Sarai's 6 Month Photo Shoot

Uncle Sami took these at the end of August...thanks Uncle Sami for a bang-up job!!

The Move to Michindoh

Welcome to my attempt to stay in touch!  I always feel like I'm working on this and thought I would give blogging a try.  My father-in-law insists blogging is really naval-gazing...and I think he has a point!  But moms really don't have that much time to naval-gaze, so hopefully this will really be about connecting with those of you who are far.

We moved to Michindoh Camp and Conference Center on August 23.  Our new home is a cozy,2 bedroom mobile home with very close neighbors.  But the Lord has a way of preparing you. After living in a very outdated trailer for the past 2 summers and after living in the upstairs of Sal's parent's home during the off-season, we're very thankful to have our own place.  We hadn't seen the house until we moved here.  So I was thrilled when the amenities included a microwave, gas stove, ice maker, dishwasher, garbage disposal and a large front porch.  It's very clean, much newer and even has a fire pit in the front yard.  We're also surrounded by families with young kids, which Tressa loves.  In this picture, you can even see the smoke from the fire we made for our smores after dinner one night!  

One of the bonuses of this camp is that they have a full-service dining hall with salad bar, entrees and dessert.  As long as groups are here, meals are served and we can eat there whenever we want.  Though I love to cook, I can save that passion on days when I feel like it. And even better, no dishes!  I'm also really enjoying the scenic walk to the dining hall, which is about 10 minutes (great exercise!).  

The girls love it too, especially now that we invested in our "Croozer."  It will double as a bike trailer once Sarai is old enough.

We're still looking for a church, which has been a challenge.  But through one that we visited, I got connected to a group of women in town that walk on the college track one morning a week with their kids.  They then head to the local coffee shop afterwards...yes, with kids too!  The coffee shop is very gracious about it.  Most of the women are professors' wives from Hillsdale College, so it's fun for me to be connected to the college.  It's an eclectic group, which I like and they've been very welcoming.  Though we love our camp community, it's been great to make other connections.

We also found a Community Bible Study group that meets about 30 minutes away.  (CBS is an excellent national program that does in depth studies on books of the bible and has a great children's program.)  Sounds crazy to drive that far, but my Tressa and I both love it.  I'm getting to study the book of Daniel and she loves learning songs, bible verses, doing a craft and playing with the kids.  (Sarai is "learning" to love it :)  The blessing is that my neighbor, Judy, and her kids are making the trek with us.  Here's Tressa with her new friends, Haley, Eli and Belle after CBS this week:

Since we're in a very rural area, we quickly learned that the whole town can't wait for the annual county fair.  It's even advertised as "the best fair on earth!"  I can't verify such a claim, but we went as a family and had a great time.  Sarai got to taste her first bit of funnel cake. Tressa enjoyed the kiddie rides and of course, farm animals.

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I hope you enjoyed my first post!  Melissa