Fall Break 2015

For my birthday and our fall break, we headed up to see Grandma who lives in Northwestern Indiana.  We rented our favorite cabin and enjoyed some great walks, three apple orchards, an antique mall, and lots of family time. It is hard to believe that the next time we are up it will be winter, as we were blessed with wonderful weather, temperatures in the upper 70's even. Now it is time to finish the semester and prepare for the winter holiday season.  I will miss my lake!

Labor Day 2015 in Pictures

A Lovely Vacation

That old saying is true.  Ten days off really fly by when you are having fun.

Our vacation this year was part stay-cation, a camping cabin at Lake Michigan for a couple nights, all book-ended by two 10 mile bike rides with my parents, and a professional soccer game. I think we made the most of our time off!

The cabin was tiny, but very cozy, and kept us dry, because it rained a bit each day.

Here we are with coats on the beach.  It was so windy.  I felt like I was being sand-blasted.

It was easier to walk behind the dunes, and so pretty.

No kidding.  So glad no one was trying to swim in those waves.

This week is dedicated to serving at VBS for my younger two while spending the week at grandparents, and a first week of band camp for the oldest.  Me, well, I am catching up on things around the place, getting ready for school to start in a few weeks.  Jeff is back to his work.  

This life is lived mostly in the middles, between the highs of vacation.  It's the ordinary days that count most.  And, we have been blessed.  

A Birthday Hike

Each January, as long as the weather cooperates, we try to take a hike the weekend before Jeff's birthday. This year we were fortunate to be able to afford a hotel room near the lake and our local family.  The weather did not only cooperate, but blessed us.  It was partly cloudy and in the 40's, a beautiful day.  We walked for an hour along the shore looking at the shelf ice.  Some years you can't see over it.  This year it was lower and there were icebergs.  I don't think I remember seeing icebergs before.

We also got to have a full day with Jeff's mom and her special friend.  She made Jeff a birthday cake.  The only thing we did not get to do was swim at the hotel pool, because we were all too tired from our hike earlier in the day.  Next day we were on our way back home with a stop for lunch and a meander through one antique mall.

Tax season is here and we won't see much of Jeff until April 15th, so this weekend was something to treasure!  If the Lord allows, we will go back in April.

Christmas Memories

Christmas has come and gone.  I personally felt kind of sad and numb, but tried to make an effort so that my family would still have a good Christmas.

Christmas Eve was spent with my parents.  We sang carols with the kids leading us with their guitars.  We had appetizers and desserts galore.  We were all spoiled with lots of presents, too.  Best of all, the weather cooperated.  It was supposed to snow, but never did.

Christmas day, we had to wake the kids up to open presents,which is a change from when they were younger!  If we were not in a hurry to get to Grandma three hours away, we would have let them sleep as long as they wanted!  We opened presents, and then got ready to go north.

We had an uneventful trip up to Grandma's, another praise.  She served us a big ham dinner.  It was a lovely afternoon with extended family.  We made a side trip to see Jeff's dad and his side of the family, too, which was really nice.  And then, we went back to Grandma's for more food and conversation.

That night, we had reserved a hotel room, so that we did not have to make the long drive back home.  The hotel was near our favorite park, too.  In the morning, we took a short hike and visited the beach, too.  Then it was another uneventful trip home, for which we were very grateful.

Monday is the memorial service for my grandma.  I am hoping that will help with closure.  It still doesn't seem real.  It all happened too fast.

Two Great Weeks

I didn't realize how much we'd enjoy having these last two weeks off. Having Ryan home has been wonderful, too. I miss him so much when he is at school. And then to top it off, Jeff was on vacation this week.

Last week, we got to do a variety of things. I visited with my paternal grandmother, who is moving back to the area. We still had our weekly evening activities, which kept us busy, too. We rode our bikes every day. We got ready for our camping trip. We celebrated my birthday.  Grace went on a special trip with grandparents to see family in North Carolina.  The boys and I enjoyed some bonding time at the guitar store.

This week, we spent a few days at our favorite state park,  Indiana Dunes. Being able to go during the week is always special,  as the park is less crowded. We also spent a whole day with family who live in the area. We have never camped in such cold temperatures,  but we survived.

We are so blessed to have had a wonderful fall break. I'm totally loving this "balanced calendar" of the local public school.

Busy is the Word

Right now, it seems we are most busy away from home. We call life"aerobic" at the moment. We came home from camping two weeks ago, and haven't slowed down. This weekend, we had a jazz band concert, a 6 hour round trip to celebrate a birthday, and small group after church today. Here are some pictures from our fun weekend.

After the Jazz performance. 

Visiting Grandma.

Quick look at the beach. 

Three mile hike.  

Jazz concert. 

Earned his purple belt! 

Beautiful sunset on the way home one evening. 

Back From the Lake