Geese Land

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T22:14:00.000-06:00

This year we hosted Thanksgiving at our house. I love making tons of food and our family always brings tons of food to share. I enjoy Thanksgiving more and more each year because it gives us a chance to reflect about what we have to be thankful for. Christmas is extended so far that it is easy to get caught up in the merchandising and demands of the season while forgetting what we already have. God has blessed us so much and Thanksgiving gives us a chance to pause and reflect on what we have been blessed with.

Here is my dad showing off our frying turkey. We injected the turkey with a butter, garlic, and herbs. The turkey was amazing.

These are two turkey breasts that we grilled. They were also amazing!

Logan examined the Black Friday adds and tried to plan his early morning shopping trip.

The day after Thanksgiving we went over to Paul and Laurie's house. Logan had a great time playing with Hadley! He calls her his "wittle broder" and says he is her "big sister". We are working on the vocab, but whatever he calls her, he loves her very much.

Scrappy Halloween

2009-10-31T18:13:00.003-05:00

Happy Halloween!

Last year's bum outfit was a huge success. Everyone was asking us what we would be coming up with this year. Somehow we came up with the idea of a junk man. Logan loved it. The outfit was fun to put together and the scrapper truck was fun to build, decorate, and fill.
Jason built the "Scrapper Mobile" with the help of George Phillips. This thing was as stable as can be.

It says "Little Man, Scrap Toys & Junk Food Removal".

Logan loved his wagon. He was so excited about pulling it. We had to help him around the neighborhood.

He was so excited about getting candy! He went to the first couple of houses then he started running he was so excited.

Now it is offically Fall

2009-10-17T08:34:00.005-05:00

Today we went to Edwards Orchard to pick apples. The weather was a little bit cool, but we bundled up and enjoyed the crisp fall day. At least it was sunny rather than windy. We went with friends (some who had kids) and our whole group had a great time.

This is Logan with Emma. She is about two and a half and he loved playing with her.

The goats just cracked up Logan. He really wanted to touch the horns but goat wouldn't let him. Finally, Logan got the horns then he tried to shake the poor little guy. I saved the goat and he blew kisses bye-bye.

Logan posing before we headed out to pick apples.

We had a total of six children with us at the orchard. This is a photo Lauren holding sister Brooke (left) and Emma holding sister Kate (right).

Jason and Logan picking apples together.

Emma and Logan ran screaming through the trees! What a great kid activity!

Logan loved picking the apples off the tree and eating them. He wasn't quite sure at first, but he defiantly got the hang of it!

No words -- Just perfect.

Again -- perfect!

Bonnie and Tim also joined us for the day. Tim and Todd hanging out in the large apple boxes.

After picking apples we got back on the tractor and headed back to the barn.

I don't know who lives in the house, but it is right next to the barn. Very picturesque.

This is the big barn. They sell apples, fudge, cheese, donuts, and crafts in the farm. They also make cider here. The barn and was destroyed a few years ago by a tornado. Obviously they have recovered quite nicely!

Family picture at the pumpkin patch.

It's been a while . . .

2009-10-12T21:48:00.001-05:00

It has been a crazy spring and summer and we have had so much going on. I have been working at Life Time Fitness. I was the Junior summer camp supervisor and had a fun but exhausting summer. We played games, did crafts, swam, and went on some fun field trips. Jason worked hard and did the garden and outside of the house by himself this year. The yard looked great and we enjoyed having a great garden. Logan had a great time spending time with Jill Lagger who watched him while I was at camp. He also took a few visits to Michigan. It was good summer and but the blog has been neglected. Here are a few posts to try to catch you up.

Remebering Baby Logan

2009-09-20T15:56:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite pictures of Logan. He was eating a cupcake and we were telling him about how he ate the cupcake on his first birthday. He carefully examined the picture then without our prompting he recreated the picture all on his own.

Fantastic Family Fun

2009-09-16T22:28:00.001-05:00

My aunts from out east were going to come to the Chicago area and visit with all of us. Unfortunately, they were unable to come because of some health issues. We still got together and had a great time though. We celebrated my dad's and Eric's birthday and looked at many of Sarah's pictures from her recent trip to Japan.

Happy Birthday, Dad, Grandpa, and Motorcycle (that's what Logan calls him)! We had his favorite, lemon meringue pie!

Sarah bought Logan this cute hopi. (At least I think that what it is called.) It is the traditional Japanese outfit for a little boy.

Logan was enjoying brushing Hadley's hair. I love that you can see their faces in the mirror.

So cute! Logan and Hadley were playing great together. This was the same day as Logan's birthday party at Life Time and Hadley was there for that too. They were both having so much fun together.

Eric (and Stephanie) I just love this picture!

First Day of School

2009-09-08T22:16:00.000-05:00

I am teaching the Fit to Learn preschool program at Life Time Fitness. I co-teach with Ms. Laura and we make a great team. Logan loves being able to come to school with mommy and spend time with me there. He is learning through the program and he really loves making friends with the kids at school.

Posing for his "First Day of School" photo. All the parents had their cameras going. No tears from anyone on the first day of school.

Ms. Laura reading them a story at circle time. They love having books read to them!

This is Logan's special friend Louis. They are about the same age and they get along great. Logan still can't say L's so he tells us, "I wove Wouis." I am so glad that Wogan woves Wouis and fortunately Wouis woves Wogan too!

Happy Birthday, Logan!

2009-08-23T14:12:00.003-05:00

We were in Michigan for Jason's grandfather's 90th birthday. While were there we also celebrated Logan's third birthday. He finally learned how to put three fingers up and he was very proud of himself.

Logan got a fun tent to play with in the house. He loves Lightning McQueen and Mater.

Dave gave Logan this Matchbox Cars Garage and it took three grown men to put it together. Logan looked on waiting for his turn to play with this "awesome" toy. (His word.)

He got his first two wheel bike and tried very hard to drive it. He doesn't quite have the gross motor skills to coridinate his movements yet, but he is working on it. He was very excited about the bike.

He also had the chance to open presents with Grandma and Grandpa Booth. He is getting pretty good at the pause and pose!

Grandpa and Grandma gave him his first camera. He was pretty excited about taking pictures with it. He has watched us document everything in our lives so he was excited about the chance to do it for himself.

Family picture on Logan's birthday.

Logan with Grandma and Grandpa Booth. I love this picture!

Happy 90th Birthday, Grandpa!

2009-08-22T20:05:00.001-05:00

Jason's Grandpa Cusimano celebrated his 90th birthday. Jason's mom threw a great party to get the family together and celebrate. We were able to attend the celebration visit with everyone. We had a great time! Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

It is hard to believe that Grandpa is 90! He looks great and is in great shape. It is so cute watching Grandma and Grandpa together because they really love each other.

Logan had so much fun playing with the cousins at the party. It is so great that he has so many cousins his age.

Logan really loves Haley and she is nice enough to let him cuddle with her.

This was the most amazing cake I have ever seen (in person). Missy made the cake at home and she did a phenomenal job. Nick and Delores (Grandpa and Grandma) are the main trunk. The main branches are their children. The smaller branches are their grandchildren. The leaves represent the great grandchildren. (Notice that one half of the tree is more "fertile" than the other half.)

To set the mood for the Italian party, Nancy hired an accordian player. He was very fun. Taylor even helped him on the tambourine for one of the numbers.

Of course great Italian food is essential to have a great party with this family!

Great party with family and friends!

Congratulations Candace and Phill

2009-08-16T22:22:00.000-05:00

While we were in town for the Dream Cruise, Candace had some complications with her pregnancy and they delivered the baby. Her name is Kaylen Heather. She was under three pounds and 15 inches long. We told Can we appreciate her having the baby around our visit! We are so happy for them and glad to say that Kaylen is doing well.

She is precious.

Candace didn't get to hold her right away but she had the tiny footprints and a tiny diaper. The diaper was so small, but Kaylen was swimming in it.

Look at Phill's hand compared to her little body.

Her tiny little hand clung onto Phill's.

15 Yeras of the Woodward Dream Cruise

2009-08-15T21:49:00.000-05:00

This year was the Woodward Dream Cruise. We were excited to take part in the cruise and see the amazing cars. It was very hot, but we still had a great time walking around and looking at everything. Jill, Steve, and George Phillips came in with us. They were blown away by the large number of cars on the road and on display.

Jason's favorite car -- The Camero

Once again Logan drove around in his custom coupe. He got lots of looks and smiles from the cruisers.
Some people are very creative! Logan saw Mater first and he was very excited to say the least. He looked as though he was meeting a celebrity.

No Dream Cruise experience would be complete without a trip to Ray's Ice Cream.

We stayed with my parents and Logan enjoyed riding up and down the stairs on the elevator. He has figured out how to drive it on his own. Great time!

Caseville 2009 - Cheeseburgers in Paradise

2009-08-10T21:27:00.006-05:00

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We took part of our vacation in Caseville, MI. Jason's grandparents live up there and we enjoy going in the summer time. Caseville is a small town in the tip of the thumb in Michigan. Every summer they do a Cheeseburger in Paradise festival. We had our fill of cheeseburgers and had a chance to participate in the annual parade. We also took some time and relaxed on the beach.

Logan enjoyed having Great-Grandma read to him. He loved spending time with Grandma and talking to her. He was very cautious of the "boo-boo" on her knee.

Logan had a chance to ride the giant slide. This is pretty amazing because Jason also rode the giant slide when he was young. Even better, Nancy also rode the giant slide with her grandparents when she was a little girl. What a fun tradition to pass on!

The put-put course is also something Jason and his family have done multiple times. Another fun thing to do on vacation.

We went for a walk out on the very long pier. Logan looks as though he is entering another zone.

Logan really enjoyed the beach this year. We stayed at a friends cottage that was right on the beach.

We finally had the opportunity to use our kayaks. I love experiencing the water like this. Logan liked being out in the boat with mommy.

This was our experience in the annual parade. I was ketchup and Emily was Mustard.

Logan loved watching everyone and waving. His shirt says, "Relish today, Ketchup tomorrow! Cheeseburgers in Paradise, Caseville" Perfect!

This was our float.

This was our crazy group.

The population of this small town is under 900, but as you can see this parade and festival is a really big deal. Thousands of people pack the streets to get candy and cheer.

That's a big grill!

2009-05-30T16:00:00.000-05:00

Jason and I celebrated our birthdays with Jason's parents at the Weber Grill. The food is so good! The meat and main dishes are amazing (naturally) but the deserts are also stunning.

