And here we are, back again, ready for fall

I love fall. I love the cool evenings and the fall colors.
I do not necessarily like all the changes, but I do get used to them.

Moving Anika into Spring Arbor University was fun, and hard, and emotional, and beautiful. Every year... .except this year oddly enough.. .we release monarch butterflies. And every year I think about how letting them go so they can fly and be who they were created to be.

Anika's roommate Kendall

This year, I had to let my own little butterfly loose.

First day of school pic!

And the other three ready for their first day:

Brandon 11th

Jessica 9th

Maria 7th

All at Western Michigan Christian

 Jessica is once again running cross country. This is her about to finish one of the fun races they do each year.... a 3.25 mile race with hay bale obstacles every so often. She did great. She is running JV as she is not one of the 7 fastest, but she is out running every day and mostly enjoying it.

This is part of  her team ready to run another race. Its the Cow Run 5k and proceeds sponsor Country Dairy's sister dairy in Uganda. We LOVE Country Dairy.. ok maybe we love their ice cream, chocolate milk, food, etc. The owners send their kids to WMC and support the school in various ways. Maria and I also ran the race. The cross country team all wore these onesies... Jessica is the cow - so funny to be a cow running the Cow Run! and I bought ice cream to take home - even better!

Brandon is playing varsity soccer and enjoying it. He's gets a bit of playing time each game.

Maria is also playing soccer, and once again is playing for a new team with a new coach. Last spring, the PE teacher saw her playing for the WMC middle school team and asked her to try out for her premier team. So, Maria went up a couple levels and knows the coach. We will see what this year brings. She is excited to be on a higher level team, but this also means her playing time will go down which could be interesting as she hasn't left the field in any game situations in two years. Here we go.

Fun facts we hear from Anika:
she joined the soccer team.... ummm. yes... she joined the SAU college team. There was an announcement asking for 5 more girls to complete the JV team, so she went. I'm guessing she won't play much, if at all, as she hasn't touched a ball in four years, but she is meeting more people and getting some exercise.
She is working the dish pit in the cafeteria for her work study job... she volunteered. I guess stick with what you know, or sort of. Her job at the Maranatha dining room gave her lots of time near the dish pit crew.
She loves band
We've sent her two packages already, one with her black shoes and pants for dish pit, and one with soccer equipment. She told me later, she doesn't actually need the soccer equipment because she raided the lost and found and got shoes, socks and shin guards. That's my girl! The lost and found is the best second hand store EVER.
If you want to write her, just put her name and Spring Arbor University with SAU's address. Somehow they find her without a specific box number or dorm or anything.

This is the volcano she made for Maranatha for their Labor Day Luau. She wasn't there to enjoy the Luau, but she made the main centerpiece from paper mache - 14 hours of work, but it looks pretty cool! There was a tube in the center which was the path for the dry ice 'smoke' to escape.

Summer Life

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, than this post is the longest one EVER! Never give your phone to a teenager. You get multiple pictures of not much, selfies, etc. I had over 100 pictures in a 45 minute stop on our vacation this summer. How is that even possible?

Jessica loves to bake and cook. She likes to experiment. A friend gave us a great homemade cheesecake recipe. Jessica took portions out and colored each of them and made this whole rainbow cheese cake thing. It was delicious!

Summer jobs are in full swing. Anika became a manager at Maranatha Bible Conference Grounds. This will be her 5th year there. This is Brandon's third year there, and Jessica just joined the party there as well.
Brandon is getting fewer hours recently as he also got a job as a cashier at Target. He really enjoys Target, primarily because they pay him $13/hr and its near a Goodwill store. These kids love their name brands, but only for cheap. They all go to Goodwill regularly!





Maria has decided to earn some money just like her dad... reffing soccer. She hasn't taken the official class so she can only ref the little kids - 6 year olds, but they pay her $10 a game and she often knows a few of the players, parents and/or coaches from school or her own teams.

New Family Picture for 2019

Jessica, Maria and I once again ran the Run For Wings 5K. We know the race director and the proceeds from the race provide area people with flight transportation out of Muskegon to anywhere in the US to receive medical treatment. The race director's dad is one of the pilots. There are several pilots and small planes who donate their time. Its crazy how many pilots and private air planes there are out there!

