Merry Christmas, everyone

May this post find everyone safe and jolly this Christmas season. Michigan has been dumped on by "Father Snow" (if there is not such a person, there should be) and our house is surrounded by snow piles and lots of tracks in the snow.

Our Family wishes you and yours the merriest of Christmas' and the brightest of New Years celebrations.

Our family will be soaking up some much longed for sun between the holidays so we will post from sunny Ft. Lauderdale for all you snow bunnies...

XOXOXOXO

Taryn's favorite song

Taryn, better known as "Sissy" around here, has a favorite song. Watch the attached video. Gosh it is so cute to watch her dance!

Little Ones

Here are our "little ones" posing for Mom for Christmas pictures. Let me remind those of you who have older children, that posing two children 3 and 2 years old, is completely impossible, and yet I have accomplished it! Taryn is in a sweet little dress given to her by her Great Aunt JoAnn (McGuirk) Nehrt, and Ty is in the only red and green clothing I could get him to wear today. :-)

The "big boys" have yet to be officially photographed for Christmas, but hopefully soon.

We hope your Christmas preparations are coming along nicely; ours are done! Yes, the house is decorated, the presents are purchased and wrapping will of course happen after the house is quiet at night.

Our Christmas cards are ordered and should be addressed and out to everyone by the end of the week. The big boys are out of school on Friday so I have to hurry and get my errands done before Friday when the four of them will take over the house!

We have much to be happy about

We have already had one day off from school for FOG this year, but yesterday (Tuesday) was the first day off for SNOW. And what a load of snow we got! The big boys woke up elated at the sight and the little ones were happy to don their snowpants and boots and head outside (even in their PJ's!) We spent a great day at home with Hot Chocolate, snacky foods, and no showers! We shoveled the sidewalk, but you could not tell after a few hours... we played the Wii, made home-made forts/tents with lots and lots of blankets and enjoyed each other. Of course buy the end of the night, we had all had enough of each other... so here's hoping the plows are working all night so we have school tomorrow!

I hope you enjoy the changes I made to our blog tonight. I am spending lots of time reading others blogs and trying to swipe new ideas for mine.

Christmas cards are not done yet. Pictures are almost done for the card/letter, however, we have just a few more to take, so they will be in your mailbox soon... keeping watching!

December 26th our family will be flying south again this year. We will hopefully be soaking up some much missed sun in Ft. Lauderdale for the week. We will stay close to the television to watch our Chippewas play the bowl game again, but we will not be changing our flight to stay home to watch them. The Chippewas will have to play this year without us... I know... they can do it; we are sure of it!

Christmas preparations are done at our house! Yes, can you stand it? I have presents to wrap, but that will be done at an unknown location and the presents will arrive under the tree just in time for Santa's arrival this year... with TWO little ones curious about presents this year, we have decided to keep presents under wraps until Christmas Eve. Mom and Dad are excited for Christmas this year... it is a "less is more" kind of celebration this year... the kids are getting things they want rather than a gift to open to make things even... if you know what I mean. The holiday decorations are that way also, not as much and getting rid of the things we don't use/don't display feels really good too. The amount of donations coming out the back door of our house is amazing at this time of year. We boxed up 10 good sized boxes of kids clothing and gave them to a family member to ship to the Phillipines for extended family/friends over there. We are also helping with donations for a family in need and that feels great too. The giving spirit of Christmas is in full swing around our house this year... We are so full of happiness that Taryn is home and that our journey to get her is complete and that stage of our lives is past.

We wish everyone reading this blog a safe week this week in all you do, where ever you are.

We are FAMILY

Make a Smilebox greeting

PICTURED: L TO R
Grant Glossinger, Tom McGuirk, Trevor McGuirk (hard to see), Gracie Glossinger, Paige McGuirk, Ginger Dean, Alexis McGuirk, Taryn McGuirk, and Nick Dean.

Missing are Tyler McGuirk and Mallory Traicoff.

All kids were together Thanksgiving weekend for Great Grandpa Kunkel's funeral.
~November 2008

Grandpa Kunkel's Funeral

We joined the Glossinger/Kunkel side of the family this weekend in South Chicago to celebrate the life of Grandpa Clem. While being sad as to why we were all together, we did have fun seeing all the kids and we all stayed together at the same hotel. We had a nice time catching up with everyone and kissing and hugging all the cousins. The list of kids under the age of 11 goes like this: Sandy and Pat's kids: Nicholas and Ginger; Chuck's kids: Paige and Alexis; Rick's kids: Thomas, Trevor, Tyler and Taryn (meeting some of her cousins for the 1st time); Beau's kids: Gracie and Grant; and Julie T's child: Mallory. Taryn enjoyed meeting her new cousins and as usual, accepted them and was happy to play with them. The children will all dressed beautifully on Saturday out of respect for Grandpa Kunkel, and for Grandma (age 93) some of the kids she saw for the first time! The funeral service was traditional and would make any devout Catholic proud. The service was in the most beautiful Polish Catholic Parish I have ever laid eyes on. Absolutely amazing architecture and artwork and paintings. I was preoccupied just looking around the Church and keeping Taryn quiet. Rick was a paul-bearer, along with Chuck and his brother-in-law, Pat, and his male cousins. All the kids were very well behaved during the service and so that made it easier to pay tribute to Grandpa Clarence (Clem) and remember his loud jovial laugh and big smile. Grandpa Clem, of couse, will be missed. We are comforted by knowing that he is much more comfortable now than he has been for a long time here on Earth; which we are all thankful.

The picture above was taken just before we went to Grandpa's funeral service.

So, we made it home before the snow storm hit Sunday; which was crazy! Mt. Pleasant got dumped on with 5" or so of snow and it gave the big kids a 2 hour delay from school on Monday morning!
So, I finally was able to check out a website that I have been wanted to see for some time... www.smilebox.com. Such a cool site! You can create FREE photo slideshows and post them on you blog; so watch for that coming soon!

Stay safe in the snow and enjoy! Christmas cards coming soon! Not my most creative, but still cute! I will see if I can post an e-version on the blog, if not, hopefully you will be on my mailing list!

Is your home decorated for Christmas yet? We are decorating in stages. The tree(s), yes, 2, are up and partially decorated. I am hoping to finish this week, the house items and get going on the outside lights. We have someone coming to help us put the lights up outside this year, so looking forward to "outshining" our neighbors! :-)

McGuirk Sand will be in the Dicken's Christmas Lighted Parade, this coming Saturday night. We will have two pieces of equipment lit up with Christmas decorations and kids riding along, too. Should be fun if we can all keep warm!

