As promised we want to update everyone on our first few weeks in Michigan. We’ve been here for a little over 3 weeks now! It has been packed full of fun with a little bit of unpacking and work on the house mixed in 🙂 With fun people to spend time with, a park just 4 houses down, a fantastic Dairy Queen, and rummage sales to go it’s easy to put off the work for more fun things! But we are slowly getting things put in their places and doing more of the fixer-upper projects that needed done on the house.
Our fun began as soon as we got off the airplane with hugs and a warm welcome from our wonderful friends, the Jackson family. We headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago right from the airport.
Stephanie made this little Welcome Home banner for when we arrived 🙂
Meanwhile Ty and Dad were still on the road driving the truck and trailer, but made a stop at a ski resort for a day excursion! This and a quick stop at a hot springs were the only stops on the entire trip. The didn’t stop to sleep, they just switched off back and forth the entire trip. They only stopped 3 times for food, but other than that they ate snacks in the car. These guys were amazing! They made it to MI in 4 days, even with this ski trip in there.
The girls and I indulged in doughnuts for our first breakfast in Michigan ~ comfort food 🙂 These lovely flowers were on our table from our neighbors when we got into the house. We have the sweetest neighbors right next door!
Dairy Queen is a favorite spot because they have delicious food at this one and it’s got a great little play area for the kids. It’s become a weekly thing ~ if not more 🙂
Isn’t she so cute?!
Our first grocery shopping trip to Meijer…
This little park is only a block down from our house and it so adorable. There’s always other families there and it’s easy to strike up conversation with other people, very friendly people in this neighborhood!
Daddy and Papa arrived just a few days after us girls!!
Nya picked out these jammies (which are more like Elli’s size) to wear in honor of Daddy on his first night home 🙂 This was Ty’s shirt when he was little…
Grami Tami had new bikes sent to our house so the girls can learn to ride this summer! ~ Princess bikes even!! They are so cute! Papa and the girls putting them together…
We were delighted to have overnight guests right away with Dad spending 4 days with us and his Dad, Elmer, and brother, Brian, coming down to visit and spend one night. It was a blast having a house full of people so soon after arriving!
Eating lunch at Cracker Barrel
Cousins Nicole and Andy Mollison brought dessert over and visited while Dad was here.
We had a pretty good thunder/lightning storm during our first week here and so Mommy and Daddy made a bed in the girls’ room and we all experienced the storm until about 10:30pm and then went to sleep… quite a fun and memorable evening!
We’ve had the privilege of babysitting Ben and Hannah a couple times and we always look forward to their bright happy faces! I don’t know if four kids could possibly get along any better than these four ~ they are so cute together. During this visit we decided to color easter eggs…
Oakridge Baptist Church is our church home and we love it there! Nick and Stephanie are the pastors of the church and do an incredible job preaching and ministering. Nick preaches the word of God with absolute conviction and passion about what the Word of God says and what that means for us as believers in Christ. Stephanie leads worship and plays guitar with an amazing voice! The week leading up to Easter was very special with evening services every night during the week before and a special evening of worship on Saturday night. I got to play piano for that evening of worship and it felt so natural to be back in the midst of a worship team. Mike West is the associate pastor at Oakridge and led worship for that night ~ he also preaches the word of God like he’s 50, but he’s only 22… amazing.
Ben and Nya are two peas in a pod, virtually inseparable. Steph happened to walk into Hannah’s room and found these two had climbed into Hannah’s crib and were reading this book “Best Friends” together. She called us in the take a peek and we snapped this photo before being spotted 🙂 So cute…
This past week Nick’s mom, Rita, came for a visit and we enjoyed getting to know this wonderful woman of God.
Our neighbors are busy building an addition to their home, so it’s fun being in similar seasons with our homes being a mess and lots of activity going on. We visit with them any chance we get and enjoy their fellowship so much! Plus it’s nice having a cop and a nurse for a neighbors ~ pretty much if anything happens we can run over there for help! 🙂
This picture is from last summer at our neighbor’s house for dinner, but I didn’t have a more current one of our neighbor’s.
Ashley, the oldest of the neighbor kids plays piano beautifully!
Here’s a few shots of the work we’ve been getting done…
Nya’s favorite thing to say when I’m painting “You just tell me when there’s a good spot for me to paint mom, you just tell me…”
Painted this dresser from an estate sale.
More fun finds at this estate sale…
We were about to send our bedding back and get different bedding because it just seemed bla with the other wood colors and paint color in the room, BUT THEN…. the very next day I found all this green furniture at an estate sale and v-wala! Boringness averted! It is like the exact same shade as in our bedding and looks so perfect with the gray tones in the room. And all this furniture cost $115 ~ that’s the price of an inexpensive end table bought brand new. So, needless to say, I am excited and soooo thankful for God’s provision in leading us to this furniture because it’s perfect and easy on the budget.
Okay, time to wrap up this post ~ hubby is home with more paint for me and I’ve got to get lunch on the table!
-Niki