Anika and Blueberry had a fender bender at a stoplight. She was upset at herself for not stopping for the red light and Blueberry got a new fender and headlight... thanks to Matt's handiwork. They both were back on the road within a week, she had to pay a fine and take a class about driving, but she got there.

Summer vacation was up next for us. We decided to spend 5 days in the UP and head to the cabin in Brainerd.

First stop, Sleeping Bear Dune. Huge Dune. Steep Dune. Anika, Brandon, Matt and Maria ran down to the lake and crawled their way back up for 30 minutes and fighting the flies. But the view is amazing.

Lilac TREES, see how big they are compared to
the horses?!?!?!

 Next stop, Mackinac Island. The weather didn't cooperate, but we fully enjoyed the trip. We biked the 8 miles around the island and watched the powerful waves hit the rocks. The lilacs were in full bloom, you can see they are more like trees - and they both looked and smelled amazing! We spent 30 minutes at two different times watching fudge get made. What a cool process. And because we spent so much time and asked so many questions, we ended up with an amazing amount of samples, and we purchased some different flavors and just sugared up!

Next stop, waterfalls.... and more waterfalls, and bear country; and no cell service, and lots of trees, and beautiful scenery. We drove the back roads.... think bumpy, muddy, gravel for several miles, but it was fun to be out in the middle of nowhere.

This was Miner's falls, probably my favorite one, the walk there was through an enchanted forest. It was gorgeous.

 Next stop, Chapel Loop.  Part of the fun of going on vacation with me, is you get to do what I want to do, and I LOVE TO HIKE. Chapel Loop is a 10 mile hike, at the end of one of the previously mentioned back roads, and there are parts of the hike that are not well marked and we almost got lost, but we saw some incredible views and more waterfalls.

The next day we went kayaking in Lake Superior, not by this hike but near here. This video was taken a few weeks after we were there, but towards the end you can see kayakers in the water... that was us, just not with the rocks falling!
https://www.mlive.com/life/2019/08/video-shows-pictured-rocks-cliff-shearing-off-into-lake-superior.html

This isn't us, but it gives you the idea of a two person kayak; Brandon and Anika went together and switched mid water front/back. Our guide video taped it, I think more to protect himself if one of them went in. They said it had never been accomplished before, but as you can imagine, that just made the challenge that much greater, and they accomplished it, as did Matt and Jessica.

For YEARS, the kids have been asking to go back to a beach I took them to when they were young - we were on our way back from Ontario and visiting Matt. We stopped alongside the road and swam in Lake Superior, the last of the five great lakes they touched that trip. It was WARM and fun. We found the beach back but the water was coming from the north... and it was COLD! Still fun to relive the memory.

The kiddos, minus Jacob

Next stop, South Long Lake, Brainerd. We love it here; It's one of my favorite places on earth. Our kids love it here. We have pictures of them doing this very thing for every year of their lives. It is a constant they look forward to every year. Ski, swim, fish, surf, knee board, sail.... the list goes on. Late night talks, clear skies with stars, and loon calls waking you in the morning. Thank you Schiebout's for sharing your summer with us each year.

Final stop before home, Marquette, MI and cliff jumping at Presque Isle State Park. It was a cold... take your breath away cold 15 foot or so drop into Lake Superior.

And this was the sunset that night... I LOVE sunsets. What a reflection off some small lake in the UP near Marquette!

This picture isn't really ours, but it is here to remind us it happened. A black bear actually did walk out into the road right in front of our van. And I was even holding my phone.... WHY DIDN'T I TAKE A PICTURE!?!?!?!?







Then we were home again, and it was cherry season. Michigan has some amazing fresh fruit. We go from strawberry to cherry to raspberry to blueberry to peach to apple season, and we pick it fresh and eat our way through. Here is just a sample of our cherry endeavors this year. Or, let's be honest, sometimes I just pick it up from the farmer's market, but these cherries we actually picked ourselves!

4th of July, waiting for the fireworks, slushies in hand, puppy chow ready, skipbo cards for fun.

I can't post every sunset picture I take, but this was a pretty amazing one. That's Maria jumping.

 Maria played on a summer basketball team with some girls from the area - some of whom will attend high school with her. She enjoyed it for the most part, but it takes time and energy and sometimes summer just needs to slow down. She also spent a week at Camp Geneva and fully enjoyed it once again. She goes every year, not knowing anyone, and just jumps in. This year she happened to be in a cabin with my former camp director's granddaughter.. .for those of you who know - Doug and Cindy Rietema's grand daughter!

ready to spread some joy in Muskegon

Brandon and Anika once again were part of two summer SERVE projects. They were part of the home team for the Muskegon SERVE and went to Abingdon, VA with their youth group to SERVE there. Both weeks were great times of serving, worshiping, and fun.














