Thursday, August 7, 2008

And the Winner is. . .

After a long wait, sorry commenters for making you wait, the winner (as randomly chose by Muskie Man) is dani, the last commenter for the contest!

I'll contact you via email. Thanks to all who participated in my bloggy giveaway!

Monday, July 28, 2008

Bloggy Giveaway Time!

It's that time again, the quarterly bloggy giveaways carnival is underway. Be sure to visit bloggy giveaways for lots of other cool giveaways.

Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival Button



Since it's summer and we are all outside (or should be!) it's time to apply good sunscreen. I'm giving away an Arbonne Save Face and Body SPF 15 bottle of sunscreen (a $26 value) to one lucky reader. This sunscreen is AWESOME! Muskie Man even likes to use it because it doesn't have a strong "sunscreen" odor and it is not greasy. He can use it when out fishing and can still tie his knots or whatever it is one does to the lures when out fishing.

This giveaway is open to US residents only, and you don't have to be a blogger to participate. Just leave a comment and you could win! The giveaway will be open until Friday evening, July 31. Thanks for playing!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Up North

We took another vacation the week after the 4th. We visited Up North with Muskie Man's family. We go to the same resort for the same week with the same people every summer. It's fun and we've gotten to know the other guests at the resort. We had beautiful weather and once again enjoyed time with family.

Some highlights of the trip were first spending the 4th with my brother and family who also live Up North. We visited them for a couple nights before heading to the resort. We did the whole 4th of July thing: parade; picnic in the park; and then fireworks. Minnow had fun with her cousins, but was very tired by the end of the evening.

Could it be she was tired because the night before she decided to have a middle-of-the-night party? She woke up at 12:30 a.m. and would not go back to sleep! She wasn't crabby, she just wanted to hang out, Muskie Man and I did NOT want to join the party. Muskie Man finally got her to sleep at 4:30 a.m., we all were a bit tired the next day.

She actually fell asleep on my brother's lap during the fireworks! She did have fun hanging out with her cousins during the day:
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We then headed to the resort for a week of fun in the sun. We had great weather and enjoyed celebrating Grandma and Grandpa Muskie's 40th wedding anniversary--Congratulations!

Muskie Man and I also celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary while on vacation. We went out for breakfast, and spent some time fishing on our boat while Minnow napped in the afternoon. It was a nice day.

The rest of the week was spent being lazy by the water. Minnow loves the lake, she stood in the water, picked up stones and threw them--for hours! She would pick one up, "kiss it good-bye," and throw it into the water:
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We also had fun with a bucket--she wanted me to dump it while she tried to get a drink:
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One of the guests at the resort was a girl who is just finishing cosmetology school and wanted to do Minnow's hair. After an hour-and-a-half of wrestling and a little screeching, the end result was 9 cute little cornrows. I love her hair like this and need to learn how to do this. She looks beautiful!
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The week came to an end and it was time to say good-bye to our fun vacation--until next year:
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Thursday, July 10, 2008

Vacation

I took a little blog vacation and we took a real vacation. We spent a week near Petoskey, MI with my family. Our family, my parents, my sister's family and my brother's family all piled into a condo at a resort and spent a week. It was a nice time, the weather was great, the kids loved the pool and we relaxed.
Our vacation started out a little rough. We stayed one night at Grandma and Grandpa Muskie's as it was on the way. Minnow decided to start her day a little early, at 3:45 a.m.! She would not go back to sleep until we had her in a high chair watching E*lmo right before we went to church and she decided to nod off:
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There was time to sleep on the way to the resort that day. Here is the rest of the week in pictures.
A view of the resort from the ski chair lift:
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At a park in Petoskey with Lake Michigan in the background:
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My Mom, Dad, sister and I went to Mackinac Island for a day:
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My sister and I rented a bicycle built for two and biked around the island:
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My parents opted for the retro bikes:
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We spent a day with my sister and family at a beach near Charlevoix. Minnow had fun looking for rocks and playing with her cousins:
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The pool was the place to be. Minnow jumped from the side to Muskie Man and had a great time. It totally wore her out so she took good naps.
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Our happy little family on vacation:
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Wednesday, June 18, 2008

One Great Daddy

Happy Father's Day to Muskie Man (a few days late). We had a nice day as his family came over for a cookout and an afternoon of sitting outside and playing a few yard games.

Muskie Man is a great daddy and Minnow absolutely adores him. These pictures illustrate the wonderful dad he is and the fun they have together:
Meeting Minnow on her birth day:
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In the mountains on finalization weekend:
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First boat ride:
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Playing Peek-a-boo:
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Ready for a game:
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Father's Day weekend:
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You're a great dad, Muskie Man, thanks for all you do for our family.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Two Years Ago Today

Two years ago today we met the most amazing woman--we met Minnow's firstmom. Muskie Man and I took a trip to Colorado to meet the woman who was 7 months pregnant with a baby that could potentially be our daughter! It was an exciting, emotional, scary adventure, and that was just our side of it. I can't imagine the feelings and emotions that N was experiencing.

We met at a restaurant and a social worker was with N to kind of lead the conversation. Things went very well. We talked and laughed and even cried a little. N told us that she was talking to the baby that morning and told the baby that she would be hearing her mommy and daddy's voices that day. What do you say to that?! Amazing!

We didn't know what to expect at the meeting. What do you say? "Hi, nice to meet you, can we have your baby, please?" We were so grateful the social worker was there to ease our anxiety and lead the conversation.

N wanted to spend more time with us. We spent the whole next day with her. We went on a picnic and drove to see Pike's Peak. It was an unforgettable day. At one point the baby was kicking and N grabbed Muskie Man's hand and put it on her belly. He said, "Wow, that's cool!" That is a great memory.

The trip was wonderful, we met the most amazing, special person, the first mother of our daughter to whom we are forever grateful.

We took this picture the day before we met N. Muskie Man and I ventured to the Rockies for the afternoon. To me, it is the most beautiful picture and it symbolizes the beautiful person we would meet the next day.
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Monday, June 9, 2008

I'm Glad We Weren't Camping

"I'm glad we aren't camping this weekend." Those were the words from Muskie Man as we looked outside at the rain that was coming down in buckets and listening to the thunder. I had to agree with him. We got over 4 inches of rain in two days this past weekend. Thankfully, it all stayed outside and none made it into our basement. Muskie Man spent a while bailing out one of our basement window wells, just as water was about to start seeping into the basement. It was raining so hard the water had no where else to go.

We have spent many wet weekends camping in our marriage. We haven't ventured into the woods to camp with Minnow. . .yet. We've also had some great conversations while stuck in the truck in a campsite while it stormed around us. One of the recent times was the summer before Minnow was born. It was a stormy evening so we drove to town, got some beer and sat in the truck and talked. We talked alot about adopting and becoming parents. It was a fun night, even if we were a little wet.