Happy Turkey Day, bloggers

Today we wake up to bits of snow on the ground, dry roads for traveling, and gray skies (as usual in Michigan). We are thankful for many things in our life this year. We are all healthy (all 6 of us!) we are thankful for Taryn being home with us, we celebrate our families today and the stability of our life right now in times of economic turnmoil, and we celebrate knowing all of you! Yes, we are thankful for you! Your friendship and love is the best Thanksgiving gift of all.

The holiday today will start with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on tv, then quickly get around all 6 of us to load up in the car with Grandma Sue and travel to Muskegon to visit and enjoy Turkey with the McCormick side of the family this year. This is Julie's mom's side of the family. We look forward to seeing family we don't see often, playing with doggies at their house and gorging on delicious turkey while watching football. We hope to catch a small cat nap before coming back home tonight.

Friday will not be a shopping day in our family, as we have to head the car to the Chicago area for a family funeral. Rick's Grandpa Clem (mom's side) passed away on Tuesday, and the funeral is Saturday morning. We will be joined by more family on this occasion that we don't see often enough either, so that will be wonderful and sad at the same time. Clem was 62 years old and suffering from a few ailments for a while now, so we were prepared, but you are never really as prepared as you think you are. It still hurts when a loved one passes on to be with God and is no longer part of our world. Clem is survived by Rick's Grandma Helen and she is the toughest lady around! She has lived a long wonderful life with two husbands and so where she will go from here is unknown yet, but she will have to make some life altering decisions now and so that will be hard for her to accept also. She cannot live alone and so where she will go is not known yet. Please pray for her strength and guidance for her as she makes this decision.

You might be wondering how Taryn is doing. She is doing very well. If you ask me, no one would be the wiser that she has not been in our family for her whole life. She is funny, quite intelligent, and SASSY too! She has been home for 6 weeks today. We are all adjusting well and getting used to her language and she to ours.

Happy Turkey Day to all of you!

It has been awhile

Hi everyone, it has been a while since our last post. I apologize. The past two weeks have been crowded with household tasks... yes, nothing really exciting has taken me away from my blog... just busy being a mom!

The big kids (that's the new term in our house... big kids and little ones...) had a short week at school last week due to parent teacher conferences so we packed up on Thursday and headed North to Boyne Mountain. We joined Chuck, Jennifer and the girls in a room and 3 other families at the resort with Avalanche Bay Water Park. The kids had a great time for TWO days in the water park and arcade. We had fun visiting with the adults and a nice time away from the household duties at home. Taryn and Tyler LOVEd the water slides. Taryn showed no fear of the water, the noise and the multitude of people. She slept well all weekend, however, had a day of melt down on Sunday on our way home and at home all evening. Not sure where that came from; first time she has acted like that, maybe just one day too long... unsure, anyway, we did not get any quality pictures of her in the water; she moves to fast and our camera is too slow!

Mom got to see MADONNA, yes, MADONNA, in concert last night in Detroit at Ford Field. The show was amazing and she was worth the drive down, the wait outside in the cold and the long tiring drive home. Julie bought 10 tickets in August when they went on sale and we had two cars to drive down and enjoy the energy of this amazing music icon. Rick was gracious enough to stay home with the kids so Julie could take our wonderful babysitter, Whitney, to the concert. Dad said the night was nice; Tyler was able to enjoy and evening/night with his Grandma and Trevor went to school with Dad for a special family Reading Night event. Everyone was spread out, it felt like, but we were all safe and happy.

Tonight, Wednesday, November 19th, CMU plays Ball State in a very important MAC football game. The game will be televised on ESPN2, so if you can, watch it. I hope the cold weather will not keep the die-hard loyal fans away, so we can show our football team how much we support them. Go Chips!

So, the turkey holiday is almost here. Which means that Christmas trees and decorations are right around the corner. We are looking forward to showing Taryn our holiday traditions and maybe starting a new one with a Russian influence.

The big kids are taking a break from extra-curricular activities, for the next few months. The holidays prove to be such a busy time and our house feels very full of energy EVERY DAY, so the break from practices and games is much longed for. Both Tom and Trevor are making their sacraments this season at church, so Wednesday nights is religious education night.

Until the next post...

Taryn turns 2

Sunday, Taryn turned two. This day was pretty normal. We had family over to relax and enjoy the day, a turkey dinner, and cupcakes & ice cream. Taryn received some small presents... didn't really know what to do with them and once they were open, did not seem to show much interest in the gifts. She was not sure what to make of the crowd circled around her singing "Happy Birthday to You" and would not eat ice cream or cupcake. She however, loved the turkey and mashed potatoes (her favorites are plain potatoes and plain meat). So we had lots of pictures in her pretty birthday outfit and enjoyed a quiet day at home. Pretty low key compared to the birthday parties we usually have; and yet I believe, that when she figures out just how great birthday parties are... we will be making up for this one :-).

Taryn with cousin Paige and Taryn with Great Grandpa "LoLo" Jim; and mom too!

HALLOWEEN 2008

Halloween: Our favorite candy holiday. We begin thinking about right about the time the stores start displaying Halloween items (right about the time you all think about it too). We always seem to procrastinate on this Holiday. I don't know if we think that the costumes will suddenly arrive and be exactly what the child wished for; or that the house will decorate itself; or that the pumpkins will carve themselves too? Seriously! Of course, this Halloween has been a little bit more crazy that others, but not by much. I, as Mom, and coordinator of this Holiday, seem to skin by on this Holiday just by the hair on my chin; but somehow I always manage to pull it off and this year was no exception. The errands that needed to be run on Wednesday this week, before Halloween, really tell the tale: I put my truck into DRIVE... let's read this together... 19 times. That's right. 19 times. Any I put some of my children through this errand nightmare! OMG! I need a personal secretary for my home life, forget the office, my household is out of control! :-)

Like I said, I pulled it off. It is Saturday night as I am posting this and after an awesome Friday Halloween, I can say it will be one to be remembered.

Here are a few pics: One is the kids with their cousins, Paige and Alexis (Lexi).

Taryn did not dress up this year, Lexi was a princess (of course), Tom was a football player, Trevor was a Werewolf, Paige was a Police Officer and Tyler was Bob the Builder.

Bella was a fire fighter, obvious, I know.

The other pic is Rick, Julie and our friend Jeremy, dressed up for our 1st ever Costume Party.

