Point 'N Shoot

Yesterday evening on my way home from church, I pulled out my very-little-used point and shoot camera to get a shot of the amazing sunset (oh yes, and just in case any of you were wondering, trying to take a picture while driving is just as dangerous as texting while driving :P). Thought I'd share the sunset pictures and a few others that I pulled off that camera.

This little kiddo can draw!

Haha, this reminds me of the guy from UP (have I ever mentioned that I
really don't like that movie???)

We had a great time going to an Independence Day concert at
 Blossom with family!

Pennsylvania family reunion!

What is it with my cousins sticking their tongues out during self-portraits???

God's creations never cease to amaze me!
This one was taken the night of our new pastor's installation.

And this was last night...an absolutely breathtaking scene!

Quality Cousin Time

Things that I am thankful for:

-people who build roller coasters
-cousins/siblings to go to Cedar Point with
-My awesome cousin Hugo who spent 3 weeks in Ohio (he lives in VA) and came to Cedar Point with us!
- that same cousin who stopped eating his pizza (and believe me, Hugo rarely ever stops eating!!!) to give me a neck-rub when my head started hurting from being jarred around on roller coasters all day, AND who let me just about squeeze his hand off when I had that awful head ache on the way home.
-beautiful sunny days
-camera phones which let us capture a few shots throughout the day

The guys







































































Not pictured is the roller coaster from which my trusty cell phone fell. I really don't know how it happened; my cousin Hugo and I were on the Magnum, which is a coaster that doesn't go upside down, so I really wasn't too worried about losing my phone. But someway, somehow, it managed to slip out of my pocket and out of our car. It is probably smashed on the pavement somewhere :P

It is in my humble opinion that roller coasters are the best thing ever...throw in cousins that you haven't seen in forever, and you have a wonderful, fun-filled day on the shores of Lake Erie!

Pencil-vein-ya

Beautiful country, lots of family-this past weekend was a great one! My family traveled to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to attend my dad's family reunion. Now, this isn't just any family reunion with a few cousins, aunts, and uncles; this is like 4 generations of family.
















I'm not sure how long ago it started, but as far back as I can remember, when my great-grandparents (Grammy and Pappy) were alive, we would all get together around Christmas. My grandparents, my uncles and their families, and my family are the largest portion of the over-all McMichael family that live out of state.
 The rest of my Grandpa's siblings and most of their family still live in the Lancaster area. So our family and the few others who lived out of state would travel to PA every year and join the rest of the gang for a weekend reunion.

On Saturday night we would all gather in a rented-out portion of the basement at the retirement home where Grammy and Pappy lived and spend the evening laughing, talking, eating, sharing photos and memories, and just catching up with one another. The main event for us kids was carpet-ball (if you haven't played it, you should!). We would line up and eagerly await our turns and as soon as that turn was over we would jump to the back of the line, only to start the waiting all over again. Every year at the reunion my great-grandparents would call each one of their children, grandchildren, and great-granchildren by name and give us each a gift of money and a choice of candy. It really was amazing to see the generations there. Almost 8 Christmas' ago Pappy passed away. The funeral was held on Christmas eve, and I'm so glad that we got to spend one last reunion with him only the week before. Grammy held on another year, but died the folowing Christmas. Just 2 weeks before she died, Grammy's very first great-great-grandchild was born. I'll never forget those two special people, and some of my most treasured memories of them are those reunions.

Although they're gone, the reunions continue on. They're different than they used to be- we've moved them to the summer, more and more of those in my generation have gotten married and we don't see them as much anymore. Many more little ones have joined our group. I don't know what the tally is right now, but Pappy and Grammy's legacy has certainly carried down through many generations. This year's reunion was a blast...here are some pictures, and further description of the trip is below :)

We played lots of games....ladder ball

...frisbee

and, of course, no McMichael family reunion would be complete

without a game of Rook-every good McMichael child over the age

of 10 knows how to play ;)

We visited...

and we laughed...

and we laughed some more...

AH, and the little kids were good at just being adorable!

<3

On Sunday morning my dad and I got up and went to church (the rest of the family was exhausted). AS I sort of mentioned on a previous post, our church installed a new pastor a few weeks ago (:D :D :D). The really neat thing is that he and his wife attended a church in Lancaster for the past few years. Dad and I went and visited, and I loved it! The church was HUGE (well, huge for a PCA church, that is). The really cool thing about this church was that as big as it was, it still managed to look like a church...and an old church at that. It kinda looked like something from the 1800's. The floors in the sanctuary were cobblestone, the pulpit had a staircase that led up to it, there were white pews throughout...can you tell that I liked it? :P

Anyways, after church we went to visit more family, but on our way, we drove down the street where everyone in the family used to live. The first farm on the road is an Amish farm. But the one after that is the farm where my dad and one of my uncle's was born. Every year when we head back there, I hear my dad's stories about that street, but I never tire of hearing them again. The houses after that first farm-house were where all of his aunts and uncles, cousins and grandparents lived. He tells stories of how he and his cousins would run through the corn fields to each other's houses and how they would get scared that the old bridge would fall when they ran across it. Ya know, that "good old days" kind of stories. I love hearing them...

