Wonderful Week!

A quick update of the week - in random order ......

Ty graduated from high school!  Yeah!!  He was a tad bit excited to be finished :)

Lynn, Ty, Steve

Part of Ty's fan club and supporters

Proud grandparents

A pic of the screen in the church

Ty has found full-time employment, maintaining equipment and machinery at a local company.   We thank God for blessing our lives with him!

A niece and a nephew also graduated.  Laiya is one of six valedictorians with a perfect 4.0 GPA!  That's quite an accomplishment, even more so considering English is her second language and she joined our family from Hong Kong only five years ago.  Great job, Laiya!

Dave, Laiya, Marva

Nephew Luke with Ron & Mary

Tori played a beautiful rendition of Toccatina at her piano recital this week.  She is a gifted musician!

At first glance, it looks like Lynn has a beautiful white hat :)

My friend Tena celebrated her 81st this week.  We helped her celebrate with a tea party, hosted by Ruth.

Lyda, Irene, Tena, Diane, Ruth

It's good to have Gerrit & Ali back in town - we always enjoy dinner out with them :)

Got a picture of Bill and two of his friends at an open house this week.  Life-long buddies.  Hard to beat that. 

Ron, Bill, Bob

Our Empty Nesters small group met for coffee tonight, a fellowship gathering and prayer time for one of our members who will be having a mastectomy on Tuesday.  Tests have determined that she has two different cancers - she is eager for the surgery.  Prayers are appreciated. 

Another season of soccer is again behind us.  Here are a few shots of Abby and Sophie's final game, one in which Abby scored a goal:

Abby

Sophie kicking ball

Abby, Ella, Sophie

That's it for now.

I live a charmed life

and I'm grateful!

Merry May!

What a wonderful month it's been! Laura and Ben came with their girls for the First Communion of Tom and Anna's kids. Ben could only stay for the weekend, but Laura and the girls were here for 12 days! They crammed in lots of time with family and Tulip Time events.  As always, we loved every minute of our time with them. Some pics of their time here..... 

It was pure joy to witness the First Communion of Abby, Sophie, and Noah. It seems nearly impossible that it was 8 years ago when they were baptized in the same church. They are children of faith, for which we are so thankful! 

I spent a delightful afternoon at a very fancy tea with four of our granddaughters.

We've had a lot of fun with Tom & Anna and their kids while Laura was here - soccer games, 2nd grade talent show, parades, etc.


Noah's presentation at the talent show...



Sophie & Abby's sign language of America the Beautiful....



Love this video of Annemieke!

Wow! A Month Later....

As part of Tori's Christmas gift each year, I plan a special day with her. This year we had breakfast and then painted ceramics in Holland, followed by a stop at the Peanut Store and lunch. Because the weather was really crummy, we had to postpone our horseback riding until the next day. It was great spending time with sweet Tori!   Also in these pics are photos taken at Byron Christian's Grandparents' Day. Tori was a great hostess, introducing us to her teacher and friends and showing us around her classroom. The program was wonderful and it was amazing to hear the progress made by the 5th grade band in just one year!

It's been so long since I've updated, there are still pictures from Easter that are in the folder on my desktop....We had a most wonderful day with at the home of Anna's parents. Some pics...including some of Abby and Sophie's soccer games - and one of Noah with his treasured MSU football - signed by lots of this year's players :)

Our nephew John left Monday for basic training in the U.S. Air Force.  We're praying for him as he adapts to the regimen of training, being away from family and friends, and learning that drill instructions have lots of control over your life......

Proud parents - Denise & John

Some of the other folks who we've enjoyed time with during the last few weeks....

Empty Nesters' Small Group

Can't beat supper with Shirley & Gary, Jan & Curt :)

Or with Jo & John!

Some of the gals from our recent cruise have met at Shirley's to make jewelry.  She is a pro, able to help all of us amateurs :)

The frogs are back in the pond, as loud as ever.  We're enjoying the wildlife that includes ducks, birds, squirrels, bunnies, turkeys, turtles, a coyote, and several deer. 

Coyote - have seen him four times in our backyard

Some of our visitors - nearly every night

Gotta go....
               
           Excitement awaits!