The Woolman Family

Ski Trip

2012-01-11T07:54:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we took the girls to Tree Tops to go skiing. This was Jenna's first trip and Taylor's second. Here is a picture pre-skiing. Jenna was a little whiny at first about how the boots felt, but as soon as we got out there in the snow she loved it.

Taylor getting her boots and ski's fitted.

Here we go. We joined Uncle Denny and Aunt Karen on the slopes.

It took Jenna a minute to figure out how to walk and turn so Uncle Denny was very helpful, especially since this was only my second time on ski's too!

Taylor remembered what to do very quickly. After only two trips up the tow rope with Aunt Karen she was ready for the chair lift. If you look close you can see her pink helmet in the chair to the bottom left. Denny and Karen were brave enough to take her and teach her to ski down the big hill.

I was able to take Jenna to the top of the bunny hill via the tow rope and help her ski down between my ski's. When we got 50 feet or so from the bottom I would let her go the rest of the way herself and Brad would catch her on the bottom.

Taylor did great. She did have a few falls where ski's went flying but she just laughed got right back up and went again. She went as long as we let her until she was so tired she could barely stand. Again, huge thanks to Uncle Denny and Aunt Karen who can keep up with her. I am far to cautious to go down as fast as her!

Sisters!

Family picture at the end of our skiing. Off to the tubing hill we go!

The best part is that Jenna used Brad as her personal chair lift. She would yell for her 'daddy chairlift' and he would carry her up the hill and then she would come down alone!

We had a great trip. Followed with a fun Lions game in the hotel lobby that we took over by rearranging furniture, ordering pizza and bringing our coolers. The girls had fun in the outdoor hot tub, pool and sauna too. We ended each night exhausted and we are excited for next year. Taylor is contemplating trying snowboarding next year!

Christmas

2012-01-11T07:12:00.000-08:00

On December 23rd we celebrated Christmas with Mimi and Papa and then we packed up and headed to Tennessee to spend the holiday with Uncle Timmy, Aunt Jaime and Kirsten.

Jenna patiently waiting to open her first present at Mimi and Papa's.

Taylor got a new suit case from Mimi and Papa, she loved it so much she packed it right up!

Taylor and Claire playing in their PJ's before bed.

We arrived in Tennessee Christmas Eve afternoon and the girls got dressed and had fun dancing around and singing Christmas carols.

Jenna and Kirsten.

Kirsten, Jenna and Taylor. It was tough to get three girls to stop moving long enough to get a picture.

Taylor, me and Kirsten.

Kirsten always has a nice pose for the camera!

Later that night Santa came to say hi. Taylor just loves Santa. It was so cute to see how excited she was for Christmas this year. Though Santa scared her at Uncle Timmy's by coming in the back door and she ran around the corner to get a drink and he was standing there and took her by complete surprise.

Gary and Dianne also joined us in TN for Christmas. Here is a picture of all of us Christmas Eve night.

Poor Jenna was sick Christmas morning and was not very excited. Finally by the night she was able to open some presents and enjoy her time with the family. Here is Jenna with her new Jeep for her American Girl, Julie.

Taylor loves horses and she got a stable and a horse to play with. Thank you Granny and Papa she loved it.

Playing with Papa.

After Christmas we took a trip into Pigeon Forge and went to the Dixie Stampede. The girls all had a great time. It was a fun Christmas Horse show with great food. It was interesting for all of us to eat all of our food with no silverware, even soup!

Waiting for the show to start. Taylor was especially excited to see the horses.

I was not very good at getting many family pictures this year. Before we headed to TN we also spent the night at Grandpa and Grandma's to celebrate Christmas. They spoiled us with good food, fun family time, frosting cookies and gifts. The girls were very lucky and they got a slide for their new swing set that we will be building in the spring. Or maybe we'll start soon with all this nice weather!!!

Overall, we had a great Christmas. We spent a lot of time with our family and friends, though at times it is hard because of all the family we try to fit into such a short time.

It was a very busy year. Taylor is in second grade and she plays as may sports as she can. So we are running around all the time. Especially Brad since he is coaching her! This year she has played soccer (indoor and outdoor), golf, basketball and next spring she wants to try tennis and softball too! Jenna is in preschool, but she gets to ride the bus with sissy every morning. She loves school and loves to learn. This year she also was able to do gymnastics, soccer and last week she started dance. Jenna really wants to be a cheerleader too!! Brad is trying to steer her away from that, so who knows where she'll find her love!! We are looking forward to another busy year. As I have moved back to first shift we are adjusting to new schedules for all of us.

December 2011

2012-01-11T06:38:00.000-08:00

Brad took the girls to a Christmas brunch at Atlas Valley Country Club with the O'Mara family. The girls had a great time having breakfast with our friends and seeing Santa.

Brad and his girls. I was in Chicago when Brad took the girls to see Santa and they had a great time with their dad.

Taylor and Grace at the Woolman Christmas.

Jenna, Lance, Grace and Taylor. It was so cute that they all ended up wearing matching clothes! Such great cousins.

Taylor and Jenna in front of our tree. Showing off their goofy selves.

Thank you Mimi for their super cute Christmas dresses!

In December we also had a great time celebrating Mimi's retirement. We joined the family for a surprise dinner to celebrate. Jenna took many pictures for me but unfortunately, none of them were bog worthy! But of course she managed to get a cute one of herself.

Me, Bryan, mom, Taylor and Grandma. We really had a great time with the family.

Laurie, mom, Steve, Theresa, Sue, Steve and Grandma.

We had a great time celebrating my mom's retirement. We all had a good time together. Congratulations mom. I want you to know that we really appreciate all of your help in the past month since your retirement. Our whole family really likes spending more time with you and you truly have saved my sanity with all your help!!

November 2011

2012-01-11T05:58:00.000-08:00

November was very exciting. Bryan graduated from the Policy Academy! Yay for him. Little brother is now a real police man. He is doing great and is really enjoying his work. Here are some pictures from his graduation.
Bryan, Donna and Claire

Bryan and dad

Bryan, Jenna and mom

After the graduation we took the kids to silver bells at the capitol for the parade, lighting of the tree and a tour of the capitol. The girls had so much fun!

Bryan, Donna and Claire joined us for a tour of the capitol. You can see behind Bryan he was carrying the girls coats for us and somewhere he dropped Jenna's and we had to go back and find it. Now we can look at the pictures and laugh because we can see right where he dropped it. ( Note the pink coat behind him on the floor!)

Fall/ Halloween 2011

2012-01-11T05:49:00.000-08:00

Jenna had fun playing in the leaves!

Taylor's last soccer game of the fall season was freezing! We have a great team and we are looking forward to the spring.

Grandpa and Grandma came over to carve pumpkins and go trunk or treating! Grandpa's working hard.

Taylor brought her friend Anna to trunk or treat with us.

Taylor was a black cat and she is showing off her cat pumpkin!

Best Birthday Ever!

2011-09-30T18:58:00.000-07:00

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Thank you to every one who traveled and came to spend the day with Taylor. We had a great birthday celebration. A special thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for hosting this awesome party.

We invited all of our family and special friends to come for a country birthday for Taylor's 7th birthday party. Taylor was surprised with horses. She loves horses and here she got to ride them around Grandpa's yard all day.

Cowgirls Taylor and Anna. We let Taylor pick one friend from school to bring along for her country party out at Grandpa and Grandma's.

And then we also were able to have Grandpa take us on a hay ride with his big green tractor! At the end of the ride we stopped and picked pumpkins! So much fun.

Cowgirl Jenna!

Jenna with Ranger.

Taylor with Ty.

Mimi and Papa came dressed up so cute for the party! This is a great picture!

Rides around Grandpa's yard. Erika and Rachel were also excited to ride and they took off for a ride through the fields. We are so glad that everyone was able to enjoy the horses and the outdoors. We had such a beautiful day.

When we were all done with rides the horses had to get cleaned up. The girls enjoyed doing this too!

The day was so fun. In the evening we stayed out and had a fun bomb fire. Thank you to our friends for coming and staying so late, we are glad to get to enjoy some of the fun out at Grandpa's!! Thanks to our family that stayed a little later, we had a great time sharing some stories around the campfire. We truly had a great time. And the big question from everyone is when are we doing this again!!!?????

Soccer

2011-09-30T18:41:00.000-07:00

Both girls started soccer for the year and are doing great.

Jenna is on a team with Sidney Benner, and while Sidney is not so sure about soccer Jenna is ready to go. The hard part is that there are boys on their team at this age and Jenna is the smallest one on the team so she really has to try hard to get to the ball. No goals yet, but hopefully she'll get one by the end of the season.

