Kentucky or Bust #2

Kentucky at last!!! I spent this past weekend hanging out with my brother and sister-in-law, Ben and Kelly, and my nephew, Owen, in Louisville, KY. Thanks for letting me invade! I had a great time, even though Kentucky weather did not behave for me; I traveled South to escape the Michigan cold and ended up wearing my winter coat and mittens the entire time anyways.

Ben and Kelly: they delivered the news to me that there is to be a new addition to their family in September of this year. How could I not be excited???!!!! Yep, I'm going to be an Aunt once again. Though Ben's arm is covering the logo, I just wanted to clarify that yes, Kelly is once again wearing her Crush shirt in a blog photo....some things just never change. But to those of you who fear that she threw the shirt out, be reassured....its legacy lives on.
My O-bug!!! The sweetest, smartest, cutest, and funniest 1 yr. old around....hands down! I love that little guy, and he loves.....well, he loves carrying around water bottles, as you can see in the pic below.

After church on Sunday, we picked up groceries at Sam's club. Owen is a total Daddy's Boy-- that kid's face lights up and he squeals every time Ben is gone and returns home. I'd like to say Ben is just as excited, but I must clarify that, unlike Owen, he doesn't squeal. He's a great daddy, and I'm proud of what a great job he is doing with my O-bug. Here they are trying out the leather furniture at Sam's Club.

Bath time!! I got to Louisville shortly before it was Owen's bath time, so we got to try out the new bath bubbles that Grandma sent down with me. We had fun playing with the toys and making lots of noise.

Supper at Qdoba's. Owen and I decided to sport the winter wear via our hats. Owen's, of course, is way cooler because he is sporting his U of M colors. Notice, though, that his hands are full. He has full ownership of the sippy cup and snack cup, and nobody...and I mean Nobody...can get away with confiscating it for very long.

Such a sweet little boy. He still loves that thumb.

I spent some time with Kelly at her workplace ( which is a private home where she has a babysitting job) on Monday morning. Ben stopped by at lunchtime,shortly before I headed back for Michigan. As I left the house to travel North, my little guy waved good-bye from the doorway. How could I not smile at that cute guy?? He does say my name, but it comes out more like "Sza-Sza".

Aunt Sarah loves you Owen!!!! You're such a good boy! Thanks for a fun weekend.

Kentucky or Bust--#1

This past weekend was an all-around "family trip". It was a planned trip to Louisville, KY, but it was taken with a slight detour through Western Michigan. I got to see lots of family, though, in a very condensed period of time, and it was in my estimation a great trip.

Thurs Night: Here is Drew in action, doing what he loves best: coaching basketball. He's a great coach to the 9th-grade team of boys at Birch Run High School. He came away with a "W." Holland, MI: MJ (Michael) had a basketball game in Grand Rapids, so I caught his game against Kuyper College on Friday night, stayed overnight at my Grandma and Aunt's home in Holland, MI and headed off to Louisville on Sat. morning. Here's an early morning photo with my 2 favorite younger brothers-- in all their morning glory-- both radiating a happiness to be alive and ready to go at 8am on a Saturday morn.

My favorite guy on the court: #40 Michael Glupker. Amazingly enough, though he plays for a school in Wisconsin, he sported the Wolverine colors of maize and blue. Clearly, someone in WI has good taste.

The fans in the stands!!! Back row: Mom, Aunt Marty, Uncle Jim, and cousin Jeff.

Front row: Drew and Amanda, Aunt Judy, my Dad.

Work in Progress

Several friends and family members have asked how my dining room project is going. The answer is: it's going, slowly-but-surely. Below is a picture of some work in progress. My brother, Drew, and my friend, Chris Luter, came over one Saturday afternoon and spent a few hours nailing down the cement board in preparation for the ceramic tile I plan on having placed on the floor. It was nice to see some something get done that I could not do on my own!!

This is me, happy to see the job was finished. Thanks so much to you both for being willing to give up your time to help me out. It was VERY much appreciated. Tile and trim are the only things left on my agenda for the dining room. Excited to see the end results!

Glupker Christmas 2008

Grandma Glupker and her 4 kids: Jim,John, Jack, & Judy. Can you guess which one is my father, the Engineer? Yep, you guessed it: the guy with the paper and pens sticking out of his pocket. That's classic John Glupker in photo.
Doing what we always do when we get together: play card games!

