Vacation to Michigan!
Coming home from vacation can be a dreadful time at times. We must say though that we did not dread coming back to Minnesota after spending 9 days in Michigan. We felt that was such a blessing and an answer to prayer because that means that our house/where we live is becoming “home.” We were a little leery being gone that long, but we were ready to see our friends here in Minnesota, see our youth group kids, and continue our life here. This is just a testimony of what God is doing in our life here in Minnesota – that He has a place for us, that we still feel loved, welcomed, and can call this “home.” Praise be to God!
With all that said, we do miss our families and there were definite tearful goodbyes. But as we always say, they are “see you laters” – the later is just longer than normal. We are thankful we were able to go on my family’s vacation, considering it was planned months ago and we didn’t know where we would be living.
So, on June 21, we drove 13 hours to Stony Lake – the place that we just absolutely LOVE! We had such wonderful weather, where we spent most of our hours outdoors fishing, tubing, laying out on the dock, chilling, golfing, laughing, and just spending time together. The older I get, the more I realize how precious family is – not that I didn’t ever see it as precious, but I am just more appreciative of our families – especially since moving away. To spend QUALITY time together was such a blessing.
I missed my nieces so much and it was so great loving on them, kissing them, hugging them, and talking with them.
And this lil pumpkin…Scarlett was always ready to give ya a smile!
Dan of course had to show us all up by catching a brown trout
The girls LOVE Uncle Dan – no matter what he is doing, they want to join in – so cute!
Dan catches trout and I catch teeny-tiny bass
Traditions continue – taking family photos after church on Sunday
Just LOVE those rolls!
Dan’s 32 inch pike!
Another tradition – golfing at Benona Shores! I was looking so forward to it again! I am a HORRIBLE golfer – par was 30 and I shot a 62. But all that matters is that we had fun!
Some of the gorgeous sights throughout the week
Yet again, another massive catch!
After golfing, we realized we needed to practice our swings!
The girls were looking so forward to making paper airplanes with Uncle Dan
Dan continues to amaze me with his water skills
Kate and Dan doubling it up!
Just BEAUTIFUL!
3 skiers at once – and they are all up!
We realized we are pathetic, really. The big game we always play on vacation is Ticket to Ride – quite frankly, we are obsessed. Well, one game Kari used all of her trains (45), in a row, all to complete her routes. We were in tears because of laughter after realizing how excited we were. Dan kindly and jokingly reminded me that I needed to get a life because we thought this was “so cool.” We are weird, yes 🙂
Another reason why I love this man – not afraid to have fun – nothing like putting quarters in your ears and eyes!
After vacation we spent a few days in St. Joseph! We were able to see a lot of our friends, which was so fun again!
And we were able to spend time with Dan’s family too! We sure miss our nieces and nephews! We also celebrated July 4th a little early by blowing things up. Always a good time!
This trip was just really good for us. The last time we were at Stony Lake was in October, where much healing began. Going back to that place was difficult at times, as we thought about how our lives are so different from what we had thought they were going to be. Yet being able to love on our nieces and nephews, and just feel the love from our families, is more than we could ever ask for. We are thankful for the experiences God has given us and we are in a MUCH better place in our lives now. Never imagined our life to be as it is, but we wouldn’t want it any other way – truly. We continue to thank God for the opportunities, the journey, and our walk with Him.
Now we prepare for our mission trip BACK to Michigan! While in St. Joseph, we were able to meet the lady we will be working with/for, get all of the tools together, and figure out all the logistics. We are looking very forward to bringing our kids there and are open to what God has to teach us in and through this mission trip.
