He's my Baby...

and he's off to college.

His plan is to attend GRCC for 2 years and get his general ed classes.  

After that, he might transfer to Western and finish up in their Aviation program.

19 years ago this seemed so distant, I never thought I would be here.  

I thought in my mind, he was always gonna be 10 years old.

Dad & I are so proud of you.  Proud of the man you are becoming. Proud of the steps you've taken to head to college..it can be scary heading out there. 

Proud of your discipline.  Proud that you got a part time job! 

We hope these next four years we can support you as you walk down this road!

(he was amusing his mom with a picture)

You see, neither Steve or I went to college....Steve has taken some classes and I have my Cosmetology License...but Tyler will be a 1st generation college graduate, God willing!  

So proud of you Dude! We know you can do it!

He's got it....

Troy has had his Drivers License for awhile now...

but just now got a picture of him with it!

He has picturephobia.

 Troy loves to drive...he wants to drive where ever we go.  

He is a great driver and I feel at easy with him behind the wheel.

He would love to have his own wheels to tool around town at his leisure.

So proud of you Troy!

a funny..

here is MI he has to take a drivers test with an outside agency (not school, anymore) a parent has to be present and can not 'coach' from the back seat.  Steve went with Tyler, so he thought it would only be fair if I went with Troy... because of our schedule, that was how it worked out! We went to the agency in Newaygo.  The man was a very nice older gentleman.  The way life would have it, he had to drive our F-150 not the van....the van had a crack in the window and you can't drive a vehicle with a cracked window....so he already had a strike against him...trying to maneuver a large truck around and parallel park it.....he did great!!!! So we started out for the driving part.  They are VERY strict about speeding..so that counts against you....and you can only make so many mistakes. He was on the home stretch when he sailed through a yellow/red light....I was screaming "STOP!!!!" on the inside..he didn't hear me!  If you break a violation like that, it's an immediate fail!..Bummer!!!  The next week we headed back to re-test and he passed with flying colors!  The tester even let him skip a huge part of it because he knew how capable he was!  As a matter of fact, he talked with me the whole way..I have his life story....He was a Teacher, Principal, Superintendent....he is married has 2 children....winters in Florida...shard with us some funny drivers ed stories.  Very entertaining!  We thought maybe we should go to dinner with him...his wife was gone visiting one of their kids...ha ha ha!

One of his drivers stories was when a girl lost control going around a corner and hit a telephone pole. The pole broke off and fell and split the car in two.  The dealership that 'loaned' it to them was not too happy.  Less happy, when they came to pick up the car the next day and someone had stole the 4 brand new tires/wheels off on it! They made the front of the local paper!

Great job Troy!

An Adventure.....

in Michigan

at Michigan Adventure!

Thursday we headed to Muskegon with the Wilson's and the French's.  

All the mom and the kids!

in front of the Corkscrew.... 

coming off the Mad Mouse 

the Scrambler..a favorite! 

Kelly & Jen on the Thunder Bolt 

Dakota & Trent on the Thunder Bolt 

Kelly & Jen on the Tilt-A-Whirl...I took this while I was riding next to them. 

Lets just say, the Mom's rocked the Tilt-A-Whirl!!!! 

Trent getting his first Tattoo!  

at least it was a cross!!

Corkscrew 

Falling Star 

Scrambler...Josh, Darick & Troy 

It was a beautiful day for a amusement park.  We had a great day!

I went on the 'Grandma pass'= rode very few rides! I'm kinda of a scared-e cat!

Oops.....

So I had a little problem with my phone.....

I dropped it on the cement.

And as you can see, it didn't fair very well!

This is my FIRST accident with a cell phone....yeah, that's right..I've never broke, 

dropped it in a toilet or the like!   

When I have replaced my other phones, they have been in 'like new' condition!

Surprisingly it still worked fine...I just put a piece of packaging tape over the screen so a shard wouldn't cut me open....and moved on.  This was probably not a long term fix.

We never buy insurance on these kind of things..so there was no chance of a replacement!  Steve located a new screen on eBay.  He then watched a few YouTube videos...and he was ready for the operation.

It would have been easier to dissect a small pig! There were numerous small parts to take off and reassemble!  At one point, we were gathered around in awe of the master at work

 and he said please step back, this is tedious!  

He conquered....He's a Amazing!! 

He's my man....if he can't do, nobody can! Rah! Rah!

No, I wasn't a cheerleader..I have a hard time clapping and talking at the same time!

Separated at birth....

This is the story of our dog Jaxi...

When we found her, on the Internet, the people asked us which 2 we wanted look at..as we were meeting them in a GR parking lot.

We arrived on a Sunday evening in a Pets Supplies Plus Store parking lot

 to see two adorable puppies (aren't all puppies cute!)

We picked the one we wanted..before we left, they said it was a buy one get one free deal....hmmm!

If you know me I'm all about deals..=)!

We returned home home with 2 puppies.

I could quickly see everyone was wanting to keep both of them...ummm...no!

Our target date was by Wednesday to find a home for our other puppy.

We did!....the Iwaniw's...welcomed little Lucy!

Fast forward 2 1/2 years....

We know the Iwaniw's, which live a couple miles from us and Trent had her for a 3rd grade teacher this past year.  We have often talked about getting the 'sister's' together...and finally it happened! Last night Tyler & Alisha were going to their house for a bonfire and they took Jaxi to meet Lucy.  Not really a happy reunion, especially fro Lucy!  She wasn't real fond of Jaxi.  Jaxi is full energy dog.  Lucy is quite timid. Jaxi wanted to play with her and she wasn't having any of that!!!

Here is a picture of Lucy

and our Jaxi 

you can tell by Lucy's face how much she enjoyed the reunion 

here they are 'kind of' sitting together!

Lucy wasn't sad to see us go!

Groupon-We ♥ you...

This was my first Groupon purchase..

Some time back they had a offer to go to Berlin Raceway....

2 tickets, 2 hot dogs, 2 chips & 2 drinks for $15.

So, I purchased the deal, as did Tyler (for him and Alisha to go sometime!)

We called Dad & Linda Saturday to see if they were available..they were (good thing they are retired!)..so we headed out.  It was a beautiful night for a race.  We all enjoy picking a car at the start of the race and cheering for our driver.  I usually picked mine by the paint job or if the numbers on the side were glitzy!  I know...scientific huh!  Well we had a fun time and Alisha had never been to a race before so she got to experience that!  The A.D.D. in me likes Berlin.  The races are short, usually about 8 laps and you can see the whole track...bonus for me-it keeps my attention!

Here we are capturing the moment!

Tyler & Alisha after the race. 

so glad we get to have fun family times together!  

Thank you Groupon1

Next, I'm purchasing a massage/pedicure/facial package..I have to make sure those are just as good a deal!..right??  That's what I thought!!!