We're home from a wonderful visit to Laura & Ben and Amelia in Seattle. It was great to spend time with them, see many of their friends, enjoy the beautiful city, and help them pack up after seven years there. They are now on their way to Pasadena where they will spend the next few years as Ben works on his Ph.D at Fuller Seminary. We know they'll make the most of their time there, meet new friends, and be busy exploring the city.

Precious Amelia - 8 months already.....

Laura wore this sweater when she was little.
It was made by Amelia's great-grandma Bonnema.

Amelia loved playing in the boxes :)

The rest of the pictures are divided into three groups - the first are of us and Laura, Ben, and Amelia.

The next group is of Laura and Ben with some of their friends. We've gotten to know many of them and loved seeing them at the farewell picnic on Saturday and at church on Sunday. It was difficult for Laura and Ben to say goodbye to such great friends.

This final group of pics were all taken within a couple of blocks from their apartment. You'll see why it was hard for them to leave their beautiful surroundings.

These steps are in the market by the apartment Laura and Ben enjoyed for the last five years. It's clear that many folks have walked these stairs......

May you always go where the Lord leads,
cheerfully following those who went before
and leading the way for those who follow.

Just posting a few pictures taken a week ago......

I enjoyed tea with Kathy, in the living room of the home where Bill's mom has lived for 60 years. It was wonderful to be there and simply enjoy time with a friend. Kathy's daughter Sarah was busy making a delicious-sounding dessert.....


Thursday night lots of family members and friends went to hear Igby Iris, the band of nephew Ben. The music was great and it was good to be with so many family members. Here are a few pics of some of them....

Sister Marva & Cousin Sally

Nieces Lidia and Laiya

Sister Denise and Niece Katie

Niece Sara and her friend Tom

Sally and her son Brian

Ben (0n left) with some of the fam....

Performance

On Friday I met Anna and the kids for a visit to Bill's Mom. Beside visiting his Great-Grandma, Noah loved his new raincoat - a treasure found at the Thrift Store :)

Abby and Sophie

Noah draws a picture for his Great-Grandma

Love this picture of Amelia at a birthday party!

May you always be able to....

celebrate with friends,
clown around,
make others smile :)

Summer Draws to a Close

Hardly seems possible that summer is nearly over and we will soon be back into the routine of fall. So we're making the most of the beautiful weather, enjoying time outdoors with friends and family.

Tori went with me to visit Mom B. (Tori's great-grandma) on Monday.....

.....we had fun watching the ducks eat the bird seed I spilled while filling the feeder on Sunday. The ducks had quite a feast :)


We made a trip to the Thrift Store where a great salesperson named Sheri saw to it that Tori went home with a new horse for her doll :)


Tom & Kathy went with us on Tuesday to visit Mom. They are renting her house and they are not only taking good care of it, they are making many good repairs and cosmetic improvements. We are SO thankful to them for taking such loving care of the house where Mom lived for sixty years. Mom enjoyed sitting outside with us and visiting with Tom & Kathy, who brought her a card and beautiful roses.


Tori spotted a 'peace bear' when we were at the mall last week. She came up with the idea of earning the bear in exchange for cleaning my car. She worked hard - vacuuming, brushing dust and crumbs out of creases, and washing the windows. It looks terrific!


So, off to the store we went!

She registered her new bear so she can access it on-line.


After a stop at Great-Grandma's (and three return trips to look for my sunglasses..), we were off to Marva's for swimming......

Joey & Tori

Elijah

Lucy and Tori

Beautiful nieces - Laiya and Emily

....and then there's Dave - gotta love him!


Flowers need water from time to time.....

Same plant after a good watering - amazing!

Reminds me of Jesus' words:

"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
Whoever believes in Me, streams of living water will flow from within him."
John 7:37-38

The Beauty of Summer

The terrific weather this week gave us many opportunities to enjoy time outdoors with friends and family. Tuesday evening we met at Pete's for dinner with friends, catching up on vacation news and simply enjoying our time together.

Shirley, Jan, me, Curt, Gary

Wednesday noon was lunch with Mom and Marva - doesn't happen often enough!


Tori had a birthday this week - her 9th! We celebrated earlier this summer when our family was all together but also spent Thursday evening with her, taking her first out for dinner and then to Holland to watch the Street Performers and to spend some time with her Aunt Anna and cousins.

Waiting for our dinner

Creatures from the 'balloon man' - the slow one, from Noah's perspective.

We're next in line for a carriage ride :)

Noah, Anna, Abby, Tori

Bill, me, Sophie

Tori loves horses!

Ice cream on the ride home :)

Happy Birthday, Tori!
You are a fun, happy, kind, and special girl -
we love you very much!

Bill and I spent some time with Abby, Sophie, and Noah before Tom got home on Friday afternoon. First stop....ice cream - again!

Abby

Sophie & Noah playing

The kids' artwork from their Friday Funday

Fun with Daddy!

The girls get a great 'horsey-back' ride :)

Abby hits a great pitch from Dad

Sophie plays soccer

Beautiful hydrangeas in Tom & Anna's front yard....

May beauty surround you -
the beauty of nature, friendship, and family.
Such blessings!

Weekend with Ty and Deven!

We spent a terrific three days with Ty and Deven up in the Silver Lake area - it was part of their Christmas gift from us and we had such a great time with them!













We did lots of fun things - we rented a Jeep so Ty could drive on the dunes, he and Deven each went on a paraflight ride, and we all went kayaking. (I didn't dare take my camera on the kayak...good thing, right Deven? :) In between, we spent time on go-carts, at the arcade, and miniature golfing. Take a look at the pictures....

Thanks, Ty & Deven, for spending a weekend with us
- we had a ball!

Twice during our weekend, we were surprised to run into Tom and Anna and their kids in Pentwater; we were staying just south of there and they were camping just north. They managed two nights of thunderstorms in a tent....

May your days be colorful....

...and may your joys and blessings
be as numerous as the sands on the shore!