My Grandpa and My Great Grandparents

I just glanced at the date of my last post. I thought it said July 19th then I realized it said June 19th. Wow... I will tell you that I've been enjoying summer (it's going by way too quickly). We've been busy and I have a lot to blog about but until I can find some time to blog I decided to do a quick post and show you this photo.

My Dad emailed this to me a few days ago (he received it from his sister). Anyway that is my Grandpa "James Henry Burtchett" (back row, send in on the right). And that is my Great Grandparents in the middle proudly posing with their 12 children (their 13th child was not born yet when this photo was taken). Can you imagine having 13 children, especially back in the depression?

I don't know how many times I looked at this photo in the last week. I am just fascinated by it. And so many questions go through my mind. How did they afford to live? What were meals like? What did they do to support themselves? Were they a close knit family? Were they affectionate and attentive parents?

I never knew my Grandpa, he died when my Dad was 12. I do have stories about him but I know nothing of the others in this photo.

I am also amazed by the quality and clarity of the photo. I was so pleased to get it and I'm going to have it printed and displayed somewhere in the house. It's just to awesome of a photo to keep inside a computer.

I love Sunday's

Went to church this morning. Great sermon on "scattering seeds" of God's love and knowing what will bloom in the outcome. I am so grateful for our church. We are going through a big transition as next Sunday is Pastor Ron's last Sunday with us, he's retiring after 12 years as our pastor. Our new pastor starts the first Sunday in July. We are sad to see Pastor Ron leave but excited for what the future will bring.

Now I am sitting on the front porch swing. I love it out here. I'm listening to the neighbor mow his lawn, Fiona barks when he gets close to the fence. It's a gorgeous day out here and I can hear all the motorcycles as they drive by on Red Arrow. Funny how I never paid any attention to the sounds of a motorcycle until we got ours.

It's been a wonderful summer.... so far. And it's still early, only June 19th. I am LOVING the motorcycle. Craig has mentioned that he can't believe how much I actually like it. He was skeptical that I would have issues with riding. Not at all. I've always been a weather watcher but even more so now. I'm constantly watching those temps and that radar to see if it will be the perfect evening for a sunset motorcycle ride. I can see some great memories through the years on that bike. I'm already priming Craig for a trip on the Blue Ride Parkway! And I'd love to take a color tour this fall.

We will be taking the trailer out to the cottage for the week of the 4th and hopefully spending a lot of time out there. Makes me happy that the 4th falls on a Monday this year to give us a long weekend. Sure am looking forward to some chill out time at the cottage.

Craig's been busy working/playing all weekend at the Motor State Challenge. It's a 3 day event that his work sponsors involving cars and racing. I've hardly seen much of him the last 3 days. I took advantage of having no hubby around and Friday off and headed to Kazoo for some thrift store shopping. I am a thrift store JUNKY. And being that ALL of my clothes no longer fit me I have a great time digging through the thrift shops for a new wardrobe. It is soooo much fun! I used to HATE clothes shopping. It was a nightmare for me. Nothing fit, nothing looked good, clothes were always uncomfortable, nothing cute ever fit me. Not any more! I've lost a total of 45 pounds now and I only have 5 more pounds to go. I want to be able to say that I lost 50 pounds. I cannot believe it myself! Anyway, there is such a misconception of thrift stores. Granted the majority of the stuff you wouldn't want or wear but if you are patient, go often, and can get past the stigma of "thrift store shopping" you will be amazed at what you can find. I find well made good quality stuff all the time. And the best part... it's a fraction of the price if you would buy it new in the mall. Take Friday for instance.... I spent the whole afternoon hitting a number of thrift store in Kazoo. I spent a total of $100 and came home with 2 pairs of jeans, 6 shirts, 2 capri pants, 3 pairs of shorts, 2 sweatshirts, 2 jeans jackets, a black dress coat, a purse, a hat, and I got Craig a pair of jeans, 3 pairs of shorts, and 5 t-shirts. I know people who spend $100 for a single pair of jeans. I came home with new fun stuff to wear and I certainly feel good about the prices. And it is also the thrill of the hunt that entices me. I had a blast Friday.

Hope you are enjoying Father's Day with your loved ones. As soon as Craig gets home we will be heading out to the cottage for a relaxing afternoon. Happy Father's Day!

Jordan going for her first ride with Dad.

Another great camping weekend

My love of kayaking just keeps growing. It combines so many of my favorite things........

Beautiful surroundings, nature, family time, and photography too! I love it more all the time!

And now that everything has greened up it's even more amazing!

We camped this past weekend at Potato Creek State Park in Indiana. What an awesome place. We will definitely go back to visit there again.

We were thrilled that Jordan joined us for part of the time.

There were several osprey's nesting around the lake.

I am thrilled that Craig is enjoying the kayaking too. He isn't as passionate about it as I am but he enjoys it just the same.

And he gets to work on his tan too.

We have come to a conclusion. We really like state campgrounds! For a number of reasons.... They are huge, sometimes miles and miles of land to explore. They are BEAUTIFUL! Some of the best lands in the state. They are cheap to stay at. You pay a fraction of what you pay at a private campground. We are never disappointed when we stay at a state campground. We'll be staying at them more often.