Taylor is looking so big this year. She really enjoys soccer and has a good group of girls on her team this year. Brad is coaching and is doing awesome as always as a coach.

Taylor is all over the field and works hard. This year is a big change for the girls because they are learning new positions and their is a goalie. This has presented some struggles for our team! They are working hard and have made some good friends.

First Day Of School

2011-09-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

Taylor is now in 2nd grade. I can't believe it!!

She also started second grade with no front teeth. It is so cute!

Jenna also started school this year and she gets to ride the bus with sissy. She is going to a pre-school program held at Teddy Thomson. She is so excited, and loves every minute of it. Her back pack is as big as she is!!

Poor mom, I was on a cruise and missed my babies first day of school.

Tennessee

2011-09-30T18:27:00.000-07:00

Labor Day weekend we took off and headed down to Tennessee to visit with a bunch of our out of town family.

One day we made a trip over to Chattanooga to visit with Andy and Sadi! We had a great time down town Chattanooga, I wish we had more time to see the city. We visited the aquarium and it was so much fun.

Taylor, Jenna and Kirsten. We had a great day bringing Kirsten along for this adventure. The aquarium was a really cool building and it overlooked the river.

Tons of cool fish. The girls got to pet small sharks and sting rays. There was also a butterfly garden, and we got to watch the large tank of all kinds of fish get fed.

Though I don't have many pictures to show the rest of the week but we had a great time with Uncle Timmy, Aunt Jaime and Kirsten. We had some fun on the boat. Jenna was Uncle Timmy's buddy for the weekend. We also had a great surprise and Sarah, Mark, Paige and Bella came to meet us too. We had 5 little girls together and they all played together non-stop. I am so glad we were able to make this trip and spend so much time with our family.

I don't have any pictures to show, but we also went to The Lost Sea. We took a tour down in a cave to a hidden 'sea' and we even were able to take a boat ride down in the cave. The kids really had a good time.

Thank you so much to Tim, Jaime, and Kirsten for letting us come and stay with you. We had a great time. And thank goodness the kids were great in car for the long rides! We are even thinking of heading back down for Christmas!

Tigers

2011-09-30T17:39:00.000-07:00

We took the kids to a Tigers game and we met Grandma and Grandpa Miller, Granny and Papa, and Uncle Jeff, Aunt Erika, Grace and Lance at the game.

The girls and their dad.

Family picture.

It was really a great time. The kids had a blast, especially cheering on the Tigers when they rallied in the 8th inning, until Taylor went to sit in her chair and it wasn't down and she fell and hit her head!

But they had a spoiled time. They got to ride the ferris wheel with both their grandparents. And Grandpa bought them both pink Tiger claws!

Thanks Gramps!

On the way out the girls were so tired they had to hitch a ride to the car!

Jenna is 4!!!

2011-09-30T17:14:00.000-07:00

My baby is 4!!!

Daddy brought her the usual birthday flowers and balloons to start her day!

Jenna had a very eventful birthday weekend. We took off the morning of her birthday and headed to Traverse City for 6 days of camping fun! Jenna really had several birthday parties. First we had her 'camping' party at the camp ground. Taco's for dinner followed by ice cream cake for dessert. Daddy ran to DQ after dinner because he couldn't let his baby girl have a birthday without a cake! Along with the O'Mara's at camp Granny and Papa came to join us in Traverse for Jenna's birthday.

Jenna also had a 'beach' party! Rachie made her a sand cake with four stick candles. Jenna loved every minute of this camping trip.

The next day we went to Torch Lake with Granny and Papa and we met Mimi and Papa there too. Such a beautiful lake. Our weather wasn't great so we packed up and headed up to Charlevoix to have lunch. We sat on the porch and watched the boats. Jenna also got Julie from Mimi. Jenna and Julie made a lot of friends at lunch that day.

The girls even enjoyed root beer floats for lunch.

The marina in Charlevoix.

The next day... We made a point to visit some of the most beautiful beaches in Michigan this summer. One of our favorites is in Glen Haven. It is a beautiful beach and we had our own little secluded beach party for the afternoon. We were very lucky not to get hit by storms.

The kids had a blast too!

The nest day we carried out Jenna's birthday and took the kids to Pirates Cove for some fun. Poor Jenna was not tall enough to enjoy any of the fun. The older kids rode the go carts, zip line and navigated the rope course. Despite not being able to participate Jenna still enjoyed our time there. Here is a picture of the O'Mara/ Woolman clan. Please keep in mind that we have been camping for 4 days at this point... so I am definitely not looking my best.

Taylor did great on the rope course. Her only problem is that sometimes she couldn't get the safety line to turn the corners. Blake, Bryce and Taylor all did great and made it up all three stories!

On our last day we went up to Elk Rapids to another one of our favorite up north towns/ beaches. After spending the day on the beach the girls and I went for a walk.

It was a great weekend of camping fun! We can't wait to get back up north.

Wonderful weekend in Muskegon

2011-07-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we took our first camping trip to Duck Creek Resort. It was wonderful, beautiful camping- minus the dirt! The campground had a nice pool, and we had beautiful weather to go with it.

Brad and Tay in the pool.

One side of the pool was a shallow kid pool and the other side was deeper and there was also a hot tub attached. The best part was all of the lounge chairs, and our first day there Rachel and I were lucky enough to have all the kids leave with their dad's and we were able to have some adult girl time in the sun.

Saturday we went to Duck Lake State Park. We were able to sit on the beach all day overlooking Lake Michigan. There was a shallow little canal that the kids could play in, sand dunes they could climb and fun waves in Lake Michigan too.

We were also lucky to have Grandpa and Grandma come meet us for the day. The girls were exhausted by the end of this day on the beach. Tay had some cuddle time with Grandpa.

The kids all climbed the dunes several times. I have no idea how because the sand was so hot it burnt my feet. But we did get some good pictures.

Our family on the dune.

Sunday we headed down to Grand Haven for the day. The kids still enjoyed every minute of the beach.

Silly girls, I couldn't get a serious pose all day!

We walked out the the pier and got to watch a ton of boats. What a great vacation with the O'Mara's.

The kids were all over the place, trying to look over the edge so we made them hold hands. Later when we walked back down we were watching all kids of people jump off the pier so we let them try too! I had to be the first one in to test the water and the depth!

After the beach we went downtown to try and find somewhere to eat. Along the way the girls stopped to add their name to the chalk board.

Of all the choices of places to eat we choose a small little restaurant overlooking the channel so we could watch the boats. What a great family vacation. I can't wait to go back.

Rachie and Jenna behond our camper. We had so much nice grassy play area around us.

Monday we went to Michigan's Adventure. It was Jenna, Brad's and the O'Mara's first time. We had a blast. Our first stop was the whale ride! Jenna LOVED it.

The monsters after riding their first rollar coaster, the Big Dipper!

Again they are all silly. Giving the peace sign.

After a long day at the park- tons of rides and water slides we stopped for ice cream.

Good bye Snoopy.

Blake, Max and Bryce.

Such a long exciting weekend. Jenna crashed out on the way home (with Lulu).

For some reason this picture was out of order, but Rachel was Tay's buddy this weekend and everyday they liked to plan what they were going to wear that was the same or similar. So they had jean shorts, tank tops, brades and hats.

This will be a hard trip to top.

Horseback Riding

2011-07-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Grandpa and Grandma took the girls horseback riding for their first time. Taylor has been wanting to go for quite some time now. We all know how much Taylor loves animals, and now she is begging Grandpa to get some horses. Below is a picture of Gramp's and his girls.

Some babies.

Jenna rode with Grandpa.

And Taylor got to ride by herself. Grandma was in the back and the picture taker! They rode through the woods.

Through the water.

What a great time. They girls can't wait until next time.

Wedding Pics and a few others

2011-07-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

Not sure when these were taken, but some cute pictures of the girls.

Josh and Kelsey were married last Saturday and my girls had the pleasure of being their flower girls. They were so pretty and did a great job.

Taylor and Jenna with Uncle Denny.

The little girls and the groomsmen.

The groom.

Kaelyn and the girls. Kaelyn is one of the girls favorite cousins! And they sure let her know it. They hang on her every chance they get, especially Jenna.

Hard at work. Jenna was all smiles while Taylor took her job very seriously.

Daddy and Tay.

Mimi and her girls after the ceremony waiting outside in the 90 degree heat to blow bubbles.

Mom and Jen.

Baby Claire being snuggled by her Great Aunt Annette.

