On Wednesday I flew to Michigan for the JSBA AGM. What? Jacob Sheep Breeders Annual General Meeting. It made sense to fly that far for a few reasons beyond getting to visit with other Jacob breeders whom I’ve met over the years. Dan’s sister lives in Kalamazoo, between the airport and the location of the meeting. She offered to pick me up at the airport and deliver me to the meeting. I could visit with her for a couple of days and not need to rent a car. In addition, because I use a Southwest credit card, the trip cost me only $11.20. Win!
Close to landing in Grand Rapids.
For years I’ve heard of the Elvis Museum created in the basement by my brother-in-law.
I finally got to see it.
I wish I could share the video that shows this in its full glory along with music. We spent the first evening watching footage of some of the Ed Sullivan shows that featured Elvis, and Michael filled in many details of Elvis’ life and impact on the music to come.
Michael has included quotes sprinkled in among the photos and other memorabilia.
On Thursday we drove to Lake Michigan. I had looked at weather apps that showed 80’s to 90’s with high humidity. Not this Thursday at the lake! North wind and cold. Red flags on the north side of these piers signaled that people should stay away from the shore. Yellow flags on the south side indicated caution. This is Molly and Michael on the pier with the lighthouse in the background.
Molly and me on the pier. We didn’t walk all the way to the end because waves were splashing over the pier and we were COLD.
The town of South Haven is tourist focused, at least near the lake. Cold as it was, a stop at the ice cream parlor was called for. Molly had told me that the four seasons in Michigan are Fall, Winter, Spring, and RoadWork. So I got a kick out of this ice cream label. The ice cream was excellent. That was only the beginning of great food all weekend!
Kasen was about 21 months.
Kirby is was four and a little bit.
I think that I would have loved to have a trampoline when I was a kid.
We visited the pumpkin patch to choose pumpkins and try to get a family portrait.
First, a chicken picture.
I don’t think it was possible to get everyone looking in the same direction at the same time. But a beautiful family nevertheless.
It seems that nightgowns are also good workout attire (see 
After a strenuous workout it’s hard to stay awake for lunch.
Wearing the unicorn hat she got for Christmas. Yes, there is a unicorn horn and mane on the back of this.
This time Kasen fell asleep before he made it to the high chair.
When one goes to sleep sometimes its worth going on a walk so that the other will take a nap without an argument.
Jacob sheep at the Austin Zoo. This zoo is a rescue/animal sanctuary zoo. All of the animals were seized in animal cruelty cases, retired from other facilities, individual exotic pets that needed rehoming, retired lab research animals, etc. 
Kirby didn’t want to see the lions or tigers, but I thought that this was a rather intimidating photo (not so much the tiger photo but the little girl in front of the giant tiger).
Building a lego tower with flowers on top.
Singing Disney tunes.
The view from the back walkway.
There is the decorated tree just inside the gate on the right.
Everyone else was still in bed but I went for a walk up the road as the sun was coming over the hills.
I got back to the house and checked inside the truck. Dan had chosen to drive to Texas instead of flying. He says, now that he has retired, “everyday is Saturday” and he preferred to throw a road trip into the plans. He had left five days before I did and spent time hiking and camping along the way. He met me at the airport in Austin on Tuesday. Now that all the kids were at the house we had to spread out with sleeping arrangements and he decided to continue with the camping mode and sleep in the truck.
Eventually everyone else came out into the snow.
Kirby started a snowman with the help of…
…Uncle Matt…
…and Aunt Meryl.
I love these kids.
Contemplating the Really Big Puddle.
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