End of Michigan and Start of Texas Adventures

We enjoyed the rest of our Michigan vacation, going to see the "Amazing Spiderman" movie, going jet skiing, going shooting, eating some wonderful food, having a campfire, and relaxing.

 

 

 

Ethan's bath time in the sink at our cabin

Ethan likes getting baths

Ethan with his Great-Grandma Frayer!

Just hanging out

The campfire at Matt's cottage. The exposure had to be long so some stuff is blurry! Matt's got a perfect campfire setup

Mikey out on the jet ski. This picture shows several of the pretty colors of the lake water as well. This one was shot with a polarizing filter so you can see the water color without as much surface glare

Family picture

Torch Lake is known for sunsets!

On Saturday, Kristen and I got up before 5 AM so we could start our journey to Texas. Ethan was a great boy on the flights. We were both exhausted when we made it to Lubbock, but we needed to get some groceries from the store. Kristen stayed home while I made a quick trip to Walmart. We headed off to bed as soon as possible since our ward is at 8:30!

Fortunately, we made it to church on time and we were happy to discover that there are tons of other med students and young families in our ward. We met with the bishop and he was excited to learn that Kristen has experience conducting music, so I can't wait to see what calling he gives her!

Today we ran around doing errands. We've unpacked some stuff but we still have a lot more to do. I went and did our Texas vehicle safety inspection, then went and got the car registered and new license plates, and then had to stop by the med school for my ID photo. After a quick trip to the post office and a stop by home for lunch, I went and got my Texas driver's license. The whole time I was gone, Kristen worked on setting up the kitchen. Unfortunately, it looks like the cupboard situation is less than ideal but we'll make due. We then made another trip to Walmart for more essentials.

Hopefully we can make more headway tomorrow on the unpacking since I start orientation on Wednesday morning!

Day at the Lake

Well today is a stormy day with thunderstorms so I figured I'd post some of the pictures from the past couple days.

We've been having a good time here in Michigan. On Monday, my family headed to Traverse City to see the new Batman movie. We all enjoyed it. We had to stop at Don's Drive In for some burgers and shakes afterward (their shakes are quite tasty!).

Yesterday we enjoyed a day on the lake in Uncle Jamie's boat. We went tubing and then for a short cruise before heading back to our cabin to prepare dinner. We had the whole gang over for dinner last night. Ethan and Kristen were finally able to meet Grandma Frayer as well! I'll have to post those pictures later since I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet.

We were thinking that today would be another lake day but the weather isn't cooperating. We might head back to Traverse City to do something.

Ethan having bath time in the kitchen sink

Mom and Ben about to be thrown...

...overboard!!

Mom and Ben catching a little air

Kristen and I

Our boat driver Uncle Jamie took us out onto the rougher part of the lake where we caught a lot of air!

Mikey whipping around outside the wake

Ben switched the tow point on the tube to the other side

Mikey's wipe out

Torch Lake

I better post some pictures before Grandma and Grandpa Whiting start sending me emails asking for them!

So last Sunday, my dad and I started our drive out to Lubbock. We spent the night in Arizona at some sketchy $29/night hotel along the side of the road and made it to Lubbock by Monday night. (I insisted on picking the hotel for Monday night so we ended up getting a nice room off Hotwire!)

We started moving stuff in on Tuesday and made a mad dash for all the furniture that we wanted. Kristen and I didn't have any furniture of our own since our apartment in Utah was furnished. We had the moving truck for a few extra days so we could get some. We scoured Craigslist for acceptable items and I think we did pretty well for the money we spent.

Friday, my dad and I flew to Detroit to meet up with Mom, Kristen, and Ethan. Ben and Mikey arrived on Saturday and we all headed up north to Torch Lake.

Here are some pictures from yesterday's Luau at Matt's cottage and the view of the lake from our lakeside cabin.

The meadow behind Matt's house

Ethan and his Great-Grandpa Rozell

Ethan with Grandpa Whiting

Ethan taking a ride on the hammock!

The full gang minus our photographer Jake

Dusk from our cabin

The moon's reflection off the lake

This morning-- the water is beautiful but today is a little choppy

Some things you might not know about Ethan

He LOVES to sleep on his tummy and will for hours.  Too bad he can't at night.

Here he is sleeping on the beautiful quilt made by his Great Grandma Frayer.

But he also loves to lie on his back and wave his arms and kick his legs.

 His hair is really fun to play with.

And I just wanted to throw this picture in because it's so cute!

My sleepy boys

Ethan's First Fourth

Ethan enjoyed his first Fourth of July yesterday! We started off the day by heading to the Carmichael Parade with the Holdaway's and Howton's.

Ben Ali Shriner go karts--always a highlight

Grandma ("NaNa") giving Ethan a bottle

Ethan sleeping as usual. My mom bought him a USA Flag hat so we had to use it!

Adding this picture for Grandpa Whiting-- my dad said that the Whiting dairy farm used to have a Case tractor although a different model

After the parade, we were planning to go back over to the Holdaway's but we crashed at home and all took naps. Kristen and I went swimming for a little while and we relaxed.

Later on, we headed back to the Holdaway's. We went to the fireworks at the La Sierra Community Center and then enjoyed some homemade ice cream. It was a fun day!

A few of the decent fireworks pictures