Logan greatly appreciated the desserts. He gave them his seal of approval.

Happy Birthday picture in front of the giant grill. No, they don't cook on this one.

2009-05-15T21:19:00.000-05:00

The small airport by our house has an airport breakfast once a year in May. We went and really enjoyed the planes. We are definitely planning on going back next year!

Logan was very excited about getting to see the planes.

Notice the sign on the dashboard.

We were approached by the organizers of the breakfast to see if we would let them take a picture of Logan. He was wearing the right color (orange) and they thought he was super cute - I wasn't going to disagree. The plane he was siting in was hand made. It was amazing. They were going to put his picture in a magazine about the plane.

Back to Work

2009-05-10T20:50:00.002-05:00

We have made the decision that I will be going back to work. I got hired at Life Time Fitness as the Junior Camp Supervisor and in the fall I will be the preschool teacher. Before I started I wanted to spend some extra time with Logan and get my fix of fun home activities.

Logan enjoyed getting dressed up in his boots that were so big they would come off when he picked up his feet to walk.

We made pudding and he got to help whisk it. He was very worried about getting messy and he didn't like the idea of putting the whisk in his mouth. I finally convinced him that it was okay and he loved it!

Another day we made cookies. He helped cut out the shapes including the letter L, airplanes, trucks, and cars. His favorite part was putting on the sprinkles.

I also taught him how to cut with scissors. He enjoyed using them and he was very proud of himself for trying.

He was very proud of his first scissor cuts.

Happy Easter

2009-04-20T15:51:00.004-05:00

Logan didn't really remember last Easter (and that is probably good, because he was very sick) so this was all very fun and exciting this time around. This year we all got to go to church and hear the cantata and be thankful we serve a risen savior. Before church Logan opened his Easter basket and found the eggs I hid all around the house.

He was very excited about the cement truck and the garbage truck that he received. Little cars and trucks are his favorite things ever.

He loved his big ears bunny and when I told him he could go at it and take a bite he thought that was so funny!

He also asked if he could eat the eyes. I said, "Sure." He went at it and love the eyes.

A close up of the eyeless bunny. (Just weird).

Logan with Grandma and Grandpa Cusimano

Jason and Edy

Family Easter Picture

A Trip to Arizona

2009-04-20T09:39:00.009-05:00

In March Logan and I took a trip out to Arizona to visit Kevin, Sandy, Emily, Zachary, and Nathanael. We got to see my mom and dad who spent a couple of months out there this year. We had a wonderful time and took tons of pictures, of course.

Mom and Dad on a hike we took up the hill on the church property.

Nathanael and I out climbing on the hill.

Looking out from a stoping point on the mountain.

One day we went to the park and a lady gave us some bird seed. Logan wanted to feed the birds, but he would chase the birds and try to throw the seed right at their head. He didn't understad why they would run and not accept his generous gift.

Sandy and Kevin have an orange tree and a grapefruit tree in their backyard. It was so awesome picking fresh fruit and eating fresh off the tree.

We went to McDonalds on St. Patrick's Day to get Shamrock shakes, but they were all out. Everyone was very sad.

Even though they didn't have mint shakes they were selling their regular flavors so in the end everything worked out okay.

Emily made my dad's favorite pie -- Lemon Meringue.

Dad was very happy about the pie.

Emily and I climbed Camelback Mountain. It was quite a hike (we thought). It was rather discouraging to see some people running past us or relatively old people moving faster than us. Oh well, maybe we will be faster next time.

Camelback Mountain -- It is very tall for a non-climber.

Zachary caught a gecko. It was really cool. He is good at catching stuff like that. He has a bearded dragon in his room.

We went to the train park where Logan had a wonderful time. Check out Logan's blog to see more train park pictures. This is the group that rode the train. (Dad is taking the pictures and Zach is in the background.) Logan, me, Sandy, Nathanael, Emily, and Mom.

I had a blast watching the kids jumping on the trampline. These are some really cool pictures that I took with my dad's camera.

Emily
Zachary
Nathanael

Logan and Emily

Logan and Zachary

Logan and Nathanael

Before getting on the plane we had some hot dogs which Logan loved. The whole experience was very wonderful. I hope we get to do it again.

More Work on the House

2009-03-04T15:30:00.000-06:00

This past weekend Jason's parents were here visiting. Jason and his dad did some work on the basement stairs and they look great. There is still a little more to do, but it looks much better. They also put up a great coat rack so we can hang lots of stuff on the basement stairs.

Jason and his dad painting.

If only we knew where Logan gets his crazy sense of humor from.

Otis made it in for this visit. Here is redneck dog sitting with his hat on.

Logan loves baking cookies with Bobbie. It is one of their favorite activities. He always tells me what a good cook he is.

Auto Show 2009

2009-02-20T08:50:00.007-06:00

Last night we went to the Chicago Auto Show. We had a great time and saw some nice cars. The Chicago Auto show is very different from the Detroit show, but was still worth going.

Logan liked seeing all the cars and running around, but he really didn't like getting in the cars. He would freak out and cry if we put him in one. Here is Logan and Jason in one of the Cadillacs.

Logan and Edy in front of the Converj, the car that Jason's dad worked on at GM.

This is probably my favorite car at the show, well maybe it tied with the Camero. That was pretty awesome too.

Jason's dad worked on the interior. Logan liked the idea that Papa "built" this car.

Logan really liked this little car. He wanted to climb the little fence and go behind the wall.

Bumblebee from the Transformers movie - untransformed.

Bumblebee transformed. This is probably my favorite car from the show. It is awesome!

This is the Corvette Stingray concept. It is also in the new Transformers movie.

One of Jason's very cool car photos - notice the Stingray detail.

Jason in his dream car - the Chevy Camero.

The Jeep exhibit had a trial drive for small kids. Logan loved it!
The helmet was a little tight. Shocking!

This is one of Logan's poses. He was so excited to be driving in the car. He thought he was such a big boy.
Jason had to supervise Logan and help him steer.

According to Jason, Logan is a terrible driver. He mostly enjoyed crashing.

We enjoyed sticking Jill in vehicles that she would never drive including a mini-van, a pick up truck, and a Sprinter.

We loved the Mini-Cooper convertible.

This Ferrari is gorgeous!

Even though we weren't there for the charity preview we still saw some celebrities including the transformers and the little bug. Das Auto.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-20T08:21:00.006-06:00

Valentine's weekend was really fun for us. You can check out Logan's blog to see what he did, but we had a good time as well. Hannah spent the weekend with us so Jason and I took advantage of her excellent babysitting skills and went out for dinner on Friday night with just the two of us. (Eating slowly without someone pulling on me is a treat in itself!) Valentines morning we had a pink breakfast with blood orange juice, strawberry waffles, and strawberries.

Later that evening Jill Lagger had a dinner party for a few couples. It was Jill and Steve, Matt and Jill Scalzetti, and Jason and I. She made steak, potatoes, and green beans. I brought desert. Once again it was great sharing adult conversation without being interrupted.

The table looked very professional and beautiful.

I brought the cake. It is a variation on Baked Alaska and it is Jason's favorite.

I am surrounded by Jill! Seriously this is Jill, Edy, and Jill. They were roommates at Bob Jones.

Steve and Jill

Matt and Jill

Jason and Edy

Teaching at 4H

2009-02-19T15:45:00.000-06:00

Last week I had the exciting opportunity to visit the 4H group that my sister and nieces participate in. This year they have been studying China. They have done projects, learned phrases, and tried the food. Below you can see them all in their costumes.
Hannah is on the far left with the fan and Sarah is on the right in the back with the umbrella.

I brought a lot of my stuff from China and passed it around. I really enjoyed teaching again. It is definitely something I will always have a passion for. The kids seemed to enjoyed it and I tried hard to keep it interesting and relevant to them.

I was so glad that Gwendolyn had asked me to do this. I love being close to her and seeing her often.
While I was talking Logan occupied "Aunt Gen" with running up and down the halls of the church where the group meets. After it was over, Logan found the "Lucky Duck" game that the girls had made.

Christmas Part II

2008-12-30T10:22:00.000-06:00

This post is made up of the pictures from our time at the Gies's house.

As soon as Logan walked in the door he saw the tree and train. Papa showed Logan the train and Logan loved it. He laid on the floor and just starred!
Bobbie laid on the floor with Logan and watched the train with him. Logan absolutely loved it. It was very sweet to watch.

After a couple of days of train watching Logan found even more fun ways to play with the train. He and Papa would line up the big toys and they would watch the train go around together.

The little toys would ride on the train and Logan would say hi every time they drove by. If you look closely you can see the open box car with the little cars in it. The picture below is a close up of the little people on the train car.

Who doesn't love a train ride?

Logan also had a great time playing with Papa. Again, look closely and you will see that Logan is in the bucket of toys that Joe is dragging around.

One night Jason and I went out and Bobbie and Logan baked cookies for Santa. Logan was very specific and he was careful to place sugar on each cookie.

He had so much fun doing this. He still talks about baking cookies for Santa. He was very proud of this accomplishment.

Christmas morning was very fun. We opened so many presents. Logan got overwhelmed because he would open one very cool toy than that would be ripped from his hands only to open another cool toy. He got into the ripping and even enjoyed helping others open their gifts.

A favorite toy for Logan was actually Jason's gift. Jason's mom gave him a Mr. Bill toy that Logan just loved. He would do the little voice and everything. "Oh no, Mr. Bill!"

Uncle David bought Logan this monstrosity. Logan played with it for awhile then all the cousins had a blast in it. It is kind of a soccer field plus ball pit.

We had a fabulous dinner made mostly by Nancy. The kids enjoyed their table and playing together.

We took the opportunity to take some family pictures. Logan was not in the best of moods as you can see here.

Everyone was taking pics at the same time. It was hard to tell which camera to look at.

Jason's cousin Jed had a really nice camera with a timer so we all squeezed together for a big group shot. (This is almost the entire Cusimano clan. We are just missing Jay's family.)

The little cousins all opened their gifts together. There are so many around the same age. It is a blast watching them all play together.

Haley really wanted a pony so Dave gave her this one he won at Dave and Busters. She loved it, obviously!

At the end of the evening the kids settled in the family room and watched Ratatouille. You can see this was an intense part of the show!

We had so much fun seeing everyone and spending this wonderful time of the year together.

