Getting ready

Our house is getting more and more empty. We have 2 weeks before we leave Michigan. We're using diaper boxes as dressers and sitting on the floor to watch movies. Shrinking a household down to 10 suitcases keeps us on our toes. Last night we successfully boiled  corn on the cob in a frying pan and sliced the pizza with a plastic knife. 

We already sent 'the irreplaceables' away to be stored. David's parents filled their Camry to the limit with boxes of photo albums, journals, handmade baby blankets, and that sweet wooden barn I threw in at the last minute, and drove it across country to be tucked away in their basement. I even finished the baby books and blurbed a blog book just in time. Amazing how motivating a deadline like moving out of the country can be. 

A couple weeks later we wrapped up our bed frame, that awesome children's book shelf I found at a yard sale for $5, and more boxes of treasures to be stored and they all hitched a cross country ride on Curtis' cherry truck. Thanks Curtis! 

For right now, Craigslist is my still best friend, there's always more to get rid of. I can't wait for next Saturday - we're going to do the big yard sale, everything goes, and then haul the rest away. So by Saturday everything should be gone. gone. gone. Then we'll pack up those 10 suitcases and ship them to my parents' house. Everything we'll take to Singapore. And then with just a couple bags we'll leisurely travel over the mountains to visit our family. We've got a family vacation in Moab and a wedding in Washington to look forward to. 

Sounds like a plan, right? I sure hope so. 

a four-year-old

Noah turned four yesterday. Four years old. So big. 

All day he excitedly told everyone that it was his birthday, he was now 4 years old, and he was having a party at Lake Lansing. And I mean everyone - the people passing by in the Meijer parking lot, the nice mom in the pediatrician waiting room, the lady handing us our ice cream cones at McDonalds. This boy was excited. 

And Lake Lansing did not disappoint. It didn't rain! We ate pizza, played in the sand, sang 'happy birthday', opened presents (very thoughtful, consumable, traveling-to-Singapore-soon type presents :) and even dug up some treasure. A box of gold (yellow m&ms, yellow starburst, and chocolate coins) for each little friend. 

Happy Birthday to Noah. 

Memorial Day

"This is the best! Ridin in a boat and eatin a snow cone." ~ Noah 

Camping with Dad

. roasted hot dogs . boys . yummy smores . dirty shoes . campfire . 

flashlights . rain . snuggly sleeping bags

Mackinaw Island

After graduation while we still had David and his parents all to ourselves we went up north. Mackinaw city is on the very northern tip of the mitten that is MI's lower peninsula. Mackinaw Island is then just a short ferry ride away.


The island is adorable and the complete definition of quaint. Cute little shops and restaurants, no cars or buses allowed, just bikes and horse drawn carriages to be seen.


We made our way past the fudge shops, the old church, historic houses, up to the fort and then up and through the woods to Arch Rock. Grandma and Grandpa teaching Noah about tree gum, maple syrup and woodpeckers.


We then hiked back down past the Grand Hotel and into town for burgers, french fries and of course a little fudge on the side. We let the kids throw pebbles and huck rocks into Lake Huron with the Mackinaw Bridge and the Round Island Lighthouse in the background. It was sunny and gorgeous.

Noah kept asking when we were going to leave.

You see, we had a small indoor waterpark at our hotel.

Both boys could have spent all day every day at the water park. It was the perfect size for them. And did I mention that Noah's bed pulled down out of the wall? and that you could make your own waffles for breakfast in the morning? When it was finally time to head home, Noah said "but, this is our home."

He never wanted to leave that hotel.

Happy Mother's Day

Congratulations, David

Congratulations to Dr. David Wagner. Can you believe it? This man has put so much work into this degree. Our whole family has. We are so proud of him. And we both feel like we couldn't have done it without our amazing family and friends and the faculty, staff and students at MSU. Thank you so much!


One ceremony couldn't quite celebrate enough for all the studying, sweating, changing, dedicating, worrying, working, sacrificing, theorizing, and learning that has gone into this degree. But it sure was nice. Dave's parents were able to be here for the celebrations and celebrate we did.

Congratulations again, Dr.