Celebrating 40

I turned 40 on August 4. Although most of my friends are older than me, 40 still seems so much older than 39. We had a party in my backyard with homemade popsicles, taco salad and 2 amazing cakes: a 4 layer cake with strawberry filling and buttercream frosting from the bakery at The Red Brick and a Chocolate Mocha cake made by my sister-in-law. My friends, Christy, Kevin and Kate came from Kansas for the party. Rodney and Carmina came up for the party and to pick up their 2 kids who have spent the past 2 weeks up here with me and my folks. My aunt, uncle and cousin came from Ontario and an old friend came from Indiana. It's been an awesome 2 weeks off from work. Thanks to everyone who made it happen!

Check out this watermelon that cousin Suzanne and Aunt Gladys carved!

Warming Up Any Way We Can

I drove to Kansas for a few days with my folks so we could spend time with my nieces during their spring break. Usually it is 10 - 15 degrees warmer down there than in Michigan, but this time it was cold! In fact, the sleet and snow came down the night before we were to come home. The roads were horrible, especially in Missouri, and we decided to stop driving when even the trucks were going 35mph. The heat was off in our hotel room when we arrived and I snapped a photo of my Mom trying to warm up under the curtains billowing out from the heater.

A Cabin in the Woods

Last weekend we strapped the canoe atop my car and I hauled it to Indiana to transfer it to Rodney.



We all stayed at a cozy 3 bedroom cabin in the woods and went to the Michiana Mennonite Relief Sale. Although they don't sell verenike at this sale, we had fun nevertheless. I wasn't feeling well at all for most of the weekend, but I didn't want to miss out on the fun with my nieces.

They had fun bidding at the children's auction and Rodney got a bunch of stuff at the new and used auction. Carmina and I wanted the quilt that went for $2,000.

The girls helped me make homemade waffles for breakfast on Sunday. I could only eat 2 bites but I think they were a hit.



















I was sad to see them leave because I won't see them until Christmas. This will be the longest stretch of time that we're apart. I hate it.


Just hours after the last picture was taken, I went to the emergency room to figure out why I was sick all week and all weekend. Turns out that a new medication I was taking caused my sodium to drop dangerously low. They told me to go home and drink pop and Gatorade and eat salty chips. No water for 3 days. Very strange, but it worked!

Retreating

I went to Women's Retreat at Camp Friedenswald again this year. It was just nice to get away and to be with the women from Community Mennonite. They are my family. Here they are leading a song for the rest of the group.

Under the Kansas Sky

I am in Kansas for Spring Break! They have blue sky here. And sun!


















We went on a walk on the Sand Creek Trail. In college, we used to find our way through the tall grasses and trees, cross a bridge over Sand Creek and have parties. Guys with walkie-talkies would help us find our way. The bridge is still there but now a beautiful nature trail leads right past.




















I'm having a blast with my nieces and I drove to see Jacob and his Mom. Great fun!


























Here's a video for those of you not on Facebook. Why aren't you on Facebook?? :)

Reconnecting in God's Country

My folks and I drove to Kansas recently to visit Rodney, Carmina, Cheyanne and Ember.


It was much warmer there than in Michigan and we soaked it up. Those who live, or have lived there, lovingly refer to Kansas as "God's Country."

Our friend, Naomi, created an Ultimate Hopscotch course in the driveway. My nieces had fun figuring it out with their friend, Kate, the next day while I posed with my friend, Christy in our nearly matching outfits. She has a belt on, though, and we have this joke that if you wear a belt then you are dressed up. I'm much more casual.

The Wedding Singer

I went to my cousin, Luanne's, wedding in Ontario over the weekend. No, I'm not singing in the photo. Until last weekend, all 4 of us women on the Shantz side of the family have been single. Now we're down to 3. At the reception we felt we must tell the story of our pact a few years ago. If any one of us wanted to bring a man to the Shantz Christmas dinner, we would contact the other women so they could each bring a man as a decoy to take the pressure off the "real" boyfriend. Well, Luanne must have felt confident enough with her choice because she surprised a few of us by bringing someone to Christmas dinner. We think she made a good choice. Here we are all dressed up for the wedding.
My nieces REALLY want to be flower girls. Unfortunately for them, my cousin has 6 nieces of her own and the littlest one got to be her flower girl. Cheyanne is trying to set me up with her imaginary friend, Mortimer, so they can fulfill their flower girl dream.

Yesterday was such gorgeous weather that I kept the windows open all day and didn't turn on the A/C. Today, however, it warmed up again and I've been inside most of the day. I did venture out to water some plants.

The "babies" that I was given when I came back from Illinois are also feeling the heat. They do have fur, after all, so they have spent the day on the t.v. because it is the closest spot to the air conditioner.



While we've all been keeping cool, I also whipped up a Nano Sock. I needed something to keep my Ipod in while traveling next week and this is just the thing! You can find the pattern here: http://annypurls.blogspot.com/2005/12/nano-warmer.html



I'm also making some homemade peach ice cream with some juicy peaches I picked up at the market. YUM!

