~ Lunch Date ~

This week I had the privilege of eating lunch with these fine women.
We had such a nice visit and it is so relaxing being around Christian women.
Food was great. Fellowship was great.

It is such a joy singing on the Praise Team with you girls!!
Can't wait until our next outing!!

Love, Shaina

~ Dirty Thirty Club ~

Dirty Thirty Club

Shooting the potato gun! Super Fun!!

Robin and I. I have known this girl for years. We went to school together from 5th grade on.

Raegan, Crystal, and I.
So, I am sure the title captured some attention!
This weekend Terral and I went to Rogers for a little get together.
Most of these girls are who I grew up with. This past weekend they had a little get together and call themselves the dirty thirty club, since everyone turned 30 this year.
It was a lot of fun and I am glad I went. I have not seen some of these people in a very looooong time. We cooked out and sang and shot the potato gun. There was also a zipline, which I did not do. I thought it would be a little awkward going considering I haven't seen everyone in awhile, but it was great. Then when I heard Bro. Ronnie's message Sunday, I knew it was meant for me to go. I am looking forward to the next event with these girls.

Sometimes it is intimidating to go out on a limb and be a candle.....but once you do it, its not so bad.

~ A Period of a Few Days ~

This is Terral and his cousins, Brian and Chris. I love it when they get together. They have the best time together.

Tim, Amy, Terral, and I. Amy is Terral's cousin.

Amy and Terral.

I know this picture is blurry, but I had to include it. This lady is so sweet and very special. This is Terral's great Aunt Nita. She is Terral's grandfather, Jasper's, sister. She reminds us so much of his grandpa. Her health is not doing so well, so we were thankful we had this time with her. She has a lot of land where she lives in Michigan and they have a vineyard. Terral's family has a contract with Welch's. It is really cool. They also own a nursery and grow many plants.

During the weekend of the 4th, there was a mini reunion. It was a lot of fun. We were the only ones there from the South. Everyone kept commenting on the way we talk. Apparently our accent is really strong. By the end of vacation I thought I was speaking like a Northerner.

There was a lot of family I had never met. So, it was fun meeting Terral's family.

This is Terral's cousin Kathy and her daughter, Melanie. Kathy is whose house we were at and she hosted the mini reunion. She was so sweet to have all of us there. There were a lot of people, but it was a blast!!

This is Amanda and I. She is married to Terral's cousin Chris and is a real sweetie!!

Kathy and another daughter of her's, Kelsey.

Tim and Amy at the bonfire.

Lauren and Lauren.

Aaron, Mary, Terry, and Amanda at the bonfire.

Hudson and his cousin, Hunter. These two had a blast together!

When the Meekers get together, there is always going to be some music. It is so much fun listening to them play and sing. I sang a little with them this year, which I have never done. Terral's cousin, Brian, has put his house on the market to move to Nashville. He is going to pursue him music career. I hope he does well. He writes his own songs, plays the guitar, and sings.

~ July 5th ~

I saw this sign and had to take a picture!

On July 5th, We went to South Haven and watched fireworks. They did not start until 11:00 so the boys fell asleep waiting. South Haven waited so late to shoot them off, but they were worth the wait. I am glad they shot them off on the 5th or we would not have seen any.

~ Chicago Baby ~

This is Lauren waiting to board the train to Chicago. The train ride was about 1 hour. It was kinda fun.

This was while we were on the train. I chose to sit "backwards". Terral would get sick if he did and I was afraid Lauren would if she did. The sights on the way were not that great. It made me thankful for what I have. We passed many houses and they were were so close together. It was crazy!!

While we were in Chicago we went to Shedd's Aquarium. It was so cool! There was so much to look at. They had a dolphin show and we watched a 4D movie ( Happy Feet- just a clip of it), and we saw whales and every fish imaginable. Fish from rivers, oceans, and lakes. There were even monkeys and we saw blue frogs and bright yellow ones too! Very fascinating. The picture of the three of us was taken right outside of the aquarium with the view of Chicago in the back.

When I think of Chicago I think of tall buildings and the Chicago Cubs. I love this picture of the sailboats. I think it is so beautiful. It gave me a whole new vision of Chicago.

Lauren had a really great time. We took a water taxi over to the Navy Pier. This is while we were waiting for it.

Terral and I.

I took this picture while we were riding the water taxi. You can see the clouds starting to roll in. It did rain while we were there, but it was while we were waiting on pizza so it was not a huge deal. This is the Navy Pier. It was really neat. There were rides and shops and restaurants.

This was Lauren's surprise. We took her here to shop and see the store!! It was so cool. I had never been to the store myself. I really wish we had brought her doll!! She had a great time shopping and browsing around. It is so much better being there than looking at a catalog!!

I took this picture for EB!! Walgreens were everywhere. I thought to myself, I wonder if I could get those great deals at this Walgreens. You know, with the hustle and bustle of the city, people would probably NOT be very patient with me and my coupons and many transactions!!!

This is Lauren with her cousin Kelsey and Kelsey's roommate from college. This was Lauren's first ride in a taxi! I got to hail it!! Why is that such a big deal for me? Not sure. I have been in a taxi, but it was in Mexico.

I thought this church was so beautiful!! It was so weird to see this beautiful structure in the middle of all these great big buildings. Later, I found out we could have gone in. I will have to do that next time.

To end our day in Chicago, we ordered some Chicago style pizza! It was amazing!! I wish I would have taken a picture of it. It was so thick and delicious!!! We had to eat it on the train because we were afraid of missing it. It made no difference to me where I ate it because it was so good!!

I was sad because I did not get to see Wrigley field. I grew up watching the Chicago Cubs with my grandparents. This just means I will have to go back!!!

~ So behind ~

It seems I am extremely behind on my blog posts.

With that being said, I am going to play catch-up!!

So, stay tuned....

~ Just a Glimpse ~

Just a glimpse...

South Haven....

Gorgeous!!!

This was my favorite place.

I liked it more than Chicago.

More pictures to come of the rest of the vacation....

Love, Shaina