Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Daniel & Deborah - Engagement Pictures!

A few weeks ago Daniel took me up to one of my favorite places, the overlook on top of Pebble Hill, and asked me to marry him!  I told him that I would be honored to be his wife!!

Daniel says I was saying "yes!" before he even finished asking!! :)

Here's a picture of the ring Daniel put on my finger
It's the most beautiful ring I've ever seen!!!

Sarah and Rachel and the kiddos joined us later on and we went to Shiloh for some pictures.


I love my man!!


We are counting down the days until we can be together forever!!

The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. Lamentation 3:25

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

The Lewis Edition: Our Trip (Part 2)


We SO enjoyed the time spent with our families in Tennessee and Ohio!  Sadly, though, we didn't get any pictures of us together. :(  We'll try to do better next time!

One of the places we enjoyed visiting in the Dayton area was Dorothy Lane Market.  Russell and I were so impressed by their attractive and creative displays!


Natural color


Amazing!


Since it was our first visit, we were given one of their famous "Killer Brownies"!  It was delicious, and very rich!  We ate a little every day for about 5 days until it was gone. ;)


This reminded me of the "cookies in 49 flavors" from one of the Sweet Pickles books we enjoyed as children. :)



Another of the highlights of the trip for both of us was getting to visit Steven, Anna, Eva and Hudson in Maryland.  

We so enjoyed the mountainous scenery as we passed through West Virginia and Maryland!




The second (and last) evening we were there, we all went to the scenic overlook which looks out over Nanny's farm (where Steven and Anna live).  If you've followed our blog for long, you've seen pictures like this before ... but I couldn't pass up posting another! ;)  Nanny's farmhouse and barn are visible in the picture. 


I love this little girl!


For some reason, when the two of us get together we always end up being silly and making each other laugh!



:) 


Us!


With our precious niece and nephew


The sun went down while we were up there ... breathtakingly beautiful!
                                   
                                    

 Our time with the Corbetts was way too short (we'll stay longer next time!;)), but we enjoyed every minute of it!

Highlights of our TN/OH/MI/MD trip:

Russell:  Finding a sweatshirt and a Revereware pan at Goodwill
             Getting to see Margaret
             Visiting Steven and Anna

Amanda: First time to visit the state of Michigan!
              Spending time with both of our families
              Camping with my fella!



Thursday, August 25, 2016

The Lewis Edition :) Our Trip (Part 1)

In July, Russell and I were able to take a 3 1/2 week trip to visit my family in Tennessee, his family in Ohio, Steven and Anna in Maryland, and to go camping in Michigan.  We went through a total of 10 states and spent each night either with family or in our tent. 

Camping in Michigan - our "official" honeymoon :)


We arrived at our campsite in Allegan, Michigan, the evening of my birthday.

Pitching the tent :)



Our cute little tent - supposed to be a 2-man tent, but it's a pretty tight squeeze for 2!


Our campsite was right on Ely Lake!  We were grateful for essential oils which kept the mosquitoes from totally eating us up.


We had so much fun cooking on Russell's little gas-powered camp stove.  And washing dishes is extra fun in the outdoors, including pumping and heating the dish water. :)


The following day we drove to Lawton, Michigan, where Russell lived from the time he was a year old until he was 6.  He has many fond memories of living in this town.

We had a wonderful visit with Russell's cousin, Margaret.  At 91, she is still spunky and a lot of fun!  We really enjoyed our time with her!

Margaret took us to see the cottage her family owns on Bankson's Lake (cottage is in the background of this picture).


Bankson's Lake


Margaret's husband owned a Model A!



We loved looking at some of the scrapbooks Margaret has put together.  They are absolutely amazing, full of newspaper articles, pictures, and letters from long ago.

This is the newspaper office of the Lawton Leader.  The two men pictured are Russell's grandfather and great grandfather, long-time owners of the paper.


A Christmas picture of the Lewis family!
L to R: Brian, Mom, Stuart (in lap), Beth, Dad and Rusty ;)


Margaret has acreage which is planted in grapes.  The grapes are sold to the Welch's plant in Lawton.


Beautiful grapevines and rolling hills!



That evening Russell treated me to a pasty.  I had never heard of such a thing, but they're very common in the Upper Peninsula.


A pasty (pronounced with a short "a" sound) is a pastry filled with potatoes, rutabagas, and meat, usually beef or steak.  The one we shared was delicious, and very filling!


Pasties were the food of miners, common because they were hearty and filling and could be kept warm wrapped in paper.


The following day we drove to Grand Rapids and found the house where Daddy lived most of his growing up years!


A park where we stopped to let a rain storm pass.


Russell having a conversation with the geese. :)


"What a cute couple!" ;)


We spent a couple of hours driving around, trying to find a place where we could see Lake Michigan without paying a fee or trespassing on private property. :)  Finally, we found a spot!  It was very worth it!!!



"When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment." Proverbs 8:29


Enjoying the beauty




A quaint little grocery store where we shopped



Back at the campsite

Ely Lake


We were the only campers on the west side of the lake.  We so enjoyed the quiet and privacy ... well, relative privacy!  We were visited one night by several raccoons, and the last night we had a guest in the form of a porcupine!!!



The last day in Michigan we spent some more time in Lawton

The house where Russell lived


There is a park in Lawton named after Russell's great grandfather!


We'll always have fond memories of our first camping trip together!