Christmas Bowling

Why yes, we did go bowling on Christmas this year! My mom had gotten a flyer in the mail for the local bowling alley that said it was open from 4pm till Midnight on Christmas Day. Our Christmas bonanza at my cousin's house ended around that time, so we thought this would be a perfect night cap for us! My brother invited one of his friend's (which we didn't realize was a closet bowler that kicked most of our butts) and the 6 of us tore up two lanes at Forest View.

Once my dad taught me how to bowl (he said you have to 'shake hands' with the lane) I started kicking booty! My first game was a 48, but once I "learned how to bowl" I got a 140 and actually carried my team (our team was Ryan, my dad and I). We all had a great time and I might have found my new calling :) JK!

PS YES, it was a Ugly Christmas Sweater Party at my cousins a few hours earlier... Normally my bowling attire is never this flashy :)

Padot Side Photo Shoot

When we get together with my dad's side of the family for Christmas, we always try to take a big family picture. My dad is nice enough to then print off a copy for everyone. Well, the last few years we have started doing a 'good one' and a 'funny one'. Here are some of the shots we got this year :) It is HARD to pick a favorite!

PS I think you need to click on each of them and enlarge the photos to see us in our fully glory :)

Lights Before Christmas

One tradition that I really enjoy (I have to admit, there aren't many that I don't enjoy, or else we wouldn't keep them around as traditions, hehe) is going to the Lights Before Christmas at the Toledo Zoo. The Toledo Zoo really does an AMAZING job at decking the zoo out for Christmas. They COVER the place with lights! It is always an amazing sight! [My mom mentioned something that I never really thought about though. She said that you normally don't notice the number of trees in the zoo when you are there any other time of the year, which is totally true, but the zoo is full of them.] Now don't get me wrong, the weather normally does not work out for us (I think two year ago it poured on us and we had to hide under a bridge before we could run back to the car) - but hey, that is Michigan/ Ohio weather in December for ya :). This year the weather couldn't have been better! It was chilly, of course, but just about perfect! It is awfully difficult to shoot good pictures of Christmas lights in the evening, but I'd have to say that Ryan did a great job capturing the beauty that is the Lights Before Christmas!

This tree in the snake exhibit even had snake skin as the garland... GROSS!

Christmas Deers

After church two Sundays ago, we were contemplating what we should do. My dad had a great idea of heading down to the Maumee Bay State Park to walk along the boardwalk (a 2 mile loop in the woods) to see if we could find any deer. My parents have done this a few times before when they have been out on bike rides and have always seen a ton so we got bundled up and headed out. When we got there all of the entrances to the boardwalk were CLOSED. Apparently there had been some crazy wind a few weeks ago and a ton of trees, branches, and sticks were down which had blocked or broken parts of the boardwalk. Well, we decided a few signs (and possible $500 fine - or so my dad kept saying) wouldn't get us down, so we hopped the barricade and hit the trails. We saw A TON (like probably 20ish) deer along the way - we forgot to count them all (my dad said it was because normally they count them to tell me how many they saw, and since I was there they didn't need to remember exacts :) ). A lot of them even came super close up to us, so Ryan was able to get a ton of great shots. Two of them even had STICKS (what we say when they have antlers, i.e. bucks). We set up some self timer shots too, but apparently we didn't tell my parents that after the first one or two nice ones you are supposed to make silly faces :).

If you are ever in the area of the Maumee Bay State Park, I would definitely recommend it! They even have a really nice lodge and conference center. 

Starts with a Drawing

Frankenweenie - Starts with the Drawing

Christmas Letter

For those of you who didn't get our Christmas letter in the mail, I wanted to post it here for you.

Reading Resolution

Last year my boss gave me a Kindle for part of my Christmas/ End-Of-The-Year Bonus. Around that same time I started working out (mostly in the gym on the elliptical or stationary bike). I made a New Years Resolution that I wanted to read at least 12 books in 2012 (thinking I would be able to do at least one a month). Today I went over the list and I was at 22! I would say at least 90% of them were finished in the first three months (because then I started mixing up my work outs and didn't read as often). Not to mention I sold my Kindle a few months ago (since I wasn't reading much and I had my iPhone that I could use for the Internet).

Hunger Games

Catching Fire

Mockingjay

The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow

Real Marriages

Notes to Self

Charlotte Figg Takes Over Paradise

Becoming Your Spouse's Better Half

Learn Me Good

The Truth About Butterflies: A Memoir

Encountering Heaven and the Afterlife

Learn Me Gooder

Will Love For Crumbs - A Memoir

Live Organic (52 Brilliant Ideas)

Exposed: A Novel

Seven Moments in Time

Return from Tomorrow

How good is good enough?

Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

Looking Back with a Smile

Love Unlisted: A Novel

The Runner's Guide to WDW

Also, Ryan and I started a reading plan in September to read through the Bible in 1 year. We are pleased to say we have stayed on track and have really enjoyed doing this together. For normally not making any resolutions, I have to say I did pretty well on this one :)