May Memories

Whew - we've had lots of activities and events since the last update. Many of them are divided into slide shows to make it easier to post.

These first photos were taken about ten days ago at Kollen Park with Abby, Sophie, and Noah.....

One of the best parts of going to lots of graduation open houses is catching up with friends we don't get to see often. Here's a picture of me and Brian, one of my 'prayer kids' way back when he was in high school. What a great guy!


Deven earned money to buy a new Ipod Touch by cleaning my car - inside and out. Looks terrific!


This one is for Laura - one of her favorite teachers ever!

Beckie

Tori is a helper for a boy in her class who has many special needs. She and the other helpers were treated to a Friendship Festival to thank them for their kindness and help.

Abby, Sophie, and Noah graduated from Pre-School last week Wednesday. Cute! Cute! Cute! It was wonderful to have four generations at the graduation - the kids, Anna, Anna's mom Nancy, and Nancy's dad Gordon.

Bill had to make a delivery of paper after the graduation. Tori thought it was great fun to punch in the security code. She let the door close after Bill made each trip inside just so she could enter the code again :)


After an Open House on Thursday evening, we stopped to see Jack - and his parents, of course :) Jack is a grandson of Dick & Jacque, who carted me out to Holland and back that evening. Our schedules have been so full that we haven't seen much of each other lately, so it was extra-nice to spend some time with them and Jack and Dr. Dan and Kate!


Laura and Ben celebrated their tenth anniversary with a trip to Vancouver over the weekend. They had a wonderful time and she emailed us some pictures....

Ben & Amelia at sunset

Smiling for Daddy

Sweet and precious girl!

The weather was so beautiful on Sunday that we were able to spend some time outdoors with Mom B.

We spent Memorial Day at the cottage with lots of family. The weather was perfect, the cottage is clean (thanks, Sisters!), and the dock, boats, etc. are all in place.

Sophie and Noah got a head-start for Halloween on Tuesday. Noah made a robot costume and I'll have to ask Sophie what hers is - I think it's a bug.


Deven competed in the conference track meet on Tuesday, the final meet of the season. He managed to clear the bar on this one - don't know how he does it!

That's Deven in the middle of the three runners - he came in third in this race.

It was perfect weather to enjoy supper and time with friends outdoors after the track meet :)

Curt, Jan, Bill

Here's a shot of Tori on Wednesday. By the way, I am temporarily the Uno queen once again :)

And finally....

May your directions be clear,
your options numerous,
and your destination full of family and friends!

Remembering Bob and Other Special Moments

We had a very special evening last night as we remembered Bill's brother Bob who died thirty years ago. He would have been 60 on the 19th so we decided a few months ago that it would be a good time to spend an evening with Bob's boys and their wives as well as some of Bob's best friends. Because the boys were so young when Bob died, they do not remember much about him so the rest of us simply shared memories and stories about him - lots of laughs and some tears. It was great to have the boys hear about their Dad, his antics, and his personality. Thanks to Bob's buddies who came to spend the evening with us - what meaningful and fun memories we all have!
I was so caught up in the stories that I didn't take any pictures.... surprising, isn't it.

Mary and Bob
Mark, Brian, Tony
1978
(not a very clear picture, but the last one I have of the five of them)

Mark, Brian, and Tony were given scrapbooks about their Dad that my sisters helped me put together for them. I HAVE THE BEST SISTERS IN THE WORLD!!! They and a few nieces spent hour after hour, night after night cropping, pasting, writing, cutting, etc. They even provided snacks and beverages - they never cease to amaze me. The scrapbooks are mementos that the boys appreciated so much and I could never have put them together without all the help from my sisters and nieces. Thank you Marva, Denise, Beckie, Laiya, Emily, and Margie - you're the BEST!!!

Ty and Deven had lots of events this week -three nights of baseball games for Ty and two track meets and a Fine Arts festival for Deven.

The rest of the pictures are miscellaneous shots taken this week......

