Tuesday: surprise!!

Surprise! We made it home safely.

Oh, that's not really a surprise? Let's try again...

Surprise! We're in the middle of buying a car.

Yeah, that works better.

It's a 2003 Corolla with a gazillion miles, but is still working fine and we got a nice deal on it. Getting it from Michigan to NY is slightly complicated, but Ben's wonderful brother is trading cars with us until he drives out here next time.

Monday: the meeting spot

for lunch today I went to The Good Earth with Dad. Apparently it was the place to be...I saw my cousin (who didn't recognize me at first because it's been many, many years), an old teacher, and an old friend.

The rest of the day was pretty relaxing.

Sunday: fun with family

This afternoon we played Hand and Foot with Ben's grandparents. We're claiming that they won all four hands of the first game because they didn't tell us about the changed rules until we started. However, we beat them all four hands the second game, so it came out evenly.




then we went over to Jamie's for pizza. Afterwards we played some Rockband and then Ben, Cheryl, and Jacob put together a knex roller coaster. It turned out pretty cool.

Saturday: Thanksgiving 2

This afternoon we saw some of Pat's kids for a while. It was fun to watch the little kids run around.




Then I took a nap. I thought about using the giant blue gerbil blanket (yes, that's an inside joke) but ended up with a red fleece blanket with a white hole-y crocheted one on top. It looked like snowflakes and the colors reminded me of Christmas.

Then on to Thanksgiving 2. The food was delicious. I ate way too much. and then there was a cherry pie that I couldn't resist. oh, it was delicious. Just the right amount of tart and tangy. It was also fun to see all the family...I think it's been a few years since I've seen a lot of them, so it was fun to catch up.

Friday: Ben's birthday in pictures

We saw our first snow.



We met some friends and their daughter



We went to a Japanese steakhouse for dinner. It was delicious.






Then to a home for presents and cheesecake.

Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Sometimes I find that in the bussle of the holiday and the other things going on in life that it's easy to forget to take some time to reflect on all the blessings that God has given us. But when I take a look at everything, I realize how really blessed I am.

I only took three pictures today, so here they all are, even though they aren't all very good. I also took good movie,but it needs some editing first.

Wednesday: my day

very early in the am, Ben is getting ready for bed and Amanda has been asleep
Amanda: Ben, there are some things that I really need to remember!
Ben walks out of the bathroom
Amanda: oh, maybe it was a dream. Was it? Yeah, I think so.
Amanda goes back to sleep. Fast forward 30 minutes. Ben is still awake
Amanda: Ben, it is really important that I remember this!!
Ben: What do you need to remember?
Amanda: Something something camera and something to say.
Ben: Flurry can say it.
Amanda: Flurry can't really talk. We just pretend that she can.

Amanda goes to work.
Guy Amanda works with: Hey Amanda, do you have a twin?
Amanda: no, why?
GAWW: I was jamming with this guy last night and he looked exactly like you. I couldn't stop staring.
Amanda: haha.

Amanda leaves work. yay

As we're leaving in a rush, not really late but trying to be early because of the busy travel day, we wonder were Flurry is. Usually she tries to get in our way and convince us to stay.

We found her looking cute under the Christmas tree (and not eating the tree), showing us once again how cute she is. I have a picture but can't get it on here.

We try going to the library. It's closed. It's one of the problems living in a small town...the library has weird hours. We continue on our way. Ben's glasses' lens falls out at the stop light. Surprise. We make a quick detour to the optometrist (who is open) and Ben gets his glasses fixed in three minutes.

We make it to the airport, not really know what to expect. The security line was closed. Oh. It opens about 15 minutes later and we get in line. We were about number 10 and 11 in line. Twenty minutes later we're finally going through security. I don't know why it was so slow. there weren't any of the new scanners and no one seemed to be causing any trouble, but they could not move the people through.

Shortly after we hear the boarding announcement: "This is the final and immediate boarding call". It was rather surprising as there wasn't a first and non-immediate boarding call.

the plane made my toes really cold. and then my toes got as cold as they could so my legs started getting cold. well, maybe not as cold as possible but almost.

And now we're waiting for our connection and because there are only so many things to do in the airport you heard an almost complete accounting of my day.