Our newest addition

November 26, 2008- we have another addition to our family! Seo-Young Choi is a 17 year old foreign exchange student who is Korean born, but living in Germany. She has been with us for a couple of weeks or so and seems to have made the transition well. Of course, the girls have totally accepted her-- they love having two older sisters! Notice the squished car conditions? We can no longer transport everyone in one car!!

The Newest Thing in Computer Accessories.....

November 13, 2008: I found Akane warming her tushy on my computer! My computer was making a lot of funny sounds.....which didn't seem to bother the cat at all!

Riding Again!

November 9, 2008: Katie is really enjoying her horseback riding again. We had about a 6 month period of time where she was struggling to get over her fear of cantering after falling off of "Big Mack" during a show. We changed barns in October and it seems that the change in environment and teacher has really made the difference! She cantered on "Buckey" (above) on her first lesson with David Peters at "Hedge and Turf" ! Now she is cantering without stirrups and actually jumping cross poles! UNBELIEVABLE!! Sorry about the quality of the photos-- they were taken with my iPhone which doesn't do as well with low light and movement.

Fall is here!

November 8, 2008: The seasons have definitely changed! It is a lot colder here in Michigan finally- and darker. Which means, of course, that the leaves start falling! Our house has quite a few large trees so the task of cleaning the yard took two days. Brian did most of the work with Bianca helping out quite a bit. I helped out with cleaning out the gardens and sucking up leaves with my dad's "machine." Thank goodness we have family in the area and they have cool tools! Katie and Bianca enjoyed the piles while Elysa was at a friend's house playing.

Halloween 2008- Trick or Treat!

October 31, 2008: All three girls got dressed up this year. Elysa (4) went as "Dora the True Princess," Katie (6) was Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), and Bianca (16) was Hannah Montana. My mother made the girls' costumes-- which were really beautiful! Both Katie and Elysa also collected for UNICEF. Katie came up with a whole "opener" to ask for donations (totally on her own): "would you like to donate to UNICEF for my sister and me? I can wait while you go get some change"-- this just came tumbling out of her so sweetly-- no one could resist!

Philly Trip-- Riots and all!

October 27-29, 2008- I received a travel scholarship to the CHEST Conference in Philadelphia, PA. Travel there was horrible-- plane delayed, 30 minutes or more of serious turbulence-- but the trip overall was a lot of fun. I finally got to go see Independence Hall (middle) and the Liberty Bell (bottom) which was really exciting. I would have definitely learned/remembered more history if this trip was included in my education. I also got to experience the "excitement" of Philadelphia winning the World Series-- which ended up in what I would call a riot-- tons of people out on the streets (top).

Kalamazoo College- Visiting the Alma Mater 2008

October 25, 2008- It was old home week at Kalamzoo College! My 20th college reunion-- completely throws me off thinking that I have been out of college for 20 years! I can't be that old!! Wasn't high school just yesterday? The top picture is of Ann Fildew, Kim Barrow and me during the Class of 1988 lunch. The other shot is one of the chapel. The campus has chnaged a LOT since I was there last! But, it is still beautiful and I am glad that I went. It was fun catching up with Kim Barrow while carpooling and hanging out!