Christmas Part I

2008-12-28T20:14:00.000-06:00

Well, we have had a lot going on the last few weeks. I have almost 400 pictures so it is rather hard to condense them into a few blog posts. I will break it up and post as many pictures as possible. This post centers around pictures from all the Booth family members coming in for my parents 50th wedding anniversary party.

Mom and Dad opening presents.

Josh and Hadley. Hadley had a great time seeing all her cousins and they enjoyed seeing her too!

On Christmas Day Logan opened presents with my sister Gwendolyn and he loved playing with everyone at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

My dad, "Grandpa Motorcycle" got a motorcycle riding Santa clause who sings, "Born to Be Wild. from my aunts. Logan thought it was very cool.

Logan wanted to wear Gwendolyn's Santa hat, but only when he was opening presents. After that he insisted everyone else try it on.

Christy and Stephanie

It was really fun watching all the "kids" open their presents. The "kids" are much older than they were last time we were all together. Now some are in college and Stephen has graduated. It is still fun watching everyone interact and hang out together.

Stephen and Emily

Eric and Ryan

Hadley enjoyed opening her presents. She really enjoyed reading this book.

Zach doesn't get enough snow at home in Phoenix so Fred let him get up close and personal with this snow pile. (Yes, that blue blob under Fred is Zach.)

We had a fun gift exchange and my dad ended up with this hard hat. He gave it to Logan who enjoyed banging on his head with the hat on.

Hadley

Hannah, Kristopher, and Sarah

Christy and Kristopher

Breakfast with Santa Claus

2008-12-19T13:05:00.009-06:00

Last Saturday we went to the Santa Breakfast at the Macy's on State Street. It is a fun tradition we do with Bobbie, a.k.a. Jason's mom. Jason and Emily went out for their own breakfast. It was so fun to see all the kids interacting with Santa dressed up in their Christmas clothes. There were lots of activities to do while we were waiting for breakfast.

Last year Logan sat so still while he got his face painted and he loved it. This year we tried several times to get him to do it and he just refused. He was very decisive about this.

Logan was very happy about the candy cane balloon that he got. It broke once so he took it up to the man and asked for him to fix it.

The breakfast was really good this year and Logan was really into it. He wanted to stop playing so we could go back to our table and eat.

After breakfast we went to get in line to see Santa, but Logan didn't really get the line concept. He thought he had a special "in" with Santa so he wouldn't have to wait in line. Bobbie "helped" Logan write his note telling Santa what he wants for Christmas.

When he finally got to Santa he showed him his list. Logan asked for a Buzz Lightyear and some cars. The cars request is no surprise because he goes nuts for anything with wheels.

Logan really liked Santa. After talking to him Logan thought Santa would come to breakfast with us. He was bummed that Santa had to stay in his chair and talk to all the other kids.

After the breakfast we went shopping at the FAO Schwartz at Macy's. Logan had a great time playing with all the stuff there.

One of the most unique things about FAO Schwartz is the solider who stands out front.

When we were done shopping we went outside to see the windows. Emily hung onto Logan and he enjoyed seeing everything. The Salvation Army bell ringer let Logan ring a bell when he put some money in the pot.

The windows were unique this year. Yes, unique is definitely the word to describe them. Over all we had a great time and a great weekend.

The Christmas Fun Has Begun

2008-12-09T15:22:00.005-06:00

Yes, I know it has been a really long time since I updated, but I am going to try to catch up. This is what we did this past weekend.

We have a very busy Christmas season so this past weekend we celebrated with just our family.

We sat in the family room, ate pizza, and watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (again).

Afterward we opened our gifts to each other. Logan is really getting into the Christmas spirit. He really likes opening presents.

Logan opened up his favorite present -- police cars. He was so excited about his big boy cars.

Logan was soooooo excited about his cars. He had a hard time getting the concept of holding up his present but we still have a few weeks to work on that.

I opened Wicked tickets! I am so excited. Jason and I are going the day after New Year's. I have never heard a bad review so I am pretty excited.

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

2008-09-27T22:59:00.004-05:00

On Sunday my dad celebrated his birthday and I won't say which one, but you might notice by looking at the candles. It was the same day as the anniversary celebration so we were able to have a full house of family to celebrate together.

We had multiple pies, which my dad greatly enjoyed.

Matthew, Aunt Jane, Aunt Ann, and my dad enjoyed their dessert and time together.

My mom baked this blueberry pie from scratch. It was so good.

Hannah, Alex, and Stephanie all had a great time playing out in the yard together.

Logan really loved spending time with Sophia. They loved sitting on the stones and watching the kids play a game of kickball involving swords.

Stephanie and Alex had a good time seeing each other again. Alex is so fun to talk to about all the things he has learned from his parents.

Happy Early 50th!

2008-09-21T15:40:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, September 21, First Baptist Church of Troy threw an anniversary party for eight couples in the church who have already or will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Each couple gave a testimony describing how they met, how God has blessed them, and how much they are still in love.

The eight couples included Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin, Mr. and Mrs. Nash, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald, Mr. and Mrs. Tremper, my Uncle Jim and Aunt Karen, Mr. and Mrs. Vickers, Mr. and Mrs. Michales, and my Mom and Dad.

My dad was really nervous, but it was fun listening to both of them give testimonies about their years together.

After the service we headed into the gym where the church put together a reception. Everything was gold to commemorate the 50th.

My dad, Logan, my mom, Aunt Ann and Aunt Jane had a good time enjoying the pasta.

Here Hannah, Gwendolyn, Edy, and Logan are also enjoying their meal.
My Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Karen will be celebrating their 50th in February.

The Verville/Booth clan had a good time spending time together.

The gym looked really good.

Each of the couples brought pictures of themselves and their families.
My dad was enjoying spending time with Logan. Logan loves his Grandpa whom he calls "Vroom, vroom."

Downtown Fun

2008-09-11T22:22:00.004-05:00

On Saturday we went downtown for the Red Bull Flugtag. "Red Bull Flugtag challenges teams of everyday people to build homemade, human-powered flying machines and pilot them off a 30-foot high deck in hopes of achieving flight! Flugtag may mean "flying day" in German, but all these crafts ultimately splash into the waters below. They are judged not only on their flight's distance, but creativity and showmanship as well." (From Red Bull's website)

It was quite the event and we just wanted to see some of it. We drove to a train station and took the el train into the city. (It made us feel like real Chicagoans.) Logan loved being on the "choo, choo" and tried to make friends with the passengers, but soon discovered this really isn't the visiting crowd.
I think he enjoys the train so much because he doesn't have to be buckled in or sit in his car seat. He loves sitting and standing and looking out the windows. (There was a little smudge on the camera lense just in case you were wondering; no we didn't take these pictures with a soft focus lense.)

Jason and I took our usual self portrait. I'm not sure why but taking your own picture is always more fun than posing for someone.

Logan was enjoying hanging out with us and Jill, but he really, really wanted to get down and run. That was little difficult though because we were standing on a sandy beach with one million other people.

People were everywhere for this event! It was totally crazy!!! As you can see there are people all down the shore line and this is the side of the platform that couldn't see anything. The event was in the opposite direction.
One of the flying machines was Red Wings themed. They followed a Blackhawk's flyer which most of the crowd liked, but Jason and I cheered as loud as we could for the Red Wings team.

As well as running and pushing the aircraft the teams all put on little skits. These guys have Stanley Cups on their head. (No it didn't fly.)

After the fun down by the water we decided to head over to the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Logan is working on his smile. I think he still has a long way to go!

Jason took Logan in to pet the goats. Logan thought it was great.

I have heard the lion on occasional visits to the zoo, but never like this. This lionness was perched on this rock making a barking sound. It was so loud. Apparently something was upsetting her. The more she did it the more a large crowd gathered. We were all very thankful that there was a large moat between us and her.

After spending so much time in the stroller Logan was grateful for any chance to get out play.

Everytime we go downtown we do something different. This time we went shopping in the Lincoln Park area after the zoo. It was fun and once again we gained a deeper appreciation for the city of Chicago.

Dream Cruisin'

2008-08-16T21:56:00.001-05:00

Woodward, also known as M-1, was the first paved road in the United States. During the 50's and 60's it was a popular site to cruise and be seen on. Woodward defines Detroit's love for the automobile. 14 years ago the Woodward Dream Cruise started and for 14 years now car lovers from all over have convened on Woodward to celebrate the history of the car.

We had the opportunity to see Chip Foose again. Foose is an amazing designer. You can see him on the show Overhaulin' among other car geek shows.

Foose was kind enough to sign Logan's little car. Logan proudly sat in and drove around his little car while we wandered through Birmingham.

There were are so many amazing cars here. We always love being at the Dream Cruise. There are rare cars, common cars, ugly cars, beautiful cars (including this Ferrari like Bruce Wayne had in the Dark Knight), and every other category of cars that you could imagine. We saw the original Monkees Mobile and the Blues Brothers Cop Car. There is always something amazing to see. If you get the chance make plans to come to the Detroit area on August 15, 2009 and see what this awesome event is all about.

Coke, NO Pepsi. Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger!

2008-08-13T22:38:00.000-05:00

We recently made a trip into Michigan to spend some time with family and friends. We went up to Caseville to see Jason's family, including his grandparents. Each year at this time Caseville (located at the tip of the thumb) puts on a Cheeseburgers in Paradise festival. We had a great time! For such a small town they really know how to throw a great party, especially the parade on Wenesday. It is so funny seeing that many people on the city streets.

A friend of the family was kind enough to let us borrow their little house on the water. This is the view from the couch in the front room. Caseville is a beautiful place. It is a small town but you wouldn't know it by seeing it during Cheeseburger!

Logan loved playing on the beach. The house we stayed in is right behind Logan.

Logan was also brave enough to go in the water here. The water was very calm so he had a great time. I love this picture of Logan and Dave!

Jason went fishing with his former boss from Michigan and caught lots of salmon. He brought the seaks up to Caseville and we had a wonderful salmon dinner. (I had steak and that was awesome too!)
While there we celebrated Jason's grandfather's 89th birthday. It is hard to believe his is 89 when you see or talk to him.

Grandpa is a huge Red Wings fan. He loves the old players too. For his birthday the family chipped in for a picture of the old Olympia Stadium and a few of the old players.

He loved it!