Jenna the drama queen. Laying in the grass waiting for pictures.

Cousins.

Bryan and Donna. Even though Claire isn't happy about the photo op, mom and dad still look great!

July 4th Weekend in Elk Rapids

2011-07-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

Over the 4th we took a trip to Elk Rapids. This is the second year we have went up for the 4th and we love it! We spend every day on the beach. Jenna and Lydia on Lake Michigan.

Taylor and Grace floating on their rafts.

Most of the kids in the pool at the camp site. At times it was crazy, but the kids all had a blast together. Woolman girls, Beamer girls, Smith girls, Bells, Wallbergs and Linsley's!

Team Davison getting ready for the Olympics. Watch out next year we are ready!

Brad and Tay starting the pizza box race.

Dave and Jenni preparing to start the sack races.

Dave got the win for largest bubble, with a measurement of 6 inches.

Tug of war. The other teams thought we had an advantage with too many men, but we got our butt kicked, it might have been the 4 little girls.

Sunday night we took the kids to Shanty Creek to enjoy the fireworks. Before the fireworks the girls played in the jump houses, danced to live music and enjoyed a BBQ. Tay and Grace on the top of the bounce house slide. All of the kids LOVED the fireworks, we were so close, they were right above us.

After the beach on the 4th Jenni and I took the girls for ice cream in town. What a cute group of girls!

While the guys golfed us girls made dinner and started a fire for the kids. We had smores and did sparklers at the camp on the 4th.

Gus, Jenna, Autumn and Colton waiting for smores.

We just love Honcho Rest and look forward to spending a lot more time there if we can! Thank you for everything last weekend. Even the unexpected repair help.

May

2011-07-07T18:13:00.000-07:00

Slightly out of order, because for some reason May didn't upload.

We had our first camping trip to Lake Port over memorial weekend. We camped with the O'Mara's, Gist's, and Dipzinski's. Taylor took all of my pictures for me, here is Blake and Bryce.

Jenna was so excited to camp with her friends for a change. Here is Lilah, Jen and Brooklyn.

And Best of All for May is that we welcomed my brothers first baby girl. Baby Claire was born on May 6th and shares her birthday with many special people!

Jenna loves baby Claire Hannah.

Mimi and her girls.

June

2011-07-06T18:52:00.000-07:00

So here is a long string of posts, as I am playing catchup for quite some time of no postings .

Another day at the pool with these two beauties! Only a couple weeks into summer break and we are staying busy. Off to Elf Rapids camping this weekend.

Katie's baby shower. These girls had a blast. Jenna can't wait to have Kaelyn and Eleanor over to play.

Last soccer game. What a fun first season, we are already looking forward to next year.
The Woolman clan together again. It was great to have Aunt Jaime and Kirsten home for a week.Three munchkins in the pool.Taylor and her best friend Anna. The first week after school was out we already had to have 2 play dates. A little timid at milking the cow.

Taylor loved the bunnies. She is begging to get one.

Tay was dying to ride the horse.

Jenna and I met Jaime and Kirsten for a picnic at the Splash pad while they were home. It was such a beautiful day I was sad to leave and go to work.

Jenna and Kirsten at the splash pad!Taylor started her golf lessons this summer and is doing great. Can't wait to hit the course as a family.

Katie and I at the beginning of the night! My first time golfing in almost 10 years and only my third time ever.

Brad and I had a lot of fun, I am excited to go again. Gonna have to get some clubs for myself.

Jenna by the pool being goofy and stealing my sun glasses.Taylor just relaxing, she is getting too old.

April

2011-07-06T18:51:00.001-07:00

In April we celebrated Donna's baby shower. What a beautiful cake- not exactly what was ordered but we'll take it! I was really bad though and didn't get my camera out the rest of the shower.

Easter weekend we had a fun play date with Kirsten and was able to have her over to play even had some nice weather so we got to play outside! Jenna and Kirsten just hangin out with mom/ Aunt Monica getting some sun.

Cute Taylor.

March

2011-07-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

In March Jenna ended her winter gymnastics class. She had a ball and we are looking forward to doing it again this winter.

I actually started running in March during the one nice week that we had. It was a rough start, especially since I have never ran before. Taylor REALLY wants to run with me, so we have tried it a few times- needless to say I don't run too far.

We also spent a day dress shopping for Josh and Kelsey's wedding. The girls are both in the wedding and they had a lot of fun with the whole shopping trip focused on them!

Babies

2011-02-27T15:32:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrated Mike and Lindsey's ( my step-brother and his wife) first babies with a 'meet the babies' Baby Shower. They recently had twins, a boy and a girl, so we celebrated with a pink and blue shower. Great food, fun desserts and some fun family time.

The girls were the first ones to hold the babies. The minute they walked in the door. Taylor is holding Blaine Michael and Jenna is holding Tessa Brook. They are four weeks old and about 7 lbs now. They seem small to us, but they were born a short month ago at just over 5 lbs. So sweet and tiny.

The girls passed out the presents to Mike and Lindsey to open. Mike got all of Blaine's and Lindsey got all of Tessa's to open.

And of course I had some baby snuggle time too! Me and Blaine.

Baby Tessa and me!

Overall it was a great shower. We all had a very nice time and it was very exciting to meet the newest Wiltshires for the first time. Thanks Mike and Lindsey for sharing those sweet babies with us for the day.

Oh yeah, and the girls also were very excited to see Boots (Taylor even took some pictures of him) Grandma and Grandpa's kitty cat! Booter Man is one the main reasons the girls are always excited to go play with Gram and Gramps! We spent last night with them and I could still barely get the girls in the car today, they wanted to stay.

Winter Fun

2011-02-13T18:06:00.000-08:00

A little update on some of the fun things we have done this winter. At the end of January we took the kids and went with the O'Mara's to splash village in Frankenmuth for a day at the water park for their Christmas present to each other. The kids had a great time. Tay and Blake were so big running all over and going down the water slides millions of times! Waiting for the 'big bucket' to fall.

Little Bean had a great time too. She even snuck up to the top of the tower and came down the water slide by herself one time... it was quite funny, she started out on her but and spun around and over and ended up coming down face first on her belly. She thought it was so funny!

We are meeting Uncle Tim, Aunt Jaime and Kirsten at Great Wolf in April, the kids can't wait.

Snow Day. We got 10 inches in one day. It was so deep Jenna couldn't even walk in the snow, but we got two snow days out of that storm.

Jen tried out the Barbie Jeep but it didn't make it far. I guess we need some chains on those tires.

Brad and I joined Tim and Rachel out for Tim's birthday. We met at the melting pot, after a treacherous drive, for the BEST dinner. It was a great night with our best friends.

This weekend we took the girls ice skating at the Dipzinski's ice rink. We had so much fun. Taylor did great and took right off. Tay had no fear, she fell several times but jumped right up and kept going. Jenna was a little slower, but still had a great time.

The kids had so much fun that we went back over the next day for round two. It was getting warm out so the ice was a little soft but it made it easy for Jenna to skate on her own.

Jenna and Brooklyn building a snowman.

Thanks Dipzinski's for inviting us over we had so much fun. We can't wait until next year. The girls will be skating fools next year.

Busy Day

2011-02-12T17:53:00.001-08:00

Taylor had another basketball game this afternoon. Nice shot Tay, you can barely see her behind all the kids.

Getting set for another shot.

Taylor and Chloe on the bench.

Good Game Little Celtics!

After her game we went over to the Dipzinski's to try a little ice skating. Taylor did great! She had a lot of falls but was not scared at all. She popped right up and kept going. She was the last one to take her skates off, and then she even helped Jared re-groom the ice when we were done. She even asked if she could stay the night and skate again tomorrow!!! So, I guess we'll be headed back tomorrow. Too bad we didn't know how much she liked to skate and now winter is almost over and the ice will soon be melting.

Basketball

2011-01-26T06:33:00.001-08:00

Taylor started playing Upwards basketball this winter and she had her first game Saturday. We had so much fun. They get to run out on the court through a lit up smoke tunnel to start the game. Each child is introduced individually.

Taylor is number 11. Guarding her opponent.

Getting a little sassy towards the end of the game.

She did really good for her first game. She really got into it, even made a few baskets. Occasionally we even caught her skipping down the court! :)

Brad is coaching and has a very nice team. He and Tay are having a great time together.

Our First Ski Trip

2011-01-10T05:29:00.000-08:00

This past weekend Brad and I took Taylor up to Tree Tops for our first ski trip. Taylor and I have never been skiing and Brad only has once. So we joined Uncle Denny and Aunt Karen for the firefighters weekend.

