Michigan Again

Monday: Fun at the lake and Cabin. Right outside of the cabin was a gorgeous lake! There was also a paddle boat, a row boat, and 2 canoes for us to use. Our family went out across the lake in one of the canoes (actually, we left Katie behind). It was a very relaxing, beautiful day. We got to visit with Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Grandparents too.

Lets go canoeing! Arghhhhh!

We love the water! And the sand!

Playing on the sandy beach and playing with a turtle!

Tuesday: Sault Ste. Marie Locks (pronounced Soo Saint Marie). Aaron, Rebecca, Anson, Katie and I went up to the Michigan/Canadian border to see the Sault Ste. Marie Locks. The St. Mary river flows between Lake Huron and Lake Superior, but Lake Superior is 21 ft. above Lake Huron. So some genious built the locks. A ship coming from Lake Huron goes in this narrow passage way that is blocked ahead of them by a big wall. Then they anchor themselves, the door is closed behind them, and water is pumped into the "lock". Then the "wall" ahead of them opens and they sail out at the level of Lake Superior! We got to take a boat ride on the river and actually go in the lock. To make it even sweeter, a cute couple gave us 2 tickets for free! They had prepaid for their tickets and the other couple was unable to make it, so they offered them to us for free.

Coming towards the Lock. Entering the Lock.


Lock opening at Lake Superior level. Katie loves food!


Rebecca and Anson enjoying the boat ride.


After the boat ride, we went across the border to Canada and Rebecca traded some of ther money for Canada money. It also happened to be Canada Day (July 1). There was a celebration under way, so we went over to join in the fun. It wasn't really very fun though. There were a ton of people, a choir singing weird songs, and huge lines to buy balloons and face painting. We ate a couple of hot dogs and hamburgers, then left. It was a good day though.

Michigan

We had the most wonderful time at the Richmond Family Reunion (my mom's family) in Michigan. The weather was beautiful, the scenery was fabulous, and the company was delightful. Here are a few highlights from the trip.


Picking Strawberries and Riding on the Hay Ride.

More Strawberries. Yummy!

Saturday - Woke up at 3:45 AM to make it to the airport by 4:30 AM (and this after 2 VERY sleepless nights!). Arrived in Michigan after a short change of airplanes in St. Louis at 3:30 PM. We sent Rebecca on a different airline with my parents, and they landed in Indiana, so she was not with us until we arrived at the reunion. Aaron and Anson picked up the rental car while I picked up the baggage and hauled it to the curb with Katie. As we drove to the cabin, Aaron noticed a sign for a cider mill. He lived in Michigan one summer when he was going to BYU - he had an internship at Dow Chemical in Midland. He remembered the yummy apple cider that they sell all over the place in Michigan, so we stopped. It ended up being the CUTEST little farm ever. The strawberries and cherries were in season, so they let us take baskets and go pick to our hearts content. We even rode on a hay wagon with a tractor pulling it to get to the fields. The farm also had a lot of other types of fruit, but they were not in season at the time. They had a little play area that we decided we did not have time for, but Anson would have loved it. We bought some cider, the cherries, and strawberries, and were on our way again. But not for long! Aaron remembered a small town called Frankenmuth that was settled by Bavarians. They have the largest Christmas store ever called Bronners. We stopped and found a star tree topper for our Christmas tree. They also had a recreation of the church where Silent Night was first sung. We stopped at the Bavarian Inn for dinner which did not go very well due to everyone's lack of sleep. We were finally on our way again. We were due to arrive at the cabin at 11:16 PM according to the GPS, but it decided to take us some crazy way to the cabin. We ended up on a one lane muddy dirt road in the middle of the forest trying to find the cabin. It really was quite hillarious. We ended up turning around and just followed the mapquest directions that I had fortunately printed off. We arrived around 11:45 PM and went to bed as quickly as we could.





Sunday - We woke up WAY too early, and made it to church at 10 AM. We enjoyed visiting with everyone and taking a nap in the afternoon. We had a family meeting and planned for the next reunion in Utah in 2010 - to take place in conjunction with the Markham Family Reunion in Spanish Fork on July 24. I also learned that I need to do family history work and write in a journal.

Manning Family Restaurant

(Rebecca thought she was curtsying here.)


