Monday, November 28, 2016

Thanksgiving 2016

Thanksgiving came.  Thanksgiving went.  I'm still full.  We stayed home this year and had Autumn's family join us for turkey and all the fixin's.  It was a long day of cooking, cooking, and cooking some more.  I was in the kitchen for most of the day and our guests were entertained by Matt and his pinball machines.  It was a good day...full of good food, family, friends, laughter, games, and a Lions win!






ESPN College Game Day

ESPN came to town last weekend...and we were there to share in the excitement!  Keaton and Autumn were the biggest (and coldest) fans.  They braved the chilly temps and snow to stand in the fan area from 8:00 a.m. until noon on game day. They were rewarded by being shown on TV a lot...and Keaton (and his man bun) made the Kalamazoo Gazette sports page!



Autumn is the cute girl jumping.
Keaton is a standout with his man bun.

Matt didn't want to miss out on any of the fun with his alma mater so he and his friend headed down to join the crowd of WMU Broncos fans...make that UNDEFEATED WMU Broncos!  Surprisingly, they easily found Keaton and Autumn in the crowd and hung out with hundreds of other fans yelling and cheering until the crew from College Game Day headed back to their bus.


                                                   

Matt came back home to warm up and we grabbed some food and headed down to Kalamazoo to do some tailgating with Keaton and Autumn before the big game last Saturday.  There's nothing better than hot chocolate (and Buttershots) on a cold, snowy day!!







Thursday, November 10, 2016

More Signs

Hahahaha...I love the signs my friend just sent me for my collection.  She has the same twisted sense of humor as I do...that must be why we've been such good friends since the 6th grade!



Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Sad

I am saddened by the entire political arena this past year.  It was ugly.  It was horrible.  It was mean. It was hard to watch. What saddens me the most is that our children saw and heard so many terrible things about candidates.  That shouldn't be the way campaigns are run.  I am fortunate to live in a country that is founded on freedom...freedom of press, freedom of speech.  It's a wonderful privilege that we can say what we think and not be persecuted for our beliefs.  But, wouldn't it be even more wonderful if we all could be nice in how we express our beliefs?  Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all express our opinions without so much venom?  Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could all respect one another's opinions, even if we disagree with them?  Wouldn't it be wonderful if candidates would just point out their strengths and have a clear and concise message as to why he/she should be elected to office? Wouldn't it be wonderful if candidates showed class and refrained from immature comments, mudslinging, and negative ads? Wouldn't it be wonderful to teach our children about the democratic process without so much hatred?

Friday, November 4, 2016

Fall Camping

Last weekend, we took the motor home out for our last camping weekend of the year with our friends.  It was gorgeous! We rode bikes, walked, took lots of pretty fall pictures of the beautiful leaves, kayaked, enjoyed awesome food, carved pumpkins, and roasted pumpkin seeds over the campfire (chipotle garlic, ranch, and white cheddar). YUM!  We're happy that Keaton was able to join us for some fun! He forgot to take pumpkin seeds, though...we're still eating them.  ;-)








Of course this is mine.
I do LOVE shoes!


Happy Birthday!

We celebrated Keaton's 25th birthday with dinner and drinks at a tapas...not topless...restaurant last Thursday.  25!  WOW! The food was fabulous and the margaritas were magnificent. I like alcohol that doesn't taste like alcohol.


After dinner, we walked over to another restaurant for some dessert.  Matt, Keaton, and I toasted the big day with a shot of Superman...banana liqueur, blue Curacao, and Baileys. It tasted just like a chocolate-covered banana. YUM!!  We're so proud of the incredible man he has become.  We're thankful he's happy, kind, caring, compassionate, smart, and responsible...and that he has an equally happy, kind, caring, compassionate, smart, and responsible girlfriend to drive them home. He makes us so proud every second of every day!



Wednesday, November 2, 2016