Mom and Dad Holcomb's Weblog

A Week in May at the Enz’s

marenme — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 16:59:15 +0000

Jeremy and Sarah decided they had not yet seen enough of the world, so they decided to take an Alaskan Cruise! Hhhmmmmm, but they had 4 things that needed to be taken care of. These 4 things even had names: Brayden, David, Rachel, and Jacob. What to do? What to do? I know! We’ll ask Mom to help! She’s a sucker for this kind of thing…..she even thinks it’s a vacation and it’s FUN!    So Gramma Holcomb made a trip to Avon, Indiana to take care of these precious ‘things’!    It wore her out, but she did have a great time!

See that innocent face? Isn't it cute??Doesn't he look so angelic??!!

Well, I certainly learned a lot while I was the authority figure in the house. I learned that it is the kids and their schedules that really run the house and I didn’t even really have time to take many photos while I was there!! Brayden and David were at school most of the day so the 2 that needed my daytime attention are sitting right here! We read scriptures every morning and had family prayer every morning before the boys had to meet the bus and then we had a few hours to read, play, dance, do dishes, sweep the floor, run to the store, and decide what to have for lunch! Boy, the time went quickly! After lunch it was time to try to convince the 2 little ones that Gramma needed a nap (or at least some quiet time!) I don’t think I managed to do that even once! Poor tired Gramma!!

On Saturday it was our only real chance to get over to Cissna Park to see Great

Gramma Boyce and wish her a Happy Mother’s Day!

Brayden and David went on an overnight campout with Grampa Enz the night before and so Saturday morning Rachel, Jacob and Gramma got their baths and/or showers and got ready for the trip. When the big boys got home they took quick showers and then we were in the van and off to Cissna……oh wait, before we hit the road we did the drive through McDonalds thing and everyone had lunch! It would have taken another hour to feed everyone at home (how’s that for rationalization?)   Here are some photos of our visit.

Doesn't he look angelic??!!

Saturday before Mothers Day 2010It was a very cold, windy day! (Note the jackets)Aunt Lori came to see great gramma and us too!

Once we had said our goodbyes and all got back into the van, the kids were expecting a chance to play at what they called the ‘Best Park in the Whole World”! Well, it was a pretty cold, windy day and the hour was late, but I said I’d give them 5 minutes to play……I thought by then they would all be freezing and ready to get back in the warm van…….Anyway, I ended up giving them at least 12 minutes to make all the rounds on the play equipment! I must say, it is a very nice park!!!!

Blurry....ouch!Isn't he soooo cute??!They were moving very fast!

David in his hoodie and shorts!

At the end of the week I had had the opportunity to see Brayden and David doing their Karate stuff and climbing a wall and a rope, heard them practice piano every day (they are very good!), and I even helped a little with the homework! Rachel had her playgroup one of the mornings I was there and Jacob learned to ride the little wooden bike. I learned that while Rachel doesn’t like bread, she loves Fazoli’s garlic bread sticks! They LOVE Kraft macaroni and cheese, Drumsticks frozen treats, and pizza! While we may not have done anything really great and exciting, it was a good week and Gramma got through it! Thanks you guys for giving me this opportunity!! I love you all…………………

Gorgeous flowers in Michigan!

marenme — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:41:12 +0000

: Purple Clematis at the porch

We have had such a wonderful spring and summer this year (2010)! Our first really hot days were last week just after the 4th of July. Anytime it gets up around 90 degrees we start complaining about the heat and humidity, but thank heaven for a/c that works! Here are some photos of the gorgeous flowers that we have enjoyed this year……..

Saturday and the trip home

marenme — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:35:07 +0000

We were so very tired after our fun day on Friday that we both were asleep just about as quick as our heads hit the pillows! I tried sleeping in, but Rick was up at his usual time and making all kinds of noise to wake me up……how mean is that!! I was still moving slowly (I used to be a morning person, but after 10 years of teaching early morning seminary and 4 years of paper routes even before early morning seminary I am still trying to catch up on my sleep….It is one of my hobbies!! LOL)

We made it to the breakfast offered by the hotel…..malt waffles and good cold milk! Then back to the room (it was very nice), I checked my email and then we packed up and checked out. We spent a few hours walking in and out of shops in Pentwater finding lots of stuff that we could have spent money on (if we had any!) and taking our time. After we thought we had exhausted Pentwater we headed north again, around Ludington this time and up toward Manistee. Another really cute little town. I just loved their “Welcome to Manistee” sign!

We didn’t spend time in Manistee. But we kept driving north and came accidentally on one of the greatest places we had seen the whole trip. It was a little (Very Little!) town called Onekama on Portage Lake! Very small town, very big boats and a not very many people! Our kind of place! There is even a channel from the harbor to Lake Michigan which of course is necessary in order to really ‘GO BIG’!

