SASSY…..

With all the wedding plans, my scrabooking has taken a major “hit”.  I’m thankful to have my monthly commitment to Pages in Time – to create a layout for the store display.  I completed “SASSY” last night, using the Basic Grey line of products.  Thanks to the awesome photography of my friend Jenny Hoke, I’ve got a bunch of new photos to get scrapbooked.   Two weddings and an Alaskan Cruise!!!!  I think my winter months will be spent hibernating in my craft room, with a major supply of adhesive!

I Earned It!!

Still trying to figure out exactly how – but I’m not questioning the experts!  SCENTSY ran a promotion from March 1 through June 30th – and those who qualified, earned an Alaskan Cruise.  I never tracked my points.  I just sold my warmers and scents and signed up a few new recruits.  Imagine my surprise when I received an email from the corporate office a few weeks ago, congratulating me on earning the cruise.

With expenses from two weddings, we were unable to “buy-in” Bob’s portion – but my little brother volunteered to spend the money and join me.  So, on September 19th, I’ll be flying from Chicago and he’ll be flying from Orlando and we’ll meet in Seattle, where we’ll board Holland America’s Amsterdam and cruise for 7 days – visiting Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, the Hubbard Glacier, before spending our last night in Victoria, Canada.  EVERTHING is included, from our airfare and transfers to our gratuities.  The only decision we have to come up with is whether we’re going Whale Watching,  visiting a Dog Sled Camp, or flying over the Mendenhall Glacier in a helicopter. This will be my ONE week to relax between weddings.  Once I come home, it will be full steam ahead to wedding number TWO!!

 

It’s in the Eyes…..

My friend Jenny is a professional photographer.  She specializes in children – natural light, and has been photographing my grandchildren for nearly a year.  Last winter, I asked her to photograph Kelli for her senior pictures and Jenny graciously accepted the challenge.  I’m thinking this HAS to be easier than trying to get a 2-year old to cooperate!!!

This past weekend, we drove over to the beach at Lake Michigan and had fun amidst the sand and sea grass.  There’s a saying about how “the eyes are the window to the soul”.  I think Jenny captured that perfectly with this photo.

So Close….

It’s nice to have the beaches of Lake Michigan so close to home.  From our front door, we can be in New Buffalo or the Dunes in just a half hour.  Saturday evening was perfect for a drive over to New Buffalo – a warm, summer evening.  The streets of this little town were bustling with tourists.  From the looks of the license plates, most of them came around the lake from Chicago. 

Kelli and Ben had a Senior Photo Shoot scheduled with Jenny Hoke, http://www.jennyhokephotography.com/  and Lisa and I tagged along to watch.  Bob and Mark headed off to the nearest bar to watch some baseball, until we were ready to join them.

The beach front offered so many beautiful photo opportunities – the sea grass, the rocks, etc.  While Kelli and Ben posed for Jenny, I found myself snapping away with my camera. 

By the time the sun set, we met Bob and Mark at Redamak’s and finished our summer evening gorging ourselves on burgers, onion rings and milkshakes.  It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

“The Best Day of the Summer”

Yesterday, Carrie and I spent the day on Clear Lake at Fuller Resort in Buchanan, Michigan.  The Ellam family had rented a cabin there for the week, and had invited us up to spend a day.   We packed our cooler, grabbed the beach towels, sunscreen and floating apparatus and headed into Michigan for the day.   The kids were like “fish” – spending most of their day in the lake.  Grace loved digging in the sand for “she-shells” and Nolan was delighted to have Ben show him how to fish from the dock.  The General Store offered 25 cent ice cream cones for the kids.  And at the end of the day, Nolan said “Grandma, this was the best day of the summer”.    I couldn’t help but agree.  In fact, Carrie and I booked a cabin for next July – for the two of us and Kelli, along with Nolan, Grace and Jack.  If our husband’s decide to join us – fine.  If not, they’ll miss out on “the best WEEK of the summer”.

   

Welcome to the Family….

We have a new “grandpuppy”.  Katie and Santiago are the proud parents of Tex – a 9 week old Golden Retriever puppy, given to them by one of Katie’s co-workers as an early wedding gift.  Tex was the last of litter.  Katie said it was a little sad when she picked him up and he was sitting in the yard with his mom and dad.  A few minutes later, he was perched “shotgun” in her car, driving back to South Bend to meet his dad and his big brother Meeko. 

Softball Smiles

Last weekend, we finished twenty years of travel softball - which began when Carrie was 14 years old. There were a couple of years where we had Katie and Colleen playing on an 18U team and Chrissie playing on a 16U team - and Bob and I splitting our time between the three of them. Those years were full of wonderful friendships, more than one trip to an emergency room and a chance to bond with our daughters over something that they loved. Kelli's final weekend was probably her best of the summer. I captured this photo of Kelli following a stand-up double (the first of three for that day). Nothing like finishing your summer season with a big smile on your face.