It Must Be Summer!

Summer is officially here and we are enjoying the beauty of it, the relaxation, and time with family and friends.

Lots of pictures - they're divided into slide shows in order to include more photos. The first ones were taken at one of Abby's and Sophie's t-ball games :)

These next pictures were taken when Anna and the kids visited Great-Grandma, who loves their visits and affection!

We've spent a week at the cottage, loving the weather and family time! It was great to have Anna's parents overnight and to share our grandchildren with them :)

Bob and Nancy

Look who arrived this evening - Amelia! And Laura and Ben, of course. We spent some time together with them and Ben's parents and we've agreed that Amelia is the best-natured little girl ever born. What a sweetheart - even after a long day of travel and a weekend in Idaho....

Ben, John, Amelia

Bill and Amelia

What a honey!

We're looking forward to this weekend when our entire family will be together!

One last picture of Tom and Steve making ice cream, carrying on the tradition of my Dad.

More cottage pictures on the next post. Until then...

May your memories be sweet,
your traditions treasured,
and your family near!

Family, Friends, and Fellowship

Noah's game was rained out on Thursday evening, so we went with Tom & Anna and the kids for supper in Holland and then walked around downtown to see all the street performers.

Friday night we enjoyed supper out with Gerrit & Ali, a continued celebration of their birthdays last week.

Saturday morning Beckie ran in a 5K race in Cutlerville and shaved several minutes off her time - she ran in less than 30 minutes! She even beat her trainer, so she must be on her way to becoming a great competitor!

Andrea and Beckie

It was a great and unexpected surprise to see Zac at the finish line. He was waiting to load up all the equipment and return it to the company he works for every weekend. Zac has classes down in Ohio year-round, but comes home each weekend to work.

Saturday we went to our final graduation open house of the season and to the wedding of Bill's colleague before Bill headed north for a few days of golf.

Mark & Kristen

Laura and Ben took Amelia on her first camping trip this weekend. They drove about three hours to Ruby Beach on the Washington coast and enjoyed an overnight trip with their great friends, Andrew and Chandra.

Sunday I went out to Holland beach for a farewell get-together for a young couple from church who will be working in Alaska for six weeks this summer.

Alison and Josh

Then it was back to church where we hosted a community picnic with lots of games and activities. The crowd was large, the weather was perfect, and the fellowship was wonderful!

Our illustrious custodian - note his name card. He is cool!

The line for food was long but well worth the wait - traditional Latino food at its best!


This is one of our Burundian friends with her baby...

...and this is precious Amelia sleeping on Laura's back.

Gotta love that kind of peaceful sleep!

One final story - last week when Abby, Sophie, and Noah were over for supper, Noah suddenly said, "I need to talk to God a minute - under the table." He slid off his chair and went under the table and this is what we heard: "Dear God, Next time I come to Grandma's house, can you make the day r-e-a-l-l-y long? But not too long. I love you, goodbye." Up he popped, very confident that God heard his prayer and he was ready to finish his meal. Precious!

May your rest be peaceful,
your friends many,
and your prayers answered!

The Fun Continues !

Our family and friends continue to fill our lives with fun, joy, and laughter - how blessed we are! Our week began with a birthday party for our friend Gerrit. We were neighbors for 8 years and he and Ali have been our friends since 1971. Ali celebrated her birthday on Sunday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Gerrit and Ali - it was great to share in your celebration!

This is what 75 candles on a cake looks like!

Little Amelia is starting to sit up....here she is, proud as can be :)


Tuesday Bill and I had lunch with three of his employees, two who happen to be our grandsons :) They are working hard to get the warehouse ready for the truckloads of schools supplies that will be arriving soon.

Deven and Ty

Deven

Tuesday night Bill played ball for the first time in about 30 years!! He was the catcher for a 55+ team - what fun!

Can't mistake that stance!

Great hit! The 'run' to first base was even better :)

Friends since kindergarten - Bob and Bill

Bill and Ron showing off their shirts

An extra treat was seeing niece Katie and her kids, along with her dad-in-law Gord :)

It was great to see niece Heather and her kids when I picked up Tori from VBS on Wednesday.

Abby & Ty

Friends from church, Shirley and Jessica, met Tori and me at a nearby stable. They showed us lots of horses, Jessica's locker, and the pastures. What a treat for Tori, a true horse-lover!

Jessica

Tori feeding Brig, Jessica's horse

Tori loved this young 4-week-old foal.

Then it was off to visit Great-Grandma....we brought her a Frosty, which she loved, and spent some time outdoors.

Mom spends hours looking through our copy of the scrapbook about brother Bob that my sisters helped me put together for Bob's boys.

