Rewind

This post is another 'week in reverse', starting with a picture of us with Dick & Jacque, our 'dearest and best'. Tonight's dinner was for Bill's birthday and, as always, included a special prayer, a nice toast, and a shared dessert. Another treasured evening!

Sorry about the red-eye....nothing I tried worked to eliminate it :(

PERFECT card!

Bill's mom has made remarkable progress in the last two weeks! She is able to whisper well enough that we can understand her and she is regaining a bit of movement with her right hand and foot. Prayers, please, for her swallow test on Friday which will determine whether or not she can begin eating once again. Oh, the simple pleasures we take for granted......

Bill and his mom

Silly Tori likes to make her hair stand on end from the static in our couches :) And she continued to smile even though I beat her 5-4 in Uno this week !

Deven's last basketball games were Tuesday and Thursday this week. This first picture shows Deven - # 23 - in the huddle with his teammates and his Dad, who is the assistant coach.



We are so thankful for technology so we can 'see' our far-away family! This is another shot of Laura & Amelia, who is wearing an outfit Laura wore as a baby.

Laura sent this picture of Ben and his little girl :)

Last Sunday evening we celebrated Bill's birthday with the family. Here's a shot of him with Abby as he opened a gift.


Laura sent cards and pictures they took when they visited here a few weeks ago. Abby, Sophie, and Noah were delighted to get their own mail with pictures to put in their photo albums.

Sophie

Noah

I took this last picture on a small Caribbean Island last spring. It reminds me to stay connected and 'wired' (in a good way, of course) so that I recognize the blessings all around me.

Overflowing

It was another jam-packed week with lots of time with family and a few friends. A perfect beginning to our week was lunch out with friends Bart & Carole. It was great to hear about their travels and visits to their children all over the U.S. Makes me to not feel quite so sorry for myself that one of our grandchildren is so far away....

Carole and Bart

On Tuesday, I took the Abby, Sophie, and Noah out for lunch to one of their favorite spots where they can 'create' their own sundaes :)

Abby and Sophie

Then it was off to Deven's game - that's him with the ball. He had no games last week, so it was good to get back to a couple of them this week.

Deven shooting a free throw

On Wednesday, Tori and I visited Great-Grandma B. and made a stop at the dollar store. We hadn't been there in a couple of weeks, so she had $3 to spend. She chose to give up the next four weeks as well in order to buy this cute monkey :)

After a meeting on Wednesday evening, we spent some time with a few friends from church. Our conversation and friendship reminded us once again what marvelous people we are privileged to work with and worship with each week.

Jenna, Carmen, Kevin

Deven had another game on Thursday - he's # 23. We know most of his friends on the team, which makes it great fun to watch them play.

Tom and Anna enjoyed a night away so Bill and I got to spend lots of time with their children over the weekend. Anna took this first picture of Bill reading to the kids - they can sit for the longest time just listening, so we always read lots of books when we're with them.


The girls are taking violin lessons, so they had a couple of practice times each day. The first picture is of Abby and the second one is of Sophie.



The girls presented a great puppet show for my entertainment.....


....while Noah played outside a while.



Bill tried out Tom's snowblower - we all laughed at how much of the snow blew right back at him. This picture reminds me of a scene from Dr. Zhivago - except the guy in the movie wasn't smiling.....


We celebrated Bill's birthday on Sunday evening. This picture is of him and Abby as he opened his gift of old 50s Saturday morning t.v. shows - great memories of those early days!


Laura sent these last two pictures of precious Amelia at 8 weeks. We sure do miss her!!!

We bought this shirt for her when we were in Seattle over Christmas
- her first from the market :)



May your sweet blessings overflow!

Valentines!

Valentine's greetings to all of my family and friends who check this site :)

My grandma always told me 'don't wish your life away' - good advice! So I try to enjoy each day as it comes and I continue to post pictures of those who fill my days with joy and blessings.

