First things first! Joe asked me to marry him when we went to dinner at Bower's Harbour Inn a few days before Christmas (of course I said yes!). We purposely kept this a secret so we could tell our respective families in person over the holidays. Here are the details:
While we were eating we were discussing when we would open presents because both of us were working 12+ hour shifts on the 23rd, 24th, and 25th. At this point, Joe asked me if I wanted to open a present right then and went to retrieve the gift. When he came back he said we should go upstairs (the restaurant is an old victorian house) to open the gift. When we got upstairs we spyed a huge Christmas tree, so thats where he gave me the dvd sized box. I opened it and found a beautiful glass rose Christmas ornament (Joe seems to be making this a tradition ever since he told me my christmas tree had no character-he gave me an ornament last year as well). So there I am thinking it's a very sweet and thoughtful gift when I see the ring around the stem of the rose. I began to cry and he asked me to marry him. I stuttered something along the lines of yes and continued to cry. It was all very romantic and sweet. :) Here's a picture of the ring I took when we got home that night:
While we had previously gone ring browsing, I was still pretty impressed with how good of a job he did picking out the ring. He even managed to remember my ring size somehow!
On the 26th Joe's sister and her fiance flew into TC, so he went and picked them up from the airport while I finished packing and getting things together for our holiday travels. Then we all drove to Grayling to Joe's parents house. His sister Crystal and her boyfriend Zach were already there, along with Joe's parents and brother Tommy. The next day Joe's Grandma joined us, and I must say she's absolutely adorable. We opened gifts together and took some photos before sharing a great dinner of both venison and bear.
Holidays with the Pilons are much different than the holidays I'm used to experiencing. In my family, holidays tend to be busier and chaotic. I would imagine this is mostly because of number of people involved in a Kirkwood Christmas or Thanksgiving, and I always feel blessed to have all of those people around me during the holidays. Interestingly enough, however, after spending two very relaxed and comfortable holidays with the Pilons, I found I had to re-adjust to the hustle and bustle of the holidays in the UP. Fundamentally its the same idea: open gifts together, share a meal, take some family photos, perhaps play some cards or just hang out and chat. But the dynamics of this routine change drastically when you add 6 or 8 small children into the mix - especially children like Jake and Johnny. All in all, I'm enjoying the diversity in my holiday experiences these days!
We left Grayling on the afternoon of the 28th. I really didn't want to leave - I was having a wonderful time and wished we could have stayed longer. Also, I was disappointed we had to leave so soon after Joe's sister Becky was finally starting to feel better (she had not been feeling well for the first 24-36 hours we were there). I almost had Joe convinced to leave me there while he went to work, but in the end it was nice to be able to go home and regroup before leaving for the UP on Friday.
We encountered bad weather during our drive to the UP on Friday, so we decided not to make the trip to Marquette for my Christmas celebration with friends and headed straight for Gwinn/Little Lake. We dropped the animals off at camp and ventured to my Dad's to tell him and Teri about our engagement. Both seemed genuinely excited - a state I scarcely recall my father being in previously. We then visited my Mom and Steve - I hadn't even finished giving my Mom a hug before she noticed the ring.! After those visits we met up with all of my siblings at Brown's Tavern - they had all been shooting darts (they're in a league) and had stayed after to celebrate my sister in law's birthday. After being there for about an hour we finally told them all - I was quite suprised no one had noticed the ring since they always seem to be looking for it.
On the 30th we had Christmas at my Dad's, which was a lot of fun. We had a wonderful meal and enjoyed opening presents with everyone, the kids especially.
Timmy on his Dad's Lap:
Phil with his new graphing calculator:
Megan and Brooklynne oogling their earrings:
Jake hoisting his LEGO ship:
Johnny checking out his viewfinder:
On New Year's Eve we had Christmas at camp with my Mom. Again, a great meal - Steve had made spagetti sauce using some venison from a deer he shot this fall and Mom made regular spagetting and meatballs. Both were delicious. This time Joe and I gave the kids presents to unwrap and my mom had presents for the both of us.
The Twins with their Spiderman Laser Tag:
Jamie with his Guitar Player's Repair Kit:
That night all of the kids went to Pat and Nicole's with a babysitter and we all celebrated the New Year at camp. On New Years Day we all went out to breakfast. On the 2nd, Joe and I went to Marquette to open bank accounts, look for an apartment (we found one) and so I could interview at Biolife (got the job). Joe and I had a great time, but were also very glad to sleep in our own bed on Tuesday Night.
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