Today

I just received a text from Joanna. She just left my first grandchild at Ferris State University! Such conflicting emotions.

- She is so ready for this.
- We will miss her so much.
- She aced her summer algebra class which just finished last week so she stayed in the study mode.
- We will miss her so much.
- She has matured into a delightful young woman who will be a leader in everything she does.
- We will miss her so much

OK, OK, it is good she left this family who would smother her with love!

Butterflies

So we were driving down the road when I saw a butterfly flying in circles. Probably singing or humming with happiness for the beautiful sunshiny day.

Then our car smacked into it and killed the happy little sucker!

It made me wonder if that is how God watches over us. Letting us make our own choices, even if it means we are not paying attention to our surroundings.

How many times have I gone about my life without any concern for others? I need to pay more attention to those around us, near and far.

Dinner with Liz

We had such a nice dinner with our niece Elizabeth. I texted her and she said she would love to have dinner some night this week. I texted back, tonight? Well she was working and didn't get the text until later.  We drove to Grand Rapids and then found out she was busy.

So I texted her back again and suggested breakfast. But the sweet girl changed her plans and we had dinner.

When we got back to the hotel Pat said, "We have to see her more often." We love that girl!

There's a storm following us!

On our left - blue skies, white fluffy clouds. On our left - black, slate grey and bluish grey clouds.

We drove to Clear Lake. It was sunny and beautiful all day. Stopped at Bear Den Lake to see the loons. Ate lunch at the Elbo Inn. Then drove back home.

Aaaahhhh. . . The storm caught us! It is pouring.

Midland County Fair

Fairs, Family and Food

We had a great time yesterday. I'll say right off how much I missed Joanna and Robin - they couldn't be with us. Jesse, Caroline, and Ayva planned to come and at the last minute Javi got back in town from a visit with his Grandma and he came, too! Sheala and her friend Ryan and Robbie joined us for the day.

We went to the Midland County Fair. Pat has been going to this fair since he was a little boy. When we got married we started going together. We had such a good time.

Ayva was too small to go on most of the rides alone so Robbie, Sheala and Ryan went on most of them with her. Giving the monkey money. And Ayva getting licked by a horse were some of the fun times.

Then off to Harvey's for dinner. When we dropped them off I took a minute to tell Sheala what an amazing year she is going to have at Ferris. Gosh, I am going to miss that girlie girl.

Bakery Story Stairs

The color is the color of the tile. (Cir is the tile with circles on it.) The D means there is a divider on that tile. When you put your colors in you will be able to customize your stairs.



Wh        Wh/D         Cir/D           Cir        Cir
Wh        Wh/D         Br                Br        Br/D
Wh         Cir/D         Cir              Cir        Bl
Wh/D      Br             Br               Br/D     Prp
Wh          Wh           Wh/D          Prp        Bl

Bakery Story Stairs

Little Pirate Princess

Slaying the zombies! We are having fun. The other picture is her car. She went to pick up Javi.

Then to Walmart park. When we got in the car she said, "Do we have to go over the bridge where you say aaaahhh cause you are crazy?" (click on the aaaahh to see the original post about this story!)

I asked, "Who told you that?" She said, "Grandma Caroline"

Then it started raining and we had to run to the car. We went to McDonalds and there wrre all boys playing so she just sat eating her food.

Then on to Hemmeter to buy peaches and blueberries for a pie. Was hoping for Michigan peaches but only Georgia.

What?

In a Choice Hotel, Comfort Inn, in St. Ignace. We were drinking our coffee on our patio this morning and Pat says, "Read your coffee cup!"

On Our Way to St. Ignace

So, here it is the beginning of August and trees are beginning to change up here! We saw turkeys with young chicks! A couple Sandhill cranes. An Eagle. And a few deer.

We went on the glass bottom boat tour out of Munising. The ride was beautiful. The shipwrecks just okay.

Ate pasties at Muldoon's in Munising. Voted #1 pasty in the U.P. Have to agree.

Stopped at a few waterfalls. On our way to St. Ignace. It's a beautiful day in the U.P.

On Our Way to Manistique

We spent a delightful hour with Mr. Lepeak. We shared a bottle of his famous raspberry wine. And he was sweet enough to send us on our way with another!

We caught up on family. Pat asked him some advice about the '63 Holiday Rambler trailer we got from him. We visited with Stanley and Linda. I had a chance to tell their daughter about her Aunt Janet serving Caroline a plate of trout with the head still on it story.

Offered to Stanley to watch his kids when he goes to France the next time so he can take Linda with him. (I meant it Stanley!)

I never leave Grand Marais without tears. I miss Janet and her Mom so much.

On Our Way to Grand Marais

We just crossed the bridge. A couple more hours to Mr. Lepeak's home. I cooked meat sauce and meatballs this morning and put it in 10 containers for his freezer. That will give him a good winter supply.

We are staying in Manistique tonight. We like that town, too. Probably a trip to the casino and Palms Brook State Park to maneuver the raft over the lake.

I love our U.P.

Rain Update

6.93 inches yesterday! I think this officially qualifies for the saying "It's raining cats and dogs!"

As an update to the update - we drove to Midland Farmers Market in the rain. I have never seen every tree and blade of grass look so lush and green!

Rain, Rain, Rain

Well the grass is growing! We have had rain all afternoon. It is coming down now really hard. I am sure the crops needed it. I know our tree did.

I finally looked up on the Internet and found a picture that looked just like our tree. Little leaves. I was worried about it. The website said it was from frostbite - just like we thought. It may take 2 years for it to straighten out. If Michigan weather would cooperate next spring it would be appreciated!

We had the family over for Joanna's birthday yesterday. We found a great technique for cooking ribs. Dry rub and sauce in the slow cooker for 8 hours then 5 minutes on each side on the grill smothered with sauce. They were DELICIOUS. I got the recipe on Pinterest - it is in my Tried and True section.

Grocery Lists

Why bother? I made my list, checked it twice, just like Santa. Got home - forgot to buy two things on the list!

However, renembered to buy panko even though I found I already had a box in the cupboard!!""

What a relief

Yesterday was so nice. We even sat outside in the backyard! There was such a nice cool breeze.

This summer has been like living in the Southwest. We have always enjoyed Michigan summers, but this year we have not been outside unless we had to go somewhere. You know it is bad when Pat actually wears a pair of shorts!

So, maybe we will be able to camp in August!

OK - I take the Soutgwest comment back. The morning news just said the Oklahoma firefighters are going to get a break today with temperatures only in the high 90's instead of over 100!

Waiting is so hard

Anticipation is making me crazy! Here is a scary look into my craziness.

I am waiting for the covers to be done for the Saginaw Series. I know I told Dan September, but I can't wait. Is my vision his vision? Have I explained well enough about what I want it to be? Should we go visit and see if everything seems to be on track? Should we stay away so I don't bug him?

To keep busy I am making minor changes to the stories. When I think there couldn't possibly be anything else to change I find something.

I am worried about setting up the Amazon account, converting the files to HTML, and details for signing up for ereader books. My computer keeps freezing - need to have someone look at it before I start uploading the books. Even I wouldn't want to be near me if the computer froze at a critical moment. Actually I just want them done.

I am looking forward to working on the Holiday Series. I haven't looked at those books for three months. I will be so happy to develop those characters in more detail. I won't look at those until the Saginaw Series is on Amazon!

Fun Day at School Section Lake

We had such a good time at School Section Lake on Saturday that I decided to load some pictures onto the blog.