Thanksgiving

This year, after a football game with our faith community, we spent the day at Mom and Dad Hidalgo's house. Football, food, wine, laughs, noise. A good day.


Jay runs it back after making the interception

Warm enough to play outside this year.

Joey helps carve the turkey

The big "wash your hands" line up

After dinner, adults upstairs...


....kids downstairs

Joey "Dizzy Gilespi" Hidalgo

Joey is 3 months into playing the trumpet, and he had his first concert earlier this week. We were quite surprised at how in just 3 months, these 5th graders played so well. Yes, we'll be encouraging more and hoping for that "marching band scholarship" some day.

ND Football

My friend from across the street came over a week ago Wednesday night and handed me 4 tickets to the Army at Notre Dame football game. 50 yard line, 38th row. Joey, my brother Michael, and my nephew Adam went (it was Joey's first trip to see "Touchdown Jesus"). The Army paratroopers "dropped in with the game ball", and we even got to meet Jim Leyland, manager of the Detroit Tigers. Take a look...

Our Favorite Places

Our Neighborhood

We moved to the Cheshire area of Grand Rapids in the spring of 1999. We had only been here a few days when one of our neighbors stopped by to invite us to a neighborhood pool party. In one fell swoop, we met all our neighbors, and they made us feel right at home. We've been part of the neighborhood "family" ever since. Although some neighbors have moved, and others have come in since we've been here, one thing is a constant: We truly have a neighborhood community here. Everyone looks out for each other, we spend hours just talking outside during the summer months, and we have 2-3 neighborhood "parties" every year. Our kids all play together, and before they get home from each other's houses, the parents have already reported on anyone who may have "misbehaved". We prayed that God would find a place for us to live back in 1999 when we were looking for a home. We're confident that God chose this place for us.PS: Photograph courtesy of Coastline Studios. (the owner of Coastline is a friend and neighbor). The red arrow (if you can see it) is pointing to our house.

Glen Arbor, Michigan

Every year, for the last 8 years, our family has vacationed in the little town of Glen Arbor, MI. When Janice was in high school, she nannied for a few families that vacationed there. So, 8 years ago, when we were trying to decide where to "get away", she suggested we give it a try. We've never looked anywhere else. Nestled in the Sleeping Bear National Lake-shore, Glen Arbor is a little resort town right on Sleeping Bear Bay (Lake Michigan). Our cottage (the same one we've rented every year), is 200 yards from the Lake Michigan Beach one way, and a 1 minute walk into town the other. With National Park surrounding the area, there's very little development. Our days in Glen Arbor are spent swimming, hiking, walking into town for ice-cream, having bonfires on the beach, and visiting the shops and galleries in town. Each week we spend there seems like 3 or 4. And every year, we thank God for blessing of being able to enjoy such a wonderful place.

Nichols Lake

About 3 years ago, we tried camping. We borrowed some tents, packed some food, and headed to one of the state campgrounds. We got eaten alive by mosquitoes, and ended up soaking wet because of the storm that blew in. And after all that, the kids wanted to camp again.
Since that maiden journey, we've settled on a campground on Nichols Lake. We love it there. Peaceful, clean and only an hour away right in the middle of the Manistee National Forest. We camp, fish, hike, swim, and relax. We'd give you directions, but we don't want too many people to find it, so you're on your own.

Professional Photos

Just got an IM from a friend of mine who did some photography for our family last year. HE's got a new website. Check it out to see some great pix of the kids.

• Go to www.coastline-studios.com
• Click on "Portaits"
• When the second page loads, mouseover on "portfolio", then click on "families"
• We're the first 10 photos, then the last 2.

Make sure you disable any pop up blockers, and be patient if you have a slow connection. Enjoy!!!

Mother Daughter Horsemanship Camp

Remember this past summer when Maggie went to horsemanship camp? Well, she's got the bug and last weekend, she took Janice back to camp for a mother daughter weekend. And we're not sure who had more fun.

