Sunday, March 15, 2009

Surprise visit to Arizona!







I surprised Papa and Gramma this weekend by flying out to Arizona. Thanks to Justin and Sarah for letting me stay with them!! Good to see everyone!

Kristen



Friday, March 6, 2009

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Dan Champagne

Dan Champagne

Some of you know, but some of you may not have heard that my husband, Dan Champagne passed away on Monday, March 2, 2009.

He will be greatly missed by family and friends. Dan hated funeral homes and funerals and his philosophy was to spend time with the living. His family is honoring his wish to not have a funeral at a funeral home or regular religious services. However, I often told him that wakes were for the remaining family and friends to support each other in their grief.

So while I am respecting most of his wishes, we are having a "Celebration of Dan's Life." There will be an open house luncheon on Saturday, March 7, 2009, from 12:00-4:00. Between 1:00-1:45 we will have a time dedicated for sharing stories of how Dan was involved in your life. It was Dan's philosophy to help people in ordinary ways in their daily life without any fanfare. I would love for you to share your funny, inspirational, or ordinary stories if you would, please, so that everyone can see the full scope of his life.

The location is First Presbyterian Church of Royal Oak, 529 Hendrie Blvd, Royal Oak, Michigan 48067. They are located 1 block east of Woodward Avenue, approximately 1/2 mile south of 11 Mile Road.

In honor of his favorite past time, we will be holding a casual B-B-Q inside Fellowship Hall, please dress comfortably (Dream Cruise attire if you desire.) Please forward this invitation to anyone you know may be interested in joining us in this memorial.

Love,
Claudia Champagne
(Josh, Andrea and Rachel)

Monday, March 2, 2009

Relaxing Weekend in Drenthe











Hans and I went to Drenthe, which is a county north of here, our favorite place in Holland. We spent alot of time in the forest walking (we did not bring our bikes) and really just had four days of peaceful reflection of our time here in Holland.