Thoughts and Notions

I (Denise) lived in Reading, PA from about 1990 to 1995. My family has been back a few times to visit but I have never gone. So, since we were just 40 min. drive away in Lancaster, we decided to drive over to Reading before we returned home.

The first place we visited was where my parents rented for several years before they finally bought a house on the other side of the city (the second picture). It was strange to see it all, and remember riding my bike up and down the block. The houses looked so different and more rundown than I remembered them.

A few other places we visited were the William Penn Fire Tower and the Pagoda on top of Mount Penn. From there we could see the whole city. It was a beautiful day to go site seeing and we had a great time.

Last spring we took a trip to Holland, MI to get out and enjoy the warmer weather. But this time we were there to visit family. Two weekends ago we drove out to Holland and saw Uncle Mark, Aunt Alisa, and Sarah. Uncle Mark took a painting job out there last fall and we hadn't seen them since the move. We love you guys!

Chesley enjoyed the huge icicles, Kaden enjoyed splashing in the pool, and we all had a good time. The joke is that we will remember this last weekend at Shanty Creek as the “weekend we did nothing.” That's because we went to a ski resort and never once ventured out for some snow sports. But the truth is we had a ton of fun just hanging out! Thanks Mom and Dad for inviting us to come!

This last weekend we went to Shanty Creek and stayed at a condo that Mom Haynes was able to get through her work. It was a three and a half hour drive but it was worth it. It was very cold and snowy so we spent most of our time indoors enjoying the warm fireplace and beautiful view. Our condo overlooked the skiing hill and the ski lift which wasn't being used because of some construction they were doing. As you can see it was a really nice place!

Thought you might like to see some pictures we took over labor day weekend. We took a trip up to Houghton Lake and got to take Karl's Grandma Irish out for lunch. Then we got to go out on the boat with Dad Fred and Cathy. Erick, Karl's brother, showed up later in the day and we got to spend time time with him too.