We made it!

We made it to Michigan! We're in the duplex right now and our friends came to meet us. The girls are playing games, the boys are playing on a new videogame that friends gave to us for Christmas, and the adults are talking.

I'm so glad that we have internet here! I'll hopefully be able to post while I'm here, and if I can't then I'll be sure to post when we're home. We have a few plans for later today, and we're all really excited!

There are probably a few more things, but so far we're just hanging out and just finished eating breakfast. I have already texted Beka so hopefully she won't be mad for waking her up. :) There's an hour time difference and so we're an hour ahead than usual.

Hope your holiday plans and travels are all going well!
~Michlyn

Road Trip

As I said... I'm going to be really busy and won't be seeing Beka for about a week... I think that's a record! But I'm excited to take this road trip... squished altogether or not.

We're off to take a road trip in the morning! We'll be visiting with a family that my parents traveled with in Ethiopia. We're all pretty excited to spend time as a family and also with friends around this holiday season. A dear friend of my mom... Her parents are letting us stay in their duplex, which is just about 2 hours away from where are friends are staying in their hotel.

God has blessed us to go on this trip and we're thankful for that! Erin and I are packed, and maybe my brothers... not sure yet. Just to finish packing everyone else and everything else for our 12-13 hour road trip. Dear Lord in heaven give us all peace and patience. :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We definitely did!

~Michlyn

Better With U (#6)

Better with U

by Big Time Rush

Enjoy!

~Michlyn

Christmas Party!

 Tonight was our youth group Christmas party! They have separate ones for the Junior Highers and the Senior Highers, and tonight was the Senior Highers. We got to have our Christmas party at our youth pastor's house and it was a blast! Their house is pretty big but not too spacious in some areas. We did manage to fit all 30 of us teenagers in their living room and it was quite an adventure! We all had to bring a white elephant gift. (a gift under $5 that you can buy or something from your house you want to give away) Then once we all seemed to find a spot to play the game we started!
Each person got a really random gift, (not their own) and it was so much fun! Just seeing the expression on the person's face was really funny, and of course how random the gift really was.
We also played other games in small groups, talked with our friends, randomly arm-wrestled, laughed about all the different stuff that was said, had awkward but fun car rides home, and altogether I'm pretty sure everyone thought it was a great night. I can't wait for next year and how much more fun we'll have. I'll keep you posted on more exciting youth group trips coming up!

~Michlyn

Look who's 9!

Look at those cheeks...

Happy Birthday Jace! You're so special to us, and I can't imagine my life without you! You were my first brother and you definitely keep life exciting!

Your big sister,

~Michlyn

Little Brother

This is Scout. I rememeber when he was little and I would hold him and play with him.

Now he's big and all grown up!

I love you little man! (I've always called him that) I know you're big and 6 now, but let's make this year really slow. Because the more you grow, the more I grow... and I don't want to grow up too fast.

You keep life busy, and interesting! You always remind me in your innocent ways, how to stay young. I remember when I was your age, and there was no worries what so ever.



You're always there to cheer me up with your crazy and silly ways! You're always having fun and telling me your imaginary stories.

You never fail to crack me up, or make me laugh, and sometimes drive me a little crazy!

I love you little man! I know I've always said not to grow up too fast... because before you know it, you'll be as "big" as me. I want you to remember to always have fun and to always remember the simple things in life. This world is very imperfect and it's tough... I know that I still have a lot to learn, but it is never fair.

Keep your chin held high!

You big sister,

~Michlyn

I'm back!

Well this week has been quite crazy! On Monday I got my iPod taken away for not doing what my mom wanted. I just stayed on it, until she finally said "give it to me". Well of course knowing me... I had a
"There's NO WAY you're taking this from me" fight  an argument with her about it. I just got it back yesterday!

On Tuesday I had sooo many things to do in school. Luckily I basically have a study hall in my third hour. My teacher is really flexible, and I got a lot done for other classes too. I also had a Spanish test and it went pretty good. I'm so glad when classes are quiet and you could just fall asleep without getting in trouble. ;)

On Wednesday my parents talked and said that I won't be able to have my iPod at night. It really stinks because I usually listen to music when I go to bed. It made me sooo mad! I understood in my head argued because I totally disagreed. Oh well... There's no way I can change it, and yes I have found a way to fall asleep these past few nights.

On Thursday it was pretty low key. Out of all the days of our 5 day week this was the longest day ever! I think everyone I asked said they were tired, and since we have so many semester projects coming up the classes are really boring. I think everyone was happy for that day to pass.