This is the float that Jason's parents built for the parade. This isn't the fishished product, but at least you can see the size of the Cheeseburger they built. (It is made out of paper mache and yes, it is awesome.) The parade was so much fun and I can easily say I have never seen that many peopel in Caseville!

Mom and Dad's Garden

2008-07-19T22:28:00.006-05:00

I had the opportunity to visit with my mom and dad for a few days. I thought I would post a couple pictures of their garden so everyone can see what they have been up to. These are only pictures from the front. The back is also very impressive. My dad is retired now and he and my mom are spending lots of time working on the garden and enjoying their freedom.

Greetings from Grand Haven

2008-07-09T22:02:00.011-05:00

Right after the fourth we went to Grand Haven, MI for a vacation with Jason's parents, Emily, and Dave. I came with Logan and Jason came in by himself in our new car. (He will tell you more about that later.) Anyway, Jason stayed until Monday night and now Logan and I are here hanging out together. Here are a few of the pictures. There will be more added to the post later.

Usually, reading at the table is not allowed, but Logan had his motorcycle magazine while he was waiting for dinner and kept reading after it came. He would take a bite and make his brrrrm, brrrmmm noise for the motorcycles.

I wasn't sure how he would react to the sand at the beach but he totally loves it. He loves digging and walking and chasing the birds. We brought plenty of toys to keep him occupied.

Joe and I took Logan for a walk by the Grand Haven lighthouse. It is very beautiful. It is very windy out there and Logan was waving his arms and yelling with the wind.

Yesterday we went to Saugatuck. There are so many cute stores and fun places to visit. Nancy, Emily, and I went shopping and Logan and "Papa" hung out together all day. They enjoyed relaxing and playing at the park.

Dave and his friend, Sugar, also enjoyed shopping in Saugatuck.

"Bobbie" gave Logan ice cream. He loved it of course!

Logan loved walking on the beach. He would run and say, "Beach, beach, beach." He really enjoyed chasing the birds, but that made him very tired so he begged either me or Joe to hold him while we chased the birds through the sand. Talk about exhausting!

Grand Haven is one of my favorite vacation spots. There is so much to do and it is so beautiful here. The sand is wonderful and the water is warm. I love Lake Michigan.

Lazy Summer Days

2008-06-19T14:32:00.016-05:00

I haven't posted for awhile so here is what we have been up to in the past few weeks.

To celebrate Jason's birthday as well as mine and Jason's dad's we went to Maggianos and had a family style dinner. We love Maggianos and had a great time celebrating.
No we didn't plan on matching, but it does look pretty good for the picture.
Emily and dad both enjoyed their meals. Italian always makes this family happy!
Logan ate spoonfuls of Parmesan cheese for dinner (it could be worse I suppose) but when the dessert came he dove in to the chocolate cake. That's my boy. He knows fine food when he sees it. I couldn't be more proud!

For Jason's 30th party I did a pseudo-surprise party. He knew some of the guests were coming, but we surprised him with others including, my parents, Candace and Phill, and Shaun. He was very surprised and happy.
Here Emily, Jessie, and Candace enjoy spending time together on the porch while Jason and Shaun hold up the posts. What a happy looking group!
Jason got a boccie ball set to entertain the guests. Boccie ball is an Italian variety of lawn bowling played on a dirt court that is shorter and narrower than the rink of a bowling green. (Just in case you were wondering.)
Later in the evening some people started playing euchre. I have played before, but I am not very good at it. They tried to teach Jill, but I'm not sure how much she learned. It is really hard to learn especially with so many teachers!
Logan "helped" Jason play. At least he isn't old enough to announce what cards daddy is holding.

Jason and Logan enjoyed some time together last Saturday. Jason got Logan's pool filled up and they relaxed together in the back yard.
Logan loves playing with the hose. He starts watering flowers or the grass then he gets this mischievous look and turns the spray on me or whoever else is around.
This is Jason and Logan on Father's Day. Now that Logan is getting older he loves his daddy more than ever. Some days that is pretty much all he talks about.
I bought Logan Car's and he and Jason sat on the couch and watched the movie. Logan was very excited when he recognized the Car in his toys is the same as the car in the movie. It has taken about three nights to finish, but this is the first movie he has ever actually watched.
Logan is greatly enjoying this summer. Here he is eating shells that I made as well as some garden puree that Gwendolyn made. (He loved the puree and ate it by the spoonfuls!) Summer time is just so much fun with a toddler. He reminds me of the best parts of everything. Each blade of grass needs examination, every time the hose goes off it is an super exciting event, and eating outside on a blanket is the best way to do it. The summer is early and I'm sure there is much more fun to be had.

Welcome Home, Hadley Joy!

2008-06-19T14:22:00.004-05:00

Last Thursday afternoon, my niece Hadley had open heart surgery. She was in the hospital for a few days and came home on Monday. (That is so amazing to me!) Jill, her mommy, said she recognized her home and surroundings and was very happy to be there. We are so thankful to have this baby girl home and back with her family. Thank you to so many of you who prayed for her and her family throughout the past few days.

This is her favorite toy. It plays songs or individual notes when she pushes on the flowers.

She loves to wave and clap. Here she is sitting on her little block. It helps her get used to bending her legs so she can crawl and walk.

She also loves her fancy necklace. While I was there she put it on all by herself. Jill said she will wear it all day! So cute!

CONGRATULATIONS MATT AND HEATHER!!!!

2008-05-24T21:12:00.007-05:00

Congratulations to Matt and Heather Tracy who just had an adorable little boy! His name is Noah Matthew and he was just under 7 lbs. He was born on May 19. These pictures were taken on May 22 so he is still a tiny little boy! Matt is wearing his apron because he had just finished cooking an awesome picnic lunch.

Tiny fingers and adorable features!!!!!!

Bethany's Senior Trip

2008-05-23T21:42:00.004-05:00

This past nine days I was on Bethany's Senior Trip. We went to Atlanta, Georgia for a few days and while we were there we did a ton of activities including the Coca-Cola museum, Georgia Aquarium, Six Flags, CNN Tour, and Medieval Times. It was exhausting but very fun spending time with the kids. After Atlanta we went to the Wilds in North Carolina. It is a Christian Camp that Jason and I went to on our senior trip. They do a great job and the week at camp was awesome. Here are a few pictures that were on my camera. I will try to add more as I get more pictures. Here I am doing something brave. It is the I also did the giant swing and that was terrible. I was so scared but I did it anyway. It helped that the entire class was egging me on and insisted that I did it. Oh well, I lived.
This is the two man team from the Wilds that defeated our six person team of seniors. Eventually, the seniors did defeat them in the next game but that was still pretty impressive. Yes, that is Matt Tracy.
Robert enjoyed his time in the volleyball game. We had perfect weather all week long which made everything so much better.
This was our volleyball team. They enjoyed the game even though they lost a to a team from another school.

Do you know where you stand with your plants?

2008-05-08T22:42:00.009-05:00

Lately while walking around the house I have become very afraid of my plants. To help me Jason put some googly eyes on them. I feel more comfortable now and I think the tomatoes that come of this plant will be very friendly.

I got the idea from my cactus plants. They probably wouldn't attack but what if they did? What if they did? My last thought would be, "I always knew."
He may not look dangerous but that is because you have made eye contact. Eye contact is very important.
This one, I made an effort with but I just don't feel comfortable around him. I don't like this guy at all.
Winston Churchill once said, "The eyes are the windows of your face." See you next time.

If you have no idea what we are talking about watch the following video. It is awesome.

Relaxing and Having Fun

2008-05-08T22:35:00.004-05:00

After all the hard work we were able to go out and have some fun. We went to the Lincoln Park Zoo and had a really great dinner in Greektown.
Papa took Logan on the carousel at the zoo and although we weren't sure what Logan's reaction would be, he loved it! Every time he came around he would give us the biggest smile. I can see some more rides in his future!
On Sunday Logan was really sad about "Bobbie" going home. He was hanging on her leg and he wasn't letting go. We explained that he would see her in just a few weeks when we come in for senior trip and graduation.

Working on the House

2008-05-08T21:43:00.009-05:00

So much has gone on around the house. A few weekends ago Jason's parents were in town and Jason's dad, Joe, painted our front room. He is very brave and didn't mind being up on the ladder for a long period of time. While he was painting Nancy and I took Logan shopping. He really wanted to help Popeye paint but we didn't think that would be a good idea. The walls looked really bad before so the after is incredible!
Jason had a load of dirt dropped off at the house and he dug up the grass and put in flower beds all around the house. They are mostly empty now, but we are working on filling them with flowers, bushes, veggies, and herbs.
Notice the fence behind us is stained red. Jason cleaned and stained the neighbor's fence on our side. It looks good and seeing as we have only see them three times in the almost year we have been here they really don't care.

This is where my vegetable and herb garden is. It is changing all the time. I will try to post pictures occasionally to show the changes.

The Best Things in Life Are Free (or at least inexpensive)

2008-04-09T22:33:00.008-05:00

At a garage sale last summer, I purchased giant Lego blocks for Logan. For his birthday he received some very colorful wooden blocks. He has nesting blocks and while we have been out about I have tried him to get to "build" with a variety of materials. He has been totally disinterested with the whole thing. He has just wanted to knock everything over and run around. Tonight, while I was preparing our dinner I noticed he was using the tomato paste and crushed tomato cans to build. All the time spent on those other materials and he is fascinated by some cans! It just reminded me that sometimes (usually) we don't need the fanciest or best thing to make us happy. We can be quite content with what "building materials" we have around us. He was REALLY enjoying playing with the tomato cans. I was nervous he would drop one on his little toes, but he was very careful.
He was being so gentle with his cans. He really wanted to make this tower as tall as he possibly could.
"Uh-oh." That tower was not to be.
Okay now it is time to try again.
Logan takes a step back to marvel at his own work.
I didn't believe he would be able to make this "tower" stay up, but it did! He definately has some mechanical ability. So if you are looking for some gift ideas for Logan in the future you can skip Toys R Us and just raid your kitchen pantry. He also greatly enjoys cardboard boxes and plastic containers.

Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!

2008-04-04T22:01:00.015-05:00

“I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, And that enables you to laugh at life's realities.” Dr. Seuss

I finally finished Logan's room! There are a few things I would like to add, but that will always be the case, I suppose. I am pretty happy with the outcome so here are the pictures . . . finally.
The Cat in the Hat took the longest, but I plowed through it and he is done.
Horton sits on top of Logan's bed. Horton was always my mom's favorite character. Dr. Seuss used him to say two of my favorite quotes: "I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful one-hundred percent." "A person's a person no matter how small."