Here is Taylor before her class, all dressed up!
And here I am just starting out. I took a one hour class to learn some basics. I was a good thing. I learned how to turn, how to stop and how to use both the tow rope and the chair lift. I only fell once! And I don't think it was really my fault. I had only been on ski's for about 15mins with one quick run down the bunny hill and then I had to get off the chair lift and at the top was a huge group of people and I had no were to go! But, I am paying for it because my leg still hurts! But after that I did much better. Still only went down one hill, but several times off the chair lift with no more falls! I am still nervous but I can't wait to try again.

Taylor learned pretty quick. By the end of class she was taking the tow rope to the top and coming down by herself. She doesn't turn much, pretty much comes straight down, but she can stop. They said she wasn't quite ready for the chair lift yet, maybe next time. I wish I was better so I could help her.

Tay during her class, with her instructor Joann.

She did have few falls too! I think the first thing they teach the kids is how to get up.

Mom and Tay fixing gloves so we can go down together.

After our ski lessons we went back to our room for some lunch, and a nap for most of us. Except Taylor, she hung out with Kelsey and made her look at all 300 pictures on our camera.

We also had a few trips down to the indoor/outdoor pool. Taylor thought this was pretty cool.

Brrr.

Later in the afternoon we went to the tubing hill. Here we are getting ready to go.

Getting the tubes hooked together.

Taylor and Denny waiting for us to come us the tow line. Taylor loved tubing, she could have done it all day.

Brad, Bailey and I coming up the tow line!

Here we go again.

Jeez, we really did a lot in one day. Looking back at the pictures I felt like the day went on forever. After tubing we stopped by the jumps to watch Kris and Josh do some tricks, and falls!

WOW, what a fun weekend. We were a little sad to leave Jenna at home, but she spent the weekend sledding and riding the snowmobile with Papa. Maybe next time she can learn too.

New Years Wedding Bash!

2011-01-02T11:29:00.000-08:00

This year along with Tim & Rachel, Mike & Jill we hosted our first New Years Party. We rented out the hall at Copper Ridge Golf Course and had 93 guests. The theme was a wedding recepton, and we had seven or eight of us in our weddigs dresses!!!!!!

Our tables were decorated with several party favors. The cake!

Me and Rachel

Bryan, Sarah and Donna

Me and my brother

Rachel, Erika and me!This Christmas tree was right inside the door, so we got almost everyone's pics when they came in!

Jeff and Erika.

Dianne and Gary

Mom and Jeff

Me and my mom. Happy New Year!

We had such a great time, already talking about next year!

Merry Christmas

2011-01-02T08:09:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas
We had a very busy yet fun Christmas vacation. I can't believe that we are back to school tomorrow!A look before the mess. Drake make him self right at home, makes it look like we got a new dog for Christmas.

Jenna showing off her new Zhu Zhu pets. She made me wait to take the picture until they were posed.
Taylor showing her new comfy outfit.

Yeah Presents!!!

Taylor got a Tiger tree face from Dad!

Jenna got Thomas the Train.

The new basketball playing Taylor got a pistons Jersey.

After we had a nice relaxing morning at home we went over to Granny and Papa's house for some sledding/ snowmobiling and more Christmas celebration.

Jenna getting ready for a ride with Papa.

Aunt Jaime and Kirsten, after destroying her tights during her nap.

Taylor with her pile of presents!

Thanks to everyone for all of the wonderful gifts!

Christmas Eve

2011-01-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

We spent Christmas Eve at Mimi and Papa's house.
Jenna Bean and Daddy Aunt Donna, Taylor and Uncle Bryan.

Jenna in her pretty pink dress from Aunt Peggy. Taylor in pink!

Thank you Mimi and Papa for all of our great gifts!

Lance Christmas Party

2011-01-02T07:44:00.000-08:00

Every year on December 23rd the Lance family gets together to celebrate the family Christmas and Great Granny's birthday. This year after the party we were able to bring Kirsten home for a sleep over and the girls had a great time! We were so happy to spend some time with her over the holidays.

Our family with Santa!

Erika, Grace, Lance and Jeff with Santa. Jenna finally decided to start loving on Santa by the end of the visit. This is definitely a first for her.

Tay and Santa

Kirsten and Santa Jenna getting her gift from Santa

And Rudolph!

Maier Family Christmas Party

2011-01-02T07:35:00.000-08:00

We started out the Christmas season with our first party in Williamston Dec 18th!

Grandma Mary with Taylor and Jenna!

Jenna and Eleanor painting, or making a mess!
Bryan and Donna

Me and Brad

Me and Grandma

Playing BINGO with the family! Donna, Jenna, Mimi, Taylor and Aunt Laurie!

Snow Day

2010-12-14T06:24:00.001-08:00

All bundled up. The girls went out to play in the freezing cold. Jenna didn't last too long, but Taylor played and played.
Lots of snow!

Just relaxing watching the news on the laptop!! Wow, how old does she think she is???

Jenna singing S-A-N-T-A, so cute.

Chicago

2010-12-13T11:15:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was our annual girls shopping trip to Chicago!
Jaime and I waiting for the Train to head down town for the day. Here come the train.

Down town lit up at night!

We had a great time, did lots of shopping! It was a little treacherous driving home, but we all made it safe and sound! Poor Jaime was trapped in airports all day and finally made it back to Knoxville just before midnight!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-13T11:06:00.000-08:00

Last week we took the girls to see Santa at Bronners, he was a great Santa and gave Jenna some time to warm up, and also took the time to talk to Taylor about being a good sister and not fighting, and being a good daughter and helping keep her room clean! WOW, she really thought that he had been watching.

Then we came home and relaxed in front of the tree in our Christmas PJ's!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-03T10:44:00.000-07:00

My little cowgirl and her dog! Dr. Woolman

Getting ready to head out for some trick or treating.

All of our friends, leaving Uncle Jeff and Aunt Erika's.

Mom and Jen getting cold, thank goodness for the hot cider!

All cleaned up and enjoying a sucker and trying to pick out what she wants for Christmas!

Cutest kids ever!!

2010-10-25T19:04:00.001-07:00

Jenna has become quite the little bike rider lately. Everyday she asks to go to the park to ride her bike! Today we met Rachel and Max at the park, aren't these the two cutest kiddo's ever! Max wasn't so sure about Jen at first, but then he was following her everywhere trying to be a big boy and sit on the bricks with her.

She looks too big!

Sweet baby!

Wow, I just can't get over how big she looked today, such a sweet girl.

Jenna and I are really having some good times together now that I am home every morning with her. Though I am still try to adjust to the second shift deal it seems to be working out okay.

One last thought to wrap up these 'make up' posts.....

Thanks Dad and Nancy for a great weekend..
We went and spent the weekend at my dads, but I didn't get any pics.

I really need to get a new pocket camera because we had a great time with Dad and Nancy this weekend, but I didn't take my 'big' camera. We really had a great time, the forecast wasn't good but we ended up having beautiful weather. We went for walks, flew kites, went for ice cream, rode bikes and visited all of dad and Nancy's 'hunting houses'. Taylor was really into checking out the deer blinds and she said that her and Grandpa saw a deer but forgot the gun!! I guess I am going to have to send her hunting soon, watch out Grandpa I am not sure she could keep quite long enough to even sit down.

Soccer

2010-10-25T18:47:00.000-07:00

Thank you Uncle Jeff and Aunt Erika for being great coaches, we are so glad we were able to be on your team.

Look at that little cutie!

Somehow our chairs became the bench every week, and Jenna was the mascot, all of the little girls wanted to play with her too.

We ended our soccer season the first weekend of October, and all of the girls had a great time. Of course they all wish they could play the whole game. Let me tell you, I think some of the parents had a good time too. I had no idea how much fun it is to watch your child play a sport and watch them learn and constantly get better. Taylor was quite the little runner on her team and scored a few goals! But the best part is she was so cute in her uniform! Now we are waiting for basketball to start!

Happy Birthday Taylor

2010-10-25T18:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, well this is only a little late!! My baby is SIX!!! Each year one of her Grandma's have made her birthday cake. This year she asked Granny very secretly for a special cake, and she wouldn't tell me what it was until her birthday..... this is her Wedding cake! I just love this little girl, she is getting so big, with a great big sentimental loving heart! So first we celebrated at home with family!

Time for cake.....

and presents......

Loved her books! I can't believe how well she can read, and it just gets better everyday. She got a Marley book, and just loved it because Marley and Me is her favorite movie!

And then, on her actual birthday we picked her up from school and surprised her with a trip to Comerica Park to see the Tigers!

