MAR Real Estate Convention - Realtor of the Year for the Clare/Gladwin Board of Realtors 2006

September was a fun and interesting month. On Sept 24-27th, most of the agents at the Kehoe Realty office (and myself), went down to Grand Rapids for the annual Michigan Association of Realtors Conference for classes, networking and entertainment.

I also received the highest honor as Realtor of the Year for the Clare/Gladwin Board of Realtors. I was very honored to receive this once in a lifetime award!

During our visit, we got a chance to meet Dave Couiler (comedian, best known as the character "Joey" on the ABC television series "Full House"). He was our Keynote speaker the evening of the Grand Assembly... and BOY... did he put on a great show! (Here is a picture of Jim & I with Dave, just before the Realtors of the Year were presented at the Grand Assembly).

(There's me... walking toward the stage for one of the Realtors of the Year!)

We had a great time at the MAR Conference and we learned a lot. There were several classes offered throughout the conference and we crammed our days with education and lots of great dining! They fed us very well during our stay!

Jim & I also got a chance to meet up with my Uncle Joe, Aunt Esther and my cousin, Connie. We met at the hotel for some dinner on Sunday night. It was very nice seeing all of them. It had been a while since we had been able to visit. I hadn't seen my cousin in over 20 years! We really enjoyed our visit. I'd love to post a photo. We had one taken at dinner. (Esther, can you email me the picture??? Thanks!)

Here is a link to my Real Estate newsletter that I'll be sending out this week:

http://gladwinrealestateagent.com/pdf/2006-Sept-Oct-LFTH.pdf

Bill & Amber's Wedding - Part 1 (Sept 16th, 2006)

What a beautiful day to have a wedding! Bill and Amber are friends of ours and both are members of the Butman Twp Fire Dept. Can you tell what their wedding theme is? Ryan is the ring bearer... or maybe he's going to put out a fire!
Here comes the bride, all dressed in white!
Here is Monica & Tiffanie Shouse. Can you tell they're sisters?
Here is the newly married couple. Congratulations Bill & Amber!
Ryan, Amber and Heather possing for a picture with Lake Lancer as a backdrop.
Awe! Isn't he cute?
Isn'r she cute!

Bill & Amber's Wedding - Part 2

Party on JIM!
Cute fire hat "Little" Robert!
The firefighter line-up! Don't fall over!
Ryan & Heather dancing....awwwwwwwe!

Cool Looking Spider!

This cool spider took up residence in our garden in late August. For a spider.... she's kind of pretty... don't you think?

Our Virginia Vacation in the Shenandoah Valley Part 1

We start off our vacation with the proverbial "sleeping child" photo. After a little snack and a drink, it's time to pass the time with a nice nap!
Along the way, we stopped at the Seneca Rocks in West Virginia. What a beautiful backdrop! On our way home, we actually stop here again and take the long 1.5 mile hike up to the Seneca Rocks to look down over the valley below. You'll see more pictures of that in the 3rd post of our trip.
We also managed to visit Holly & Scott up on the NE tip of West Virginia on the second day of our vacation. Here's Jim, Scott and Holly sitting around the kitchen table.
Of course, here is Holly and I. This is probably the first photo we've had taken together since we lived together at home. How long has that been? 19 years????? YIKES!
Here is Heather and Kate using their musical talents...
... and Ryan on the piano. The mix of sounds were... interesting. LOL!
Here is Ryan holding Morgana. (Holly.... did I spell that right?) She just LOVES all this attention!

To take a virtual tour of our trip to Virginia (and more photos), please visit: http://visualtour.com/shownp.asp?T=728438

Our Virginia Vacation in the Shenandoah Valley Part 2

Here is a gimpse of the Water Park at the Massanutten Resort. We spent a lot of time here with the kids. It was a lot of fun. This water park is the largest indoor park in Virginia, but it also has an outdoor water park as well..... and they are still expanding! Next year there will be even more fun things to do!
Here is Jim on what they call the "Pipeline". It's an indoor flowrider. Ride the waves Jim!
Here is Heather on the Pipeline. She did ok for her first time, but fell off shortly after I took this picture.
Here is Ryan giving it a try. He also did really good for his first try. The only problem is, that he was so light that the wave likes to push him to the top and he fell off... but the trooper tried it again a few times.

(Why don't you see me on the Pipeline? Because I was wearing a 2 piece swimsuit!!!! You might have seen more of me than you would have liked to, if I would have tried this thing out. Next year I will bring a one piece swimsuit).

Here is a link to the Water Park Web Site: http://www.massresort.com/waterpark/index.html

Here are the kids standing in front of a rock formation in the Shenandoah Caverns. We visited 3 different caverns during our trip. Two in West Virginia and one in Virginia. The kids really enjoyed exploring the caves. Their favorite one was the Stratosphere. That one was located next to the Seneca Caverns in West Virginia, but it didn't have much for improved walkways or even lights. We had to wear lights on our heads to explore that cave. There were even bats down there and we often had to follow ropes to make out way down some of the steeper paths in the cave. That made it more of an adventure for us and the kids. We all loved it!
More formations in the Shenandoah Caverns.

Our Virginia Vacation in the Shenandoah Valley Part 3

WOW! What a view from this lookout along the Blue Ridge Skyline Parkway on the Shenandoah National Park! Here is Heather "On Top of the World".
This photo was taken at the same outlook as the photo above. This is as close to the cliff as we would allow the kids to get. It was a breathtaking view!
And this photo was taken on the same rock as the first photo in this posting. Here is Ryan, Heather and Jim (Jim enjoying his afternoon coffee on the go), with the Shenandoah Valley behind them.
This photo was taken along a cliff at the top of a mountain right at the Massanutten Resort. We had to take a ski chair lift up to the top to see this view. BEAUTIFUL! (PS: Holly, the Hang Gliding platform was near this lookout. What...are you NUTS!!!!!)
Have you ever heard of tubing down a mountain without the snow??? Well, this is how you do it!
We stopped at Seneca Rocks again on our way home and took a walk around the park. Here is an old house that was built in the early to mid 1800's. We were able to walk through the house and see how the people who once lived there, used to live. There was also a lady in the house dressed in the old style of the day. She told us a little bit about the history of the house and she gave us some old fashioned ginger bread and some popcorn that she grew in the garden next to the house. It was really neat.
This photo was taken after we walked 1.5 miles up the side of the Seneca rocks, using switchback trails. It was a hard hike to the top but it was worth the effort to see this awesome view. You can get a better idea of the view by taking a virtual tour of out trip at http://visualtour.com/shownp.asp?T=728438

This is where we stayed in Virginia

Well, actually... we stayed near here. We will be staying at one of these units next year, at Eagle Trace in Massanutten Resort located up in the Shenandoah Mountains!
This is the upstairs living area. It's a lockout which we can use as the main living area or let the kids have it.
This is the main kitchen in the lower level. The upstairs level has a kitchenette.
This is the living area in the lower level.
...and the bedroom in the lower level. The upsatirs unit has two double beds.
This is the view from the parking lot. You wouldn't think a parking lot would be very interesting, but thie view from this one was beautiful! We can't wait until our next visit!!! We bought a week here so that we can visit again and again! We just loved it here.

Take a virtual tour of this unit at http://visualtour.com/show.asp?T=730047