A Quick Review

Ok. So, it's been awhile. I thought I'd give you a quick review of the last few months. Here we go......

We visited the Hayes Corn Maze with our friends the Cains again this fall. It was a HOT day in October and we had a great time, as always.

Sammy, Em, and Andrew on top of the hay maze.

Aren't they cute? Sammy's shirt was long sleeved when she arrived, but in true Yooper fashion, Becky and I gave her a make over using a Swiss army knife. :)

Here is Ashlyn enjoying her Trick or Treat goodies. The girls really get spoiled by our neighbors!

Our bee and butterfly.

She was excited to carve the pumpkin.

Jump to Christmas. This year we had a Mexican Fiesta for our Erickson Christmas theme, complete with a pinata for the kids. Here is Ashlyn taking her turn.

Good form Em!

The Erickson cousins , getting ready to open their presents.

Jump to the Jones Christmas party. :) Here are Makalynn and Ashlyn snuggling up after a fun party.

Aunt Michelle and the girls.

Aunt Laura and a few of the crew. Our nephew Zack is the oldest of the grand kids, and Laura is expecting the youngest, due July 2011.....so FUN!!

Emma, Hallie and Makalynn.

The Jones grand kids, minus Ashlyn. She wasn't in the mood for a photo session. :)

Jump to New Year's Eve at the Blyths. The kids were settling down with some TV in James and Mandy's room.

Eli and Em. They are getting so big.

Caleb, Emma, Eli, and Ashlyn having fun on the "floof".

As you can see, time is flying fast and we are having fun. The Lord continues to bless us in so many ways- We have a new niece, Ellery Kristin Jones, born in January to Brad's brother Mark and his wife Amber, and another niece/nephew on the way; Our girls are continuing to grow healthy and strong, and make us smile everyday; Brad began his new electrical engineering position at Manistique Papers, Inc. last September, which has been a wonderful change for our family; I could keep this list going forever. As always, we never seem to have enough time to spend with everyone we love and miss. I consider this a blessing though- it just reminds me of how many amazing people I have in my life. Thank you all for being apart of this journey.

P.S. I'll do my best to keep up on the blog. Thanks for checking in on us.

Vacation Baby!!!!

We just finished an amazing week of vacation together. We tried to keep it simple, but fun, and enjoy the great things that surround us. So, we spent a day at Thunder Falls Water Park in Mackinaw City, a day on Lake Superior, and a few days camping at Van Riper State Park. Here are some highlights.

Emma, ready to hit the park!

Ashlyn and Mom. Ashlyn did enjoy the lazy river and wave pool when it was calm.

Em and Dad. We spent a lot of time in the lazy river. :)

I did get to go down one "big" slide.

Breakfast at the picnic table. We got rained out our last morning, but the girls enjoyed breakfast while mom and dad packed up camp between bouts of rain.

Brad and Ashlyn.

Ashlyn, multi-tasking. :)

Our site. Love our little tent.

Emma had a blast riding her bike around the campground. And yes, that is Ashlyn bringing her chair out to the middle of the road. Let's just say, she's busy. :)

"Who me?"

Brad and his girls on Lake Superior. It was an amazing day out on the water!

Crystal clear.......this was more than a few feet deep.

Napping on the big lake.

We beached the pontoon on Miner's Beach to play for a bit.

It really wasn't THAT cold, considering it was Lake Superior. :) We all went swimming without having to "work" at it.

Lover's Leap

Miner's Castle

We are so blessed to be surrounded by such beauty and were grateful to be able to use my parents' pontoon boat to get up close to some amazing cliffs. It was a gift to be able to spend a whole week together, and we enjoyed every adventure. Great memories made.

Fishing on Lake Michigan

Last Saturday we were able to get out on the Lake with some friends of ours the Rivards and do a litte fishing we landed 4 nice ones and lost two right at the back of the boat. Here are a few pictures of the fish we caught.

We're still here.....

Hi all! I know it's been way too long since I've updated our pictures on here. Let's just say I've had some technical difficulties. :) I'm planning on getting some new photos up soon - I actually just tried to get some on here, and it didn't go well - so please check back, and hopefully I'll have something new to show you soon. In the meantime, we are still loving our life in the woods.....Ashlyn turned one in February, Emma turned four in May, we've had family up to visit and have traveled to make visits ourselves, Brad built the girls a swing set and has been doing some turkey hunting, the Triliums are in full bloom in the woods and everything is amazingly green - I love the change of seasons!!

Time is flying by faster than ever, and I just wanted to touch base with everyone, and let you know we love you all. This week has been a sad one for me, with the sudden death of one of the "kids" from my neighborhood......the visitation and funeral were yesterday.....it was amazing, to have a lot of our old gang gathered in one place again - it had been YEARS since we'd all been together......we had grown up as a big neighborhood family, where you could walk into nearly anyone's home without knocking, and expect to have a place set at the table for you......the amazing part was that even though we rarely talk or see each other, the LOVE was there, as strong as ever. The parents and"kids" - many of whom are now parents as well- all gathered together to cry, hug, and support one of our families as they grieved the loss of their son/brother. I really don't have the words to express my feelings completely......but I AM BLESSED. It was another reminder of how short this life is, how my life has been molded by the love of so many people along the way, and how I don't want to regret not telling people how special they are to me, because I'm afraid of being "too sappy". So, even though we may not be able to see each other or talk as often I'd like, please know that the love that we share as family and friends does not fade......I experienced that first hand yesterday. I am thankful for each of you and the part you have played in my life.

Lisa

Snowmobile Adventure

Last weekend Brad and I rode our snowmobile from Seney to Paradise and back. Our friends, the Swagarts, joined us for our 175 mile adventure, with one sled suffering a broken shock on day one, the other sled blowing a belt on day two, and all repairs made right on the trail, barely slowing us down. Our hotel in Paradise was right on Lake Superior, with a beautiful view and a wonderful hot tub, but the highlight of our trip was stopping at Tahquamenon Falls Sunday morning. Here are a few photos from our journey.

The mist coming up from the upper falls covered everything with a thick layer of frost.....beautiful!!!!