Pictures

Breakers

We were blessed to have both sets of families visit in the last three weeks, and my older brothers, sister in law, and two great friends came up a few weeks earlier. The colors were beautiful everywhere we went, and we got to revisit some old favorites, make some new favorites, and as always, I managed to end up dirtier than anyone else...

To be continued...with pictures of the weekend with Tim, Lisa, Nate, Mara, and Suzanne = )

Tjapkes Family Visit

Dood Family Visit

More Pictures:
Brockway Mountain Sunset
Kayaking on Portage Lake
Redridge/Freda

Hungarian and Douglass-Houghton Falls

We took a trip to Hungarian Falls and Douglass Houghton Falls. The Hungarian Falls were almost dried up, but the DH falls were flowing pretty nicely. These are both within 30 minutes of our apartment!


Ryan was trying to kiss me, but I'm not sure why he was waving his arms



Douglass Houghton Falls. We couldn't find them at first, but someone who lives nearby told us that we could cut through her yard. Her only condition was that we made sure her cat (who Katrina named Felix) followed us back. We laughed inwardly, thinking that we couldn't possibly be expected to have a cat tag along with us. Felix came all the way to the bottom of the waterfall with us, following right along with Ryan. He then followed us back up, and to his house! What a nut of cat.







Hungarian Falls




They cooperated surprisingly well!






Katrina and I stood at the rock that's at the bottom of the falls


Ryan and I (but mostly Ryan) created a new pathway for the water to run through. Our goal was to refill the water source for the main waterfall- I'm sure our efforts saved the falls and generations to come will thank us!



For more pictures, click this link. It will take you to more pictures, but no captions = (

Hungarian and Douglass-Houghton Falls

A Tour of Houghton

This is a view of a portion of the MTU campus. Our apartment is to the right, and the trail that we run on is to the right of the houses along the lake.





This is the waterfront trail that we run on. It's always quiet, so it's a nice place to relax.



A view of the lake, taken from the trail



This is a view of the Portage Lake Lift Bridge. Houghton is on the left, Hancock on the right. The road that you see leading away on the Houghton side is the one I take to WalMart. It's also where all non-MTU civilization is = )


This is the boardwalk along Portage Lake. I love to run here- you can hear the water, but not much else. It's wonderfully relaxing! Ryan and I also come here on dates, because it's so relaxing, and it's free = )



I like this shot, because it shows most of Houghton. The street running right through the middle is the main street through the campus. Ryan's classes are all to the right of that street, and our apartment is to the left. In fact, on the far left, in the middle (from top to bottom), you can see a street with cars parked along the left. That's our street! You can't see our apartment though, because it's hidden in the trees. If you're heading down that street towards the bridge, we're near the end.





This is a view of Hancock, when you're standing in Houghton. In the front is an abandonded factory, and in the background you can see Mont Ripley, which is where I plan to ski (aka break every bone in my body) this winter.



As you can see from the variety of colors, these are from different season. None of these pictures were taken by me- I got them all from Google. If you plan to come visit and want to see/hear more about a particular place because you might be interested in visiting it, let me know. I'll go take some more pictures and will very happily try to convince you to come up here = )

-Abby

A kiss on the cheek - GOOD, but not quite as good as one on the lips.

This morning through the preaching of the Word and the working of the Holy Spirit, I realized how much I have been neglecting the Spirit and his work.
"And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." 2 Cor 1:21-22
When I desire God, desire to hear his Word and pray, truly bless a friend, or obey God in any way, the Spirit is at work.
I also realized that I have not been believing that God can and will really use me for his glory and for the sanctification of fellow believers. I am weak. But God IS strong!

Spirit, help my unbelief. Give both my wife and I deep joy and significance in doing the work of God, whether that be studying, working, meeting people, talking about Jesus, or doing the dishes.

GET OFF THE PHONE, KATRINA!

This is Abby talking on the phone with Katrina which is/was preventing us from watching a movie.

Check out my awesomely thick flatbread!

chutes and ladders

Chutes and Ladders

Last week we went to a mountain with some friends. The pictures are somewhat boring since the view from the mountain turned out to be disappointing. However, the look on Abby's face in the first picture makes up for the rest (we were trying some unripe, very bitter apples).
This past Saturday we visited the breakers (a beach named after the wall of rocks protecting the canal from stormy seas). The sunset was beautiful.

keweenaw day trip

The day after moving we traveled around some of the Keweenaw Peninsula. It was about a hundred mile trip. Our first stop was in the Copper Harbor area, the northernmost point in the Keweenaw. We then visited Brockway Mountain, which offers an amazing view in every direction. After stopping at the Jampot to get some amazing Jam and a huge bun, we found Jacob's Falls. We visited a state park, and finally we ate dinner at Quincy's Restuarant. Unfortunately they don't have a gluten-free menu.

moving in

We had a lot of help from dad, mom, Tim, Aaron, Mara, and Matt, so it only took us about two and a half hours to move in Friday, 08-22.
Pictures here.
Our address is 1806 Woodmar Dr Apt E, Houghton, Mi 49931.
Here are pictures of our apartment after we are completely moved in.