Noah wanted to be a pirate :)

Sophie

Abby

Noah

Tori

Abby, Sophie, and Noah had a preschool program on Friday morning. I should not have changed the light settings on my camera..... But the program was great fun and we had a nice lunch together afterward :)

We enjoyed several open houses for graduates today. This picture is of my friend Chelsie :)


We also went to the celebration for my friend Hilda's 90th birthday. She has been a faithful member of JOY Club since its beginning eight years ago. Hilda is one of my prayer partners and I cherish her!


We chatted with Laura and Amelia via Skype tonight :) We can hardly wait to see them in person in June - what sweethearts they are!

And last, some pictures from Mothers' Day last week.....

Me with Lynn and Anna, my two wonderful daughters-in-law - love those girls!

With Mom B. on Mothers' Day

Zac!

Deven and Steve had a contest putting together children's puzzles -
they can make a game out of most anything.

When your days are hurried and hectic
and your calendar has no more room
Take a moment like Abby
to smell the flowers in bloom!

HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY !!

First, Happy Mothers' Day to my Mom and Mother-in-law! They are both wonderful and caring women and I am blessed to have them in my life!

Rich and Mom

Mom B. and Me

This is Laura's first Mothers' Day :) She, Lynn, and Anna are three of the most wonderful moms anywhere and we are so grateful to them for the way they bless our lives and the lives of our grandchildren. We love them all!


Tom and Anna received tickets to a Bobby Vinton show through a drawing at the March of Dimes walk in Holland. They gave them to me, knowing he is 'from my era' and so my sister Marva - who is also from my era :) - and I went to the show. Wow! What a wonderful and talented performer he is at age 74! We sang along to some of his hits and Marva was able to give him a kiss on the cheek. Thanks, Tom and Anna, for the tickets - we loved every minute of the show!

We were in row 3 - center stage!

A kiss from 'Larva Moo' :)

Marva at dinner afterward - it was a perfect evening to dine outside.

The sunset was so beautiful, we stopped twice to take pictures.

Ty was sick this week and unable to play any of his games, so there's no great shots of him this time around. Games start for him again tomorrow :)


On Friday I had a great lunch with Anna and the kids and some of her family members. We had time to enjoy the beautiful weather before and after lunch.

Abby and Noah on the waterfront

Sophie and Abby

Sophie and Abby

Me and Noah

Anna and Abby

Sophie and Anna

After lunch the kids and I played outside, made 'worm soup', took turns on the swings. Noah, of course, did lots of climbing :)

Sophie

Abby

Abby and Sophie playing with the wiggly worm

Sophie was dismayed to find her worm broke in two,
but then she was surprised when both sections moved independently!

Saturday morning Beckie ran in her first 5K race! She has been training for months and came in 70th out of 165 in her age group at 32:27, beating her fastest gym time by several minutes! We saw her near the three mile mark - that's her in the center with the pink head band, black pants, and white jacket.

Sailing through the finish line like she had only run a block!!
She was moving so fast, the picture is blurry....
WAY TO GO, BECKIE!!!

After the race

Margie, Rick, Beckie, Bill
We're proud of you, Beckie!

Denise has promised to run the race with Beckie next year - she's on tape, so she's committed :)

We went for breakfast after the race and saw Rick's friend Tim - they've been friends since first grade!

We went for dinner with my family in the evening and Beckie wore the shirt she was given after the race.

My wonderful family!! (Minus Ron and Rose who are down in Tennessee - they're part of my wonderful family, too, of course.)

Marva, Dave, Denise, John Rich, Mom, Bill, Me, Rick, Beckie

On the next post I'll tell you why my sisters are the most incredible sisters anywhere!

Just a couple of family highlights....

Tori and Deven both had posters entered in the annual AAA Traffic Safety Poster Contest through their school. They both won Honorable Mention awards at the State level! Talented kids!!

Also, Steve was recently elected Deacon in their church. I'm confident he'll be glad that news got posted here :) Anyway, he's looking forward to the work involved and we're really proud of him!

Out in Seattle, Ben presented a paper for his graduate studies at Fuller. Graduate students from anywhere could submit and present a paper and Ben won the competition. Congratulations, Ben!

May you train hard, enjoy the race, and finish strong!

Hebrews 12:1