Fun at the Cabin!

On Christmas night, the entire family, along with Shalene, Angie and Jeanette, headed up north to the Cabin!  It was great to wake up and be there the next day.  Jesse, Hannah, Gabe, Shalene, Angie, Jeanette, and Lizzy took off to Boyne to ski in the awesome snowy weather, while the rest of us chilled at home.  Amber and Bethany made some chili.  The rest of the extra long weekend was great:  we played games, watched movies, finished the chocolate puzzle, played pool, shuffleboard and table tennis, made a winter fire, went snowshoeing, made snowmen and threw snowballs together.

What a wonderful way to put the cherry on top of Christmas with my fav people!

On to the Sidelines!

On to the Sidelines!

This is the last Easter I have a son living at home.  In two short weeks, Daniel will be married, and the whole beautiful time of raising children will be past tense for my husband and I.

I loved every minute of raising my children.  What a privilege to have five amazing children I have been able to raise and send off as arrows in the hand of a mighty warrior!  Seeing the life partners each of them has chosen, and seeing what they are doing with their lives and in the world is nothing short of amazing.

But I feel as if I am being asked to move off the field and onto the bleachers.  And for someone who loves the game it is really a more difficult thing to do:  watch instead of being right there in the center of the action!

For those we are sending off, be patient with us if we get a little too enthusiastic from the sidelines sometimes!  I know it was difficult for my brothers when my dad would whip out the army horn every time they did anything right!  haha!  We may stand up and cheer too much.  We may even argue with the referee if we don't like the calls and try to intervene for you!  We may run onto the field too early if we think you are hurt -- even if you only skinned your knee -- and embarrass you!  But know that all these things only show how much we are passionately involved in the game and how much we enjoyed it when we were on the field.  And please please please keep giving us front row seats...  we could never stand being anywhere else!