10/3/15

Luis, Eva and Elkie

This elk was huge and was so close to us

                                                 Met at Meijers for our color tour. 

Wes, Gayla, Sabrina, Bill, Penny and Matt

Gayla Wes, Eva, Luis, Sabrina, Bill Smith, Bill, and Matt

Coffee and Donuts at Cops and Donuts.  Gayla and Bill Smith

                                   Our first stop was at Cops and Donuts in Clare

                                  Sabrina, Bill, Eva, luis, Wes, Gayla and Bill Smith

We stopped at Gobblers in Gaylord for our lunch.  We had yummy turkey dinners.

                   We were happy these three elk were so close

                Bill standing in front of two big Elk in Gaylord.

Me in front of the two big elk.  They don't let you feed them anymore like when our kids were young.

Bill and I were sure bundled up with all of our layers we had on

                                 Taking a selfie before entering the suite!

This is the honeymoon suite.   It is separate from the regular motel.  Below is our hot tub!

We got up and got ready for our fall color tour. I  wore 4 layers plus my jacket.  It was very windy and cool but I didn't get cold.  Bill did put my extra sweatshirt on so he could have a hood under his helmet.  We had yummy donuts and coffe at Cops and Donuts.  We left and finally saw a little color in Clare.  Not much the whole trip though.  We decided not to go to the tunnel of trees.  We went to Gobbler's in Gaylord for rheir turkey dinner.  It was delicious!  We went to see the elk afterwards and then rode to our hotel in Chenoygan .  When we checked in I found out we were in the honeymoon suite.  It was separate from the main hotel.  It had a big hot tub in it an was nice.  The motelbwascrightvon the river.  Beautiful to look at and walk around.   We visited by the pool for a while than the six of us played cards.  Vikki face timed me while we were playing and showed me the beautiful scarf she made me.  Sure wish I had it for this trip.  A big thank you!  Wes won the game.  After that we walked next door to Big Boy for something to eat. It was 8 pm. I had a slim Jim and cup of cabbage soup.  Yum!  We came back to our room and went in the hot tub. Fun day.

10/4/15 Stayed in Cheboygan and today we are heading home

This was on the backside of our hotel and this is where I took my walk this morning

View the other direction

I heard someone calling me and looked up to see Gayla on her balcony

That is the end ahead!

It was so peaceful

This was the view looking straight across

Things were just ducky

Practicing with our selfie stick

On our way home we stopped at a cute little log restaurant.  All sorts of animals were on the walls.  Loved this zebra, but felt bad for it.  Never saw one mounted on a wall before.  The food was good and they had big yummy cinnamon rolls.  Dad ate one there and I got one to take home.

We didn't see much color so this is the only picture I got.

We were at a gas station when I tried to capture the same picture above with people in it.

Dad loading our bag back on the motorcycle.  When we started out it was raining lightly so Gayla and I rode in the car with Eva.  Dad borrowed my sweatshirt so he would have a hood under his helmet.  We rode the motorcycles again after we stopped at the restaurant above.

On the road!  Luis is ahead of us and Wes is leading the pack.

I got up at 6:30 and got ready and then while Bill got ready, I went for a walk by the river.  After that we ate our continental breakfast at the hotel.  The servers were so nice and went out of their way to talk to us and help with whatever we needed.  I ate a bagel and cream cheese, yogurt, a slice of cinnamon bread, a banana, and an egg.  Bill ate 2 big waffles.  We packed up and it was sprinkling.  Gayla and I decided to ride in the car until it stopped raining.  It was only misting at least.  The guys had a deer run in front of them and turkeys with babies.  We saw lots of turkeys.  At 11:30 we stopped to eat.  Wes remembered this restaurant had good cinnamon rolls so that's why he picked it.  We got back on the motorcycles and rode the rest of the trip.  At least it wasn't windy like yesterday.  We stopped at the gas station next and that was our last stop.  Didn't see much color but had a great time.  Went to church at 6 pm and Pastor Ken taught on New age beliefs.  He also taught on 7th Day Adventist as Ben Carson is running for president and that is what he is.  Nice to be informed.  We were happy to see Bruce, Melissa, and Hailey there.  Got to hug Max and Jack before Tasha picked them up and took them to her house till Bruce and Melissa were done.  I went to Vikki's afterwards to get Mocha.  Visited for a little while.  She gave me my beautiful scarf she made me.