Onekama City Park

Portage Lake

We had hamburgers for lunch at a cute little ice cream shop with outdoor seating. (Sorry, I didn’t take a picture : ( ! ) We drove into the landing area and even spoke with one of the residents (probably the owner of the landing) and he said they are always looking to attract more tourists to the area. What we decided is that we need a boat and need to find a way to make a living from home! But back to reality……..

I guess we were feeling some pressure to get going to make our way home before it got too late. It was still a 3 1/2 hour drive. This time we needed to make our way east and south, except Rick kept having me make turns NORTH!

Apparently we needed to drive some north in order to find the fastest way east to Mt. Pleasant and then south to Lansing on 27. Again we had to drive through the Manistee National Forest, beautiful views and almost no traffic! It was a pleasant drive and we arrived home safely about 5:30 or 6 on Saturday evening. And then we were back to the usual! Prepare my Primary lesson, etc., etc., etc.

Thanks for spending time with us!

Rest of the day on Friday….Ludington!

marenme — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:05:56 +0000

Hi again! Once we checked into the hotel and ‘freshened’ up a bit, we decided to take a trip to Ludington….just a few miles up the road. As we drove through the cute little town we were hunting for the lakefront. There it is: a gorgeous city park with a great beach, pier and lighthouse! Then we see the sign to Ludington State Park and thought we’d like to take a look……up the road we went and then we find out we have to pay to get into the park. And we are sooooo cheap we couldn’t bring ourselves to cough up the $10 when we could go to the City Park for free and see the same sunset on the same Lake Michigan!! We turned around at the park entrance and headed back to Ludington……..lovely dunes along the way!! We got dinner at a restaurant in town (mediocre at best) and then drove around town looking at the cool houses and great yards and finally ended up sitting on the beach (in our lawn chairs) just watching everyone. There was a great deal going on, volleyball, holes being dug in the sand, little kids playing, and this:

I don't know what you call it, but it looks like fun!

He flew over several times before finally landing on the beach.

As the evening wore on Rick and I took a walk along the edge, enough to get kind of damp (me more than Rick). I had told him several days before we went that I’d be happy if all we did was walk on the beach and watch the sunset over the lake. The weather was cool (some even wore jackets) and the lake was sooooo very beautiful!

The pier and lighthouse

Gorgeous or what??!!

Sunset over Lake Michigan

Okay, enough already!!

Then it was time to venture back to Pentwater and the motel, but it was also time for the ‘drive-bys’ who also wanted to see the sunset over Lake Michigan but didn’t want to sit and wait for it. It was hard to back out of our parking spot, but we made it and then as we were driving to Pentwater the Full Moon was Risin’ and it was beautiful too!

Full Moon in Ludington!

Labor Day Trip ‘Up North’

marenme — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:13:38 +0000

Well, once again Rick was able to swing a few days off and with some juggling of my schedule we were able to take Friday & Saturday before Labor day and took a quick trip to Pentwater, Ludington, and Manistee. I needed to get back for church on Sunday and we still had plenty to do around the house on Monday and besides, we can’t sleep too many nights in ‘foreign’ beds without feeling it in our bones.

Our first stop was at one of our very own almost local site: Uncle Johns Cider Mill just north of St. Johns for some very yummy fresh doughnuts and fresh pressed apple cider:

Uncle Johns Cider Mill

Then we went to Crystal, Michigan because I wanted to see where my very good friend and nail tech/hair stylist Kim and her husband live. She talks all the time about things that are there and I had yet to see it! It is about 1 1/2 hours from Lansing and she makes the trip in to East Lansing to work every day. So, once we found her house (a little cottage on a beautiful lake) we also drove around the town some and came across the stone house she has talked about. Notice the HUGE rocking chair on the front porch………

Huge rocking chair on this porch

Kim told me about a cool place fairly close to Crystal called Anderson and Girls. They have a petting zoo with camels, llamas, billy goats, etc. There was also a gift shop and an ice cream parlor. It was kind of cool. We got some great homemade bread, apple butter, peaches and caramel apples.

Anderson & Girls

The billy goat bridge

Anderson & Girls gift shop

Once we left Stanton we were on a ‘mission’ to get to Pentwater, but weren’t sure how to get there! (And I didn’t get my Garmin until Thursday!) We ended up taking all the back roads and just kept going North and West and figured if we did that we would eventually end up at Lake Michigan. We drove through the Manistee National Forest, saw lots of beautiful scenery and not much else. Not even much traffic! We did finally end up driving into Pentwater, MI from the south end of town and WOW…..did we fall in love with that town! Lots of boats, shops, restaurants (and people!). I’ll even put up a few of the pictures we took.

Pentwater

Channel looking toward Lake Michigan

The channel looking toward Pentwater

Gorgeous isn’t it! But kind of crowded and expensive. We did stay overnight there at a Best Western and enjoyed the shops. The weather was perfect too!

