On December 27th we headed across the state to Portage, MI for Christmas with Travis' family. His brother Tyler was in town from Texas (funny how both the brothers ended up in Texas!) and we have a great time giving gifts, seeing movies, and playing games.
Seeing a tree lit up and stockings on the mantle never gets old... no matter how old WE are!
Trav's mom Kim was VERY excited to get "Peter and the Wolf" on CD.
I got some really pretty silver jewelry from an artisan in Arizona!
Trav and Tyler got these beautiful cutting boards... I think they also came from Arizona?
We got Tyler a crock pot and crock pot cookbook. We couldn't LIVE without our crockpot in the Winter months!
The kids gifted the parents with a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant in St. Thomas to use when they vacation there this Spring.
Fun stockings filled with treats!
We enjoyed a delicious meal of baked spaghetti with the extended family.
Oh, and Bella was festive as always in a red bow!
Trav's family are all Seinfeld buffs so we played their new DVD Scene It Seinfeld game. I never really watched the show - so I just operated the remote! : )
Grandma Roehm knitted me these slippers... she knits the BEST slippers! I need to have her show me how to make them. So cozy!
Look! I'm FINALLY getting around to posting pictures from Christmas! Better late than never I suppose!
We spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day with my side of the family in Tecumseh. We had a wonderful time - but missed my brother Will of course - who was stuck in Texas working and couldn't make it home for the holidays.
Here are some of my favorite photos from our trip...
Travis and I on Christmas morning.
My mother was VERY excited about this ornament! (well is is super cute!)
Travis was equally excited about his Vegas guide book. He's learning all he can in preparation for our trip in May! (apparently Bella wanted in on the action, too!)
My Dad is silly. He tries to guess EVERY gift and is about 99.9& accurate. No joke!
Even Bella got a gift or two. She must have been good this year.
I love me some "Vanilla Bean Noel" from Bath & Body Works!
And I was waaay too excited about my new cooling racks! Ha!
Mum got a fancy new ipod...
Nothing says "Christmas Morning" like mimosas!
Santa got the boys these silly hats. We made them pose in them with their first beer of the day...
Here we are before dinner...
And afterwards... posing with our Cadbury's selection boxes... an annual tradition!
We ate sooo much good food that day! YUM! And it was great to spend some relaxing time with my parents.
Stop back tomorrow for "Holiday Rewind 2" - highlights from our Christmas with the Roehm side of the family!
Happy Holidays! How quickly 2009 has come and gone!
This year we shared and celebrated lots of new beginnings in the lives of family members and friends. Joanne was honored to be a bridesmaid for our dear friends Alison and Noah Bradow’s wedding in April, and Travis was thrilled to be a groomsman in the wedding of our good friends Justin and Kristen Salava in September. Additionally, we welcomed baby Landon to friends Justin and Kristen Salava, baby Claire to friends Adam and Carrie Kendall, and baby Issac to Travis’ cousins Grant and Emily Bowman. So much joy!
In March, we were lucky enough to fly out to Austin, Texas for a long weekend to celebrate Joanne’s brother Will’s 21st birthday. Our dear friend Tim flew out for the occasion as well, and we enjoyed visiting the Alamo, the San Antonio Riverwalk, and of course experiencing the infamous 6th Street bar scene. It was a great trip! Now that Travis’ brother Tyler is in Texas as well, we hope to squeeze a visit in to see them both again in the New Year.
In June we celebrated our first wedding anniversary with a trip to Mackinac Island. We enjoyed a relaxed weekend filled with delicious food, sightseeing, lots of lilacs, and reminiscing about our wedding and our first year of marriage. It is truly amazing how fast this first year has gone, and we continue to be just so thankful that we have each other to share, learn, love, and grow with.
We were hit with unexpected bad news in July when Joanne was laid off from her job. It was an incredibly emotional time, and we were thankful for family and friends who rallied around us. Luckily, we’ve been able to turn the experience into a positive one, as it’s provided Joanne with the opportunity to go back to graduate school full-time. Joanne made it through a tough first semester back with good grades and now has just five classes and a thesis to go before she will have earned a Masters degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Non-Profit Leadership.