Rick and I and our friends Jeremy, Jon, Janelle, Jim and Karen all hosted over 100 people at a local Brewery owned by Jim and Karen. We required all party guests to dress in costume. We had the most amazing, fabulous, outragous party ever! We laughed so much and we commended all our guests as to how well they participated in the dress up part. There were so many amazing costumes, way to many to award prizes... no way could anyone judge. Everyone, we think, had just a great time and we hope to make it a yearly tradition.

Anyway, here we are dressed up. Rick is a pirate, Julie is a mermaid (awesome hair!), and Jeremy is a flash back to the 70's retro era, Barry Gibb style.

I wish I could post a few of the pics from the party, unfortunately I delegated the picture taking part to others last night so I could enjoy the drinks and the dancing!

Anniversary

Yes, I know... it has been several days since a post. The week leading up to Halloween is just as crazy as the week before Christmas at our house... so many things to do to prepare for our favorite candy holiday.

Anyway, Tuesday, October 28th, Rick and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary. We have been unseperable for 15 years actually, but married for 13. We arranged for a sitter for the kids for just two hours; we slipped out of the house practically unnoticed and drove a short 20 minutes away from town to dine at a new restaurant and share some much sacred adult conversation.

Over dinner we found ourselves talking about... you guessed it... the kids! Of course! Work, kids, and our ever favorite topic of discussion... planning the next family vacation! Our food was not "over the top" but the company was much treasured and made up for any short comings on the plate in front of us. We each enjoyed a glass of wine or two and then commented that we might as well go straight home because the night was full of household chores that the "fairy godmother" did not get done during the day! :-)

Our children were delighted to see our faces when we arrived back home from dinner and Taryn was very well behaved with her babysitter for the first time. Gee, it went so well, we may have to do this again, I'm thinking to myself!

That night, as I lay in bed, the house quiet and dark, I tried to think of all the things Rick and I have been through during the past 15 years: somewhat amazed at the length of the list and yet dreaming of what else we will accomplish during our life together in the future. We met each other the summer we turned 21; 1992. We dated, married and built our first house together in 1995, started working together in the family business in 1997; lost Rick's mom to cancer in 1998, had our first child in 1998; built another new house in 2000; had another child in 2001; built another new house in 2002; lost Rick's father also in 2002; had another child in 2005; and adopted a fourth child in 2008. Amongst those dates are so many good happy times, way to many to scrapbook, to post online, or even to get in photo albums.

It was funny, though, to think about technology when I went to watch our wedding videos the other day... our videos are on VHS tape and we no longer have a VHS player in our house! LOL! For real! Only DVD players, TIVO, ipods, computers, flat screen tvs, etc... So, hopefully before our 20th anniversary, I will be able to get those wedding VHS videos converted to DVD or Blue Ray, or whatever the new wave of technology will be.

The trip to Russia for 6 days to pick up Taryn was the longest I have ever been away from Rick. It was an exciting time and yet I missed him so terribly much. During a typical day, we talk on the phone several times; even if it is just one of the kids calling "DADA" on the phone to say HI and interrupting him from a meeting. He is my very best friend and even though it is cliche to say > the most wonderful husband I could ever imagine<.

Ah, yes. The comfort of routine. The smell of my best friend, the gentle kiss as we rush about our busy days... that's what 15 years of being with the most wonderful man is to me. Here's me trying not to take a single day for granted and appreciating each day... as trivial as they may be sometimes.

Adoption: A different perspective

Imagine for a moment...
You have met the person you've dreamed about all your life. He has every quality that you desire in a spouse. You plan for the wedding, enjoying every free moment with your fiancee. You love his touch, his smell, the way he looks into your eyes. For he first time in your life, you understand what is meant by "soul mate," for this person understands you in a way that no one else does. Your heart beats in rhythm with his. Your emotions are intimately tied to his every joy, his every sorrow.
The wedding comes. It is a happy celebration, but the best part is that you are finally the wife of this wonderful man. You fall asleep that night, exhausted from the day's events, but relaxed and joyful in the knowledge that you are next to the person who loves you more than anyone in the world... the person who will be with you for the rest of your life.
The next morning you wake up, nestled in your partner's arms. You open your eyes and immediately look for his face. But IT'S NOT HIM! You are in the arms of another man. You recoil in horror. Who is this man? Where is your beloved?
You ask questions of the new man, but it quickly becomes apparent that he doesn't understand you. You search every room in the house, calling and calling for your husband. They new guy follows you around, trying to hug you, pat you on the back... even trying to stroke your arm, acting like everything is okay. But you know that nothing is okay. Your beloved is gone. Where is he? Will he return? When? What has happened to him?
Weeks pass. You cry and cry over the loss of your beloved. Sometimes you ache silently, in shock over what has happened. The new guy tries to comfort you. You appreciate his attempts, but he doesn't speak your language-either verbally or emotionally. He doesn't seem to realize the terrible thing that has happened... that your sweetheart is gone.
You find it difficult to sleep. The new guy tries to comfort you at bedtime with soft words and gentle touches, but you avoid him, preferring to sleep alone, away from him and any intimate words or contact. Months later, you still ache for your beloved, but gradually you are learning to trust this new guy. He's finally learned that you like your coffee black, not doctored up with cream and sugar. Although you still don't understand his bedtime songs, you like the sound of his voice and take some comfort in it.
More time passes. One morning, you wake up to find a full suitcase sitting next to the front door. You try to ask him about it, but he just takes you by the hand and leads you to the car. You drive and drive and drive. Nothing is familiar. Where are you? Where is he taking you? You pull up to a large building. He leads you to an elevator and up to a room filled with people. Many are crying. Some are ecstatic with joy. You are confused. And worried.
The man leads you over to the corner. Another man opens his arms and sweeps you up in an embrace. He rubs your back and kisses your cheeks, obviously thrilled to see you. You are anything but thrilled to see him. Who in the world is he? Where is your beloved? You reach for the man who brought you, but he just smiles (although he seems to be tearing up, which concerns you), pats you on the back, and puts your hand in the hands of the new guy. The new guy picks up your suitcase and leads you to the door. The familiar face starts openly crying, waving and waving as the elevator doors close on you and the new guy.
The new guy drives you to an airport and you follow him, not knowing what else to do. Sometimes you cry, but then the new guy tries to make you smile, so you grin back, wanting to "get along." You board a plane. The flight is long. You sleep a lot, wanting to mentally escape from the situation.
Hours later, the plane touches down. The new guy is very excited and leads you into the airport where dozens of people are there to greet you. Light bulbs flash as your photo is taken again and again. The new guy takes you to another guy who hugs you. Who is this one? You smile at him. Then you are taken to another man who pats your back and kisses your cheek. Then yet another fellow gives you a big hug and messes your hair. Finally, someone (which guy is this?) pulls you into his arms with the biggest hug you've ever had. He kisses you all over your cheeks and croons to you in some language you've never heard before.
He leads you to a car and drives you to another location. Everything here looks different. The climate is not what you're used to. The smells are strange. Nothing tastes familiar, except for the black coffee. You wonder if someone told him that you like your coffee black. You find it nearly impossible to sleep. Sometimes you lie in bed for hours, staring into the blackness, furious with your husband for leaving you, yet aching from the loss. The new guy checks on you. He seems concerned and tries to comfort you with soft words and a mug of warm milk. You turn away, pretending to go to sleep.
People come to the house. You can feel the anxiety start to bubble over as you look into the faces of all the new people. You tightly grasp the new guy's hand. He pulls you closer. People smile and nudge one another, marveling at how quickly you've fallen in love. Strangers reach for you, wanting to be a part of the happiness. Each time a man hugs you, you wonder if he will be the one to take you away. Just in case, you keep your suitcase packed and ready. Although the man at this house is nice and you're hanging on for dear life, you've learned from experience that men come and go, so you just wait in expectation for the next one to come along.
Each morning, the new guy hands you a cup of coffee and looks at you expectantly. A couple of times the pain and anger for your husband is so great that you lash out, sending hot coffee across the room, causing the new guy to yelp in pain. He just looks at you, bewildered. But most of the time you calmly take the cup. You give him a smile. And wait. And wait. And wait.

I think of this passage from "Adoption Parenting" almost EVERYDAY. Mostly all the time. How must she be feeling? How would I feel? Well, I think this story sums it up pretty well.

Little smiles

Here is Taryn and Tyler on Sunday, enjoying their big brother's birthday party. We took about 100 pictures hoping just one would turn out not blurry! Happy days around here!

Thomas' birthday party

Sunday (10/19) was a WONDERFUL day! We encouraged Tom to plan his entire 10th birthday party. Who was invited, what the activities were going to be and what food/drink to serve. He did a great job (taking after his mother :-)) He invited all boys for the majority of the party and conceded to let his girl cousins and baby sister participate also; but not until 4pm! Ha! He planned "stations" outdoors... trampoline, touch football, an inflatable enclosed jumper, and driveway festivities to include skateboard, ripstik, roller blades, bikes... anything with wheels. Mom and Dad surprised him with TWO gifts... skatepark ramps for jumping off of with those wheely-ma-jigs and a quick visit from the CMU Quarterback, Dan LeFevour! Yes! Dan was able to squeeze a quick visit in at our house, tossed the football around for a few minutes and said hi to everyone at the party, before heading out. It was a huge surprise and quite special, since not everyone knows DAN LEFEVOUR! Come on, now... I know you all are so jealous right about now of this 10 year old! (For those of you who have not seen Tom in a while, he is the TALL one in the maroon jersey #13... Dan's # of course!)

Anyway, the afternoon was awesome. NO INJURIES, I repeat, NO INJURIES! Everyone was good about wearing head gear while on something with wheels and the boys devoured 3 Little Caesar's pizzas, crazy bread and a Dairy Queen frozen ice cream cake. Us adults enjoyed the sunshine and laughs just watching the boys move from activity/station to station. Rick and I had very little to do to prepare; the house did not have to be spic-n-span, the laundry did not have to be put away upstairs, and we did not have to cook... so you see, it was a day enjoyed by all! Tom scored awesome gifts and many gift cards to Target; his goal was to purchase a new ipod nano so he can watch movies on it... I believe he met is goal and then some! Thanks to his great buddies and some generous mom's and dad's; Tom was all smiles ear to ear! Tom's baby sister was well received by all his friends and he was proud to show her off, finally.

As the sentimental mom, I took a quick peek at Tom's scrapbooks Sunday night; that I have completed, to observe the growth of my 1st born child. Where has the time gone? It is such a cliche to say and I really hate being "typical" but seriously, I cannot believe he is "double digits" (as Tom is proud to say). I am very proud of him. He does everyday usual child and boyish things and yet I feel so lucky to be his mom. Really. He is a great kid. I will look back on this blog some day and be thankful for posting so many everyday captions of our life. I travel with my camera everywhere hoping for a "Kodak" moment. Happy Birthday, kiddo...

A very emotional post from MOM

Grab your kleenex's ladies... this one's a tear jerker. It is after midnight Friday night, so Taryn's first day is complete. We had a very teary wonderful welcome at Flint airport Thursday @ 11:30pm. Dad and the boys brought us girls flowers and balloons and big hugs and kisses. Tyler brought "baby sister" (he can't say Taryn... refuses to call her anything but baby sister) his, I repeat, HIS stroller to ride it. Tom and Trevor both brought her a stuffed animal from home and a picture they colored; and daddy gave us kisses and video taped us walking to them from the gate.

This was the most amazing day. I compare this day just like the arrival of my other children into our family, all three of which were C-section deliveries... aside from the obvious physical pain of delivery, those days are permanently burned in my memory. No mother forgets the day a child becomes a part of the family, into her arms, and more than just a dream. A real heartbeat, a real face to love and a real soul to nurture. The dream of Taryn may be a big "shoe to fit" if you will... I have had so many nights laying in bed dreaming of what she will be like and hoping that I will be the best Mom in the world to this little orphan who knows not what love is. I am sorry if I am making you tear up, this post is being done when I am the most emotional... at night. I seem to have many things on my mind and the days are so filled up that I don't get to think about the serious things until the house is quiet... you moms out there know what I mean.

So, as I crawled into bed (more awake than last night ~ comatose would describe me last night) I smiled to myself as my house was quiet, the children I love are safe in their beds, the dog is exactly where she always is, at my feet, and my husband of 12.99 years is next to me. (Our 13 year anniversary is October 28th) My dream for the last 18 months has come true. How lucky for me? How many adoptive parents come home with such a wonderful child at first? How is it that I am so lucky to deserve such a great transition? Believe me, I have read the books... I know it will not always be this easy. Nothing worth doing is easy. I am not sugar coating this part of the process with this little girl... I know it will get rocky, it will be rough at times; but how else can I describe the entire trip and first day at home other than to say it was GREAT! No, great does not begin to describe it. I am not an eloquent speaker, I do not have a large vocabulary so words are failing me; this week has been wonderful. My mother, Sue, and I left for Moscow to begin our journey to receive this little girl almost exactly a week ago. And now we are home safe, thanks to some wonderful Delta Airlines pilots and good weather to fly through and most of all GOD and your prayers... and my dream is a reality. How does anyone get to feel this good? How do I get to feel this lucky?

