Christmas

We made it through the Christmas season. Five family visits and several presents later we've completed the Tour for 2008. On Christmas Eve we visited James' side of the family and then visited Grandma & Grandpa Hoene. Everywhere Ann went she was ready for opening presents. Christmas Day Santa had brought presents, after those were opened we made our trek down to Indy to Aunt Mimi's for our family Christmas. Our final visit was the Hoene Family Christmas.

I want to be one of Santa's reindeer, too.

I finally wear and keep my sunglasses on without fighting mom.

Grandma & Grandpa Misiak have several animals, but Ann's favorite is the cat. I have no idea where that came from.

Here kitty, kitty, kitty. I promise I won't hurt you. I know you want to be held and squeezed. Really I just want to pet you. Smart cat....

We've been elfed

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

First bowling adventure

James & I took Ann for her first bowling lessons. She has basically lived in the bowling alley since she was born, with James and I bowling on a league. Since she refuses to stay in her stroller and enjoys the game room, we've been having a babysitter. All I can say is she had a blast and we did too. We were able to find a 6 lb. ball and her lane was set up with bumpers. If we couldn't get a hand on it to help, we'd wait about 5 minutes for the ball to hit the pins and return. As soon as her ball would return she was off again. I already warned James that we'd probably be doing a bowling birthday part next year.

Halloween

October 31 was an extremely comfortable night for trick or treating. Due to our limited number of neighbors we parked at a friend's house and went through their subdivision. Ann walked the majority of it on her own. She did a good job at walking up to the houses and saying "trick or treat" and then "thank you". By the time we were finished her little plastic pumpkin was filled and she kept passing it off..."Mommy, too heavy". We of course forgot our camera so all we have is an after shot picture.

Gatlinburg 2008

After James' trip to Gatlinburg in the summer we decided to take a trip over one of his 6 day off mini-vacations as he said I would love it. When we planned this trip we knew we would be able get a view of the trees colors changing, however so did everyone else. Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge were extemely busy. We did make a small detour into North Carolina as we did "The Dragon" in Deal's Gap. For me it was 11 miles of clenched knuckles with a moment of heart failure. Imagine driving up the side of the mountain on a narrow 2 lane road. On some of the corners there is a little pull off area and we are in the lane looking over the mountain. James', without warning, pulls onto one of the pulloff areas to let a motorcycle go by us. Needless to say there was almost Flintstone's brakes on my side of the van and I think you can still see where I was grabbing the "Oh Shit" bar. Once we got out of The Dragon on the Carolina side there is a little shop where the parking lot is marked for motorcycle parking and tons of bikes. They do have a Tree of Shame with parts of wrecked out motorcyles in the tree. There is a few motel rooms located here where the bikers come and stay and then play up and down the mountain all day. Gatlinburg was beautiful. We did spend an afternoon walking around and doing some shopping. There are plenty of unique shops to keep you busy. I want to go back in the spring next time. The rhododendrums are everywhere, just naturally going on the mountain and I'm waiting to see them in full bloom.

Another busy weekend

We started the weekend out by suprising mom and showing up Thursday night. I needed some tomatoes to start my salsa canning again. Mom has a new addition to her family by the addition of Lucy, her new baby shih tzu. Ann had a blast with her, her response was "my puppy".

This is the first time in several years that James has been home on this weekend as he is usually in Talledaga for the big race weekend..."Go Tony" as Ann would say. One of my dad's farmer friends plants tomatoes, so we were prepared to do some picking. Ann stayed at my dad's with Grandma and we found the field. After getting about 8-9 5-gallon buckets of roma tomatoes, we warmed up with some chili and headed home with our prize. I ended up making 2 batches of salsa on Saturday, which I completed about 2 am. If you've had the salsa you know it's worth the time and energy. Ann was very willing to help, however we're going to have to wait a few years before I can really put her to work.

Sunday Ann & I went with friends to the pumpkin patch. We did a hay ride to the corn maze, which came out at the pumpkin patch. Ann picked her own pumpkin out, which was quite interesting. She would walk around and pick one up and then say "too heavy" and go on to another one. She did find one that she liked and was able to carry it back to the hay ride wagon.

Of course here she is being so good and not throwing the hay from the wagon.

Daddy, see I can drive a tractor too.

Corn maze

Where did the summer go?