My friend Ruth celebrated her birthday last week and our usual foursome enjoyed lunch together on Monday to celebrate the occasion. She got paged for an emergency so I missed her on the picture :(

Jacque, me, Lyda

(do I look proud of my friends or what?!?)

It was a relatively warm day on Tuesday so Abby, Sophie, Noah and I went on a hike in the nature preserve near their home and also made a stop at the beach to climb on the sandy ice and walk on the pier.

Abby and Noah on the trail

Sophie is looking for birds - a sure sign of spring :)

Sweet Abby

Ice on Lake Michigan

We enjoyed a spontaneous dinner out with friends Ann and Bob - we loved the food, the conversation, and the frienship!


This is a picture of Amelia wearing a hat made by my friend Ingrid from Germany. Ingrid makes the most beautiful things and Amelia is blessed to be on the receiving end of a box FULL of hats, sweaters, booties, dress, etc.


No school on Friday, so Ty and Deven and his buddy Kyle treated me to a day together with them on the slopes of Caberfae. It was wonderful to spend an entire day with my grandsons!

Ty tried snowboarding for the first time and loved it - he is a natural!

Kyle and Deven

Ty on the slopes

Deven on the chair lift

Bill and I joined Tom and Anna and their kids for a fund-raising walk on Saturday. We walked about two miles through the streets of Zeeland to raise money for needy folks in Ottawa County. The kids each took $5 from their piggy banks to add to the fund. It was beautiful - several inches of fresh snow! - and a perfect way to spend a Saturday morning.

Noah, Tom, Abby, Anna, Sophie

Walking through Zeeland

A short break for hot chocolate and cookies

I was able to 'see' Laura and Amelia this morning via skype :) What a precious little girl! We sure do miss her - and Laura and Ben, of course.

I took this picture on our walk through the nature preserve on Tuesday. Winter allows us to see things that aren't visible during other seasons of the year, like the nest high in the tree.

May your nest be cozy and warm!
And may it be filled with family and friends
who 'roost' with you a while.

Baby, Birthdays, Blessings

These pictures are a bit out of order, but you'll see what a wonderful week we enjoyed......

Tuesday time with the triplets this week was especially fun! We talked about everything we did in Chicago last weekend (see the slide show in the right-hand column) and heard all the plans for their big birthday part on Saturday.

Me and Sophie with her new doll, Anna

Abby gets some of her dinosaurs ready for the table decorations

Abby loves her grandpa!

Grandpa and Sophie

Tori and I met Anna and the kids at Great-Grandma's on Wednesday - she loves their visits!


Laura & Ben and Amelia arrived Wednesday night! They were able to see Deven play basketball - that's him in the burgundy shirt - and enjoy dinner out with Steve & Lynn and their kids.

Lynn and camera-shy Ty at dinner

On Thursday we spent some time with Abby, Sophie, and Noah in the afternoon. It was their birthday and this is a picture of them making the pinata for their party on Saturday. They chose a dinosaur theme and have been planning for weeks :)

Bill and our favorite son-in-law, Ben

Bill and our kids - Laura, Tom, Steve

We had a marvelous weekend with Laura & Ben and Amelia! It was crammed with birthday parties, visits to Great-Grandma, dinners, Deven's game, and a lunch with many of Laura's aunts, cousins, and some of their children. It was wonderful for Laura and Ben to introduce their precious daughter to so many family members and friends, some of whom they hadn't seen since their move to Seattle 6 1/2 years ago. Many thanks to all who took the time to meet our beautiful granddaughter!
(If there is not a green arrow in the middle of the screen, click on the green tab in the top, left-hand corner to play the slide show....)

Abby, Sophie, and Noah celebrated their fifth birthday at pre-school, had ice cream for lunch on Thursday, and hosted a big party on Saturday. It was great fun to watch them open gifts, hear their giggles, and receive their hugs. What precious blessings they are to all of us!
(Click on the green tab again if there is no green arrow in the middle....)

These pictures say it all - can't beat having lots of family at our house!

May you be blessed
with lots of coats and shoes by your front door!