Taking Care of My Flock

When I left Illinois last week, my nieces scrambled to find some "babies" for me to take along. Cheyanne told me that I must take them everywhere I go and "pet them every five minutes." It's a big responsibility. I thought I'd post a picture of what the babies have been up to lately. They enjoy helping me in the garden. I had to put the unicorn in charge of the bunny, though, so he wouldn't nibble anything like his cousins did earlier in the season.

Chicago Beam

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We took the train to Chicago again, as a family, to see the sights. The girls thought the giant "bean" was called a "beam." Can you spot me, my mother and father, Carmina, Ember and Cheyanne in the picture with all the people under the bean?

We're Happy Together

We threw a 4th of July party weekend here at the cottage. Besides me, 14 people came and stayed for varying lengths of time. 2 sleeping tents, a shower tent and a porta-potty were hauled in. We grilled, ate s'mores, listened to someone play a guitar by the camp fire, picked cherries, went to the flea market, bought 50 pounds of blueberries, and played hard! Some people went tubing or water skiing. 3 of us women even swam across the lake! Thanks for coming! For those of you who couldn't make it, you're welcome anytime!

Life is Sweet

It is one of our favorite times of the year...when sweet cherries are ready for picking. It only lasts about a week and the trees are weighed down with so many sweet cherries. We picked at Fruit Acres in Coloma, MI. $1.99 per pound for sweet cherries and 75 cents per pound for sour ones. We tasted as many different sweet varieties as we could find and enough sour cherries that it took all afternoon to pit them. Thanks, Mom, for diligently pitting nearly all of them!

Feeling the Love

I am in Xenia, Ohio this weekend for a graduation party. When I lived in Wisconsin the year before I went to grad school, I was a nanny for 3 kids, ages 6, 4, and 4 months. The oldest graduated this year and asked me to come for the celebration. It has been quite an honor to be welcomed back into this family that I haven't seen for many years. The mom and I felt a bond from the moment we met 13 years ago at my interview. Her daughter didn't tell her I was coming and worked together with her dad to make it happen. She was so excited to surprise her mom and it was so fun to be the surprise. I am definitely feeling the love. It's like being at a family reunion with people I haven't seen for a few years, but some of them I've never met until now yet they have welcomed me like family.

It has also been fantastic to be in a city with stores all around. I spent my Saturday morning going to Target, a pet store, Half Price Books and a Salvation Army store. It can't get much better than all this.


Here is a picture of me with the "kids."

Sometimes The World is Too Big

I called my friend Christy tonight. She wasn't home so I talked to her husband instead. He said she's partying at Kristin's house. Sometimes I feel the world is too big. I wish that everyone I love could live nearby. I want to be partying with Christy and Kristin in Kansas.

But then I wouldn't be here. I would have missed the paddleboat ride with Ember, catching minnows for my nieces, looking for toads, watching turtles run through the grass, playing Outburst Junior with Cheyanne, resurfacing the driveway with the grown-ups in the family, a dip in the lake with the girls, sleeping 3 people in a tiny room, and being reminded of how much my nieces love me:f


I guess Cheyanne wishes the world was a bit smaller too.

A True Reason to Celebrate

Many of you know Jacob who I took care of for 2 1/2 years in foster care. As most of you know, he was adopted last year by a wonderful woman. I am grateful for her and for the fact that she keeps in touch with me. Check out these beautiful photos from their mother's day today. Very sweet.

Best University Choir in Canada!

You may recall my recent spring break trip to Canada to hear my cousin's choir concert. His University of Windsor Women’s Chamber Choir entered the National Radio Competion for Amateur Choirs last week and they won! Now they will compete in Laval Quebec in a concert broadcast on CBC Radio. Very exciting!

A Family For Christmas

I'm in Canada right now celebrating with my family. I got many amazing gifts for Christmas The most precious gift was a slideshow of pictures from Jacob's adoption which is now finalized. He was all dressed in a suit in court. So wonderful!

Gratefulness

For each new morning with its light,
for rest and shelter of the night,
for health and food,
for love and friends,
for everything thy goodness sends,
YEAH, God!

That is the grace we always say when my nieces are here. We experienced all of those things this Thanksgiving weekend. Our final tradition each year is to take a group photo. Each year the photo includes a different collection of people, and this is the group in 2007.

Bizarre Thanksgiving Traditions

Many people eat cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. My sister-in-law prefers the canned variety, which we refer to as "canberry sauce." It's pretty cool when it retains the shape of a can:

My Aunt Gladys likes to eat the turkey liver and my mom loves the turkey neck. I usually prefer to turn the other way, but fiurst I had to take a picture:

Fleas, Frogs and Thanksgiving

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! There are 10 of us here celebrating this weekend. One tradition we have is to go to the local Flea Market and search out bargains. Some treasures people found this year included: a computer keyboard, some plastic figures from Bambi, some maroon dress shoes, some tie-downs for a boat, an Easy Bake Oven, some little Teletubbies, a pair of scissors, a bike and bike helmet. Here are some of my relatives with their purchases:


Cheyanne with her little owl, skunk, rabbit and deer.


Uncle Bob and Suzanne with movies, a magnifying glass, a hat, a pie pan and other bargains.

Carmina with her nearly-new bike and helmet.

We also figured out what the mystery sound was around here. Some thought it was a raccoon, while others suggested a bird of some sort. Turns out it was a gray tree frog: