Down in the Holler....

The snow melted!


It's sweatshirt weather again!  This alone is cause for celebration!


(And Jamie and Thad are done with the flu!


Yes, it hit them in the night Sunday night and they contended with it for two days.  We are holding our breath, hoping we don't get it.  But, we are so glad we were here to watch Levi while they were so sick.  Jamie lost 6.5 pounds in less than 48 hours, poor thing!)


So we are getting out a little.  Outside!  Yes!  Today it was the holler.


Yes, we went to the holler.  Up the road just apiece.

We went on a little hike.

To a place of beauty and solitude.  And green things.  

Yes, green.

Green is a novelty to us Michiganders in December.  We can become enthralled by it and try to memorize it so we can hold onto it for the next....six....months.

And flowing water isn't something we'll see all pooled up in the middle of January, either, so we try to savor that when we can, too.

I call this the peek a boo rock.  The holes were made by the falling water in the soft sandstone.  We brought this deserving item of beauty home with us.

Don't ask me what is going on here....but I thought you might appreciate my (daughter's) wellies, and how special it is to me to be able to wear them in DECEMBER!!

Luke had a bunch of fun and he shot a good number of these pictures.  It thrills me to no end for him to enjoy taking pictures.

I thought you might enjoy a hike today.  

That's why I brought you along, to see the sights.

And the weird twisted tree trunks.

And the beautiful waterfall, I wish you could hear it, too.

Helloooooo down there!  Sometimes, I wish I knew how to yodel.

Just take BIG steps, down, down, down, rock by rock. 

It's slippery, don't fall!

It's well worth the work, though!

It never hurts to get a little mud on the tires...every once in a while, it's what makes the world go around.


And darn it, we never did need to use four wheel drive, I kind of like doing that.  Am I weird?  (Don't answer that!)  Or does this strange anomaly just come from having a dad and some brothers who liked to get stuck in the mud for the fun of it?