These are the little fish that sit in the crazy tree.
One fish . . .

Two fish . . .

This one has a little star.
The tree surrounds the book shelves.
This is Logan's table that he uses for coloring and or climbing. This is also the preferred spot for eating crayons. The letters spell out Logan but they are from a letter set that Jason's grandma gave Logan for Christmas. L is for level, O is for oil can, G is for gloves . . . It is very clever. The letters spell out LOGAN. When he is a little older we will put the rest of the alphabet up.

I wanted his room to be a place where he could loose himself and imagine whatever he could possibly want to.

I am so happy to be done. It was fun, but I am happy to have his room done.

A Day in the Windy City

2008-03-25T22:31:00.010-05:00

Today the seniors took a day trip to Chicago. Kathleen Oloffo brought her students here to see Romeo and Juliet at a play on Navy Pier and I was able to meet them. After the play we took a trolley to Michigan Avenue and walked down to the Cheesecake Factory. It was an awesome day and I am so honored I could be a part of it. A grand day for long haired girls in the "Windy City."
Christina, Amanda, and Stephanie pose for a picture before the play.
Some students can be intimidated or even afraid of Shakespeare, like Chris was, but the actors did a great job of making the play come alive.
Allison, Paula, and I posed for a picture on Navy Pier.
I didn't order cheesecake, because I was way too full from lunch so the students gave me all their whipped cream. Yummy!
Claire and Titus standing outside waiting for the bus to arrive.
Jacob borrowed my camera and took a few pictures with it. This is him standing in front of the John Hancock building. Look just behind him and you will notice a shadow on the building that looks like it is being cast by Jacob's tall figure!
The group boarded the bus and headed home after a fun day in Chicago.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T22:10:00.000-05:00

We had kind of a difficult Easter. Logan had trouble with asthma and ended up staying home from church on Easter. I (Edy) was disappointed I missed the cantata at Troy, but I was able to see some friends after church. We believe the asthma has something to do with seasonal allergies. We all felt so bad for him, because he wants to play and feel better, but he just can't breath.

I love Easter because it celebrates everything we believe in. Christmas and celebrating Christ's birth is wonderful, but Easter, celebrates the resurrection after the death on the cross. The day is so exciting because we wouldn't have salvation at all if it weren't for that day. Even though it was a rough day, we still were able to get a family picture.
I know he is going to hate me when he is older for this one, but I still love this picture.
HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!

2008-03-21T10:40:00.007-05:00

Yesterday my dad, mom, and I went downtown to the Detroit Institute of Arts. It is an awesome museum and if anyone has never been they need to go. It is exciting to see all the types of art and all the changes throughout the museum. Some in the art community have put down the museum, but it has the best art collection outside of New York City. Outside the front of the museum sits Rodin's Thinker.
This is the museum's signature piece. It is called the Nut Gatherers. I love the way the light hits the little girls and I love the way the girls are shown so casual. The colors are so pleasing and soothing. It has always been a favorite of our family.
Mom and Edy standing in front of the Great Hall.
A museum employee was kind enough to take a picture of all of us in the Great Hall.

While at the museum we saw a collection of paintings by artists known as the Ashcan artists. They were a group of artists who painted real life and people doing all kinds of normal activities. One of my favorites was John Sloan, who's work reminded me of my Grandpa Booth's work.
This painting is called Salome and was painted by Robert Henri. It shows a popular dancer of his era posing in her costume for the dance.

Going Green

2008-03-17T21:01:00.003-05:00

It is the one day of the year that everyone goes green. Happy St. Patrick's Day! Check out Logan's blog to see a few pictures of how Logan and Edy celebrated the day. (Jason is back in Illinois without a camera so we can't show how he spent his day.)

An End and a Beginning

2008-03-14T22:09:00.000-05:00

On Friday, March 14, my dad retired from his job. There was kind of mixed feelings for him as this will be a big change. Whatever his feelings, he deserves a break after putting in so many years of hard work. My dad has been a great example of a hard worker who does his job well and without complaining. He is looking forward to more freedom to travel and time to work on some other interests. Logan is very attached to grandpa. In this picture Logan and Grandpa were both wearing motorcycle t-shirts. My dad puts Logan on his motorcycle and started it. Logan wasn't sure at first, but he walks around making the sound constantly now.
Paul, Stephanie, Gwendolyn, Hannah, Logan and I (Edy) came in for a little post-retirement get together. We had fun talking and on Saturday night we took mom and dad out for dinner. In the picture above everyone is watching a singer at the restaurant serenading our table.

Why do I smell wet dog?*

2008-02-20T13:11:00.009-06:00

*Quote by Albert Finney in Annie.

Warning: The following images are graphic and may not be suitable for all viewers!

Today we gave Lucy a bath. She has been shedding a lot and I wanted to try to get some of the hair loose. She was nasty and Logan loved helping brush and wash her.

Lucy really hates being wet, but she can't wait to get her bologna treat at he end! For her the misery is all worth it.
Trust me, this picture doesn't do the justice to how nasty everything was.
To quote Logan, "Ewwwwwwww!"
Just to prove I really did clean up the joint. I took some after pictures too!
You will have to trust me that the tub behind the curtain is cleaned and disinfected too.

A Visit from Mom and Dad

2008-02-05T21:09:00.001-06:00

This weekend Jason's parents came in for a quick visit. It was really awesome that they were able to come considering that Nancy has an event this coming Saturday and they had to drive through a snow storm to get here. They came in the middle of the day. So after clearing all the freshly fallen snow off our driveway and sidewalks Dad took Logan for a sled ride around the yard. Logan enjoyed it very much although sometimes he would spontaneously fall over into the snow.

On Saturday we went to the DuPage Children's Museum in Naperville. It was super fun! There were so many things for Logan's age I am sure we will be joining the museum sometime soon. We didn't even bother bringing the stroller in the museum. I have never seen such a cool and imaginative place.
As you can see it is hard to miss as you drive by. It was a great day to go to the museum because as you can also see the weather wasn't conducive to much else.
Logan loved being able to hit and explore everything. This was an old boiler (I think) with some extra pieces of metal attached. The point of the exhibit was to show that everything makes music.
We took advantage of this great photo opportunity. I think we had as much fun as he did!

On Saturday night we went to Joe and Terri's house for dinner.
Logan felt the need to "dress up." He loves wearing and making other people wear their scarves. Mom helped him with her scarf and he wore it for a while until he gave up and made her wear it.
It was a casual pizza dinner so it was jeans and hoodies. Logan and Grandpa both matched so it was a perfect opportunity for a picture. Logan is starting to enjoy having his picture taken.

Can and Phil in Town

2008-01-23T21:28:00.000-06:00

Candace and Phill were in town this past weekend celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Actually, they had the day off so they came in town. We did have some "I have a dream cookies" and some black and white cupcakes to celebrate the day. We went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner and enjoyed relaxing and eating some amazing food and desserts. We didn't have many options for what to do because it was really cold. Walking around downtown wasn't really an option when it was 6 degrees.

We had a wait at the Cheesecake Factory so we took the opportunity to take some pictures.

Okay, maybe we should leave the "bug" glasses to the younger crowd.
Jill tried this on at H&M. Seriously, who would actually wear this?

Again, fashion gone crazy. Candace really pulls off the platform shoe with the polka dot socks well though.

On Monday we went to the Museum of Science and Industry and wandered around. It was packed but we still enjoyed ourselves. Logan loved checking out all the planes hanging from the ceiling. We didn't get much time down there, but we will definitely have to bring Logan back sometime soon.

The model of Chicago is awesome.

Happy New Year 2008!

2007-12-31T23:00:00.000-06:00

We spent New Year's Eve with a few friends this year and had a wonderful time. We went to an Irish restaurant and had some awesome Irish food. I had the chicken pot pie and Jason had the "Taste of Ireland." We will be going back there for sure!

Steve and Jill joined us for the celebration as well. They also enjoyed the Irish restaurant considering Steve's deep Irish roots.
This is Nathan and Virgina. They are friends with Jill and Steve and we had the chance to meet them last week. We had a great time hanging out.
Yea!! Happy New Year!! (Apparently judgment becomes obsolete around 11:30 at night.) Oh, well we all had a good time wearing our alien antenna anyway!
Brian was horrified, but we got him to wear some antenna for a picture. (He literally wore them for 10 seconds.)
Jill enjoyed her antenna, but Steve was somewhat opposed -- it must be the Irish thing. Anyway, we all had a good time and look forward to having a wonderful and exciting 2008.

Class Reunion

2007-12-27T20:20:00.000-06:00

While we were home we had the chance to attend a mini reunion. It was really fun to see some of our old classmates. Angela Gardner Miller was nice enough to open her home for the occasion which was perfect because her house is very baby proof and the parents could relax and visit with each other.
Here are all the kids from the party. It was really fun because there are so many kids around the same age. From left to right --Jackson, Megan, Brooke, Christian, Sven, Gracie, and Logan.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T23:22:00.001-06:00

Today we had a wonderful time opening presents, eating, and visiting with family, but we wouldn't have been able to do it without the sacrifice that Christ made by coming to Earth as a baby. In our bulletin in church on Sunday it said something that I thought was quite profound. It said that only God could have come up with Christmas. When man thinks of great, we think of Superman or Capitan Marvel, but no man would have ever thought that somebody that would change the course of history in such a total and complete way would enter this world as a baby in a manger.

Luke 2:The Birth of Jesus

1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.

4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ^[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace and good will toward men."

15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Santa Breakfast at Macy's

2007-12-15T16:28:00.000-06:00

This weekend Jason's mom and Emily came in to take Logan to the Santa breakfast at Macy's. It was really nice. We had a wonderful time. They do a really good job with entertaining the kids and keeping it fun. Santa and Mrs. Claus come to everyone's table and they have lots of fun activities for all.
Logan and Grandma Gies had fun running around while Mommy waited in line to see Santa. Logan was dancing to the music and watching all the other kids.
Logan kept us both busy. He was, and always is, amazed by everything.
I love the Tiffany ceiling. The old Marshal Fields building is so beautiful. I really love the atmosphere down there at Christmas time.
We went to the FAO Schwartz store at Macy's. It was packed. They have such cool and unique toys.
I found the perfect man! As you can see this Batman was huge, but so was his price tag -- $27,000!
Standing out in front of the Macy's. The windows are done with the Nutcracker theme.