My nephew, Marcus, was married to Monica in early August. Matt performed the ceremony and Jessica and Maria came along for the trip - Anika and Brandon were in Virginia - or on their way home! We had a great evening celebrating these two!

While back in MN for the wedding, we made sure to hang with our framily there. These people did life with us for many years... holidays, birthdays, births, even some deaths. It is so wonderful to spend time with them.. so far we've been able to spend a few hours together each summer.

Back in MI, I got a phone call asking what we were doing for the night.... Evan and Leslie were in MI, not really all that close, but looking for something to do, so they spent the night with us. Once again, the kids had no problem hanging with their friends, although this time it was in our lake - the big one.

come visit us, we go get ice cream!

And then there is this guy, who thinks he can have another birthday.... 17 years and several inches taller. He still likes chocolate covered cream filled long johns for breakfast and snickers ice cream bars for dessert. We have spent the past year outfitting his feet with shoes..... size 14 is not easy to find.

Graduation

She finished high school, decorated the hat, got the diploma, and walked out the doors. So proud of who she has become and can't wait to see who she will be.

A few weeks later, Maria moved on from 6th grade and Muskegon Christian. She will now be at the high school with Brandon and Jessica.

A few of the decorations from Anika's open house. She was quite sure she didn't want an open house, then we decided to just do something small after church, then a friend joined the party and then we had a party! Nacho bar and root beer floats!

This is the t-shirt quilt Anika sewed. It covers her life from MN through high school. Its HUGE and she is using it as her blanket at college.

Spring arrives again - and with it comes the sun

Jessica has a beautiful singing voice. Each year she has performed a duet with a friend at both the solo & ensemble as well as at the Pops concert. They have scored a 1 both times and done very well at the Pops concert. Not the greatest picture of Jessica, but its a memory.

Spring sports brought more soccer for Maria - both her Storm team and the middle school team with Jessica; Anika got to do her beloved hurdles, and Brandon was back on the LaCrosse field. 

Anika scored in every meet and was voted MVP by her teammates and coaches. They were a small team of 9 girls, but they all fought hard and loved every minute.
Brandon was voted player of the game at the team's first win - ever. This is only the second year the local district has offered the sport. Brandon joined the team as a coop.  He really enjoys lacrosse and was asked to play on the summer team, but couldn't figure out how to work it into his summer schedule.

 Jessica and Maria played together on the middle school soccer team - they were small but mighty!












Anika and Jessica had their final band concert. Jessica was actually in both band and choir in middle school - in high school there is only room to be in one or the other in a schedule. Brandon switched to concert choir this year and really enjoyed it.

Joint middle and high school bands... Jessica and Anika are both in there, I promise, Anika on the left, Jessica on the right.

Brandon, front and center

Easter brings another tradition.... we take Robin Bird Eggs, the blue ones, and lick them to give ourselves lip stick and then take a picture...

And  spring also brought Anika's last prom. It was a great year of lasts. She went to prom this year with a group of friends and they had a great time. This group has eaten lunch together pretty much every day of their four years in high school - a great group of girls to call your friends.

Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow

Brandon recently just said to me. I really like winter, but its hard to be excited about 6 months of cloudy days.
We have learned a few things while living here:
If you want to enjoy winter, you need to take advantage of the MOMENT. And yes, it is typically a dreary, wet, cloudy winter.
Snow lasts a day - maybe, maybe a few days, but not long.
Snow often comes in bunches and for extended times. We will get 18 inches in 3 or 4 days, and then get rain; Or it will snow a bit for two weeks straight, but not amount to much.
So, when we get a big snowfall, we try to go sledding THAT DAY. The snow is fluffy fluffy fluffy lake effect snow and falls in bands.... 10 miles north or south will drastically change the snow fall amount.
IF it gets below freezing for a week straight, we go ice skating on our friend's pond. We know the owners of the local funeral homes and they have a pond next to one of their funeral homes. They let us know once it is frozen over and safe! We even bought skates for Brandon - a size 13 skate is not easy to come by.
So one Sunday evening, the snow was falling, and it was beautiful, and we knew it probably wouldn't last. I forgot to mention we rarely get our street plowed. All of this together made for a festivus of sledding behind the CRV. If anyone has an old water ski rope they no longer use, we will put it to good use. Ski goggles were a good addition to the fun, but we didn't have helmets. Thankfully, all the mailboxes were avoided....mostly. The CRV can tow two people on sleds, FYI.

