Fabulous Fall

We decided to take advantage of the warm 80 degree temperature in October and make a trek out to the beach since Tim was headache free. These occassions are rare, so we try to make use of them to build some family memories.The drive from Cascade to Grand Haven was like taking a mini color tour. All the rain in September has apparently helped the trees hang on to their leaves longer as they change color. 

We love North Shore in Spring Lake. You can walk along the shoreline for miles and enjoy the sand dunes, beach, and  bathe in the light that dances across the water. One of the best times to visit the "Big Lake" is in the fall. The wind creates such interesting patterns, there are less people, and the colorful tree makes such a nice backdrop to the sparkling watrer and blue skies! The fresh produces stands were all open so of course we brought home some prize pumpkins. Fall in Michigan is a delight for the sensesw.

ArtPrize

Art Prize the Third Year

A lovely  fall day and a town filled with people, and there to view art-amazing. While the forml artists may decry the process where all of us Joe and Jane public  get to vote, even they have to agree that Art Prize drws ttention to art as a whole.

There is so much to see. We wlked from one end of downtown to the other. It will require a return trip to see more, but here is a little taste of the  Art wesaw.

Summer Recap

August 28th, 2011

Dear Readers,
I  got very busy and very behind in keeping up this journal, so I will attempt a bit of summarizing the summer-pun intended.

Timmy went to camp. He enjoyed the horseback riding, going canoeing, and the crafts. He was concerned that they left the horses out in the sun too long. He was happy to get back to his lessons with Kelly at  Rivendell. He has been taking lessons since April and really seems to love them. After a horrible school year, the horses have been very healing for him. His horse is named Precious and the horse I ride is named Mickey. He is really getting control of the horse and gaining self confidence.

One of the real highlights of the summer was when Jamie came home to visit us for a week. Even though Tim Senior had a few bad days we managed to log some great quality time with our oldest. We are so proud of him. He has a decent job and is taking some additional college classes. My heart was so full of joy to have my boys with me. We went canoeing, bike riding and even managed to spent a bit of time at Craig's Cruisers. The guys managed to get the telescope to center in some awesome stars.

Tim continues to have good days and bad days. When he has a good day we quickly plan something fun to do-making the most of the time we have together. We may call each other old man and 'ole woman-but he still calls me the love of his life. So that's worth a lot!!

I managed to stay on my diet, swim and bike ride. So I didn't gain any weight-but would still like to lose some. We haven't heard from Kaylee since she moved, it hurts my heart, but I have my 2 sons whose constant love makes up for it.  My sister-in-law finally was released from U of M medical. We travled once a week to support her, there were days we thought she wouldn't make it-but she came through. Uncle Sam had a pretty good summer but is looking weaker. Fighting cancer is a tough job on him and all of those who love him. Aunt Klio, Tami and Todd continue to be a huge source of support. My cousin Skip and cousin Susie are battling there own health issues. We hold them in our prayers and love.



I am already back at school with inservices.This year I have 2 schools and wil lbe traveling during the day-so life gives me an additional challenge. Now if the car will hold out one more year!

The Summer of Home Improvement

Aunt Jean in the Pool

Summer flew bye. We did loads of Home improvement tasks. Even as I list them here... I am unsure how we mananged to get them all done. It all started with the pool-or as Tim calls it the money sucking hole in the ground. We drained and repainted the entire pool. There are not words to describe what a horrible chore it was. Just draining the deep end with bucket-only to have it rain and get filled up again. I now understand  why they wanted 5,000 dollars to paint it. By doing it ourselves we only spent 600 dollar in paint. Along the way Tim also fell and got a huge egg on his forhead, the acid bath cracked the heals on my feet, and burned them. But hey we were 4,000 dollars ahead of the game. And check out the pictures- doesn't it look good!

Next came rebuilding and staining the deck. That lead to powerwashing and bleaching the entire house. After powerwashing  we had to  paint. Yeppers-the entire back of the house both garage doors, and trim. The final job was  plastering an area on the 2nd story. Somehow going back to work will be restful.