The "Summer Vacation"

Ahhh the water. Ahhh the cool nights! Now. Just a scoop of Northern Lights, and it would be perfect. Check that. Throw in an old jeep with the top down..... Now that's heaven on earth!




This was a "pinch me" moment. I was having a post endorphin rush (warm fuzzies from all the walking walking walking) sitting in a rocking chair on THE porch of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. For free!! We had an entire hour in those rocking chairs, just looking out at this view....only much much wider.





We took our annual trip to Northern (lower) Michigan to stay with Dan's mom and dad....aka the Free Resort. With all that free baby sitting, we tried not to leave burnt rubber marks on grandpa's drive way as Dan and I took a lovely day trip to Mac Island. For me, the porch was the hi-light. It's where it's at!

We didn't rent a bike. We didn't rent a horse. We didn't rent a buggy. We didn't rent a buggy taxi. We used our own two feet. Flip flop clad feet. But I looked good and that was the most important thing. We walked all over the south face of the island. Up high, and down by the water. The sun was warm and the breeze cool. The flowers were just incredible. It's almost magical. In a nut shell...PER FECT!

All good things must come to an end....

..... back at the ranch, the younger generation... the boy cousins got a few good rolls in down the hill. In the soft blue grass. There's a picture of trouble if I've ever seen one!



This is the "Resort".



This is the view from the porch of the Selkirk Lake. Thanks mom and dad F for making our summers so peaceful and refreshing! We love you!



Lest you think I've taken up a hobby of sipping garden mulch... I will tell you I have broadend my horizons and cultural experiences. I am sipping a very common Brazilian tea. It's quite an art. Tea is to Brazil what coffee is to Seattle. Can't say that I'm hooked, but it was fun. Dan's niece Ashley was an exchange student in Brazil last year. While we were home, she had a "Noche de Brazilia" (Brazil Night) with lots of yummy food cooked as close to fogo as possible.



Here is all Great Grandma Hamer's grandsons all together. Jamie Hamer, Dan, brother Dean, brother Dale. Pretty neat.



Speaking of cousins... back home in Texas, I made a visit of my own to see my cousin Tony Leal and his wife Kim. They have 4 boys the same age as ours. Lord have mercy when we get together.

Now if I could just get my sisters down here again....

Long Overdue

It' has been way too long since my last post. That's because too much has happened. But I will do my best to get everyone up to speed.

This was taken on my 32nd birthday at Palottas with the Gallemore's and the Vaughns. Viva Italiano!

In June we hosted 3 boys and a music/dance teacher from the Ugandan Children's Choir. They are all orphans from Uganda. They blessed us sooooo much! We will never forget our experience. In the center is Ivan.

This is Alan (accent on the second "a"). He is an extremely intelligent and tallented young man. Only in America can they play in an otherwise priceless commodity. In Uganda, the children must walk 2 miles to the community well to fetch the heavy buckets of water. They thought they had died and gone to heaven!

This is Vincent. He loved to give me hugs! He is 10yrs old. He was found begging in the streets.

Another discovery.... the camera. Each child was given a disposable camera. They had never seen such a thing. Many took pictures of their own eye balls by accident. So every 10 minutes they would come to me... "Auntie!! Take pic-cha...take pic-cha." How could I say no!! It was funny - they kept looking on the back of their own disposables for the screen they saw on mine.

This was the music teacher. Jamil (Ya-meel) You can bet your very last dollar that we had some lessons go'n on in our living room. Tribal dancing is HARD!!!

Then later in June we had some more foreign visitors. The Boncimino's came back from their temporary home in KL ,Malaysia for a whirl wind visit. So we managed to squeeze in an hour or two with them, but really it was a cruel tease. Love you Chyrl!

Hey surfer Dan! Catch that wave babe!

Over the 4th, we went to see friends in Panama City, FL. This beach was so beautiful, I had no choice but to stay long and fry like a chicken.

Look! It's Shamoo! Washed ashore. Nice bruise!

Summer?? Bring it on!!