But first, Thanksgiving.

We have spent it the last few years with our friends from church. Its always an amazing meal - she is an incredible cook - and we often end the evening playing games. Typically Up and Down the River.  After that game this year, a rousing game of penny hockey was also underway, to the point one could almost call it a tournament with winners moving up and losers moving down.  Good times.

One thing I have wanted to do for quite awhile is attend a show presented by the local community college called Follow the Star. Its held in the conservatory auditorium. A friend of ours knows the professor, and the professor presents several shows throughout the year including one on the mystery of the Christmas star. The show lasts about 35 minutes and presents you with possible scenarios of what the wisemen from the East were watching and approximate years in which it all could have happened.  Jessica and Matt joined me. The show is presented on the large white dome above us.

Every year, on Christmas morning, we make Christmas cutout cookies, and we love them.

But, prior to that, over Thanksgiving weekend, we make LOTS and LOTS of cookies. Then we make variety cookie plates and give them to neighbors, garbage men, mail lady, etc, and eat many more than we should.  We love December and all the goodies stored in our extra large refrigerator, also known as the garage.

We spend much of winter completing puzzles. People in our house are a bit crazy when it comes to puzzles, staying up until wee hours to finish. There is a 'proper' way to set up the puzzle and pieces and of course this way depends on with which person you speak. It is something we all enjoy and will spend time crowded around a table looking for just the certain piece.

Each winter, generally in February, I am in charge of the YMCA's main fundraising event known as the Black Tie for the Y. I'm sure you have all attended galas with dinner, live auction, silent auction, raffles, etc. You get the idea. I am always a VERY happy camper when this day is over. It is fun to get dressed up, but the stress of putting all the pieces together is not worth the $30,000 or so raised in my opinion!

Winter sports wrap up:

Anika - coached middle school swim and diving and had one of the leads in the musical - more about that below

Brandon - decided last minute to be part of the JV basketball team. He made the team players number to 10 so they could practice 5 on 5; He didn't play much in games, but did enjoy the team and the guys

Jessica - had far too many things going on, but she made it... middle school swim and dive, 8th grade basketball, and she was in the chorus of the aforementioned musical, whew!

Maria - 6th grade basketball and MYST - the YMCA swim team; she loves to swim but had no desire to do any of the meets, so she just swam all winter... miles and miles and miles; those workouts are no joke!

Somewhere in there, Jessica turned 14 and Anika turned 18.

For Jessica's birthday, I took her grocery shopping. Doesn't sound like fun you say? Contrare. Jessica bought all her favorites. I know I made a list somewhere, but I have no idea where it is now. Here are a few I remember:

sushi (the girl is obsessed)

salt and vinegar chips

dill pickles

green olives

bacon.... lots of bacon

glazed doughnut for breakfast
marshmallow brownies for dessert
girl power shirt with adidas soccer pants
and Harry Potter pajamas

For Anika's birthday we got her a long black down coat to walk the long trails to class each day at college next year. I bought myself the same one because it came in tall and I love a coat that covers your butt and keeps the wind out!

Anika and Brandon with friends at the school Christmas Banquet

Each year the school presents a really great Christmas concert in collage format, meaning, there is no clapping between numbers and it jumps from small ensembles to large ones and back and forth. There are several choirs, the jazz band, the concert band, and many ensembles. Its a great concert... this year my parents and Aunt Kathy joined us. We always sit in the balcony and share m&ms and twizzlers licorice with another family.

James and the Giant Peach was the musical of choice for the school this year, and as soon as Anika heard about it, she wanted to be the mean aunt Spyker..... and she was. She truly did an amazing job, and yes, that is her hair stacked on top of her head. They put a plastic water bottle on her head and surrounded it with hair. She often had a headache but the effect was pretty cool.

Jessica was in the chorus and thus was a numerous amount of things, including at one point an oompa loompa.  They both had a great time. Next year the musical is the Sound of Music and Jessica and Maria both plan on trying out. We shall see what winter brings!