Christmas in Chicago

2007-12-10T21:28:00.000-06:00

On Sunday we met with all the Chicago folks and we ate, of course, and then we exchanged gifts. Logan had a great time and he loved all the presents he got. Jason and I loved seeing everyone open their gifts and seeing the reactions of the recipients. We also received many wonderful gifts as well. It is fun spreading the holiday out for so long! Eric played Santa and helped Logan open his gifts. Logan is starting to get the idea, but he still sometimes takes a really long time to open his gifts.
Paul always jokes about going to the Bugle Boy store, so we got him some Bugle Boy khakis. They aren't as nice as Bugle Boy jeans, but they are still awesome!
Hadley was all dressed up for the occasion. She is so cute and she doesn't mind the hat so much. She is getting very big. Recently she has started sitting up by herself.
Sarah got this really cool game that was fun to watch and play. Paul had a definite disadvantage considering it was all about color though.
All of the kids had a fun time seeing each other and we were glad we were able to share this time with them together.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-12-05T21:35:00.001-06:00

Every year I enjoy Thanksgiving a little bit more. Yes, there is a lot of work cooking and getting everything ready, but there isn't the pressure of gift giving or anything else. It is just time spent with ones we love. Time spent to look at all the things we have as blessings, which is a good reminder as we start the season of buying. Mom, Sarah, Dad, and Logan hanging out on the couch. Logan really enjoyed having a large audience to watch his antics.
Jason fried our turkey. It was awesome! He injected it with flavoring and that made the outside black, but it was definitely the best tasting turkey I have ever had.
If I could put one collective thought bubble over everyone's heads it would be, "Hurry and take the picture. We are hungry!"
I love this picture of Logan running from Sarah. He loves having his cousin's attention.
Hannah and Stephanie were playing the game of Life. The kids really enjoyed playing games and hanging out together. The adults spent time talking and watching football.
I saw an idea in a magazine to make a "thankful" tree. It was really nice to see all the things that everyone was thankful for.
My nephew Kristopher was able to get a ride up from Bob Jones to be with us for Thanksgiving. Here he is with Hadley.

Vacation Fun

2007-11-11T21:27:00.000-06:00

We just came back from a short trip to Cancun, Mexico. It was super relaxing and enjoyable. We went with several friends from all over the country. We stayed at an all inclusive resort and spent most of our time either eating or lounging by the pool. Jason went on an snorkeling/powerboat driving excursion with most of the group while Heather M. and I stayed back and painted at the resort. Anyway, here are some pictures of our trip. There will be more later. I let others take some of the pictures for us rather than having everyone take the same picture on five different cameras.

The color of the water is indescribable. There are so many shades of blue and green. It was amazing!

It was fun hanging out together as well as hanging around will everyone else.
For our morning breakfast we ate at the morning buffet, then for lunch we either ate at the lunch buffet by the ocean or at the little lunch bars. For dinner we went to several of the nicer resturants. The food was good but the presentation was really cool!

Hanging by the beach. The water was warm, but the beach was a little rocky. Much of the good sand was ripped away by the hurricane.
Dinner with Steve L., Phill, and Matt Tracey
Jason and Steve M.
Candace and Phill after dinner one evening

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-30T22:23:00.000-05:00

Boo! Boo! Boo!

Happy Halloween from the Gies family. You can figure out which pumpkin belongs to which family member.

Jason and I carved pumpkins last night with no help from Logan or Lucy. Logan kept wanting to empty to garbage can and Lucy was eating the pumpkin guts that hit the floor.

This is Logan's costume. He is one very cute little chicken boy. We have been working on walking down the street so we don't have to crawl! Check out Logan's blog to see more picture of him.

Here's what's up with us.

2007-10-21T20:46:00.001-05:00

Well, we have been pretty busy lately. Logan is walking now and he is keeping us pretty busy. Having him walking is fun because he can get around when we are out without crawling on the ground. He still wants to crawl on the floor at the mall and the library (much to my chagrin) but he is getting better at walking all over. He attempted to escape from our little class at the library on Thursday, but I am still faster! Yesterday went for a walk and Logan walked for two houses (with a lot of falling down in between.) He has got to get better than that before Halloween, but I think he will be okay. He loves to run around the nursery at church. He loves going there now. For awhile he wasn't quite sure, but he is fine with going now. Jason has been working hard and has been taking some training classes this week at work. I have been keeping busy cooking and running errands. I have been looking for some students to tutor as well. All in all, we are having a fabulous fall!

"Best friends" Logan and Lucy. I don't think they could get any farther apart for the picture.
Here is Logan sitting with our pumpkins and our corn stalks.
Here is our house offically decked out for Halloween. Notice the silhouettes in the front window as well as the crazy "demon-eyed" dog.
I had some time a few weeks ago so I painted part of Logan's room. I still have two more walls to do but I finished the fish in the tree wall. I also wrote the saying around the top of the wall. It says, "Today is gone. Today is done. Tomorrow is another one. Everyday from here to there, funny things are everywhere."

A Visit From Em

2007-10-02T09:26:00.001-05:00

This post is a little late, but better late then never, right? Emily came to visit last weekend and we had a great time. On Friday we hung out, watched TV, and went to the mall. On Saturday my parents, who were also in town, came and picked up Logan. Jason, Emily, and I went downtown. Em hadn't been downtown in a long time so we gave her the tour.We are standing in Millennium Park looking at some of the skyscrapers.
This is the Trump building that Bill Rancic is working on. They will be opening up the lower portion before the top is finished.
Jason and Emily standing under the Bean.

Edy and Em at the Bean.

The Bathroom Project

2007-09-16T20:58:00.001-05:00

This weekend Jason worked at my sister Gwendolyn's house fixing their bathroom. It was quite a project and Jason is a little sore, but it looks great. The toilet had leaked and destroyed the floor so that had to be removed. Fortunately the sink and toilet were fine so those didn't have to be replaced.
Here is Jason standing in the crawlspace working on the bathroom.

This is the project all finished.

Happy Birthday Jill...

2007-09-15T11:48:00.000-05:00

Saturday night we celebrated Jill's birthday. She is the big 26 now!! We had a good time hanging out with friends and having a little BBQ. Here are a few pics...

Remembering Patriot Day

2007-09-11T12:34:00.000-05:00

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.

America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.

America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

I posted this song because I absolutely love it. The words are so meaningful. My two favorite parts are where it asks God to confirm America's soul in self-control and our liberty in law. Today so many Americans love to talk about liberty and the freedom to do certian things, but they don't want to remind themselves that our liberty is availble because of the law. I have the freedom to go out and walk around my city streets because the law protects me from those who would do me harm. Self-control is something that many Americans have abandoned. We must have a moral responsibility to the law and follow it because it is the right thing to do not because we are worried about getting caught. I remeber being very worried that when I asked some of my students, "Why don't you rob a bank on your way home from school?" The only answer they could come up with is, "Because I would go to jail." This may be true, but it is not the only reason we don't rob the bank. Self-control to follow the law is important. My second favorite line is when it talks about how beautiful the heroes who sacrifice their lives for us are. They love their country more than they loved themselves and they love mercy more than life. Looking back on the last six years, I think of all those who have gone overseas to protect us. They have sacrificed time with their families, comfort, peace, and many have sacrificed their lives. I am so grateful there are those willing to do that. I am thankful for the police, firemen, and soldiers who risk their safety for ours.

Family in town for Labor Day

2007-09-05T20:42:00.000-05:00

On Sunday we went to church in the morning then we headed downtown. We went to Rosebuds for dinner, which was awesome! We had Italian waiters who actually spoke Italian. One of them looked like Ray Liotta in Goodfellas. They waiters really liked Logan. They kept calling him piccolino. We looked it up online and it means little, cute, or tiny. Anyway here are some pictures of our adventures downtown. This is a quick picture of us walking down Michigan Avenue. We only walked about two blocks, but it was really nice. The weather was perfect the whole weekend. Grandma and Grandpa couldn't believe how alive the city was. There were people everywhere.

Logan looks back to make sure that Great Grandpa and Great Grandma are okay crossing the street. "Hurry up guys, the light is going to change!"

Grandma Gies and Logan check out a horse getting a quick drink from the horse drinking fountain.

Because Grandma and Grandpa couldn't do a lot of walking we didn't get to walk around Navy Pier or that kind of thing. Jason found a great lookout point so they could see the water as well as a great view of Navy Pier.

On Labor Day we went to Terri and Joe's house for brunch. We hadn't taken any pictures of all of us yet that weekend so Terri helped us out with that.

Four generations of men, well maybe not all are men just yet.

Three generations of ladies and one boy

We had a great time visiting with grandma and grandpa. They said they had a great time too. They are one spunky couple and I hope we are as much in love as they are when we have been married sixty-six years.

Cubs game

2007-09-05T20:23:00.001-05:00

On Saturday we went to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs. My grandpa has been a Cubs fan for over 60 years. He enjoyed seen the Cubs and all of the excitement around the field. Personally I think this is one of the best sporting events I have ever been to. The crowd was great and the Wrigley is so amazing. It really reminded me of going to old Tiger Stadium.

Dad, Grandpa and Harry Caray

Grandpa and me

Dad and me

Grandpa enjoying our great seats

The legendary Wrigley Field

Cubs WIN! You can see the W flag flying. The beat the Astros 4-3

Pray for Tim and Oakbrook Prep. School

2007-08-30T07:33:00.000-05:00

UPDATE:

I talked to Tim this morning and he is home and doing well. He is still in a lot of pain. Please continue to pray for the family of the boy that was killed. There are lots of news stories out right now saying how great a student this boy was and from what Tim said they are not at all embellished. Also pray for the school it is a very difficult way to start a new school year.

Jason
8/31/07 8:00am

As many of you have heard already one of my best friends Tim Blakeney was hit by lighting yesterday while coaching his soccer team. One of his players did not survive the accident and Tim is in the hospital. From what I have heard the rest of the team is fine. Let our thoughts and prayers go out to the school and the parents of this teen right now. I will keep you updated on here if I hear anything.

Jason

Here is the story from the local paper in Spartanburg...

