Winter Wonderland

Last month we took a trip to Michigan to visit Marisa's family in Lansing and many of our friends from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.


Typically we make this trip over either Thanksgiving weekend or Christmas week, but this year was different. Why? Well, first of all, Tommy was only 2 weeks old at Thanksgiving and 6 weeks old at Christmas. Not only was he young, but everyone and their brother travels during those times, which means they probably weren't the best times to travel with a new baby. Secondly, we wanted Tommy to be able to spend his first Christmas at his own home. Of course, we're sure he didn't remember anything, but that's what we wanted. Lastly, there usually isn't much snow on the ground in November, or even late December for that matter. Oh, but February, that's a different matter. Michigan has always had plenty of snow in February. Lots of snow makes for a nice patriotic picture of Marisa and Tommy, don't you think?

Also, in the spirit of "Where's Waldo?" can you spot Grandpa Campbell somewhere in the picture?

Anyhow, we started off the trip Thrusday morning at the shuttle pick-up station of San Antonio's International Airport's remote parking lot, shivering in the balmy 35 degree morning. A short shuttle ride and a long hike with 8 bags later, we were jetting our way to Houston on a 737. Once in Houston, the crammed us into a cigar tube of an airplane for the 3 hour flight to Grand Rapids, Michigan. I know what you're thinking, or at least what you should be thinking ... 3 hours in a regional jet with a 3-month old baby? What fun! Actually, it wasn't bad at all. Marisa nursed Tommy on the way up and coming down, which seemed to do the trick to equilabrate Tommy's ears. Other than that, he just slept like a champ in Marisa's arms for the rest of the flight.

Once in Michigan, we picked up a rental car and drove to Lansing to stay with Marisa's parents. This would also be the longest car ride Tommy had ever endured, so we weren't sure how that would go either. He's always liked car rides, so fortunately this one went great too. Except for the fact that Enterprise Rental Car Company passed off a Suzuki Forenza for an intermediate size car. If you own a Suzuki Forenza, skip the next sentance and go on to the next paragraph ... Suzuki Forenzas STINK; they're uncomfortable, shaky and chinsy; way to go, Enterprise!

We chose this weekend in February to visit Michigan because Friday was also Emily's birthday (Marisa's sister). She drove over from New York to spend the weekend at home with family, and also to see Tommy. Thing is, there was a big snow storm in Pennsylvania that week, and a big-rig jack-knifed a few miles ahead of Emily. She's fine, but she had to still in her car for over 4 hours, and she still had 9 more hours of driving ahead of her. Oi!

It was good to spend time with Marisa's family. Tommy got to see his Grandpa and Grandma Campbell's house, and also met his Great Grandparents Campbell and Great Grandparents Thelen. Many of Marisa's Aunts and Uncles also came to visit and meet Tommy. It was great fun to watch him smile as he was held by almost everyone that came by. His Great Aunt Nancy almost didn't seem to want to let him go! In her defense, however, Tommy did indeed look pretty comfortable as he slept in her lap.

Sunday we drove to Ann Arbor to attend New Life Church, the church Marisa and I met at while at the University of Michigan. NLC had been campaigning for over 6 years to build the first evangelical church on U of M's Campus, and lo and behold, the dedication service happened to be the weekend we were in town. Suffice it to say, we were very excited to see NLC in a physical church building of their own, and to see how much the church has grown. Many of our college friends still live in the area and attend the church and it was great to see each of them too.

The flights home on Monday were almost as uneventful as the flights were on Thursday, except that Tommy decided that he liked to make all sorts of noises that, obviously, we thought were awesome, but maybe everyone around us weren't as enthusiastic. Regardless, we're proud of our little man. At three months of age he's already got four flights under his belt. Maybe he's destined to be a world traveller!

They Say 'Use Your Head,' but Oh, What a Headache!

I'm major bummin', but at least they made it close ...

Well, yesterday's 'Game of the Millennium' turned out to be a heart-breaker, and OSU walked away with a 42-39 victory over The Victors. Michigan certainly played well, but not well enough to win. OSU certainly showed why they're #1, but in my humble opinion, here's the real reasons why the Michigan Wolverine's lost to those OSU Buckeyes.

1. Michigan lost 5th-year Senior Strong Safety #19 Willis Barringer to an injury. Consequently, and not once, but TWICE, when Ohio State running backs were able bust through a blitz-packed Michigan Defensive Line, Barringer wasn't in center-field to help prevent both 60-yard touchdowns. 14 easy points for OSU. Also, perhaps Barringer would have helped slow Troy Smith's 5-wide onslaught.

2. Crable's helmet crushing hit in the 4th quarter. On a 3rd and 15 scramble (outside of fieldgoal range, btw, and with Michigan only behind by 4), OSU's Troy Smith was flushed out of the pocket and forced to lob an incompletion. Well, the play would have been a incompletion if Shawn Crable hadn't used his own helmet to come crashing into Troy Smith's helmet as Smith was forced out-of-bounds. The result? A personal foul, 15-yard penalty, automatic 1st down for OSU, and a subsequent OSU touchdown, put OSU two scores and 11 points ahead of Michigan. Michigan was able to recover 8 of those points, but without any time-outs and a failed on-side kick, all the Wolverine's could do was watch. I can't blame Crable too much; he was simply playing tough football and had noplace else to go. Still, it may have been the event that cost Michigan the game.

3. On Michigan's 2nd possession, early in the game Chad Henne over-threw Mario Manningham for what would have been a touchdown. The first possessions for both teams resulted in touchdowns. Michigan had a fantastic opportunity to score 7 on it's second when Mario Manningham BLEW past the defending OSU Corner. Henne's pass sailed 5-10 yards past Manningham, and the great opportunity to put another early nail into OSU was lost.

4. OSU's lousy turf. In some way or another, I'm sure I can blame the above three reasons on OSU's loose turf. Barringer's injury, Crable's bone-headed foul and Manningham not running as fast as Henne expected. I'm not the usual conspiracy theorist type, but if there were to be a conspiracy theory this year, I might predict people will point to the turf. It seems almost too convenient that Michigan slipped and slid much more than OSU appeared to.

I'm not happy with the outcome, but none-the-less, it was a great game. OSU's offense certainly trounced Michigan's supposed impenetrable defense. The BCS rankings show Michigan still at #2 today, so maybe they'll play again in Glendale, AZ for all the marbles. Wouldn't that be a riot if they were to play again ... and Michigan were to win. Sure, OSU can have the Big Ten title. We'll take the National Title.

Go BLUE!