Christmas vacation fun

We went home for a week and a half for Christmas and New Year's. After a lovely day spent waiting in airports, we finally arrived early Christmas Eve. We got a little sleep that night, then had a great dinner at my parents with our neighbors from across the street. Christmas Day was a big get together with the whole Ginley clan and my parents. It was a blast, with great food provided by Ron and Gab.

From Christmas 2008

From Christmas 2008

From Christmas 2008

From Christmas 2008

The next day, we met up with many friends from high school, thanks to David gathering us all together. Had some beers, reminisced, had a great time.

From Christmas 2008

From Christmas 2008

After that, we got a good day of skiing in at Loveland with Max, Kate, Kim, Rick, and John. It was freezing cold, with a few of us getting some minor frostbite, but we took enough breaks to stay warm. The slopes were empty (everyone was inside where the wind chill wasn't -17) and the snow was good.

From Christmas 2008

Things slowed down a bit after that. We played a lot of Wii, visited more with family, and finally finished a chest Aimee and Dave have been working on for quite a few years. It's made of mahogany from one of Dave and Lucy's old bed frames. You can see it's large enough for Aimee to fit in, but she's going to keep it filled with yarn. We just got it stained today and plan on putting on the sealant tomorrow.

From Christmas 2008

Wii and Rock Band party

Aimee had a great idea to invite some people over for a Nintendo Wii party. Thankfully, her coworker Jen also brought over another TV, an XBox, and Rock Band, along with her boyfriend Joe. Shann brought her four boys, and Cheryl came ready for Wii yoga. It was a blast! Devon and Brendon, Shann's youngest two, spent a good amount of energy trying to keep up with the Wii fit jogging guide:

From Wii Fit/Rock Band party

Woodworking class

We signed up to take this woodworking course over in Saginaw back when I got my first woodworking tools from Aimee for my birthday. We learned how to make a "pie carrier," which turned out to basically be a drawer with handles cut in the sides. Also, we haven't made any pies since, but we found it's great for carrying cats. We got to fool around with the store's table saw, jigsaw, and sander. It was great fun!

From Woodcraft pie/cat holding box

From Woodcraft pie/cat holding box

My Bro!

From Kazakhstan

Love you Art!!!

Sightseeing in Midland

Alden B Dow House

From Thanksgiving

From Thanksgiving

Chippewa Nature Center

From Thanksgiving

From Thanksgiving

Tridge

From Thanksgiving

The Most Awesome Package Ever!!

Straight from Kazakhstan....a Wii!! Complete with wii fit board, controllers, hand sewn package and wax seals. The packaging alone was worth the wait. Thanks so much Art!!!

From Thanksgiving

From Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving!

Dave and Lucy came out to visit us in Midland for Thanksgiving! They were our first visitors out here and it's been lots of fun.

We went on a snowy hike in City Forest.

From Thanksgiving

From Thanksgiving

And had a fantastic and delicious Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings.

From Thanksgiving

We even wrestled some of the food away from Steve so we could eat too.