Lightning strike kills Oakbrook Prep senior

Students huddle in the background as workers clear a field at Oakbrook Preparatory School Wednesday afternoon after a lightning strike killed the school's student body president and injured the soccer coach.
Rain mingled with tears as students and faculty at Oakbrook Preparatory School mourned the death of the school's student body president.
Alexander Holland Holbein, 17, of 400 Parkdale Drive, was fatally struck by lightning Wednesday afternoon, just one day shy of his 18th birthday.
"Our school lost a tremendous student leader today," said Steve Smith, the school's director. "Our prayers are with the Holbein family, and we want everyone everywhere lifting up the family."
According to witnesses, Holbein, a senior at the school, was warming up for soccer practice with Tim Blakeney, the school's soccer coach, when the lightning struck. Blakeney was also injured and is in fair condition at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, said Chad Lawson, spokesman for the hospital.
"We also want to think tonight about the Blakeney family and pray for him as he is recovering," Smith said. "We will all take time to recover, but it will happen. Alex was a tremendous influence and we will miss his physical presence, but his legacy will carry forward."
Holbein suffered burns and irreversible brain injury from the fatal strike and died at the hospital, said Robin Forrest, chief investigator with the Spartanburg County Coroner's Office.
Forrest said the jolt of electricity entered Holbein's head and then exited through his feet around3:30 p.m. The autopsy is scheduled for today.
Holbein's family was unavailable for comment Wednesday night, but friends and co-workers offered their tributes.
About six weeks ago, Holbein began working at Yaggie Cleaners on East Main Street. Bob Yaggie, who owns the business, said he hired the young man at the recommendation of a teenage employee who was going off to college.
"He was just a really great kid. He was easygoing. He seemed to be pretty smart - from what I understand, he was a straight-A student," Yaggie said. "He was real friendly with the customers. I was really glad to have him. I would consider him an asset."
'Very respectful'
Yaggie called Holbein "very respectful," "one in a million," and "not like your typical teenager today."
"It'll take a long time to ever forget him," he said.
Holbein had been going to St. Matthew's Episcopal Church for the last year or so. This spring, he was among a small group that went from Spartanburg to Aiken as a staff member for Happening, a weekend-long faith renewal event for young people.
Louise Rambo, 56, was on the staff, too, and said she and Holbein got to know each other during the time they spent there. She described Holbein as a young man of "quiet determination, very well-grounded in his faith."
"I didn't realize that until I spent some time with him," Rambo said. "So many high school kids are flighty and silly about faith, but he wasn't."
An hour after the accident, disbelief and grief shadowed the faces of students and faculty as they clustered in the foyer opposite the soccer field. Family members were still frantically trying to contact one another, and about 5 p.m., a woman pulled into the parking lot, relief flooding her face when she recognized a young man picking up a bag of soccer balls off the field. She thrust a cell phone at him, saying she had his mom on the phone, and his bravado faded into tears as he reiterated to his mother over and over again that he was OK.
Amanda Ridley Ledbetter, a spokeswoman for the school, said there would be church counselors and bereavement specialists at the school today to help students deal with their grief over Holbein's death.
Oakbrook is an independent, private Christian school that has about 450 students in kindergarten through 12th grade and was founded 15 years ago.
"There are times when faith is tested beyond belief, and this is one of those times," Smith said. "The Oakbrook family will carry forward by looking for the strength of God to carry them through."
No storm warnings or watches
Blair Holloway, meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said there were no thunderstorm warnings or watches for this area Wednesday afternoon.
Vince DeCarlo, also a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said there were two fatalities in Spartanburg County last year due to lightning strikes. There have been 13 fatalities in South Carolina due to lightning strikes since 1997, the fourth-highest incidence in the U.S. DeCarlo said 6 percent of all lightning strikes are fatal.

Dream Crusin'

2007-08-22T21:35:00.001-05:00

This past weekend we were in Detroit for the Dream Cruise. For anyone who doesn't know what the Dream Cruise is it is always in August. Thousands of cars come and cruise down Woodward, the first paved road in America. The Dream Cruise is the largest moving car event in the world. They estimate that there are 1.5 million spectators along the road from Ferndale to Pontiac. It is defiantly a don't miss, especially if you like cars or people watching. This year we got to see the Cruise from a different point of view. My dad took me down there on the back of his bike and Jason was able to ride his other bike. It was a totally different experience because you are out in the open and seeing everything. You also inhale a lot of car fumes, but that is okay; it is all worth it!
This is a front hood ornament of a 55 Chevy. This car was part of the GM display. It probably has not see the light of day for more than a few hours in its life. GM keeps hundreds of cars in a warehouse and this is one of them.

This is also a cool picture of a GTO! There are so many of those down there.

We even saw the Transformers. It was cool to wander around and check them out. But we had to beware because the Deceptacons were also down there. That is one of the coolest things about the Dream Cruise. You can see beautiful cars that are unmatched, but you also see quircky stuff like cars covered in stickers. You might even see the Delorian from Back to the Future or the General Lee. This year we saw Boss Hog's car. It is defiantly a car lovers dream! We might add some more pictures later on. If you want to see pictures of Logan at the cruise check out his blog.

Flying the Friendly Skies

2007-08-16T21:30:00.001-05:00

Jason had to be in Michigan for training on Wednesday morning so he drove on Tuesday night. I didn't have to be there for any particular time so I was able to fly in with Shaun. He was flying in from Chicago to Detroit empty so I was able to come with him. It was a totally awesome experience! Oh to be able to fly like this all the time!!!!

This is Logan and I on the plane. Notice the gold plated seatbelts. Yes, that is real gold. Logan did really well. He was very good and he loved having the plane to himself. We didn't have enough time to get uncomfortable. The flight time was only 39 minutes.

This is Logan with Uncle Shaun. We had a good time checking out what Shaun does all day.

This is the plane. Nice. I would love to get used to this. 12 Seater Gulf Stream. We even had our own personal stewardess.

Logan was really into all the buttons. He was thinking, "Wow, I thought all the buttons on the remote control were cool. This is awesome!" He really wanted to push and pull the buttons, but that would not have been a good situation.

Visits from Mom and Dad

2007-07-27T21:16:00.000-05:00

On Sunday Jason's parents and brother David came to visit. We fit a lot of activities into a short amount of time. On Monday mom, Logan and I went to IKEA and Dad and Dave worked on wiring the garage. Then we went downtown for dinner and sightseeing. David had never really seen Chicago so we wanted to show him around. On Tuesday mom, Logan, and I went to Oakbrook which is a really nice shopping area a little north of us. The boys (minus Logan) went to the Tigers and Sox game. Unfortunately the Sox won, but they still had a good time. They went home on Wednesday afternoon after a shopping trip to Menards and a fabulous lunch and the Crispy Waffle.
Logan had a great time visiting with Grandma and Grandpa. He got very spoiled and had a wonderful time playing.

Grandma gave Logan a chocolate chip cookie!!! He loved it. He was looking for more and he was greatly enjoying his treat. I tried to take a bite and he gave me a very dirty look!

After a long day of shopping Logan was completely exhausted. He was so tired he fell asleep on the way home. We shopped till he dropped!

Going Downtown...

2007-07-24T07:29:00.000-05:00

This weekend Can & Phil were in. We all went downtown and went out to dinner at the Grand Lux. We also had time to wandered around Michigan Ave. Here are a few pictures...

All of us in front of the Chicago River.
Steve, Can & Phil at the Grand Lux. Edy, Jason & Jill at the Grand Lux.
We Celebrate Can's birthday while we were at the restaurant.
Jill, Can & Edy in front of the river.
Edy and her favorite animal!

New Videos Coming Soon

2007-07-19T23:04:00.000-05:00

Our house looks great. We have been working really hard to get it ready for visits from friends and family. Candace and Phill are coming tomorrow so before they come we will get the house all ready and take new videos of it and post them. The changes since we moved in are incredible. All the rooms have been painted, there is carpet down, our boxes are unpacked for the most part, and everything is pretty clean. We are getting into the groove of things and settling into our new life here. We have been attending IBC (Independence Baptist Church) and we have been learning a lot from the preaching there. It is hard to choose another church, but at least there are many good churches in this area. Jason worked on the outside of the house and even chopped his finger with the hedger. We went to the hospital and checked it out, but he didn't need stitches. It looks pretty bad though.

Anyway, work is going well for Jason, Logan is crawling around like a maniac, and I am enjoying being a stay at home mom. Logan is getting really funny and mischievous. He runs from me when I try to stop him from getting into stuff now and he started saying, "No, no, no, no, no" when I grab him. It is sometimes frustrating, but it is also fun to see his little mind working and thinking.

That is all for tonight. Look for the videos and updated pics of the house soon.

So much has happened . . .

2007-07-19T21:48:00.000-05:00

It is now that time. Jason installed child locks on the cabinets. Logan is very frustrated by that, but at least he isn't climbing in our entertainment center or getting into our cleaning supplies. He is now starting to get around very quickly and get into everything. He keeps us very busy, but we love it!

We have been able to see our family a lot since we got here. Logan enjoys seeing his cousins Sarah and Hannah. (He enjoys seeing everyone else too, but we have pictures of Sarah and Hannah.)Such a cool kid!

Logan and Edy went up to Watertown, WI for her friend Hannah's daughter's first birthday party. Ella greatly enjoyed her chocolate cupcake and piles of balloons.

Watertown looks so good. The school looks very different from the way it did when I left. Watertown has a lot more stores and restaurants than it did when I was there. The downtown looked the sames as ever, including Mullen's.
On July 4th, we went to Jason's cousin's house. Logan was enjoying playing in the pool with Jason. He was totally into swimming and splashing. This other little girl in the pool thought he was supper cute. She kept calling him her "little puppy" and dragging him around the pool. That's okay, he enjoyed it anyway.

Moving on...

2007-06-19T15:27:00.000-05:00

This past week was one of the craziest weeks of our lives. Here is the break down...

Saturday June 9th - My brother Dave's graduation. Congratulations Dave!!!!!

Sunday June 10th - Finish packing the house and load the moving truck. Notice the shed being pulled by the large truck. It got quite a few looks as we drove down the road.

Monday June 11th - Close on our house at 11am and drive to Chicago with all of our earthly belongings. This is a picture of Turkeyville. It is super exciting. They only serve Turkey. It is amazing if you like turkey.

Tuesday June 12th - Walk through our new house and close on it at 11:30am. Then rip all of the carpet out and start patching walls. We also emptied the truck into the basement and garage.

This is how totally gross the carpet was. We don't think they ever cleaned the floor or vacuumed. The house was totally disgusting. I am so glad we had lots of help.