Dinner with Friends…..

marenme — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:38:47 +0000

A few weeks ago we were invited to have dinner with some really good friends of ours from Church. I was the ‘member missionary’ that went with the missionaries several years ago when they were teaching Carrie Ellen. She was baptized on Easter Sunday of (geez, I can’t even remember how long ago it was….we were still living in EL!) but her husband Gere was not. Gere was very supportive and has continued to be through the years and even attends church with her fairly often. He is blind and has been since he was a teenager. They are such a neat couple and we do enjoy their company. We went to their home and brought along a salad. They provided the rest of the meal: potato salad, fresh fruit, strawberries (sliced by Gere with the knife upside down!), and hamburgers on the grill. Have you ever seen a blind man grilling hamburgers?? Quite a sight to behold! First he wets down an oven mitt (it has burn marks all over it : ) ) and then he puts it on. As the burgers are cooking he pushes on the burgers in order to find out how done they are. He seasons them and everything! Actually, everything was absolutely delicious!! I had never taken a picture of these wonderful people, so I took my camera along and thought they were worthy of a spot on the blog!!

Gere at the sink/Carrie Ellen in the background

Gere and Carrie Ellen at the dinner table on the screened porch

The Water Co. digging up our yard!

marenme — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:39:45 +0000

Just a few pictures from the hardworking employees of Lansing Board of Water and Light! It was time for our neighborhood to have some water lines updated so they had to dig DEEP into our yard! It was kind of fascinating to watch!!

See our Garden (vegetable & flower!)

marenme — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:25:48 +0000

We are trying to get a few vegetables out of a small stand up garden and our flowers in the front have been just gorgeous this year!

Vegetables

Hanging tomato plants (they didn't work very well!)

Flowers at the front fence. Aren't they gorgeous??

Gramma helps out at the Enz’s for almost a week in July!

marenme — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:06:44 +0000

Well, this is only 2 months late getting posted! I was so blessed to be invited to stay at their house while Sarah was at YW Girls Camp and Jeremy was working and also going to daycamp with Brayden a couple of days. What a time I had! The first day I told Jacob he couldn’t have something….an animal cracker I think…..and I was informed by Rachel that ‘Mommy let’s Jacob have whatever he wants’. I also was told that Rachel can’t have dairy to eat since she was throwing up. Hhhmmmmm…..the things we find out from the kids!! Then David and Rachel ‘made’ a restaurant in Rachel’s room complete with (plastic) food, menus, and an extra wide chair for Gramma! How cute they are! It makes me smile even now when I think of it!!

Jacob showed Gramma he knew how to climb out of his crib! Rachel sang into the window crank at the living room window. Jacob stands with his nose in a corner for his time out. And all the kids, even Jacob, just love to ‘play’ on the computer!

Rachel 'singing' into the window crank

Jacob in time out

Brayden at the computer

David 'chillin' on the couch

The rest of our ‘runaway trip’

marenme — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 01:42:44 +0000

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve done any blogging and we have been kind of busy up here in Michigan. It has been a wonderful summer weather-wise. Nice and cool with only a few really hot days (like up in the 80′s). Last blog was our runaway trip to Kirtland, OH and from there we went on down to see Granny and Pappaw Holcomb in West Virginia. Once we left Kirtland we stopped just inside West Virginia at the Fenton Glass Factory and took the tour.

Fenton Glass Factory

On the way down we came across a wonderful opportunity to do a little shopping! In Mineral Wells, West Virginia we saw this:

Coldwater Creek Clearance CenterColdwater Creek Distribution Center

We stopped and spent about an hour or so and boy, did they have the bargins! I got a couple of outfits and a liquid silver necklace! I’ve always wanted one but they were way out of my price range, but at this clearance center it was like 65% off! Our next stop was at Tamarack in Beckley. We often stop there to stretch, go to the bathroom, and just take a look at all the great stuff they have there! Lots of handicrafts made in West Virginia….some of it is very unusual and all of it is handmade.

TAMARACK

We arrived in Bluefield on Friday afternoon, visited Rusty and Rita on Saturday and did a little shopping. Attended church on Sunday and stopped by Rodney’s house on our way home from church.

Granny & Pappaw

Rusty in all his glory!

Rita and Granny

We left early Monday morning and when we were filling up the car Rick realized he had lost his driver license. We called Pappaw to see if we might have left it on the dining room table, but no such luck. So, Rick looked through everything in the trunk, pants pockets, brief case, bags……nothing! So we decided we had better go back the way we came down and stop at the motel where the license was last used when we checked in. We called ahead so they would take a 2nd look in the room and see what they could find. Rick even went to the room himself when we got there, but we couldn’t find the driver license.

I drove the rest of the way home (just in case). And we saw some beautiful Mimosa trees in bloom!

Mimosa tree in bloom

When we got back home we looked again through every bag of dirty clothes, every piece of luggage and still couldn’t find it. A day or 2 after we got back Rick went and got a new driver license and then of course we found his old one under the driver’s seat in the car!! Apparently it had fallen out of his pocket. So now he has 2 licenses!