Stefani's Parents August 2011 Visit

Stefani's parents came for a visit/vacation. We were quite the Michigan explorers while they were here. 

The Monday of their visit everyone minus Joshua headed to Petoskey. We ate lunch at Grand Traverse Pie Company, picked up some wine at the Mackinaw Trail Winery store, bought T-shirts at the Life is Good store, and hung out at Bayfront Park. Joshua was then able to meet up with us and we headed to the Wineries of Old Mission Peninsula. We had tastings at Peninsula Cellars and Chateau Grand Traverse. The tastings were free and the wine was quite good. When we were finished tasting we had dinner at our favorite Traverse City restaurant, Mackinaw Brewing Company. On the way back to Onaway we found the Largest Cherry Pie Plate in World.

Tasting wine at the Peninsula Cellars.

The crazy yummy apple wine we bought. 

The gorgeous view of the vineyard at Chateau Grand Traverse. 

This is in the book Weird Michigan. We had to find it!


Tuesday we headed to the Upper Peninsula (the U.P.) of Michigan. It was Stefani's parents first time crossing the Mackinac Bridge and going to the U.P.. We went to the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie. The boat tour of the locks was at the top of our "to do" list. When we finished will the tour we ate at Antlers. Antlers has gotten recommendations from people we know and various books. The food was quite good and the atmosphere was fun. 

We are on a boat!


Wednesday we headed back to the U.P.. We went to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Paradise, MI. The museum was pretty interesting. The Great Lakes has a long shipping history and with that comes some crazy wrecks. While we were there we had the opportunity to stick our toes in Lake Superior. Stefani has a life goal of dipping her toes in each of the five Great Lakes. So far she is three for five. We also had pastys in the U.P.. They are the insides of a pot pie with the outside of a calzone. (Click on the word "pastys" to find out more information.) After we explored the shipwreck museum we headed to Tahquamenon Falls. Seeing the falls has been something we have wanted to do for a while. We were happy to get the chance. 

Stefani's feet in Lake Superior.

Joshua's feet in Lake Superior.

The lighthouse at the shipwreck museum complex.

 Stefani eating her first pasty.

Joshua eating his first pasty.

Stefani's parents, Kelly and Ted, with Lake Superior in the background. It was super windy that day.

Stefani and Joshua with Lake Superior in the background. 

Tahquamenon Falls, these are the upper falls. Simply beautiful!

It was great visit. We really enjoyed the down time and getting to explore more of Michigan. Thanks Mom/Kelly and Dad/Ted!


God's Blessings,


Joshua and Stefani

Michigan District Junior High Youth Gathering 2011

The last weekend in July was the Michigan District Junior High Youth Gathering in Ann Arbor, MI on the campus of Concordia University-Ann Arbor. We took 9 kids, 6 boys and 3 girls. This is first time in a long time that the boys outnumbered the girls. The theme of the weekend was "Hide and Seek" based on Genesis 3:9. We made the banner again this year and it was a not an easy one.

If you look closely you will see the branches on the tree spell out "hide & seek". "hide" goes up the left side, "&" is at the top, and "seek" goes down the right side.

We had some great speakers and musicians. Swen and Dean were there. They are always a crowd favorite. Pastor Bill Yonker lead the Bible studies and worship. The Living Stones were our worship band. They are a group of young men from Michigan. The girls swoon over them.

Our Servant Event was helping to organize personal care items for the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries. After the Servant Event was good old Waterpalooza. They set up water games on the lawn and the kids have at it. 

A gentleman from the Detroit Rescue Mission speaking to the group.

All the things that needed to be sorted. 

Waterpalooza. The adults stay at a safe distance. 

This is a picture from Friday night's mass gathering (I obviously did not take this photo). Our kids are sitting on the couches. They had premier seating, because they made the banner. The adults are a few rows up keeping an eye on them.



Everyone had a great time and they are looking forward to next year.

God's Blessings,

Joshua and Stefani 


 

Vacation Bible School

The last week of July Holy Cross had Vacation Bible School. Our theme was Gold Rush: Discovering the Rock of Ages by Answers in Genesis. We had a great turn out for the week. We averaged about 50 kids a night. Stefani was in charge of crafts again this year.

Gold nugget soap made from gold dial, oatmeal, yellow food coloring, and water.

The wagon that was in the parade and sat out front of church for our VBS.

The sanctuary decorated like the old west.

Aren't we cute in our super yellow t-shirts.

Stefani crafting in action.

Another year of VBS under our belts. A successful one at that.

God's Blessings, 

Joshua and Stefani

St. Louis Visit July 2011

Stefani went to St. Louis for a week in July to celebrate births. She arrived in time to see her mom on her birthday. They went out for a nice dinner and enjoyed spending time together.

Stefani's cousin, Mandi, had a beautiful baby girl, Sophia Emma, about two weeks before Stefani's visit. 

Stefani and Sophia. She is precious!

