Feeling Blessed

Just recently on July 16, 2016, I had the opportunity to meet up with a wonderful friend from High School. My friend, Heidi, went to McBain High School and I went to Cadillac High School.  How we met was when we took vocational school together. We had a clerical/business class and we all had a blast while at tech! The teachers were pretty cool and so was a lot of our classmates. I never thought way back then that we would have created a wonderful friendship. Below is a picture of us when we were at Tech School. Yeah, we are all cute with our tongues out!

Years have gone by, and there is this social media page called Facebook. We were able to reconnect via that and was able to catch up on years gone by and was great to know that we both still lived in Michigan.  We always said that we had to try to meet up and that day finally came when the tall ships came to her town and we were both able to attend. So, 31 years after HS, we had the privilege of getting together.

Below is another silly picture and a normal one of us at the tall ships.

 We had to do a fun/silly face!

I believe her boys took a mighty fine photo of us.

We walked around and looked at the tall ships with her wonderful family and chatted and ate kettle corn most of the time. Time may have passed, but we never missed a beat! Some friendships are just made to last no matter how many miles or years that have come to separate each other for a while. 

I really enjoyed meeting her fantastic family. They all made you feel like you knew them forever!  Below is a photo of all of them together.

After we toured the ships, we all decided to go and grab a bite to eat. I believe we just didn't want to say goodbye yet and we were hungry. So many laughs, belly hurting from laughing so hard and lots of catching up and getting to know the family. 

I will never ever forget my friend and her family. They are amazing and have Christ in their lives.  I truly believe that God brings people into our lives for a reason. Some people might only be there for a tad, some to help through certain times in your life and then there are those that are long lasting. For that, I am grateful! 

 Her young boy "B" was our little photo bomber, so I had to make sure to keep him in the photo! He's so cute!

My sweet and beautiful friend, I love ya forever and always. To the moon and back!

Thank you for being YOU! 

Looking forward to the next time we get together.

Love ya!

Grand Ravines North

This beautiful place is near where I live. I had a family photo shoot here on Saturday and I am always in aw of God's beauty. The autumn colors were amazing that day and the sun was shining making it a perfect day for a little hike and a photo shoot. 

Today the wind is blowing like crazy and there are so many leaves coming off of the trees. Maybe the ones that are on the ground in the yard can blow away and make less to clean up later. 

The Grand River Ravines County Park property is composed of the 68-acre former Fillmore at the Bend Open Space purchased in 1999 and two more recent purchases of 100 acres and 19 acres to create this 187-acre park site with over 2600’ of Grand River frontage. The property is adjacent to Grand Valley State University’s southern border and includes deep wooded ravines similar to those that extend along GVSU’s riverfront. The ravine system in this area ranked among the County’s highest quality natural lands in a 1988 survey by the Michigan Natural Features Inventory.

With major land acquisitions completed, park staff have begun to develop a master plan to guide development of the site for appropriate public use. Ideas to be considered in the planning process include trails for hiking and cross-country skiing as well as paved pathway for biking, rollerblading and other non-motorized uses. The paved pathway will be part of a future Grand River Greenway trail which is proposed to link GVSU to Kent County and ultimately connect to Grand Haven. Hiking trails are proposed to connect with trails through GVSU ravines providing significant hiking opportunities. Fishing access and docks are proposed along the waterfront, and nature interpretation will focus on the ravines. The existing home, with its open floor plan and fully accessible design will be used as a multi-purpose building for interpretive programs and group rentals including meetings and retreats. 

Autumn Splendor 2014

 This is on a road near my house. I love driving through this area in the fall and winter. The draping over the road with fall colors and winter white is always a joy to see. Such a peaceful feeling.

 Headed up to a town close by that is called Ravenna, MI .There is a nice park there located near Crockery Creek. This is a nice little park with a walkway around the park so you can enjoy your time while visiting there.

 This is the Mill Creek Water Wheel located in Comstock Park, MI.

Located at the Dwight Lydell Park

 

 

 



One of my favorite photos of Mill Creek by the Water Wheel.

My Family

This is my wonderful family!

 

Here are 7 reasons that make me smile! My life has truly been blessed with these awesome characters! I am so grateful that they are in my life and make my life amazing!

This was last Christmas and it looks like I need to get an updated family photo of all of us. You would think that of all people, that I would have current pics because I am always taking photos. Well, sometimes we are not all together and that makes it difficult and sometimes the kids are like, NOT ANOTHER PHOTO. LOL

 

They will cooperate with me when I really need one though. That makes me happy!

 

Snapping the Flowers

 All of these flowers are ones that are growing in my yard as some perennials that I have and there are some that I purchased at the local greenhouse (Countryside Greenhouse), Love that place! You could spend a few hours in there and probably not see everything.

One of the reasons I like to watch the flowers develop and change so quickly is because it also reminds me of how life can go by and change quickly. There is so much beauty in the flowers and there is also tons of beauty in each individual person. We are all unique in our own ways.

 

Wordless Wednesday

Maine

 One of my favorite vacations with the family is when we were able to go to Maine. We had a wonderful time taking in all the sights, eating fresh seafood, charter fishing, whale watching and coming the beach for shells and just relaxing!

 A view from the beach house that we stayed in.

 Portland Head Light

If you ever get a chance to go there, you will enjoy every minute of it. We also had the chance to take in some candle pin bowling. We never have done that before. I would love to get a place started here in West Michigan. I think it would be a big hit.