It was worth a try

Yesterday I was complaining to Craig that I was already bored with winter and anxious to do some of the things I'm missing. Like kayaking, camping and riding the motorcycle. And it's only the beginning of January! So after church today Craig surprised me when he said "Lets drive out to the cottage and go kayaking".... REALLY???? I could hardly get bundled up and my boots on fast enough. We've been having such mild weather that neither of us was expecting to find ice on the lake but that's exactly what we found.

We decided to give it a try anyway. Maybe the kayaks would break right through the ice and it wouldn't be too bad.

It was much more of a challenge than we thought it would be.

We didn't get much more than 100 yards from the shore and that was with Craig ramming the ice, backing up and doing it over and over.

It was still fun and it was a beautiful day to get outside with my camera.

The ice was like glass. Not a bubble in it and crystal clear.

Well, goodbye kayaks, we will see you again in the spring.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year my friends and family. Craig, Jordan and I (Caleb was working) rang in the new year with a quiet evening at home. Just the way I like it. I'm not a pop the cork on the champagne bottle while blowing noise makers and singing Auld Lang Syne type of girl. And after the hustle and bustle of Christmas a quiet evening at home with the ones I love was much welcomed.

Our weather for all of December was extremely mild. So much so that Caleb and Craig have been able to ride the bikes occasionally. They even went for a ride Christmas Day evening. The other night Caleb was out riding and a cop followed him into the driveway. He asked for Caleb's license and registration explaining that when they see motorcycles out this time of year they are usually stolen. We got a good laugh out of that one. I guess it's good that they are checking.

In the last 48 hours the weather has taken a turn to more winter like conditions. We've had winter storm warnings and finally some significant snow. It's forecasted to be in the 40's by the weekend so it won't be sticking around. Craig is bummed that he hasn't been able to do any trail grooming for the club yet this year. Hopefully January will bring us some more snow.

I am in the last day of a 4 day weekend. I took an extra vacation day over the long holiday weekend. It's been awesome! Friday night was dinner and a movie then hanging out at home ringing in the New Year. Saturday I spent the day thrifting (one of my favorite things to do!). The last Saturday of each month is 50% off day at all Southwest Mi Goodwill stores... that day is marked on my calendar each month. Came home with some great finds. The rest of my days off have just been spent doing whatever I wanted. I got all the Christmas decorations put away. I feel organized and ready to go back to work tomorrow. Wish I had a 4 day weekend every weekend.

Here's to 2012.... Hope it's all your dreaming of.

Favorite Moments of Christmas 2011

There were a lot of favorite moments of Christmas 2011 and below are a few I captured.

One of my most favorite moments of Christmas each year is late on Christmas Eve. We always go to the Christmas Eve service at church which sets the scene for the rest of the evening. Reflecting the true meaning of Christmas and singing Silent Night in complete darkness except for the small candles we are all holding. I cry every year at that exact moment. Immediately following the candle light service we head home for the intimate part of Christmas. Just our immediate family opens gifts from each other. It's so awesome to experience this with my children now that they are adults.

Christmas morning we head over to Craig's parents.

The tradition Mullauer Christmas morning breakfast. Our table has grown a lot over the years to the point that we now extend out into the hall but most important is that we ALL are around that table. Kay and Roger would have it no other way. That's one of the things I love about them.

Cousins.... who are crazy about each other.

Opening gifts....

Christmas dinner table

Turkey is ready....

One of the things I LOVE about Craig is that he is so sentimental. Something as simple as a framed photo of him at Silver Lake with his girl is his favorite gift.

I think I liked my food saver!

A SpongeBob house for Jordan's fish.

Love, love, love this photo and this moment. Jordan just spotted Craig carrying down her new 32 inch flat screen TV. We love our girl.

This dinosaur has a story but to make a long story short..... Caleb was a huge dino freak as a little kid. He LOVED dinosaurs. I found this at Goodwill a few weeks before Christmas and I just had to buy it for him. It was one of the biggest gifts under the tree and Caleb could hardly wait to dig into it..... little did he know.

We wrapped it in a "Ford Racing Parts" box so Caleb assumed it was something awesome for his Mustang. It was hysterical. I didn't get a very good photo because I was laughing so hard.

Jordan's special gift from Caleb.

Christmas Eve day we spent with my parents.

