Family Room Renovation part 2

Ok we busted our butts this weekend and I am sore and tired. I got the lovely job of picking up all the bricks to the fireplace. 2 days later they are done!! I was also able to hlep Rob frame in a window and tyvex the house. I love helping him out but I get so sick of being the fetcher of tools. Oh well. He thanked me for all my help and I have the blisters to prove it!

Our new slider!!

1 new window in


Inside view


2 new windows in

House Tyvex

Family Room Renovation part 1

We are finally renovating our family room. When we bought this house it was going to be the first project that we wanted to get done. We have done so many things to our house since: remodeled our bathroom, new carpet, can lights, painted every room, upstairs laundry room, new gutters, new patio, new deck, new shed, and some other little projects.

Here are our before pictures..

Yes, this room has 2 sliders, a 3 pane window that does not open, and a very ugly fireplace.

Ugly Fireplace

Awesome Brick work

3 pane window that does NOT OPEN

Slider 1

3 pane window and another slider!

Wordless Wednesday

Lincoln trying to help Daddy with renovations.

4th of July

In Hanover, Michigan the 4th of July is the biggest holiday. The whole town comes out for there parade. It is full of tractors, bicycles, horses, and I think that is about all. I am not from Hanover and I don't like parades all that much but I go. We dressed Lincoln up in appropriate attire.

My sister Aunt Erin joined the fun.

Rob's brother home from the army!

Vacation 2010

We sure put on the miles on our summer vacation. Manistique, Tequaman Falls then over to Channing (more to come later), Mackinaw, then home. Talk about an adventure.

Manistique was fun. We did some camping, fishing and most of all laughing by the campfire.
While there Lincoln decieded that he needed to cut all four of his eye teeth. We also found out he is very allergic to mosquitos. He got all bit up and ran a 101 temp for 2 days. Not what you want to happen 450 miles from home.

Tequaman Falls was beautiful besides my grumpy baby. Whitefish Point was also a stop that day. I love Lake Superior. Even though it is cold I think it is one of the coolest lakes. But, the highlight of the day trip was Oswalts bear ranch. They rescue bears from all over the coutry.

Lincoln enjoyed playing with Nana, Papa, Aunt Erin, Adam, and Uncle Dylan. It was nice to have all the helping hands. That is what made it relaxing.

We also played games, cornhole, and drank!! The funnest night was the night Lincoln missed out on because he went to bed. We all went down to the lake and watched the sun set and took some fun pictures. These are the best memories.

After Manistique Rob, Lincoln and I went to Channing, Michigan. Yes, I know you are dying to know WHAT IS SO EXCITING IN CHANNING???? Well, I won't make you wait.... Squaw Creek Robs deer camp. Yes, a deer camp. We were ONLY 4 hours away from it. Wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. But, Rob scared me so bad that I couldn't sleep. I am a chicken and he was telling me about the bears, moose, wolves, coyotes, bats, and mice that are there. I was up until 1:30 in the morning staring at the ceiling. Then I was awoken at 3:30 by mice getting into the dog food. The next morning I tried to make the best of it. We took another jeep ride trying to see some animals but we were unsucessful. My darling, lovely husband said we could leave so I packed up and we left 24 hours after we arrived! I do have to say the cabin is really cool. You could feel the history in it. I believe that this camp has been around since 1913. It was fun to look though pictures of the men that were in it. Rob's grandpa and him look so much alike. If you were to but Rob's grandpa, Rob, and Lincoln's baby pictures together you couldn't pick out who was who.

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Mackinaw was our last stop. Rob and I love going to Mackinaw City. We stayed at Wilderness Park for the first time and I loved it. I can't believe that we never camped there growing up. We ate at the dixie salon, Lincoln played in Lake Michigan. We couldn't keep him out of the water. All in all we just had a wonderful time as a family.

Half Marathon

I did it. I ran my first race ever!! My sister, Melinda, Kasey and I all ran in Charloviox, MI. We were a little disappointed that the race scenary wasn't prettier but what can you do. Everyone did great. I was disappointed with the last 3 miles of the race but I have to remember that I finished it. I don't think that I will be doing a marathon anytime soon but we are already planning our next run. I think that my sister and I will either run the race in holland or lansing. We have to chat about it.

Lack of Blogging

I have been so busy this summer that I have forgotten to blog. Lincoln amazes me everyday. He is such a copy cat. He loves to mimic what Rob is doing. For example Rob was pulling out weeds in his garden and Lincoln was helping by pulling out the lettace. It was so cute and Rob was so patient with him. We have also taken his binkie away from him. It was a rough two days but each day gets better. He is going down for his naps like a champ and night time is a different thing. But, he is not waking up in the middle of the night and crying because he can't find it!

My big news is that I have been running. I did my first 10 mile run 2 weeks ago and it felt so good. When I first started running 2 months ago I could not imagine even running 5 miles. Now, I hate doing short runs. I look forward to Sundays because that is my long run day. I am not a fast runner by any means but I get my miles done. To be exact I am running between 10-11:30 minute miles according to my nike plus.

I am considering signing up for the detroit marathon. I just don't know if I want to be commited to training for it. But, I know about 10 girls that are doing it. We will see how charleviox goes.

My first half-marathon is in less than 2 weeks!! I am starting to get a little nervous.