Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Nite Lights

As part of our Christmas celebration a group of us took a trip to the ballpark to see the Christmas Lights, Old Kent Nite Lites.  Check out the photos; looks like a good time was had by all, even if they had to get a jump to keep on going.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Christmas Party

 

We got together at church for Christmas this year.  Ang and Nate were gone and we were uncomfortable just meeting at their house.  We had planned to get together, do some snooping, then go out caroling.

The turnout wasn't too big and we found out a few hours before that the church was having difficulty getting the Angel Tree gifts deliveried.  Can you say Service Project?  After gathering together we sent two teams out to make deliveries.  One of the teams even did some caroling at some of the houses.

We returned to church to enjoy some snacks and snoops, then packed it in for the evening.  More and more I am reminded that maybe the most crucial part of this whole thing is just being together, building our relationships.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Mens Outing

Late Fall brought our first annual Men's Outing.  Nate, Paul, Ray, and Jim packed up what little they needed and headed down to Indiana for a visit to the Bass Pro Shop.  The trip down went well except for all the semis who kept driving right next to the van.  Our hotel was literally a block away from the store.  We checked in, then headed over to the Pro Shop to do a little scouting and shopping.  It was truly an amazing place, filled with hunting, fishing, outdoor, and boating gear.  We wandered awhile, stopping in front of the giant fish tank and checking out all the stuffed animals on the ledges above.

After a little shopping planning we drove back to the hotel.  We had dinner right next door in the Quaker State Cafe, a place filled with racing paraphernalia.  The atmosphere was great but the food was a little greasy.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel.  The pool had adults only from 10-11, so we got our suits on and did some swimming and hot tubbing.  After wearing ourselves out we went to bed.  The question was who would snore the loudest, and the jury is still out.

The following morning we drove back to the Pro Shop but they didn't open until 9.  With a half-hour to kill we drove around, finding the Yogi Bear park that can be seen from the highway. 

By the time we got back to the Pro Shop they were open and we buckled down for some serious shopping.  Some of us had some gear we had to pick up for Christmas presents, others were gearing up for a summer of fishing next year.  Jim and Ray had to rescue Nate from buying a new power boat.

We still had time once we were done shopping (even with having to page Nate to the front again) so we drove a little further down and stopped at the new Cabella store just inside the Indiana border.  It was nice, with even more stuffed animals, but it was also very crowded with rude Chicago shoppers.  After a little wandering and all of us saving Nate from buying a new $150 winter suit we called it a day and headed back to Michigan.

All in all a good trip and one we hope to repeat again this Spring.  We might even let the girls comewith this time.