Play

Well, I had two things to blog about. . but both topics have been covered on other blogs. So, if you read Mustard Seed and Imaginary Entourage, you can skip this.

First topic is the play the kids put on last Saturday. It was so cool! After a week of rehearsing and learning all about theater, they put on a very fun production of "Jack and the Beanstalk". Alli had two parts, Milky White the cow, and the circus ballerina. Olivia was the one man band in the circus. And the lead roles were played by my nephews!!! Josiah was Jack and Andrew was the giant. So cool.












Next topic is the awesome trip we took to Crystal Mountain. WOW! I had no idea how sweet it would be. Of course, it didn't hurt that the weather was absolutely heavenly. Timm sits on the board for MASSP (Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals) and this is their annual retreat. So, in addition to the sessions and meetings he sits in, they really do an incredible job making it a "retreat" for his whole family. My mom and dad went with us to hang out with me and the girls during the day while Timm was in sessions, and to watch the girls in the evening for some of the stuff Timm and I could go to. Timm and I enjoyed an incredible dinner complete with open bar, hors dourvs, main course with steak and seafood, and three different desserts! Did I mention open bar? Come on. We aren't used to that kind of dining experience. It was so cool to mingle with the other people in Timm's field who are passionate about making a difference in education! What a FUN bunch of people.
On another evening, they hosted a barbeque for the whole family. Food, face painting, clown, tattos, and free rides on the ski lift to the top of the mountain where there was musician playing and more activites for the kids!
There was an awesome pool with tons of play things for the kids. We spent quite a few hours hanging out there. And one day, we took a road trip to see Sleeping Bear Dunes. It was very very cool. If you have not visited that area of Michigan, you need to plan a trip. Make sure you do the scenic drive located near the dunes. As cool as it was to climb the dunes, the scenic drive was even cooler. It is a several mile loop, with 10 scenic overlooks where you can catch insanely beautiful views of Lake Michigan, the sand dunes, and just the hilly landscape. Too gorgeous.
Well, I won't bore you with more details. I love to travel and could go on and on.

Time flies

Geez, I thought I had SOOO much free time this week. And I do. But, it is flying by so fast.
The girls are doing a theater camp all week. This is the first time in parenthood that I have been home without my kids for a whole week. They are gone for 6 hours a day!
Oh, the dreams and plans I had for all of my free time. Well, I got the laundry done and the grocery shopping done and the other basics of day to day life. Just went on a 2 hour bike ride (and hit a few garage sales). But, I don't seem to be getting any more ahead of myself than any other week. Oh well. Accomplishing things is over rated. How about just enjoying the rest?
And that is exaclty what I did yesterday.
Timm and I dropped the kids off at the theater, then we headed to the golf course. I was so thrilled that Timm found a deal for us to golf super cheap! So, for five hours, we enjoyed being outdoors and chasing a little white ball around the grassy hills and valleys of a local golf course. It was great. We don't do that very often. In fact, we realized that we never even made it out to golf together last year at all. And to make things even better, I golfed the best 9 holes EVAR! And Timm did pretty well also. That definately makes it more fun.
So, people give me a hard time when I don't blog all week. I couldn't let my week of WIDE OPEN FREE TIME go by without checking in.
And tonight, I am going to DTE (which will always be Pine Knob to me) with 4 teenagers to see one of my favorite bands, Newsboys, along with Superchick and DecembeRain. These tics were only $5 - including parking! Whoop-Whoop! That's my price tag for fun! Plus, I get to hang out with some of my favorite peeps - my niece and nephews! Thank you to my sista.
Have I mentioned lately that my life is good? God is so good to me, it's ridiculous.

Send off

This past weekend at church, they did a commissioning service to "send off" the Communitas NYC church team. It was a VERY moving service. Our lead Pastor, Steve Andrews, gave a great vision casting message. And they showed a cool video that really captured the vision and mission of the Communitas church. If you have any time, you can check out the service here. Just click on "watch the service" from the weekend of June 7/8.

This picture was taken at Pethericks. They kindly opened their home for a huge barbeque Sunday afternoon to say goodbye to Chris and Craig and to just have some down time with the Kensington folks, the launch team, and some of their family members. This is a pic of (almost) the whole team. It was a nice afternoon (in spite of the storm that blew through).

Lucky

This is what 40 years of marriage looks like in my family. Would you look at the joy? The smiles? These are my parents. And this year, we were able to celebrate with them as they passed the 40 year mark in their marriage adventure. How awesome is that?

This week, my siblings and our spouses took these two "lovebirds" out to dinner to celebrate. And, can I just say that, not only do I feel very LUCKY to have been blessed with this model of marriage in my life. . . but I also feel so LUCKY that we picked the most awesome restaurant. . . LUCKY'S STEAKHOUSE. Seriously, if you haven't visited this little treasure up in Imlay City, I would say it is worth venturing off the beaten path a bit to check out!
We had incredible food, lots of laughs, and just a wonderful time relaxing together. We could only remember ONE other time that the eight of us had gotten together, without the children, to just enjoy some adult time.
I feel so incredibly blessed to have been raised in a family where the marriage covenant is just that. . . a covenant. A promise. For better or for worse. A promise to love each other no matter what. Whether you feel like it or not!!! Whether it's easy or hard! A promise to GIVE love, regardless of whether you feel like you are RECIEVING it in return. A promise until death do us part. . .
And now, their children are able to build on that model. As we sat at the dinner table, we celebrated the fact that my sister is in her 18th year of marriage, I am approaching 12 years, and my bro is coming up on 9. And each of us knows what a marriage is. A covenant. A promise. Forever.
Thank you God for giving me parents to model this. Thank you Mom and Dad for being promise keepers in your marriage. That is your legacy. . . .