A trip to Michigan

Earlier this year, we visited our Michigan friends. 

My, do we miss them!  It was so good to catch up with

Grandma Lynne

and Papa. 
They have such a loving relationship with Marley and me and spoil us rotten!  Even now, over a year after we moved away from Michigan, they regularly send Marley cards and packages.  They are often in our conversations, and are daily in our hearts.

 

We also met up with some of our friends at our Michigan house to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to work on the flower beds and freshen them up a bit in the hopes that it would spruce up the curb appeal of the house and maybe help it sell.  It didnt.

Marley and L enjoyed spending some time playing and helping out too!

 They don't quite fit into the sandbox as well as they used to!

Fifteen bags of mulch  and yards upon yards of landscape fabric later, the finished product looked pretty good, I think!

 I got cracked up when the little ones decided that they should pile up the rocks they found around the yard and flower beds into two lovely piles.

And this would be the lilac tree that I transplanted from Mom and Dad's.  I lived in that house five years, and it never bloomed.  Guess what? The spring after Jim passed away (and Marley and I had moved to Indiana), that bugger BLOOMED.  *sigh*

During the evenings we were able to visit with Jill and Ashley and their families.  This included a game of "Pretty, Pretty Princess"...

Sorry, Xav. If you don't come over to supervise, we WILL let your son put on jewelry and a crown!

I really miss Ashley's ready laugh and kind servant's heart!  During my last semester of work, Jim was very ill.  Ashley taught in the classroom next to me.  Her way of helping was to do my lesson plans for me, do the prep work, and meet with me every Friday, making it so that I could show up, do my job, and leave school shortly after the bell and spend every precious minute possible with Jim and Marley.  As you can see, she loves to smile.  We affectionately call her Miss Happy Pants.

 

These two have known each other since they were babes.  It's so great when they get to spend time together!

Silly faces and all!

Poor Nate was the only man in the house.  I guess that since all of his children are daughters, he's used to it.  Marley loves climbing up in his lap to chat.  He has a kind gently way about him that draws her to him.

This is Jill. 

She is a cancer survivor, and was one of my coworkers who fiercely supported me throughout Jim's battle.  She knew firsthand the stress and fears that I was facing every day.  She can read me like a book, no words needed.  Nearly every morning would find her stopping by my classroom before we went to get our kiddos on the playground.  She took it upon herself to see how I was doing and either give me a big hug and let me cry on her shoulder or to tell me to "Suck it up and do my job". 

I miss that.

 

These are just a few of the people that we love from Michigan.  Looking back at these pictures is making me feel a bit homesick to see them all. 

I think I feel a visit coming soon!