The Moore's in Michigan

Josh and I enjoyed a much needed time away with his family in Covert, MI in early August. We stayed at an old farm house that they rented for the week. We came home with quite a few laughs about some of the arrangements. There were about 12 light switches in the kitchen ALONE, and it was trial and error every time one of us wanted to turn a light on or off. Typically, someone would turn the lights out on the rest of us in the living room. The house had some foundational problems leaving the guys leaning while using the restroom, Josh falling off our leaning bed while I rolled to his side and I think even the girls were crawling crooked (okay maybe that last one is pushing it, but the other two examples are not.) We joked about all the reasons we could be fined $100 and then we made up our own.

We were able to enjoy a lot of the outdoors. We went to the beach in South Haven with the whole family. The water was nice (well according to me it was nice, Chuck thought it was a bit cold and Hannah didn't really want to have anything to do with it). We walked out to the lighthouse and the guys played some Frisbee on the beach. One of the days Josh and I drove up to Holland State Park and met up with friends from college (Sam and Kristin;Ben, Katie and Eden; as well as Kym and Kaitlin). It was so good to see those friends again and the weather turned out perfect for us to have a picnic on the beach. One of our last days all of us "big kids" went on some trails that led us out to some bluffs on Lake Michigan. It was beautiful out there and made me miss living by the water. The guys went swimming and raced up one of the big bluffs. Josh found a big rock that we took back with us and it has now become our rotating trophy for March Madness bracket winners. We are calling it "Moore Madness: Pick for the Rock!" Marilyn is the current winner and keeper of the rock.

We enjoyed berry picking and walking through the woods. Josh and I tried to track down a deer, but it started to rain. I thought something growled at me, maybe it was one of those cougars that have been sighted in Michigan? The guys had some fun trying to jump in the pool and catch the football. We had some pretty good laughs when Josh tried to go from the longs side of the pool. Madeline and Hannah were on the move, crawling all over the place and in some cases crawling all over Josh:) We put together some puzzles while we were there and learned that when you move from your seat while working on the puzzle, someone else will fill it in a matter of seconds.
"Great Lakes, Great Times" (spoken by the little girl on the commercials that make Michigan sound like so much fun...and of course it is:)

There's a FIRST for everything

The FIRST day of the rest of our lives!

As we prepare to celebrate our FIRST year of marriage, I thought this was an appropriate time to start our FIRST blog. To carry on the inspiration, I give you the FIRST post on our blog. What a better way to start off then to share with you some of our FIRST experiences during our FIRST year of marriage. We thank God for the many blessings that He has given to us this past year.

Our FIRST cruise together

Our FIRST traditions to share together each year:

Steelers vs. Broncos and carving pumpkins

The making of a ginger bread house (with lots of candy)

Growing a garden

Some of MY FIRSTS have dealt with acclimating myself with the world of sports. We are part of a Moore family tradition to make a bracket during March Madness and see who wins. That has actually been going on for three years now, but this was my FIRST year as a member of the family. Josh found a cool big rock at the beach and it is now our trophy. We're calling it "Moore Madness: Pick for the Rock!" I have been able to go to my first NFL game and even though it's not a first, my second Pirates game. I played on my FIRST women's softball team and enjoyed many Saturday mornings and some Thursday nights watching Josh play softball as well.

Some of JOSH'S FIRSTS have been enjoying time with Hannah and Madeline (our twin nieces), seeing his first coyote in the wild, learning what it's like to live with a woman (that's me:) and experimenting with new recipes (Yes, Josh can cook!!!) Over this past year Josh has made is FIRST seamless table (that now presides in our entryway and looks great), as well as making some platforms for bean bag toss games (this is a big thing in the Chicago area).

We have had a wonderful FIRST year of marriage together. We continue to look forward to the FIRSTS we will share, but we also enjoy the many things that we experience on a regular basis. We hope that this blog will be a way for us to share our lives with you no matter where we the Lord takes us. Just as it is written under the title of our blog, we are taking it "a day at a time." We can't wait to see what the Lord will take us next. We are nearing the end of our FIRST year, but we can't wait for a lifetime more. As for the end of this first post, may it be the beginning of many more.