The Top of the World

We visited our friends Ben and Miranda up in the U.P. this weekend. Ben goes to school in Houghton at Michigan tech. (Yaha for engineering!) It was quite the drive. I took Friday and Monday off so we didn’t spend the whole weekend driving. Saturday we all drove even further north to the tip of Michigan and took the Brockway mountain drive. Michelle got a little car sick but we did get to see some cool sites. We also got to see the big snow thermometer and a little road side waterfall. We just stop when and where ever we felt like it and took in the beauty of nature. The weather wasn’t the greatest. It was cloudy and over casted most of the time and it rained a good chunk of the time Sunday, which just gave us time to play a little Mario kart on the wii!

But all the site seeing and adventuring was second to visiting with Ben and Miranda. We got to see their new apartment in the great white north land and see the new credit union where Miranda works. There was a lot of talking and joking, and of course game playing. A good time was had by all. We drove home Monday in the first snow of the season. There was almost a inch of snow by the time we hit Marquette, but faded as we drove east. We had a lot of fun just taking our time driving across Michigan. It is amazing the many different landscapes this state has. We ate at Clyde's on the way home and it was amazing! (I know you're all jealous.) After all our travels, we were happy to finally get home and relax with Harvey.

Don't spit into the wind it can be dangerouos

The Top Of the World

"I Can Flyyyyyy!!!!!"

The one time the sun came out

"I'm Cold!"

Welcome Abigail Kay Steele

Craig and Stacie have finally met their beautiful daughter Abigail Kay! She was born on October 20th at 7 lbs. and 20 inches long. She has her mother's chin (the Reese Witherspoon chin) and nose, and from what I can tell her father's eyes. However, it is difficult to tell when the baby's only a couple of days old. Stacie and baby arrived home Wednesday and are doing just fine. I can't wait to meet this little miracle! I'm sure I will be posting more pictures once we get some. As for now this is the only one I have that isn't copyrighted.

Pumpkin Time

We kept with our tradition of carving a pumpkin this year. We have a system worked out between us. Michelle traces the face onto the pumpkin and I do the actual carving. Michelle says I have to do the carving because I have huge muscles and can control the knife better. Ok, maybe I added the part about the huge muscles but I do, do the carving. It's a fun little activity we started doing before we were married. Harvey didn't like the pumpkin at first. We set the pumpkin on the balcony with a candle inside and he started barking at the strange glowing face. Harvey rarely barks at anything and he soon got over his dislike.

Kings and Queens

This weekend we carried out the second annual trip to the Renaissance Festival. The first thing you realize when going to the festival is, well I guess I'm not that bad. Where do these people come from. They come in all shapes and sizes with some wacky outfits. Speaking of sizes, some women attending should have reconsidered the two piece outfit! But, in all it was a fun time. We went with the cousins and took in the sites. I had a gigantic turkey leg. Michelle did not. We watched a couple little side shows but mostly we just took in the sites. Afterwords we all came back to our house and broke out the wii. There was some serous tennis and boxing going on here. Fun times! (sorry forgot the camera again)

Fun Filled Night

Last night I had to go for a second sleep study down at U of M. It was a follow up visit to the first "base line" study I had two weeks ago. For those of you who have not had the wonderful experience of having a sleep study, let me tell you, you are missing out. (That was a blatant lie) There's nothing like having 25-30 wires taped all over your body, mostly on your head, then having a compressor strapped to your nose that tries to turn you into a balloon. Oh yeah, you guys missed a party last night.

OK, so it wasn't the worse thing in the world. I don't mean to sound so negative. Michelle was concerned about what some might call my "extreme" snoring. She said she was worried about my health, but I think she just wanted to get some sleep. So the loving husband that I am, I put it off for six months, but finally made an appointment. So you probably didn't really care to know all of that but hey the more you know the more you can love. At least I think that's how it works.

Canada Trip

Last weekend was the annual Canada trip with my dad and brothers. We went for five days of fishing from canoes and exploring the great white north land. We didn't catch as many fish as last year but it was still tons of fun. We did a little more exploring than usual.