Time flies when you are having fun is an understatement. Between family reunions, birthdays, and mini-vacations, we still find some time to relax. This last weekend James went back to Beaver Island with his mom; mom and Amy came to Michigan City to visit Ann and I. While James was changing alternators on vans, going canoeing and 4-wheeling, we went into Chicago. On Sunday we took the South Shore train into the city. We walked up and down Michigan Avenue. If you ever have the opportunity, I say go. From the big shops downtown to the street performers spray painted gold or silver and posing as statues to the drummers playing on 5 gallon plastic buckets, there is always something. My recommendations, currently, would be the American Girl Place. It is the store for every little girl at heart, although the prices require some sort of income. Imagine my suprise walking by the cafe where the mothers, daughters and their dolls were sitting around the tables having tea and then a hairstylist for the dolls. For those with the sweet tooth, Ghirardelli's is across the street from the Hershey chocolate store. We did stop at both. We did the walk back to the train station up Rush Street. When we crossed back over to Michigan Avenue, we unknowing went under it...FYI, watch the street signs when you go under a road in Chicago. We missed the 6 pm train back and hung out in the station until 8. For the busy day we had Ann was wonderful. On the streets she hung out in her stroller, but the train ride home she sat in her own seat in front of me.

Ann enjoys helping out with the dogs. She can open the sliding glass door so if you're not careful she will let them out. Here she has let the dogs in while they are still on their leases.

Ann sharing her Dora couch with Suzy.

Ann decided she wanted to help mommy work, however the equipment just didn't fit her right.

Happy Birthday Ann

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you......We had a small birthday party for Ann's 2nd birthday with some family. We had a good time visiting with everyone. Ann kept cousin Kylie and her friend Haley busy. Her favorite thing to do is grab your hand and say "RUN" and then proceed to drag you along. It was fun watching Ann's face as everyone sang to her and then trying to figure out what to do with the candles. She definitely had the gift opening part down pat, however every little piece of paper was handed to Mommy to take care of..."Here Mommy". James is just loving all the noisy toys that she received. A small bonfire at the end of the night was a nice finish to a really good day.

And the winner is...

As the month comes to an end, it never slows down. We ventured to Indianapolis with The Gannons for the Allstate 400...affectionately know as the Brickyard 400. We had good seats (Thank You again, Kevin Rutt) at the very top of Stand C. The breeze never stopped, which allowed us to burn without feeling it, oh yeah, forgot the sunscreen. The race would have been good if not for the competition cautions which were 8 of the 11 cautions. James' driver couldn't get to the front of the pack, but Heather's driver prevailed and came away with the victory. Better luck next week for Tony Stewart. Yes, I do wish luck to hubby's driver. Watch his video debut performance...of course this video is extremely old, but I do still enjoy it.

July's been busy

Where has this month gone. We had company for the 4th, as grandma and Aunt Amy were in town. Ann participated for the first time in the fireworks. The sparklers were the big hit once she understood the concept. James had gotten some small fountains and noise makers, which Ann is still leary of. Ann ended up taking Grandma into the house and watching out the back door.

Due to work Ann and I spent a week at Grandma's in Syracuse. She kept Grandma hopping and ended up at the beach a couple of days. There is no fear of water with this child. Amy and I also took her to Indiana Beach and to a water park. We had difficulty getting her to leave either place. However, once in the car and 3 minutes from the place she was out cold.

Always the little helper, whether needed or not. Now if only that would last through the teen years.

James also had mini vacation this month. He and 2 co-workers took a motorcycle ride to Gatlinburg, TN. They rented a cabin and proceeded to do day trips to several of the towns surrounding Gatlinburg. He actually wants to take me with him...get this, he said I would like it because of all the touristy shops. Now I take that as acceptance to the fact I'll spend money.

I'm sure the 2nd photo I've included with this section is a little misleading if you haven't been to this part of TN. US 129 is affectionately known at "The Dragon". This is due to there being 318 curves in about an 11 mile stretch of road. There are actually photographers at some of the corners taking pictures as drivers ride by. One day James decided to try to find his photo on this website. To my shock and amazement there were 140 pages of thumbnail photos that he was going through and that was just from his particular that he rode through.

Beaver Island

Beaver Island, May 2008

We once again made our voyage north to the family cabin on Lake Geneserath, Beaver Island, Michigan. As everyone else was beating the heat we were putting fires in the wood stove at night. The comfortable weather did not stop Ann and James from playing in the water or from me jumping knee deep in the water to get Ann back on her feet. Ann kept everyone hopping, including all of the neighbors who became her adoptive "grandmas and papas". By the time we had to leave Ann knew deer, birds, butterflies and chipmunks and would ensure everyone knew she had seen them.