Breakfast at the campground.

Fiona wants to know where her blueberry pancake is.

Looking at this photo makes me want to get back out there.......

Summer..... Bring it on

Craig went to the office for a few hours this morning so I grabbed my paddle and headed out to Hall's Lake for some morning kayaking by myself. I'm not sure which I like more, kayaking with someone or going by myself. This morning was wonderful! Only me and one other guy on the lake who was fishing out of a row boat. I listen to pandora radio on my i-phone and this morning I was in the mood for old country hymns. Just me and Johnny Cash signing "The Old Rugged Cross". I tried not to sing out loud but I couldn't help myself. I wonder if the guy in the row boat heard me. Really I didn't care. And soon I find myself all emotional and tears are streaming down my cheeks. I paddle in and out of all the lily pads. I'm surprised how easy my kayak floats through them. I watch all the frogs hop off the pads as I approach. 90 minutes later I am ready to head back home.

We are FINALLY getting wonderful weather. The sun is amazing and I can't get enough of it.

Memorial Day was spent out at the cottage with family and friends.

Great weather and great food always go together.

SUMMER......

Loved this photo!

Hoping for 3 solids months of this.

Things I'm loving right now.....

I love weekends! Weekends became all the more precious to me when I started working full time plus about 18 months ago. Making the most of every minute is important to me. That doesn't necessarily mean to be on the move and have plans the whole weekend, although that happens a lot more than I want. I set priorities! In there somewhere has to include some "me" time since my whole week is giving so much of myself to my job and other obligations.

Last Saturday morning I had about 3 hours of free time before a day full of obligations began. I hopped in the car and headed to a road side stand in Paw Paw to pick up some asparagus. Not exactly in the neighborhood but I enjoyed the drive in the country. And silly as it sounds, I enjoyed picking out my asparagus. I carefully picked through all the spears making sure I had the fattest freshest ones I could find. I walked away with 4 pounds of the best looking asparagus ever.

OK, I still have a few hours of my free time left. I decide to head to the Goodwill store in town. I absolutely LOVE thrift stores. I'm on the hunt for shorts this time. My recent 40 pound weight loss has left me with NO summer clothes. I'm not complaining, it's a wonderful problem to have. And can you believe that I found 6 pairs of shorts! I felt like I hit the jackpot.

On the way home I stop at the Red Brick Coffee Shop. I buy an unsweetened tea when I REALLY wanted a chocolate latte.

Once I'm home I surf the internet for asparagus recipes..... My free time is over.

I LOVE road trips. My favorites are little impromptu rides in the Jeep. Craig always says "Where do you want to go?" and I always say "Take me on roads we've never been before". It's wonderful. But I also love longer planned road trips too. This coming Saturday Craig and I are taking a road trip to Beaver Dam Wisconsin. We are on a mission to pick up something that Craig bought. I'm not going to blog about it until we actually have it in our possession but if you know my husband you know that it probably has a motor. And I will give you another hint.... it's something we'll be able to go for more road trips on.

I'm loving SPRING! Green trees, fresh cut grass, ice tea, my back yard swing, my orioles, not having to wear a coat, flip flops and sandals...

I hope you are loving a lot of things right now and I hope you are finding some "me" time.

There's a nest in the bird feeder

This is one of my bird feeders. The dinning room/kitchen windows face this feeder in the side yard. In the winter this is one busy feeder. Once the snow begins to melt I stop putting food in this feeder. I don't like the mess it makes in the lawn in the summer so my attention turns to my feeders in the bird garden. Much to my surprise and delight a Momma Robin decided to build a nest and start a family in the feeder.

I am thrilled! I can sit at the dinning room table and have a bird eye view, no pun intended! And I'm sure the view is only going to get better.

Momma is pretty timid and not very tolerant of me opening the widow to get a photo so I haven't got much of a good photo of her yet. Craig said I should set up my camera next to the window and put it on a time elapsed setting while I'm at work. I may give that a try after the eggs hatch. More to follow.......

Happy Mother's Day

From the minute I opened my eyes this morning..... it was a beautiful day!

Several months ago I bought tickets to the Henderson Castle in Kalamazoo for a Mother's Day surprise for my Mom. I didn't tell her where we were going or what we were doing. It was a total surprise until we turned into the drive of the castle.

Our time there included a tour of the castle complete with the history of this magnificent home. It was built in 1895 and is now a bed and breakfast. We watched a ballet in the ballroom and had a WONDERFUL elegant meal with live music.

Loved being there with my two favorite girls.

We took advantage of this magnificent spring day with the beautiful blossoms and snapped a few photos. Here are some of my favorites.....

Mom & Jordan

My beautiful baby girl... OK, she's not a baby anymore but she IS beautiful.

And my beautiful Momma!

Back at home Seadra was wishing me a Happy Mother's Day too.

And because it was Mother's Day both the kids had to oblige my request for a photo shoot.

Thank you Caleb and Jordan for making me a Momma.