This was Jenna's first game, and she loved it. Watched everything, clapped for every play, and of course we took a couple of rides on the carousel and Ferris wheel!
We had great seats! Right on the field, only thing was we really had to pay close attention because several foul balls came our way.
Daddy and Tay!
And finally, we ended the week with having a few girl friends over!

Soccer

2010-09-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

Taylor had her first soccer game today, and she had so much fun! Here she is looking super cute in her uniform. A little instruction from Aunt Erika before the game.

A quick pep talk before the game starts.

Jenna watching Tay's game.

At first she acted a little nervous to get in the game.

But then she got right into it.

She even got dad's 'number' so she can be number 3 just like him.

Grace and Taylor both had a ball. They were running with smiles on their faces the whole game.

Grace watch the ball not us silly!

We all really had a good time at their first game. The weather was perfect, though it started raining as soon as we got in the car to leave. We are going to hope for another great game tomorrow!!

Labor Day, School and Cool New Skirts!

2010-09-08T16:50:00.000-07:00

For our last weekend of summer break we went up to Mackinaw City and spent the weekend with my mom and brother. It was cool weather, but we still had a fun time together.

Brad and Jenna down by the water looking out to the bridge. Jenna was bummed she couldn't see the bridge lit up all day long.
My big 1st Grader! She was so excited and had a great 1st day at her new school, Gates Elementary.

When she got home she was talking a mile a minute(whats new really)... mostly about the food in the cafeteria! But she also said the math was really easy!

And tomorrow is picture day so we tried on our cool new skirts from Rachie. I LOVE them, you need to check them out. Made by Robin at http://www.wearingmamaout.blogspot.com.

Traverse City

2010-08-17T17:44:00.000-07:00

We had a great vacation in Traverse City this past week. Now we are back to our regular schedule, and getting ready to adjust to another new schedule. I have started a new job this week as a shift manager for L&D and PP. So I have been working in this role for only 2 days but I already LOVE it. I think it is going to be a great change for the better career wise.

Now I have finally found a few minutes to it down and blog as well as edit a few family pictures, all while enjoying a nice glass of wine ( or 2)!!

Beautiful sunset on the beach at the state park in Traverse. We watched the sun set as we took family pictures!

Sleeping Bear Dunes

The kiddos on our last night in Traverse. Taylor, Bryce, Blake and Jenna

My girls with their attitudes! It is so hard to get good pictures of these too goofs! My Family :)

Taylor and Brad on the Lake Michigan look out from on top of the dunes. It was so beautiful, and HOT.

The kids after they climbed the dune. Notice Taylors missing right bottom front tooth. She lost her first tooth right before we left for the dunes! And the next one will be coming out any moment. She will be starting first grade with no bottom teeth!

Again another great camping trip with the O'Mara's. We are sad to see summer start winding down. I can't believe how soon school will start and Tay will be be in first grade and Jenna will start pre-school!

Happy Birthday Jenna!

2010-08-07T03:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday my little Bean. I can't believe that you are three already, where did the time go?

Daddy and Jen with her rose.

Having fun at her party, trying the hula hoop, every one tried including the adults.
Suddenly 3 and we have the starting of some attitude to prove it! ugh oh, I am not sure what to do with 2 drama queens!

Presents, presents, presents! Thank you so much for all of her special gifts. They were all prefect!

Jenna's special cake from Granny. It is a swimming pool on top with bears floating on rafts.

Showing off in her new Barbie Jeep. She has been waking up and wanting a ride so yesterday she was out in her PJ's riding while daddy was doing yard work. But as you can see she would rather be chauffeured around, Thanks Bryce!

We love you sooooo much Jenna. Keep being as sweet as you always are! LOVE YOU

Summer Fun

2010-07-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun day. We started this morning by picking up our niece Kirsten who is in town for the weekend and we took all of the kids to the zoo! Brad and his girls!

Okay yes, I bought them all matching outfits to wear! (I blame it on my BFF Rachel, her kids are always matchey or at least coordinated)

Me and the girls. I really had a great time spending time with all the girls and a little extra bonding time with Kirsten!

After the Zoo we were so hot we headed back to the pool, and had Rachel and Max over too!

Taylor and Granny had some fun relaxing time together... I am sure Tay really just talked her ear off the whole time!

Taylor has really become a little fish. She is swimming all over the place, jumping off the diving board and starting to learn how to dive. She even helped Kirsten swim a little.

And we ended the evening with a visit from Grace and Lance. All the kids swam and played, and ate, and had pictures and then ended with some special ice cream treats! I love it that all the cousins are such close friends.

And finally I am home and the kids are in bed!! I had such an amazing day and ended it with a sleep over from cute little Kirsten. I am so excited at being able to spend some good time with her this weekend. We just live too far, and I needed to spoil her just a bit, just like my favorite Aunt's always did for me!

Woolman Kids

2010-07-10T18:34:00.000-07:00

Tonight, once again, we tried to get all 5 Woolman Grand Kids together for some pictures in the outfits Granny got them. We had a lot of fun, but man is it hard to get 5 kids to stop moving and give cute smiles.
Cute Jenna.

Jenna, Taylor, Lance, Grace and Kirsten These 3 always have cute pictures. Grace is so beautiful!

Elk Rapids

2010-07-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

Our home for our short visit at Honcho Rest. Thanks Don for a fun weekend, we can't wait until next year! All the girls... Aubrey, Lydia, Autumn, Taylor, Grace and Jenna.

Beamer and Woolman Girls. I love this picture (and this beach).

Striking a pose!
Happy 4th of July. Pancake breakfast. Jenna headed off for a swim.

Jenna found a pine cone on the beach as all the other kids picked up shells. Another fun weekend of camping down! I can't believe it is July already, where is summer going?

Catching Up

2010-06-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

Okay, Here is my quick attempt to post some updated pictures of the past month! A couple weeks ago we rescued a baby bunny from the dogs in the back yard! It was super cute, but the girls wanted to keep it. So we played for a few minutes before we let him go outside our fence. Then to our camping trips:
Here is Jenna in Lake Port taking baby Max for a stroller ride! She really tries to be a big girl.

Cute Max. I do have to say he is looking quite different this summer as his hair keeps getting lighter and lighter. Sorry Rach, its true.

A bunch of mess kids! We had a fun trip with the O'Mara's and Grove's.

Here is quick peak at Camp O'Mara / Woolman. It looks like a zoo with all the chairs, bikes and toys!

Our new camper this year. We LOVE it! And of course the dogs love it too, because they now can camp with us everywhere we go!

Granny got the girls some cute new PJ's. They were so excited for me to take their pictures, can't you tell.

And Taylor's last day of school as a kindergartner! My baby is officially a first grader. Awwww

But after her last day of school we picked her up and headed down to OH to meet Tim, Jaime and Kirsten half way for another camping trip.

Jenna and Kirsten on the beach. Even though Kirsten is a year younger she is nearly as tall as Jen already.

Grace and Taylor at the pool. It was so hot we were grateful for the Lodge where Gary and Dianne stayed. It had a huge nice pool, kiddie pool and even better, an outside bar!

Daddy and Jen taking a rest.

The pool at the Lodge.

A view of the lake from the Lodge. It really was a beautiful state park. Even had a golf course for the guys, except the bugs were so bad that week they could barely even stand to golf.

Taylor drying off after a swim.

And finally, my new obsession of the week. Hair bows. I have been meaning to try this since I saw them at a mom to mom sale last year. I love them, not sure why I didn't make these sooner. Of course Brad is making fun of my 'project of the week'. I am always trying something new!

After a rainy day I decided why not let the girls dance in the rain for a bit. Actually, this raining Sunday was a great relaxing day. We are so busy this summer, gone every weekend, so we rested up for our next trip up north for the 4th!

Memorial Camping Trip

2010-06-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

We had a great trip with the O'Mara's to Groveland Oaks this past weekend. We couldn't have asked for nicer weather. Cute little Max even had fun despite not feeling well. Silly little Jenna! I had to take her picture too!

The kids were so excited for the ice cream truck, I think the adults were too!

Jenna had a huge popsicle. And the other kids made a nice mess of their ice cream treats. But we let them splurge since we were deep frying pickles, mushrooms, broccoli, fish and fries for us! Rachel and I should let the guys cook more often.

Super cute Bryce snuck in a picture too!

We have already had so much fun camping in our new camper and the summer is only just starting!

Kindergarden is ending!

