Magical Michigan Memories

I just spent a wonderful week in Michigan visiting family.  I got to see my parents new home, which is nestled in a small community filled with beautiful old farms, many of which are owned by the Amish. 

 

During my stay I got to take a great walk through the neighborhood with my Dad, go shopping and out to dinner with Mom, antique with Kim and visit with numerous Aunts, Uncles and Cousins.  

Michigan in the spring is gorgeous - with green grass, fruit trees and LOADS of tulips that were just starting to bloom.

But best of all, I got to spend some quality time with my amazing nephews, who are clearly flourishing. 

Luke - thank you for your wonderful sense of humor and for inviting me to go to church with you.  What a special morning!

Nathan - thank you for taking such great care of Gramma and I, for making a super delicious dinner, for introducing me to Anderson Girls Orchard and for taking me to the antique shop.  What a blast!

Cody - thank you for being such a sweet, loving boy.  Playing and laughing with you at your home is one of my favorite memories!

I wish it didn't have to end!

Gutting the Airstream

Jordan and Thane have been busy working on the Airstream.  Since most of the electric and insulation were original (and thus over 60 years old), we decided to completely gut the inside and start fresh.

We removed all of the closets, bathroom, shelving, and insulation.  The insulation was the old stuff - super itchy!  

They've also ripped up the floor, and we found that there were only a few spots where the underbelly had rusted through.  Other than that, the shell is in quite decent shape.

We've carefully set aside the things that we can re-use, and we'll trash or re-sell what we can't.  In the interim, we are contemplating the new layout and will start putting her back together in early summer.  Stay tuned...

Adventure Is Out There!

 

Meet Ellie, our latest project.  During our extended family road trip in the summer and fall of 2019, Jordan and I definitely caught the gypsy bug and have been planning a somewhat nomadic life once Annabel & Thane have flown the coop.  While that is a few years off, we are looking forward to slowly rehabbing and bringing Ellie back to life.

Built in 1963, our "new" Airstream is 61 years old. Like most things in their 60's, Ellie needs some cosmetic work.  But we are OK with that - she has great bones.

And her name?  We got that from the adventurous gal in the movie "Up."  

Carl & Ellie's moto has become ours - Adventure is definitely out there!

Happy Birthday Jordan!

 

We got to celebrate Jordan's birthday this past weekend.  As he prefers, it was a quiet affair with a simple dinner, cheesecake and close family and friends.  He is closing out his 30's, and it is weird to think that this is the year in which he has known me longer than he hasn't.

He is our rock - steady and solid amidst life's turmoils.  While he is a planner, one of his greatest strengths is that he can roll with the punches when the unexpected rears its head.  He is a wonderful spiritual leader, and he loves his family deeply.  He is also one of the greatest hiking, hunting and travel companions around. 

We've had some wonderful adventures this year, and I'm very much looking forward to what God has in store for us in the coming years as we get closer to having an empty nest.  Life won't be boring, that's for sure!

Reindeer Games

 

We were blessed with another visit from Jordan's folks over Christmas.  As is tradition, we celebrated with fun games, including variations of B-I-N-G-O!

 

We spent a lot of time just visiting and relaxing, with a few social events to break things up.  One night we feasted at a Friendsgiving meal at Troy & Melissa's home.  

Two days later, us girls spent one super fun day in Billings shopping, antiquing and dining.  Meanwhile the men hung out - and Thane and Papa got to sneak away for some one-on-one time over lunch.  The days flew by way too fast, and we were very sad to see them go.  Thanks for the generosity of your presence and presents.  Until next time...

Sweet Treats

One highlight of my childhood was opening the gifts that Gramma Heydenburg would send to us.  As we got older, her family expanded greatly - first with great- and then great-great-grandchildren.  Gifting the masses proved expensive, so Gramma started to send boxes with, among other gifts, homemade bread and her famous boiled fudge.  Gramma always added a decorative bag for each of the kids filled with the same 4 things: a bag of M&Ms, a candy cane, a sugar cookie and a crisp $1bill.  While this may not seem like much, this bag of goodies is something that the kids very much looked forward to as the years passed by.  This December marked our first holiday without Gramma, and her presence is missed.  But to ensure that her memory lives on, Annabel and Thane each found a special bag under the tree filled with some familiar treats to enjoy.  This is a tradition that we plan to pass down to our grand children (great and beyond!)

