Here is my student Michika who is moving back to Japan this week. She is lovely and kind, a very good student, and we will miss her. Good luck to Michika and her family!

We just spent a few days in Northern Michigan. First we went to Mackinaw City where you can see the beautiful Mackinaw Bridge.




Then we went up to Munising and Marquette to spend some time at Lake Superior.



Then we went to St. Ignace where we like to go to Mackinaw Island and hike the 8 mile perimeter of the island.




It was a wonderfully relaxing few days away.

More pictures of Scarlett from this weekend:


Good news! Steve, Marta, Gabriel, and Ale will visit us Labor Day weekend!! I can hardly wait.

Here are three princesses: Scarlett, Anne Marie, and Mary Jo.

Chicken video

Mary Jo, Scarlett and Anne Marie do the chicken dance.

Today the mothers of two of my students plus a sister came to my house for a visit. Everyone was so kind. When the grandmothers of the world get together, there is no difference!
In this picture my student Sachiko is on the left. Next to her is her sister. Next to me is Sachiko's mother, and on the right is Sachiko's mother-in-law. Sachiko's husband is also my student.
We had a tour of my house, drank tea, and talked with Sachiko translating. She did a good job; translating is hard work!

The last few days we've had a visit from my sister-in-law Barb, my brother Dean's widow, who is originally from Michigan and now lives in Mississippi with her daughter Kim's family. We had not seen each other for several years so it was lovely to catch up, reminiscing, talking about lots of things. In addition we saw Barb's extended family, including Kim and Merle, Jessica and Ben, their baby Bella who has beautiful reddish blond hair and big blue eyes.