Thanksgiving Weekend

This Thanksgiving we had the opportunity to go home to Michigan. We normally head home for Christmas, but Don's job passed a new set of rules that prohibit employees from taking the same holiday off two years back to back. So, with my freedom of working from home, we packed up and headed north! We arrived late Wednesday night. Thursday morning, we woke up with anticipation as the weather forcast had called for SNOW overnight. Don's first reaction was to open the blinds and sure enough - SNOW! It continued to snow for the remainder of the morning. It was a great welcome home from "mother nature".



I had turkey duty, since Mom was working that day. This only being my second one to stick in the oven in the history of my life, I was a little nervous, but all went well.




My Audience


Godiva's Thanksgiving Dinner - Licking our nephew, Braden, until his hair was wet!


The next day Don and I awoke at 4:30 a.m. to get to the stores for the great deals. We normally are able to get all our Christmas shopping done in one day and get great deals in the process! It has become our little Christmas shopping tradition and we look forward to it each year! We didn't do as well this year as we normally do, but we still did quite well. We headed home for a small nap before the excitement of heading to my first Pistons game at the Palace of Auburn Hills. That was a lot of fun. I guess, the crowd was a little lame (this came from the experts who have been to many games - Mom & Dad), but we still enjoyed being there.






Pre-game Warm-Up



Erika - Anticipating the big game!



Mom, Dad, and Sean (watching the game)



Final Score! - Michelle and Greg were there too, we just didn't catch a photo of them for some reason!


A few weeks before our trip to MI, we received an invitation to my brother's 30th birthday party. It ended up being on the same weekend we would be in Michigan. Since it was only a three hour drive to be there at this monumental occasion (which I still can't believe he's that old), we drove over to my side of the state to have some time with my family as well. We ended up surprising Shane & Patty - there were many factors that could have clued them into our arrival, but they were VERY shocked to see us there - as well as many members of my family! It was a lot of fun! It was a 70's theme and we dressed up as best we could with a quick trip to the local Goodwill!


My Jan Brady look!



Don's Saturday Night Fever Look!



The guest of honor - no, I don't mean Elvis. Shane (the big 3 - 0) and his beautiful wife, Patty!


We made it back home late on Monday night, exhausted, but still kicking! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

New Page Element - Baby Beat

This post is mainly for our family members who are miles upon miles away and unable to be around for the developments of our new Little Baby Hines. My last appointment was November 8th and my midwife told me I could bring in something to record the baby's heartbeat, since she knows our family is all in Michigan. So, the only one we had was a small microcassette recorder. So the sound is a little bad, but it still captures the new little life that God has created. I'm not even half way through with this experience, but even to this point I am amazed at our God's great design and that we have the awesome privilege of seeing it first hand. I am reminded that it is all of God's work and not man's! I also liken this to our call as Christians to be witnesses. It is not what we say that saves men, that is God's doing. We are just great recipients of His grace and we are allowed to be a part of the process that God has planned to call men to Himself. What a great and glorious God we serve!!

The link to the right will hopefully open up and reveal the little recording I made. Enjoy family and good buddies! May I also add that this would have not been possible except for the help of TJ's MP3 player that was able to change my recording from cassette to digital. May it also be known that his MP3 player surpasses my ipod with its unique recording ability! Thanks TJ!

(Also, if you are having struggles opening this, I am a little techy challenged . . . but I did my best. Please let us know, so we can hopefully correct the problem! Thanks!)

Family Fun . . .

I've been quite behind with posting pictures of different things we have been busy with over the summer. We have begun many different activities with the young married of our church as well as having church-wide get-togethers. The following is a pictures show of our fun times with our church family and friends.


WASHINGTON DC
We took a trip to DC recently to see Ben & Carissa. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures with them, even though we were around them the whole time!



Smithsonian



World War II Memorial



The Mall with the Lincoln Memorial in the background.



Fun with the Monument.



More fun!! Waiting for Ethan to go "fotty" (a.k.a. "potty")

PHOTO SCAVENGER HUNT WITH YOUNG MARRIED COUPLES



Couple we asked to kiss! They we happy to accomodate our request!



