Monday Morning Memo – Around The Home

If you follow me via email, you’ve noticed I’ve been trying to do “Monday Morning Memos”, and thought I would just add them here to share what’s been going on in our life!

It’s been a busy and AMAZING summer thus far! In Michigan, our summers are short, with this year feeling especially short due to the cooler temps we had this spring (minus one week of heat). We do not have a heater for our pool, so it took a bit of time for it to warm up, but now we are cranking at 88 degrees! Oh the extremes :).

Mazy made a bucket list for the summer and we’ve been able to do a few of the things on there, but there are too many good things to do that it’s hard to do them all! Do you ever feel that way?

I have tried really hard to soak in the sun and get fresh air every morning that I can. There is something about listening to the birds sing, feeling a cool summer morning breeze, the sun on my lap, and spending time with God before the world wakes up. We live on a quiet street, which helps, but something I also try to capitalize on – starting my day with the One who gave me another day.

Father’s Day week, Mazy was camping with my in-laws for a few days, so Dan and I decided to take a spontaneous trip down to St. Joseph, where we lived for 7 years. It was the most perfect summer evening, walking the pier, getting Silver Beach Pizza, driving through our old stomping grounds, visiting Dan’s old neighbors, and spending quality time together. I love spontaneity, and this one didn’t disappoint!

Unfortunately right before Mazy and I were going to leave for Mackinaw City/Island, I received a call from the device clinic (I have an ICD) that my heart was possibly in aFib. Not the call I wanted to get right before we were leaving. They weren’t entirely sure what the extra beats were, so I have a heart monitor for the next 2 weeks to try and figure out what to do next. Obviously this is a bit disheartening as I just had an ablation 6 months ago, but we also knew that it wasn’t successful, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise. I was just hoping to get a little more time, but oh well, God’s got it all planned out, and I just have to practice every day, to trust that plan.

The town next to us has a hot air balloon festival every year and this year we decided to take a spontaneous drive out there to go check them out. We were unsure if they would launch because it was rather windy, but after 1 1/2 hours, they flew!

It was the most beautiful summer night!

God knew what a blessing this pool would be and everyday, I am so thankful for this gift. It has been such a gift to be able to build relationships around this little body of water – especially with our youth group kids! One of their most favorite games is the “high ropes” game…see how high you can jump without hitting the rope. I don’t even attempt, but those kids? My goodness! You know it’s high when Dan has to stand on a bucket to the get it high enough!

A couple of years ago, I wanted to go to Mackinaw in the worst way, but Dan didn’t have the time off, so just Mazy and I went. Now it has become an annual trip for us because we both loved it so much! I had booked a hotel, but leading up to it, the weather was looking pretty rainy. So we cancelled it a few days before. Well, as you would expect for Michigan weather, it improved, and so we rebooked! And I’m SO GLAD WE DID! The weather truly could not have been more perfect. Cooler, sunny, and not as busy, probably due to the fact that the weather had changed so quickly.

Mazy and I love going to this beach (it was where we always went as kids!) to look for sea glass. We found a few pieces and…

A heart-shaped rock! The timing of that was completely God’s. He knew I was frustrated and disheartened about my heart, but then he ensured we found this within the first few hours of being up there. A gentle reminder that even though my heart is struggling, God’s got it all under control!

Pictures never do it justice, but there is something about the Mighty Mac!

Due to the weather, we weren’t thinking we’d see any sunsets, but then this is what God paints for us the first night:

The next day we headed to the island and as you can see, again, the weather was PERFECT!

Another view that never gets old…Arch Rock.

The water was so clear that it looked like we were in the Caribbean!

This girl loves to climb!

Since I was a kid, I have always wanted to go to the Grand Hotel and sit on their white rocking chairs. Mazy told me a few times that day, that she wanted to go into the hotel. I told her we had to pay, but if she really wanted to, we could. So we did! Her big smile is just a small testament to how excited she was to walk through it. It did feel like another world, but oh what fun we had! We clearly were not dressed for the part though :).

I was shocked to step outside onto the porch to see TONS of white rocking chairs available to sit in. I felt like I was walking on the red carpet – oh wait, there was red carpet to walk on to these chairs! A childhood dream come true!

And the views? I get why people stay here…

Mazy could not get over the fact that we were in the Grand Hotel. There is something about seeing life through your child’s eyes. Listening to what they say. Seeing them soak it all in. I know this maybe wouldn’t be a big deal to some, but for us, we were both on cloud nine!

When I say there were many chairs to choose from, there were MANY. Made for such a quiet, peaceful, soak in the moment, experience.

This is the ice cream parlor we love to get ice cream at and watch the world go by. It isn’t cheap (like $7.50 for 1 scoop), but the people watching on the porch is worth every penny!

Mazy asked me multiple times if we could move to Mackinaw Island, and I kept saying, “Same girl, same!” But I know we would miss our life back home too. We just need to come back more often!

While Mazy and I were biking around the island, I saw a family up ahead, leaned back to Mazy and said, I think we know them! Not a second a later, I hear, “STERKS!” A family from school, who happens to have a boy in Mazy’s class, was also biking around the island! We ended up catching up with each other here and there, biking around parts of the island with them. An example of God orchestrating his perfect timing into every little detail of our trip.

On our final day, we woke up to the wind, rain, and cold. Hmm. I had contemplated taking a “detour” back home via Tahquamenon Falls which was 1 1/2 hours north across the bridge (not on the way home at all :)), but the weather definitely wasn’t great. Well, I looked at the town we would be going to and sure enough, there was a chance of no rain. So we made the trek.

And wouldn’t you know…as you can see in the pictures, the weather was perfect once again. We started at the Lower Falls, where we were one of just a few families in the park, then made our way up to the Upper Falls and by the time we left, there were LOTS and LOTS of people! Nailed that one just in time.

When we were leaving the Lower Falls, we found 3 snapping turtles, trying to find a place to lay their eggs (so we were told!)

Oh the roar of those falls…something a picture doesn’t offer!

Since we were that far north, we decided to drive the extra 12 miles further north to Lake Superior/Whitefish Point. Mazy had never been to Lake Superior, so we thought since the weather was holding out, that it’d be a great “first” for her.

She was able to find some agates (no petoskey stones), but oh was that water cold :).

When we left Whitefish Point, it started to get cloudy and sure enough, the rain started. God held it off just long enough for us to pack in our excursions before heading home. By the time we arrived home, it was 30 degrees warmer and pure sun! We sure packed in a lot in our 53 hour trip, to be exact, but we can’t wait to do it again. The conversations, laughter, heart-sharing, and quiet moments, I will never forget. And hopefully she doesn’t either.

We are already planning what we are going to do next time, but I’m curious if you have any suggestions? Anything specific we should check out on Mackinac Island or in the area? We have hit quite a few places over the past couple of years, but we are always open for suggestions!

Until Next Time…