Ann Arbor, MI: Jeff and Kristin

Ann Arbor almost got postponed due to some engine quirkiness in Grand Rapids…but at the last minute, we got the blue beast roaring back down the road towards the home of Jeff and Kristin. We pulled in and parked in their perfectly smooth and flat driveway…it’s like it was made for our RV :) After all was settled, we decided to head downtown to get pizza…but first, we made a quick stop at Camping World. What could be more fun than Camping World?! It’s crazy the things you can get excited about when you live in an RV. The little rubber flowers that go in between your bowls in the cupboard so they don’t jingle when you drive nearly sent me into a tizzy.

After stocking up on some necessities, we arrived at Silvio’s Organic Pizza near the University of Michigan campus. Now this was some pizza! It was totally fresh and delicious…everything was made right there in the store. We had fun walking around and seeing the sights…including an alley completely full of graffiti art, the first ever Borders bookstore, and lots of college students busily bustling about. Upon arriving back at their house, we stayed up way too late chatting playing with Ellie, the dog. Both Jeff and Kristin are photographers as well…so we had fun sharing our passion for Flickr and our lens obsessions.

Kristin stayed home in the morning from work…and made us some delicious scones and Vietnamese coffee. Speaking of Vietnam…Jeff and Kristin are in the final stages of adopting a baby girl from there. They are going to make awesome parents and we cannot WAIT to hear about her arrival! Kristin has set up the cutest nursery for her…it was even featured on Apartment Therapy. I could have just stayed in there all day looking at her sweet slings, softer than soft cloth diapers, and that amazing slipcover on the IKEA chair. I just still can’t get over it.

We had several things happen in Ann Arbor that can only be described as “God sightings”…where we saw God’s hand at work in the very details of our daily lives. The first was Bella’s bike.

Kristin and I had been randomly talking about bikes and how Bella didn’t have one, but wanted one…etc. I had told her that we were having trouble finding a good used one that was her size. The next day, she told us about one that she had found on Craigslist in Ann Arbor…it was the perfect size, hardly used, and only $20. We couldn’t believe it! Matt went the next morning and picked it up…and we surprised Bella with it. She was (and still is) sooooo excited and rode it every minute she could while we were there.

The other cool thing was that I had given Kristin a little mini quilt pattern/set that I had purchased but never got around to making…and I thought it would be perfect for their daughter. It turns out that Kristin had wanted that EXACT same set, but had decided not to get it at the last minute. How crazy!? We were both so encouraged to watch God use us to bless each other!

On the last night we were there, we went back down to the University of Michigan campus and walked around. We talked with some interesting folks and had pizza with about 50 sorority girls. It’s so fun to be “on campus”…I love the energy.

Other things we did with Jeff and Kristin:
*They introduced us to the phenomenon that is….The Office. We don’t really ever watch TV, so we hadn’t seen it. That is some funny stuff.
*We had a picnic in the park…and Bella got to play with other kids with bikes. Wooooo Bella!
*Met several of their friends…and their kids. Good times.
*Kristin and I went thrifting…and found big bargains. We also went out for coffee….yum.

Overall…we had a great time and it was so hard to leave!! As I went back through the photos I took…I had such sadness because we had so much fun and we miss them already. It’s amazing how connected you can become and how much fun you can have in a short time…with people you just met.

On a cool & foggy Michigan morning, we pulled away from their home and headed East…but we will never forget their warm hospitality and their contagious smiles. We’ll be back someday!

Photo album here.
Kristin’s photo album of our visit here.

2 Comments »

  1. How cute to see Bella’s expression of joy over her “new” bike!! My 4 year old’s favorite thing in life right now is riding her little bike. I can’t wait for you guys to visit. They can ride bikes for hours together!!

    Comment by dorothy — October 11, 2007 @ 5:34 pm

  2. bella grandma loves you your Inew bike
    I can.t wait to see it. love you and I miss you soooooo much…

    Comment by mom janssen — October 11, 2007 @ 7:31 pm

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