Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter dinner tonight at my Aunt and Uncle, Marge and Allan's home.  We were joined by my cousin Eileen, her daughter Kimberly, and mother Karen.  We had a yummy meal, followed by birthday cake in my honor...which was a great surprise!    We came home to the smell of our easter Lily.  I had made hard boiled eggs earlier today while Mike was finishing his 30 hour shift, and convinced him to join me in a Nichols family tradition, coloring easter eggs.  

Here are the finished products!  

Learning to golf???

Mike has decided it is his mission to teach me to golf.  After years of persuading, he has finally convinced me to give it a shot.  As many of you know, my Dad is a great golfer, but I have only played 9 holes ONCE and went to the driving range a few times in my life.  Here is a picture of me at the driving range this spring...glad it is finally warm enough to get out there....

 I have a new golf glove, so I won't get blisters....and the word on the street is I might have some equipment of my own soon enough....my birthday is April 18th :) Anyone interested in golf lessons or going to play with Mike and me....let us know!

Out of touch...

As many of you know, we took off in a hurry to Salt Lake City last month for a family emergency. On the way there, I left my computer under a table in a restaurant in the Detroit Airport, and it was STOLEN. Without my computer, or a good way to download pics (Mike's old computer is on it's last leg....but it is better than nothing, so I am using that for now)....I have not been able to post updates with pics! :( Oh well, I need to get back into blogging so here are a few updates sans pics...

Thankfully, Mike's Dad's is doing wonderfully. He bounced back from a scary situation, and is doing great as far as we are concerned (he has his own personal doctor squad now, whether he likes it or not!). His cardiologist has given him the OK to go back to work and life continues as usual.....AMAZING! Thank goodness for the health care professionals, Ski Patrol, and Doctors of Utah....they did such a great job taking care of Jeff.

We are ready for VACATION....18 days and counting until we leave for Tahiti. We will be spending 3 days in Santa Barbara, CA, followed by 4 days in Moorea and 6 days in Bora Bora. We can hardly wait and promise to take lots of pictures.

I just got back from a wonderful trip to Milwaukee to spend time with some of my dearest girlfriends from Hope College, Sarah (Little) Teller and Emily (Little) Troyk. I also had the pleasure of meeting their beautiful boys, Alex and Logan. We had a great time catching up including Pizza and Movie night, shopping with the little ones, and a girls night dinner complete with scallops and grapefruit martinis, yum! It was a much needed reunion, and I hope to see them all again very soon!!

I am so looking forward to my best friend Macare's wedding shower, which is coming up soon: APRIL 4th :) I can hardly wait to start the celebrations to come over the next few months with her,. I am also looking forward to catching up with all of my TC girls :)

Fortunately, we had my computer insured, and the insurance check is in the mail....so hopefully I will be back up and running with PICS soon! I may branch out and get a MAC, I hope I like it.....

Snowshoeing in TC

A few weeks ago, Mike and I had a great weekend trip up north filled with skiing and snowshoeing. Unfortunately, it was so cold on the ski hill I didn't get my camera out to take any pictures. We brought two of our friends from residency, Pete and Kevin, up with us! On Saturday we skied at Boyne Mountain wit my mom, and then sunday, Mike, Pete and Kevin went skiing at Crystal Mtn, while my mom and I, as well as Katie went for a beautiful snowshoe at the State Hospital grounds....here are a few pics.....

Bora Bora and Moorea Here We come!!

It is official, Mike and I just booked flights to the amazing Tahitian Islands of Moorea and Bora Bora. (thanks to some great frequent flyer miles from my Dad!!) We are so excited about our upcoming trip April 17-29th. We are still in the process of getting our hotels and interisland flights set up, but should get that all done in the next day or two! We can't wait!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree....

Here it is...all decked out with ornaments and ready for gifts!!

Tree Trimming Party at the O'Malley's House

On Saturday Dec 13th, we went to the O'Malley's for a tree trimming party!!Thanks Meaghan and Ryan for hosting!! It was a night filled with warmed spiced cider, hanging ornaments, good food and great friends!


Mike and I in front of their beautiful tree.



Catching up with Ryan


Megan, Laura, Meaghan, Tina, Ryan and Emily

Christmas Tree Hunt

We decided today was the day to find our first Christmas tree as a married couple. Last year we started the tradition of cutting a tree down (as an engaged couple :) ) We headed out to the same tree farm to brave the cold and find that perfect tree!!

Here is Mike with the cart, ready to find the best tree out there....

He was nice enough to give me a ride!!

Wandering through the forest of trees.
We found it, the perfect one!!


Mike getting ready to cut it down....



We loaded it up on the car...


Here it is! It is huge (definitely bigger than last year). We were able to get the lights up, but are heading off to two Christmas parties tonight, so the ornaments will have to be hung at a later date! Stay tuned for the finished product!!

Internal Medicine Holiday Party

As most of you know, I love hosting parties....and Mike loves helping me host them :) We had a great time hosting many of our internal medicine friends at our "pre-party" before heading to the IM Holiday Party at the Michigan Union. Unfortunately, Mike was on call, so he missed much of the pre-party, but made it home in time to join us for the main event!! It was a great night with wonderful friends. We all enjoyed some of Padre and Muzzy's "Christmas Punch" to get us into the holiday spirit in honor of my grandpa! We miss you and love you Grandpa....especially this time of year!



Friends gathered around the kitchen.....


We had an apartment full of friends, it was great!

The girls!

Med Peds Friends

Prom Style Photo

Dancing Queens

So glad Mike made it (after a LONG day in the hospital)! What a good sport!

Thanksgiving with the Nichols Family

We had a wonderful, but brief (19 hours in TC) trip home to Traverse City to spend the day with my parents, my sister and her family, and our extended family on my dad's side. We had a wonderful time catching up with everyone. It makes me realize how lucky we are to all live close enough to carry on this tradition of driving to spend time together every Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year Thanksgiving was at my parents house, and "Christmas" is at my Aunt Kathy's on December 20th. It was also great having Christine and Todd's kids there and getting to spend time with them!


Aiden and I enjoying time together after dinner!




Mike and Avery after a trip to see the Elsenheimer's new puppy "B".


Dad, Avery, and Christine

Avery decided she wanted to try some more turkey after dinner, the leg she chose was almost bigger than her!!

Story Time....pretty sure this one was about puppies....


Todd and I watching the kids play in the hot tub!



Happy, full, and feeling blessed after a wonderful visit home!