10/2/15 Melissa and Bruce gave us a selfie stick

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Melissa's kiddos were sure happy to see her.  Love these pictures

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My favorite pic of Bruce and Melissa in Chicago

Melissa and Bruce brought us a selfie stick from Chicago.  Love it!   We had so much fun practicing with it.  Nice that it came from Aunt Vikki's uncle's company and has the name Duperon on it.

Now we had to have Hailey in it

Finally Jack's turn to be in the picture

Melissa and I took the first selfie.

Isaac wanted to take a selfie of us.  This was earlier in the day.  We didn't have the selfie pole.

Had to get one with dad in it

9/30/15 Last night for the kids to sleep over. Their mom and dad got home late tonight so I will take them to school and they will pick them up from school tomorrow.

Love this cute picture Vikki took of these two sweeties.

Isaac and Peyton were so sweet today.  They each made me a birthday cake and candles with floam and each sand Happy Birthday to me, first Isaac and then Peyton.  Please Note:  It isn't my birthday and I am not older.  This was just pretend.  They were so precious.

Max sure has fun with legos and is so creative

Hailey and her team

Poor Jack had to have breathing treatments because of his Asthma and allergies.  He sure is good about it and he sure felt better afterward.  

9/29/15 Really good day for Max

Max was so excited about all the kids writing one word that describes each kid in his class.  These are words kids wrote about him.  

Marie's Birthday!

Made a birthday cake for Marie and Kay's birthday for care group.   Last birthdays we had in care group I bought a cake for.  Decided this was a money saver to make it!

Love all of these beautiful pictures of Bruce and Melissa while they are in Chicago!

I got up at 6 and got ready then got the kids up at 6:30.  These kiddos get us so good.  Just one wake up call and they are up and at em.  Kenzie has always done the 5 more minutes routine and I would have to do the ants are marching song to get her awake, so I thought I might have to do that with Hailey, Max and Jack.  Nice surprise, even though I do have good memories of singing that to Kenzie.  We got to school 10 minutes early.  Hailey got out with her book bag and then I told the boys to get their book bags and they looked at me and said, we forgot our book bags.  I told them to go in and I would bring their book bags.  I headed home the expressway route so I was back at school by 8:20 delivering their book bags to the office.  Tonight the book bags are in the car ha ha.  Went to breakfast after that.   We had a good turn out for that.  Came home and cleaned for Bible Study.  Made a cake for Marie and Kay's birthdays.  Picked the boys up from school and took them to McDonald's and got them chocolate shakes.  They were pretty happy.  Max was so excited about school and his day.  He is a chapel buddy now and his buddy's name is Max too.  He is in Evan's class.  He was also excited about all the nice things kids wrote about him.  He told me he did most of his work and did extra credit too.  On the way home I told them when we had Bible Study they could watch a movie if they had their homework done.  I took a while getting in the house as I had to get things out of the car and by the time I got in the house Max had his homework out and was at the table doing it all on his own.  He only had about 10 minutes worth of homework.  He's doing amazing.  People came for Bible Study and I gave the boys birthday cake and we all anointed Jack and prayed for him.  Then the boys went upstairs, got their pjs on and brushed their teeth.  I turned the tv and started the dvd for them in the green bedroom.  They were so good.  I went up when it was done and gave Jack his breathing treatment while I listened to Max's prayers and prayed over him and tucked him in.  Then did the same with Jack once he was finished with his treatment.  Bible study went great with very good discussion from everybody.  The boys fell asleep right away.  When everyone left, I went and picked up Hailey.  Took her to McDonald's to get a caramel sundae for her.  Got home and listened to her prayers, prayed over her and tucked her in.  Amazing kiddos!
When I got home, Bill had everything cleaned up, all the dishes loaded and the extra cups put away, coffee pot empty and cleaned and everything put away.  I was so happy!