2010-05-26T10:53:00.000-07:00

Taylor had her music program at school today. She has been practicing for weeks. Even though you can't tell in this picture she sang every word and smiled the whole time. I had terrible seats with too many big heads in front of me for any great pictures. After the show we went to Taylor's class room for a snack. Jenna stuck to Taylor like glue!

We had a lot of fun and we will miss Thomson! Here is a picture of Taylor and Mrs. DeLong. (The helper teacher, is what Tay calls her)

And Mrs. Swailes.

Taylor has really done great. With only a few more days of school left, Taylor will be a 1st grader!

Cocoa Beach

2010-04-30T05:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we took a short drive over to Cocoa Beach and had a wonderful time. We are actually thinking about going back today. I can't believe that today is our last full day :(
The girls had a great time on the beach just running and playing. It was a nice change from sitting in the stroller and waiting in lines!
Jenna testing out the waters with dad.

Taylor on a shell hunt.

Out for a walk.

This is kinda far away, but Taylor is soaked.... this is right after a wave took her down. It scared her despite the water only at our knees! Jenna on the other had kept trying to get down in the water telling me she didn't need any help. (The waves were well over her head!) She has come to love the water this year and has no fear. In the pool at the hotel she REALLY thinks she can swim and doesn't need swimmies. She doesn't even care if she goes under. Taylor is working hard at becoming a better/stronger swimmer too.

See you all soon, we have sooo many pictures to share.

Animal Kingdom

2010-04-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

So, I am making up for some lost time... after not blogging for so long I am sharing each step of our trip with you. We are having such a good time. We are sad to say our time is almost over. But since I do have time at night I am trying to blog now, because I know when we return home I will never have time.

Today we visited Animal Kingdom (after some debate this morning). We were unsure of which park to visit today, but I think we made a good choice. We really liked AK.

Here is a picture of Brad and the girls. Behind him is where the monkeys were playing. Jenna was asking all day to see some monkeys! The girls and I in front of the tree of life. It is a huge tree with several carvings of all different animals.

We watched a show, It's tough to be a bug, we saw Nemo, a musical, (Brad says he has no desire to ever see another musical!) and rode a few rides. He is a picture of the roller coaster Taylor went on twice. Now... she has been on several rides and small coasters at Michigan Adventure and Magic Kingdom, but this was her first REAL one. And after riding twice (once with me and once with Brad) she had enough. She was clinging to me at the end.

We stopped for a snack in shade!

FINALLY, we found a ride for Jenna. She was excited for once she didn't have to sit this one out. (I still did though, I am not a fan of spinning rides)

And then on the way out we stopped in the bone yard at the play scape to let the kids run and play for a bit.

We have had such a good time exploring all the parks we really wish we had more time (and money) to keep going! I already know I am going to want to come back and see more. Plus I love the weather. I don't feel like I am getting much of a tan though!!

Magic Kingdom

2010-04-27T06:26:00.000-07:00

We spent a very long day at Magic Kingdom yesterday. We arrived to the park at 7:45 am for a Princess Breakfast and left at 10:30 after fireworks. We had such a fun day.

The first princess we got to meet was Snow White, and she was Jenna's favorite. Each princess came to our table and individually greeted each girl and stayed for pictures and autographs.

This was definitely worth the money for the girls experience! Snow White and Sleeping Beauty both gave Jenna lots of kisses, leaving them on her forehead!

Taylor looked so pretty in her Belle dress. I think the girls had the best dresses there! (Thanks Aunt Jaime)

Jenna posing for me while daddy and Tay were on space mountain. We didn't think Tay was tall enough, but it turns out she is 45 inches and was able to ride all the coasters. And she had so much fun. SHe couldn't wait to take me on them next. The Fast Passes and Speed passes worked great we barely waited in any lines.

Our one long wait was to see Mickey and Minnie.

We stole a few quiet minutes in the shade after letting the girls pick a prize with their gift cards from Mimi. Jenna also got a new shirt. She made a mess early in the day (Don't let your kid wear a white tank top and eat chocolate ice cream!).

Getting ready for spectromagic parade at night. It was a long day, but we had a great time with the girls. We are taking a relaxing day at the resort today and then to Animal Kingdom tomorrow!

Welcome to Disney

2010-04-25T16:21:00.001-07:00

We started our day way to early, 6:30am. So by the time we watched a few tunes and had breakfast we were still nearly the first ones at the pool. So we visited a few pool and the beach.

Outside the Lego store. (Jenna still crabby after falling asleep in the car on the way there).

Outside the Disney store, Little miss Hollywood!

Jenna's first excitement of the day, Mickey and Minnie!

We spent the afternoon at Downtown Disney.

The girls took a mini-train ride. Notice big sister Taylor has her arm around her little sissy!

We had an early dinner at T-Rex. Jenna was a little nervous at first, but had fun once we were there.

Then we came home and took a bike ride around our resort... It was A LOT more work than you think. 30 minutes and we were done!

A quick boat ride across the lake and we headed home for an early night. Tomorrow is the big day, bright and early, at Magic Kingdom.

Happy St. Patricks Day

2010-03-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

After school I wanted to get a few pictures of the girls because they looked so cute in their 'green' clothes, but they were not very cooperative! I did actually get Jenna to look at me for a couple.

Not the best back ground, but they actually sat together here.

Jenna spent more time running from the camera, and Tay tried to be good, but was quickly bored.

They seem to be getting to big lately saying the funniest things. I really wish I would write more of them down when they say them. Just tonight I asked Jenna which book she wanted before bed and it is usually Brown Bear, Colors or Passie book, but tonight she says Dr. Seuss!

We have been working with Taylor on her reading (thanks to Blake who loaned us his hooked on phonics book) and she has been doing so good. Tonight especially it is like it finally clicked, she flew through 3 books and now only has one left. Of course it is still a challenge sometimes to get her to sit down and focus enough to actually even attempt to learn. But... I told her is she read 28 book then we would work on getting her a Nintendo DS. She has been asking for one since last summer. Well now she is flying right along... I may have to call in some reinforcements.... (AKA Grandma, Grandpa, Mimi, Papa, Granny and Papa ) So I think I am going to change and offer her a dollar for every book she reads!

Winter Fun and some random fun!

2010-03-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

Papa and Daddy helped the girls make a big snowman.

Papa and Tay on the snowmobile

Beautiful woods in the snow.

Daddy and Jenna took a little spin on the four wheeler.

The girls dressed Chase up with a little princess crown.

We took the girls to the RV show a few weeks ago to look at some campers.

Sledding at home.

Getting ready to shovel the driveway!

First time bundled up together for the winter.

Sweet little Jenna Bean!

Kindergarden Field Trip

2010-03-07T19:26:00.000-08:00

Last week I joined Taylor on a field trip and spent the morning bowling with a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds. Here is Tay with her friend Sarah.

Taylor and Lydia.

Glow bowling!

Miss You Bumpa

2010-02-26T18:04:00.001-08:00

Grandma Mary, Jenna, Taylor and Bumpa late 2007.

Christmas at Uncle Steve's house

Grandma Mary, Brad, Me and Bumpa *April 13, 2002*

We miss you so much Bumpa.

Basement Project

2010-01-31T17:32:00.000-08:00

Yeah, We are finally done with our big project. We started the weekend after Christmas and we are done, well mostly. Still a few finishing touches to be done. But here are our pictures of our work.
1) Big nasty, dark, dirty basement. Framing done. Tons of electrical work cleaned up (Thanks Dad for all your time)

2) Drywall up.

3) After finishing drywall and several days of painting. Doors are up and carpet is being installed. (Thanks Gary/Papa and Jeff)

And just a little P.S. I am tired of painting. My wonderful dad made all our trim, but I had to prime and paint it!

4) Tada. We are done. The kids have a great playroom. We have great storage areas all cleaned up and organized. Best of all we have our family room back!

Its seems like a lot of work for one main room. But we have a huge closet, a neat storage area and I have a laundry room!

Mr. Max is 3 months old

2010-01-10T16:55:00.000-08:00

So cute. I can't believe Max is 3 months old already. And he was so good for his pictures there are tons of great shots!

Christmas Pics

2009-12-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas Taylor and Jenna.
Here are a few pictures from Christmas Day with the girls. I don't have a ton of good pictures because I got a new little video camera and I did mostly video.

Taylor got a new big bike! It looks as big as her in the picture, but by spring she will be riding away on the 20inch bike, a big difference from starting last year on the little 12 inch bike.

Jenna was all smiles for the camera, and here are a few pics just for fun. Both girls loved the new playhouse, it is sooo cute!

Jenna showing off her new toothbrush.

