If You Care....

If you care what's going on tomorrow in my life....

Thursday Nov 15 I will not be heading to the woods...instead to Spectrum Hospital.

I will be having a partial hysterectomy at 7:30 in the morning.  

We have to arrive at 5:30AM....is that really a time???

As some of you might remember, in '09 I had an Ablation...without going into more detail than ANY of you care to read about ..I was having issues!

This was my the only option!

As it would be...Steve met our deductible for 2012 with his Achilles Tendon Accident....so onward we go!

It will be outpatient & with out any ill effects to the anesthesia....I should be home in the afternoon

Yesterday, I went to see my 93 year old Grandma Marian before my surgery.  She is getting older and more forgetful and she doesn't move like she used to....but I had the sweetest moments with her.  She asked me to kneel by her chair and put my hand in her fragile thin skinned hand as she prayed for my surgery to go well.  She started..."Dear Lord, I don't understand the human body but you do for we know you made it....Please bring Joanne to my mind on Thursday so I can remember to pray for her...."  

She has forgotten a lot of things these days but she still knows who made the world and who's in control!  She is a still a faithful prayer warrior even in her old age.

What a blessing she is to me!

This picture is from a couple years back.

MOM

Another Anniversary has come along.... 

It's the 11th Anniversary of losing my mom.

She was a wonderful Mom....the Mom God choose for me...the perfect woman to raise me!  

We all love our Mom's (and Dad's) not because of how perfect they are and not for what they gave us but because "they are our Mom"!  Plain and simple!

Sometimes when we lose someone, near and dear to us, we tend to exalt their being...."they were the best Mother!"....there is a tendency to "remember" that person as a person that was "perfect". You know you have been to those funerals when you look around & think "Am I at the correct funeral??".  I don't think my mom had no faults (and really some of her "quirks" now seem, well, funny and even sweet) she had her share of them.  But she did have a wonderful heart, a heart of helpfulness.  She wanted to help people, which drove her to get involved in peoples lives!  I have heard countless stories of how she helped people in different ways..she met people where they were.  She helped some find a sitter, she helped people financially, she counseled people and prayed with them!  You see, she didn't grow up in a Christian home..about as far from that as you can imagine....she didn't meet Jesus till she was in her late teens.  She knew what she can from and what she was saved from...and she wanted to share that!  Sometimes you wonder why God chooses to call His servants home?

Tho, we didn't always agree and we had our differences ...She is a big part of the reason, I am who I am today!  She molded me into the woman I am (I like to think that I turned out okay....=)).  I am acutely aware that I am NOT perfect and will never be, on this side of heaven!  But because of her, I strive to help people..when I see a need, I try to fill it.  I am also aware my kids would never call me a perfect mom! I do hope they see my heart and the love I have for them!  I hope they can see past this imperfect mom and realize I ask questions, not to drive them crazy but because I care!=)  I don't tell them what to do because I'm a control freak, I do because I want them to succeed...I want them to be great...I don't want to see them hurt!
To me, that kind of sums up my mom ...she certainty didn't mother like Dobson or Dennis Rainey or even Dr Spock!  She was an imperfect mom trying to do the best she knew and hoped God would bless her efforts!  So Mom, on this anniversary date of your death...
May you look down and be proud of the Daughter, Mom & Wife I have become!
Love and Miss YOU!

Surprise!!!!

A couple short weeks ago my Mother-in-Law turned 70!

Yeah, that's right 70!...

and boy was she surprised!

We all gathered at the Swan Inn and waited for her arrival!

Her immediate family went outside to be the "first" surprise 

As they pulled up....

Her 3 boys....Steve, Craig & Mike greeting her....

Steve & his mom 

overwhelmed with emotion 

the "second" surprise! 

the rest of the surprise waited in the basement... 

the Birthday Girl's crown & sash

The Birthday girl and her best man!

Ooops kind of blurry

one of the tables 

and another 

and another! 

Thank you all for coming!!

Family from near & far 

(Craig, Kristi, Florin & Nic drove 5+ hours that day and drove home the next morning...that's a lot of driving!)

Friends New & Old!

I know Bonnie appreciated each and everyone of you!!

 Thank you all of you coming and celebrating her special day with her!

A HUGE thanks to Karen (her sister) and Lynette (her niece) for doing all the behind the scenes work!

  The Academy Award goes to Uncle Jim & Aunt Karen for their stellar performance in the car prior to arriving!

Awesome night and fun memories!

School Days....

It's that time of year again...time for the kids to go back to school.

We have a Senior & a 5th grader!

Troy & Mr Crofoot, his Kindergarten teacher

Lets hear it now....Awww....he's so cute?!?!?

Troy as a Senior! 

is excited for the first day of his last year of High School! 

Trent starting his 5th grade year

He has Mrs. Freeland 

I pray for these boys often and hope we have a successful 2012-2013 school year!

AND Tyler is in his 2nd year at GRCC.  He will have to transfer (somewhere??) in the spring!

All Aboard....

::Groupon deal::

So I purchased this "deal" and we were running out of time to use it.

While the "guys" were still in the U.P. Trent and I took a ride on the Coopersville & Marne railway.

He had never taken a train ride before.

