Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

A couple of weeks after we were married, Mark and I were called to be temple workers at the Detroit Temple. I was kind of hesistant about taking it because I had been through the temple only a handful of times, and didn’t feel like I would be able to do the work that needed to be done simply because I lacked the experience needed. Plus all the temple workers seemed so much older and more experienced, I couldn’t possibly be qualified enough to do what they were doing. We went in and met  with the temple president and his wife and talked with them about what days we were available and what days they needed us, which turned out to be Saturday mornings. Now I was pretty peeved about the whole thing, Saturdays were the only day I could sleep in during the week. I was already exhausted by all the other things I was doing, how could I give up even more sleep to go and work in a place I was still relatively unfamiliar with?? But I frustratedly committed to trying to go. That first Saturd...

As I sit here on the "Catio", overlooking "the pond", with the sun shining, with 70 degree weather and a light breeze, and the birds singing (the sounds always remind me of the forest scenes in The Hunger Games), and a certain very loud chipmunk chirping, and a hummingbird just having come up to the feeder four feet away from me, I'm reminded of how happy I am that we moved to Michigan.  Yes, the age of the house sometimes frustrates me, especially when we have extreme temperatures and the furnace or the air conditioning unit can't keep up, but none of that affects how I feel about the location itself.  We have already had so many opportunities to do fun things around Dexter, in Ann Arbor, and all the way out to Detroit that it makes me constantly wonder, "Am I missing something else?  Is something else happening today that I don't want to miss?"  What festival is going on, or what performance is being shown that I don't know about? Last ...

I debated what to title this post.  Sundays in the Park with George, or Sundays with Morrie.  Although I've never seen Sundays in the Park with George and have no idea what it's about, I'll take the thought behind Tuesdays with Morrie and smash the two together ;-) John and I are tasting a big piece of heaven this summer with Mark, Allison and Glo all home at the same time.  Every time John and I want to do something, we invite one or all of the three, and it becomes an instant party.  This past week, we wanted to see the documentary "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" at the State Theatre.  By the time we got to the ticket office, the 7:30 showing was sold out, so we bought tickets for the 9:30 showing and headed to Don Juan for guacamole and Baskin Robbins to fill the empty time in between.  It wouldn't have been the same if we had invited random people--I would have worried about the show being sold out, would they want to eat, did I ruin their night--but wit...

I absolutely loved our second rental home.  We should have given it a name like "The House of Reclaimed Dreams" or something after our first house turned out to be such a literal HOT disappointment ;-). It was decorated so tastefully, even including a little crawl space/closet for Baby, complete with a tent opening and twinkle lights.  But I loved most was the time I could spend here with the family, especially Baby. There was a canvas swing in the backyard, and a bench swing on the front porch.  And from that swing, Baby learned how to play "I Spy" with Poppie, and remembered to play it with me the next day. I sat down and had breakfast with Baby, and I captured the moment of her eating her bagel. On Wednesday, we set aside everything else, and Ethan and Rebecca and Poppie all went to the temple.  With the Detroit temple closed for maintenance, Poppie has been feeling the need to go, and with the decision about a new job looming over Ethan and...

Day Two of Denver promised good things too!  We were headed to Colorado Springs for the day.  I had asked Ethan if we could go there seeing as my dad spent several years attending the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Aside from John almost killing us in some near-death collisions on the interstate on the way.... We started off at the Air Force Academy.  We stopped at some overlooks and although the displays should have been the stars of the show, Baby stole the spotlight when taking our picture.  Not only was I amazed at her creativity, she once again proved how much influence a parent can have over a child.  Notice how she pretends to put her phone in her non-existent back pocket! I wonder where she learned THAT?! ;-) It wasn't lost on any of us that while outside, we saw several gliders flying overhead. We then went into the visitor center and watched a video about "A Day in the Life of a Cadet".  It was crazy, seeing what the cadets are...

Day Two of Denver promised all kinds of good things.  We had slept soundly in our wonderfully air conditioned rental home, the sky was blue and adventure was calling. John shared strawberry shortcake with Brother :-) Thankfully, Ethan had planned our entire trip for us, so all we had to do was consult the itinerary for the day and hop in the van.  First stop?  The Denver Biscuit Company!  While I rarely meet a restaurant I don't like, I do believe this restaurant was created in heaven specifically for me.  A menu based around baking powder biscuits with "sausage biscuits and gravy" being the standard.  It was delicious and hip and fun and a great way to start the day. We were headed to the beginning of another activity when Ethan asked us to stop by a UPS store because he had forms he needed to submit for a new job in Washington DC.  We thought it would just take a minute or two, but it ended up taking closer to 45 minutes.  Since the UPS...

Several months ago, Ethan and Rebecca invited John and me to join them for a trip to Denver, Colorado.  It was within driving distance for them, and thankfully tickets were very inexpensive (and direct) for us.  I must admit that I wasn't too thrilled about Denver itself having been there before, but something about us Kennedys is that we can always make it a party no matter the location, right? After getting home late the night before from Mackinac Island, we were up at 5 a.m. to catch our 8 a.m. flight out of Detroit.  Glo was a champ, agreeing to drive us to the airport before she had to go to church.  We got to the airport right on time, and having flown Spirit airlines before, I now know to NOT pay for a checked bag even though it is cheaper than the carry-on fee.  We avoided the lines to "tag your bag" and just walked through security.  All seemed perfect until the flight attendant came over the speaker and told us that our flight was delayed two ho...

Back in the Spring, I had high hopes to finally spend a week up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  I have wanted to go there for several years, but it's always just a little too much of a time commitment.  I've wanted to see the lighthouses, and the lake shore, and the old copper mines (where John's ancestors initially migrated), and the waterfalls.  So this year, I got John to take the time off and could hardly wait. In the end, we didn't even end up stepping foot into the UP, but instead just spent a quick 24 hours at Mackinac Island because Glo is working two jobs and hadn't gotten the time off.  However, it's never a bad day at Mackinac, so it was all good! We drove up Friday afternoon after John was done with his half day of work, took the friendly Shepler's ferry over, dropped off our stuff at the Bicycle Street Inn, and walked over to our favorite restaurant on the island, The Gate House, which is the "cheap" substitute for eating at T...

I had so much happen this past week, and I didn't blog about any of it.  So here's a quick recap as written to Hannah in Ecuador: Hi Hannie!  I can't even believe I'm saying this, but do you know what?  I had a GREAT week this week.  I mean honestly, I haven't felt like I could say that for over a year!  It's always been "well, I had a great week, but it wasn't perfect because the house hasn't sold".  I kid you not, having the house hanging over our heads for the past year has really been weighing on me, so it feels rather different (in a really wonderful way) to just be able to  relax . Yep, without any fanfare of any kind, the new owners signed the papers on Friday. I worried that at the last minute, they would back out, or the house would flood, or something terrible would happen, and we still wouldn't be free of the house.  But come 11:00 on Friday morning, Daddy and I got an email from Sister Williams, saying the papers w...