Michigan 2026 (Aug 8-15)

Fri/Sat, August 7-8, 2026 

This year's start to Michigan began with 3 people!  Dave, Eli and I drove up together Friday.  We left town at 9:30am.  We stayed with Ted & Cindy (in their nice camper!) on Friday night.  They had pizza, pecan pralines and a sweet grape salad waiting for us.  A storm rolled in which caused the power to go out, so we slept well.  We drove the rest of the way to the cabin Saturday, arriving somewhere between 4:30-5pm.  

Calvin, Vanessa, Violet & Drew all stayed back in Iowa to go to their good friend Solana's wedding.  Her wedding is Sunday Aug 9, and their plan is to party hard at the wedding, and drive through the night to come here.  The last text I got was that they plan to arrive somewhere around 6am.  

It was certainly comical for Dave, Eli and I to drive up in our big 9 seater van full of space.  We grocery shopped and filled up the whole floor!

Sunday, Aug 9, 2026

The start to today (Sunday) has been very relaxing.  We had breakfast sandwiches, chipped beef on toast, tater tots, strawberries, blueberries and coffee.  We watched Wellspring Community Church online at 10am, then we watched Bethany Bible Chapel online at 11:30 both of them with Ted and Cindy.  We sipped coffee together and enjoyed the teaching of both places - both very different.  Wellspring's speaker covered topics in Matthew about how important it is to do the things we learn in God's word. Obedience should be held at a higher priority than knowledge.  Bethany's speaker covered lessons in Genesis 37-42 about the life of Joseph.  

We are rolling slowly through this Sunday at a nice vacation pace.  I gave Dave a haircut, we both showered and "got ready" for the day with no plans, munched on a little for lunch, and are chilling enjoying the overcast quiet day.  A very strange change of pace - one that I need some time to adjust to.  

Eli with Daisy

their new roof off the house

look at all those groceries

cabin 12!

first sunset

Eli and me!

Monday, August 10th, 2026

The wedding crew took off around midnight.  They arrived at the cabin somewhere around 8:10am.  I can't believe they made it!  From what they told us, Violet drove the first two hours til about 1am, Calvin drove 3 or 4 hrs, then Drew took the last hour or two.  There are some stories of people sleep-talking, stopping for gas way out of the way because they didn't get gas at a more opportune time.  Some blasted music while others tried to sleep...who knows.  Calvin said they dodged deer on the road like it was a video game.  No contact though.

I woke up at the cabin about 7:30am and checked their location which was about 45 minutes away.  Drew said nobody would be hungry and they'd want to just crash in bed, which was true.  They hobbled in one by one and gave some tired hellos and went straight to bed to crash.  We were expecting Don and Cindy (Ted's brother and his wife) to visit so we let them sleep a few hours and made sure they were awake enough to greet our guests to hang out for a few hours.  

I started the morning slowly with coffee, Dave and I attended to a few work things we needed to move the ball on, and I made biscuits and gravy.  Eli and I went out on the paddleboat to fish but a few deer or horse flies ruined the moment. 

Older kids started to appear.  Vanessa and Violet found themselves in the sun on the dock.  Dave and I found a few eating some breakfast.  We saw Don and Cindy pull up so we all gathered to meet them and hang out for awhile.  Cindy had intended for us to stop at their place on our way up or the way down - neither of which were possible given our different driving situations.  We didn't arrive as a group and we won't be leaving as a group, as Dave is heading to his annual fishing trip after this and I'm heading back to Iowa with the crew.

Cindy brought up a pile of food for lunch, which was so kind.  Sloppy joes, grape salad, taco salad, chips, dip, and oreo fluff.  We enjoyed that meal together, took a couple laps around the lake on the pontoon, and they took off.  Their intention for coming to visit was to visit with family, especially Violet and Drew, since they didn't get a chance to during the wedding.  

Don and Ted had a little adventure exploring a tiny cabin that looked abandoned and closed the front door of it for the owner, whoever it is.

Drew and Calvin had a good night fishing.  They caught 13 fish!

