livin' in Motor City

The perks to living in Motor City. Jed and Benjamin are trying this Viper on for size. How do they look? (Oh yeah, Benjamin wouldn't look at the camera, so I guess you can't see them...) Anyway, take my word for it - They belong in that car! :)

We went to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last weekend. We took the youth (YM/YW) to the show. It was pretty cool. Tons of crazy cars. One of the Bentley convertibles was priced at $400,000. Most of the cars were available to sit in and open & close the trunk, etc. Here's my favorite - it was a crazy gangster car with doors that open vertically and a trunk that opened backwards. The convertible top on it was crazy. This was one of the most fascinating cars, so I took a pic with it. :)

Let's see - other things we've been doing this month...
shoveling snow, walking in snow, playing in snow, driving in snow, watching it snow...

Seriously, it's been snowing nonstop. The first week of January Jed and Benjamin made this awesome snowman in the front yard. And IT'S STILL THERE. I never ever have seen a snowman that survived this long. He's like a part of the family now. I think we'll all start crying when we find him melted.... in May.

There have only been two or so days warm enough to pack the snow, and on the second day we made this 'tree man' in our back yard. I wanted to make another snowman to keep the first one company, but I wasn't willing to trudge in the wet snow in the front yard since I have no boots or snowpants. (boohoo!) So instead, we stayed safely on the walkway and created this masterpiece.

As for Eliza, what has she been up to? Well, she spends a lot of time whining and crying OR being with Mommy. :) That's right - she likes to be with me. all day. and sometimes being NEAR me doesn't cut it. HOLDING my legs is better, but BEING HELD is best. She's still as devoted as ever. :) Although for some reason, she's always happy in her booster seat. Jed teases me that I leave her in there all day, and wonders what the dr. would say if I took her to her appointment in her booster chair. :) (I think it's because she's on the same level as us and feels more included. Same reason why she loves being on the bed.) The other day she got distracted by rifling through my diaper bag and ripping up my grocery list into tiny bits. I had to take a picture because it was pretty unusual for her to be content while also being all alone. She always likes to be WITH us - and who can blame her? She gets that from me, Jed says. I like company too. :)

Our friends, who have a 1-year old boy, babysat Eliza while we were at the Auto Show. When I picked her up, the husband told me, "She's a tank!" That made me laugh. She is pretty hefty compared to a few of the other 1-year-olds we know. She still has those big chubby rolls on her legs and the chubby baby body. I love it!

Eliza's BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday, Eliza! She turned the big "1" this month. :) We celebrated her birthday the day before we left Montana to come back to Michigan. So she got to be with her Grandma and Grandpa Walker for her birthday. Her reaction to her cake was HILARIOUS. She grabbed at it out of curiousity, and then naturally her fingers went in her mouth. Then she tasted something.... mmmm! You could just see the little wheels turning in her head - 'Wait a minute! That's really yummy! I want more of that!' And then she just couldn't get enough of that cake. She was grabbing at it and trying to get fistfuls of it to her mouth as quick as possible. We were all laughing, but she wasn't even distracted. Look at how intent she is!

I love how you can see her two big front teeth in this picture. They are so cute! She looks a little goofy with her two big teeth, spaced apart. But it's a really cute 'goofy' look. :)

climbing

Ryan treated Jed and I to an afternoon of rock climbing. It was pretty fun!

Jed comes up with some creative ideas of having fun in the snow with Benjamin! He wanted to pull Benny around in the tube, and this is what he came up with! Benjamin was nestled all down in the tarp enjoying the ride! When I jumped on too, Jed was heaving like a pack mule. :) Then he made me try pulling him and Benjamin. I couldn't even budge them. :)

Afterward, Ben was WORN OUT and took a super-duper long nap. Not like him at all. Oh, and look at him and Jed in the heart they stamped out in the snow. While I was inside, they wrote a message in the snow for me: I *heart* MOM. Then they told me to look out the window and I saw my special note written in the snow!

Down time

Our trip to Montana was very fun. We spent a lot of time being together. Since no other family lives there, we just stayed at Jed's parents home. It was relaxing and comfortable. And just SO FUN!

Eliza just loved the piano. She was so cute, standing up and plinking the notes with her tiny fingers.

Jed and Ryan played pool... a lot. And once Bart and Emily arrived for Christmas, if the three boys were missing, you could find them by the pool table. :)

We teased Ryan about the uncomfortable naps he took. He would only be semi-reclined on a loveseat that was way too short for him.