Family Christmas

Maine friends Troy & Melissa were the last people that we saw before we moved from Machias.  Faithful friends to what we thought was the end, the Parsons showed up early the morning we left our farmhouse for our travel trailer adventure and a new life in Sheridan.  They helped us clean and pack up the last few things from the house and then waved us off.  If you would have told us that morning that we would all be living in Sheridan one day, we would have laughed.  If you said that we would be serving God together at a church in the mountain village of Story, we would have seriously questioned your sanity!

And yet, here we are.  What a kick it has been to be able to spend time with these precious friends that God surely placed in our lives. They are truly members of the family now and, as such, it was great to be able to spend a crisp Christmas Eve with them at church and then at a celebration at Grampa & Gramma's house.

We ate way too much food and laughed the night away - as it happens with family.

Sweet Sixteen

Annabel turned 16 the week before Christmas.  We got to celebrate this sweet girl twice - the first time with family, and the 2nd a week later with some of her friends.

Annabel continues to remain focused on her studies and future plans, which include something in the medical field.  She is funloving, kindhearted and sweet.  She is officially dating Bridger now, and we feel her absence acutely as she spends more time out of the house.

She has her driver's license too, and it won't be long before she is ready to fly.  Until then, we continue to be delighted with her presence.

We love you so very much girlie!

Black Mountain Lookout

  

During a layover on our flight home from Europe, I found out that one of my co-workers had been hospitalized with a fairly serious health issue.  Since I was the only person in the Department that knew the full scope of her job, it was up to me to carry most of the load until she was back on her feet.  So for the next several weeks, I was holding down two full time jobs.  Jordan, in the interim, came home to discover that the hospital would most likely be moving ahead with over $25 million worth of expansion and renovation projects over the next few years - all with him serving as project manager.  Chaotic is/was an understatement.  

Thanksgiving was a wonderful time with lots of members of the extended Lentz' family, but it flew by and we were well into December before we were able to briefly pause and regroup by taking a day trip up to our beloved Big Horns.

There hadn't been a lot snow in the mountains yet, so we decided to try to trudge our way up to the Black Mountain fire lookout, perched on the highest point in the photo above.

At a height of 9500 feet (the last couple hundred of which were in knee deep snow), the lookout offers 360 degree views of the plains (including Sheridan in the middle of the photo below) and surrounding mountains.

Spending the day enjoying God's creation was just what we needed.  We can hardly wait until the spring melt off when we can hike some more!

Another Successful Year of Hunting

The men had another successful year of hunting.  We are so grateful to be able to live in an area where the wildlife is abundant and we are able to fill our freezer with healthy, sustainable meat.  And believe me, when you have a growing boy like Thane (who, at his 14th birthday, was over 6' 3"), you take every bit of food that you can possibly get! 

Jordan and Thane each shot an elk and a deer - enough for us to eat, feed Freya and share.  A true blessing!

Bon Voyage!

Sunday morning dawned all too soon.  With it came grateful goodbyes, as the Shores headed to Zurich for flights to London and home.  Jordan and I, on the other hand, caught a later speed train to Paris for a very full afternoon of sightseeing.

First we made our way to the Cluny Museum, which features all things related to the Middle Ages.  The last time I was there much of the museum was closed for renovations, and I was thrilled to be able to explore more of their collections.

The museum contains old furniture, reliquary boxes (like the one carved of ivory above), and coats of armor, among many other treasures.  

But the museum is best known for its collection of tapestries, many of which are quite well known.

From there we walked several blocks to check on the progress of the restoration of Notre Dame.  The work that has already been done is quite impressive, and we look forward to going back one day to see it completed.

Paris is a busy, noisy place - and it can be overwhelming at times.  For this, and many other reasons, I most often choose to walk along the Seine when I am there.  On street level, the sidewalks flanking the river are mobbed.  But on the river level where the ancient cobblestone path is wide, there is room to breathe and escape the chaos above.  We even saw some swans gliding across the smooth water as the Seine reflected the night sky. 

All too soon, we had to head back to our hotel to get ready for our morning flight back to the States  and reality.  We were so grateful for an incredible trip, even if it wasn't what we had planned.

Thun

While the rest of the group was in Liechtenstein, Jordan, who was a bit travel weary at this point, decided to spend a more relaxed last day in Switzerland exploring more of Thun.  We had walked around quite a bit of the retail district earlier in the week, but we completely missed the older part of the city.  Such a bummer, as we missed some of these cool spots:

We'd love to go back and explore this area more in depth, and we hope to return soon!