We are changing it up this year - not fishing to eat them.  We are throwing back everything - not cleaning fish or anything.  It is a bit of a relief!  

Vanessa and Dave went out and caught a couple big ones too.  Apparently they were biting hard tonight!

Violet and I prepped dinner - pasta with chicken alfredo and tomato sauce, garlic bread and Caesar salads - we ate in a couple waves with some fishing and some eating later.

Tuesday, August 11, 2026

This morning I made coffee cake cinnamon muffins (using the normal coffee cake recipe we all love, but I did not have the right size pan to bake it in...so muffins it was) with a bacon egg frittata.  Also didn't have the pan I was hoping for - no 9x13s to be seen.  I used a big oven-safe skillet and it turned out great.

Vanessa and Violet made a plan to go running this morning, so they ran from our cabin to the Midway store - about 4 miles.  I picked them up to bring them back after setting a 45 minute timer to get them.  Today was a stay-at-the-cabin day.  We rented a jet ski and a tube for 1.5 hrs.  I marinated some teriyaki chicken.  We drove the pontoon around watching whoever was tubing go crashing and tumbling.  We spent some time playing imposter with Ted and Cindy - the funniest clue was "Sculpture" when Violet was the imposter.  I said freedom, she said torch.   

We had so much food prepared for dinner Ted and Cindy joined us - teriyaki chicken, fried rice, roasted broccoli, and asian salad.  Calvin and Drew went out fishing again, Violet and dad went out fishing, Vanessa and I hung out at the cabin and danced to music and made treats - some premade chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies, and she whipped up a blueberry coffee cake with greek yogurt and maple syrup.  We watched AGT - and people drifted off to bed at different times.

before the run 9am

tail end of the run

this guy hung out with me on the dock for awhile

2013

2026

imposter

went on a walk

camera flipped at .5  -- long weird arms

Wed, August 12, 2026

So much for the weather - it said today was the highest chance of rain so we booked a Lake Superior pictured rocks pontoon rental for tomorrow.  It was actually gorgeous and sunny all day.  Dave cooked eggs, I made bacon, and we had toast/jelly with leftover biscuits and gravy.  We did the Bible app devotion about being a light in a dark world. We drove to Kitch-iti-kipi because it was a shorter trip than before - some roads were finished between here and there since we went last and it made the trip only 25 minutes, not 51 minutes.  The natural spring is always impressive.  One big trout fish stayed right up near the floating boat almost the whole time.  What was more impressive was an enormous spider we saw living on the boat right in the viewing area which was an element of discussion more than the spring or the fish.

The rest of today was so chill and nice.  Violet, Vanessa, Dave and I floated out on floaties in the lake for close to 2 hrs.  Ted started heating up a pan of mac and cheese over his campfire.  Drew and Calvin went out fishing - I blogged for a bit.  We grabbed a few supplies at the store.  We are out of milk so we are waiting for the Thursday night delivery so the store can be stocked. We gotta make creamed eggs Friday I guess.

Here are some pics from the day so far.

The most memorable moment was when Calvin dove in the water after a fishing pole that went under the water.  We had asked Drew and Calvin to drag us out to the middle of the lake on our floaties so we could float and get pushed back to shore by the wind.  The rope they threw us somehow pushed up one of the fishing poles out of its holder and it fell into the lake and completely submerged, but Calvin thought quick and dove right in over the spot where it went under, and he reemerged with the fishing pole in his hand.  Super funny moment - best save of the week.

Wagner Wedding 6.20.2026

The wedding when Violet became a Wagner!  I didn't want too much time to pass before writing about the event.  I want to remember all the things that are worth writing down.  I had to turn off my Saturday 6:50am alarm that got me up with the girls last week to get Violet to the event center for her wedding.  That reminded me it had been a week!  The past week of work I had filled in sales appointments for one of our designers that was out and it was a very busy one for me - not normal - as I'm usually in and out of the office, not doing sales appointments.    

Thursday morning early - Coco vet appt to get boosters, so we could then take her to boarding at Fast Tracks Friday morning.  