Ryan in his work clothes as the most brilliant of all the Electrical Engineers at the Conoco Philips plant. :)

This is Michel and I after completing our humungus puzzle, as is our Christmas tradition.

Okay, this was funny. Benjamin put on a show for everyone - standing up on the coffee table and singing. It was hilarious. I can specifically remember that he recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sang Praise to the Man many times. By the end he had some dramatic moves to go along with the words. It was quite entertaining! I think he was making the most of the opportunity to dance on the coffee table... the amount of attention he was getting was probably an incentive too. :)

More snow play

Check that out! Jed and Benjamin are inside a snow cave that we made. The day after we were jumping off the balcony the snow got hard and icy. The big pile the guys had built up became a perfect place to carve out a cave, so Ryan and Jed went to work. Benjamin helped out by being the guinea pig and trying to worm his way through the tunnel in the first stages. By the time it was done, all three of us (Jed, Ben & me) could fit inside the cave. It was pretty cool. :)





Michel and Eliza came out to see how things were shaping up.

At the end Benjamin climbed on top and broke through. Here he is having fun poking his head out the top.

READY, AIM, FIRE!

A day or two after Christmas, Ryan, Bart, Jed and I went shooting at the outdoor range. We stapled a long row of little balloons along the target board and then shot at them with the pistols. You won't believe this, but, I came out on top! I hit more balloons than any of the guys. Nice! :)

1 - 2 - 3 ... JUMP!

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Yes, they were trying to break their necks while we were in Montana. Here's Jed's dad jumping off the rail, too. We all know where Jed's reckless streak comes from!

Here's our children watching from the window. Benjamin was taking notes, internalizing how Daddy jumps off the roof and the top porch railing...

As for me, I'm a wuss. I was too scared to even climb to the top of the ladder!

Our Family 2008

Christmas

Ryan and Michel invited the missionaries and another friend over for Christmas Eve dinner. We made Chicken a la King, a tradition my family has had for generations. (I posted the recipe and the special meaning behind the dish on my cooking blog, The Sisters' Cafe.) We then had a little Christmas Eve program. Jed and I gave Michel and Ryan an early Christmas present - I made them a set of Christmas carol booklets, which we used during our program. (I just LOVE singing Christmas carols!)

Before the kids went to bed, Michel gave them each a pair of Christmas pajamas! Benjamin's had snowmen on the front and it said, "chillin' with my homies," which was pretty cute. She also spoiled me with a comfy outfit to wear, too. (I'm liable to w

ear

 it all day while I'm at home with the kids - it's so soft and comfortable!)

After the little ones were snug in their beds, we all played Charades! It was a total BLAST! Girls against boys - Bart, Ryan, and Jed didn't have a chance against Emily, Michel and me. :) Actually, I can't remember who won, but it was super fun. As you can see, Ryan was a pro. :)

Christmas morning. Benjamin got a laptop computer from Ryan and Michel. He loves it. It makes him feel very important. Every time he tells me, "I have to go work on my computer" it takes me by surprise. :)

Jed's modeling for us. :) Yeah, baby! woo-woo!
Grandpa reading their new books to them.

Bring on the snow!

When we got a big snowfall, we decided to go sledding. The hill is across the street from the house, but we drove over on the 4-wheelers. :) And lest we actually get exercise on the excursion, we took turns driving down the hill and picking up the sledders for a ride back to the top. Yes, the epitome of LAZY. But those 4-wheelers are so fun, we couldn't help ourselves!



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One weird thing about me is that I am easily intimidated by big machines. I mean, I'll ride on one of the 4-wheelers gladly, but I had no intention of driving one myself. However, my father-in-law doesn't respect my old-dog-no-new-tricks motto and I ended up being forced to drive one of them. I was surprised by how easy and fun it was! Yeah, I think I could get used to having some of these...


Bart pushing Jed and Ben down the hill. And Benjamin looking like he's king of the mountain.

Now this picture is funny. Here's Ryan, Bart and Jed planning their next trip down the hill. This was a very serious thing to them. They discussed which direction they would push off and how the momentum would affect their path down the hill... taking into account the curvature and slope of the incline, the fence along the side, and no doubt the friction created by the snow particles and the rubber tube... It was seriously hilarious how long they stood there and talked about it. I even have a picture of Bart mapping his course on his hand, like a football play. These guys are hilarious!