Fall Beginnings

The beginning to a beautiful day in Frankfort on the shores

of Lake Michigan.....
...was a little chilly out, but the sun made up for it!

Across the street was Betsy Lake....I'd forgotten how charming

this little town is....

Many of my cousins gathered for the wedding

of Becca - cousin Susie's & husband Leo's daughter.

Here are the 3 Call "boys" (Susie's brothers) and

DJ Dan, who spun the tunes for the event.

Michael, Dan and Rick bonding???

Dear Aunt Mary and Michael's wife Nancy. Notice the rows of seats

in the background......

.....the nuptials and reception were held at an old

movie theatre! Very charming and unique!!

The bride and groom browsing the concessions.....

.....Becca & Kris, Mr & Mrs Smith.

A wonderful wedding and good time

celebrating with family!

More Summer Fun

Last week-end we had our 31st Sinclair cousins party

in Benzonia. Lot's of dancing!
Fun times on the Crystal Lake beach - Emma's 1st time
being buried in the sand....ok if Aunt Meg did it too!

3 of our younger crowd exploring the woods....

....the week before was brother Brian's 60th birthday!

Celebrated with a surprise party thanks to Samantha!!

...and of course time with my sweetpea. She selected the glass

(it's applejuice btw), but frighteningly the pose is her own.

I swear she's never seen me drink out of one of these glasses...

A fun summer, but I must say something I never thought I'd say,

I'm ready for cooler temps!!!

Summer Happenings

Been awhile since I've posted....very frustrated trying to

figure out the new configurations...like my title foto which

is cropped to 1/4 of the foto....

Anyway it's been a fun summer with lot's of time with

Emma. We spend an hour together every morning before

she goes to PEAK...although quite often she convinces me

to let her spend the whole day with me!

Did some shopping at TJ Max one afternoon and guess

who got the new clothes - she loves her new dresses!

Cousin Libby came down for a week-end and we went to visit 97 years young Aunt Norma in Lansing - she is simply amazing!

Another week-end was my 40th class reunion in Caseville. How can it be 40 years??? It was such a good time and wonderful to reconnect with so many friends.

Over the 4th I spent a couple days with Jim & Cheryl at their cottage on Wixom Lake. They were very much in the spirit of the day! All in all a great summer so far and more to come!

The Wedding

Brandon and Samantha were married over the week-end!

Mama Samantha and flower girl Emma pre-wedding....

daddy Brian and the Bride on their way down the "aisle"...

...a merged photo of the bridal party before and after...

what a difference a day makes!
Mr and Mrs Wheeler just after saying "I do" !

.....the cake sharing....

...and a before and after of the sisters

Meg and Samantha. The day was beautiful, we are

so happy that Brandon is now officially part of our family!

It was also special to have our Meg home for the week-end.

I am so blessed to have these girls in my life!!!

More photos to come at another time....

May Happenings

May has been a busy social month. It began with

a Kentucky Derby Party hosted at the beautiful home

of Doc & Jayne. "Chic Dress & Derby Hats required", read

the invite and everyone looked the part! Our hosts are shown

above...

Next came a bridal shower for neice Samantha given by her future

mother-in-law! Shown here Peggy (mother-in-law holding one of her

grandkids), 3 of the bridesmaids and one of their kids. Meg is the Maid

of Honor, but living in Savannah, she couldn't make it.

Bride to be Samantha and (of course) Emma, who decided

they needed flowers in their hair.


A beautiful cake and sherbet punch topped off the afternoon.

....and today....Guri has found a comfy spot to laze in the

rainy weather....thunder is booming in the distance, so

guess I'd better shut this down....

Treasures

The past week I have worked at one estate sale, shopped at another one

(today) and visited our church's Treasure Sale with the Yaya's.

These 3 pieces I picked up at the church sale - I just couldn't resist them!

The water color on the bottom shelf I purchased at the

estate sale last week for $12.50! It is perfect for my newly

redecorated office (which is where all these treasures are

sitting at the moment)

The table, lamp, message board and adorable bunny candleholder

I picked up at todays sale.

Now for those of you who know how much "stuff" I already have - rest

assured I donated 6 boxes of it to the church sale! Of course then

Libby ended up buying 2 of our aunts things I'd donated..... ah well,

all for a good cause!

Spring Happenings

With Emma on spring break, we got to spend the day together

on Tuesday. Miss "no fear" turned the cat tree into her own personal

mountain and about gave Nana a heart attack!

My neighbors Henry and Polly came to play too...
...Henry and Emma making their first attempts to climb, with
Henry's dad Jason ready to help....

Sarah and I adorned the altar at our church yesterday - all ready for Easter Sunday

services......

...and last night we celebrated friend Sue's birthday. A few

of the women (and Nolan) watching Sue open her gifts.

The amazing aspect of this is that we were outside at

7:00pm on April 2nd in Michigan, and as you can

tell by the attire, it was warm outside!

The yummy birthday cake...

and because Sue and I have an agreement with each

other to post only the most flattering photos of each other

and my inability last night to capture the perfect photo....

you'll just have to trust me that she was in fact at her own party!

Signs of spring...

Mom would have celebrated her 92nd birthday this week...

I miss her so much. She loved her family and being outdoors, so

this photo captures a bit of that....

mom, Samantha, Meg, Brian and Emma.

...and with the signs of spring - crocus in bloom, the sighting of
my first robin yesterday and warm weather begging for a walk....
I can't help but think of mom. I am grateful for the appreciation
she created within me for nature and especially spring

March Musings...

Not sure where Feb went.....and the first half of March!

I've spent many hours at the hospital gift shop

playing (and filling in shifts for the snowbirds)

I really enjoy the people I work with, the customers

and decorating the shop with all the fun things

we get in.

...sometime in Feb I decided to get rid of the stark blond

I'd been wearing for 8 years or so.... took a few days, but

now I like the change!

Went one evening to watch Emma perform her gymnastics..

a joy to watch the little kids have so much fun.

Emma had quite an entourage following her around as

her Mama, Daddy, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa and of

course Nana all showed up. Let's say she knows she's loved!

...another day of cooking in my kitchen. She's wearing

an apron from her 97 year old great-great Aunt Norma's

collection. Her comment, "wow, she's almost 100" - guess

she's learning in kindergarten!

Yesterday my neighbors came over - this is Jason and 5yr

old Henry, who was pretending to be a cat, since neither

of mine would come out to play....

...and this is 11mth old Polly (sitting on mom Julie's lap)

She has a smile that lights up the room.



They brought me these pots of flowers as a thank-you for watching
their home while they were gone on Jason's sabbatical the past
couple months. Wonderful neighbors - glad their back!. Wish
you could smell the flowers!
So that sums up the past month. Now spring is arriving which will bring
time in the gardens, finishing projects around the house (I'm in the middle
of a couple...more on that another time....) and well, who knows what else!

Valentine Memories

As many of you know my mother was a "keeper"

of treasured things. This collection of Valentines

was hers and now I have the honor of being

the keeper of them in my home.

Most have gathered on some shelves in the

kitchen.....

Some date back to the 1920's - perhaps one is from as

late as the 1960's .

All of them make me smile (there are more, but these are
my favorites)

Many have moving parts....

These 2 walk with their rotating feet...

...these girls all have moving arms....

...this sweetie has eyes that disappear...

....as does this soldier, who also salutes.

Hope you enjoyed seeing them as much as I

do!