After hiking up a stream to find a new lake, we came across a small waterfall. It was obivous that no one had been there in years. We had to cut our way in with machetes. It was one of the highlights of the trip. Part of the excitement is we have to portage a lot to get back to the fishing. It was also really nice to spend time with my Dad and brothers. We all had lot of fun. It was Sam's second year going up with the guys and once again shared a canoe with Dad. Which left Danny and I to share a canoe. Dad and Sam did fine. They had the bigger canoe. Now Danny and I are not small people so when we get into a small canoe it seems to sit lower in the water. This year was the first year that the tippie canoe got the better of us or I guess you might say it got the better of me. To avoid flipping the canoe completely I jumped out of the canoe thus saving the canoe from flipping. What I failed to think of was that the motor was running wide open. Thus I sent Danny on a wild ghost ride. Thankfully the canoe ran up on some rocks and I was able to swim/flop over to the boat. I quickly turned the motor off and stood waist deep in water thinking of how funny I must have looked swimming with my cowboy hat on. So it was another first for the canada trip. All in all no one got hurt too badly and we all had fun.

I was still glad to come home to my lovely wife and dog. Michelle and Harv spent the week with her family while I was gone. I really missed them. I always love going on vacation but it's fun to come home too! I am blessed to have a place I can miss and look forward to coming home to.

Wedding Weekend

This weekend our good friends Ben and Miranda were married. It was actually the first wedding we’ve been to since our own last year. Michelle was one of the bridesmaids in the wedding. It was an excellent wedding ceremony. It was very evident that Ben and Miranda not only love eachother but God as well and they wanted to bring Him glory with their wedding. As I sat through the ceremony, it reminded me that our marriages should be an example to others of how a good marriage functions. Our marriages should look different that the non-christian marriages. We are to bring glory to God through our marriage by investing in it. Even after only one year of wedded bliss, it is easy to put marriage on cruise control and not strive for higher ground. This weekend was just a good reminder of the duties of husbands and wives and the goal we have together to glorify God. Way to Go Ben and Miranda!

Update:

It's been awhile since I last update the our blog.(sorry) So I thought I would recap on the latest happenings.



I am still working like crazy, but that's normal. However, for the first time in quite awhile work is getting stressful. It's still not all that bad.



Michelle continues to look for a job. She has had a few hopeful phone calls but nothing has panned out. Her latest past time is card making and as usual she is excellent at that as well.



We had our one year anniversary on the 21th . Amazingly enough it has been one year of wedded bliss for us. The year just flew by. I don't know when you stop being a newlywed, but I still feel like one. And I just want to say, I like being married.



Michelle's family reunion, Lewis Camp, was the first of the month. It's where Michelle's family goes camping for a weekend together. We always have fun and this year was no different. We have a tradition of tubing down the river at midnight with the cousins. I made the trip down the river twice this year. It was a lot fun, but man was it cold. Michelle and I also made a trip down the river in a canoe. Nothing like camping, canoeing, and tubing with family in the great outdoors. Sunday morning is cool too, because the whole family has church together.


We got to go to the rodeo last week at the fair. It was Michelle's first rodeo. It was a pretty fun time but we forgot the camera in the car so, sorry no pictures.


On a side note I love the fair. County fairs are so much fun. The animals, the sites, the rides, the events, THE FOOD!, and of course carnies. Fried food!

Amber's fingers are doing great. They are healing well and she's going to therapy to get all of the movement back. She has been staying at our place when she has her Dr. appointments.

Well, that's what we've been up to. As usual we are busy. But God has blessed over and over.

Non-Stop Adventure

I'm running a little behind. Last weekend we had quite the adventure. We went white water rafting on the upper youghiogheny river in pennsylvania with some friends from church. It was Michelle's first time rafting and she was quite nervous. The upper yough is the most technical class 5 rapids that are commercially run in the world. We didn't find that out until we were on the river and it was probably best Michelle didn't know until then. We had a blast! Our trip on the river included 20 class 5 rapids in a row with a drop off a 10 ft and 12 ft waterfall and a squeeze through a 4ft gap. (Note: The boat is 6ft wide. Ya, I know crazy!) In the end we all had fun. Michelle fell out once but wasn't out for long.

