Summer Sun Freckles

Greetings Friends and Family!

We’re checking in with you from Grandma and Grandpa Noel’s cottage on the beautiful Betsy River.  We’re here for the Memorial Day weekend with Grandma Joy, Grandpa Gale, Cousin Ben and his girlfriend Megan.  We’ve had a blast so far, just taking time to enjoy the sun.  It’s wonderful when you can put life on hold for a few days, and just relax.  Until I opened my computer to write this, I had no idea what time it was, and that felt great!

We were only able to come up for two days, but we’ve packed that full of a lot of fun and relaxation.  Early (for a Saturday anyway) yesterday, we packed up our car, grabbed Juno and drove 3 hours North. It was an easy uneventful drive, save for the clouds in front of us growing darker and darker. The weather forecast we checked earlier had told of blue skies and sunshine, but the rain said otherwise.  We pulled up to the cottage in the middle of a rain storm to find the rest of the crew immersed in a lively game of Yahtzee.  After the game, we sat and chatted and listened to the rain.  Luckily, as the afternoon came around the torrent ended and a beautiful sunny day followed.  We piled into a car and headed to local Frankfort for some shopping and fun!  There were a bunch of stores to checkout, and we tried some new looks – see what you think!

This morning we were awakened to French Toast and sausage, and then Nate got a lesson on how to shoot a bow and arrow from Grandpa.  Every arrow hit within a small area on the target, but Nate claims that’s due more to the bow’s fancy features than latent Katniss-like skills.  After that, Grandpa gave us two inner tubes, drove us down the road and abandoned us by the river side, telling us that we needed to find our own way back!  Luckily, the river wound lazily back to the cottage, carrying us right along with various wildlife like a Merganzer duck, river otter and a turtle sunning itself on a log. It was a beautiful ride down a fresh, albeit brisk, Michigan river.

We also have some exciting news – we put in an offer on a house, and it was accepted!  We are now in the no-man’s-land of paperwork that it takes to buy a foreclosed home, but we are REALLY excited!  It’s a beautiful place, built in 2001, with a master bathroom suite, finished basement, two car garage and 7 acres with a pond!  It needs a little work, but it’s in great condition, especially for a foreclosure. And after years of working on an old house, we’re excited about the possibility of maintaining and improving a house with modern amenities!  While located just outside town in the country, there is only a 10 minute drive to town. It’s the perfect place to bring up kids, though we’re still in our ‘not ready yet’ phase.  We’ll keep everyone updated as we learn more!

Love you all!

 Nate & Justine