Christmas 2008

Well we had a really nice Christmas again this year. On Christmas Eve it was just our usual thing that we do every year. First the four of us go out for a Chinese dinner (don't know how this tradition got started but we've been doing it for about 10 years now :D ) then we come home to have our private little family gift opening celebration.

On Christmas Day we had most of the extended family come over for dinner and a gift exchange. This year we had Ron, Jerry & family, Kathy & family, and Stacy & family for a total of 18 people for dinner. At Thanksgiving we picked names for our Secret Santa so on Christmas everyone got to find out who had their name and had a gift to open. It's always fun to see what everyone receives cause the gifts range all the way from practical to the absurd! (I, of course, got a singing snowman who has a dog peeing on him - hilarious) I've once again posted pictures of our festivities in our Picasa Web Album if you'd like to check them out. http://picasaweb.google.com/Benhausen/Christmas2008?feat=directlink We hope all of you had a very merry Christmas and we wish you all a safe and happy new year!!

December Snow Storms

Wow - have we had the snow storms this month!! Yesterday we had blizzard conditions so of course that is the day that we need to drive to Hudsonville to attend MaKenzie's 1st birthday party (for those who don't know, MaKenzie is my niece Stacy's daughter). It's only 20 miles of driving s l o w l y so that we don't run into anyone or off the road because of all the blowing snow. That was a fun ride - NOT!! But we all made it there safely and had a good time watching MaKenzie coat herself with frosting. Adorable!

I've posted more pictures of all the snow we've gotten in the PicassaWeb album http://picasaweb.google.com/Benhausen/December2008. Trust me - you do not wish you were here! :D

New Family Room

Lookee - we got a new family room. We're enjoying the heck out of the new 42" inch LCD television too! We plan to close-off our big room to save $$ on heating costs for the winter. Good plan, huh? :D

Heather and Brody's baby shower.

A week ago, on November 8th, my sister Kathy and I hosted a baby shower to welcome our new nephew Brody to the family. We had a lot of fun. Held it at the Royal Center in Hudsonville since the club house at Presidential Estates was booked for that date. Found out the Royal Center is a super-nice place to hold a function like this. Very nice facility. We were happy with how many women attended and I think we all had fun. Only regret we had was that none of us had our cameras ready to snap a picture of the looks on everyone's faces during one of the games. They all thought we were doing the classic memory game in which a tray of baby items is shown to everyone and then they all had to write down as many items as they could remember being on the tray. Instead, we had Heather walk around showing everyone the tray and then she left the room. At that point we told everyone they needed to write down what Heather was wearing. Mouths dropped open and we heard several "are you kidding"s and "are you serious"? Suddenly the game was not so simple cause nobody had been looking at Heather while trying to memorize what was on the tray! Oh, it was hilarious! Every now and then you need to do something to shake up the "same old, same old" showers. (Maybe the next one we'll get a stripper, hmm)

If you want to see more pictures from the baby shower, there's an album of them in my PicasaWeb albums. (Link is over along the rightside of this blog)

Busy October

Wow - what a busy month!
October is full of birthdays. Happy Birthday to my brother Bill, nephew Jonny, Joey, me, and now we add a new nephew Brody. Yes, my brother Jerry and wife Heather had a beautiful (can you say beautiful for a boy?) new son born on October 9th. Yep, he got the cool birthdate 10-09-08. We did the combined birthday party for Joey and Jonny at our house this year on the 11th. Had to do it semi early in the afternoon since that evening was Homecoming dance for Wayland and also for Hudsonville, so Joey and Kim both wanted to be going to their respective dances. As you can see in the pictures, Joey and his buddies clean up nicely. :-) It was nice that Mandi was home for her brother's birthday, but I think it was mainly the homecoming game on Friday night that brought her home for the weekend. Who cares, it's always nice to have her home!

I've added more pictures from October to our Picasa Web Album if you'd like to check them out. Here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/Benhausen

VIP Day

I was invited by my nephew , Jonny, to VIP day at school. How sweet is that? Of course my sister Kathy (Jonny's mom) was also a VIP, but I can share.

So VIP day was yesterday and I must say that his school sets it up nicely for their visitors. Had a buffet of fresh fruit, donut holes, juice, milk and coffee for us all since we were there at 8:30 in the morning. Jonny took us on a tour of his school and we got to meet his teacher and his art teacher.

Bumped into Stacy (my niece) and her friend Matt since they were her son Mason's VIPs. Also bumped into a former boss of mine that I haven't seen for at least 10 years. That was a pleasant surprise! It was a very nice function and I was glad that Jonny invited me.