As if that wasn't enough excitement for one vacation, we stopped for a day at cedar point on the way home. Michelle, who is very scared of heights but loves to go fast, rode all the rides even the dragster and the Millenium Force. I was way impressed. She was quite the champ.

The trip also gave us a chance to try out our new tent and it worked great. They have made some definite improvements to camping gear since we camped as kids. We camped four nights, two in PA and two in Ohio.

I hope this doesn't sound too much like a letter from perfectville. We just had a good vacation. I love it when that happens!

Inspired Thought

I thought I would share a short paper I wrote. God pricks my mind with ideas every once and awhile. I try to write it down as best I can and I feel I should share it. I hope you find this helpful and encourage.

For Such a Time as This

The Situations
In a world that is ever changing, usually for the worse, it gets depressing. It is easy to look back to times gone by and wish for that time again. Sure the modern conveniences are nice and I enjoy them as much as anyone else. But along with the technology of the modern age comes the moral decay and ignorance of the current culture. Gender lines have become so blurred that men don’t know how to act like men and women don’t know how to act like women. Parents raise their children as the blind lead the blind. Our leaders have no integrity and are continually creating government programs to try and patch the moral decline of the people. Natural resources are growing more scarce and costing more. There are more and more extreme natural disasters that are destroying people’s lives. The economy is continuing to stay low. If you focus on all these events and situations happening around us there just isn’t much you can put your faith in. It would just be easier to live at another point in time where the world wasn’t such a wreck.

The Hope
In the end the only thing we can really trust in is God. He is above all and nothing happens without His permission. Now of course I realize that this statement is very clichés sounding and has been said a hundred different ways. I only mention it because it supports my main idea. “For such a time as this.” This statement is from Esther when she faced some pretty tough times, life and death in fact. It means that God has placed us at this point and time for a specific reason and purpose. God looked across all of time from beginning to end and has chosen this point in time for you to live. The full reality of this idea might not completely sink in at first. Let’s go back a step. God tells us that he has our best interests at heart and that He loves us with an unimaginable love. He only wants to do what is best for us. With that in mind God put each one of us here at this point in time. He knew everything that was going to happen to you before it happened and this is where He placed you. So no matter what happens we know God has proof read the script and has approved it for you best interest. When your life is getting rough and you wish you didn’t have go through hardship, you can be comforted that God wants you there. The second reason for hope is if God has placed us here at this point in time for reason, there is a purpose for our lives. The statement “For such a time as this,” refers to a time in Esther’s life were she had to choose complete the mission God had placed her there for or to not. God didn’t only place us here for the good of ourselves, but also to accomplish something for Him. I like to think of God as a general looking out across the battlefield of time. He knows the strength of each of His soldiers and cares for each of them greatly. As the commander in chief, He places his soldier where they will be the most effective in the fight and do the most good for the soldier. Each mission wins part of the battle and brings glory to the Commander. Each one of us has a life mission that God has entrusted us with.

The Mission
So, “For such a time as this,” God has placed us here at this point in time with a purpose. Our hope comes from knowing that God is good and loving. God is timeless and is the all knowing king of the universes that has chosen your place in time. A thought that is both encouraging and humbling at the same time. Go run the race God has chosen for you this is your only hope. This is your only chance.

“…And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

Birthday

It was Michelle's birthday Sunday. We a great time celebrating. We started the party out with a little lunch at the Japanese steak house and yes, it was delicious. Then back to the ranch for a little cake a presents. I know you are all wondering what I got her. It was a Wii. Yeah, I know I'm the greatest husband in the world.

Wow Nice Cake! I wonder who baked it.

Unfortunately our party was cut short because Michelle's sister had a little accident while four wheeling and Michelle had to go to the hospital with her. Amber had to have surgery on two finger tips but is doing good now.

I post this picture only to show off my jet powered bendy lighter. I can feel your jealousy already. It's a man lighter.

A Walk in the Park

We went to the park today. Bicentennial Park is right down the road from our house and has some nice walking trails. We like to get out on nice days to enjoy the sunshine and stretch the legs. There's a big field in the back for Harv to run around. He loves the outdoors, especially when he can run around without the leash.

