Wordless Wednesday: Ghost of Christmas Past 2005

Christmas Downtown

Though modest in its size and amenities, Petoskey has a rather popular shopping area downtown known as the gas lamp district. It consists of a few square blocks of clothing boutiques, high-end kitchen/food and home decor shops, restaurants and pubs, and (of course) fudge houses. During the summer tourist season the area is quite busy and keeps rigorous shop hours. During the winter most shops close around 4PM. But on the first Friday of December there is a tradition. The whole district gets closed off to traffic and all the shops have an open house until 9PM. Not only do they open their doors to the public, but they serve food. Our friends the C*'s offered to escort us around. Amy told me that there would be food, and I was expecting it to be like going to Costco. You know, little cups and bites of yummies. Rather, we were treated to generous serving sizes of gourmet soups and appetizers with lots of desserts and hot drinks. It was about 25 degrees outside and the whole town was out celebrating. They had a tree lighting in the park and everyone sang a Christmas hymn together. Where do they do things like this any more?

We visited Kris Kringle at the old library

There were lots of musical performances and Gracie cut straight to the front for each one.

Mitchelle Street. The roaming brass ensemble is on the right. The streets downtown are decked with real garland and wreaths. So beautiful. And check out all our snow!

Petoskey High has a really amazing music program. There is a group of 20 or so students that puts together a steel drum band to play Christmas songs for this night every year. This is where we ran into the biggest crowd and I wasn't able to get the best picture.

I should have given the camera to Grace who cut right up to the front of the stage.

It was such a fun night. It felt the way Norman Rockwell pictures feel. Who wants to come out for next year's?

Recap part VI: The House

Okay, this will be the last instalment in the recap series. I just wanted to share a little list of all the work that we (we ='s me, Cori, Sandy, Ray, Jared and Sara) have done on the house in the 2 short months we've been living there. Here it is:

• 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms painted
• exterior shutters hung
• interior blinds installed
• shower curtain rails installed
• bathroom hardware installed
• 2 decks stained
• lattice hung below both decks
• lots of furniture picked out, purchased, and placed
• 1 BBQ assembled
• landscaping started
• mail box put up
• house numbers installed
• washer and dryer purchased and installed

This is all the stuff we did on our own. We also began the construction on the basement as quickly as we could. Our contractor pulled his building permit the day that Grant was born. It has taken a lot longer than we planned, but he's kept pretty well within the budget we set, so we can't complain. The whole project got set back nearly two weeks while we waited for the fireplace to be installed... Anyway, we're getting close the end, and we are so excited to have that space! Here's a little peek at the progress. It went from empty to being framed in about 4 days.

Then, after all the plumbing was in, all the information and power lines pulled through the walls, and the fireplace finally installed they came and hung the drywall. They finished all the finishing work on the drywall the day before we left to come to NV for Thanksgiving. I took a few pictures that night. So its textured, primed and waiting for us to come home and paint!

This is the bathroom.

This is taken from the guest bedroom. You are all welcome to come and stay! The door on the right goes out to the living area, and the door on the left goes into the bathroom.
This is the main living area. The fireplace is further off to the left.
This is the view coming up the stairs into our upstairs living area.
So, once we have all the painting done, they'll install the finish lumber, flooring, and the rest of the lighting and bathroom fixtures, and voila! I'll finally get the rest of our stuff unpacked, and we can really start decorating.

Well, that's what we've all been up to. You are officially up to date!

Recap Part V: Visitors (AKA Life Savers)

The last couple of months would not have been possible without the unmeasurable help of some amazing family members.

First, my brother Jared came out the weekend we moved into our new house. He lifted boxes, organized the garage, kept me company, helped Cori move the furniture, helped me unpack, and played with Grace. It was a treat for me to be able to talk with him and spend some quality one on one. Isn't he just so handsome? Sorry ladies, he's putting in mission papers.

The day he left, we welcomed my sweet mother-in-law, Sandy. She stayed for a marathon-esque 2 1/2 weeks. It was so wonderful. Especially for Grace. I got to sleep and rest and figure things out with Grant, and Gracie got 200% more undivided attention than usual. Sandy took care of so much around the house--she was always cooking or sweeping or changing laundry. Not to mention all the painting she helped us do the weekend before we had Grant (and putting up with me!). Thanks again, Mom O!
Part way through her stay, her hubby Ray joined us. He also helped so much with things that we wanted to do around the house and with playing with Gracie. This guy knows how to have fun. (Don't be alarmed. That's a non-alchi drink he's got there!) It was really nice having them both here with us.
Just over lapping their stay was my sister's. Sara came and stayed with us for just over 2 weeks as well. It was a little piece of heaven to bum around with her, plan meals with her, go shopping with her, and work around the house with her.

