Bildner Christmas Party

We celebrated Christmas last weekend with Brook's mom's family at Trent and April's. It was a great little get-together with almost all of his aunts, uncles and cousins. Plenty of good food, lots of laughs and a very memorable evening!

Catching Up

Can you believe Christmas is ONE week from tomorrow? IMO, this is the best time of year; unfortunately, it goes by wayyyy too quickly! I just checked my calendar and Thanksgiving was 3 weeks ago - whoa, time to quit being lazy and post some pics.

We started the day with church to thank God for His countless blessings and then went to Brook's grandma's in Parma for Meal 1. This year, I told myself I would not eat as much as I did last year at Meal 1. Yeah right, Brook's mom is a fantastic cook! If only I had self-control when it came to food! Oh well, the food and the company were great.

Meal 2 was at my mom's brother's (Uncle Jeff) house. We always celebrate Thanksgiving with his family and my grandparents. This year, with just 2 families and Gma and Gpa, there were 32 of us. (Gotta love being Catholic!) A fun tradition we have is to all go to a movie after dinner. This year, we went up to the IMAX theater in Lansing and watched "A Christmas Carol."

Love this pic - look at Veronica posing in the back!

In their matching Thanksgiving outfits from Grandma Theresa

Julia pushing Sophie . . . haha!

Gma & Gpa, Uncle Jeff's family and our family - oh my, how we've grown!

Cancun

Ahhh . . . after so much anticipation, I can't believe the trip is over. Maybe that's why I haven't written anything on it - b/c I am in denial! (Haha) There isn't much to write about as we did a whole lot of nothing. And it was wonderful! 4 full days of lying on the beach, relaxing, enjoying a cocktail or two ;) and enjoying time with my sister, BIL and wonderful husband. Luckily, Hurricane Ida passed through before we arrived and we had gorgeous weather everyday. 80's and sunny, doesn't get much better than that!

Our hotel - the Oasis Viva Beach

The view from our room

Volleyball anyone?

(This is right before Brook lost his wedding ring in the pool.)

"My kid is going to be smarter than your kid."

Don't mess with us!

"Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters . . . "

Awwwww

Sigh

Making friends out on the town

They kept the bartender busy!

"Adios & vaya con Dios"

As I eagerly anticipated our Cancun trip, I've had that "Toes" song from the Zac Brown Band in my head. "Got my toes in the water, _____ in the sand. Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand. Life is good today." Ahh, yes it is! The trip is here! We leave tomorrow and are super-excited! (Even more excited that Hurricane Ida is long gone.) See you next week!

A Visit from Friends

Sunday we didn't have plans to do much, except maybe a little yard work. Imagine our suprise (and delight) when Cory called and asked if it would be ok to come up for a visit! What could we say, "No, umm sorry, we have yard work to do." Haha, yeah right. So, later that afternoon, Cory, Melissa and Brody arrived. We took advantage of the gorgeous weather and went down to the pier to see the water. The visit was much too short, as they had a 2+ hour drive ahead of them to get home, but we were so grateful for the visit!

What a great autumn day to go out on the pier!

This picture is so cute!

The (Not-So-Lucky) Irish

Brook and I met Wes and Jaime down in South Bend on Friday to see Notre Dame "kick Navy's butt." Welllll . . . that's what I was telling my co-workers, at least. Please note that about 1/2 of my co-workers at the Zeeland plant were in the Navy. The razzing on Monday was not near as bad as I expected (and deserved!) Though it would've been great to see an Irish win, we still had a fun day. The campus holds a special place in our hearts, as this is where Brook and I met just 2 years ago. And, of course, who could forget the weather?? It was a beautiful day for a football game!

"Touchdown Jesus"

Great View!

(Except I think this is right before he threw an interception)

The Grotto where we light a candle & pray for next year's season

(Just kidding!)

Fun, Fun, Fun

What a fun Halloween we had! We went down to Concord to spend time with my family and see the kids in their costumes. We had a very full day (there never seems like there is enough time to see everyone we want to see), but a good one. I needed the visit. As much as I love living in Grand Haven, I still miss my family a ton. After dinner at Applebees with everyone, we were saying our good-byes and Maria looks up at me and says, "I miss you Aunt Chrystal." Ugh, talk about breaking my heart!

Later that night, we went out with the Parrotts to a Halloween party. We haven't seen them in ages and I really enjoyed our time together! We all dressed up (wish I had pictures!) . . . Cory as a studly police officer, Melissa a mermaid, Brook as the Thing (I think that's what it was) and myself as a flapper. This is the third time (not in a row) I have worn the flapper outfit. Many, many good memories have accompanied me in that costume! Why ruin a good thing! =)

So precious!

Tinkerbell and Notre Dame Linebacker

Little JuJu