Michigan Trip, Part 5

On August 18^th, we had the privilege of attending our old church in Michigan. It was so good to be amongst our church family there! We sat in our usual second row seats, I made my Sunday-morning-hug-rounds, and we were able to attend our Sunday school classes.

We—of course—stayed late afterwards catching up with friends and taking some group pictures. Mr. C came to be a very dear friend of ours following our trip to Haiti.

Photo Credit: Mark.

We are so grateful to Pastor D for all he did to help our family with the graduation party. He is a big blessing to our family!

Photo Credit: Mark.

We went back to our hotel to eat lunch and relax a little bit. Mid-afternoon, we headed over to our friends the M’s house (you might remember when we visited their house to do some shooting last fall.) They had invited us over for an early dinner!

We girls had been talking before we left the hotel, and said “I hope Mr. M lets us do some shooting while we’re there.” Well, Mr. M made our day and pulled out the pistol. J We had fun blowing up a few tin cans while we waited for dinner to be ready.

Photo Credit: Ben.

The dinner was delicious! We ate burgers hot off the grill with Swiss cheese and cooked onions on top, chips, cucumber salad, baked beans, iced tea, and lemonade.

Enjoying our meal and catching up with each other.

For dessert, we enjoyed several different types of ice cream. The M’s know our family well. J Our time with them felt too short, but we had another commitment that evening . . .

. . . Uncle Paul, Aunt Noelle, and the boys came over to our hotel to visit for a few hours! We talked, the boys played, and we all enjoyed a few rounds of “Heads Up.”

Photo Credit: Roma.

Trying to fit everyone on the same couch. J I miss this family so much. They have truly become family to us.

Photo Credit: Betsy.

We stayed up late that night packing. On Monday (August 19^th) we got up bright and early to load up the car and eat breakfast before leaving our hotel. Uncle Paul and the family came over to say goodbye to us. That was hard. L Especially not knowing when exactly we’ll get to see them again. Everyone gave about 5 hugs each!

Finally, we had to break away and leave town. But our compass was pointed northwest; we were headed to a friend’s cottage on the lake for a few days! Many of you might remember a few blog posts I did about our first visit up there for my birthday a couple years ago. We were so excited to spend a couple more days of quality time with the M family as we have *really* missed them since we moved!

We stopped for a brief lunch and arrived at the cottage in the early afternoon. We unloaded our things and settled in. Then we had a quick pow-wow to discuss our loose schedule for the week, and important logistics such as grocery shopping. While the younger kids went down to the camp to explore, the adults made a shopping list. Then Dad, Mr. M., Roma, and I set out for the grocery store in the next town.

Group shopping is always more fun that shopping alone. J But boy, do 11 people need a lot of food for a few days!

On our way back to the cottage, we stopped at an overlook. That pier you see jutting out is where we walked two years ago! I love the Great Lakes.

We arrived back to the cottage and unloaded all our groceries. Then we loaded up the people and drove back into the neighboring town to go out for dinner. The place we were headed has everything cherry (northern Michigan is known for its cherries.) This restaurant bakes the only cherry pie I like, and makes the only cherry preserves I like. So needless to say, I was excited about eating there!

We had a cherry smorgasbord for dinner! I had cherry-ade to drink, a house salad with cherry vinaigrette, and a roll with butter to start out.

For dinner I ate cherry pulled pork, green beans, and mashed potatoes. It was all delicious!

For dessert, I of course had cherry pie a la mode. It was just as good as I remembered it! We bought several pies and jars of jam to take back to the cottage as well.

We got back to the cottage in time to enjoy a beautiful sunset over the lake.

That evening, they had square dancing at the camp. One of the counselors, K, came over and taught us how to do the Virginia Reel. It was pretty comical, but we definitely had fun!

Photo Credit: Ben.

The parents arrived just as we finished dancing. Then we all headed over to the trading post, which was just about to open (around 9:00 p.m.)

It was time for some ice cream! Yes, we did double-desserts in one night. J But you *have* to go to the trading post when you’re at camp!

Photo Credit: Roma.

While we enjoyed our ice cream, Mr. M mentioned his routine of going for a dip in the lake right before bed. Something about the sugar kick from the ice cream and the exhilaration of being on vacation with friends messed with our minds just a bit. J Despite the fact that it was only about 68 degrees out, we kids thought it’d be a great idea if we went with him. So we thin-blooded-Texans donned our swim suits and went swimming in Lake Michigan at 10:30 p.m.! We shrieked, moaned, and almost cried for the 5 minutes we were in the freezing cold water. But it was a memorable experience, and we really did have fun, despite what the neighbors thought. J

We dried off, warmed up, and went to bed around midnight. We were excited for another fun day with friends!

To be continued . . .