Conspicuous by their absence were my own parents. My mother had a knee replacement surgery just a few weeks before Grant was born, making it pretty much impossible for her to make the transcontinental voyage to stay with us. I missed my mom so much during this time. But lots of phone calls and cards from home helped ease the hurt. We'll look forward to having them stay with us soon.

So there you have it. The great secret to our success. Thanks again all! We couldn't have made it without you!

Recap Part IV: Me

For me, the last couple of months have been exciting, overwhelming, fun, exhausting and memorable. I can say that I am certain that this is where we are meant to be, and that we came at the right time. I can also say--with absolute certainty-- that I will never, EVER move that close to a due date again.

I'm staying busy with the usual daily mommy tasks. Grant is responding well to our routine. I'm so grateful to have some structure and predictability back in my life. The house keeps us hopping too. We have workers at the house for one thing or other every single day. We are currently having the basement finished. We're getting close. But if there isn't someone over to work, our contractor comes over for one reason or other. Then, we've had a laundry list of other visitors. Most recently, the task of finally getting information lines pulled out to our house so we could get our internet, cable and phone service. Oh, and our oven and dryer (both gas operating)started filling our house with the smell of burnt kerosene oil. So there was the visit from the gas inspector Friday, wherein he informed me that the smell was not coming from the gas and that he had no idea what could be causing the problem. So this morning someone is coming to look at the dryer. There's always something, right?

I've also been called into the Relief Society presidency in our branch. I love the sisters that I'm working with and for. There is a special feeling in the branch. The active members have been loving and serving the Lord and each other for so long now. It is a very close family kind of group.

I'm really looking forward to the next couple of months. Holiday time with family will be so welcomed. And then, once the basement is finished I can finish unpacking and organizing everything. And THEN, I'll be able to get to the projects I've been planning in my mind for a little while now: scrapbooks, organizing our digital photos from the last several months, and maybe even getting my sewing machine out. Cori's family has recently started a fitness challenge which is helping me get into the swing of exercising again.

Here are a few pics:

Gracie took this one at Sunset Park the night before we had Grant

Just minutes before going into the OR. It was so weird having a planned C section. Entirely too predictable!

Recap Part III: Cori

The last couple of months have been pretty huge for this guy. After moving our little family across the country, we bought our first home and he started a new job, became the father of 2, and turned 30. He's really loving his new role at work. Cori is a people person, and its very fulfilling for him to be one on one, influencing change, and seeing results from the decisions he is making. He's happy when he comes home and he's excited to go to work the next day.

Aside from work, Cori has kept himself very busy. He is so much help to me at home. He and Grace have breakfast together most mornings before he goes to work giving me another 20-30 minutes to sleep. He has spent time almost every Saturday working on the house. (Details about all we've done around here--with the help of many others--to come shortly) He has also been called into the Branch Presidency as a counselor. Part of this calling includes being the Young Men's president. We love our little branch and this calling has been a special experience for Cori and the rest of us already.





I know I can speak for him when I say that he really loves Michigan. Our only complaint is that we are so far away from family and friends. But he, like myself, has been so impressed with how beautiful the country and the people are here.

The New Place

Yeah! We closed yesterday, and are officially are in more debt than we have ever been before. We got a killer deal on this little place- which is good, because we have big plans for it. It has never been lived in, though its construction began nearly two years ago. The builder still has some things that are being finished up (all well negotiated into our escrow agreement). And then we get to do all the fun suff. We've already started plans to finish the basement and landscape. The main floor is the perfect 3 bed/2 bath space for us right now. I only have a few pictures that I snapped before our stuff got moved in.

The builder was super accommodating and agreed to allow our stuff to be moved in before we closed. (The moving van waited while the house inspection was being completed. Can you believe it?) So the unpacking begins today. My brother Jared arrived yesterday to help out, and we are so grateful.

More to come soon...

What we've been up to

A long long time ago (the first week of August) Cori and I went our separate ways to fulfill some scouting responsibilities. Gracie and I headed to Nevada, where I spent 8 days at Camp Fleichmann on staff for the Wood Badge course that my father directed. My sister was also on staff, and my brother came as a participant. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "Jess, that's great that so many of your family were there, but what possessed you to spend a week of wilderness living while 8 1/2 months pregnant?" I'll address this and the wonders of Wood Badge in my next post.