Two Member in front of the "Golden Arches"



TJ trying to score points for being a Twin. The girls didn't let that fly!



The Guys Team

PICNIC BY THE LAKE
We spent the afternoon eating, tubing, skiing, swimming, and jet skiing! It was a great time!



Our Picnic



Ashlyn looking spectacular!



Us on the Jet Ski



Front of the boat!



Pastor Skiing!



Our wonderful Pastor & His Wife!

TAILGATING & THE WILLIAM & MARY FOOTBALL GAME



Our "table" for our tailgating. Yup, that's our boogie board from our trunk! =) You do what you gotta do!



The Gang



The Happy Couple



Kick-Off



Shannon & I with the final score after double overtime! Needless to say, we got our money's worth!!

BUSCH GARDENS - AGAIN!



Our Lunch at Red Lobster before our day at B.G. - We both had plans to tell the other couple that we were expecting! So very funny and so very exciting!!



ICE CREAM!!! YUM! - This one is for you Mom!



The guys with part of the decor for Howl-O-Scream at B.G.

Colonial Baptist Church County Fair



Pastor & His Family



Daisy & Buck



Godiva in the Petting Zoo



Daisy & The Scarecrow



Logsdon's & Hines' with the barn that they raised!



Our Baby Announcement to our church!



Hmm? What's different?



After the pie eating contest!

The Big Reveal . . .

Here are some clues for you to figure out what's new in the lives of the Hines Family . . .


This is how we told our church family last weekend at our Harvest Party (thus, the Hickville getup). Figure out the mad gab and you've got the first clue!



I sent this picture to my Mom back home. She is proud to admit that Godiva is her granddog and always asks about her. Sometimes Godiva speaks back to Grandma as well. (Fine, now you know, we are a big fan of our dog . . . in case you hadn't picked up on that from our frequent mentioning of her and her happenings as well!!)



We had the blessed privilege of telling some of our family in person as they were here last month. This was their reaction . . . Don told them the news just before snapping the picture so that we could capture their expressions and post it for all the world to see! Lucky us!!



This is the last and final clue! This is how we found out the grand news!



If you haven't figured it out yet, then I am quite sure that writing it out for you wouldn't help either, but I'll go ahead and fill you in on it anyway. We are expecting the arrival of our first child! We are about 11 weeks along and were able to hear the heart beat and see our little one on the ultrasound last week. What a great honor to be able to see just a glimpse into our creative God's handiwork!! We were once again amazed at His grace for allowing us the great responsibility of raising a child. We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we enter this new stage of life as well as for the health of this "bun in the oven".

A Few Firsts . . .

Mom, Dad, Erika, and Sean's First Visit to our Home in Virginia!

The family made the twelve to fourteen hour trip from Michigan to come and see us a few weekends ago. They traveled all day Friday and stayed through Monday. We were able to go and stay with them up in Williamsburg for two nights. On Saturday we made the journey to the "most beautiful theme park in America", Busch Gardens, and tried all of the major rides, since the lines were so short! Sunday we attended our church in Williamsburg, made the hour trek to our home, and then onto P.F. Changs restaurant for some yummy lupper and then to the "hurricane waters" of the Atlantic!! They visited the weekend that Tropical Storm Gabrielle came ashore in North Carolina. The effects of the storm were still evident all the way to Virginia Beach. The waves were crashing against the shore, but that didn't stop our adventure seeking family!! They endured the thrashing of the Atlantic, and then took out the boogie boards and could catch almost every wave! It was a blast!!

Thanks again Mom, Dad, Erika, and Sean for making the long trip down to see us! We love and miss you guys!!







Don & Sean are third and fourth from right!!














First Volleyball Games!!

The volleyball season is officially underway. We began our season two weeks ago. We have a much different schedule this season with many larger Christian schools that we are up against. So far we are 2 - 0 in our conference and 0 - 2 in non-conference play, bringing our record to 2 wins and 2 losses. The girls have played well this season and I look forward to seeing how they will handle the pressure of some of our tougher conference games!



A little "Bind Us Together" for the old assistant coach, Kristen Varner! We miss you Coach Varner!!