Mackinac Island

Since moving to Michigan I have heard a lot about Mackinac Island, and it has been on my list of "Must See" places in Michigan. For our Anniversary Eric and were able to go and stay in the Grand Hotel. It's the hotel that, "Somewhere in Time" was filmed. 

First we stopped at Mackinac City to see the old fort and light house. I read the girls a book about the lighthouse this summer during summer reading, so it was fun to see. And of course to take some pictures of the "Mighty Mac" as the bridge is called. It's still the longest bridge North America. It is 5 miles long. It's pretty impressive. 

Then we drove up to Saulte Sainte Marie. We have heard about the "Soo" from the missionaries. It is the most northern point of the Lansing, MI Mission and the missionaries say you don't want to get sent to the Soo for the winter! I guess it's pretty cold and dark during the winter. We went and saw the Soo Locks. They were super impressive. We were able to see a big tanker come and through the lock. 

We also found where the church meets. It must be a small branch because they only have a suite in an office building. 

Then we went back to St. Ignace and spent the night. They have fireworks every Saturday night long the bay that over looks Lake Huron. It was a nice fireworks show. 

Sunday morning we got up and boarded the ferry for Mackinac Island. We were able to go under the bridge which was cool. You could also see the Grand Hotel from the boat.
The island doesn't have any cars on it except for one ambulance. It is funny to see all of the luggage being pulled to the hotel by horses. 

We took the carriage tour of the island. Then we walked around downtown a bit and then we biked around the island. It's an 8 mile bike ride around the island.
The Governor of Michigan has a summer home on the Island and it's beautiful. 

Then we checked into the hotel and went swimming. The swimming pool was a warm 85 degrees which as you can see from my fleece that it wasn't really warm outside. The pool was awesome. They even had free snow cones and Eric liked jumping off the snake. 

Our room was the Versailles Suite and we were next to the "Somewhere in Time" Suite. 

The hotel has a dress code and after 6:30 the men must be in suit coats and ties and women in skirts or dresses. We dressed and went down to dinner. I felt like I was on a cruise ship. We had a nice 5 course dinner followed by after dinner entertainment by a harp player and then dancing. 

Sunday had another lovely breakfast in the dinning room, played croquet on the lawn and then headed for home. We got on the ferry just in time for a huge down pour. I guess we picked a great time to leave. 

It was also funny to see the delivery trucks on a ferry to make their delivery. 

We sure had a great time. 

Thanks so much Linda for watching the girls!!!!

MADD Camp- music. art, drama, dance. Doug;'s Kids on the Stage

The girls had a great time at MADD Camp all week. At first Eliza was a little sad this camp didn't have swimming as an activity, but she quickly got over it. They had so much fun learning about drama and singing and dancing. I knew it would be a big hit! 

 For the final performance they did Sophia the First. Auditions were a big deal. They both really wanted to be Sophia. Eliza ended up being the understudy for Sophia and Gretta for Amber her sister. So for the performance Gretta was a Fairy and Eliza a Ballroom Dancer. 

Grandma Linda was in town and got to see their show. Eliza really took the whole thing very seriously. She sang her heart out! Gretta was a few rows behind Eliza and it was hard to get a good picture of her. She did a great job too. 

After their performance we went downtown for ice cream. 

Fun at the beach

While Gretta & Eliza were at Music, Art, Dance, Drama camp Carli and I went to the beach with Grandma Linda. It's been a cold summer at the beach, but we still had a fun time. 

Happy 9th Anniversary

Eric gave me a dozen roses for our anniversary which was a big surprise because we are going to Mackinac Island this weekend to celebrate. We are even staying in the Grand Hotel one night. I am super excited!!!

The last 9 year have been the happiest 9 years of my life. Eric is truly the best thing that ever happened to me. I love him more than the day we got married and know I will love him more each an everyday. 

Tonight Gretta asked me why I love him. Isn't that cute. It was fun to see the girls excited to celebrate our anniversary with us. 

I love Eric because..

 He loves the Lord. Even tonight he went to serve a family he home teaches because I had arranged for them to get a recliner from someone in the ward. He didn't complain he just served. He always serves faithfully in his Church callings and also leads our family in righteousness. 

I love Eric because...

 He loves me and shows me in small and simple ways each day how much he loves me. He helps lighten my burden everyday. He unloads the dishwasher every morning, helps with the kids in the morning and when he comes home from school. He helps around the house without being asked. He finds ways to serve me everyday. 

I love Eric because...

He loves our girls. He is the best father. He plays with them, he teaches them, he works side by side with them and he loves and protects them. He is the best father 3 girls could ever ask for. I hope they find a husband as wonderful as their father.

I love Eric because...

Eric is my best friend. The person I want most in the world to share my thoughts, ideas and time with. I love spending time with Eric. I love listening to him and laughing with him. I love building a life with him. I love working side by side with him. 

I love Eric because... he is kind, funny, happy, easy to be around, a great leader, friend, helpmate, he is adventurous, driven, successful, liked, hard working, full of faith, and the man of my dreams. 

Thanks Eric for making it a great 9 years! Here's to eternity together!

Love,

Gretchen

ERic

Crazy hair

Eliza and Gretta have been playing beauty parlor. They love to watch UTube Video on Cute girls hair styles. It's a site I found out about in the BYU Magazine. They are getting pretty talented. 

Fun Athalon- Journey into the Wilderness

The Stake Relief Society Presidency organized a Laurel/ Relief Society High Adventure activity for this last weekend. Friday morning bring and early Amy Barfuss and I drove to Whitehall/Montague and meet up with the biking group. We biked 23 miles on the Hart/ Montague trail. It is an old rail road line that they tore up and paved. It was a beautiful ride. I told everyone I wasn't going to ride the whole 23 miles, but I ended up making it. Luckily I was able to borrow a nice bike or I would have never made it. 

Friday afternoon we went back to camp and enjoyed making crafts, playing games, and eating a delicious dutch over dinner followed by a evening devotional. 

I slept in a tent with my MBA friends, Elizabeth Christensen & Melissa Bennett,who live in the Kalamazoo 1st ward. 

Our ward had a good turn out for the event- Bishop Randell, Tonja Randell (who planned most of it), Tara and Taylor Randell, Celeste Randell, Amy Barfuss, Amberley Reever, Amanda Tew, Shawna Madsen, President and Sister Witt, Carma Smith, Natalie Tippets, and Jennie Chauppis. 

Saturday we kayaked for 3.5 hours down the White River. 

Thanks Eric for watching the kids! It was a fun girls weekend. 

Potawatomi Zoo

After living her 2 + year we finally ventured to the South Bend Zoo. We took Maren Barfuss and Wayne James along with us. I visit teach Wayne's mom, Melissa. Melissa isn't in great health and wasn't able to come. Wayne was super excited to come because he doesn't usually hang out with other kids and get to do such big activities. We sure had a great time. It's not a huge zoo, but we saw a lot of animals. Carli loved it too!! Especially since her favorite book right now is one Aunt Allison sent from Australia about Australian animals, and we saw Emu and Kangaroo at the zoo.