Gracie got to live it up with her Grammie Marla, her Aunt Thea, the three dogs, and the two horses. We got to spend a couple of days with everyone before heading back to Cali. Sara gave me a much needed pedicure. And the fam even had a little belated birthday celebration for me, where I was gifted a beautiful pink pearl jewelry set from their recent trip to China. They also got a white silk pants suit with embroidered dragons, some fun Olympic stuff and these cute ('toot' in Gracese) shoes for Grace. Oh, and a Tommy Bahama shirt for Cori.

Meanwhile, Cori headed to Camp Chiwanakee with the scouts from our ward for their week of summer camp. They kicked it off with a day of water skiing with our Bishop at Shaver Lake, and then spent 7 days at camp. It was a good experience for everyone. Cori is the extra tough looking guy on the left (in case you couldn't recognize him).

Since returning, we've stayed pretty busy. My sweet friends here, headed up by Kristy C*, threw a terrific baby shower for us. It was an intimate evening of great food, and plenty of friends completely free of any games that would distract us from all of our chatting. We were given so many generous gifts. I was waiting for the representative from Baby Gap to show up to congratulate me for owning their complete line of baby boy stuff. The biggest treat was just being able to spend that time with all these special women who have become so important to me.

Gracie and I have made a couple of trips to Disneyland. (Hopefully, we'll get one more in before we leave next weekend) This is Grace at the little water park outside of Bugs Land in California Adventure park. I was smart and brought her swimmies so she could do what she wanted. She loved running from splashy place to splashy place. I loved standing in the misty shade watching her entertain herself.

And we spent our Saturday afternoon at the beach. Grace LOVES the water. She wants to go as deep as her dad will take her, and loves when the waves "crash" on her head. Anytime the word 'beach' is heard, she pats her head and says (about 50 times) "crash, head... crash, head... crash, head...) As you can see in the picture, Gracie loves the waves the way most people love big drops on roller coasters. The smile seems to say "this feels funny, but I love it." We picked up some of our favorite Mexi-food on the way home. El Burrito Jr is the place to go if you ever visit. We like to get the beach basket. Two burritos, two enchiladas, two chicken tacos, beans and rice, chips and salsa: $13.55. It usually takes us about 3 meals to finish it all. So good.

So, we've got about 8 or 9 days left in our little paradise here. We've got a bit to do to make sure we're ready to go. And now that its finally final that we are leaving, we are both a little melancholy. We love the people we've met here, and we will really miss the area. I'm sure I'll spend some more time writing about this soon...

Drum Roll Please...

We've been home for about a week and a half now... despite our efforts to lay low and recoup a little, the changes (and the travel) keep coming. But we'll be settled soon. At last, an offer has been accepted and signed. And not a moment too soon. I've got about 10 days left before I'm not allowed on a plane. So without further adieu, I introduce our new home for the next 18-24 months: Boyne City, Michigan!

We are very excited. Its a great opportunity for Cori. The position is nice and big and has the management opportunities he was hoping for. The area will be a fun adventure for our family too. It is a very popular vacation spot in the north western part of the state on the shore of Lake Charlevoix, which is a little jetty off of Lake Michigan. This translates into hot summers, long winters, glorious autumn colors and lots of outdoors things to do: golfing, hiking, camping, fishing and (at last!) skiing. Boyne City itself is small (population 3,500 I think), but it is near a couple of other bigger cities that afford the accommodations we can't do without, i.e. Target. It is just an hour north of Traverse City which boasts a very active arts community and our nearest airport. We'll also be a day trip away from some other places we've wanted to see, Manitou Island (where 'Somewhere in Time' was filmed) being at the top of the list.

The Church is pretty sparsely populated as well. The whole of northern MI is a district of 8-10 branches functioning (we think) under the direction of the Mission President. This will be a fun adventure as well. Our social life will not be contained in the cozy blanket of church membership-- the way it has been for us both for most of our lives. I will have to rise to the challenge of finding mommy friends and play groups through other venues. I'm actually grateful, as this is something I should be better at already.

More details to come as our adventures in house hunting and home ownership begin. We are hoping to be flying out there next weekend (with as many of our necessary belongings as we can manage) and into temporary housing while we shop for houses and doctors. Then Cori will fly back to CA in Sept. for the couple days of packing and shipping detail.

I'll be posting soon with the exciting things we've all been up to these last few weeks...