My mother and I both share a love of thrift store shopping and thrill of the hunt. And we both have the same taste in old vintage things. My mother collects old pictures of mothers with their children so when I found this in a thrift store a few weeks ago I knew she would love it and she did.

My Dad... I love him!

The annual photo shoot with the kids and the dogs. Turned out pretty good but I wish Fiona showed up better. She's so dark she blends right in.

When Christmas was done and we were driving home tonight Craig pulled over at the beach without me even asking. The sunset was amazing and he knew I'd want to get a photo. Another reason why I'm so crazy about that man. He knows me so well. The wind was hollowing and the waves were wild...... So beautiful.

Tonight I am tired and emotional. But for all the good reasons. I am thankful and content. Grateful for another wonderful year with my family. God is good....

It was so Norman Rockwell

We had the pleasure of going to see an amazing concert in Grand Rapids last night. The Grand Rapids Symphony did a Christmas concert in combination with a live show of Cirque De Noel. It was a sit on the edge of your seat, totally fixated type of concert. The music and the acts were fantastic.

After the concert we walked down to Rosa Parks Circle. I could have sworn we were in a scene from a Norman Rockwell painting. People were ice skating, lights were twinkling everywhere.

I didn't have my good camera but we snapped a few photos with Craig's i-phone.

My cheeks hurt from smiling so much..... What a great night.

What really matters....

With the help of my wonderful husband and daughter this past weekend I was able to finish preparing for Christmas. Now I can look forward to the BEST part of Christmas and what really matters.

Listening and watching Craig and Jordan make Christmas cookies. I love how Craig teacher her his tricks and how they work so well together.

The gang is all home from college! Watching Caleb and Josh spend time with each other for the first time since August makes me smile. Love, love, love the sound of their laughter filling the house.

I can actually sit back and enjoy my decorations. Simple they may be but they make me happy.

Remembering where each one came from......

Each morning looking out the window to see if snow has fallen. Doesn't look like we are going to have a white Christmas this year.

Sitting in the dark with the Christmas tree on, the TV off and talking to the ones I love.

Snuggling with my tired puppies at the end of the day. Watching them all compete for the best spot next to me.

Caleb and Jordan may be 20 and 22 but Santa still brings them gifts. As I am wrapping gifts it's fun for me to decide what gifts are Santa worthy.

If you open your eyes and really look you can see Christmas everywhere. Jesus is there but you have to look. Sit back and watch and your heart will be warmed by what you see. I saw someone order 10 speciality coffee drinks at McDonalds the other day. Who was going to be the lucky recipients of that nice gesture? Jordan and I were passing a bell ringer the other day and I had no cash to put in the bucket. Jordan quickly dug in her purse and found enough for both of us to put money in the bucket. I've watched the teens at church do a toy drive so they could give Christmas gifts to the children of the food pantry patrons every weekend in December. The list goes on and on.

One thing that I'm trying to do is make more of an effort to strike up conversations with strangers. Try it! You may be the only bright part to that person's day. And what I find is that more often than not I walk away with a wonderful feeling.

An amazing thing happened to me at work the other day. A patient who I have worked with for a long time brought me a book about angels and told me what an angel I had been to them throughout a very difficult time they had been going through. As this patients health improved they stopped in again to see me and brought me another book about miracles. He felt like he had been given the gift of a miracle from God. WOW! It's hard for me to talk about that one without being brought to tears.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Ten days from today.....

...... it will be December 25. Am I ready? Of course not. I just never will understand these people who on Dec. 1st make the announcement "I'm all done Christmas shopping, my gifts are wrapped and under the tree". And every year after hearing people like that talk I vow that I will be different next year. And I really believe myself when I say that. But for some unknown reason, year after year, it NEVER happens. But I guess I should just be happy that this year I am further along than I usually am. Not where I'd like to be but better than last year. I have maybe 3/4 of my shopping done and I have it all wrapped which is a major accomplishment for me. I'll be frantically finishing up this weekend.

I just had to post this photo of Caleb. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this photo. Caleb went to Chicago with one of his buddies last week for a concert and his buddy took this photo. It's better than any of the senior photos I paid $500 for. I already sent it to Shutterfly and had enlargements made.

Have a good weekend. And I hope you are one of those people that is all done shopping and all your gifts are wrapped and under the tree......