Directly following Joanne’s lay off, we became parents to a litter of four day-old kittens! After finding them near our house, we took the kittens in and fostered them until they were old enough to be adopted out. This experience led to Joanne’s active involvement in local 501c3 non-profit animal welfare organization Carol’s Ferals, where she has accepted a position on the board of directors and has been involved in kitten fostering. It has been a challenging but rewarding experience thus far – and Joanne looks forward to working hard for the organization (and the animal population) in 2010.
This fall, Travis joined a local chapter of United States Masters Swimming. USMS is a national organization that provides organized workouts, competitions, clinics and workshops for adult’s aged 18 and over. Programs are open to all adult swimmers (fitness, triathlete, competitive, non-competitive) who are dedicated to improving their fitness through swimming. While it was certainly a challenge to fit into his busy schedule at times – Travis really enjoyed getting back into swimming.
We are still enjoying our “new” home – and are finally settling into the roles and responsibilities of being homeowners. Although our to-do list of house projects is still long, we were able to get a good amount of painting done this year, as well as put in a new fence in the back yard and have the back yard landscaped. We celebrated our back yard’s evolution from “mud pit” to “party space” at the end of the summer with a BBQ for family and friends.
We are so very thankful at this time of year for all that we have, especially when many around us have so little. May this season bring much love and joy to you and yours, and 2010 be your best year yet.
Love,
Travis, Joanne, Bella and the Cats
Joanne, Travis and Bella -- December 2009
I'll be taking about a week or so off blogging while we travel up and down the state to spend time with each of our families. I look forward to sharing our Christmas celebrations with you, and welcome in 2010, upon my return. My very best holiday wishes to each and every one of you!
Although it sometimes get hectic, running from place to place to exchange gifts and catch up with friends old and new, but there's no doubt in my mind that it's worth it. The holidays are a beautiful time of year to get together with dear friends.
Joanne, Travis, Kelly, Seth -- December 2009
(Christmas gift exchange)
Joanne and Kelly -- December 2009
Joanne, Allison, Angie and Kenyon -- December 2009
(Angie was home to visit all the way from Kansas!)
Anthony, Travis, Anthony, Heather, Lily, Joanne, Mariah -- December 2009
Roehm-Hill Family Christmas (Part Two!)
Looking forward to much more memory making with these dear friends and many more in 2010!
I am always impressed by the folks who are able to take beautiful holiday pictures with everyone looking smiley and their dog sitting nicely and looking at the camera (ahem... Meg and Matt Herr!) For us... it's not so simple...
Ah well. There's always next year!
Since we travel to both of our families during the holiday season, Travis and I do our "own" Christmas at home before the rush of Christmas begins. For the past couple of years we've introduced stockings in lieu of a large gift. I think it's fun to have multiple things to open - you can really take your time and make an evening out of it.
This year, we celebrated Christmas together in Grand Rapids starting with dinner at our local Indian place. Yum! We enjoyed a couple of martinis and some delicious grub.
We then headed home to open our stockings! They looked so pretty sitting on the mantle...
It's so much fun to opening gifts together! I got Travis Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation -- it's a tradition to watch it every Christmas at his parents' house.
I got a new wallet and some candles....
Travis LOVES olives... especially in bloody mary's!
And Bella just loves the wrapping paper... : )
Travis' reading library is now stocked for 2010...
Woah... not sure what this is all about...
My loot...
Trav's loot...
But wait! Santa came by a little early and dropped off a gift for BOTH of us! Wasn't that nice of him?
And Bella and the cats were thoughtful enough to get us something as well.... aw....
We finished the night with popcorn and a flick... (I was REALLY excited about my new cozy socks!)
I hope that you and your spouse carve out a little holiday alone-time for each other this year! Merry Christmas!
I'm a 20-something creative type enjoying life in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This blog chronicles the (sometimes exciting, sometimes not so much!) adventures of the hubby and I, along with our small zoo of pets!
