Final School Project

Since most all of the toys are now packed away, I was so grateful that Russ found all the supplies he bought earlier to make bows and arrows.  This was the final project Seth had left for his Sign of the Beaver book unit.  Hours of fun and entertainment while mom and dad pack and sort...priceless.

Church/Home School Friends

The church home school group invited us to the park one afternoon last week for a little good-bye party.  The girls were able to exchange addresses with some of their friends and hope to have lots of pen-pals!

The Haab girls and the children from two different Penning families

Fourth of July Weekend

We enjoyed beautiful weather the fourth of July weekend.  Just warm enough to be able to do outdoor activities, but no humidity.  On Thursday night we went camping...in the backyard.  I enjoyed all the camping activities (campfire, smores, setting up the tents, etc) except actually sleeping in the tent.  CJ and I decided to keep watch over the house instead:)  

We have been dog-sitting for Ian and Lenelle for about three weeks.  Seth absolutely loves Buckie and the dog is crazy about him too. He'll be one sad boy when this dog has to go back to his own home.

Zoe gets along famously with Buckie.  Honestly, the two steal each others bones and play around like two little kids.

The kids were up exceedingly early on Friday, the 4th of July.  To help entertain them through the day, we baked and decorated flag, Statue of Liberty, USA, and Liberty Bell cookies while listening to patriotic music.   We took them with us later that afternoon when we went to the Pronks (family from church) for supper.   The kids enjoyed swimming and we all played a couple of very non-competitive games of volleyball. 

On Saturday we were invited to Mark and Donna Kelderman's home for the afternoon and early evening.  Several other seminary families were also invited and we enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship.  They have a large yard with a trampoline, space for volleyball, an in-ground pool, and a fire-pit all beautifully landscaped.  Nicolas actually went to Lake Michigan with some youth group friends all day and Caleb went golfing with a friend from Northpointe and met us at the Kelderman's home later that afternoon.

First time off a diving board.

All these pastor's and soon-to-be pastors play a pretty competitive game of volleyball.  I think that is Pastor Kelderman on the ground!  Lots of countries represented:  Brazil, Nigeria, Great Britain, Mexico, Kazakhstan, and the US.

The weekend, however, proved too much for Seth.  He woke up Sunday morning with a fever and a bad cold.  Whenever he gets a cold it seems to end up in his chest, but this is the first time he had asthma-like symptoms with it.  After limping through the day on Sunday with his rescue inhaler, we took him to the Dr. on Monday.  He was given a prescription for prednisone which worked wonders after the first dose.  We are all thankful he is tapering off the meds right now and is back to his normal self.

Tunnel Park

The day after we came home from Iowa/Idaho we met Dave and Wendy, Ian and Lenelle, and Stan and Juliet at Tunnel Park in Holland, MI for a grill out at noon.  I didn't think the timing was that great since we were pretty wiped out from our trip, but Stan and Juliet were moving to Indianapolis the next day so we didn't have many options.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and as it turned out, relaxing and enjoying time with these seminary families was just what we needed.  We had not been to this park on Lake Michigan before and found it to be a wonderful family park...other than the steps to and from the beach!  You can actually take the steps up and over the dune, or you can walk through a tunnel down to the beach.  Thus, the name "Tunnel Park".

My little swimmer (Anna) swam out to that buoy which was quite a ways from shore multiple times.  Swimming--the one sport she actually enjoys.

Now if this pose doesn't take me back seven or more years.  Still works like a charm to put the little ones to sleep.  Nice to know he hasn't last his touch.  

It's Official...

...I am now licensed to practice physical therapy in the state of Idaho.