Around the Home

August 2, 2021

I just love all things summer! The weather, the different activities that this season offers, and most of all, time together with sweet Mazy Grace! This past week we went to Dutch Village (we have a season pass), made a trip down to Shipshewana, and visited her cousins at the Ottawa County Fair!

Feeding the goats at Dutch Village:

Brushing the goats, who became Mazy’s best friend quickly:

I’ve been wanting to take Mazy down to Shipshewana all summer, and we finally were able to make the trip down this past week. Enjoying one of Ben’s pretzels:

Mazy LOVED seeing all of the horses and carriages:

Riding the carousel inside the Davis Mercantile building:

Driving through the countryside of Shipshewana:

So fun to see this team of horses doing their work:

Enjoying a donut from Rise ‘n Roll:

Checking out the Essenhaus:

Doing what her mama did growing up:

Helping her cousins feed their animals at the fair:

Best of buds:

And the rest of the week Mazy spent recovering from a viral infection. Nothing crazy, but enough to put her out for a few days:

This week I head to Ann Arbor again for a check up and to hopefully gain more understanding of all what is going on. Steps forward being made!

What A Fresh Coat Of Paint Can Do

Consider me odd, but I LOVE to paint. In our old home, I painted every single room – not just once, but sometimes twice. Sometimes I didn’t like the shade of tan, so I would repaint. Sometimes the color was too bold. Then I wanted to create a tuscan color montage, so I repainted yet…

Do You Ever Dream?

I sometimes find myself dreaming. Dreaming about our past, our todays, and our tomorrows. Yes, I even dream about our past. I have been busy writing our story into a book and of course in doing so, it brings back all of the memories, the joys, and even the grief. I sometimes dream about what…

How I Get My Child To Do Her Daily Routine

Now that Mazy is 4, I decided it was time to start a “daily routine” – simple things that I wanted her to accomplish in a day. When I started to make a list, I almost chuckled because I thought, “Okay, these should always be part of her routine!” But then the more I thought…

The Sterk Family

Back in October, we had a friend take some family pictures. We even took reinforcement along and brought a friend who Mazy just adores to make her smile, but I have to say, that didn’t impress Mazy! The first session did not go well so we decided to try a few hours later. This is…

More Than A Home

Before I had Mazy, I was more than involved as a youth pastor’s wife. I was making copious amounts of food, going to every event, and really, doing what I loved. In fact, when I was a freshman in college, I had declared youth ministry as my major, until a lunch table conversation with a…

Weekend Festivities

It has been so nice being HOME! We have loved this week to just catch up. Since the beginning of June, we felt like each week we were preparing for the next week’s adventures, which meant being gone. This past week, we have been able to catch up on the things that we haven’t been…