Christmas

Christmas Eve, we made stuffed shells and pecan pie:

The girls sang in the choir at the Children's Mass:

Christmas morning, Santa came!!

New earrings for the newly pierced Jessica!

My big present to Chris was a Breville Panini press.  But I think he liked the Cards Against Humanity better!

The girls put together their new Lego sets all day:

Chris cooked us a dinner of grilled salmon, scalloped potatoes, and Brussels sprouts.  Plus shrimp with cocktail sauce!

Megan finished this puzzle, her first 200-pc one by herself!

Christmas break

I know I'm several months behind, and I do hope to get caught up, but I thought I should post some pictures from NOW so that I don't forget the happy times of Christmas break!

A day trip to Belle Isle's Aquarium and Conservatory:

A hike on a new trail in Stony Creek Metropark.  It was a slow walk...the little nature photographers had to stop constantly to get artsy shots:

Visiting Sarah and decorating her cross grave pillow:

A day trip to the Michigan Science Center:

Followed by lunch at a new bar in Detroit - HopCat.  Look at the 130+ taps behind my beer!  I enjoyed El Rojo Red Ale from Griffin Claw Brewery.

We visited Santa at a local mall, and we also had fun shopping for each other in secret little trips around the mall!

Not pictured - lots of sleeping in, pajama days, several trips to the gym, amazing meals cooked by Chris, and watching tons of Christmas movies.  It's been a wonderful Christmas break so far!

Rochester Posed

Our little city of Rochester has the coolest events.  Rochester Posed is an evening when downtown storefront windows are filled with live actors in still poses.  This year, the theme was scenes from TV shows of the 60's and 70's.  See this video to get a better idea of it: http://vimeo.com/album/3008679/video/77406561 

We walked up and down Main Street, and these were our favorites:

Sesame Street

The Brady Bunch

Beverly Hillbillies

Laverne & Shirley

The Incredible Hulk

The Addams Family (recognize Gomez?  He's the guy who does Under The Radar on PBS...he's a local and we run into him often at our community garden)

Dukes of Hazzard.  The girls were educated on the background of "daisy dukes" shorts!

MASH - in a bar, of course

Enjoying our treats from Home Bakery (in the background).  I love their new 2nd floor lights: SWEET

Brooksie Way

Chris has run the Brooksie Way Half-Marathon in Rochester Hills for all 7 years of its existence.  We all got up super early to join him, and this year we all did the 5K, too!

Girls before the race.  Katie & Megan ran together, and Jess & I walked/jogged together.  The 5K is a beautiful course through Oakland University and past Meadowbrook Hall.

Girls after the race, Jess showing off her medal, and Katie showing off her bag of goodies she won.

We got to eat a feast at the Chrysler tent while waiting for Chris to finish.  There was beer, too!!

Here comes Chris, almost at the finish line!  He finished in under 2 hrs, which was fabulous given the very hilly course, and his calf injury from Dances with Dirt the week before.

My running family!  Chris with his 7th Brooksie Way medal! 
After this pic, we went back in the Chrysler tent for more food  :)

Here's the Chrysler team from the Brooksie Way.