Tori got to 'see' Laura and Amelia via Skype. Amelia has changed so much since Tori went to Seattle with us in April!

We went to Abby's and Sophie's t-ball game in Holland on Wednesday evening. What fun that was!

It was a great evening that included a wonderful dinner at Tom & Anna's after the game. We stopped for ice cream before bringing Tori home.


This duck roams around the nursing home where Bill's mother lives....

May your feet always wander and explore
new and interesting places!

Celebrations!

It's been a great week full of fun and parties! Lynn celebrated her birthday on Wednesday and we brought pizza to the store for lunch. She's a precious daughter-in-law and a wonderful gift to our family. Happy Birthday, Lynn - we love you!


This is co-worker Mary looking through the Bible for Hezekiah 13 :)

This first short slide show is of Tori's Field Day at school on Wednesday. The best part - and I wasn't there for it - was when the fire truck came and gave all the kids a huge shower from the fire hose :)

Abby, Sophie, and Noah spent the day at our house on Thursday. Tori joined us for a picnic lunch in the yard and then lots of time at the school playground. Later it was off to get ice cream and a visit to see Great-Grandma.

Friday was lunch at a great little place in East Grand Rapids with friends Chris and Judy. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed lunch outdoors.

Me, Chris, Judy

Saturday afternoon we went to an Open House for a young man from church. Number 15 and two more to go :) We love the friendships, the great food, and often seeing folks we haven't seen in a while.

This is Chuck who graduated from Wyoming Park High School.

Then it was off to a beautiful wedding and an evening with friends!

The bride Kristin with her mom Judy.

Bob, the father of the bride, and his sister Arla.

Sunday we enjoyed helping Terry and Jan celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. What a fabulous party their kids gave them!


Steve and Lynn and their kids came Sunday evening for Lynn's birthday supper :)


Tori's class made a beautiful book called "I Believe". This is what Tori drew and wrote in the book - it's priceless!

Can't get any better than that!

Ty is a bit camera shy, but he did allow me to get this shot of them leaving our house :)


This last picture came my way via email.....

Life is a party -
enjoy the dance!

Great Times with Great People!

The last week has been loads of fun that we enjoyed with some of our favorite people once again. Last Thursday Bill and I went out to Holland to spend a little time with Abby, Sophie, and Noah before meeting our friends John and Jo for dinner. Here's a shot of Sophie with the stuffed animal that she sewed.....

Abby played the harmonica for us....

...and Noah was ready for ball practice that evening.


We enjoyed dinner and the conversation with John & Jo - conversation that mostly revolved around the kids and granddaughter we share with them :) Always fun to spend time with them!

Jo and John

Me and Bill

We're thankful for technology that lets us 'see' our Seattle family....

Amelia and Laura on Thursday evening

Friday gave us time to spend with friends Jim & Chris - we've been friends since we double-dated back in high school in the 60's. We treasure their friendship!

Bill, Chris, Jim

We met Rick & Beckie for breakfast on Saturday morning - great way to start the weekend!

Bill left for a golf trip on Saturday afternoon, so I went to an Amazing Race event that the children of some of our friends put on for us old folks. What fun!!!

Chuck gave me permission to post this picture even though it's not great. He and I have been buddies since high school, so it's always nice to put a picture of him on here. (Sorry, Gail, the one with you on it wasn't 'postable'.....)

These are the winners of the race - notice the great trophy!

Mary, Cal, Carl, Lin

Three of the gals who planned the evening for us...

Thanks Jackie, Sara, and Michelle! We had a terrific time!

On Sunday morning I had the privilege of introducing Parker to our church family by walking him through the congregation during the baptism. Parker's family has been special to me for thirty years and it was a joy to be included in his baptism and the lunch afterward.

He looks pretty comfortable here, doesn't he :)

Parker's parents - Brian and Barb

On Sunday afternoon I went to the Open House for Bill's Aunt Helen who celebrated her 80th birthday. She is the only relative left in the family of Bill's mom and she is a wonderful sister-in-law and friend to her. Happy Birthday, Aunt Helen!

Aunt Helen with her beautiful daughters, Tam and Pam, who hosted the party.

I chatted with Laura and Amelia via Skype for 1 1/2 hours on Sunday evening - great way to pass time while our husbands were gone :)



Tuesday was a wonderful day spent with my sisters! We went to Holland where we enjoyed lunch and some pampering at a spa. It was my way of thanking my sisters for all their help putting together the scrapbooks we made for my nephews in memory of their Dad. It was also a celebration of Beckie's birthday that day (June 2) and Denise's birthday next week on the 10th.

Check Marva's blog (link on the right) for more pictures :)

May you always have someone to simply sit with you and sip coffee....