Celebrations & Holidays

It's been a week of fun and celebration, beginning with the graduation of our nephews Byron and Johnny - love those guys!

Rick, Byron, Beckie

John, Johnny, Denise

Proud Grandparents!

Had dinner with Mom & Rich and Rick & Beckie on Saturday night - great!

Monday marked the beginning of our 52nd year at Big Whitefish Lake. It was a beautiful day and it was especially nice to have Tom & Anna and their FUN kids with us for the day!

Sophie, Abby, Noah

More.....

Monday night we had a full hour of smiles watching precious Amelia via Skype :)

Bath time fun with Daddy

Yogurt before bed - yum!

This picture was taken in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium when we visited Laura & Ben with Ty and Deven a year ago....

This week rates another '10'!
So blessed.

Memorable Moments in May

A few pictures of our week.....

Coffee with Beckie Friday afternoon

Another great ballgame for Tori on Friday night.....



and a soccer game for Abby and Sophie on Saturday morning....

Abby (in gray shirt)

Sophie kicking the ball

Abby, Sophie, and their friend Ella

Anna and Noah

Sophie lost another tooth - swallowed it when she took a sip of juice
after the game :)

It's open house season for graduations! This pic is of Bill with two of his former students, Bill VD and his daughter Stephanie.


On Saturday night we met with our friends who we will be cruising with next February! It's a fabulous group of nine couples who have been friends for decades and we are excited to plan this trip with them. We had originally planned to take this cruise in the spring of 1988 (yes, you read that right!), but we were all raising more kids than money at the time :)

Part of the group of our cruising buddies

SO proud of our nephews Johnny and Byron who will be graduating from South Christian High tonight!


Sunday night was South Christian's spring choir concert - fabulous!

Deven is in the freshman choir :)

On Monday evening we enjoyed our first dinner out with Gerrit and Ali after their winter in Florida :)


Laura sent this picture of Amelia with her new 'bubble gun' - lots of fun for less than $3!


Tom and Anna invited us for supper on Wednesday evening and Noah was very eager to show us his skills with his new golf clubs!

Sophie and Ernie

Tori had a piano recital Wednesday evening. She's an excellent pianist at only ten years old!

Steve and Tori

This picture of Tori was taken 1 1/2 years ago....

May you have ears to hear
beautiful music,
the laughter of friends,
and the 'I love yous' from family.

Pasadena and Other Joys!

We had another wonderful week with Laura & Ben and Amelia in Pasadena! We visited the zoo and parks as well as spent a few days in Vegas. We treasure our times with them and feel very blessed to see them so often.

Preparing for baby girl # 2 :)

32 weeks :)

LOTS more....

We arrived home about 1 a.m. on Wednesday - the beginning of a very full day! This is what greeted me when I arrived to set up for Joy Club that morning:

It's a banner - plus notes and candies - from our young prayer partners :)

Part of the group of Bible study friends - love those folks!

Went from church to lunch at Sarah's. Sure is great to spend time with her and her three precious boys!

Ben, Sarah, Josh, Sam

We met friends, Gary & Shirley, for supper - great as always.



Tori had a game Wednesday night....fun watching her play!




This 'creature' was at a school festival where Amelia's neighbors and playmates attend.

May your smile be broad
and your eyes be wide open to see the unique blessings in your life!

Sports, Tulip Time, Family, Mothers' Day, and Friends - what a great week! It began with Tori's softball game. Thanks to Deven for getting these great pics :)





On Tuesday, Bill went to Abby & Sophie's soccer game and I went to Deven's track meet. The camera was with me.......... That's Deven in the white shirt - great races again!




Wednesday was a fun day - Joy Club, lunch with Beckie and my friend Rachel, and another game for Tori :)

Rachel now has her own apartment!

Chinese restaurant, of course

Tori at bat

Another hit got Tori on base

Laura and Amelia spent Wednesday at Disneyland - a nice perk of living near LA.

Amelia told us about her fun day later that evening - think she had fun?

On Friday Anna was at Ohio State to give a presentation at a conference, so Bill and I went to Holland to be there when the kids got off the bus. Tom joined us for supper downtown and then we drove down Tulip Lane and went to Centennial Park to play and watch the Klompen dancers.

Abby and Sophie had a soccer game on Saturday morning.

Abby scored a goal!


Sophie on the far right

Noah and Tom

Celebrating Abby's goal w/ a shake @ Russ'

A 'toast' to Abby

We celebrated Mothers' Day on both Saturday evening - with my Mom and Rich and brothers and sisters with a great dinner at John & Denise's - and on Sunday with our kids and grandkids. (We miss Ron & Rose and Laura, Ben, and Amelia!) Bill, Steve, and Tom made the entire meal for us - shopped, prepared, served, and cleaned up! It was wonderful and one of my favorite traditions! Lynn, Anna, and I appreciated their work and loved relaxing while the guys spent time in the kitchen.

Today Beckie and I spent some wonderful time with Julie, who continues her recuperation from a skiing accident in February. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed sitting outside, drinking coffee, and talking.

Beckie, me, Julie

I went from Julie's to Kathy's for tea and conversation. Didn't get a picture, but she sure looks great! Links for carepages for both Julie and Kathy are on the right-hand column.

Tori's game tonight got through only two innings before lightning cancelled the game. Not much of a storm, but enough to call the players off the field.

Tori (on right) and her friend Riley

This picture was taken at Silver Lake sand dunes when we were there with Ty and Deven back in 2009.....

May the sands of time
include many special moments
with your family and friends.