Granny and Papa came over and brought us some sticky buns, yummm!

And Christmas night we headed over to Granny and Papa's to celebrate with the rest of the family. Lance looked so cute in his new sweatshirt, and I don't think he ever put down his flashlight!

Taylor and Grace showed off their new princess dresses. Thank you Aunt Jaime!

I finally had a little cuddle time with Kirsten.

Tay in her new PJ's getting ready to head home.

Me and Grace and Lance.

We had a great Christmas, though it would have been nice to have snow instead of rain! We got several great gifts and enjoyed all of our family time.

Its almost Christmas

2009-12-20T18:03:00.000-08:00

On Thursday after work we took the girls to see Santa at great lakes crossing. Here is Tay waiting to see Santa. Jenna waiting in line, finishing her snacks.

Playing in the snow.

And then on Saturday we had the Maier family Christmas. I didn't really take many pictures, but I did manage to get one of Jenna's super cute dress.

After the Maier party the girls and I came home and worked on a gingerbread house. Again Jenna enjoyed a lot of the candy.

Her is a picture of Taylor with the house that her and dad made at school this week during her Christmas party. This year we have learned our lesson from last year..... keep the houses up high where the dogs cannot reach them!!

Then, on Sunday we took a drive over to Mike and Lindsey's for Christmas with my dad. We had a great time, but I do wish it wasn't Sunday because we had to leave early to get the kids home and ready for school bright and early tomorrow.

Dad with the girls! One of the best pictures of Jenna that we have had in a while!

Jenna loved the presents. She is just figuring out this Christmas theme.... getting presents everywhere she goes. When we were done she went Mike and Lindsey's tree and asked for more presents, if we weren't right there I think she would have unwrapped everything!

Taylor and Jenna got a tent with a tunnel from Mike and Lindsey. This was a hit with the whole party. We had a great time with the Wiltshire's, Congrats Andy on the new job. We can't wait to come visit you in TN!

Big girl Jenna, she is doing so good on the potty. Grandma and Grandpa bought her her first big girl undies and she loved them. Finally before bed I had to make her put a diaper under them.

We ended the weekend with some clean girls, right out of the bath in their new robes and matching PJ's.

Jenna continued to make all kinds of silly faces so this was the best shot (and she had to have her baby in the picture).

Of course they don't sit still for a second!

Another busy week awaits us. Merry Christmas.

Cookie Fun or Mess

2009-12-16T13:56:00.000-08:00

Last night Jill and I decided to get the girls together to make Christmas cookies. We had a blast and so did the kids.
Kendall and Jenna were being a little crazy, lets say Kendall's pants fell off! Right! Funny faces.

Chocolate covered pretzels. Jenna had to sample a little of everything.

Which cookie do I do next.....

Sweet Kendall

Jenna admiring her cookie she just finished. Notice the red frosting around her lips. It went like this. A little frosting for the cookie, a little frosting for Jenna, and so on and on for everything she made.

Lots of sprinkles were used and lots of sprinkles were cleaned off the floor.

We had such a good time., we can't wait until next time.

P.S. Next messy project will be at the Croteau household!!! HAHAha

O'Mara/Woolman Christmas

2009-12-16T13:47:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we had our annual O'Mara/ Woolman Christmas party the night before Bryce's birthday party. We had such a great time. The kids were great, and we even started to plan our camping trips for next year!
Sweet Baby Max! Jenna enjoyed some cuddle time with Tim.

Cheese Jenna. Jenna is showing off her tea cup to her new tea party mat.

Taylor and her new horse Angel. Now if we can keep Jenna off the horse we will be good!

Blake and Bryce showing off their cool new Nerf guns!

All the kiddos. Are Blake and Jen related? They have the same smile.

This is just the beginning of the Christmas party's.

Happy Birthday Nancy

2009-11-29T17:19:00.000-08:00

The whole Miller/Wiltshire clan got together for a night out for Nancy/Mom/Grandma's birthday celebration. We surprised Nancy with all of us showing up at her house in a limo to take her out to a fancy family dinner.

The Grill at the 1913 room.

The BEST fillet ever! It melts in your mouth.
Sadie and Nancy in the limo.

Andy, Lindsey and Mike

Thanks Jackie!

2009-11-22T16:49:00.000-08:00

I was trying to get some cute pictures of the girls in their new tutu's, but ended up with mostly silly pictures! Thanks Jackie so much for these super cute tutu's. Jenna kept saying she was a princess!

Girls!

2009-11-16T17:14:00.000-08:00

After taking some pictures of Quinn and family we tried to get a few of our girls. They really had no patience for the camera!

Cute Quinn

2009-11-16T15:57:00.001-08:00

Welcome Addison

2009-11-13T15:12:00.000-08:00

Congrats Chris and Roselyn. We are so excited for you. She is beautiful!!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T06:35:00.000-08:00

The girls started out Halloween Friday night with a party at Aunt Peggy's with all her cousins. Here is Jillian, Taylor and Grace. The girls have so much fun every year. Thanks Granny and Papa for taking them. Yesterday morning we started out the day cleaning out our pumpkins (yea, we waited until the last minute)!

And we made a good mess.
So the girls ended the process with no clothes on!

Tinkerbell getting out her glow sticks to make her necklace.

And this is how we ended up. It was chilly so we had to take Tinkerbell's hair down and put on a hat, mittens and a sweatshirt!

And crabby Jenna visited a few houses and then enjoyed some warmth in the stroller with a blanket!

Trick-or-treat!

After a short trick-or-treat we went back to our friends, Tony and Rachelle's and visited with a cute nun Autumn! Autumn and Colton definitely had the best costume of the night!

Cute little Gus Gus!

Taylor actually had the most fun just handing out candy and scaring people with Tony (the scarecrow).

Taylor and Kayla. The best part of handing out candy was that Tay and Jen donated their candy to give out to the trick-or-treaters!

Inside Jenna and Cinderella (Aubrey) played and danced and ate!

Fall

2009-10-29T18:29:00.001-07:00

So I tried taking the girls outside for some fall pictures, but Taylor wouldn't change her clothes and Jenna wouldn't lay in the leaves. So here are a few shots, but not what I was thinking. And they would not pose together.....ughhh!

Baptism

2009-10-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful afternoon with the O'Mara's to celebrate Max's Baptism. I have to put this picture first because here is proof that I have held him at least once that he didn't cry! Brad and Jenna at the lunch before the baptism. We were treated to a great buffet at Palianis!

Taylor just loves Max. She would sit and hold him all day if she could. Too bad she's not just a smidge older and maybe Rachie would let her. All smiles.... or gas?

Beautiful O'Mara family. We love you guys.

Godparents

Fall Fun

2009-10-18T18:12:00.000-07:00

We had a ton of fun at Grandpa and Grandma's today. We started off with a great lunch. We picked out pumpkins, Indian corn and corn stalks for decoration. We enjoyed a fire and a hayride with our friends and family. Everything was so nice. After the ride we enjoyed donuts and cider. It couldn't have been better. I can't wait until next year! Jen and Gramps eating apples right off the tree.

Picking out pumpkins!

Taylor driving Grandpa's tractor.

Jenna's turn.

Here we go.

Fun on the waggon.

Tanya, Jenna and Brooke

Lindsey and Roxie. This dog seriously likes this!
Jenna sitting on a log by the fire!

Late Post

2009-10-18T18:07:00.000-07:00

A couple of pictures that we took before Taylor, Daddy and Papa headed to one of the last Tigers games. P.S. This was picture day at school... and yes this is what she wore. She was supposed to take off the jersey and wear her white sweater, but she told me the teacher wouldn't let her. Could be another one of her fibs, but we will see when the pictures come in!

Daddy and his girls. Go Tiger's!

Girls!

2009-10-17T16:23:00.000-07:00

It was a busy Saturday for the Woolman girls. Taylor worked outside with dad all day, cleaning up the yard and unloading and stacking wood. And then when mom got home we cleaned up the house and tried on our Halloween costumes. With a little work on the hair Taylor will be the cutest Tinkerbell on the street!Little scaredy cat Jenna.

Who will not wear her hat that goes with the costume!

A couple of the pretty hair bows that I bought at the mom to mom sale I did this morning . I got the girl who made them's contact info and I want more. LOVE THEM!

Max Aiden

2009-10-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

A few sweet pictures of Baby Max. This one looks like he has lots of dark hair! Love his cute little face.

These pictures are a little deceptive because he really never slept a wink, we were just lucky to get a few with his eyes shut!

We even got a few cute pictures of the sweet little pumpkin!

I just love this little guy!