So, sleep escapes me and here I am talking to you...
You know, and forgive me, some of you do not know, my father passed away 20 years ago this December. Yes 20 years ago. He has been gone from my life more than he was a part of it; and yet I am the person I am because of his influence on my life for 17 years and his genes. While growing up, my father, Jerry, worked in the Newaygo County Courthouse in my home town, White Cloud, for some years before become an entrepreneur. He worked in Probate Court. My father was responsible for many job duties but the ones I remember were of him having to go to families homes at any given hour of the day or night and remove children from bad home situations. Sometimes I would wake up for school and find a child I did not know (thank goodness) asleep on our couch; having been removed late at night and not a foster home available. Maybe those early childhood memories prepared me for this road I am on. Maybe God chose me to be one of those parents to a child who has nothing. I not know where the drive and desire comes from, which is fine with me. My faith is truly at it strongest right now. There is a quote I hear often at Church; "Ask and you shall receive, knock and the door shall be opened..." Well, I knocked on God's door and asked him for a little girl and he delivered. I have her in my arms and she is truly a gift from above.

Okay, enough tears and enough preaching; jeez o' petes! You all know me well enough to know that I am the last person to push GOD on anyone and yet I can't help myself! I have posted more personal information on this blog than maybe I should have, but I have to try to express to all of you out there who email me back after a post or two about our travels to receive Taryn; how meaningful they are to me. You have absolutely no idea how important you all are to me and my family. I, again words fail me, cannot begin to find the way to describe how it feels knowing you are LITERALLY 1/2 way around the word, several time zones away, how it feels to see your names pop up in my email box. I felt just like I could reach out and touch all of you; so thank you to those of you who read our blog and let me know that you enjoy it.

All of you are special to us and some of you have gone above and beyond to step in and help during these travel weeks... you know who you are... Thank you from the very depths of our hearts. Thank you for keeping our boys safe and their "life" running smoothly, and just being such good wonderful people. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This process to get our daughter would have been unbearable without you, so you all should know how special you are and that your kindness has not gone unthanked.

The next post shall be all business... just details... no tears I promise! :-) As I hit the POST button I realize my first born son is 10 YEARS old! WOW!

Taryn is a US Citizen quick post

We are home! Taryn and 6 other Russian children became US citizens about 6pm Thursday October 16, 2008. Our flight from Moscow to Atlanta was interesting... she was not happy for about 4 hours... finally got her to sleep after much struggle. She slept for about 6 of the 11 1/2 hours. Grandma and I did not sleep at all. We figure from Wednesday until we got home we were up over 36 hours. Events happening just did not let us get any sleep.

I am working a special post for our arrival home to see our family. I will get it posted just as soon as I can.

We are all doing well. Taryn slept through the night, had some breakfast, some play time with brothers, a bath with Tyler and is now sleeping in her bed for her first nap.

So, you bloggers... relax and be patient; I will post more information soon. I promise.

Thanks for watching! See you soon.

Ready to fly home

Good morning everyone, We are at the airport. We made it through customs, security, checked our bags in and through passport control with no problems. We are flying business class back home so we were able to sit in the Delta Lounge for a while before we board. They have internet in here, so I am posting a quick few words before we board. It is 4am your time right now and I can hardly wait to sleep in my own bed again. None of us, none slept last night. I had so much anticipation about coming home... Grandma said she did not sleep well either and Taryn only slept about 4 hours and then was up the rest of the night tossing and turning.

So when we touch down in Atlanta Taryn becomes a US citizen. We will have a long lay over in Atlanta and during that time, Passport control will interview us, which could take up to an hour. We also have to get our bags and transfer them too. So the 5 hours will be good. We can all eat and walk some before getting on the next flight to Flint.

So, there you have it... our complete trip has been blogged... I feel so connected to everyone when I am able to blog it for you to share.

Tom, T-Rev, and TY... get ready... momma is bringing your baby sister home! Daddy; get ready... you're gonna love her! I promise! :-)

Grandma Sue said HI to everyone who is watching the blog on her behalf. She is smiling and kissin' on this baby girl like always.

Sweet dreams to those of you still sleeping... we shall see you all soon!

Love, the GIRLS in Moscow!

U S Embassy trip

Hello everyone, Tuesday night was great sleep for everyone. Taryn went to sleep at 9pm and did not wake up until 9am! We all had a great night sleep. Taryn woke up happy and hungry! We took our time getting around this morning and headed downstairs for some lunch before our Embassy appointment.

Natasha picked us up at 1:oopm and we had just a short trip in traffic to arrive there. Natasha could not go inside with us, but she informed us very well on what to expect. We processed through the steps and sat in a small area with 10 other families. Yes, 10 others! We think our world is so small and that we are the only ones going through this right now... turns out that two or three families are at the same hotel we are! Huh! As near as I could tell, only 2 children appeared to be younger that Taryn, probably 2 were the same age and the rest were older than her. A few families had 2 children with them to take home. We spoke with one family that will be on the same flight as us tomorrow. Their home is Charlotte NC. Anyway, the appointment was really just a formality. Verification of Taryn's spelling, check her picture to make sure the child matches the paperwork; a few other questions and that was it! This was the easiest step of the entire process! Really!

So we waited about 10 minutes and then we received all our paperwork, originals, and passports with visas to travel home. That was it! Total time was about 50 minutes.

We went back to the hotel after the appointment because it was Taryn's nap time. She fell asleep in my arms within minutes. She slept about 1 1/2 hours, and now it is dinner time.

We may not post again until we are in the US. We have a long layover in Atlanta to be sure we get through passport control. They warned us it may take up to an hour to get through with Taryn because her citizenship becomes official as soon as we touch down! YEAH! After we get through passport control we will try to login again and post a quick few words on how she did on the flight home.

So, hugs and kisses to all of you... thank you for diligently watching our blog... thank you to those who emailed me while I am here... hearing from everyone makes me feel not so far away. We will be home quite late Thursday night so Friday we will be sleepy. We will see everyone shortly.

Love, The GIRLS in Moscow!

Tuesdays adventures in Moscow

Here's some photos of our sightseeing trip today(Tuesday).





