A Christmas Carol

Did you know you can experience Granger's Christmas Eve production of "A Christmas Carol" LIVE without being in Granger?

A Christmas Carol | Christmas Eve 2009 from Granger Community on Vimeo.

Check out the service LIVE at 11:00pm TONIGHT! Thousands of people will be there with you, but you'll be in the comfort of your own home! How cool is that?

Click HERE or go to http://live.gccwired.com/ to join in.

Random Reunion in Cadillac

We spent today up in Cadillac with some of our friends from Hope. Bryant and Becky drove in from Baltimore, Joel and Sarah (and baby Jamus) drove down from Boyne and we all met Luke and Lindsay in the middle! Ryan lived with Joel, Luke and Bryant throughout college and all those guys happened to marry Hope girls, many of us also lived together and knew each other from college... which makes our reunions very fun! We decided that all of our babies are destined to go to Hope College as well - and of course, they will marry each other and the circle of life will continue for many generations.

Ruby is just getting old enough to play - and Isla is a pile of fun. Even when there were huge plastic carrots to play with, the mail was the favorite toy of the day.




We so enjoy the random days when people are in town for the holidays and happen to find a time for a get-together. It's one of our favorite things about living in West Michigan. So many college friends either live in the area or have family in the area, so our town becomes a central meeting point. We only had 6 hours together today, but those 6 hours were full of laughter, stories and some delicious Mexican food (thank you Luke!) We love you guys! Can't wait for our next random reunion!

OYSY Sushi!!

Ryan and I had a little date night tonight at a new sushi place in GR! We used to have incredible sushi at our favorite Sushi House in Chicago, but when we moved to Grand Rapids we couldn't find anything that compared. Tonight we went to OYSY Steak and Sushi Buffet in Centerpointe Mall. It was probably the best sushi we've found in GR. They fuze Korean and Japanese flavors and use special home-made sauces for each roll. Their all-you-can-eat sushi bar is only $8.95.

I don't think they realized how much sushi Ryan and I can put down. Eventually, they started bringing plates to our table for us to try. Everything was delicious! "OYSY" is Korean for "delicious".

Pretty much every employee at OYSY came over to talk to us, about the food, about Ruby, about what we should order next time, about where they were from and where they got their training. They were so nice, and the food was great! We told them we'd tell all of our friends about their restaurant - so here I am, telling all my friends.

Check out OYSY sometime soon! Tell them Ryan, Amber and Ruby sent you.

Winter Grilling

...just one more reason I love my husband.

Six month old babies are fun...

I had some time this morning so I pulled together some of the footage of Rubykins over the last 3 weeks or so. She is getting more fun every month... and seems to be figuring out ways to get our attention when we're not in the same room. She has an incredible scream - which sounds "very girly" according to my girlfriends who have boys. She is sitting up by herself (not going from laying to sitting, but staying in a sitting position once I put her there) and we have been trying out finger foods and sippy cups (mostly just for fun). She'll be on the move before we know it, so I am enjoying these days.

Half a Year Old

Ruby is 16 lbs 3 oz at 6 months. According to the growth chart she should start to taper off a bit now, which is nice, since my body is covered in bruises from trying to figure out how to carry her in her infant seat. I should buy some wheels and a leash for that thing! We got the SungRide 32... so she could stay in it up to 32 lbs. We are silly for thinking we could ever carry her like that. I can't even carry her in it at 16!

She did awesome today after her shots. She slept for 2.5 hours, then ate a whole bunch, then slept for another 2 hours. This is a picture of her "chillaxin" with her dad after dinner tonight.

Hello Winter

• Our house that we rent has a bit of an insulation problem. We have icicles that are already 5 feet long across the entire front of our house. If we owned this house we'd do something to fix the problem - instead we just sit here watching our money drip drip drip away.
• My friends are in the "move" stage of life. I'd say over 50% of my Christmas Card list had friends with new addresses. Ryan and I are going to move again in a year and a half when he does Fellowship... then again three years after that!
• I love ordering prints from MPIX.com. They do such an awesome job, the colors are always perfect and the orders come really quickly.
• Someone should make envelope seals more flavorful... maybe cinnamon or honey flavored!
• Ryan and I purchased stamps through the ATM this weekend, and let me tell ya, it was pretty awesome. Nice work United States Postal Service!
• I love wrapping presents. Today I wrapped a bunch of them, with pretty ribbons and bows.
• Ruby will be 6 months old on Thursday. THAT'S INSANE!! She's such a person! We have her 6 month immunizations and check-up with Dr. Hofman on Friday. 6 MONTHS! THAT'S HALF OF A YEAR!!
• Last night a bunch of friends got together for a Christmas Cookie exchange Ryan's mom hosted. I made Grandma Beeson's Gingerbread Feet cookies with icing toenail polish. I don't know how they tasted, but they sure looked good!

Babies: The Documentary

This documentary about babies around the world looks really interesting.

We got our Christmas Tree!

It's Snowing

When we first moved to Grand Rapids I could not believe how much it snows here. I think I wore my huge snow boots every single day for 4 months... Each morning when I'd open the door to go to work I'd see fresh fallen snow. Incredible. It's been that way each winter since, and this morning it seems that the snowy winter has begun.

This is the view out my front window right now.

We got 8-10 inches last night and it's supposed to keep snowing all day! Better go find my boots!

Chris Cox-Photographer

I am floored by the talent oozing from Ryan's brother Chris even though he's such a young'n. He does portraits that are spirited and real, and I love these ones he took of us a couple of weeks ago. He'll take your pictures too, all you have to do is contact him through his website or leave me a comment to let me know if you're interested and I can help move things along!

Cox Family Thanksgiving

Aunt Sarah and Rubykins.

We made fudge! Piles and piles of fudge.

The brothers.
Chris looks good with the sunlight shining on his face.
Grandma and Grandpa Fisher drove up from Toledo.
This is my all-time favorite picture of grandpa. Love the hands inside the suspenders.

Loved

Ruby got a lot of love and attention last week - I think today was kinda a shock for her to be hanging out with just me again.

A little bit "back woods"

If you've been reading my blog for more than a year, you may have noticed that my family can be a little bit "back woods" at times. We get together and say things like "Let's shoot some guns!" or "Hey mom, do you have any pumpkins that need demolished?" or "We should go to Lunkers." Here is another example, and another and another and here's one more.

Dad took us to Three Oaks to shoot clay pigeons this Thanksgiving. It was hilarious - it's kinda like golf, you go to 12 different "holes" and each player gets 8 chances to shoot 8 clay disks as they're hurled through the air one-by-one in every direction. Each "hit" gives you a point.

Shooting a moving target is not easy, but we had a great time together!!

Shooter

I tried something new over Thanksgiving break.

I'd never shot a weapon quite like this one until now... and I must say, IT WAS AWESOME!! Have you seen the movie "Shooter"? That's what I felt like - except that my target was a pumpkin.

Piano Babies

My dad caught this precious moment of Ruby and her Uncle Aaron at the piano on Thanksgiving Day...

Ryan's mom showed me this picture of Ryan when he was a baby. I had to scan it for you - check out the exact head-shape similarities! CRAZY!!

Reach

Ruby's got "go-go gadget" arms. She's discovered how to reach out and grab onto anyone or anything. In her bouncy seat she pulls all the animals off the bar and collects them in her lap. She loves the monkey best. When I tie them on really good she pulls herself up and swings by them.