Summer in Michigan

I was looking through my pictures the other day and realized I never posted any photos from the couple weeks we spent in Michigan with family this past July.

My parents are originally from Michigan and I was born there and lived there until we moved to Colorado when I was 1.5 years old. Growing up, I always loved going back to Michigan to visit relatives. My dad lived on a farm that had a huge pond and a large woods that we loved exploring via canoe, paddle boat, 4-wheelers or on a trailer with all our cousins while being pulled behind Grandpa’s tractor. I also loved playing hide and seek in the corn fields while the sprinklers were going with our cousins.

I haven’t had the opportunity to see my dad’s side of the family, especially my grandparents, for a couple years and with my grandpa’s health not doing too well, I definitely made this trip a priority. It was fun to spend time back in the old stompin’ grounds and to show the area to my hubby and my two nephews. 

 
Uncle “Bock”, Caleb & Braden explore the new dock, the pond and the woods

 
Hubby ponders having a pond like this on our farm someday while the boys explore the playground equipment and peddle tractors and Aunt “Bee” and Caleb ride the giant tree swing

Before leaving, we stopped by my great grandma’s house (a couple doors down from the house my dad grew up in and where my grandpa still lives) to get a 5 generation photo for my sister with her boys. I guess you could also say this is a 5 generation photo since I’m 5 months pregnant here. L-R: My grandpa, my dad, my sister, my bro, me and great grandma in front.

After visiting my dad’s family in Cadillac, we travelled south a couple hours to enjoy some time with my mom’s side in Grand Rapids. One of our favorite things is to visit the Grand Haven lighthouse because we have lots of fun stories from this place (such as my mom falling off the end of the pier into Lake Michigan and my dad and I pulling her out to reveal a swamp monster…thankfully we can laugh about it, but many people have lost their lives falling off that pier). Hubby had never seen a Lake Michigan sunset (one of the most beautiful sunsets you’ll ever see) so we headed out for a fun night. The sunset wasn’t the best because there were no clouds, but it was still pretty.

Braden was so cute riding on Grandpa’s shoulders. Whenever he’d see something he wanted to look at closer, he’d take his sunglasses off, squint one eye and point. It was so cute! He is such a smart little cookie and I loved spending time with him and seeing him and hubby start to bond.

Group shot of all the relatives who enjoyed the evening in Grand Haven

L-R: me, my sis, her two boys, cousin Casey, my brother, Casey’s hubby, my mom, cousin Aaron, Uncle Scott (mom’s youngest sibling and Aaron’s dad), cousin Shelby, Gram (Bibi to her great grandkids), my dad, my hubby

In addition to indulging in many excellent mom & pop ice cream shops, and lots of laughs, we also had a scary glimpse into my mom’s future when she came out wearing one of my grandma’s wigs:

Of course, no trip to Michigan is complete without a day at the beach.

Braden looks like he’s striking a pose for muscle beach. Me & Gram chilling on the blanket until little Caleb came and dumped a pile of sand in my hair. He’s lucky he looked so cute toddling after those seagulls it was impossible to get upset!

 
We also took time to take in a minor league baseball game with my mom’s dad and his wife and some cousins.

Back L-R: Haila, Gramps, Mom, Dad, cousin Aaron
Front L-R: Me, my sister, cousins Casey & (her sister) Shelby

And, the main reason we were in Michigan this summer was for the Bultema family reunion that my mom and grandma were in charge of hosting this year.

I made the postcard invite last year (featuring my great grandparents) for them and it was fun to see it used in a slideshow they made honoring all the different members of this LARGE (my mom has over 50 1st cousins) Dutch family.

We took a picture of the tallest and shortest at the wedding. The tallest guy I believe is one of my mom’s 1st cousins. The shortest was my grandma’s oldest sibling.

I love this pic of my grandma and her two siblings who are still here on this earth. My grandma is the youngest (of 7 I believe), next to hear is the oldest sibling (I think she’s older than my grandma by at least 20 years) and on the left is the sibling closest in age to my grandma (but still 10 years older than her).

Summers in Michigan are always so much fun!

Philly & Valley Forge with Brock & Leah

My brother and his girlfriend came out for a visit a few weeks ago and hubs and I had a great time touring Philadelphia and Valley Forge with them. It was freezing cold, but we kept reminding ourselves that we had more clothes on our backs than the soldiers did who were living there at the time. I didn’t have my camera with me so here are some photos I stole off Leah’s Facebook page:

Brock & Leah with the Liberty Bell

Brock & Leah with the LOVE sign…we were all expecting it to be a lot bigger

 

Brock & I at Elfreth’s Alley – the oldest continuously lived on street in America. I look about 10 pounds heavier than normal because I had leggings on under my jeans and a bulky sweater under my coat because it was so cold!

A replica of the huts the soldiers lived in at Valley Forge. It was very informative.

One thing I really love about living in this part of the country is all the neat history that is in this area. Definitely don’t have things like this in Colorado.

I love you snow, but please wait a little longer

First off, I wanted to clarify that in my post from yesterday I was in no way implying that there is never the proper time or place to wish someone "Happy Hanukkah" or that one shouldn't celebrate Hanukkah. I was more just commenting that people shouldn't be offended by the greeting of "Merry Christmas" because it's a holiday that is inclusive of all people.

Now, back to the snow.

Tomorrow hubby and I are supposed to be meeting up with our friend Katie and her new man in NYC. Today hubby is in Georgia for business and his flight is supposed to get back in to Philadelphia tomorrow at 8:30am -just in time for me to pick him up and make the trek into the city before our friends bus arrives from DC. We have grand plans for lunch at our favorite mexican restaurant, ice skating in central park, viewing the Rockefeller center tree, window shopping the Macy's christmas windows, and enjoying a delicious cupcake from one of our favorite little bakeries.

Well, there's one tiny little problem.

We're supposed to get snow starting tonight. Lots and lots of snow. 3-10 inches worth of snow.

While I'm normally all up for a snowstorm, I really need this one to hold off until hubby's plane makes it in tomorrow. I'd be so disappointed if our friends make the journey all the way from DC to NYC and then we don't get to see them because hubs flight is delayed.

If we didn't have this day in NYC planned, and if hubby wasn't travelling home tomorrow, I'd be estatic about possibly being snowed in this weekend. As it is, I'm praying the storm holds off until at least 9am tomorrow. Please join me in this prayer?

And, if we're able to have our day in the city as planned, I'll make sure to post photos next week! Enjoy your last weekend before Christmas!

Gettysburg Photos

I mentioned here that hubby and I spent some time with my parents in Gettysburg over Labor Day weekend. We had such a great time! Here are some photos from the trip:

We met up with our friends Luke & Melissa for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. God provided a ride home for hubby from the house in a neat way. Luke & Melissa were going to come visit us for Labor Day if we didn't have any plans, but I told them we were going to be in Gettysburg. Mel just laughed because they had already decided if we weren't available to drive out to visit her aunt and uncle who lived near Gettysburg instead. So, hubby hopped a ride from the house with them and I still got to see them for a little bit at breakfast. How fun!

The rest of that day, my parents, hubby & I toured the brand new visitors center. They had a great video, cyclerama, and museum that was very informative. We also did some antique shopping where I found a beautiful silver tray for $12!

Before heading to the ghost tour (which was very lame, but gave us great things to laugh about) that night, we had dinner at Dobbins House. It's one of the oldest homes in Gettysburg and even has a spot where you can see where they hid slaves on the Underground Railroad.

The next morning was our horseback tour and we were all look forward to it a lot. It was so much fun and the weather was awesome. But we were all a little sore at the end!

Here is a Confederate soldier (renactor of course) that we came across right near where Pickett's Charge started. We actually saw him as we were doing a driving tour of the fields after the horse ride.

On the horseback tour, we came across this barn which had a hole shot through it with a canon. It's located beneath the two diamonds in the brick. See it?

L - R: My dad on Stormin' Norman, my mom on Robbie, Hubby on Red, and myself on Simon. I was so excited to get a Paint because I love Paints. He was such a sweet horse. The headphones are how we heard the tour guide who was stationed in the middle of the pack.

Group photo after a great ride.

Our last stop before heading out of town was at the National Cemetery. It was here that Abe Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. This was one of the many canons situated throughout the cemetery.

On the driving tour, we came across so many monuments honoring the brave men who fought so valiantly for their beliefs. My favorite was probably this one that honored the men from the state of Maryland.
They were one of the few states that had men fighting on both sides of the battle and this monument depicts a Union soldier on the left and his Confederate brother on the right. Very moving.

The fields where this battle was fought are absolutely breathtaking. It's hard to imagine the numerous men who were lying wounded and dead on this particular field after Pickett's Charge.

If you've never been to Gettysburg (or any of the battlefields for that matter), I highly recommend you go. It's definitely an awesome experience!

On the road again...

It seems like I say this every couple weeks! It will be so nice when we're not living between two houses in two completely different states.

Hubby and I are leaving on a jet plane again tonight to go work on the house some more. Hopefully this trip we'll finally get some framing done in the kitchen so we can continue to keep that project moving forward.

From there we're heading directly down to South Carolina, Charleston in fact, for a friend's wedding. While there we're going to try to hit Fort Sumter to get the South's take on the whole Civil War. After all, we did get the North's viewpoint not too long ago.

I have a few posts that will publish while I'm away, but for the most part you get silence from this part of blog land. What's new for me lately, though, right?

Giddy Up!

I've been looking forward to this Labor Day weekend for a VERY long time.

I picked my mom and dad up at the airport last night and we're on our way to pick up hubby in Dillsburg, PA. He hoped a ride with our friends Luke & Melissa (our reno buddies) from the house to their relatives house there. Once we get him, we're off to GETTYSBURG!

I love Civil War history (don't ask me to recall a single date or name, though because I enjoy learning it, not remembering the specifics!) and can't wait to tour this battlefield again.

The first time I went was about 8 years ago with my parents. This time we're taking hubs for the first time (even though he's lived three hours away from it for his whole entire life) and we're touring the fields on HORSEBACK! How awesome is that?!

We're also going on a ghost walking tour tonight where they'll tell us stories from that time in history.

And to top it all off, the weather is supposed to be gorgeous.

Now, where are my boots and hat?

Paradise (a.k.a. the Cook Islands)

**Originally published 3/4/09, but reposting today to join in on Kelly's "Show us Your Life - Favorite Vacation Spot" from yesterday**

NOTE: Click on any of the pictures for a larger view.

Hubby and I had a wonderful time in the Cook Islands. We stayed on Rarotonga at Sea Change Villas for the first 7 days and then flew over to Aitutaki for the last 5 days and stayed 2 nights at the Aitutaki Lagoon Resort & Spa in an "overwater" bungalow and 3 nights in a villa at Etu Moana. Our favorite place out of all three was Sea Change on Rarotonga because it was the most convinent to shops, restaurants and activities and it also provided the most space and privacy. Plus, each villa had its own freshwater pool which we loved! But, you can't beat the beautiful lagoon of Aitutaki. I highly recommend visiting both islands if you ever make it to the Cooks.

Above: View of the beach directly across the street from our villa at Sea Change. You could see the ocean from our bed and there was never another soul out there while we were snorkeling or kayaking. Poor hubby got flipped over once in his kayak and had a bad run in with the coral. Thankfully his scrapes didn't bother him too much.

Below: The very comfortable bed was just one of the many nice amenities the place had to offer.

Below: Our own freshwater pool. This was a lifesaver for cooling off in the 90 degree heat. The back of our villa faced the goregous mountains and the front the ocean. It was heaven!

Below: We took a jeep safari tour one day and had a delicious BBQ lunch of grilled swordfish. Here is our guide picking some fresh ginger for us all to smell. The flowers were incredible!

The next day we went on a cross-island trek with Pa (who liked to refer to himself in the third person and kept saying, "Pa - World's Most Famous Man"), a 63 year old who's treked across the island over 3200 times all of them barefoot and wearing nothing but a saraong! We literally were climbing over tree roots and ducking/crawling under branches. Half way through it started to rain which made it even more exciting as you were slipping through mud down the steep slope and trudging through rivers. I felt like I was on Honey I Shrunk the Kids and loved every minute of it!

