Memories and Memorable Folks

Saturday evening Jim & Chris invited us over for some lively games of cards, great food, and many laughs with them and Jim's sister and brother-in law. Thanks, Jim and Chris - we had a wonderful time!

Jim, Bill, Tom & Bev, Chris (six weeks past hip replacement!)

Our church had a great Harvest Celebration this evening. We could only stay a short while but had time to enjoy supper and watch some of the activities.

Brian taught kids how to juggle. Brian is a professor at Calvin College and the son Kelloggsville's beloved Dick & Jacque.

Pastor Dan delighted the kids with his balloon creations :)

The kids enjoyed decorating pumpkins and cookies

We scooted out and headed over the the final worship service at Godwin Heights CRC. The congregation is disbanding after 80 years of ministry. Godwin Hgts. is the church I grew up in, where I made profession of my faith, Bill and I were married, and all of our children were baptized. We were part of that church family until January of 1979.

This is the way the church looked on July 10, 1969 at our wedding.

Marilyn P. played the organ for the service tonight.....just as beautifully
as she did at our wedding!

Don D. and Marilyn at our wedding

The baptismal font at which all three of our children were baptized.

I took this next picture just because I could. It's the boiler room where the men in the consistory would take smoking breaks during their meetings. I was never allowed in there until tonight :)
It was a meaningful service and social time afterwards. We saw lots of folks we hadn't seen in years and enjoyed the time of fellowship and memories.

Sorry these next two pictures are sideways....I can rotate them in iphoto, but not on the blog.
They are pictures that Abby and Sophie signed. They wrote their names all by themselves - watched it with my own eyes!


May your life be filled with special moments and beautiful memories!

Sunday - Wednesday Fun

We spent Sunday with the triplets and enjoyed the beautiful weather, lots of giggles, and the great outdoors.

Grandpa and Noah


Abby - enjoying the beautiful weather at Kollen Park

The girls get a push from Grandpa

Precious Noah climbing - as usual

Bill had to leave, so the kids and I picked up sub sandwiches and headed to Holland Beach - it was a gorgeous October afternoon!

Sweet Sophie

Silly Abby

Noah and Sophie dance in the sand :)

We stuck around long enough to see a beautiful sunset

On Monday, the kids had fun with crafts and activities at home....

Sophie creates lots of animals

Abby makes a design with lots of shapes

On Tuesday I had supper with Rachel, my friend for almost twenty years. We always celebrate our October birthdays together - going out for Chinese food and a bit of shopping.

Rachel will be 27 on the 30th

The sky was spectacular!

Rachel clowning around

Rachel made me promise I'd post a picture with her three favorite
caregivers in the home where she lives.
These are Muuma, Chablis, and Belinda.

On Wednesday, I enjoyed tea with Bill's mom, cousin Pam from New York, and Aunt Helen. It was great to catch up on their news, hear about some of their travels, and life in NYC.

Love this pictures....this old couple was enjoying a walk along the waterfront at Kollen Park on Sunday. May you always have someone to walk through life with you!


p.s. Anna's lasik surgery went well yesterday and she hopes to get all restrictions lifted when she sees her surgeon this morning - amazing!

Super Fun with Super Kids!

Finally...Blogger.com got its technical difficulties solved and I can post some pictures of the last few days.

These first pictures are of Ty 'mudding' in the vacant lot next to their house. Looks like something most 14-year-olds would love to do! Ty bought his quad with his summer earnings from working for Bill at the Co-op.




Some great storms came through West Michigan on Thursday night. The sky was beautiful as the weather blew in from the west. This picture was taken from our condo.


I used to spend Fridays with Tori and now that she's in first grade, I miss that special time with her each week. She didn't have school this Friday because of the teachers' convention, so I was able to spend the day with her. We made our usual stop at the Dollar Store, went for lunch, saw a movie, rode the carousel at the mall, and went in some fun stores. It was a great day!

We had time for a few games of Uno - Tori is a great player
and she takes great delight in beating me! This week it was seven games
each and Lynn came to pick her up during the tie-breaker.
We left it at a tie :)

Deven's last football game of the season ended with a great victory - 19-0. He scored two touchdowns on the bright, sunny Saturday morning. That's Deven on the far right - # 27.

The coaches got a good drenching with the players'
jugs of water, Gatorade, and pop.

We're so thankful our grandkids all live so close and we can enjoy so many wonderful times with them. They are tremendous blessings in our lives!

Tagged!

Guess it's time to respond to Denise's tag. I'm 'it'.......

But first, following the directions, these rules must be posted:
1) You have to post these rules before you give the facts
2) You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
3) At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog for the rules.

My middle name is Elaine, so here goes....

E - Easily entertained.
L - Lumpy. That's right - lumpy. My thighs are lumpy.

A - Anti-establishment. (Sort of - I don't like unnecessary rules

or 'Forms of Subscription'!)

I - Immensely blessed - by God, family, friends, healthy, etc., etc., etc., etc.

N - Night owl.

E - E-e-e-ked by spiders and centipedes.


Blogger.com is having technical difficulties, so I can't upload any more pictures or graphics. Too bad....I had a great one for the 'I' - "Heavenly Blessed".


I tag Laura, Anna, Beckie, Marva, Sue, and Emily M. Have fun!

Loving Life!

I've noticed that my sister Denise 'tagged' me and so I'll be posting that one soon, but first a few pictures from the last several days - in reverse order....

Wednesday night Sue and I polished off
a beverage and two baskets of chips -
great snacks, great conversation, and great friend!

Wednesday lunch with Jacque, Ruth,
and Lyda. Ruth is the chaplain at Spectrum's
Blodgett Campus, so our lunches are always at the
cafe in the hospital - special every time!

Hard to beat Pete's in good ol' Byron Center
for spending time with friends -

this Tuesday with Curt & Jan and Gary & Shirley :)

Deven's game on Saturday - that's him running
with the ball. Only one more game this season....

The rest of Saturday was spent in Holland with the triplets while Tom and Anna and Bill enjoyed the Spartan football game in Lansing. The kids and I went to the nature preserve near their house and spent nearly two hours on the trails and playground. They know every trail - the one to the bird house, to the 'down bridge', to the tower, etc., etc.

Abby uses her 'binoculars' to look for panthers :)

Noah loves to explore

Sophie gives Abby and Noah a spin on the saucer

Abby runs the bases at the ball field

Then it was off to 'Doggie Froggie's' before heading home for baths.....

Sophie enjoyed her hamburger...

May you always have someone to ride the trails with you :)