Thanksgiving 2016

These boys love Legos and MSU more than pretty much most things!  So when you mesh the two things together you get double magic.

We're gearing up for our trip to Michigan this year.  We can't wait to see everyone!

We hit the road the Friday before Thanksgiving.  We couldn't have asked for better weather.  The high was 70 the day we drove to Michigan.  It felt like late May, not late November.  We made it in our usual 10.5 hours and when we got to Jen's we lit up the fire pit and enjoyed the warm evening air outside.  Never thought I'd be doing that the week leading up to Thanksgiving.

The weather the day after we got to Michigan was a totally different story.  Cloudy, cold, and rainy.......Well that was a mean trick, but nothing new to a Michigander.

As per tradition Tim and I headed to the temple for our annual visit to the Detroit temple.  Celeste was an awesome cousin and baby sat the kids for us.

To our surprise as we were walking up to the temple doors I see this big smile and a woman running towards me!  It was Stephanie Prosser (a dear friend from college)!!  She about knocked me over with her hug she was so excited to see us.  It was funny because as we were driving to the temple I had the distinct impression how funny it would be if Steph were there that day.  It was so good to see her and Mitch. Katie and Adam Roll were also there.  It felt like we were back in college just hanging out.  It was so great sitting next to some friendly faces in the temple. 

We snapped a couple pics of all of us together.  We were all friends in college and now 12 years later what a wonderful blessing it was to meet again inside the walls of a temple for our Lord.  These people are amazing and I'm grateful to have shared some of this day with their wonderful spirits.

After the temple we made a stop at a yummy restaurant in Birmingham.  We took a group selfie and sent it to Suzy because it was one of her favorite places to eat when her and Cory lived in Birmingham.

When we got home we decided to burn off the burger calories we just ate and go for a run together. After all, we had to stay in shape for our Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning.  Bob came along too.  On our last mile the wind picked up and snow began to fall.  Leave it to Michigan to go from 70 degrees and sunny, to gray and rainy to windy and snowy within a 24 hour period.

Gavin wanted to join in the activity too.  So after our 5k run we took Gavin out for a quick mile run with just mom and dad.  He kept running ahead of me.  He's speedy quick, that Gavin.

The following day our family took a trip to the Henry Ford Museum and we also took a tour of the Rouge Factory where they make the F-150.    Let me tell you how cool this place was.  We got to watch a video about Henry Ford and the history of the Ford Motor Company.  Then they had this room where they did this laser type show to explain how the F-150 is made.  That was probably my favorite stop on the entire tour.  Finally we got to walk around the plant and actually see the assembly process in action.  The boys thought it was so cool to see the people actually piecing the trucks together.  No photography was allowed in the plant to protect the employees privacy.  But man, if you ever have a chance to tour that place it was a very cool experience.  If you don't have any interest in cars it might not be, but having 3 boys it was about the coolest place on Earth.

At the top of the Rouge plant they showed us how many of the roofs in the area have grass and other sustainable plants growing on them.  They used to have a huge cloud of pollution over the complex that was so toxic no life (birds and other animals) would come around the complex.  So they started investing in green initiatives to reverse the effects of so many years of industrialization.  Today there is no dark cloud, birds fly around the complex, trees grow, and natural life is back again. Pretty neat that they have been to continue their business of building cars and also help the environment at the same time. 

Looking out at the vast Rouge complex.

Then we headed back to the Ford Museum to see the evolution of the automobile and other forms of transportation.  Looking at the picture above, it's amazing to think how far we've come in such a short amount of time.  

Gavin and Xavier and Reid enjoyed exploring the hundreds of different car models they had on display.

The race cars were Gavin's favorite.  

I have to say I have a soft spot for red sports cars myself.  Something about them just says POWER!

After staying the first couple days at Jen's house we headed to Williamston to spend a couple days with John's family.  While we were with them we going to school at MSU.  First stop, the football stadium.  They are building some new stuff onto the stadium.......

Go Spartan Football!  This stadium has come along way since my first year at MSU.  It's bigger, nicer, and can compete with the reputation of the Big House in Ann Arbor.

SPARTY!  with some future Spartans next to him.

We also took a trip over to the MSU football building where the MSU Athletic Hall of Fame is found housing pictures of many exceptional MSU athletes  over its history and trophies won by MSU sports teams.

The boys thought this was sooooo cool!

I guess when you're a little boy and you watch these big boys on the fields playing the sport they love and living their dreams it's pretty cool to see stuff like this in person.  I watched my boys eyes grow big, their mouths drop in amazement, and their voices in awe of what some athletes are able to accomplish.  It definitely plants the seed that if you have a dream, don't wish for it, but work for it and you can make it possible!

The Megaphone Trophy that is shared between MSU and Notre Dame.

The third stop we made was to show the boys the very spot Tim proposed to me at.  The back of the Administration building right by the Red Cedar River.  The ducks and squirrels were walking right up to us.  No fear at all, most likely waiting for some bread to drop out of our fingers.  Gavin and Reid couldn't help but chase the ducks away.

Reid loved seeing the ducks up so close.

It's pretty cool to look back 13 years ago when it was just Tim and I, young and in love, and then look forward to the present with our three sons and say "Wow!  I get to share this with my kids!"  It was such a neat feeling to see the fruits of our love and labor all these years in the three handsome, healthy, happy, and smart little boys running around on the grass by the Red Cedar River.

Saying yes 13 years ago was the happiest day of my life that has continued to bring me more and more happinesses beyond anything I could have imagined on my own.  

We visited our wonderful friend Kim Beers who helped us when Tim started his MBA program with MSU.  She oversaw the MBA S3 program that I was a co-chair for during our time at MSU and she also is a wonderful resource for MBA students in general.  We still keep in touch with her and were happy to see her smiling face in person again this day.

Last, but not least, our favorite ice cream place of all time, Tasty Twist.  I ordered my very favorite Snickers Twister.  The boys ordered various flavors of ice cream cones and sprinkles.  And we shared another favorite place of the past.  The boys enjoyed our walk down memory lane today.  I like to think it was another day that brought us closer together as a family.

After our stomachs were full of ice cream goodness we headed up to Grandma and Grandpa's for the second half of our trip.

Reidster on Thanksgiving day!

Our traditional Black Friday shopping trip.  What started out as Joe and Amy's tradition.   Then became Joe, Amy, Tim and my tradition.  Has now turned into a Joe, Amy, Tim, me, Dave, Katie, James, and Kathryn tradition.  It's pretty much a grown ups day out and it has been so much fun to see our numbers grow over the years.  We have a blast chatting at breakfast, shopping for Christmas gifts, and just being together for the day.

After a long day of shopping it was time to pick up the kiddos from Grandma and Grandpa's house and head back to Joe and Amy's house for our last night in Michigan.  Poor Gavin had been having ear pain all day and Grandma's house.  By the time we were driving to Joe and Amy's the pain was so bad he couldn't bear it any more.  We made a pit stop at a CVS to pick up some pain reliever medicine to help with the pain.  But he just kept crying to the point that he threw up.  We tried to do whatever we could to relieve the pain but nothing seemed to help.  He couldn't sleep so neither did we.  The next morning we decided to postpone our trip back home another day so that we could take Gavin to a Redi Med.  It was a good thing we did because the doctor said Gavin had a double ear infection.  We got medicine promptly for him and by the next day he was in much better spirits to make the drive home.  

We left early Sunday morning and got to see the Sunrise as we headed back to Pennsylvania.  We were sad to leave as we are every year, but grateful for the blessing of spending another year in Michigan on Thanksgiving.