Gardening

I didn't know I was going to like gardening so much! I also didn't know it was going to be so much work lol. We had such a plentiful garden this year and Jason and I learned so much. It is so very rewarding growing your own food and then making things from it. I have never really canned before but this year I did dilly beans, salsa, tomato juice and sun dried tomatoes. I look forward to doing more next year!
I wasn't sure how these "sun dried" tomatoes were going to turn out but they are so good!

a little basil before you put them in the dehydrator makes that much better.

they don't look that great but trust me, in the right dish they are so yummy!

Sugar Springs Fun

Towards the end of summer, we met my sister -in- law and mom and headed over to the Sugar Springs Private beach. It was so nice! It was all groomed, they had a great playground area and we were the only ones there. It was a great afternoon with perfect weather.

The Boys love that grandma Tina is always willing to get dirty with them. Its so awesome and they love her to pieces.

Mister Laine had a fun time too!

Micah wore himself right out!

You're never dating who?

So I'm not proud of this but out of the blue yesterday, while we were in the car, Max just blatenly told me that he is never ever ever going to date a fat girl.

What? Where did he come up with this? I then entered into the conversation about not judging people by how they look and thats its important to be nice to everyone. It was hard to keep a straight face on this one.

Sanford Water Park

We met my sister, niece, nephew and my nephew's friend at the Sanford Lake Spray Park this summer. The boys love this place. The teenagers however, didn't think it was all that cool.

Aunt Lori, a sucker and a smile......it doesn't get much better than that.

Max loves his cousin Matt! Add his friend Jeremy to the mix and Max is in older kid heaven! He was their shadow all afternoon.

Micah loves showing off his red tongue!

Max and Matt

Micah and Jessie

Yup, that's my son.

We had a great time!

Grandpa Bear's Birthday

Happy Birthday Dad! It was a great party!

My dad and his best friend Lenny A.K.A. White Man.


My dad Uncle Tom and Aunt Judy made the trip all the way from Detroit.

Laine and Aunt Dani and Uncle Jon came to celebrate too.

The highlight of the day was when the neighbor brought over his barrel train. Micah, who is obsessed with trains was so excited when he saw this.

Kids came out of the wood works from the whole neighborhood to catch a ride.

The boys had fun and we loved watching them.

Camping in Ludington

In August, we camped at the Ludington State Park. It was so beautiful and we had great weather. Throw in great friends from work and you get a wonderful time!

Just a view as we entered the park. It only got better.

We spent most of the time at the beach on this patch of beach where Lake Michigan meets a river. the river was on one side and the lake on the other. It was the perfect spot.


I wonder what he is pondering here.

We soon realized that you couldn't be at Ludington State Park without tubes. So off to Walmart we went.

Jason and a drink headed for a cool down.

The boys dug a mote.

Our friends let Max use this boogie board. He thought himself pretty cool.

another pose by my little surfer dude.

Max and Jason passed out really earlier on the first night we were there. For far different reasons I might add. Anyway, Micah and I sat by the fire and made s'mores.

Micah really liked them apparently.

We got some pretty good coals going.

The next day it was Micah's turn to pass out. He fell asleep on my lap and I am actually brave enough to put my chunky self on this blog.

post nap and fruit snacks; life is good.

Our friend Steve given Micah a ride on his boogie board.

We hardly saw Max. He made friends and was off playing the entire time we were at the beach. He is really convinced the whole world is dying to meet him. I love that at 4 he is already a legend in his own mind!

Today is the day!

Today is the day I update my blog! My camera has been broken and so I have been using my iphone to take pictures. I thought there was something special you had to do to get your pics from your phone to your camera, apparently not. So now that my non -technological mind has got that down, I have about 2 months of blogging to catch up on. So back in later today for all the fun.