Geocaching Adventure!

Abe and I had the opportunity a couple days ago to join the Smith boys on a geocaching adventure. For those of you who have no idea what it is… click here… which will probably be a majority of you Anyhow, we woke up at 5 a.m., joined the Smiths around six and were on our way shortly after. By the end of the day, the Smith boys (aka camoboys) were able to top their finds-per-day record… Abe and I (aka aj.carman) were able to top ours as well. Camoboys ALSO achieved their 400th find! Woohoo! It was SUCH a great day, wet feet and all  It’s always an adventure, trying to discretely find sometimes very public caches so the “muggles” don’t get curious Seriously, you have to know caching to get it. Haha Anyhow, fantastic time. Thanks camoboys!

 Davis was on top of things, finding the first cache of the day.

Dietrich found a buck in one of the caches! Lucky guy! Julian matched him, he was giving the boys a dollar per cache. What a deal! 

Nature lover that I am… I couldn’t resist this setting! 

Boys will be boys… and the Smith boys were no exception when they found a field full of geese to chase! 

I love this picture of the boys… They’re five of a kind, for sure. 

The only, very unflattering, pic of me that day. I was inside a hollowed-out log. Fun stuff! That dress you see me wearing was Julian’s fleece he was so kind to let me borrow. When you put the jacket of a 6-foot+ man on a girl who’s barely over five feet tall, it’s quite humorous. 

Another cool shot. This was in a park in the middle of Greenwood. You’d never know it!

 Julian came up with the idea of this photo to commemorate the camoboys’ 400th find! What a GREAT shot!

Merry Christmas!

Yes, a day (or so… ) late, but I wanted to wish you all a merry Christmas! Abe and I are both blessed with big families. I, Jacquie, have a sister and two brothers. Each of my siblings is either married or in a serious relationship and I have three nephews and a niece from my side of the family. Abe has a brother and a sister, who is married, a nephew and another nephew on the way! We are very close to our parents, aunts, uncles and siblings and are both so thankful that we have those relationships

Christmas Eve, Abe and I exchanged gifts, then he went off to hunt with the men of the Smith clan, his step-dad and brother. I cooked and put together gifts at home and met up with him over at our aunts’ house where the rest of the family gathered to eat, open presents and enjoy one anothers’ company. It was a fantastic afternoon/evening! 

 Hayden made out like a bandit at the McCarty gathering… this trend continued throughout the weekend

Molly, the newest member of the Smith family, loved all the people in “her” house! Such a sweet dog!

Junge, in his camo, settled in for a long winters’ nap.

After the McCarty gathering, we headed on over to my parents’ house where we were joined by mom and dad, Josh, Nicole and Cooper, Joey and Alyssa, and later by Jenny, David, Taylor, Lain and Logan. It was my parents’ 30th wedding anniversary! Way to go, mom and dad!

We, of course, played the traditional Christmas Eve Monopoly game… topped off by wine and Crown and Coke… just like every other Christmas Eve. This is a tradition I will never grow tired of. Though, I do grow tired of being the first person eliminated EVERY YEAR! The only properties I owned were stinkin’ Baltic and Mediterranean Avenues. Woo-stinkin’-hoo. Needless to say, I didn’t last long… even with hotels on my properties!

Coop never ceases to bring a smile to my face. He was entranced by a snow globe. Adorable. I love those cheeks!

It was a BEAUTIFUL day on Christmas… though I wished for snow, I secretly enjoyed the bright, sunny day. No coats required! We headed over to Abe’s dad’s side of the family, after spending the morning with my parents. We had a great time spending the afternoon with them. Hayden was a live wire, full of energy We were actually able to spend some time outdoors. I snapped this picture in Abe’s Nanny Pat’s backyard. Beautiful After spending the afternoon with the Carmans, we were ready to head home, relax and spend some time just the two of us.

