Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer

We've spent the last several days with lots of friends and family - enjoying the mild weather, the great friendships, and lively conversations :)

Last Friday we and Dick & Jacque were invited up to Tom & Ila's beautiful place on the Muskegon River. It's become a summer tradition that we thoroughly enjoy! Thanks for the great boat ride, Tom!


1969 must have been a great year for weddings! Besides our own 40th, we have celebrated at open houses for three other couples who were married the same summer. This is a picture of Phyllis and Teunis who were completely surprised by the singing crowd that invaded their quiet Saturday afternoon at the cottage.


Sunday noon we enjoyed lunch with friends from church - always a fun group!

Jim, Shirley, Bill, Ann, Cal

Sunday afternoon was a casual church picnic in the park. This is one of my favorite families (minus precious Levi....)

Matt, Olivia, and Reuben

This is my buddy Micah....

On Monday I got to see where my friend Rachel works and then we headed to the coffee shop for some 'catching up'.


Monday evening we celebrated Deven's 14th birthday with a dinner out - we're thankful his choice of restaurants has improved over the years. We had great fun with him - what a super kid he is!

Grandpa and Deven

Happy Birthday, Deven! We love you so much!

Today I had lunch with my friend Laura. This picture, obviously, was taken by me holding my arm out....should have gotten one of her alone. What a great girl!

I visited my friend Elaine who is spending some time in a nursing home, recovering from an infection. We all miss her and Jay at Bible study!


After seeing Elaine, I spent some time with Bill's mom. Her progress is slow and she will remain in the hospital for at least the next few days. She has lost interest in conversation, t.v., etc. over the last several days and sleeps much of the time. Please pray for peace and patience for her...and for us.


Then it was off to Bob & Jane's - a perfect afternoon for tea in their beautiful yard with family and friends of their daughter Elly. Please continue to pray for Elly in her fight against cancer; a link to her care page can be found on the right-hand sidebar.

Sisters Jane, Kathy, Mary

And to end the day perfectly, we had supper out with Jan & Curt - always great.


A funny side note: Noah called this afternoon - all excited - to say he had lost his first tooth. He doesn't know where, when, or how....Precious Noah!


Laura has lots of new pictures on her website - the link is on the sidebar. I love this one of Ben and Amelia chatting with the four of us long-distance grandparents. Amazing...although we can hardly wait to see them 'in the flesh'.


And one of my all-time favorites.....little Amelia all decked out for a hike. She loves their friend Andrew!


Saturday night we had the most beautiful rainbow outside our window. It stretched from one end of the sky....
...to the other. Wondrous! The pictures don't do it justice.

"Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,
I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creaturs of every kind.
Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds,
I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God
and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

אלהים - God
Genesis 9

Joy in July

Our week began with our dearest and best, Dick & Jacque, who took us out for dinner to celebrate our anniversary. We cherish their friendship and the traditions we have in dining out six times a year to celebrate our birthdays and anniversaries.

Celebrating our 40th!

We visited with Laura and Amelia via Skype :) What a happy and content little girl she is!


Ty turned 16 this week! We enjoyed a ride in his new vehicle and dinner out to celebrate his birthday. Perfect! Happy Birthday, Ty - We love you!




On Wednesday Tori helped me host a picnic for my friends from Joy Club Bible study. We are not meeting this summer, so it was great to spend time with some of my favorite people!

Front: Millie L., Millie O., Ruth, Helen
Back: Hilda, Angie, Lois, Jennie

Front: Lucy, Gerry, Grady
Back: Beckie, Gert, Mil, Lorraine, Marian, Lyda, Arlene, Pastor Bob

Anna taught a class at a Biology camp through Hope College this week, so I had lots of time with Abby, Sophie, and Noah.

On Thursday evening, Bill & I and Dick & Jacque spent time with our grandkids in Holland. We went for dinner and then watched some of the Street Performers before taking a long-awaited ride in the horse carriage. Precious Jack especially loved listening to the musicians and tapped his finger in time with the music - amazing at 19 months!

May interesting folks cross your path this week!

Grandkids and Burundian Friends

Tori and I spent Wednesday checking out a couple of parks for the Joy Club picnic next week, shopping at the Thrift Store, doing a bit of work at church, having lunch out, visiting her favorite store (Millbrook Tack) and playing many games of Uno. It was a fun day!

