The Top of the World

We visited our friends Ben and Miranda up in the U.P. this weekend. Ben goes to school in Houghton at Michigan tech. (Yaha for engineering!) It was quite the drive. I took Friday and Monday off so we didn’t spend the whole weekend driving. Saturday we all drove even further north to the tip of Michigan and took the Brockway mountain drive. Michelle got a little car sick but we did get to see some cool sites. We also got to see the big snow thermometer and a little road side waterfall. We just stop when and where ever we felt like it and took in the beauty of nature. The weather wasn’t the greatest. It was cloudy and over casted most of the time and it rained a good chunk of the time Sunday, which just gave us time to play a little Mario kart on the wii!

But all the site seeing and adventuring was second to visiting with Ben and Miranda. We got to see their new apartment in the great white north land and see the new credit union where Miranda works. There was a lot of talking and joking, and of course game playing. A good time was had by all. We drove home Monday in the first snow of the season. There was almost a inch of snow by the time we hit Marquette, but faded as we drove east. We had a lot of fun just taking our time driving across Michigan. It is amazing the many different landscapes this state has. We ate at Clyde's on the way home and it was amazing! (I know you're all jealous.) After all our travels, we were happy to finally get home and relax with Harvey.

Don't spit into the wind it can be dangerouos

The Top Of the World

"I Can Flyyyyyy!!!!!"

The one time the sun came out

"I'm Cold!"

Welcome Abigail Kay Steele

Craig and Stacie have finally met their beautiful daughter Abigail Kay! She was born on October 20th at 7 lbs. and 20 inches long. She has her mother's chin (the Reese Witherspoon chin) and nose, and from what I can tell her father's eyes. However, it is difficult to tell when the baby's only a couple of days old. Stacie and baby arrived home Wednesday and are doing just fine. I can't wait to meet this little miracle! I'm sure I will be posting more pictures once we get some. As for now this is the only one I have that isn't copyrighted.

Pumpkin Time

We kept with our tradition of carving a pumpkin this year. We have a system worked out between us. Michelle traces the face onto the pumpkin and I do the actual carving. Michelle says I have to do the carving because I have huge muscles and can control the knife better. Ok, maybe I added the part about the huge muscles but I do, do the carving. It's a fun little activity we started doing before we were married. Harvey didn't like the pumpkin at first. We set the pumpkin on the balcony with a candle inside and he started barking at the strange glowing face. Harvey rarely barks at anything and he soon got over his dislike.

Kings and Queens

This weekend we carried out the second annual trip to the Renaissance Festival. The first thing you realize when going to the festival is, well I guess I'm not that bad. Where do these people come from. They come in all shapes and sizes with some wacky outfits. Speaking of sizes, some women attending should have reconsidered the two piece outfit! But, in all it was a fun time. We went with the cousins and took in the sites. I had a gigantic turkey leg. Michelle did not. We watched a couple little side shows but mostly we just took in the sites. Afterwords we all came back to our house and broke out the wii. There was some serous tennis and boxing going on here. Fun times! (sorry forgot the camera again)

Fun Filled Night

Last night I had to go for a second sleep study down at U of M. It was a follow up visit to the first "base line" study I had two weeks ago. For those of you who have not had the wonderful experience of having a sleep study, let me tell you, you are missing out. (That was a blatant lie) There's nothing like having 25-30 wires taped all over your body, mostly on your head, then having a compressor strapped to your nose that tries to turn you into a balloon. Oh yeah, you guys missed a party last night.

OK, so it wasn't the worse thing in the world. I don't mean to sound so negative. Michelle was concerned about what some might call my "extreme" snoring. She said she was worried about my health, but I think she just wanted to get some sleep. So the loving husband that I am, I put it off for six months, but finally made an appointment. So you probably didn't really care to know all of that but hey the more you know the more you can love. At least I think that's how it works.

Canada Trip

Last weekend was the annual Canada trip with my dad and brothers. We went for five days of fishing from canoes and exploring the great white north land. We didn't catch as many fish as last year but it was still tons of fun. We did a little more exploring than usual.

After hiking up a stream to find a new lake, we came across a small waterfall. It was obivous that no one had been there in years. We had to cut our way in with machetes. It was one of the highlights of the trip. Part of the excitement is we have to portage a lot to get back to the fishing. It was also really nice to spend time with my Dad and brothers. We all had lot of fun. It was Sam's second year going up with the guys and once again shared a canoe with Dad. Which left Danny and I to share a canoe. Dad and Sam did fine. They had the bigger canoe. Now Danny and I are not small people so when we get into a small canoe it seems to sit lower in the water. This year was the first year that the tippie canoe got the better of us or I guess you might say it got the better of me. To avoid flipping the canoe completely I jumped out of the canoe thus saving the canoe from flipping. What I failed to think of was that the motor was running wide open. Thus I sent Danny on a wild ghost ride. Thankfully the canoe ran up on some rocks and I was able to swim/flop over to the boat. I quickly turned the motor off and stood waist deep in water thinking of how funny I must have looked swimming with my cowboy hat on. So it was another first for the canada trip. All in all no one got hurt too badly and we all had fun.

I was still glad to come home to my lovely wife and dog. Michelle and Harv spent the week with her family while I was gone. I really missed them. I always love going on vacation but it's fun to come home too! I am blessed to have a place I can miss and look forward to coming home to.

Wedding Weekend

This weekend our good friends Ben and Miranda were married. It was actually the first wedding we’ve been to since our own last year. Michelle was one of the bridesmaids in the wedding. It was an excellent wedding ceremony. It was very evident that Ben and Miranda not only love eachother but God as well and they wanted to bring Him glory with their wedding. As I sat through the ceremony, it reminded me that our marriages should be an example to others of how a good marriage functions. Our marriages should look different that the non-christian marriages. We are to bring glory to God through our marriage by investing in it. Even after only one year of wedded bliss, it is easy to put marriage on cruise control and not strive for higher ground. This weekend was just a good reminder of the duties of husbands and wives and the goal we have together to glorify God. Way to Go Ben and Miranda!