Thanksgiving/Niagara Falls

I know I already posted about Thanksgiving, but I just found these pictures and wanted to post them along with the untold story of my previous post about Thanksgiving!!
Like I said before we had an AWESOME time. The kids had so much fun playing together and being able to see each other again as well as being able to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks Lee and Jandi for letting us come and spend the weekend!
We did some sightseeing while we were there. One trip as I mentioned was to Niagara Falls. We took two cars so we could all fit. In one car was Grandma and Grandpa and Bryn and Mason. In Lee and Jandi's van was starting in the third row: Jandi, Ethan and Kyler, middle row: Erick and Lincoln, and I was shotgun with Lee driving. We were following the GPS and it actually took us to the Canada side of Niagara Falls. This wouldn't have been a problem if we had a passport for everyone, or better yet if Lee would have had his Drivers License!
So we were following the GPS and by the time we figured out we were headed into Canada we couldn't turn around. So we waited in the line to get to the booth where you show your passport. We tried to explain we didn't want to go to Canada and we just needed to turn around. However, they wouldn't let us just turn around. After lecturing Lee for about 5 minutes about not having his drivers license, he sent us through and into the immigration office. There we explained again what had happened and they wanted to see everyone's ID. They were very quick and filled out a paper listing all the riders in each vehicle. They told us to give the paper to the US officer as we exited. So we get in the lane to leave Canada and hand in our paper. Then the lecture comes again about why Lee doesn't have his license. However, this time I am driving, so we aren't getting the lecture about driving without an ID, just not having it with us. In the car next to us, the officer was very confused as to why my mom and dad had Bryn and Mason, and where their parents were. It was a little stressful for a few minutes, but makes for a great story :) And we can all feel safe in knowing that they don't just let anyone through!



It was a little chilly as you can tell! There were actually a few snow flakes falling right when we got out of the car.

Gingerbread Train

This year for Christmas we decided to start a tradition of making a ginger bread "something"! We found this idea for a train and thought it was perfect since it had 4 cars. We each picked a car and assembled and decorated it. It was a lot of fun. Kyler wanted to use ALL the M&M's and Bryn loved the starlight mints. It took about two days since the ginger bread needed to be refrigerated overnight and then we cut out all the pieces and baked them the next day and then still had to let them cool. It was a challenge of our patience, but worth the time!

Christmas

WE had a wonderful Christmas this year. Kyler asked for a ladder and a Wolverine Costume and Bryn asked for jewelry and a radio. We were able to go sit on Santa's lap at a store in Frankenmuth. It is about 20 minutes from Saginaw and they have the World's Largest Christmas store that is open almost everyday of the year except Christmas day. We went down with Craig and Ralna and their family. It was a really fun night. Santa was a little on the skinny side, so on the way home Kyler wanted to know why he wasn't a "fat Santa" we decided we should have plenty of cookies and milk for santa because he needed to plump up a little bit.
The kids were so excited on Christmas Eve, we went over to the Wade's house and had a great time. we spent most of the evening with them and then headed home to our traditional movie on Christmas Eve. Kyler got his ladder and Wolverine Costume, and Bryn got an idog to go with her ipod which was the perfect radio for her. She also got some Jewelry and a desk with scrapbook supplies. They were both so excited and had such a great day.

'Let's Climb That Mountain and Sleigh'

According to the big man in our house, Kyler, we have a HUGE mountain in our backyard. It's not one of those with base camp, but it is large (at least 4 feet high). Currently, there is about 3 inches of snow/ ice on it which makes it a perfect place to play. Bryn and Kyler both love it outside, even in a blizzard, just like their Dad, but on this day, it was only Kyler that made the trek to the summit of our mountain.

ARE YOUR FINGERS PRUNY YET?

Bryn's second swim meet was a lot of fun. She did the 25 and 50 meter freestyle again and the 25 meter backstroke. She is definitely not as competitive as her dad, but her form is great! She is still the youngest swimmer on her team, and loves it. She has worked really hard on her start, again form is incredible. We are so proud of her.

