ICE ICE BABY!!!

My brothers are pretty neat (neat is such an under-used word). I didn’t always feel that way and as were were growing up, I actually “dis-owned” them. We never made it official however it was true in my mind. Its hard being a girl with 3 brothers and no sisters. Take a guess at how many times I found myself on the slim side of 3 against 1? Exactly, it was pretty much daily.

As the years have passed, I have grown to have a deep love and appreciation for them, their individual quirks, and all the wonderful ways they add to my life. Fortunately all 4 of us currently live in the Fenton area. It is wonderful to be able to spend so much time together and even better now that they come along with sister-in-laws for me:-) I am number 2 in the birth order and the brother next in line after me is named Garrett. If you have met Garrett, you know that he has a very low sense of self-preservation (that is a nice way of saying he is a bit of an adrenaline junkie). One of his passions is climbing, rock climbing and ice climbing. In the state of Michigan and particularly in this region, there is not a lot of either of those and traveling over long distances is necessary to feed that passion of his…until just a few years ago. We grew up on an apple orchard and some of the old equipment that was used around the farm is still there…including a drag line, which for the sake of simplicity, is kind of like a crane. In the summer, they can get their “climbing-fix” at one of the rock gyms that are close by. In the winter…that doesn’t work so well. So he and a friend decided they would start farming ice to be able to have a winter version of a rock gym…and I am in awe everyday over what they came up with. My other two brothers are were able to come together and offer their gifts of construction knowledge and entrepreneur-lism and came up with this brilliant invention. There is nothing like it anywhere close to here. Friends of theirs drive in from all over to spend a weekend doing what they love to do and training on this ice. I just thought I would share a few pictures because I think the ice tower is pretty neat, and my brothers are pretty neat. I am glad to share this lifetime with them…and have learned so much from our relationships that I am grateful for. If I had this life to do all over again, I would pick these same 3 guys. They have help shape me into the person that I am today, and for that I have so much gratitude. Love your family…we only get this one chance.