Samantha got in some arts & crafts time with Mommy :-)

Graduation time!

For the past 8 weeks we've been taking Ginger to our local Petsmart store for some basic obedience training. It took a while for her to learn, but we think it was a worthwhile investment. They had a cute ceremony for other dogs in attendance, Ginger did very well obeying commands!

Random park shots

Samantha has been quite the outdoors-lady, attending a childhood class reunion for when she was in utero. We also made it a family affair by having a picnic at the Kensington State Park in Milford. She had fun at both outings as you can tell!

Ginger's Graduation Night!

For the last 2 months Ginger has been going to school in the evenings. She was learning all sorts of great things and Samantha was getting into it as well. A whole family affair. Last night, Ginger GRADUATED from her beginning class. We have a ways to go but we're really proud of our little girl!

We highly recommend http://www.petsmart.com/ classes.

Our new evening routine

She's a brusher like her Daddy. Samantha brushing her "almost teeth."

The Spag 2008

We attended a golf tournament banquet together after I played my first round of golf - a full 18 holes! Yeah, I PLAYED GOLF. I had a great time. I maintain that golf is definitely a GAME and not a SPORT. A game, however, that does require a tremendous amount of skill. I'll definitely be trying to play golf again in the near future! As usual on her best behavior for the dinnner.

Mozart at the Meadows

Spent a terrific evening with our cousins Larry and Naomi...