While in the area waiting to visit Mandi and Sophia, Stefani and her parents went to the South County Antique Mall. We were in need of end tables and had success there when we lived in Webster Groves. Stefani found two end tables and a coffee table. She was able to fit them all in the Pathfinder to take them back to Onaway. 

End table number one.

The coffee table.

End table number two.


The main event for the week was Noah's 2nd birthday. Noah is Stefani's best friend's son. He had a Cars theme party. He is really into playing with cars and watching the movie, Cars. 

Noah blowing out his candles. 

Noah and his cool new bike from his parents. 

Stefani and her friend, Christine at the party.

Stefani and Christine's daughter, Alyssa. 

Stefani and Carolyn, Noah's mom and soon-to-be Nora's mom. 

It was an awesome visit with family and friends. Stefani can't wait to visit again when she will get to meet Nora. 

God's Blessings,


Joshua and Stefani

Fourth of July 2011

This Fourth Joshua's mom and sister, Sarah, came for a visit. It was a busy, fun filled weekend. 

Sunday, we went to the Dancing Hippo craft fair. The fair is always the first weekend in July. It is a really well done fair and has many interesting booths. 

Monday was the holiday. Joshua wasn't feeling well so he did not walk in the parade. Later in the week we found out he had bronchitis. The parade route was rerouted due to the main road of Onaway being under construction. Our float was based on our VBS theme, The Gold Rush. Instead of handing out candy to the crowd we decided to hand out water bottles. It was a great success.

The awesome float!

 Look at all the water! 

Moran Iron Works' float. It is a model of the Lexington.  They reveal a new iron sculpture every year.

Later that evening we enjoyed the fireworks despite the mosquitoes that tried to eat us. 

We hope you enjoyed your 4th of July as well. 

God's Blessings, 

Joshua and Stefani

Michigan District Senior High Youth Gathering-The Bridge

Joshua, Stefani, and Mary Kay, our youth director, took 8 teens to Mackinac Island for the Michigan District Youth Gathering.
We left the afternoon of Sunday June 26th. When we got the the Shepler's Ferry dock it was over run by teens. By the way, the Shepler's Ferry folks are AMAZING! They took care of everyone's luggage with ease. They offered a night cruise to us for a dollar. They took us around the island and under the Mackinac Bridge. They also ferried people back and forth to servant events. We always take them to the Island and after this they are definitely the ferry company to take!

We made their welcome sign!

Once we arrived on The Island on Sunday, we checked into the gathering at Mission Point Resort. This is where everything was taking place. We then checked into our first night's hotel, The Chippewa Hotel. Mission Point double booked the gathering and a wedding. A few groups stayed at Chippewa the first night and then were moved to Mission Point for the rest of the gathering. We ate dinner at Millie's on Main. After dinner there was a leader meeting and the kids had a mixer event. 


Monday we woke up bright and early. We headed to Mission Point for the day's activities. Our luggage was to meet us there later that day. We had a leader meeting while the kids ate breakfast. Then it was off to the Morning Celebration. Which was just our morning Mass Event filled with worship music and speakers. Then the kids broke into sectionals. We then ate lunch and headed to our Servant Event. We went to Zion Lutheran (ELCA) in St. Ignace. We helped do some cleaning and general organizing. 

The Ketelsens before going to the Servant Event.

Stefani cleaning windows.

When returned from the Servant Event we sorted out our rooms and luggage situation.  After dinner and the evening Mass Event we got a special treat. Shepler's Ferry offered a night cruise that went around The Island and under the Mackinac Bridge. The Bridge was beautiful all lit up.

The Mackinac Bridge at night.

Tuesday we woke up bright and early again. We had Mass Events, Bible Study, and Sectionals. In the afternoon we had some free time. We let the kids do their own thing. Many of them went shopping. We all met for dinner and then headed to the evening Mass Event. After the Mass Event the kids had many activities to choose from. They chose to listen to Swen and Dean. Joshua and Stefani supervised other Gathering activities.

Wednesday was our last day on The Island. It ended with a Worship Service. Joshua was on deck to help with Communion. Once Worship was over we didn't have to rush off The Island. The advantage of living so close. We had a leisurely lunch and did a little shopping. It wasn't long before we were all ready to go home.

Heading toward home.

We would like to thank everyone who helped us get to the Gathering. We took this picture to show our appreciation.

God's Blessings,

Joshua and Stefani



 

Circuit Meeting and Soo Locks

There was a circuit meeting in Kinross, which is about 15 minutes from the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie. Stefani decided to join Joshua at the circuit meeting and then go check out the Locks. The weather was gorgeous up until the end of our time at the Locks. We saw two boats go through. One was one of the tour boats.

 Being Welcomed. Although, if we went under the sign we would be on our way to Canada.

The Locks from one end to the other.


The next pictures show a tour boat that goes through the locks. Watch as the boat rises....

Bye tourists!

Next time we go we will be on a tour boat. 


God's Blessings,


Joshua and Stefani