Spring 2007

Dallas Cousins In Town

Video

We have a new video page. Just a few files on it now, but it will be growing over time. Click here to view.

Making the Best of Winter

Winter in Michigan...well, it's like ham (ask my mother what that means). January and February are the longest 8 months of the year. Cold, slush, salt, gray skies, no baseball. The question everyone asks themselves during those months is: "Why do we live here?"

But when you get lemons, make lemonade. Which is what we did, trying to make the best of another cold, Michigan winter...

Maggie loves to build forts inside when the weather is cold outside

We watch lots of movies in the winter. Jay, Jack and Jack's cousins Aiden and

Michael watching Star Wars

One of the cool things in Grand Rapids is that the Zoo is Free in the Winter. We conducted a "scavenger hunt" with clues that took us from one exhibit to the next...

Gretzky and Kerrigan wowing the locals with their skating prowess.

Even though it's a long couple of months, God let's us enjoy it's beauty

How We Spent the Holidays

Whew!!!!! The holidays have passed. Not much snow in Michigan this year, which is exactly how one of us likes it (he's the one who cleans it all off the driveway). This was Jack's "4 year old" Christmas. 4 year old Christmases are the best. It's the first year they understand the concept of Santa bringing presents, and they embrace the magic.

Right after Christmas, we flew to Dallas to visit Jay's brother and his family. Together, we have 8 kids, and they love hanging out together. We sure wish they were closer. Take a look at a few photos from the holidays...

The kids all camped out in one room the night before Christmas

Maggie reads the back of the photo left by Santa.

Jack waits patiently to open his presents

We stayed up until 1:30 Christmas night playing dominos with family and friends.

Annual New Year's Picture (click it to see actual size)

TEXAS TRIP

Just hanging out, playing Gameboy.

In Dallas, it's warm enough to play baseball during the holidays. Jack gets ready for the pitch.

We took the kids on a scavenger hunt one day. Here are all eight of them, trying to figure out where the next clue may be.

After the scavenger hunt. The prize??? Candy. Lauren, Molly, Jack and Maggie enjoying the spoils of victory.

Spending the afternoon at the local YMCA pool.

Our last night in Texas.

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!!!