I found an old Family Fun Kit that I bought a few years ago on Monday morning, and thought it would be fun to use some of the stuff to have a family restaurant as part of our FHE activity. First, Becca and I made a hat to wear. Rebecca made a sign that said "Manning Family Restaurant". I cleaned off the chalkboard, and Aaron wrote the menu on it and we set it next to the entrance to the kitchen. I prepared most of the food, with a little help from Aaron. Rebecca and Anson mostly set the table by themselves. Aaron acted as host and sat us at the table, and I acted as the server and got everyone their food. We had a fun time pretending to be at a restaurant, and we even wrote on the tablecloth! It had fun games and ideas to talk about while you wait/eat. We played tic tac toe, drew faces, and told an add on story - where one person starts, and the next person adds on, and the next one adds on even more. The story that ended up being told was about a little girl whose mother died (Rebecca started this one!), but she had a rose from her mother. It went on from there. Check out the behind the scenes footage of the Manning Family Restaurant!

I love Dates!

On Friday, Aaron took me out on a very special date! He surprised me the day before by telling me we were going to see My Fair Lady at Gammage and that we were going to get all dressed up to go. I borrowed my little sister's formal dress (I wanted to wear something new, and I wasn't too interested in wearing anything I had), got a babysitter, and we were off! I couldn't figure out anything to do with my hair, so it just ended up straight. We went to the Chart House restaurant in Scottsdale for dinner first. It is on a lake, and we had the perfect view from the window. There were cute little cottontail rabbits, ducks, and other birds on the shore to watch. We were definitely the most dressed up, but that was half the fun! Aaron had the Chilean Sea Bass (or something like that), and I had the Marsala Chicken (I wasn't in a seafood mood, unfortunately since this was a seafood restaurant!). We finished off with their signature dessert, the molten lava chocolate cake. YUM! Then we headed off to the theater. We made it to ASU right as the show was starting, so we quickly picked up our tickets at Will Call and found our seats. We had a great time watching the show. I LOVE musicals!!! We had so much fun on this date talking, and eating, and watching a wonderful show. I have the best husband EVER!



We forgot to bring the camera, so we had the babysitter take pictures when we got home.

Memories

Story Time...So, my friends did this on their blogs and I thought it was cute... so here we go.Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2.Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. :) If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Sleepless Nights

The last few weeks I have been really concerned about emergency preparation. It is on my mind ALL the time. I can't fall asleep because my mind is always thinking about what I need to do to prepare for emergencies. Needless to say, I am now majorly sleep deprived. Luckily my kids have been very cooperative in the nap department lately so I can at least function somewhat normally with the nap.

The 2 main reasons I am concerned about Emergency Preparedness are 1. My new calling as Food Storage and Canning Specialist, and 2. Gas Prices.

1. All the sleepless nights began right after I received my new calling. Coincidence? I think not!

2. Gas Prices - As gas goes up, everything else will too. Anything that needs to be trucked in (most notably, food) will be way more expensive. It is obviously already moving that direction. Also, in the midst of the food prices going up, people will also be having to pay more just to get to work, therefore having less money to pay for the expensive food as well as extras! People will need to make more money to make ends meet, but the employers will be unable to pay any more. Everything is going to get more expensive.

Daddy and the Kids

Aaron took Rebecca to the Itty Bitty Fishing Clinic yesterday morning. It is a class offered by the Parks and Rec department. They didn't catch anything, but they learned about how to get the pole ready, they got a snack, and they had a fun time together! Afterwards, they took a look around the park. They played on the playground, checked out the golf course at the park, and made echos with their voices. Aaron made an appointment for Rebecca and him to go back today to go golfing. They went this morning at 6am. Rebecca got to drive the golf cart and learned how to swing a golf club.


We were a little afraid that Anson would start feeling left out with Rebecca having all the fun, so Aaron took him out last night while I took the girls to Enrichment with me. They went to the Airport first and Anson got to go inside a few of the planes. Then they headed over to McDonalds to play on the playground and share a McFlurry. Next stop was Blockbuster where they rented Bob the Builder. They stopped off at Fry's to get a free cookie and a few groceries. Then they were off to the post office to drop off some letters and finished off the evening at the gas station. Anson had a great time!

Too Funny!

The other day, Aaron's co-worker, Mike, was at our house. After working in the office awhile, Aaron brought Mike out to look at the speakers he bought us for Christmas. Then he asked Mike if he wanted to sing Karaoke. Mike said he only sings Karaoke when he drinks. Rebecca heard him say this, so she ran to the kitchen, got a cup out, and filled it with water! She ran over to Aaron with it and whispered in his ear, "I got a drink for Mike so he can sing Karaoke!"