Well we are back from our trip to visit family in Michigan. We had a blast, were very busy and are glad to be home again. We first enjoyed seeing my maternal grandmother's family in North Carolina at their annual reunion. Dale went back to Georgia and then the kids and I went with my Dad to West Virginia to visit my grandmother. From there we headed to Michigan. The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins (all 11 of them ). We enjoyed a trip to the zoo where the kids enjoyed watching two young polar bears jump and splash in the water. They also enjoyed going into the butterfly garden and finding a hundred or so native butterflies. We celebrated Luke's 7th birthday...it seems like yesterday he was just toddling around the house!  We also celebrated Lily's birthday.  Later, we did 2 sleepovers: The first time the boys were at Grandma's house (where we were staying) and the girls at Aunt Carrie's. The second time the girls were at Grandma's house and the boys were at Aunt Carrie's. The boys are fun - lots of energy but boys can be boys and when you have 8 of them together.......well, let's just say I was exhausted by the time they fell asleep. The girls sleepover was fun too --- we went to the park for a picnic and then enjoyed the Detroit Symphony Orchestra concert in the park. We went home watched Cinderella and then went to sleep. Mom and I went to the outlet malls one day which was a lot of fun -- thanks to Carrie for keeping the kids. The kids also slept over Grandma and Grandpa Hartenburg's house a couple of times. Once Dale got into town and after he golfed with my dad, we went up north where his parents are having a house built on their property on Bush Lake. The kids enjoyed fishing and making smores over the fire. Amidst all of this activity, my sisters and I planned a surprise 40th Anniversary Party for my parents. It was a lot of work, but we totally surprised them. In fact, we asked my dad to take my mom out in the morning so we could prepare lunch to celebrate her birthday (which was the day before but we had gone to the Tiger Baseball game and did not have a chance for a party)....he was glad to take mom out. When they arrived back home, my dad wasn't paying attention to what everyone was shouting -- He thought we were celebrating mom's birthday until my sister said something to him a few minutes later about "Happy 40th Anniversary"....we did celebrate my mom's birthday later that afternoon.  My aunts and grandma were able to be there to help us celebrate -- we were so glad they were able to join us. Before we left to come back home, my dad took the boys and Dale to Flat Rock Speedway to watch some local races....the boys had a blast.

Well, that's a quick recap of what we did -- I'm sure I left some things out but I probably have already bored you to tears I so loved being with my family and watching my kids play with their cousins and spend time with their grandparents. I miss them all so much already but I was ready to come home to the place where the Lord has put us for this time in our lives.