KaLaMaZoO!

Hello! We are alive and well here in snowy Kalamazoo. The girls had Thursday and Friday off as snow days. I am going to try to give a brief story of our trip out here and then since we have been in Kalamazoo and in our house.
I tried to get a picture of each state sign as we passed through...sometimes it worked and sometimes we were too late grabbing the camera as we sped by or it was too dark outside, etc. Also, we had a couple of disposable cameras (btw, who has those anymore? I mean, I went to develop them and it takes ONE WEEK! Are you kidding me?) and Nevada, Utah, and Colorado and Kansas are all on those! So I guess I really only have about 1/2...

Welcome to Missouri, where "Missouri" loves company.

Welcome to Illinois..."The Land of Lincoln" (That Thing You Do)

Welcome to Indiana...here's to Angela Allen & the Soelbergs
(they are the only connection I have to Indiana!)

Welcome to Michigan! You made it! Oh, wait...you can't see the sign? Maybe it is because I was trying to take the picture in the dark through a dirty window and there were no lights shining on the sign!

So this picture will have to count.

Early in the trip we actually took a way other than planned, but at least I got to see the Manti Temple, and that was a first for everyone but Erik.

While waiting to get into the house we are renting, we had some time to kill in Kalamazoo, so we went to the park,



watched movies at the hotel,


ate out WAY too much, drove around looking at the really cool houses in downtown (they are really old and have so much character - I love them. Adah and Madelyn liked counting how many were purple...yes, you heard me, PuRpLe...I only took a picture of ONE purple one, and none of the pics are great because we're driving past, but you can get the idea),





visited a laundro-mat, etc.


Since we have been in the house, we have had LOTS of snow, sledding, unpacking, reassembling furniture, and decorating for Christmas!

even though we are not done unpacking, I couldn't wait any longer to put up Christmas decorations and the tree!

oh, yum, Michigan snow...

this is our front yard - there are only 4 houses on this street, so they are fairly well spaced apart...oh, and yes, those are REAL mailboxes! Like the mailman actually comes to your house and delivers mail in a mailbox! I think this is a first for me since I was a kid!

This is what the girls look like everyday on their way to school. They have to wear the WHOLE outfit or you are not allowed to play outside. There is so much snow! They are bundled everywhere they go! At school, every child has a full size locker for their snow stuff and an extra pair of tennis shoes and clothes for shoes to wear while INSIDE and for if they get wet!

A totally awesome sledding hill in our backyard! We have yet to see a better hill anywhere around! The girls made their own path and then took Rhys on it and now Seth has been too. This is a deck on our main level, then there is an upstairs and a walk-out basement. I love that the woods are right there in our backyard.

CoMiNg SoOn...as requested by a few, I am making a "virtual tour" of our house. I will do one level at a time...but you will have to be understanding of any boxes and mess that are still lingering! :)