The famous KGB building.








Lenin's grave/masoleum inside Red Square. Did you know that Red Square stands for "Beautiful Square" ? Not red because of the bricks. The walls around the Kremlin used to be wood, then white brick and now they are red. But just because the bricks are red, is not why it is called Red Square. The president does not live in the Kremlin. He does not even work there. He has an office outside the city proper and what is inside the Kremlin now are just a few governmental offices, a museum, and other historical buildings.










Julie and Taryn in front of St. Basil's Cathedral.


This is our friend, Natasha. She works for Adoption Associates out of the Moscow office; which is actually her home. There is no official office in Moscow. All three AAI employees here in Moscow work from their homes. Natasha has been taking care of us while we have been here. She is absolutely wonderful and we want her to come and visit the US and stay with us and other Michigan families she has helped in the past. Hopefully someday soon she will come.



And here is Taryn asleep in the car. She did lots of walking today while we went sightseeing. Natasha took us also to a "market" similar to what you find in Nassau or in Mexico... we bought some Christmas ornaments (hand carved out of wood and hand painted), we found a beautiful purse compact for her when she is old enough to carry a purse, we also bought her an authentic hand made Russian girl's dress. It is really pretty. Maybe she can wear it in her 2 year old pictures, or maybe for Christmas time pictures. One other thing we purchased at the market was a hand made "Snow Girl". Russians do not have a Santa Clause. They believe in "Grandfather Frost" and "Snow Girl". The Grandfather Frost looks very similar to our Santa, but the Snow Girl puts a new spin on Christmas. So we bought Taryn a Snow Girl too.

She was absolutely wonderful today. It is 11pm here in Moscow and so I am going to bed now. I will post again tomorrow (Wednesday). We go to the Embassy tomorrow for Taryn's appointment to receive her visa to travel home. YEAH! One more day and we will begin the journey home.

Oh, for those who are wondering... Taryn is wearing the 12-18 month clothes that I brought along. Some friends have emailed me asking what size she is. She is wearing the size 4 and size 5 shoes I brought also. She LOVES, and I mean LOVES the little purse I brought her and her headband. She already knows when we get ready to leave the room that she gets her shoes and her headband and her purse. It is so darn cute! She is a smart little thing! She watches me very closely. If I start getting "prettied up to go" that she gets her stuff ready too.

The doctor this morning had a quick evaluation of her for the Embassy appointment and he thinks she weighs about 25 pounds.

Until next post...

Playing ball

Hi everyone. We had a great evening and great 1st night with Taryn. She fell asleep about 9pm almost instantly. She slept all night in a pack-n-play crib. I checked on her several times (just like you do with a newborn :-) ) and she was fine. We had to be up at 6am this morning for a Doctor to do a quick evaluation here in the hotel room; required by immigration. This doctor was very kind and our friend here in Moscow, Natasha, told us that he is THE leading plastic surgeon in all of Russia! And here he was in our hotel room doing an adoption evaluation. How awesome!

So after the doctor left, we fed Taryn and showered and went downstairs to eat ourselves. After we ate, we sat in the hotel lobby for a while. Attached to this post is my first video... you can see for yourselves how happy she appears!

After playing for a while, we decided to do some sightseeing. Natasha took us to Red Square/Kremlin and then to a "market" to get some Russian souviners. We stopped at a grocery store to get Taryn some food, bananas, a couple diet cokes, and then headed back to the hotel. We had a small bite to eat (nachos) and fed Taryn again then headed up to the room for a little down time. Natasha took all our paperwork to the US Embassy today and our appointment is tomorrow (Wednesday) at 2pm. We have an interview for about 1 hour and as I understand we will receive her visa tomorrow after the appointment. Then tomorrow afternoon we pack up and get ready to leave Thursday morning for home! Yeah!

So, enjoy the video and we will post again before bed with some more photos. Love to you all!

Our first day together

So, our first day together with Taryn is coming to a close. She has been absolutely wonderful. She is smiling and laughing and very good. We are having lots of smiles together. Taryn eats anything we put in front of her... anything! Unlike our boys, who are discriminating eaters, she ate everything we gave her today! She drank water like she had never had it before. We bathed her and she had a long nap and then we went for a walk to a small park around the corner from the hotel tonight. We then had dinner in a restaurant in the hotel and it was very good. Julie and Sue both ordered a drink/glass of wine to relax and Taryn was so good at dinner... a 180 degree different child than our TY who can't sit still for more than one minute. Here is Taryn in the hotel lobby and another one of her in a pink sweatshirt and a brown headband.

She had one more quick bath before bed and was asleep on Julie by 9pm Moscow time. She fell asleep within minutes. Big day for her and for us. We are getting ready to go to sleep now. More posts again tomorrow.

HERE SHE IS

Taryn Julianna McGuirk is ours! Here are some photos of us picking her up at the train station, this morning @ 10:08am when her train arrived. She was very calm and did not cry at all! We went straight from the train station to a medical clinic for a blood test and she did cry then; but as soon as it was over, she calmed right back down. We then came to the hotel and played with her a short time, then gave her a bath. Here she is with a smile and with Grandma playing with her toys. She is absolutely calm... no crying at all. We had her smiling and laughing in no time! Within minutes in the room, she started smiling and seems to be very comfortable with us. We are just playing with her and after her bath we are kissing her and hugging her and rubbing her back and she is really making good eye contact with us too. She is happy, or so we think!

One more note... we are confident that God and our loved ones in Heaven are shining down on us at this very moment... The skys were gray and cloudy on the way to the train station and now it is sunny and bright. They are just as happy as we are! We will post again soon. Hi boys... here is your baby sister, Taryn! Mom finally has her in her arms and we will be home very soon! We love you. Have a great day at school. Tell your teachers to check our blog so they can see her too!

Tom will be 10! on Saturday, October 18th

Hi everyone, This post is dedicated to Thomas! Our 1st born will be TEN YEARS OLD, next week! How does this happen? He is an awesome child and he lives for his friends. I have never met such a social child. He is very sincere, very loyal to his brothers and family and a very good student. He makes us proud every day.

He is playing "rocket" football with kids ages 10-11 and is pretty good (not biased at all)! We attend football practices 3 days a week with games on Saturdays. We have a team that plays well together and each week we see progress in their sportsmanship and their attitude.

We just want everyone to send Tom some HAPPY BIRTHDAY emails this week. He loves to get emails, even spam ones! tom@unitedapts.com is how you can reach him. He is looking forward to a double digit age! Too funny!