Playing at the park

Thursday evening we had dinner with Tom and Anna and the kids before walking around downtown Holland to watch the Street Performers and make candy selections at the Peanut Store.

I had lunch with Margie and Beckie on Friday afternoon :)

Then Bill and I were off to the wedding of some friends from Burundi. It was an interesting blend of Burundian and American cultures!

These flowers are some from my friend Em's garden. They were given to me last summer by her daughter Nancy, planted by my sister Denise, and blooming beautifully. Every day they remind me of Em and the wonderful friendship we shared.

May the beauty around you
always remind you of the interesting and colorful
people who have blessed your life.

p.s. Prayers, please, for Bill's mom who is back in ICU at the hospital. She has come through another crisis, but will continue to receive treatment for aspiration pneumonia. She has been weaned from the B-Pap and is now on an oxygen mask. Hopefully she can be moved to another unit within a day or so.

Forty Years !!

Bill and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary in beautiful San Antonio, Texas! The weather was just as scorching hot as Grand Rapids was back on July 10, 1969 but we had a wonderful time and are eager to go back. We stayed near the Riverwalk area in the historic and grand St. Anthony's hotel where Lynden and Ladybird Johnson spent their honeymoon. Lots of other celebrities and politicians have been there too, so we were preceded by some pretty important folks. But we were treated royally and will hopefully stay there again some day.

Not a great picture, but the best one of the two of us...
taken by Bill himself :)

Forty years - how blessed we have been!
Happy Anniversary, Willie - I love you!

Beautiful San Antonio....

These next pictures were taken in the two days before we left....

Monday lunch with two of Bill's great employees - Deven and Shari

Tuesday lunch with my friend Lucy

Flowers from Mom and Rich after my cataract surgery -
they were still so pretty, I brought them to my neighbor
to enjoy while we were gone.

Laura and Ben spent an evening with Amelia at Alki Beach in Seattle and emailed some photos. What a doll!


My sister Denise gave me this travel bag years ago and I wish I had kept track of all the beautiful and interesting places it has been - Europe 7 times, Iceland, the Caribbean, Mexico, Canada, and of course, the USA.

May your life be filled with adventure,
your travels be safe,
and your destination sure!

We caught two of Noah's t-ball games and one of Abby's and Sophie's last week. We also spent some time Thursday night watching the Street Performers in Holland - pure fun!

Cataract surgery went well on Thursday and the vision in my right eye went from 20/2400 to 20/25 with an 8 minute and 13 second procedure - amazing! The distortion from the macular hole repair a year ago will always be there, but the world is certainly much brighter and clearer. I am thankful!


Friday night was dinner out with the family while Mom and Rich were in town. It was also a celebration of Dave's birthday - a few days late.

Dave and Marva with his birthday dessert :)

Fourth of July was spent at the cottage with lots of family - cool weather, but the skies cleared around 6 p.m. and we enjoyed the fireworks and just being together.

I spent Monday in Holland with Abby, Sophie and Noah. We went to lots of fun places - Story Time at the library, Centennial Park for lunch, the Holland Museum, the Peanut Store for treats, and to Dunton Park to play. The weather was beautiful and we had great fun!

Monday evening Bill and I enjoyed supper outside in the great town of Byron Center with friends Kathy and Tom. Perfect weather, great conversation!


This grand old chair is by the ice cream shop near the cottage...

May there always be room for friends and family
in your 'chair' !

Cottage Fun Continued....

What a wonderful time we had at the cottage! We were visited by Aunt Denise and Uncle John and Tori's friend Emily spent a night with us. Mom and Rich made a trip from Florida and met precious Amelia for the first time! Laura and Ben did not know they were coming, so it was a wonderful surprise for them. On Monday Ben's family was able to spend the day with us - the first time in 1 1/2 years and with three new babies since they were last together!

If you have a few minutes, take a look at the pictures and you'll see what a great time we had!

We celebrated all the summer birthdays while we were together - Lynn, Anna, Ty, Deven, and Tori! What precious people they are!!

It was wonderful to be together as a family and to spend lots of time with Amelia, who is changing and growing so quickly! We're already looking forward to a trip out to Seattle in August to help them pack for their move to Pasadena.

Thanks for checking in....you can see we are blessed!

I love this pictures of Sophie, Abby, and Noah getting every little bit left on the paddle from Tom's homemade ice cream....

Life is sweet -
Enjoy sharing it with those you love!