Baby Max

2009-10-06T17:45:00.001-07:00

On Sunday we went over to our Best Friends the O'Mara's to visit baby Max. (And take a few pictures!) We had such a good time. But my daughter, Taylor, was a baby hog. I hardly got to hold him. I even caught her trying to carry him across the room. It was a good thing Rachel had her back turned! Tay just seems to love babies as much as I do. Anyway, here are a couple of snap shots... The Woolman/O'Mara clan. We are a little out numbered these days!

Cute little Bryce cuddled up to Tay and Max for a picture. He is SO cute!

Congrats Tim and Rachel! We can't wait until our next visit!

Taylor's Birthday

2009-09-30T15:55:00.001-07:00

Taylor had several Birthday celebrations. First we had a grandparent party at Mimi's. Mimi had a beautiful Tinkerbell party on the deck overlooking the river. And Aunt Donna made her a cool Princess cake. Birthday girl! Five years old!

Ooops, Jenna was caught sticking her hand in the cake, well frosting actually.

Taylor and her new American Girl Doll, and her Hannah Montana purse.

After that Sunday she went to school on Monday (her actual B-Day) and I went to her class and brought cookies. She was so excited to be parent drop off and parent pick up on her B-day! Later that night Grandpa and Grandma Miller came over for dinner and brought more gifts. And then the following Sat we had a bowling party with her friends.

Here is one of her little flower cupcake- cakes!

Bowling Queen. She wasn't too bad, when she used a ball she could pick up!

She even picked up a spare!

All the tired kids after some pizza, cupcakes and bowling fun!

Thank you so much to everyone for all the great gifts and Birthday wishes!

July Wedding

2009-09-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

Congrats J.J. and Heather. We had a wonderful time in Ludington celebrating on your special day!

Erika and I, pre-reception celebration!

The Woolman Family

Jeff and Erika Me and Brad. It was a beautiful beach wedding. We don't even have shoes on!

What a nice ceremony overlooking Lake Michigan. They couldn't have had better weather. We couldn't have had more fun.

Taylor's first day of Kindergarden

2009-09-08T19:16:00.001-07:00

Getting ready for her first day of school we headed out to the mall to get a few things and Taylor's ears pierced~ A few tears later we are done.

Good thing we brought some of our best friends to cheer us up and wipe our tears!

Jenna came long for the ride to. We were going to do hers, but who new it was so expensive to get ears pierced these days.

School day... typical Taylor morning. Here we are in our first outfit of the day.

But our skirt was too big so we tried on jeans.

But no one else was going to wear jeans so here is our final decision!

Big girl became a Thomson Teddy today!

Sitting at her desk.

Overall Taylor did great. The real test will be tomorrow when she rides the bus and is there for a full day. And then Thursday another change, she will ride the bus from home. So it might take a few days to organize our schedules, but I know time is going to fly and before I know it the year will be over.

Fun in Tenessee

2009-09-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we ventured out to TN to visit the family. We took the 8 hour drive with our friends the Lear. We rode in their motor home and pulled our pop-up behind. (Somehow I missed a picture of this!)
Taylor got to visit with her Unlce Timmy, whom she did not want to leave. I told her today that he called today to see how her first day of school went and she was so glad to hear that he missed her as much as she misses him!

The Lear's. Hangin out on the back of the boat. Taylor and baby Kirsten. Both kids where so excited to see their littlest cousin. We were too, we miss her so much.

Kirsten is not so sure about her cousins!

Jenna and Kirsten, pretty soon you wont even notice the year between them.

Taylor driving uncle Timmy's new boat.

Jenna had a couple long days on the boat!

Jenna takin a ride with uncle Tim. Jen loved the Jet Ski

Elizabeth, Jenna and Tay tubing. I can't believe that I let Jen go, because after that I went with Tay and there were times that I though we might get thrown out and in the end we did!!

Daddy and Jen.

Baby Max

2009-08-17T18:37:00.000-07:00

We can't wait to meet you baby Max!

More Weekend Fun

2009-08-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend in Traverse City and we ended it with a swim at Granny and Papa's pool. Jenna is becoming quite the little fish! But she has no fear so we have to watch her super close because she like to try and take her swimmies off like sissy.

Taylor finally got the nerve to take a leap off the diving board. Of course only with her best friends Blake an Bryce watching.
While we camping Brad and I took the girls to sleeping bear dunes. After taking several pictures of the girls Taylor wanted to take our picture too.

Girls on top of the dune climb overlooking beautiful Lake Glenn.

We also took a scenic tour and climbed the dune to overlook at Lake Michigan. This was beautiful, but very winding and you felt like if you slipped you might all over a cliff!

Jenna really is trying to ride her bike like Taylor but she still can't quite get the hang of peddling.

The first night on the beach Taylor made friends with several ducks, she thought this was super cool until one snipped at her finger and scared the crap out of her.

Earlier on the beach Taylor was taking in some sand castle lessons from Brian!

Last Monday I went to Michigan adventure with 40+ people from work and Taylor enjoyed a day in the water park and got to ride several roller costars.

My Baby is 2!!!

2009-08-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

Taylor at the park on daddy daughter day. While mom spent the day at Jury duty! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNA!
Granny made Jenna a Mickey Mouse cake. Mickey is Jenna's new favorite character. She even loves her Mickey Mouse Diapers!

Shy little Jen Jen eating her cake at her new picnic table.
Taylor the photographer took a few pictures for us. Mimi and Papa....

Grandpa and Grandma

Mimi and the girls saying good bye and thank you!
At the end of the night Jenna was so tired, but we wanted to get a picture of her by the cupcake. We have gotten one every year, but she would only go near it if I was holding her.

Jenna had a great birthday. Thank you so much for all the gifts. We had a wonderful night with the family.

Pure Michigan!

2009-08-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we spent 4 days at Tahquamenon Falls State Park. Despite some not so nice weather we had a great time. We did a little hiking, biking, and spent lots of time with our favorite family and friends. It really is beautiful in the UP. We wish had some better weather and more time to visit more of the attractions. On Friday we took the kids to Oswald's Bear Farm where we got to see several bears and even pet a cub who is 6 months old.

Little ham Jenna.

Some of these bears were huge!

Lower Falls

Upper Falls

On the day we visited the Upper Falls it rained all morning and then when is was actually starting to warm up we decided to go out to lunch at the Brewery and then hike to the falls. We made it about half way and found ourselves stuck in a thunderstorm. So here is our wonderful group soaking wet! We had a great time and lots of laughs getting here. And we will never forget this trip.

We rode our bike a lot and Jenna got to take a ride in the bike trailer with Lance on our way to see the lower falls.

All the kids on the path to the lower falls. What a group! All the kids were really good and had a great time playing together this weekend.

Our family hiking to the falls. You can barely see Jenna peaking out from the backpack. There are so many paths through the woods, if it wasn't so rainy we would have been able to do so much more. Plus the mosquito's were terrible. We even had to go buy more bug spray!

The Fam

Me and Taylor

Taylor posing

Jenna posing

Well another camping trip down. Only a few more to go this year!

Lakeport Camping trip 2009

2009-07-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

This weekend we spent the weekend camping with our close friends the O'Mara's and the Gist. We had such a great time playing boccie ball, playing on the beach, cooking in the new dutch oven, and hanging out around the camp fire. We laughed until we about peed our pants, and can't wait to get this group together again.
Her are my girls when we hit the road, excited for another fun family camping vacation! Oops, we had a little trouble setting up. The hitch on the camper is a little finicky and when the girls and I came back from the park we found out the Brad ran over the fire pit with his truck! Good thing it was the only one in the park NOT filled with cement! So we got a nice new shiny one.

Camp O'Mara
Camp Woolman

Daddy and Jenna going for a walk.

More daddy and Jen sitting around the camp fire.

Camp Gist. The kids and Lola all watched/helped Katie make blueberry cobbler!

Brian and Tim starting out the evening cooking with Tim and Rachel's new camping accessory.

Oops, again! Some one was re-arranging logs in the fire and down went the blueberry cobbler. We were lucky enough to save just enough for us all to still have a bite! It was just minus a few blueberries!

Play ground fun.

Taylor was able to make it all the across the monkey bars by herself, but I couldn't catch it on camera. Then her and Blake figured out how to get up on top after watching some older kids at the park.

Finally, water balloons! The kids first adventure with water balloons. They didn't know what to do. Jenna was the first one to pop all hers, mostly because she fell on them! Blake tried to save his and hide them in the truck to bring home.

Our next trip is to Tahquamenon Falls in a couple weeks. I can't wait.