Just a few more February pictures

Emma and Matthew came over yesterday to enjoy the afternoon with me. Christopher's best friend, Jaden, had unexpectedly dropped over to their house; so Chris was staying there to entertain him. Emma really enjoys playing with my laptop when she is over. She got on to Photo Booth yesterday and took these cute selfies ...

Below, the bottom right is my favorite. Emma has a beautiful smile! 

You are a sweetheart, Ems.

 Emma has taught herself how to play my piano. I purchased three beginner piano books for her two years ago and she has almost completed the work in these books now. She is doing a really good job.

 Matthew! I loved spending time with Matthew yesterday. He is a dear. My puppets are always a hit with all of the children, and this kitty puppet is their favorite. Matthew wanted me to order one for his birthday, so we did exactly that!

 Emma put on a comedy finger puppet show, doing the birth of Jesus. The reason she made it into a comedy was because I did not have the correct finger puppets to play each character and as she was desperately trying to find a puppet that might be able to play a certain part, it got funnier and funnier. Jesus ended up being one of my little piggy finger puppets (yikes). The shepherds were cowboy finger puppets, Mary was a pretty pathetic-looking girl puppet that I have ... king Herod was goofy too--but Emma had fun telling the story for us anyway.

 I spent this morning (Monday) with Kaity-girl. She came over to play for awhile. She was a little bit tired today, so we mostly just played "pretend" with her baby dolls ...

 Her two dolls, Harper and Baby, got tucked in to bed for the night (a very brief night), they got dinners cooked for them ...

 ... they got put down for naps, got sick, had to take their medicine, etc.

Kaity was an excellent little mother today. She was very cuddly too. I love her.

10.9 inches of snow!

The loveliest little bridge ...

During my "travels" yesterday, this was the prettiest--and there wasn't even a lighthouse to photograph!

 Isn't this the sweetest bridge ever?!

My cousins are very familiar with it! It is close to their dear lighthouse and crosses the channel going out to Lake Michigan.

I had to do a lot of maneuvering to get a good picture of it. So many brambles, branches, bushes blocking my sight! 

What a dear place this is! 

 I will have to make some cards from these pictures, won't I?

Thank you, Lord, for the beauty You have created! It is my constant comfort and joy.

Grand Haven never disappoints

This continues to be my favorite spot in Michigan. I love it so much. I walked the north shore yesterday and then I drove around to the State Park and got some nice pictures! 

The sunset was very beautiful--not spectacular, but definitely worth staying for. 

I arrived at Grand Haven very late in the afternoon--almost evening in fact.

It wasn't very cold out there yesterday, but I was bundled up anyway with three layers ... just in case! 

 I love how the ice forms on this lighthouse ...

 I have many more pictures, but I think these are a good representation of the better ones. No matter what, Grand Haven is always a beautiful place!

A little bit of snow in Muskegon ...

I was in Muskegon for a little while yesterday. I drove from Little Pointe Sable to Pere Marquette beach to see what I could see! After NOT finding snow up near Ludington, I wasn't very hopeful to find any in Muskegon. 

I did walk all the way out to the end of the breakwater ... just because it is fun to do that! These pictures are not very extraordinary, but the sun had finally broken through the clouds and the colors were pretty spectacular. 

 I was even able to walk out on the rocks a little way--mostly because there were not rough waters AND the water is not as high this year either.

I could see from here that the pierhead light had no ice or snow whatsoever on it, so I did not walk the distance over there to get a closer look. 

Although the breakwater light is one of my least favorite lighthouses (it just looks unhappy--like it wishes it were not a lighthouse!), the ice formations on it are always interesting.

The sandy icebergs on the shoreline ... 

From this view, though, it could be 80 degrees and August! It is a beautiful place any time of the year.

In search of snow at Little Pointe Sable

Generally speaking, it has been a weird winter in West Michigan. Our last two were brutally cold and very snowy. This year, however, it has been unusually warm and definitely lacking in snow! For a long time now, I have wanted to go back to Little Pointe Sable and get some winter pictures to show my dear cousins--their cherished lighthouse all decorated in white! 

Little Pointe Sable is located about 25 miles south of Ludington and has an address of Mears, Michigan. It is very close to Silver Lake and those famous dunes. I ventured out yesterday morning hoping that the further north I went, the more snow I would see! 

 However, since this location is only 84 miles from my house (and not all of those are northern miles), I was quite disappointed to find ... hardly any snow!

 These pictures could almost have been taken in June or July, except for the fact that there are zero leaves on any of the trees.

I took quite a few pictures (surprise, surprise); but these are the few that I feel are worth posting.

The shoreline definitely looks wintery with the small icebergs caked with sand ... 

But without that, it really would not look that much different in the summer. 

 Still, it was worth the drive. I actually walked around here for nearly two hours yesterday. I walked up and down huge dunes. It was great fun.

 It is such a beautiful place. I don't have any history associated with this lovely spot, but my dear cousins grew up spending two weeks here every summer of their lives. They love it to death. I can understand why, certainly.

 I think this picture (below) is my favorite.

 This is the pathway leading to and from the cottage my cousins stay at each summer. Last year they arrived to an exceedingly eroded beachfront--a shear drop-off from dune to ... Lake Michigan! No beach in-between. I think perhaps just a little of the beach has reappeared this year.

 Don't you think there must certainly be a story behind this photograph? A disgruntled Valentine perhaps?

This pretty bouquet was planted right in this exact place on the beach, not far from the icy edge of Lake Michigan. I wonder why?!