Thursday, August 30, 2012

Mackinac Island Boat Trip

This past weekend we took Gabe and Shenira to Mackinac Island. We traveled down the Inland Waterway to get there. Just having the two kids was so different. Tony had to work, Jordon went on a back packing trip with the youth group and Dustin had football practice so they were all unable to go with us. Needless to say we missed them but still had a great time. 

Because most of our trip was spend going down rivers at an idle speed Shenira got to drive the boat while John would rest beside her. 
 This is what a lot of our trip looked like. There really are no words to describe how beautiful it was. Even when it was cloudy and sometime rainy it was still so pretty. 
 Once we got settled on the Island it was off to do some shopping. The Big Store was a favorite spot for my clan. 

 We found a nice taxi driver that let the kids pet his horse which made both of their days. 
 This is the kids at the entrance of the harbor where we docked our boat.
 The boat all docked up home sweet home for 2 nights. 
Saturday we got up and decided that we would ride our bike around the Island. It's 8 miles all the way around. We took it very slow and stopped many time as I had been sick for 3 weeks prior to this trip and still wasn't feeling the best. But, taking the breaks worked out in my favor because I was able to get all kinds of great pictures of the kids.


 About half way around the Island we saw a bunch of people pulled over to the side of the road. They were all looking at this Bald Eagle. It was so cool to see one out in nature and not in a zoo!



 After the bike ride John thought it would be fun to cool off at the back of the boat. If you can't tell by this picture "cool off" was exactly what he did!
 These are the locks that we went through in Cheboygan once we entered they lifted us up 15 feet so that we go out the other side and continue on our trip home. This is Shenira helping John keep the boat off of the cement wall.


 One of my favorite pictures of the trip. This would be Gabe reaction after coming up from below to find out that he dad drank the rest of his pop while he was down below. Mind you the pop had sat there for two hours. This was priceless. 



 This is John and I standing on the spot that we stood 9 years ago when we got married. It was sad going back, all of the trees and flowers were gone and it wasn't nearly as pretty as it was 9 years ago. We went back home and looked at our wedding photos you would never know it was the same place. 


Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Relay For Life

We had another great year for Relay for Life. We had a surprise party for my mom this year and invited many friends and family to join us in celebrating her 4 years as a Cancer Survivor. She was so surprised and it was great! Everyone showed up just before the Survivor Lap and were able to join her which meant the world to her. 





 Mom and Dad with the 3 J's.
 Mom, Dad, The 3 J's and spouses 
 Mom and Dad with the Fuller's 
 Mom and Dad with the Esienberg's
 The whole family minus Dustin. 
 This is my Mom with one of her sister and one of her brothers. Thank you Aunt Debbie and Uncle Dan for being there for mom it was awesome. 
 If we were having a party we had to get her favorite cake. She loved it. 
 Mom and Dad with the Copas' and Plaster's 
 Group hug from Nana thanking the kids for coming and supporting her.  
 New this year were Luminary Bags. These things were so awesome. This is mom with hers. 
 This is the Fab Five helping Nana out. Next year the Super Six will help as Daelyn will be older!


Praising God for another year with my mom and for another year of her being a Survivor.