The L* Family Reunion

We've just returned home from a lovely reunion with Cori's family at Payson Lakes. I'd be lying if I said that I hadn't been a little bit worried about camping (being 8ms. prego, and with Gracie) for 4 days. But we had so much fun, and Gracie was a terrific camper. She slept, ate, and played as great as she always does. It was wonderful having everyone together... well, almost everyone. We really missed you Tiff, but we're glad you are where you are doing what you are doing!

These are photos of some of the week's festivities: Fishing, canoeing, bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, bike rides, little hikes, horseshoes, watching horseshoes, chats in the shade... smores, lots of dutch oven cooking... general merriment at its best. In my defense, the only pics that got taken of me with our camera were from day 4 of camping life. The last picture is me with Britt and Cory's little Ashton. Check out Cori's great goatee. Gracie kept touching it and saying "Off! Off!" (smart girl!) We are so grateful that our schedule allowed us this little vacation with these special people!

Fishing. Gracie loved the canoes and spent every moment on the water saying, "Fish! Fish! Fish!" On our first fishing outing, the women brought home the bacon. I caught the first fish, Sandy caught the biggest fish (the biggest fish anyone had seen come out of Payson Lakes) and Megan (first time camper and fisher) caught the most fish. Way to go ladies!

The horseshoe spectators
Grandma Sandy's blessed bubble bucket. Gracie worked really hard on this skill this week.
Cori on a stroll with Grace and Kourtni
The fearless mountain bikers. (Ethan, the photographer, not pictured)

Cori's 10 seconds of testosterone pumping fame at the grotto. That water is pretty chilly.

The L* brothers

What we've been up to

Hi! I've been away for a little while. We didn't go out of town. We haven't been sick. I've just been taking a break from a few things. We still don't have any news about our upcoming move, though we actually have plane tickets to go out and interview and look at houses. So we'll hopefully have some news soon.

In the mean time, we are enjoying some quite time before the hurricane of summer travel hits. We will be more away than home for the next 5 weeks. My blogging may continue its current trend of sparsity. We are really looking forward to seeing both of our families, and seeking "new friends and stranger companies" to quote Shakespeare's heroine Hermia.

Here are a few pictures of from the daily life of Grace lately. Every time we leave the house, there is a ritual. Gracie must get herself ready. She puts a couple of toys into her favorite pink Paris purse. Then we must get some "num-nums" to eat in the car. These also must be placed in the purse before we leave. The other morning she went the extra mile. Minnie hat, sunglasses, mom's keys... she was so proud of herself.

Cori had a little time off the other morning while his work computer was being serviced, so we went out to look at furniture. Grace takes her nap promptly at 11 AM everyday. I was racing the clock to get her and her new red balloon home before pumpkin time. She was super fussy until we pulled into our parking garage. This picture was taken at 11:03... she had seriously been fussing 20 seconds earlier.

We had a free Saturday and took a trip out to Cori's favorite place- the beach. More specifically, we went back to the tide pools. It was fun having Grace with us. She loved touching everything. She waded out with her dad and bravely stuck her finger onto and into everything he told her to! Brave little buggie!

South Coast Botanic Gardens

Less than 5 miles from our home is this wonderful treasure. We finally made a morning/afternoon of it and completely enjoyed ourselves.

The Children's Garden

Grace had to check to see if anyone was home.

They have a massive rose orchard with every kind of rose ever dreamed of. It was a pretty warm day which made it amazing. The air was heavy with the scent of flowers and life. (And honey bees, over which I valiantly did not freak out.)

There is a 'Banyan Tree Grove'. Actually, the trees were all Australian Fig, but the roots seem similar. Cori was bummed that there weren't any great vines to swing on (remind me to tell you a story sometime about Cori and me swingin' on a Banyan vine in Waikiki...). But Gracie loved going "uuUUuup" and "dOOoown" over the roots.

I don't remember the name of the tree that grows this flower, but isn't it amazing? Cori commented that its hard to imagine there not being a Creator when looking at something so detailed.

Ahh. My favorite of the day. We spent some time in the Magnolia trees. I love these trees for their huge white waxy petaled flowers. My all time favorite flower is the gardenia. But magnolia blossoms are almost as pretty and smell almost as great...

... an they can get so dinner-platter-sized huge...

...and they are just the right size for a girl to cup her face in!

After we had smelled all the flowers at Gracie's height level and walked through all the areas we wanted to see, we took our lunch out to the picnic area they have. A few sandwiches, grapes and carrot sticks later, we were all ready for a nap!