See that fire???? Janice got it going (she's quite the bonfire maven). They spent the weekend horseback riding, rope climbing, horseback riding, canoeing, doing crafts (it's an all girl weekend, you have to have crafts, right?), horseback riding, and pretty much having fun hanging out together without the other kids around. And now, Maggie has signed up for horseback riding lessons. She'll be going once a week throughout the fall.

Here are a few more pictures from the weekend...

Birthday Time

Molly and Jack each celebrated their birthdays last week. Molly's (who's now 7) on the 13th and Jack's (the big 4 year old) on the 17th. To celebrate, Molly took a friend to Build a Bear (where she actually got a dog), after which we all went to Boston's for dinner. For Jack, his two buddies Ethan and Tony joined him for a round of miniature golf and some ice cream.

Champs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006 National League East Champions

The New York Mets

Vacation

Ok, so you probably have been wondering where the heck we've been. Well, we've been on vacation. This year, we were blessed to have 3 weeks in Glen Arbor, Michigan (our home away from home). We beached, hiked, napped, ate out, slept in, over and over and over again. I won't get into all the details, we'll just let the pictures speak for themselves...


Jackie-boy relaxing during a beautiful sunset















The sun setting over Sleeping Bear Dunes









Taking a rest during one of our many hikes







Chilling on the beach








Hiking up Pyramid Point









From the top of Sleeping Bear Dunes





Maggie after a swim at dusk









Contemplation around the beach campfire









Our last day in Glen Arbor. Can't wait 'til next year

Camping

The first camping trip of the season is in the books. We had a fantastic time. Last year, we did a trial run for one night with borrowed equipment. Everyone had such a good time, we decided to get our own gear and do this a few times a year.

One of the nice things about living in Michigan is the proximity of two National Forests. We live within 45 minutes of one of them, and camping in them is an absolute blast. We have a few more trips planned for this year, and we can't wait.

Needless to say, a good time was had by all.

Happy 1st of July

Sometimes practicality overrides tradition. That's what happened in a little town south of here that decided to have it's Independence Day Parade today (Saturday, July ) 1, instead of on July 4th. Nevertheless, we went because Molly was in the parade, riding on the float of one of the local banks. Her friend (whose Mom works for the bank) invited her, and she was quite excited.

We all hung out on the curb, waving to the veterans, the firemen, the bands, the candiates for local office, the Cub Scouts, the Girl Scouts (they didn't have cookies), the Harley riders, and the policemen. Lots of tractors too, and a few clowns. Who knew that simplicity could be so much fun.

Happy 1st!!!!

Maggie at Camp

Last week, Maggie spent 6 days at YMCA Horsemanship Camp. She certainly surprised us a few weeks ago when she told us she wanted to do overnight camp instead of day camp. I think Mom and Dad were more worried than she was.

She spent 4 hours a day learning everything there is to know about horses, from feeding, to grooming, to equipment and of course, riding. The pictures below are from the last day, when we picked her up. We had a picnic, she told us all about her week, and she was able to demonstrate for us all that she had learned.

Here's Maggie describing camp in her own words...

Camp was AWESOME!!!!! My horses' name was Lightening and he was very stubborn. His name is Lightening because he was born during a lightening storm not because he is fast. My counselors names were Hannah and Amanda(she is from England). My instructors names were Maragret and Mary. My friend name is Samatha and in horse life we are sisters because our horses are brothers. My swim test went well but I had to try again to get to blue.

Did she have a good time? She's already told us that she's going again next year.

Baseball Trip 2006

Every year since 1999, Jay and his buddies have taken a baseball trip weekend. This trip includes 3-4 games over 3-4 days at Major League Stadiums, lots of laughing, the "quarters" game, lots more laughing, and more laughing after that. This year, Jay got to see his beloved Mets (who have the best record in the National League) in Toronto, as well as the Tigers hosting the Cardinals. If only every day was as enjoyable as watching grown men play a kids game. We can only dream....