Castles and Crowns

Our church is having a Vacation Bible School this week. Vince, Gabby, and Marny are staff and Dommy and Cesca are students this year. The theme is Castles and Crowns and the decorations are done so well. Attendance has been down compared to the last few years, with only 43 the first night and 52 for night number two. Years past there were about 80 - 90 kids. Must be a sign of the times. The Lord can still bless with many or with few though. Thankful to be a part of such a great witnessing project !!

Kayak Day

Todd surprised me and brought home 2 borrowed kayaks !! It was not perfect weather, but we could not resist !! Such fun. Vince and I went for 6 miles down the Menominee River, then the girls and Vince went to a local lake and tooled around a bit. We saw lots of birds: bald eagles, kingfishers, mergansers. At one point a HUGE fish leaped out of the water trying to catch a bug and scared us, but again, the camera was too slow. Maybe next trip !! Thanks to the Marenger family and their shop for loaning the kayaks. Love them !!

Menominee River Hike

The family went for a hike on Sabbath to the Wisconsin side of the Menominee River, near Pemenee Falls. Beautiful forest hike about 3 miles long. Large trees, maiden hair ferns and the river was gorgeous! Gabby saw a fox because she was at the front of the group. After that they were all fighting to be in the front :-) Camera was not fast enough to catch it for proof though. Maybe next hike !!

Stay out of the yard

So Vince comes running in the house and says "Don't go in the front yard !!!" Long story short...... A five foot pine snake had found his way into the mulch in our front yard, like 10 feet from the front door. Thankful for a brave husband with a glove on to grab this guy by the neck (after I stopped him with a broom). Needless to say, I had the creepy crawlies for days ! I safely deposited Mr. Snake 3 miles North of us on the river road. Can't bear to kill anything so big and beautiful. I just don't want him in my yard !!!

Sprinkler Saves the Day

85 degrees and high humidity. Mom and Dad's 40 in the woods. Saturday afternoon. The girls are playing pat-a-cake "IN" the spray. The boys (Vince and Todd) were too "cool" to play in the water and I, of course, was the photographer so I couldn't get in there. But it was great watching the kids have fun !!!!

5 Mile Hike

Fumee Lake Natural Area is like a little piece of heaven on earth. A huge parcel of land set aside for non-motorized activities. We hiked around the larger of the two lakes, 5 miles in all. The Berger family accompanied us today and we all had such an enjoyable time. God is so good to give such beauty. We saw fish, frogs, toads, chipmunks, squirrels, geese, woodpeckers, scarlet tanagers, MANY different wildflowers, beaver evidence and, oh yes, don't forget the HUGE pine snake. Time spent from beginning to end was 3 and a half hours. A perfect day for it, and we even stopped at Dairy Queen as an extra special treat afterwards. We had to replace all the calories we had just lost !!

A Day in the Wild

The property in Faithorn that my parents own is so enjoyable to visit. Included are a pond, hills, fields, forests, wildlife, and lots of peace and quiet. The dog loves to swim and play fetch. The kids love to run in the fields and hike on the trails. The adults love to 'get away from it all'. Mother Nature is very, very giving 24/7. She always puts on a show for us, any time of the year. God's creatures are sometimes just along the edge of the trail, as we found with this fawn. Such a sweet and innocent surprise!!

Memory Lane

When the eldest child returns from a year of school away from home, the questions abound !! The younger ones immensely enjoyed going through Vince's yearbook with him, page by page, picture by picture. Asking question after question about people, places, and events. Oh the giggling and gasping and chattering, for hours on end. They all look up to Vince and think he is the greatest. He has much to share with them all, and they are all ears !!!!

Doggie Paddle

We have been trying to encourage Tootsie our Chocolate Lab puppy to swim for a few weeks. Every time we go to the river, she loves to play in it, but she just won't go fetch a stick if it means having to swim for it. Don't know the reason for this......low self esteem?? :-) Anyway, Gabby picked her up Saturday during our visit to the river, and lowered her down into the water, and let go, and Voila ! she swam back to the shore. This was repeated about 5 times much to our delight and Tootsie's excitement. You can see Marny cheering her on, and Gabby setting her free, and of course Tootsie doing her best. We were so excited to see her do what we know she will enjoy so much all summer. The water was cold but Gabby sacrificed her comfort to give this gift to Tootsie and the rest of us. Thank you Gabby, you helped make a wonderful memory !!!!

"Sick Air" attempt #1

back yard dirt pile......BMX bikes......boys and their toys.......SICK !!!!!!!

