Children...Natural Mood Enhancers!

Getting the news that someone you know has cancer is heart wrenching. Getting the news that a loved one has cancer is mind numbing. Getting the news your mother has cancer is earth shattering. Despite the news that has come to my family over the last two weeks, we are remaining extremely positive. The power of the mind is amazing and the power of prayer is miracle making. Russell and Sloane have been wonderful forces of positivity! Everyday they do something to make me laugh. I love to pass on their silly stories to my family. Laughter truly can be the best medicine!

Some silly stories to pass on:
1) While playing house, Russell informed Sloane that she had to have a baby in her stomach, but not to worry because the doctor would give her medicine to open her tummy and then stitches to make it better. They proceeded to act this out. It took an entire 5 seconds for Sloane to give birth to my first grandchild:-)
2) While playing with the Dora castle, Sloane happily laid out all her princess figures along with the furniture. Russell, playing along side her was working hard on castle security. He installed two robot guards along with a machine gun aiming out the top window.
3) I have been adding a few new items to our house (new pictures, lamps, pillows, etc.) Upon waking up one morning, Russell shouted, "Who keeps changing our house? I want it back to normal!" He is definitely a creature of habit!

I hope these stories brought more laughter to those I love! Keep smiling! Keep praying!

My Knight and Princess!

A Hot Day at the Splash Park with Neighborhood Friends

Venetian Festival + Sunny Skies + Cool Cousins = Undeniable Fun!

We spent the past weekend with Aron's family in St. Joseph enjoying the annual Venetian Festival. I took part in the 10k race along Lake Michigan, the kids enjoyed a ride on the carousel, and we all enjoyed a lot of fun on the beach with family. Cousins from Milwaukee, WI and Naples, FL were in town so the kids were spoiled with lots of attention!

One of Sloane's favorite activities is rock collecting. Every time we go to the beach she insists on filling buckets with rocks. This time she even convinced us to bring a bucket of rocks home!

Russell was geared up for squirt gun fights with his cousin Jake! Jake and Russell
Addie and Sloane

"The Cottage"

This is my little slice of Heaven! I love visiting my parents' cottage on North Manistique Lake in the Upper Peninsula. I grew up spending every summer here and love that Russell and Sloane are now making cottage memories of their own. We just finished spending a full two weeks there and plan on returning for at least one more week in August. The kids had a ball while Aron and I enjoyed some down time thanks to the help from all of my family! Aron and I even escaped for two nights to Mackinac Island! We had an incredible time shopping, riding bikes, and eating fudge :-) I took so many pictures while in the upper peninsula that I had to separate them into different posts. The following pictures show some of the fun we had while visiting "the cottage."

Silly times in the cottage. Boat rides are a daily treat thanks to my dad!
We usually celebrate Uncle Keith and Aunt Nancy's birthdays while there.
I am convinced that both Russell and Sloane have developed fins and scales! They have no fear of the water and dive in and out like pros! Russell is currently extremely interested in cowboys and Indians. He picked out this new cowboy hat and gun while visiting a tourist shop nearby.
Ahhhhh... The best part... Water is calm, kids are sleeping, and the sunset!

A Visit to the Tahquamenon River

Another visit while in the Upper Peninsula was to my brother Keith's cabin on the Tahquamenon river! It is BEAUTIFUL there! It is not located that far from my parents' cottage, however the location is hidden away (far away) in the woods. The roads are not well-traveled which makes getting there quite an adventure. While driving down the two-track, Sloane let out a "whoa" while looking out the windows at all the wilderness surrounding us. Just before reaching the destination, Russell looked out at the darkening woods and said, "what in the world?!?!" It was hilarious! In the end, we absolutely loved our visit to Keith's hidden treasure!

Aron, myself, and the kids loved exploring the river.

Water Fight!

Russell is always up for a water fight, but this time he chose a true competitor to mess with... Uncle Keith! Keith is not a very good loser so when challenged by Russell for a water fight, the game was ON! Russell soon chose Keith's girlfriend Kelly as a partner and also got Sloane on his side. You would think 3 against 1 is pretty good odds, but by the end of the fight Russell, Sloane, Kelly, and myself were soaked! To give us credit though, Keith didn't exactly walk away dry.

Big kids (even doctors) like to play too!

At one point, Sloane retreated to the cottage and reappeared with her beach hat in hopes that it would keep her dry.

A Fun Fourth in the North!!!

It is a tradition for the Sleeper Family to attend the local parades on the 4th of July. My favorite parade it the Curtis parade located along the shore of South Manistique Lake. As children, my brother Keith and I loved to see the decorated floats, listen to the bands, and most importantly collect the candy thrown to us! Russell and Sloane are now enjoying those same traditions! What a beautiful and fun Fourth of July we had!!! God Bless the USA!!!

Russell waits for the parade with Papa.

Sloane cuddles Grammy as she hears the parade starting.
The kids loved waving at all the people parading by.

Their favorite part...CANDY COLLECTING!

The Bear Ranch

One of our first stops during our 2-week vacation in the Upper Peninsula was Oswald's Bear Ranch. Mr. Oswald rescues abandoned or injured bear cubs and raises them on his property. The public is welcome to visit the ranch and view these fascinating animals. During our visit, Sloane was extremely eager to see the baby cubs and pulled me to the fenced in area where they were actively playing. She was entranced to see them climbing, running, and teasing one another similar to how her and Russell interact. When asked by Mr. Oswald if they wanted to go in with the cubs, Sloane did not hesitate! She rushed in to see them and pet them while Russell was given the opportunity to feed them fruit loops! It was an awesome experience!!!