Dec. 2008. Glupker Family Christmas at Immanuel Bible Church.

Yes, some more pics that have been retrieved from down deep in the digital storehouse of my camera. I suppose I could've bypassed posting at this point in time, but I thought it would be fun to share some pictures with my family at least.

A photo of me with my siblings and their spouses, as well as 3 of my cousins (my Uncle Jack's kids: Katie, Kelly, and Jeff).

The boys loved having the readily-accessible gym for a free-throw contest.

My cousin Kelly and her boyfriend, Andy, bought my Dad a perfect gift for Christmas: A new Bingo dispenser. Was my Dad ever geeked about that! It was perfect for him, since he is the Bingo announcer when we play our annual game at Christmas. Pictured with my Dad are his older brother, Jim, and my Grandma Glupker.

The Bingo gift table. A pile of under-$5 gifts, labeled as male/female/neutral, ready to be picked out randomly by the Bingo winners.

Lovin to be UP North, October 2008

November 2008. After suffering a slight disappointment with the results of the presidential election, I decided I needed a trip to the UP!! Disappointment aside, it was time for me to visit my grandparents in Houghton, MI, as well as my Uncle Mike, Aunt Karen, and cousin Blake. I always have a great time and wish they all lived within closer proximity to me, rather than the slightly lengthy jaunt of about 500 miles. These pics have been hiding out in my camera for a few months and I decided that it was high time they came out of seclusion.


Grandma Patterson, me, Uncle Mike, Aunt Karen, and Blake. My grandparents are both nature lovers, and their house bears evidence to this in various ways; I just happened to catch a picture of one of these evidences-- to the right, you'll see my Grandma's collection of bird figurines. If you're lucky enough, you'll be in their house at the top-o'-the hour to hear their bird clock "chirp" with one of the 12 different bird songs it chimes out.

Here we are playing Blake's most recent favorite board game: Clue. I hadn't played it for years, but it was a lot of fun! Grandma was hilarious because she wasn't real interested in figuring out all of the details surrounding the unsolved mystery, so her gamepiece resided in the Hallway the entire length of the game....and she still had fun. Who won?? Hmmm....I told you I had a lot of fun playing the game....

Gramps, Gran, and I took a day to tour the Eastern side of the Keweenaw peninsula, going through Bete Grise and up to the very Northern tip through the town of Copper Harbor. On our way back to Houghton, we stopped and had dinner at my Uncle's old restaurant, the Hut Inn. It's a unique looking building, but very cool inside and still serves some good food. It was fun to go back.

My Favorite Veteran: Robert D. Patterson. I didn't realize it until this visit, but Grandpa puts out the American flag every Veterans Day. This year, though, I got to take a picture of him doing so. He's working on making a verbal record of his WWII experiences to send in to the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

The Old House: my Grandparents' home-away-from Home. It resides close to the town of Eagle Harbor, and its interior is still in circa-1930's motif. No running water, an attached outhouse, wood-burning stove, etc. But it is surrounded by acres of land to hike and explore, as well as a garden they've scratched out by hand (the terrain is very rocky), and it is away from the city life. I have many fond memories of this place and always will.

Me and Gramps. He's the best!! I never have a visit with him without laughing like crazy.....and the same goes for him. We both get a little crazy and drive my Grandma nuts!

A stimulating game of Darts played with my cousin Blake. Yep, it took place in my Grandparent's living room. Where else?

A beautiful Fall day overlooking the waters of Lake Superior as seen here in Eagle Harbor. My siblings and I spent many happy Summer days playing on this beach and swimming in this harbor, and eating at the Shore Line restaurant. It's always great to come back and visit.
For anyone interested in traveling to this area, make sure you hit the Brockway Mountain Drive: it is absolutely gorgeous in the Fall.

Aesop's Foolish Dog & Where My Gain Lies

"A dog was crossing a plank bridge over a stream with a piece of meat in his mouth, when he happened to see his own reflection in the water. He thought it was another dog with a piece of meat twice as big; so he let go his own, and flew at the other dog to get the other piece. But, of course, all that happened was that he got neither; for one was only a reflection, and the other was carried away by the current."

-- 'The Dog and His Reflection'
from Aesop's Fables

"But godliness with contentment is great gain..." (I Timothy 6:6)