The wedding weekend was a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday full 4 day celebration - The Butlers and Barcus families came Thursday and grilled us some chicken and served salads and desserts.  More family trickled in and that evening was a wonderful hang out with Sean, April, Adalynn, and Martha when they joined after dinner.  That same day a little extra does of chaos was added with a work emergency.  One of our employees (an installer) who is diabetic had an insulin pump malfunction and his blood sugar dropped really low and he ended up going delirious and sortof crashed our new install van - by the time he stopped he had passed out and a police had to break the window to get him out.  Thankfully he was ok, got immediate medical care from the ambulance and was safely brought to his house, but we had to leave our family gathering and deal with that.  I won't go into detail about that but it's worth mentioning.  This particular installer was in the wedding party so we hoped he could make it.  We are still dealing with the fallout of that- and need to get the van back in working order.

We returned back home and joined the family gathering later in the evening.  Everyone was very chill and understanding of the situation.  

Friday was a great day.  I was able to unload everything I had saved up for the wedding (we're talking a van full of boxes) to the event center and clear out my house.  Plates, decorations, marriage license, fake flowers, real flowers, cups, etc, etc, etc.  Violet picked up the cake, I got the flowers, the event center was ours to decorate - so we and the Wagner sisters got to work (with Kala and Deb!) and crushed the decorating.  It was wonderful to get it all set up and ready.  The rehearsal dinner also happened Friday - hosted by the Wagners - and that was a fun (chilly, cold!) event.  

I'm going to pause here and upload some pics!

she was practicing signing "Violet Wagner" :)

Ok! That was all Friday - just 55 pics.

Saturday morning - wedding day - June 20, 2026 - we were aiming to be at the event center at 7:45am.  Stacey had brought in Chick Fil A lunch - mini chicken sandwiches, yogurt, granola, iced coffee and fruit.  Such a blessing.  We munched as the make up and hair crew got started on everyone who wanted their hair and make up done.

I have a million pics from that "getting ready experience".  I'll try to pick my favorites.

Violet had been eating sugar-free for a couple months before the wedding. She waited til wedding day to indulge in a bite of this "wedding" truffle from Main Street sweets!  I had set a reminder on my phone to bring it that morning.

Alexis being awesome

Stacey, Violet and me

Amber and me - she was our day of coordinator

Teresa Smith brought lunch for the day - what a gift

Kala got her hair done

Rachel and me!

almost at the finish line -make up done, hair almost done, banana in hand

Violet and her girls

the dress before the big bridesmaids reveal - I've never seen her more beautiful

going to her first look with Dad

gotta brush those teeth before the wedding!

Luca was on point

lots of dancing to party before - all hyped and ready to go

our last pic together before the wedding!  Did you know she wore my veil from my wedding? I love that touch.

 

Ok, so the rest of the pics are of the wedding ceremony, pictures afterwards, and of the dance.  

Dave did a great job.  He wore so many hats that day.  He got to give his daughter to Drew, officiate the ceremony with a quick stand-in from Tim who said "who gives this woman?" in place of David for the moment, then turn on the fun with the robot suit.  I can't believe he pulled it all off.

The ceremony was so sweet - they were both emotional as she walked down the aisle. I shed some tears - my mom sitting next to me gave me a tissue.  Stacey gave me one before the ceremony too.  

My favorite moment (not on camera) was when they were pronounced husband and wife and they went to sign the marriage license - Violet looked back and with a huge and wave of her diamond ring, she flashed a big smile to her bridesmaids. God granted us a gorgeous (HOT) sunny wedding.  I think some fair skinned guests got sunburns. :P Oops.  Better than rain!  

lining up after the grandparents

the view of the crowd!

quick selfie snap with Tim!

Deb sent me this pic of Drew taking me to my seat

Eli looking on point

Drew was ready!

Luca bringing the rings

Georgia decorating with flowers

the rings were tied so tight we had to get someone to clip the strings with nail clippers. :)

here she comes!

signing the license

Yayyyy - they're married!

they're so adorable and happy

The next hour was full of family photos - then the dance.  

THIS IS MY FAVORITE PICTURE. They are so beautiful and gorgeous and sooo happy.

