Monthly Archives: January 2015

The Gender Reveal

Here’s a video of the big reveal!

We’re very excited for June, and look forward to having a little-little one in the house again. It will be a sleepless summer, but at least we’ll have Harvey to help change diapers!

Happy Retirement, Coach Lober

We attended Coach Lober’s retirement party this evening with Gradpa Rogers, and Grandma and Grandpa Jonkhoff. It was fun to see all of the friends connected through the Traverse City Junior Golf Association. I still remember the excitement of playing in junior tournaments beginning at age nine.

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Sunday Talk Time

Cute kid, if I do say so myself. We’re getting a kick out of him as he picks up more words here and there. We cover bye, hi, mine, more, dog (bark!), and cow (moo!) above. He also likes to say “gar…” for garage, which is one of his favorite places to check out with Grandpa. We didn’t think of it, but “gol…” for golf is also a favorite.

Michigan Property Tax Article

I wrote an article discussing the recent amendments to the Michigan property tax statute and expanded planning opportunities for family property succession. Here is a link to the article on the Kuhn Rogers website. The article in full is as follows:

Whether your family property is a rustic camp in the U.P., a cozy cottage on Little Glen, a hunting cabin in Eastern Lower Michigan, or a house in Traverse City – to your family, your property likely has a “family meaning value” far in excess of its fair market value.

A consideration when planning to keep property in your family for generations is its annual carrying cost, a major component of which is the annual property taxes. The longer you’ve owned your property, the greater the likelihood that without careful planning your property taxes could uncap (increase significantly) for future generations of owners. The unfortunate result can be a forced sale by your children or grandchildren who can’t afford the carrying costs.
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Big Hill Bench

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I built this bench from two stumps left by the road by the power company, six nails from my Grandpa Rogers’ workshop, and an extra board we had in the garage. It’s just big enough to fit the whole family on the first really snowy day of the winter.