Halle took 1st place on her poster for the Lapeer Conservation District Poster Contest this past fall. There were over 1,000 posters entered for grades K-12, and Halle's took 1st place in the K-1st grade category. Her poster went to the regionals, but did not place. We were SO proud of her!!! You can go see all the winning posters here.
Anyways...We had our Super Bowl party last night! It was just a small group and was very low-key. We made homemade pizzas and salad and had hot fudge cream puffs for dessert. Although I am not a huge football fan, I did choose to root for the Arizona Cardinals because they were the underdog and because I have family that lives in AZ. 
In the past I have only ever watched the game to see the commercials. I know companies spend millions of dollars for just a few seconds worth of air time during the game (30 seconds= $3 million this year) and it is exciting to see what they come up with. I thought this year's commercials were some of the best ever. We laughed on quite a few of them. One of my favorite's was the Bridgestone Tire with the Potato Heads. It was really cute!!! We also got our 3-D glasses and watched the commercials in 3-D. We all thought they could have been a little better, but we liked the SoBe Lifewater one the best.
I watched the majority of the game this year (which is a 1st for me- I usually only last 1-2 quarters). I did fall asleep a little in the beginning, but towards the end, the game got really exciting, so I watched. I was hoping for a Cardinal win (and they almost had it), but the Steelers pulled through and got that last touchdown to win it!! Although my team lost, it was still a really good game!!!
Overall, I thought this year's Super Bowl was one of my favorites overall. Good food, good times, good game, and good commercials...Couldn't ask for much better than that.
Every night I do a 20-30 minute fitness program on the elliptical machine, then sit-ups, leg lifts, and other random things with the Bowflex. I have really been pushing myself every night so that I can tone up my body, lose a few pounds, and get a little muscle.
They are a minor league team that play in the Detroit area. Brad is going to be in charge of finding sponsors for everything that happens at the games/camps/etc. It is a great job because he can work around his school schedule and it is not a real stressful job, but hopefully will make us a little extra money!! Today was his first day. He got to learn the ropes and set up his office. The facility that the Bucks play in is amazing!! Can you believe there are 3 full size outdoor soccer fields inside this building?? 
On Friday night we met up with my family at Olive Garden to celebrate Halle's birthday and Allyson's birthday. Al's birthday is on Jan 18-just 8 days after Halle's. Since my mom was out of town around Halle's birthday, we hadn't had a chance to celebrate with them yet. Olive Garden is Allyson's favorite restaurant so that was the place she wanted to go for her birthday dinner!! We all had good food and our waiter was really good, which made for a nice birthday dining experience.
I got Al this really cute orange purse- She liked it!!
After eating, we all headed back to my parent's house and Halle played with the gifts that she got-"Where in the World is Carmen Sandiago" computer game (sidenote: I had this same game as a kid and loved it...I also really wanted to be on the Carmen Sandiago tv show back in the day), Coloring books, and the Human Body game with a working stethoschope (from Andy). The rest of us played Scattergories and we all ate cake and ice cream!!
Al and Hal blowing out the candles on the cake
Mom and the Birthday girl
Me and Allyson
Parker getting cozy with Amber
The group
Me and Brad
Me, My brother-Andy, My sister- Allyson
Saturday morning we got up and headed to Grand Rapids, MI. It is about 2 hours away from where we live on the west side of the state. Brad's aunt and uncle live there, so we went to see them and see their new house (they actually moved into it a year or so ago, but we haven't had a chance to see it until now). Brad's parents went the night before so they didn't have to drive through the snow storm like us. Thankfully, we made it safely, even though we saw a lot of cars in the ditch or in accidents on our way there.
Their house is really nice. Just picture a Potterybarn catalog and that's what their house looks like. I totally forgot to take any pictures, but you get the idea. Everything was super organized and decorated so nicely.
When we first got there, we made homemade French Dip sandwiches (Brad's fav) and snacks. Then all the girls took off and went to Rockford, which is only 10-15 minutes away from where they lived. It's a cute little town with a bunch of different shops. We only went to a couple stores because we didn't have a lot of time and it was snowing like crazy. We went to The War Chest, which is a really awesome shop. It is owned by missionaries who go around the world and buy women out of sex slavery and give them a chance at a free life. They teach the women a trade, such as making jewelry, so that they can provide for themselves and their kids. The jewelry is beautiful and their stories are so awesome!!! We all got some jewelry and I will definitely go back again and get some more. We also went to a store called Jade, which has a bunch of neat clothes, purses, etc. I got a bright yellow shirt for when we go to Florida.
Saturday evening we just played games back at their house. Some good friends of theirs came over, so it was nice to get to know them as well. They are really trying to get Brad and I to move over there!!! It is a nice place to live, so we'll just have to see....
On Sunday, we went to their church, Blythefield Hills Baptist Church. It was really nice! Afterwards, we all went to Logan's for lunch! We sat with Nate and his girlfriend, Lisa. My stomach was really upset, so I honestly didn't enjoy the lunch at all. I wanted to eat, but I just couldn't. We headed back home afterwards and spent the evening relaxing!!!
It was a very enjoyable and fun weekend. We were glad we were able to make it over to Uncle Chip and Aunt Sharon's house and see them and their kids while we were there. They are a sweet family and hopefully we can get back over to that side of the state again this summer.
