brother & sister go to the u.p.

brother and i decided to drive up to the UP (that's the upper peninsula of michigan for anyone that's not familiar with michigan) for Christmas instead of flying...because my parents live in the middle of nowhere and therefore flights are not only outrageously expensive but after we would land we would have to drive about 3 hours. anyway, it saved us money...but really, i don't think i'll do it again...at least not in the winter time. we left friday afternoon and drove all night...arriving at my parents around 9 am saturday morning.

it was a somewhat relaxing week...if you met my nephew you'd understand why i say somewhat. he's the cutest kid...and i'm not just saying that because he's my nephew...he really is the cutest! haha. but he's 4...and therefore has the energy of a 4 year old. it was a great visit...got to see the parents, grandma & grandpa mc (they're usually in florida for the winter...so it was great to see them!), grandma s (didn't get to see her last Christmas...she's doing fabulous), aunts, uncles, cousins, and a few high school friends. there was a ton of food (literally, there was probably a ton..or maybe more), drinks, games, snowshoeing, a puzzle, lots of laughs, and a little computer 101. an all around good time. :)

this is the rental car...a dodge caliber. it was nice.

me on the drive up...it was freezing..brother has to drive with the window cracked...and once we hit michigan i wore my sunglasses...the roads didn't look as icy with the glasses...no, i wasn't driving.

the mackinac bridge. it's really not fun to drive over in the winter. i'm such a wimp!

that puzzle i was talking about putting together. it was one of my 101 things to do...

the puzzle. it's harder than it looks. seriously.

tristan.

christmas eve...after going to church. brother, sis-in-law, me, nephew, brother.

courtney, brandon, elisha, joshua...after christmas.

running from grandma. hiding in the closet.

hugs.

tristan and aunt courtney...singing about transformers. yeah, i don't get it either.

then we took a trip out to see the log cabin that my dad built (all by himself!)...it was beautiful!

snowshoeing. brandon, mom, becky, tristan, courtney, nicholas.

brandon taking calls while out in the wilderness.

the cabin.

the view from the loft.

i met up with some of my good friends from high school...michelle, chrissy, and kristin. we had breakfast at big boy (because the choices are limited...very limited!)...and then headed over to michelle's to meet her son carter. what a cutie.

chrissy, courtney, michelle, kristin.

brandon and i decided to look through some old pictures...and try out the new scanner/printer/copier that we bought my parents...

me & my brothers...now i know why i eat so much...i started young.

how cute am i?! :P

first day of school picture...although i don't think i was old enough to go, probably just wanted to be in the picture...

a short clip of our drive home through michigan. it's beautiful...for a moment...then you realize everything is just gray.

tristan liked to sing in front of the camera...he sang a few christmas songs a couple times, but mostly he just made up his own stuff. he's going to be a star. ;)

chris' 30th birthday was dec. 26th...since he's off saving the world...we sang him happy birthday on video.

i was trying to get tristan to sing happy birthday.