A Beautiful Spring Evening

The rain for 2 straight days finally let up, so we took our bikes to the local park and let the puppy play in the river. The river was nice and high from all the rain. Tootsie hasn't actually 'swam' yet, she mostly plays in the water. It will be exciting when she doggie paddles for the first time !! I think one of us will have to swim with her to encourage her.

Memorial Day Services

Memorial Day services at our local cemetery. It's just not the same if we miss them. Todd took this picture of all of us standing with our neighbors. A windy day but a memorable one. I wish I could share the picture in my mind that I caught of a uniformed soldier paying a salute to a deceased soldier. It was very powerful but alas I did not have camera at the ready. It was probably a most sacred moment anyway. So just imagine it and cry with me. "All gave some, and some gave all."

Smile pretty !

You simply HAVE to stop and take your picture in front of the big Mackinac (pronounced mack-in-aw) Bridge when you're driving past. It makes such a pretty background, don't you think? You can't see all the million little construction cones on the bridge, but they were there !! Making it slower to cross and that much more scary !!! I drove white-knuckled across it on the way home. I have this fear, OK? But it sure makes a pretty picture !

Freckles

I have 5 children. And I love freckles. None of my children have had many freckles, until now !!! I just love this close up shot of Francesca's sweet 7 year old face. My sweet baby, God designed her face just for my enjoyment :-) Also notice her trademark space between the front teeth, just like her mommy! Too Cute !! I love you Francesca.

Fencing Anyone?

The money from the sale of the puppies has to go to puppy things, or so says my better half anyway. So, we opted for a sturdy fence around the backyard where the dogs hang out. It has been fun so far, and with Todd's fencing experience, it is turning out to be quite impressive. It will be a couple days before it is all finished, but we will keep you up to date on our progress.

Where's a fingernail clipper?

Gabriella finally broke down and joined us on the guitar. She had hesitated and hesitated, but tonight she asked for a clippers and, without any persuading by anyone, she CLIPPED HER FINGERNAILS and joined us on the guitar for family worship. She really did good, considering she had long lovely nails. What a tough decision, but it is one I feel she won't be sorry for. I couldn't tell from the way she played that she hadn't played much before, she sounded fabulous ! Thanks Gabby for giving it your ALL. Love you !!

Showtime

Another successful concert today in Stephenson, Michigan. Every home we go to is so different, yet all are full of sweet elderly saints. They are so precious and have seen so much change in their lives. One lady I met today was 100 years old. Wow, I can't even begin to imagine. She looked great ! The lady we are in the photo with above was our biggest fan of the day. She was in tears with thankfulness for our coming to sing for them. So sweet !!

Beach Party Concert

Every year the nursing home where we entertain has a 'Spirit Week' of sorts. Our happy hour this week happened to fall on their 'Beach Day'. We did the same thing as last year, minus one child, Vince. We sang almost the same songs, but added a few new ones for variety. We enjoyed hula-hooping after wards when the crowd had cleared, and really liked seeing all the residents that got into the theme for the day. Check out "Daisy's" sunglasses, shaped like Martini's !! My favorite part of any Happy Hour is the greeting we get to do afterwards, holding all those sweet wrinkled up old hands and hearing them say how much they appreciate us. The feeling is mutual !! We love Happy Hour !

One Last Baby

Almost gone are the baby days. Almost gone are the times when I find something chewed to pieces. Almost gone are the snuggly warm tiny puppies. We sold two siblings from this last litter, and are waiting for the last baby girl to be picked up. She is so fun and beautiful, its hard to let her go. But it will be nice to have a somewhat cleaner home soon. At least until the next batch of puppies comes along !! We love you baby Duchess !!

A Swinging Success !!

Todd has been working on raising the swingset for this year. The kids have grown, and there's nothing in the yard that is more pathetic looking than a swingset that is unused. So...he set about raising it by 4 feet a couple of weeks ago. Last night the kids tested out the new swings. Todd even got on and made it come off the ground a little, much to the fear of us watching him. He will anchor the legs, he said, so it is safer, but so far, its great fun !!! Can you say 'Big Air'????

A Welcome Sight

Such a sight for sore eyes......a tulip fully open. I love all the seasons, and I appreciate the Lord's faithfulness in changing them for us, but there's something about Spring that makes me SO HAPPY !!!!! I just noticed the corner of my slipper in the picture (it's the purple fuzzy thing in the bottom right hand corner), this can only mean that its OK to walk outside in your slippers, especially when its a beautiful spring day !!