Well, enough of my rambling...but just in case you didn't notice from the pictures, I LOVE babies/little kiddos!!!! ;)

Of cousins, covered bridges, and candy sticks

This past weekend I was SO excited to get to spend some time with a few of my cousins, one of whom I see very seldomly. We met in a town called Newton Falls (which gets its name from the waterfall there, just so ya'll know...it took me a while to figure that one out, lol) where we had dinner and went for a walk in the park. It was a blast, complete with blowing bubbles, gummy worm eating contests, and laughing so hard that soda just about came out of our noses.









The next day, we went to a covered bridge not too far away (which just so happens to be the same bridge where one of my uncles proposed to my aunt!).


Jessie!!!!!!!!!


inside the bridge- I really like this one :)




complements of Jessie!

We enjoyed taking some pictures there before heading to the general store to pick up a few things.




YUM!


Jars of penny candy- this was a favorite when we were little...we awould always bring along a few dimes or nickels when we went to this store so that we could get some sweets :D


We passed quite a few Amish buggies on the way there, not an uncommon sight around here, but something which I've never attempted to photograph (the Amish believe that taking pictures breaks the 2nd commandment about not making a graven image, so you have to be careful about doing so. That's why all these pictures are from behind :D). While I was looking over these pictures, I was thinking about the simple way in which these people live. Most of them don't have cell phones, cars, or televisions. They live as a community, helping one another out when a barn burns down or a baby is born. They're quick to forgive and turn the other cheek. Their ways intrigue me...maybe it's because of the fact that this is the way in which my great grandparents grew up. My dad's family is from Lancaster, PA an area very populated with the plain folk. My grandpa grew up Mennonite before marrying my grandma and moving to Ohio when my dad was a baby. It's so strange to think that they once lived in a world so foreign to me. Anyways, that was my random though of the day :)

Spring Break In South Carolina :)

A few weeks ago, during Jacob's spring break, my family, with myself excluded, packed up the car and headed to South CArolina to visit my grandparents. I was naturally disappointed that my studies had me tied up so that I was unable to join them. Realising this, my wonderful parents bought me a plane ticket and I flew into the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport last Friday for a week-long visit. Unfortunatley, the flight wasn't a straight shot, and I had to connect in Philly. Apparently that connecting flight had mechanical problems and was cancelled. I was told by the staff that the next available plane was at 9:00 PM (this was at about 8:30 AM) but they also gave me a stand-by ticket for a 3:00 flight. So, all by my lonesome I sat in the airport for 6 hours hoping to make it onto the 3:00 flight. I watched movies, wandered around the concourse, and ate lunch. The time seemed to crawl by. I was SO happy when there was room for me on the first flight! When my uncle picked me up in Greenville, I told him that I probably would have cried if I'd had to wait 6 more hours.
Once there, the excitment didn't settle a whole lot. With Grandpa, Grandma, Great-Grandma, my Aunt Mindy and Uncle Raymond, and their three kids (Jonathon, Hudson and Emily), there is never a dull moment. I spent Saturday at Aunt Mindy and Uncle Raymond's with the kids. Then on Sunday I went to church in the morning with Grandma and Grandpa, and then downtown Greenville and to church on Sunday night with Uncle Raymond and the cousins. On Monday, Grandpa took us younger folks out for lunch, and then the rest of Monday and most of the day on Tuesday were spent dress-shopping for Emily and me. Wednesday, Grandma and Grandpa took me out to lunch at a really yummy Thai restaurant, and that evening Aunt Mindy made popcorn and we watched The Blindside. Thursday morning I got up and finished packing everything (my suitcase gained 10 pounds!!! Possibly from all the new clothes I bought...4 skirts, a dress, and some new shirts :D). Aunt Mindy picked me up and we went downtown for a while and then had lunch at Chick-fil-a. Then they dropped me off at the airport where I had a very uneventful trip home to 85 degree, sunny Ohio! I missed everyone in S.C., but was certainly glad to see everyone at home. I'm pretty sure Ian grew a few inches while I was gone :P
Anyways, here's a few pictures...we had beautiful weather, the grass was so green, and the trees were blooming in full force.

This is a shot from downtown Greenville...they have an amazing park there at which I would have loved to have taken more pictures!




The trees were gorgeous!

Oh, yes, and the following is our family photo from Easter Sunday...