Above: Pa "The World's Most Famous Man"

Below: The view from the top

Below: Another night we went to Island Night where they served their local foods (which were okay) and had a dance show that told the history of their country from the time they were cannibals until the time the Christian missionaries came and converted the islands up through today. Today, Christianity is still a huge part of their culture, evidenced by the huge number of churches well attended on the very small island, the fact that all the tour guides always had the group say grace before our meals, and everything being shut down for the most part on Sundays. I took some videos and will try to post them soon once I download and edit them.

Below: For Valentine's Day, we had breakfast of delicious French toast catered in and also had a BBQ dinner with shrimp, chicken, fish and steak catered in for supper. The rest of the day we tooled around the island in the little convertible we rented (you could rent a brand-new BMW roadster for $35 USD a day, but we went with the less expensive cabriolet convertible) and checked out the local market where I got some awesome stuff to make jewelry and other little crafts. We returned home to these delicious brownies that the owners of the place left for us.

Above: Our 2nd of 3 lei's we'd receive during our stay. We got this one on upon our arrival in Aitutaki. It was so hot and humid that curly hair and no makeup was the main style for our stay!

Below: The view from our bed and deck at Aitutaki Lagoon Resort & Spa. We loved the view of the water and the fact that we could walk right down in with the fish.

Above: Getting ready to go to dinner and the Fire Dance show.

Below: The amazing fire dancers. These guys were nuts and I have a great video to post soon.

Above: We went on a full day lagoon cruise that had three snorkeling stops, visited 5 motus (small uninhabited islands), and served a BBQ lunch in the water. Here we're on "Honeymoon Island" after two snorkeling stops. I took photos with an underwater camera but haven't developed them yet. Hopefully they turned out because the fish and coral were amazing and we saw huge giant clams. We wore SPF 45, but would both be stuck inside the next day with bad sunburns.

Below: Our wonderful BBQ lunch was served at a picnic table in the water. I love their version of "disposable" plates! After lunch we had a hermit crab race because they're all over.

Above: One of the volcanic motus that we visited. We also visited "One Foot Island" which has the world's smallest post office and we got a stamp in our passport. This island above was one of the ones used for Survivor: Cook Islands.

Below: The only sunset we witnessed the whole time we were in the Cook Islands. We always stayed on the east side of the island or where out at dinner at sunset.


Above: The last place we stayed was Etu Moana. This was the villa we stayed in. It was a very nice spot, but not quite as private as Sea Change on Rarotonga and we didn't have our own freshwater pool.

Below: A view of the pool and other villas at Etu Moana.

Posting all these pictures makes me want to go back already!!

Italy Photos

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the trip. They're posted in reverse order just because I don't feel like taking the time to correct them here. This is just a small sampling of the 120+ I took. If you care to see more and are my friend on Facebook, they're posted on there.

A mermaid sculpture.

The peonies were just one of the amazing flowers in the garden we visited.

I love fiddle head ferns but have only seen them in bouquets. I was very excited to see them growing "wild"

The azaleas in the garden were amazing. The mountains on the right are part of the Italian Alps.

The villa and its private museum in the garden we visited along Lake Como.

This was from the wedding. Don't know how it got posted here instead of by the rest of the wedding photos. My hubby is a lot more handsome than the swirly face suggests!

The ceiling of the chapel in the garden we visited. The frescos and plaster detail work was amazing.

A sculpture in the garden we visited.

Another sculpture in the garden we visited.

Some beautiful Japanese maples in the garden we visited in the town of Bellaggio along Lake Como.

The bride and groom. The bride is a friend of mine from highschool/college. The groom's Scottish...thus the kilt.

The city of Manarola along the Cinque Terre. Hubby and I hiked between three of the five towns. It was fun and picture perfect.

A statue I found in a kids park and it has the colorful city of Manarola as its backdrop.

A photo I took in Corniglia...one of the towns in La Cinque Terre. You may see this showing up in some form in my shop.

Our sleeping quarters at the monastery. Thankfully the couple who was supposed to share the room with us didn't show up...that would have been a little awkward!

The view from the guest house we stayed in on the monastery for the first three days.