Matt Reisetter was the MC of the night - he shared a great correlation from basketball success to making Violet his priority and number one.

I don't know who took this and I look kinda funny but it's a silly one to include here

Dave with his siblings - there is a better pic here but when I select photos to add to the blog they're so tiny I can't pick the best one

Dave with siblings and spouses

Sean, April, Logan, Bailey, Adalynn

cousin pic - Bailey, Logan, Wes, Austin, Adalynn and Renee

Martha with siblings and spouses - Deb, Tim, Roger, Mary, Duane, Laura

Martha with family!

Sten and Josh catching up

Rowena and Martha

the Hardinger 5!

first dance as Mr. and Mrs. Wagner - aww

Dave and Violet

Stacey and Drew

the dance party was lit up ... next comes the surprise

Dave had a vision to light up the dance party with an LED Robot suit.  He just brought the vision to life by researching the type of suit necessary - all on stilts - it was 10/10 FUN.  Guests were delighted, everyone was dancing, and Chris the DJ kept the playlist hot with Violet's suggestions.

The last chunk of photos didn't load in order, I tried three times.  It turned out so fun.  I can't even tell you how fun it was.  :)  

They left with a toss of more flower petals, and they were off.  Everything was smooth, the food was delicious (pasta and alfredo, Drew and Violet's favorite), the entertainment was fun, it was a fun mix of two families coming together, and most importantly, we heard Violet and Drew promise their lives to God and to each other, and I tried to stay present and enjoy every moment.  The Wagners provided the charcuterie snacks and cookies, ice cream machines, and milk for dessert.  Those were an absolute smash hit.  

Only glitch I think was the table assignments board not including some Ws and Zs on the list, which thankfully we caught early and texted the people their table numbers before the wedding.  

Violet and Drew have been in Turks and Caicos for their honeymoon for a week now and they've been gracious enough to share lots of cute pics and videos through snapchat - looks like they're having a great time.

On Sunday, any family in town came with us to church and we hosted a big lunch at our house for whoever was around.  We did not have a meal plan for this - either we were going to order pizza or who knows what.  There turned out to be some extra pans of food from the wedding we took home Saturday night (lots of pasta, meat sauce, salad).  Tim and Deb ran to the store to fill in the gaps (alfredo sauce, paper plates), and they helped heat everything up so I didn't have to.  It was a really fun time of hanging out and recapping the wedding.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers! Dave and his dad Ted 

Josh goofing around with Eli

lunch prep

Calvin won the day by shopping for the fathers - he got all the dads really fun underwear

Tim and Deb were able to take Jay and Emily to the airport because they were on the same flight - details we couldn't have planned but God knew

a text they sent to us  -- don't know where they are

Vanessa and Adalynn connected the wedding weekend - love seeing the cousin relationship continue

A huge highlight was Logan and Bailey staying later on Sunday to help us clean up.  They were so cheerful, helpful, and were really in the weeds helping us pick up 5000 little fake flowers that were tossed up in the air when the new Mr. and Mrs. were exiting the wedding.

Josh and Calvin have a special bond

Josh sent this to us - apparently Monday morning they spotted the newlyweds at the Cedar Rapids airport!

My heart is so full.  I feel so much love for the new Mr. and Mrs. - how they handled their engagement with intention and purity - and the clashing of families was so wonderful. The wedding was a wonderful event, everyone pitched in to help, and I could not have done it without all of them.

Now there are emotions I didn't expect.  Vanessa, Dave and I all curled up in Violet's bed together on Sunday night after everyone left.  It felt like a moment to grieve.  We all cried some tears.  Violet has moved on - and handing her off is an emotional experience.  It's all love and a little sadness, knowing the end of an era is over.  I didn't know those feelings of sadness were coming...it hit like a brick wall.  It is entirely possible to hold joy and grief at the same time.  It took a couple days for the tears to subside.  I was glad for the opportunity to jump into a different role at the office and distract myself but it has dissipated for the most part - here comes a new Violet, new role as mother-in-law, and and new role with Violet as my married daughter-friend -- it's going to be amazing.