Happy Birthday Thomas, Tommy, Tom!

Mom and Dad love you very much!

PS, this picture is last year's season, but you get the idea, right?

CMU beats Temple!

Here is a picture of the boys with CMU's QB, Dan LeFevour. CMU's Homecoming game was yesterday and CMU beat Temple 24-14! Way to go Chippewas!

Rick took all three boys to the game and after hung around waiting to see Dan. As you can see from the picture, we all think Dan is IT! Dan is an incredible athlete and an even better CMU representative. He makes his entire team proud with his amazing outreach to the Mt. Pleasant community. When Dan attends church at Sacred Heart, parents can get their kids to church really easy! "You need to get up, Dan might be at church today." He is really an awesome guy.

The football team even comes to the elementary schools. A few weeks ago, Tom and Trevor had Dan's signature in permanent marker on their forearms. I could not get them to wash their arms for days! Just last week, the football team was at a different area elementary school for recess. How lucky we are to have such good examples of "kids" for our children to look up to. Coach Butch Jones is a really neat guy too and he has made the CMU football team approachable and real for our kids in our community. There is such CMU spirit in the elementary schools come Friday before a CMU game. We are very proud to be Chippewas!

CMU hosts Western Michigan next weekend, October 18th.

Julie and Sue are in Moscow, Sunday

Good Sunday morning everyone. Julie and Sue have arrived safely in Moscow. We had a great flight, after a mechanical problem caused us to change planes and a 2 1/2 hour delay. We didn't mind, we feel our safety is 1st priority! Plus we had no pressing plans for when we arrived in Moscow. Our "person" Natasha picked us up just like last time and wisked us into crazy Moscow traffic. We arrived at our hotel, Marriott Courtyard. It is a beautiful hotel. We are in our room, showered and ordered some room service before sinking into bed. It is 4:30pm here on Sunday as I am writing this post, which is 8:30am in Michigan right now.

Our plans are to receive Taryn tomorrow morning! If I wasn't so tired I wouldn't be able to sleep... I have so many emotions running through me right now!
Grandma Sue is doing very well. She slept on the plane on and off and seems to be enjoying herself too. We are both anxious for tomorrow.
Tomorrow is the beginning of the rest of our lives! Isn't that the truth! Live each day for today, for you never know what tomorrow will bring.
Thank you all for watching our blog. We will post again soon, with some pics of Taryn and Mom and Grandma! Love to you all!

Prayers for a dear friend

A dear friend to our family, Jeff, was injured in a hunting accident yesterday. He fell from a tree and was air-lifted to Peoria, Illinois, St. Francis Medical Center where Jeff had surgery last night and is in recovery in the Critical Care Unity of the Illinois Neurological Institute.

We are unsure of his prognosis and we need your prayers for Jeff, for a miracle and recovery of his spinal cord, for his wife Nesa and his 3 kids.

Please keep my friend in your prayers.

Thank you so much,

Trevor, our soccer STAR!

Here are some pictures of Trevor in his soccer game, last Sunday. They won the game 1 to 0.

He is so excited about his abilites this year; it is so refreshing. We are just so proud of his athletic abilities!

Julie and Sue travel to pick up Taryn

Hi everyone,

The travel plans have been confirmed.

Julie and Grandma Sue will be flying back to Moscow on Saturday, October 11th. We arrive on the 12th, and we will see our daughter on Monday, October 13th.

We will keep her forever on that very day!

We will have some medical things to do on the 13th and on to the US Embassy on the 14th and then some final paperwork on the 15th and if everything goes as planned, we will begin flying home on Delta Airlines from Moscow to Atlanta to Flint on Thursday October 16th. Times of flights are still up in the air, but I will post more when I know.



So, we have little more than a week to make our final preparations for her arrival into our lives.



Rick/Dad is staying home this trip.



Thanks for watching and I will post again in the near future.

Family gathering in Holland MI

On Friday, September 26th, Julie's grandmother on her dad's side of the family, Cornelia Jellema, passed away. Beppie (Grandmother in Dutch) was 96 years old and the family matriarch. She immigrated to the United States from the Netherlands with her husband and 5 children who were born there and eventually another daughter born here in Michigan. Our family is going to miss her but we are all at peace with her passing as her earthly body was giving out and we are glad she can now be where she will be forever happy with her husband and Julie's Dad and other family members who have gone before.

The memorial service for Beppie was wonderful. She was able to make one more effort to speak to all of us family about her faith and love of God.

Family came from all across the US on Monday, September 29th; Oregon, Georgia and many parts of Michigan. It was a wonderful day of family fellowship and lots of laughs and pictures. Thank you to all of the family able to travel to be with us on Monday, and to those unable; well you were sadly missed and there in our thoughts.
Thank you Beppie for very wonderful memories, great parties, lots of dried beef, orange candy slices, and rubs on the cheek. We love you and will miss you. Peace to you and be at rest.

Home and rested

We are home, arrived home about 9:30pm Saturday night. LONG day of travels on Friday and Saturday. We are feeling good, it was great to kiss our boys and have a nice long hot shower!

Here we are in front of St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square. BEAUTIFUL!

Plans are being made for the return trip to pick up Taryn. Looks like Julie will travel back to Moscow the weekend of October 10/11/12th, and this time Grandma Sue is going! Yes, Dad is going to stay home and run the house, while Julie and Sue go get our girl!

We will post more when we know exact details, but no matter what, we will be home with our daughter, at the latest, by October 17th.

The boys are really excited with their Russian souvenirs and some Russian rubles we brought back. We are all very anxious to complete this final journey to begin our life with this precious little girl.

Thank you all for watching our blog, we love keeping all our family and friends informed.

'till next time...

We are parents again!

This is a short post. We are doing well. Today is Friday here in Russia and our court went well yesterday. We are parents to Taryn finally! We were unable to convince the judge to waive the 10 days and so we will have one more trip back to Moscow to pick her up in 10 or 14 days.



We were unable to see her on this trip. Too complicated to get to her. The orphanage doctor said she is doing well, happy, and ready for mama and papa. She also brought us some pictures of her. She looks good.



We have had a very good trip. We are well taken care of and everyone is doing their best to make us comfortable.



I am sorry to not post more, we have not had any internet access while in Cheboksary, and today we are signing paperwork and getting ready to leave on the train at 5pm today russia time, or 9am today US time.



We will be home on Saturday for sure.



Love to all and thank you for your prayers. See you all soon.