Our BIG announcement and a quick update

We are very excited to announce that baby number 3 is on the way!!!

The due date is June 11th, and as of now we are not planning to find out the sex, however, we'll see what happens when we have the ultrasound ;)
I am 14 weeks along and have been pretty sick again.
This time around I have not been able to drink anything with carbonation, or eat anything with beef. I haven't really craved anything, at least not yet, I am still just trying to eat anything that doesn't make me run to the bathroom.
The kids have been great, Kyler prays every night that I will feel better soon, and Bryn is always asking me if she can help me so I can go rest.

By way of an update:
Erick has now finished 5th semester and is preparing for the first set of National Board Exams. We are just planning to stay here in Michigan while he prepares for the exam and while we wait for the results. At this point it doesn't look like we will be able to stay here in Michigan as we had originally hoped. The program here only begins every September, and we can't wait for September before we get started on the next phase.
So, after Erick gets the results from his Step Exam, we will find out where we will be living for the next two years during which time Erick will complete the third and fourth year of medical school which consists of rotations in family medicine, pediatrics, psychology, surgery, internal medicine, OB-GYN, and then any electives that he is interested in exploring. This is the point where students try to narrow down the different areas of medicine and try to figure out what they want to go into.
The kids are doing great, Bryn had her second swim meet on Saturday ( stay tuned for video of that soon!) Kyler is signed up for basketball and is VERY excited for that to start. Bryn has started an accelerated reading program at school, she gets a book at the beginning of the week and she reads it every night until Thursday and then she takes a test on it. Last week was her first week doing it, and she got 100% on the test. She was so excited when she got home from school to show us.
We have had the swine flu as well as the regular flu at our house, so we are hoping to avoid any other bugs this season.
We also had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We drove over the Pennsylvania to Lee and Jandi's house. My parents were able to come out and we had a great time. Thanksgiving was great, and then we drove to Niagara Falls and did some sightseeing in Erie. The kids had so much fun playing with cousins and getting to see Grandma and Grandpa again. My parent took ALL the kids to have a sleep over one of the nights and Lee, Jandi, Erick and I played Guitar Hero most of the night. It was so fun to have a night like that, thanks mom and dad!
Things have been busy, and now we are just getting ready for Christmas!

SAGINAW STEELERS WIN The TITLE

Is there anything more exciting than watching your favorite college player streak down the sideline for a touchdown at "The Big House", "The Swamp", or "The Horse Shoe"? Yes, watching your 3 year-old do it at the YMCA little league field! Kyler played his first season of football this year with the 3-5 year-old STEELERS, and quickly became a fan favorite. The local media was a frenzy with Kyler player cards, team photos, and heroic tales of last-second comebacks. Somehow during all of the excitement we neglected to video all of his accomplishments. We did get a few pictures, but that is all. The season is now over and the STEELERS finished with a perfect record 6-0 (all other teams had the same record as well. Guess that is why the parents keep score).

THE RUNDOWN: They played for 6 weeks with practices and games on Saturday mornings. Kyler played defensive end (like BIG uncle Trent), and tailback 2 plays per game. Each player on the team had an opportunity to be tailback, the rest of the time they were on the line as a blocker.
THE RULES: Coach Booker did a fantastic job teaching Kyler what he needed to do at the various positions.
Rule #1: If you have the ball run faster than everyone else.
Rule #2: If you have the ball, run faster than everyone else in the right direction.
Rule #3: If you don't have the ball, pull the guys flag that does.
Rule #4: If you don't have the ball, and someone else on your team does, DON'T pull their flag.

THE SCORE: Kyler scored a touchdown in 4 of 6 games, and became very proficient at pulling the opponents flag. When he wasn't running the ball himself, he did a great job sealing the end, so his teammates could make touchdowns too. Way to go ......Ky-BEAR. (Yellow shirt, Black du-rag, gray pants)