Hello All! We left last Thursday for a camping trip to one of my favorite places in the world. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park was our destination. The weather was perfect!! We enjoyed fun time with our friends the Alsum family and Grandma and Granddad Briden. We went tubing down the Platte River, climbed the Sleeping Bear Dunes and of course enjoyed many smores. A favorite stop of ours also was Cherry Republic. This area of Michigan is known for it's cherry production, it is the top producer of tart cherries in the nation. Tart cherries are used in pies, jam, jelly and juice. I love cherries, especially chocolate covered!! Cherry Republic has become a favorite stop when in Northern Michigan. Their motto is Life, Liberty, Beaches and Pie, couldn't have said it better myself. http://www.cherryrepublic.com/

We thoroughly enjoyed our time together with all. The weather was perfect with no rain to speak of. Which is nice when you are tent camping. We even managed to take a tubing trip down the Platte river which empties into Lake Michigan. (http://www.canoemichigan.com/) The Platte River was very warm and nicely shallow. The perfect combination when tubing with 6 kids under 7 years old : ) The picture at the top of this post is of our family on the top of the Sleeping Bear dune climb. Yahoo, we made it!! It was quite a climb and all three walked up and down all by themselves.

Grandma and Granddad Briden stayed in a cabin. Well, it was more like a wooden storage shed. It was cute and I believe they really enjoyed it. We really enjoyed having them camp with us!!

I am excited to report that I will have my ultrasound for Baby Briden on July 19th. Hopefully we will be able to see if we need newborn baby blue or if we pull out the cute pink clothes again. We are thrilled either way, boy or girl. We are thankful to have another blessing added to our family. God is good to us!!

Next weekend we head to Traverse City for a MAFP (Michigan Academy of Family Physicians) conference Kelly will attend. We will be staying at a hotel right on Traverse City's West Bay. Mommy is excited because we can wake up and go to the beach for the morning after breakfast. We are all excited to see the fireworks on the fourth of July over the Bay. God Bless you all and Happy Independence Day!!!!! Love, Crystal

Hello All! I wanted to quickly update the blog as we are quickly moving from one trip to the next. I arrived home at eight o'clock on Saturday the 16th. I was so glad to hug my family and have a large beverage I could have cried. God Bless the good old U.S.A., there is no place like home. With that being said our time did improve after our initial canceled flights, lost luggage, missed rental car and riding a Hoppa bus from Heathrow to hunt down another rental car. The beginning of the trip was slightly overwhelming. I was so glad we didn't have children with us. Heather and I feel we have learned so many lessons as far as international travel. We are considering writing a book.

The pictures I have attached to this post were special to me. First, an English rose. This particular garden was so fragrant that you could smell the scent of roses long after departing. The garden was on Winston Churchill's birthplace and boyhood home.

The next image is of my sister and I in our little village of Winchcombe. These houses were so quaint with the lovely gardens and climbing roses. I sort of expected Miss Marple to pop out of the door and ask us to tea. If you don't know who Miss Marple is, than you better Google her : )

Sudeley Castle is the stately home in the next photo. It was two mile from the village of Winchcombe. Portions of it were built in the 11th century. It was absolutely beautiful and the grounds were breathtaking. Also of significance is the fact that King Henry the 8th's last wife Katherine Parr (who actually outlived old Henry) is buried in the church on Sudeley grounds. She died after the birth of her one and only daughter.

Lastly, is a picture of Blenheim Palace where Winston Churchill was born and raised. He even later proposed to his fiance on the grounds. It reminded me of Versailles in France. It was very neat to tour. Whole sections were closed to visitors due to the fact that a present day Duke and his family reside there. Heather and I had a great trip!! Best of all we got to spend quality time bonding as sisters should. She is and always will be my hero for many reasons. She was was a great travel companion!! At least much of it even at the time we could laugh about. you know what they say, what happens in Winchcombe stays in Winchcombe : ) I love you Heath!! Cheers!!!

Hello All! I just wanted to tell everyone we made it safely to England. It has been quite the adventure. When I return I will write more about the fiasco that was the beginning of our trip to England. For now, we look forward to tomorrow ! This picture is my sister, Heather behind the wheel of our rental car. All I can say is, she is my hero!! She drove from London to Winchcombe (about two hours) and she was amazing!!! Driving here is quite exciting and scary. Don't worry, we are still alive : )


The next picture is of me in front of our cottage. It is such a quaint and beautiful village. Both Heather and I got separated for our luggage and we have had the same clothes since Friday. So In most pictures of me I am in my red shirt. The good news is Heather's luggage arrived this evening at the cottage and mine is supposed to be arriving at London-Heathrow soon. Please pray that my luggage arrives tomorrow. It is hard to live in the same clothes for days. Don't worry we have been able to wash the clothes. So that has been a big blessing, at least the clothes are clean. It has been a comedy of errors in many ways. But we push on. Life has given us lemons, now we try hard to squeeze out lemonade. This last picture was taken by me of a neighboring home from our backyard. The roses are just so beautiful! Please pray for us : ) Love you all - Crystal

Hello and Goodbye All!! This is going to most likely be my last post for a little while. On Friday my sister, Heather and I are off to the U.K. The picture I have posted is the cottage in the village of Winchcombe we will be calling home during our stay. We will primarily be visiting castles, gardens and of course "Birdland" (http://www.birdland.co.uk/) in an area of England called the Cotswolds. The villages are the picture many people have in their mind's eye of the cozy, slow paced English countryside. God willing we will visit places like Sudeley Castle (http://www.sudeleycastle.co.uk/), Warwick Castle (http://www.warwick-castle.co.uk/) and Bath with the famous Roman Baths popularized by the Romans between the 1st and 5th centuries. Both Heather and I are so excited to see all this . Hopefully we will be able to email and maybe even blog while in England. I will blog if at all possible. Please pray for Kelly, his parents and the kids as Mommy has some much needed time away. Kel's parents will watch the kids during the day and Kelly will be on all by himself for the nights and weekends. I am so thankful and blessed to have this time away. Thanks Kelly, Ken and Vera!! So for now Cheerio and please remember us in your prayers : ) Love, Crystal