AJ Spending the Night

Last night Beth picked up AJ after work to spend the night with us. John’s home and this gives Becca & him some quiet time together. He is almost ready to start crawling. He’ll get up on all four and start moving forward. Just a little bit more strength and he’ll be mobile. Right now he does a lot of rolling to get places. Also, he has his first tooth. So now you have to be careful when he grabs your finger and sticks it in his mouth. We are stuck in a deep freeze. Today’s high only around 11 degrees and tomorrow only 9 degrees with the night time temperatures below zero. These temperatures should stick around until the weekend before it gets closer to the normal for this time of the year. I even had a big surprise last night when I got home. Our drive way, side walks and deck were completely shoveled after the previous night’s snow. Cori’s boyfriend Justin came over and shoveled for us. I really appreciate this since I didn’t have to go out and do it after getting home from work. Thanks Justin!

Christmas 2008

It was a white Christmas here in Michigan and a beautiful time to celebrate our Lord’s birth. John, Becca, AJ and Cori were here on Christmas day for dinner. We opened gifts and watched AJ play with his toys.

We recieved around 18-20 inches of snow with in a week before Christmas. Then the Saturday after Christmas the temperature hit near 60 degrees with rain and most of the snow melted. So now it looks like spring after most of the snow melts but we know there is still 3 months of winter to go.

John got home on the 23rd and was able to stay until the 28th. He wanted to stay home longer but with the economy his company couldn’t guarantee he would get his dedicated route back. He did spend some quality time with Becca and AJ. He even added insulation in the attic of his house.

Andrew James spent the next afternoon with us while John and Becca took care of some work around the house. AJ is getting close to crawling. He gets up on his hands and knees but not quite the strength to move forward. He does a lot of rolling around but he can cover some ground this way. You have to keep an eye on him or he’ll roll into trouble.

Check out the photos from Christmas and the day after by clicking on the family photos link. Have a Happy New Year.

Jamie and Amanda’s Wedding

Beth, Cori and I just got back last night from Annapolis, Maryland after Jamie and Amanda’s wedding. We flew in on Friday and met David & Barb at the hotel. Friday afternoon we went to St. Mary’s church for the wedding rehearsal. It is a beautiful church. Then we ate dinner at a seafood restaurant near the marina. The food was excellent.

Saturday was the wedding. When we arrived at the church Bryan and Megan were there. It was nice to see them again. The ceremony was beautiful with a lot of emotions. Jamie got teary eyed when he saw Amanda come through the door in the back of the church. After the service it was off to the reception. They introduced the whole wedding party and then the dancing started. Later Jamie and Amanda cut the wedding cake with a little bit of extra activity when they each offered the other a bite. You’ll need to see the pictures. After the reception we all gathered at Amanda’s parents house to finish the celebration. Here’s a photo of the new couple.

Sunday everybody started heading home. David, Barb, Dave, Matthew, Britanni and Nikki drove back to West Virginia. Later in the afternoon we flew back to Michigan. Jamie and Amanda will be heading out for their honeymoon before settling in West Virginia for the rest of the year.

We just want to say welcome to the family Amanda. The family is getting bigger all the time. I lost my mother this year but gained a grandson Andrew James, a great niece Audrey and a niece Amanda. Check out the family photos for all the pictures.

A Surprise Visit from Jamie

We’ve been enjoying a surprise visit from our nephew Jamie. He is living out in Billings, Montana and is heading to West Virginia for his last semester of school at Marshall University. He met up with Cori yesterday afternoon since Beth and I was still at work. Beth was working in Frankenmuth so we all met there and had dinner at the Bavarian Inn. Then went home and stayed up late catching up on all his adventures. He is planning to stay another night before heading to WV.

4 generations of Wood men

Last night our family got together for dinner in Frankenmuth. This was the first time great grandpa, grandpa, dad and son were together. It was an enjoyable time see everybody together laughing and joking with each other. I couldn’t help thinking about mom missing this special occasion but I know she was looking down on us from heaven. Click on the family photos link to see more pictures from dinner.