This is the pile of trash we were left by the previous owners. We did take the carpet out on our own, but still, they left a lot of stuff.

This is the nasty tub. I tried to clean it, but I gave up. I don't have much patience for long, tedious cleaning projects. Mom G came and busted out cleaning the guest bathroom and the tub actually changed colors! Wow!!!!

Wednesday June 13th - Paint the whole upstairs

Above is the guest room below is the master bedroom. Jason also installed ceiling fans in all of the rooms.

Below is Logan's room. I have to repaint the Dr. Seuss room but that is going to take some time.

Thursday June 14th - Paint the downstairs and work on many other projects before the carpet comes.

Friday June 15th - Edy and Dad left to go back to Detroit for Heather Parson's wedding. I stayed and painted and cleaned.

Saturday June 16th - (our anniversary) I flew to Detroit for the wedding and flew back that night. George Phillips (Jill's dad supervised the installment of our carpet)

Sunday June 17th - Cleaned up the house and prepped it for furniture while Edy and my mom (G) drove back with Jill & Steve. Then we moved everything in. I also finished painting the kitchen. Mom G. was able to come and help clean and she really worked hard. You already saw the tub before. The kitchen floor was also totally nasty. Mom cleaned it for about three hours. Hopefully we never have to do that again! Logan is enjoying crawling around the new house. Grandma's cleaning spree made this "first bath in the new house" possible. He is really excited about taking baths.
Monday June 18th - Back to work

As you can see it was a super busy week but we have a great house now and it is in really nice shape. We would have never moved out or in without all the help we received. We would like to thank everyone that helped especially both of our parents, Nate, Nate's friends from B.J. (I'm sorry I don't know their names) Jacob, Robert, Phill, Donnie, Christy, Shaun, Gwen, George, Mark, Jim, Tim, Steve, and Jill. I think that is it. Please forgive me if I left anyone out. It is late and this has been a very long post!

Here are a couple of videos of the house before we started work...
(more pictures and videos to come)

Goodbye to an Era

2007-06-06T10:39:00.000-05:00

This is a picture of me with my class at Bethany's Jr./Sr. Banquet. The Junior class is responsible for putting on the banquet which is a pretty big responsibility. Everything turned out really well. The place (Addison Oaks) did a great job and everything we were responsible for turned out great. The game (Senior Jeopardy) was a big hit as was the music.
I will really miss this group of kids. We have a blog that I hope will be a good way for me to stay in touch with them. They are beginning their senior year in a certain state of limbo. The principle who has been at the school forever, at least a really long time, is leaving too. I know this is a big deal to them, just because they want to have a good senior year. I hope to be involved as I can from a long distance. (No, I won't be able to make government an on-line class.) I am really, really, really going to miss teaching. I know I will love spending time with my "little man" though. Ever since I was little I have wanted to do two things. 1.) Be a mommy. 2.) Be a teacher. I have loved being a teacher. I love being a mommy. Hopefully some day down the road I can do both again.

Dedication

2007-05-21T21:06:00.000-05:00

On Mother's Day, May 13, we had a time of dedication for ourselves and Logan. First Baptist has a baby parade where all the parents with babies that were born in the past year have the option of going before the church for dedication. We are working on training Logan in all his physical and mental development. We just need to keep in mind that is spiritual development is the most important. Dedication means "selfless devotion." I think we both are selfless in our care and concern for Logan, but we need to work extra hard at working on his spiritual development.

Jason had to tell the whole church Logan's size and birthday. He did a great job. Logan made a very cute face and was very attentive to Pastor Harding while he was talking. He was also sneezing and trying to grab at his flower. Logan was given a blue carnation, New Testament, and a certificate stating the following:

Jason and Edy Gies brought Logan Benjamin Gies publicly before the Lord and their church family to ask for His blessings on their son's life.

They dedicated themselves to the following commitments:

to affirm their commitments to each other as husband and wife.
to pray daily for direction in their lives as well as their son's life.
to faithfully bring their son to celebrate the Logan in worship on Sundays.
to teach their son by work and example the truths in God's Word.
to anticipate and seek to lead their son to a personal faith in Christ as soon as he is ready.

Overall, it was a wonderful celebration. I love the baby parade. I am so glad that we were able to be a part of it.

Congratulations!!!!

2007-05-09T20:16:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to my brother Robert and his wife Jill. Jill gave birth to a beautiful baby girl yesterday. Her name is Hadley Joy Booth. They live in Chicago so we are looking forward to seeing them very soon. We are so excited that Logan will have a cousin his age that he can play with and be close to.

This is Hadley with her big brother Eric. Big brother Stephen doesn't get home from college for a few days. Eric looks like a very proud big brother.

This is Hadley with mommy. So cute!!!!!!

Trip downtown

2007-04-25T20:26:00.000-05:00

Last week Edy and Logan came to visit me in Chicago. We went downtown with Jill and wandered around Michigan Ave. and Millenium Park. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Happy Easter

2007-04-08T19:02:00.000-05:00

Jason was able to come home for a long weekend so we had a great time spending time together. On Easter morning we went to FBCT's Easter program and were reminded of the real reason we celebrate this holiday. We enjoy the bunnys, chicks, eggs, new outfits, candy (of course), but we also keep in mind that this is truly a holiday about the death, burial, and resurection of Christ.
We hope you all had a wonderful Easter and hopefully Spring will come back sometime soon!

This is one of our first family photos since Logan was born.

Yes, that is snow on the ground. Easter was very cold this year, but we still took the opportunity to get dressed up. Logan isn't quite big enough to do an egg hunt, but we still had lots of cute photo opportunities.

On Logan's first Easter he looked quite dapper with a sport coat, dress shirt, khakis, and some sweet dress shoes.

Jason and Logan

Edy and Logan

White never looked this good...

2007-04-06T17:56:00.000-05:00

I was never a big fan of white cars, but you have to admit these look pretty good. I have seen pleanty of Trailblazer SS's and I love my white one a lot. Dave cleaned up both of them last week and took this picture. The Grand Prix is his by the way . . .

BIG NEWS!!!!

2007-03-16T18:59:00.000-05:00

We are moving to Chicago! We have been packing up our house and we are planning on moving sometime very soon. Jason started work on March 12. He really likes his new job. He is looking for a company called Hendrickson. (http://www.hendrickson-intl.com/ -just in case any of you were wondering about it) I am finishing up my year at Bethany. Bethany is an excellent school and I have a wonderful group of students. I love the students I teach and I really love the class I sponsor. I will really miss them. They are one super fun group of students.

The Class of 2008 + one member of the Class of 2024!

Celebrating Christmas

2006-12-26T21:49:00.000-06:00

Christmas Party at Can and Phil's

Logan opening his first presents on Christmas morning

Christmas Morning at my parents

Logan sitting in his new chair from G&G Booth

The whole family opening presents on Christmas

Ghetto Santa Strikes again!!!

Grandma and Grandpa Cusimano opening gifts

Christmas Dinner

Logan passed out Christmas night.

Gies Family Christmas Party

2006-12-23T10:07:00.000-06:00

Every year our family goes out to eat for Christmas. This year we planned a trip to Palazzo di Bocce. It is an Italian restaurant with regulation Bocce ball courts around it. The food was good, and the Bocce ball was very fun. Here are some pictures from the evening.

Dave, Dad & I with our Bocce Balls

Three of the 12 courts at Palazzo

Natalia & Logan

Just a picture of me

Me Playing Bocce Ball

Dad playing Bocce ball

Mom & Logan

Emily & Natalia

It's Christmas time in the City...

2006-12-18T20:56:00.000-06:00

Here are a few pictures from around our house this year. I will try to get more up after Christmas.

Out to dinner with Jill and Steve...

2006-11-29T21:38:00.000-06:00

Steve had the prime rib...
I had the porterhouse...NOW THAT IS A CUT OF MEAT

Sorry the girls did not make it in. We were way to busy eating all of this food to take any pictures of Edy and Jill.

Thanksgiving in Chicago...

2006-11-29T21:22:00.000-06:00

We spent this Thanksgiving in Chicago. We had a great time with family and friends. Here are a few pictures...

The dinner table
Paul carving the turkey

Stephanie and Hannah playing in the great weather

Uncle Paul and Logan

Aunt Gwen and Logan

Aunt Laurie and Logan

Halloween Party Time...

2006-10-31T18:46:00.000-06:00

This weekend was Halloween we had a party at Don and Christy's. We had a great time here are some pictures.

Logan is getting bigger...

2006-10-20T12:00:00.000-05:00

2006-10-10T17:58:00.000-05:00

The Tigers destroyed the Yankees last weekend and now it is on to Oakland...

GO TIGERS!!

A couple of Pictures...

2006-09-14T20:07:00.000-05:00

Here are a some more pictures of Logan from the last few weeks...

Hudson Taylor Klapperich

2006-09-01T12:05:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to TJ and Julie on the birth of there third son. Here are a couple pictures...

Logan has his own site...

2006-08-27T11:34:00.000-05:00

Since we are going to be publishing lots of pictures of him I created his own site. You can link to it from here or it web address is www.logangies.blogspot.com

Coming Home from the hospital

2006-08-27T11:12:00.000-05:00

We brought Logan home yesterday. He loved riding in the car and sporting his new cloths. My parents decided to have a GIANT blow up stork in my front yard when I got home. They also stocked our fridge and cleaned our house so we greatly appreciate that!

Gies...

2006-08-24T22:09:00.000-05:00

Logan is carrying on our name. Out of my dad's five brothers kids and grandkids there are very few males left with the last name Gies. Well hopefully Logan can keep the name going!

My BIG BOY!!!

2006-08-24T21:06:00.000-05:00

He is finally here. His name is Logan Benjamin Gies and he was 9lbs 11oz and 24 inches long. He is a big boy and he had been great so far. Here are a few pictures....

LOGAN
From a surname which was originally derived from a Scottish place name meaning "little hollow" in Scottish Gaelic.

BENJAMIN

Pronounced: BEN-ja-min (English), ben-zha-MEN (French) [key]

From the Hebrew name בִנְיָמִין (Binyamin) which means "son of the south" or "son of the right hand". Benjamin in the Old Testament was the twelfth and youngest son of Jacob and the founder of one of the southern tribes of the Hebrews. This name was also borne by Benjamin Franklin, an American statesman, inventor, scientist and philosopher.