After the holidays, life has not slowed down too much. We spent new years at home with the kids, which is out normal tradition. We played games and enjoyed some yummy food. New Years Day we went to Houghton Lake and stayed at a hotel with a pool/water slide. The kids had a great time. It was a mini Markel reunion. Grandma Markel spent three weeks here in January. Last weekend we had a party at the Thunder Bowel for Keegan (Dustin's cousin) who is being deployed in March.
Our biggest news is Dustin is back at Michigan Tech for grad school. He started 4 years ago and really needs to get it done. He will be up there 3 days this semester and continues to work full-time. It's challenging to say the least.
The kids are doing great. We have been making art projects and learning new songs. Derek is starting to write his name and loves to be creative. We are working on learning measurements. He knows most of the o'clocks (example: 5:00). Jenna is a busy girl. Her vocabulary is amazing compared to 6 months ago. Dylan is starting to crawl, watch out world here he comes. He continues to be such a joy. His bright blue eyes and smile could melt anyones heart.
The wood stove is keeping us nice and warm. The sun is a wonderful addition as well. We have a new sink in our bathroom, James carved it out of cherry. It's pretty neat. I can't wait until we have time to work on some more projects around here.