Love Rick and Jules

Rick and Julie in Moscow

Hi everyone, right now it is Monday. In Michigan it is 9:49am, I think. In Moscow it is 5:49pm. We have been up for 24 hours. Our flight from Atlanta to Moscow was 11 HOURS, direct. We flew Delta, 1st class. It was a wonderful flight. Great food, down comforter blanket and down pillow for each passanger. Rick was able to sleep more than Julie. Julie watched 2 movies and played solitare on the individual seat tv. We arrived in Moscow at 10am Moscow time and were picked up by an Adoption Associates employee, Natalya. She is very nice and drives crazy, like all Moscovites do! We spent TWO and a HALF HOURS in traffic! Unbelieveable. Middle of the day on Monday and the traffic was so thick. Natalya brought us to our Marriott hotel and got us checked in. We immediately went to sleep. We each slept for about 3 hours and are right now getting ready to go adventure outside for some food and maybe walk down to Red Square. Not sure how much we will see at this late hour. We have to see several doctors tomorrow for medical evaluations (required of all adopting parents, apparently). So then from there we plan to do some sightseeing with Natalya and then she will take us to the train station for boarding a train to CHEBOKSARY. We will ride the train all night and arrive in CHEBOKSARY on Wednesday morning. Not sure when we will have internet again. We are in the hotel in Moscow tonight only, then depending on how court goes, we will just have to see.
You can email to us on our yahoo email account: rickmcguirk@yahoo.com

Thank you for checking our blog. We hope to post good news again soon. Rick & Jules

Traveling to Russia!

We were informed on Tuesday, September 16th, that Rick and I would be traveling back to Russia for court!
We leave on Sunday, Sept. 21st and will be in court on Thursday, Sept. 25th.We are unsure as to how long we will be gone at this point.

Russia has a 10-day waiting period after court and if the judge does not waive this 10 day waiting period, we will fly back home after court, wait for 8 or 9 days, then fly back to pick up our daughter. I know, three trips... but we would not be able to stay in Russia for the entire wait time... too hard. If the judge does waive the 10 day waiting period, then we will come home with our daughter. At this point, we don't know how to plan.

We are excited, scared, nervous, anxious and more... all bundled up. Our dream is finally becoming a reality. SOON!

Our kids are staying home with Grandma Sue, Whitney (our most wonderful babysitter) and another relative, "Lola" (Grandma in Filipino) Sonja. Sonja is Julie's grandfather's wife. Sonja lives in Muskegon with Julie's grandfather, Jim. She is coming to Mt. Pleasant to help for a week or so. We have had many offers to help with kids and school and practices from many wonderful friends. We know our kids will be in good hands, while we travel to fulfill our dream.

So, we are hoping to be able to post on our blog while we are traveling. We will be in Moscow for 2 days before traveling to Cheboksary, where we will stay for court. Most likely while we are in Cheboksary, we will not be able to post; no Internet services for tourists. So, while in Moscow, we can access the Internet, and will try to post.

Thank you to all of you for watching our blog. We are anxious to complete this journey and start "Livin' the dream" !

Until next time...

Witnesses of the CMU vs. U of Georgia game

Rick and Julie went with group of Central Michigan University alum and the athletic department to watch CMU play the #2 college team in the country, the University of Georgia Bulldogs, Saturday, September 6th. We had a fabulous trip and supported those chippewas as they played a tough team. CMU left the field with a score of 56 to 17, and those Georgia Bulldog fans were some of the nicest people ever. Very friendly to us chippewas. The CMU athletic department treated us like royalty with a quick flight to Atlanta, a one night stay at the Hilton, Northeast Atlanta, a trip downtown Atlanta for dinner, tailgating before the game and of course, seats at the game that were just awesome!

Here is a couple of pics we took of our QB, Dan LaFevour on the field in motion and here is a shot of the SOLD-OUT 90,000 + spectator stadium. It was just a sea of RED. Wonderful school spirit those fans had and it was so awesome to be there and witness such an incredible event. GO FIRE UP CHIPS!

(Double click on pic to enlarge).

Adoption Update

Hi everyone! Cool nights are here and school is back in session. Football and soccer practices have begun and the nightly homework will be here soon. While we are so busy with our daily routines, not much has changed with the adoption of our daughter, Taryn. No contact has been made to us from Russia or the adoption agency. We had all of the required paperwork for our court date done and sent to Russia in July. So now we wait... wait... wait.

We are hoping and praying to hear some news any day now and go over and get her. We promise to update the blog as soon as we get some news.

The conflict with Russia and Georgia seems to be over for the most part now, and our agency assured us, even when they were fighting, that the conflict had no affect on our adoption or our travel to Russia for the adoption.

So, the bedroom for her is almost ready (she is sharing a room with Tyler) and she has plenty of clothes to get started with when she comes home... we have picked up some dollys and pink toys for the playroom and a pink toothbrush too!

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers, we appreciate each of you that continue to ask if we are any closer...

Every day that goes by we know she is getting older and it pains us to think about her all the way over there, alone and sad; while we are here, ready for her and excited to get her.

God will lead us to her and when the time is right, it will all happen; we pray for her every day and pray for a smooth trip there to get her and to bring her home to complete our family.

Until we post again...

McGuirks and Glossingers and Deans

Sunday, July 13th we enjoyed a splendid day at our pool with our family from the Detroit area and Rockford area; Uncle Bob, Aunt Evelyn, Beau, Tammi, Gracie, Grant, Julie, Mike, Mallory, Sandy, Pat, Nick & Ginger. They are family on Rick's mom, Ginger's, side of the family and Rick's sister's family. We don't see this gang as much as we like and to have a get-together during the busy summer was just wonderful. We had a great time watching all the cousins playing together and us adults getting time to catch up on the day to day life of each family. Also there was Chuck, Jennifer, Paige, Lexi, Chrissie, Freddy, JoAnn and Mark Bingham, Sue (Julie's mom) and Jim stopped by too!

Here's Trevor and Bella swimming!

July 4th in Traverse City!

Hi everyone, we hope you all enjoyed a wonderful independence day. Our family along with several friends enjoyed a week in Traverse City, sunning, boating and relaxing. We had an absolutely wonderful time enjoying COLD TC bay water, warm sand and nice hot sun! We watched the Blue Angels air show and celebrated Ty's 3rd birthday with putt-putt golf and go-cart riding. Check out the place we stayed at... Sugar Beach Villas. It is an awesome resort on the East bay

http://www.tcresorts.com/

Here are the kids buried in the sand, compliments of Uncle Chuck!