Status Update:

Michelle continues to look for a job. She has had several good leads but nothing has come through yet. In the mean time, she busies herself with her latest crafty project, scrapbooking.

It's her birthday sunday. I got her a ...... Well, I'll tell you later. She might read this. I even made a birthday cake.

Harv is just about over the whole itchy eyes, cone wearing thing and it full of energy.

Me, I'm just the same. I still working for TG and I am still ruggedly handsome. (Once you got you never lose it!)

The Cone

This week our dog, Harvey, had bite of trouble with his eyes. Both eyes were scratched probably by sand from the beach. Because he would not stop scratching at them they became swollen and we had to take him to the vet. After a few days of eye drops and benadryl, his eyes are pretty much back to normal. He had to wear " the cone" so he wouldn't scratch his eyes. It looked pretty silly. Harv's eyes are still a little itchy so he still has the cone on, but he will be done with that soon.

Day to Day

Since Michelle finished school at the end of march, she has been looking for a job. However, she has yet to find one yet, not for lack of trying. In the mean time she has taken on many new craft projects, most of them having to do with decorating our apartment. Almost everyday I come home to a new idea and project she is working on. I must say that most of them are pretty cool. She likes to stay busy. Her latest project, that she was very excited about, was a shadow box with keep sakes in it to hang on the wall. All's I can say is it look good and I'm glad she has cool ideas like that because I sure don't.

Our Western Experience

Going out west three weeks ago was AMAZING. We tried a lot of new things. One of the most incredible things we did was go hiking in Zion National Park. The four of us (Michelle & I, and Dustin & Cassidy) did a five mile hike up the canyon the first day. After returning to our car we drove about 45minutes up into the mountains outside the park and camped 7000 ft above sea level next to a mountain reservoir. There was no camp ground, we just pitched our camp next to the lake and started a fire. It was cold! The next day we stuck to low trails and took it easy.

The Perfect Day

Monday morning my life changed. Dustin and I decided to go back to the Zion for one last hike. It was an advanced hike 5miles long, 1500ft up to the top of a mountain, Angel's Landing. It was one of the most crazy and amazing things I have ever done. After two mile of hike steep inclines and switch back trails the ridge. The ridge was had an amazing view with shear cliff on one side, but it wasn't the end of the trail. There was another half mile to the top on a trail that can best be described as mountain climb with chains. Dustin and I took our first look at the trail and said, "Are you kidding me!" The ledges in some places were just wide enough for your shoes with a sharp drop off of over 1000ft on one side and chain staked in the sand stone wall on the other. We were so scared but amazed at the same time. At one point the ridge became very narrow, about a foot and half with 1000 plus foot drop on either side. You want to talk about a rush. One wrong step and it was goodnight sally. The thrill of the climb and view was just an experience I will remember for the rest of my life. I know now why they call it Angel's Landing.

The angel's landing hike was just in the morning. After the hike we rushed back to meet the girls and spend the rest of the day on the lake. The sun was shine, it always does out there, it was hot, 104, and the water cold. We tubed and wake boarded with Dustin's famly and even did a little jet skiing. It was a blast. After all that fun we went and Dustin's dad grilled some of the best steak and shrimp Michelle and I had ever eaten. It truly was the perfect day!

New Bloggers!

Israel and I have decided to start a blog in order to keep all of our family and friends up to date with our new life together. We are super busy this summer with several vacations and many adventures, but we are looking forward it since last summer was extremely busy with wedding plans and moving. We have already been out west to Las Vegas to see some friends where we walked the strip (of course), hiked at Zion National Park, and spent a day on the water! It was a blast! In about a month we will be going out East to go white water rafting with some friends from church and we are very excited about that trip as well. We will be posting some pictures soon from our trip to Vegas so be on the lookout!

As many of you may know we have recently (well in February) gotten a puppy! He's a shih tzu and his name is Harvey! He was only six weeks old when we got him but is now 6 months old! We love him to death and he certainly has his very own personality. He makes us laugh all the time with his quirky attitude and sassy little bark. Here are a few pictures of him! Israel used a Mt. Dew can the very first day we got him as a scale. Harvey was tiny!! The other two pictures are more recent so he's a little bigger. Currently he is about 7 pounds.