Today, the day after Christmas, we headed over to the Caldwell house to celebrate with Abe’s mom and his step-dad, Rob Arica, Bryan and Hayden along with Aaron, joined us in celebrating to the holiday. We had to open presents first, of course! Hayden looooves passing out presents and opening them

Abram was entertained by something, it seems He’s pretty adorable too!

After opening presents, we were finally able to come home and relax. Christmas is always a wonderful time of year. I LOVE all the get-togethers, being with family and the ones you love is always great! However, at the end of the day, the place I love to be the most is home with my husband and my puppies

 I cannot close out a Christmas post without mention of the top gifts this season. Abe and I spoiled one another this year Abe received an iPod from me. A Nano, pretty blue I’m pretty sure he loves it!

And Abe’s gift to me, which I got to open about three weeks ago, was this beautimous Nikon D40. Seriously love the guy. And the camera. I’m pretty obsessed

 I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and were able to spend it with the ones you love!!! Love to you all

 

He’s home for the holidays!

 I picked Abe up at IUPUC (across from the Columbus Armory) yesterday afternoon. It’s soooo very nice to have him home for Christmas and New Years! Yesterday, we basically slept the entire day, then went to a movie. It was nice to go on a date!

This afternoon, Josh and Nicole came over to join us for the traditional Sunday afternoon, Colts game, chili and stinky feet dip. Can’t beat it! Apparently, you can’t beat the Colts either! Woohoo! 

True Blue fans! 

 Celebrating another Colts’ victory!

Hunter is just as bad as his momma, can’t wait for Christmas to come! His persistence at snooping paid off and he and Teddy received their Christmas bones a couple days early. 

 Josh and Coe wanted me to take a little family pic, so I gladly obliged! Here they are with their perfect little family Love you guys!

 Baby Coop wouldn’t exactly cooperate for pictures early in the evening, so we waited till he was sleeping and snapped off a few pics. This one is my favorite SO CUTE!

Update…

I spoke with the vet this evening… and received some very difficult news. The mass on Hunter’s shoulder is a tumor. It is a cancer called Fibrosarcoma. The vet says it’s a very rare cancer, especially in a dog as young as our baby…

 The vet is going to be getting in contact with Purdue and Ohio State this week to talk about the price of surgery… however, it sounds like it’ll be pretty expensive. We’re just going to have to give this one to God, to let Him lift up our dog and let His will be done. We have to trust Him to carry us through the hard times!!!

 Please pray for our little family. Hunter is our baby boy. Abe returns home on Saturday and it’ll be a happy reunion! I cannot wait for him to get to spend time with our boy. Your continued thoughts/prayers are appreciated and we’ll keep you updated as we learn more about this cancer and our options.

Christmas time is here!

 Another year, another chance for the southern-Indiana-based Bontrager clan to gather and celebrate together. Last weekend, we traveled up to Napannee to visit my dad’s parents, brothers and sisters (pics prohibited per Old Order Amish request). This weekend, it was time for us to celebrate with the wayward sons Kidding. It’s always a good time! This year, we celebrated together at Earl and Angie’s place in Hope.

 

Their beautiful Christmas tree! 

 

Lain and Levi are inseparable anytime they get together. Here they’re enjoying a couple gifts. This was pre-running-around-the-house-screaming-like-banchees.  

Taylor and Logan “plung[ing] into the cornucopia quivering with desire and the ecstasy of unbridled avarice.” (brownie points for anyone who can name the source of that quote!)

 

Taylor set out to prove that I wasn’t “Smarter than a Fifth Grader”… and she failed! 

Baby Coop, unable to take the excitement, passed out in a heap among his presents. 

Close up of the most adorable feet ever!

Of course, it isn’t Christmas without snow

 

Coop expressing wonder at yet another Colts’ victory!

Unfortunately, Abe was unable to join us for the festivities this weekend, as he is in Georgia doing some prep work for when the entire unit goes down there in January. He was sorely missed, though we know we have next Christmas to look forward to celebrating with him It was a great weekend, spent with family. The perfect way to spend the holidays.