On Friday, I left school 30 minutes early to go take my permit test. I was soo nervous, and just didn't know what to expect. It's on a touch screen computer and only 40 questions. Unfortunately, I didn't pass this time... I was pretty bummed but tried to stay positive. Some of the questions I don't even remember studying so I hope to study more and pass the next I take it. Wish me luck!!

Hope everyone else had a great, and not so long week!

~Michlyn

You Never Are (#2)

You can also see last week's video here!

~Michlyn

Back to the 80's

Last night we had a bowling night with our youth group, and another youth group too! :)

IT. WAS. SO. MUCH. FUN.

The theme was: 80's Night
Erin, Beka, and I went all out!!! Here's what we wore

Bright colors, cut off shirts, converse, leggings, short skirts, big hair, scrunchies, and lipstick! :)

We totally forgot our cameras when we actually went bowling... Oops! It was so much fun seeing everyone dress up, and hang out together. We listened to 80's music, and they turned the Black Out lights on. So everything that is brightly colored or white glows up!! Can't wait until our next bowling night...

Hope everyone else had a great night!

~Michlyn

Happy Thanksgiving 2011!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving! We got to see almost all of our family, and we had a ton of fun! We went to my mom's side of the family first. We ate a lot of food, had laugh attacks with the cousins, watched the little ones play outside together, and the adults enjoyed each others company.

Before Thanksgiving, my grandma was hoping for a big family picture. Everyone said they would be stopping by sometime through out the day so towards the end before everyone headed home we took a few!

One big crazy family. 10 adults (grandma&grandpa + 4 kids & spouses) 19 grandchildren (16 yrs. - 22 months)

It was also Scout's Birthday! He turned 6 years old - I can't believe it! Our little man was born on Thanksgiving 6 years ago, and now this was his first birthday where it actually landed on Thanksgiving again! We called him our little turkey! :) So we got to celebrate in the morning with a few presents, and then later we celebrated with lots of family.

Hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving!

~Michlyn

Video of the Week

I think I'll be posting a video of the week, every week for the next month or so. I've heard some very encouraging songs lately.

Sometimes they relate to my life.

Sometimes they relate to my friends.

And sometimes other things... This world is very imperfect, but it's amazing how many good songs they can make!

That's all.

~Michlyn

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L (#1)

Girl's you're beautiful no matter what!

~Michlyn

HOPE.

Hope is very strong.

You have to believe. Feel strongly about something. That's what hope is.
My littlest sister's middle name is Hope. We brought her home from Ethiopia through the miracle of adoption.

Adoption takes hope. Not just hope, but much more. Such as...

Faith
Prayer
Support
Financial help
Srength
Patience
and even more than that...

Everybody needs it.

~Michlyn

Drivers Ed

I started Drivers Ed last Monday! Monday-Thursday, and then I started again this week. Monday-Thursday... Now I have a little "break" for the 3 day weekend. Woot woot!

Next week, I'll be doing it Monday & Tuesday then I'll be done! That will make up 30 hours of classroom time! We've just been working on packets and today was our last packet. We finished our test from the state manuel and now only two. days. left.

Eeekkk! I've had a lot of fun with it. My class has 11 people including me. We're all very different, so we enjoy cracking jokes and helping each other out. :)

I think I'll be taking my test sometime next week, but still not sure because it's the week of Thanksgiving and we don't know how late they will be open. I've been very busy because I go straight to the class right after school and it's for 3 hours each day. So I don't get home until about 6:30. It can get very long...

The weekend couldn't come soon enough and I can't wait to finish up my last couple days so I can finally drive! :)

Have a great night everyone!
~Michlyn

My Mom's Birthday

My mom's was birthday yesterday! We had so much fun catching up with friends that came to visit from out of state! My parents met them in Ethiopia, and we met them in Chicago last year for a mini reunion. We then went out to dinner, to celebrate the beautiful, intelligent, and Christ follower woman - My mom!

When my mom was little! Wasn't she cute?!

- Now -

My mom is:

Smart

Caring

Loving

Has 6 kiddos

Loves the Lord

Puts others before herself

A teacher

A blogger/writer

Gets a job done

Good cook

creative

and A LOT more...

I hope we made her feel extra special yesterday!

Love you!

~Michlyn

Birthday Pictures

My Birthday was so much fun this year! Thank you to everyone who helped me celebrate! It was great spending time with people that mean the most to me!

~Michlyn