Sailing in St. Joe

Our last and favorite stop in Michigan was St. Joe's. We loved this city and wanted to stay longer than the 2 hours that we were there. It had a beautiful beach within walking distance from the downtown shops. A major bonus is that my friend Julie just moved back there so hopefully we will spend more time in this city in the future.

 

 

 

Grand Rapids Gretchen

Thought we were done with the Michigan photos? Not quite. We were able to spend a day with my friend Gretchen from my days at Anderson University. Ruby enjoyed playing with Isaac who was about 5 1/2 months at the time.

Isaac and Ruby. Notice that they look close to the same size but Ruby is about 5 months older.

 

Ladies and their babies

 

Happy 6th Birthday

Happy Birthday to our nephews! I can't believe these 2 guys are already 6 years old. They were born when I was living in Philadelphia. Because I was so close to New Jersey I was able to see John when he was just a few weeks old. I was able to visit with Logan in Florida when he was a few months old! Happy Birthday Guys!

Logan's Birthday was yesterday

 

John's Birthday is tomorrow

 

Here are both of the boys at Grandma's on New Years Eve

 

10 months old today!

Happy 10 month birthday to our sweet little Ruby! Things certainly have changed in the last month. Ruby is now crawling all over the place; her hair is long enough to wear barrettes and actually has to wear them now; she is babbling more (mama, baba, gege, dede, dada, yaya); she seems to get happier and happier every day; she is now playing little games at night such as crawl away from the dog and giggle or acting silly with Daddy; and she is drinking from a sippy cup.

Sick in Saugatuck

 

 

 

 

The next stop on our Western Michigan tour was Saugatuck. We were there for 2 days and for the first day I spent most of the time in bed sick. Thankfully I was able to get up on day 2 and hang out with our good friend Julie. It was a cute little town on the lake with lots of art galleries, shops, and restaurants.

Wedding

5 from my Mission Year team (Me, Lorie, Mary, Titus, Jon & missing Jeff at the wedding)

Our first stop on our Western Michigan adventure was Holland and Muskegon. We stayed with our friends Jeff and Dee in Holland and went to our friend Mary's wedding in Mukegon. I lived with 5 strangers (Jeff, Mary, Lorie, Titus, and Jon) in 2001/2002 while doing Mission Year (www.missionyear.org) in West Philly. It is amazing to all of us that after 6 years we are still in touch and still good friends. The original 6 has turned into 12 with 1 on the way (Jon and Tess). All 6 of us were able to be together last weekend for the first time in 5 years. We however, didn't take a picture of the 6 of us. We had such a good time catching up, playing games, reminiscing, and playing guitar hero.

Here are a few pictures. The wedding was a renaissance theme as you will notice when you see pictures. They even included a real sword, dragon, and a little fairy as the flower girl. We have a lot of pictures so prepare yourself for a few days of Michigan pic's.

Mary's father walking her down the aisle

 

The wedding party

 

Titus and the sword

 

Tess and Ruby became good friends

 

We're back

 

We are back from Michigan. More too come...after we sleep, unpack, and clean