Trent as the conductor!

enjoying the view

Trent playing with my camera

me visiting with people on the train...I guess I thought I was the train hostess! Hahaha

I had to laugh (Trent & I are sooo alike!!) these people forgot their camera and Trent kept wanting me to take their picture...he was sure I should talk to them...take their picture and email it to them (most people would just sit back and look out the window!!!)  We can't wait to talk to people around us and "interview" them.....see where they are from, how many kids they have, what their ages are, did they buy this on Groupon??

back window....

We went to the bathroom ...it was in the other car...while Trent was walking between the cars we hit a bump!

The engine!

if you have a little train lover...this was a fun, not-too-long ride.

They also do a pumpkin train and Santa train.

Mommy & Me

If you know Trent like I know Trent, you would know how much he has wanted to visit the infamous Mystery Spot in St Ignace.  We have passed it often to & from our quading trips without time to stop at the tourist trap.  It's funny how his radar goes off when we are getting close to the location along Hwy 2!

 (Labor Day week-end) Steve & Troy were going on a Quading Trip to the U.P. with Daren, Darick & Dakota, so I thought it a perfect time for Trent and I to head North!

On Thur Trent & I headed North to Mackinac City to spend the night...and "See the Sights"  Thur we crossed the bridge, went to....

Trent in one of the rooms!

Just down the road a bit, we went to Deer Ranch

I think Trent's Daddy would like to "meat" up with this beauty!!

albino

 a little more north was Castle Rock& Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue OX

Castle Rock is a bit of a climb up the stairs but the long high ramp was about more than I could do! Did I mention how high it was????  I did conquer my fears and made my way out to the flag (without crawling!!)

By the flag..see the enjoyment on my face!

While we were in St Ignace we looked up the Elmblads...which will be my nieces future in-laws.  So, Trent & I made a surprise visit to Mark Elmblad's office (State Farm Agent) ....he wanted us to met his wife (Carol) and daughter (Nicole) so we drove out to their home on the shores of Lake Huron.  They were every gracious in meeting us.  They have a beautiful view of the bridge in their back yard!  Looks kind of like this picture only it would have the bridge over our left shoulder. Side note my nieces (from CA) is engaged to a guy that grew up in St Igance and graduated from Uof M and lives in CA...SMALL WORLD!!

After coming back to the M/City side we walked the beach by the bridge a bit

Trent held up the bridge for the vehicles

then we back to our hotel, which had a water park..it wasn't no Great Wolf but it was kinda fun for him!

Friday morning we jump on a Ferry and headed to the island!  Trent had never been to the Island.  I've been many times as Craig & Kristi use to live there so we went often.  They moved off shortly after Trent was born so he never made it.  

The Ferry we took goes under the bridge one time a day so we made sure to ride that ferry over!

We took a carriage ride

and went to Arch Rock

and to the Fort!

and walked downtown! 

Trent's words when we walked out to main street from the ferry.."Oh, I thought it would be more run down!!"

and we rode the ferry back to the mainland!

oh and we bought some fudge...duh!!!

Captain Trent!

We had a great time together! I think he will remember this trip for many years!

Lessons Learned

I was able to snap one quick picture of this month long project....but I could have gotten many many pictures if I would have been on my 'A' game!

BUT they would have all looked about the same!

With out going into more detail than you would want to know....I will post the idea behind this post.

We had  problems with the Lincoln...engine problems....like oil in the spark plugs problem..not good!

Short of sounding like a broken record... this was not a job Steve could do with ease.  Being on his foot and having it "down" was not easy, it basically would swell up like an elephant leg and throb like a toothache.  It was painful!    We SERIOUSLY considered having a garage do all the repairs but it was going to be a costly job!  One of the major jobs that needed to be done was to replace the cam cover gaskets...there were 2 and not easily gotten to (like with any car job!!) Steve jumped into the project with his willing and not-so-willing assistant Troy.   They spent many many hours together under that hood...some joyful, some not so joyful, some sweaty (as we were in the middle of July)...you get the idea!

Troy learned some life lessons under that hood.....how an engine works....which in and of itself is priceless!  Most men don't even begin to know how to do what his dad taught him on those long hot days in the garage!  He learned how to reach a dropped bolt, how to replace a gasket, how to remove spark plugs, what a coil pack is (and I know what it is too..well kind of!) and how to replace an air conditioning line!

He got his hands dirty, I mean really dirty! 

He worked shoulder to shoulder with his dad!  Our days are numbered with that boy...I mean, our days to teach him stuff like this.  He learned how to be a man & how to be an assistant (he would say it was.."get that Troy", "Troy hold this",  "Troy get that socket") but we know better.. someday, he will look back when he is under his hood knowing how to repair something....he will smile with a thankful heart!  

Steve did not necessarily set out to teach Troy these lessons.   Had he not had a messed up leg he probably would have proceeded with this repair with out Troy's help. BUT they both didn't have a choice! Not sure who was learning the life lesson's here..Troy or Steve...both have learned valuable lessons in the summer of 2012!

God puts "challenges" in our lives to teach us all lessons.  Most of the time it's multiple lessons learned by multiple people!  I would be lying if I stated Troy enjoyed it and was always willing and I would also be lying if I stated Steve was always a great teacher and never got frustrated but it still was a great summer of learning....despite our selfish human motives!