Autumn Begins

So tomorrow is the first official day of Autumn. Summer is definately over I guess. Joey is back in school now also. I've posted the annual first day of school picture here.==>

Seemed strange to only have one kid in the picture again after all these years. He's a Junior in high school this year, so I at least have him home for a couple years yet. :-)

I'm teaching the Basic tax course for H&R Block again this year. Just two mornings a week (for 12 weeks) so far, but my boss is contemplating starting up more classes so we'll see if that changes again this year. Last year I started off with a Basic class that was two evenings a week and had a five morning a week class added to that. Then I got into teaching an advanced Basic class through November/December plus two different Skills for Success classes all through December so my little part-time job wasn't quite so part-time anymore. Will try not to let it get so crazy this year. (I said I'd try, okay Reinhard?) :-> Before we know it January 1st will be here and then the tax season begins and we'll be off and running for another 3-1/2 months, yikes!

Mandi seems to be settling in nicely at college. They had one roommate that decided that college really wasn't for her after the first week and she went home, so they are down to three girls in the dorm room now. It sounds like they get along fine. Classes and work sound like they're going well too. Mandi's only been home for one weekend so far (I know, I know, she's only been gone a month but it feels much longer!). The first two weeks she was there we emailed and talked on the phone every day, but we've cut that back to about every third day now - so we're getting better. We do miss her a lot though. :-(

So that pretty much does it for changes so far this month. Have a great Autumn everyone and make sure you get out and enjoy the beautiful colors outside this time of year!!

"Get Rid of Mandi" Day!

So on Saturday (Aug 16) we moved our Mandi up to her college campus. First chick to leave the nest - at least temporarily. I think we were all a little surprised with the ultra-functional dorm rooms. Cinder block walls, linoleum floors in every room, and not even a lid on the toilet. As Mandi said, "It needs some major color!" This week it is just Mandi and one other roommate, Beth, moving in since they are taking part in the Leadership Safari. On Aug 21st everyone else is moving in because classes start on Aug 25th. That's when they get to meet their other two roommates, Erin and Haley. By the time we left, the room wasn't looking quite so grim since Beth had brought a futon, beanbag chair, and bought a big purple rug, and Mandi had brought a chair and a lamp from her bedroom here. The bedroom was looking better too once the girls made their beds - lots of color there. Mandi will be coming home over Labor Day and at that point will know what kind of posters and furnishings will be needed yet. A lot hinges on what the other two girls bring.

So far Mandi and I have exchanged a few emails and talked on the phone a couple times (love My Circle), but it does feel empty around here without her. Reinhard and I agreed that it feels the same as that one time we went to Germany without the kids - have an ache like something is missing from us. Suppose it will get better with time. Joey is making an effort to be more sociable to make up for Mandi not being here, I think. Or maybe he just feels I have more time to talk to him now. :-) Do seem to be chatting more with him, and he's actually coming down from the cave in the evenings to watch some movies with us.

I guess adjustments are being made by all of us.

More pictures can be seen in our Picasa Web Album (link over on the side) ==>

Mandi's Birthday

Celebrated Mandi's 18th birthday this past Sunday (Aug 3rd). I know, her birthday is actually on July 28th, but nobody has time to get together during the week. She was very happy with those that attended. Had Uncle Billy and Aunt Kathy with their troop (cousins Kim, Jenny, and Jonny), Uncle Jerry and Aunt Heather, plus her friends Becca, Rick, Texas and Kyle came. We lucked out with beautiful weather. Got one of those funky cakes made from 24 cupcakes held together with LOTS of frosting. Funny point was when Uncle Jerry's teeth turned blue from the frosting and he had to be going to a baseball game from here. Hope the blue wore off by the time you got there, Jerry!! :-)

1st Posting - EVER!

So, I figured that this is the now thing (blogging) so maybe I'll give it a shot. Changes are happening in the family so this is one way to keep us all up to date.

We had our family vacation by Mackinaw City MI this year. When we asked Mandi and Joey what they thought of going to Mackinaw they said "Finally - all our friends have already been there!". I had to remind them that we take them to Europe every other year so things like Mackinaw get squeezed in when they can. We really wanted to head out to the East Coast for vacation this year, but have you noticed gas prices?! The diesel prices are even worst and we wanted to take the 5th wheel. So we stay closer to home.

Still had a really nice time. Spent a day on Mackinaw Island doing the carriage tour, exploring Fort Mackinaw, the Grand Hotel, and the town. Also went up to the U P (Upper Peninsula for you non-Michiganders) for a day and saw the Tahquamenon Falls (2nd largest falls east of the Mississippi), Lake Superior and Whitefish Bay. It's also always neat to drive over the Mackinaw Bridge. The campsite that we had had a beautiful view of the bridge and Mackinaw Island. To round off the trip we took a drive and spent a day in Traverse City and also a day in Cheboygan. Nice vacation all in all. On the way home we stopped by Greg and Darlene's place in White Cloud for a couple days since it was the Fourth of July and on July 5 it was Greg's birthday. Had a really great time together. I think with all the traveling we do we have learned to get along and have fun with each other very nicely.