Awesome In-laws!

My in-laws are great. I actually met them a few years before I met my husband. Strange, you say. That's because I was at their son, Tim's, wedding who married my cousin, Jill. Yes, a couple of brothers ended up marrying a pair of cousins. 

I also had the privilege of working on my father-in-law's back as I was studying to be a chiropractor. When I had visited Jill, she asked if I would take a look at my FIL's lower back to see if I could help him. So I knew them first and had not idea who this "Shawn" was. He never even entered the picture until I went to a 4th of July gathering that Tim and Jill hosted a couple of years later.

They live in Indiana where they raised my husband, along with 5 other children. They had 5 boys and 1 girl (John, Kris, Tim, Scott, Todd, and my prince charming, Shawn).  

This swing is down at the pond where our kids fish and swim and enjoy hot dog roasts.  

Grandpa and Austin were shucking corn.

This bench is on their front porch. The kids are happiest in Indiana when we are visiting. We have always lived in another state and have traveled back there to see them. They have tons of cousins to play with, too. Whenever we show up the noise multiplies and that's when Grandpa finds chores to do outside. It's both therapeutic and peaceful for him. He loves his grandchildren, mind you, it just gets very LOUD. :-)

Every night they do the dishes together and just talk. They talk about anything and everything and connect in a beautiful way. Isn't it so important to talk and stay strong?

What a handsome chap! My budding photographer, Braaten, captured it.

I'm so thankful for my in-laws. God has really blessed me. If our children had any place in the world to choose to live, it would be Indiana. 

Sunday Roast

About a week ago some friends from church invited us over for Sunday lunch. It was delicious! It's very typical for the English to roast some type of meat and then have loads of side dishes. They roast a variety of potato that is cut up into large chunks in the oven in oil. I recently read a recipe in a magazine around Christmastime for roasted potatoes that were made in goose fat. Having read that, I assumed that's how all roasted potatoes are made here. I mentioned it to my friend, Shirley, who confirmed that goose fat is not, in fact, the way most people brown their vegetables (or veg as they say). She then promised to find some for me since I seemed convinced that I must do it this way. 

Since I really like cooking and our family thoroughly enjoyed eating at our friends' home, I decided that Sunday roast, as a tradition, would be something we would adopt as well. I had planned to roast an unsmoked ham (gammon), try my hand at Yorkshire pudding and also make "bread sauce" for the first time. Included in the menu was buttered carrots as well as broccoli.

We also found out that gravy is poured over everything and not a scrap gets left at the end. 

The Yorkshire pudding is on the left with gravy in the middle and the bread sauce is the white stuff towards the bottom and is hard to see. 

We had the gammon in the oven while at church and then had to finish everything else when we returned home. It took awhile so my bunch was hungry. Bon appetit!  

Michigan Adventure

That's a play on words because there's a theme park in Michigan with the same name. That's not what I'm talking about here. It's about all the great adventures we had when we visited back home in Michigan, both in November and in August. 

I have been blogging about all the fun times we had on our most recent U.S. excursion. The trouble is I'm taking a couple of months to share all the blessings (with the holidays and 3 birthdays most recently). I hope you don't mind because I really want to talk about all the great friends and family we have spent time with in our seemingly endless travels. The thing is, I will not be able to finish it all in this post, it will be ongoing until I end in Indiana. 

God has abundantly blessed us with amazing friends no matter where we have been. We lived in Michigan for the past five years and it's where we plan on settling back in after our stay in England. That is if it's God's plan, too. Without our friends in Michigan and prayers from friends and family in various parts of the U.S., our international move would have been much harder. 

These are "My Girls"- girlfriends that were there for me before I left. My sweet friends that shared life with our family, girlfriends that I had coffee with, or who took care of my children while I worked part-time, friends that would hug me in church every Sunday morning, friends that ministered in A.W.A.N.A. with me, friends that didn't invite me to their wedding because they didn't know me well enough then :-), friends that went Christmas shopping with me, friends that talked back and forth with me in funny voices, friends that went to Christian womens conferences together, and friends that will be friends forever.  

Meet Natalie, Jamie, Lizzy, and Sarah

Natalie and Nate comtemplating their next move on the Wii

Jamie, Laura, Lizzy, and Sarah

Shannon and Ryan. Shannon and her husband, Ken, have opened their home when we travel back to the U.S. She makes the best BLT's, makes roast chicken and all the fixins', does laundry for us when she has her own to do and I haven't asked, and makes us feel right at home. She makes the best lattes, too.

Melanie, Maddie (Lizzy's daughter), and McKenna (Natalie's daughter)

OK, an unfair picture, I agree, but Sarah actually wanted to buy these and was trying to talk me into liking them, too. If she had a blog, a silly picture of me would be pasted on it for good.

Here's Shannon at Barne's and Noble Bookstore.

Luke (Lizzy's son) was having a great time at Eagle Lake.

Jamie holding Natalie's son, Jonah, with Liz in the background. Jamie is pregant here and is due with her first this coming March.

Maddie and Mellie reading a book with Austin looking over their shoulders.

Sarah and Austin. Those glasses are much better!

Sarah's sweet girl, Sydney, at Eagle Lake.

Brianna and Braaten seeing each other for the first time after several months of being apart.

Carol, Sarah, and Liz

Mellie and Maddie at the lake.

Beautiful Shannon

Austin at Shannon's petting their puppy, Jake.

What's going on with Sarah in this picture? Hmm? Jonah is enjoying his pizza.

We all matched and weren't even planning it. What a great picture!

Shawn and I with Liz and Mike

Friends are so dear to me. I'm not sure I have always appreciated my friends as I should. Moving always makes you reflect on how much they mean. I hope all of my dear, precious friends reading this know how much they are loved. Even if you aren't in the pictures. Chances are really good that you will be in a future post. :-)

Phillipians 1:3  "I thank my God everytime I remember you."

You're Gonna Miss This... Moment

Whenever I've participated in the "YGMT" blog carnival, I think of loads of things I'll miss as the kids get older. I guess you can miss something that happened just last week that you might not catch again. So here are a few...

Every year we traditionally bake cookies together. The kids love decorating the shaped cookies and the twins really enjoy putting loads of sprinkles on. Of course, those are the same cookies they choose to eat when they are on a plate for dessert later that day.

I'll miss having the girls take riding lessons. It's something they really enjoy right now. 

Melanie

Braaten

Cheek to cheek birthday pictures!! For each birthday I try to remember one of these shots.

Braaten's 11th birthday.

Cooper's 7th

Grant's 7th.

If you'd like to check out Pam's blog to see more "You're Gonna Miss This...Moment" posts, go here.

Small Group Excitement!

Tonight we get to have our first small group meeting in England! It's been a long time since we have served in this way at church. We have made some of our closest friends through small groups and are looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for us here in England.

We have 3 other families joining us...we'll have 15 kids and 8 adults between us! I'm praying it will go smoothly and everyone will be blessed in the end. 

 I pray you have a blessed weekend everyone.