Another Trip to Indiana and Other Pics

I'm getting really bad at keeping up with my blogging. Part of it is because I put so many of my pictures on facebook I feel like I'm being redundant putting them on here, too. Also, I don't even know who still keeps up with this besides my mom?? lol Anyway, we had a great month of September with lots of stuff going on, as usual. We went to Celebration on the Grand downtown, took a trip to Indiana, and I spent two horrible pleasant days canning applesauce with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Glad that's done! Enjoy the pictures...
The fireworks at Celebration on the Grand were amazing, as usual. Our kids, however, don't seem to appreciate them as much as everyone else! :)

They both fell asleep on the way home. We couldn't even get Luke to wake up when we brought him inside!
Addison is transitioning from two naps to one gradually but if she gets up too early, she just can't seem to make it past lunch to her afternoon nap!
We got to see my family, which is always a treat. I love this picture of my brother and Addie!
I bought Luke a set of Thomas Go Fish at a garage sale for 50 cents and he has played it nonstop! This was a serious game here...
Addie loves to read and I thought this was so cute of her in a rocking chair I used to sit in! :)
She just started doing this where she tickles her nose with her dolls and stuffed animals. Does anyone else's kid do this??
It's always so hard to say good-bye! :(
Addie's been taking a few steps here and there...she likes to show off for Papaw!
It was a fun--but tiring--weekend!
Also this month Addie's been learning to use a spoon. She thinks she is big stuff now!!

Mighty Mac

Over Labor Day weekend, we headed up to Indian River to Jonathan's parents' place. As always, we had a great time! Monday, Jonathan and I were able to go walk the Mackinaw Bridge for the annual bridge walk. Grandma watched the kids so we could make a date of it and just enjoy the day in Mackinaw! :) As you can see below, we had a gorgeous view!
Looking up!
And looking down!
Yikes!
We did it! The bridge itself is five miles long but by the time you add in all the walking you do to get to and from your car, we probably walked closer to eight miles! lol
The rest of the weekend was spent in the hot tub...
eating ice cream...
enjoying Mickey Mouse pancakes made by Grandma...
and just having a good time!!

Auntie Em's Visit and other Summer Fun!

We've been keeping busy around here! I can't believe summer is coming to an end. :( But then again, I absolutely love fall and the changing weather. I'm so thankful God gave us seasons!!

Luke got to go for his first go-cart ride with daddy! He loved it!!

What's summer without corn-on-the-cob and watermelon??

Aunt Emily came to visit for a week and spoiled the kids rotten! :) Mommy does not let them ride in the dollar cart when we go to the grocery...only when Auntie Em pays!
I will, however, pay for the penny pony! :)

Addie was teething, so we heard a lot of screaming...


Chocolate cake, I mean muffins, for breakfast!
Emily got Addie this adorable "Little Sister" shirt so she could match her brother in his shirt. These two are so stinkin' cute!!!!!

Lets Go to the Beach!!

We have had such a gorgeous summer with nice hot weather! Even though I will always be an Indiana girl at heart, I have to say I love living in Michigan! We are about 35 minutes from the beach and there are so many pretty areas. We made lots of trips to the beach. Here are some pictures of our fun times! :)

The Project

For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, you may have seen our pictures of the progress of finishing our basement. But for those of you who haven't seen, here are some pictures of what we've been doing around the house for the past half year or so! :) Our basement already had a finished family room but we decided this year to finish the rest of it--two bedrooms and a bathroom. Jonathan did most of it on his own with the help of his dad, brother, and of course lovely wife! :) The only thing we had to hire done was the plumber and the carpet layers. Now that it is finished, we are loving it!!!! And it just looks so much better when you know that you were the one that put up that piece of drywall and spent hours upon hours of back-breaking work in completing it!

Framing...

I have lots more pictures of the drywalling and everything but I won't bore you with those. Instead we'll just go straight to the finished product:

Bedroom #1 aka the toy room!!

Bedroom #2 aka my parents' room! :)

The bathroom: I was sooo pleased with how this turned out! My husband was skeptical when I came home with this shower curtain but he let me have free reign and I think the color scheme turned out amazing!!

Here are just some pictures of what the rest of the basement looked like while we working:

And how it looks now!

Needless-to-say I was tired of living in this dump!

So much better!!

While his brother was here putting up the trim, we went ahead and had him make us this built-in bookshelf which is beautiful! If you are in our area and are looking for an amazing carpenter, I would highly recommend him! He does incredible work and is so fast and efficient!!
Yea!!!!! So happy to have it all DONE!!!!!!!!!! So now, if you want to come visit us, at least you know you'll have a room and bath of your own! :)