Last night we had our final small group get together of the season. We met at one of our favorite restaurants by Reed's Lake. These couples have become very dear to us and we will miss them over the summer!

Scott and I in downtown East Grand Rapids.

Memorial Day Weekend

We have had a wonderful and busy holiday weekend. It's been beautiful weather which is always a blessing. We got to celebrate Calvin Seminary's graduation with friends (and go to three different parties!) and had fun dreaming about next year and what that entails for us. Here is a glimpse into our activities...

Katie and her friend Rachel baked a bunch of goodies for a bake sale that they held on Saturday. They did quite well and had a lot of fun too!

Kam and Troy trying out the new rocket launcher from Grandpa E. Very fun!

Troy with some neighborhood friends taking a break from their game of catch.
Sunday we took a picnic lunch to Reed's Lake-one of our favorite spots.
Monday afternoon we had our first swim of the season at a local pool thanks to some friends. It was a great time. Troy remembered his swimming skills and was thrilled that he passed the height requirement to go down the big slides!

Now it's back to school for the girls-2 more weeks and preparations for Scott and I for our summer move to Pella!

Katie's Freshman Soccer Team Spring 2009

Here's Katie's soccer team after one of their last games. They had a great time playing together and really showed improvement in the second half of the season. It's always kind of a bummer when a team really starts playing well together and then the season is over! Here's a picture of a fun bunch of girls. Yes, Katie is the one (#9) with her eyes closed!

Katie's Soccer Party

Katie is finishing up her first year of high school soccer this week. The team had a party after practice yesterday and the coach said a bit about each girl. Her nickname for Katie was "The Beast" because of her gigantic throw-ins and her great use of her left foot. Katie has definitely become much more aggressive on the soccer field this year. It's been fun to watch her and her team. Go Eagles!

Katie listening to Coach Rachel.

Katie laughing at her nickname.

Hugging her coach.

The team sat and ate pizza together after practice.

Troy's Birthday...Day 3?!

Troy had one last birthday celebration on Monday night. He had his friend Brandon and his family over and Boppa and Grandma R. He had fun opening gifts and playing Mario Cart with Brandon.

Enjoying dinner on the back deck.

Legos!

Jaw Bones from Brandon.
Playing Mario Cart.

Troy's Birthday Continued

We were blessed to be invited out to The Klaver's condo in Holland for the afternoon. Troy was excited to spend his birthday there because he has a blast running around and getting boat rides. Our whole small group from church was there except Lynn and Erin. (We missed you!) It was a beautiful day to be outside by the lake!

The kids found a great spot to eat down by the boats.

This picture is to show Lynn what a wonderful job Jerry was doing putting the salad together (with just a little help from Deb!).

Troy with his cake.

Running around on the grass.

Ben and Troy enjoying their cake-with big fat frosting balloons on them of course.

Scott and Troy playing some baseball.

Some of our group enjoying sitting out in the sunshine.

I keep coming back to this blog post to add things that I think of, but I thought it was sweet tonight when I was tucking Troy into bed that he thanked me for a good birthday. Scott and I were commenting earlier in the day how much joy Troy was getting out of celebrating his birthday this year. It was truly an exciting day for him!

Look Who's 5!

Today is Troy's 5th birthday! People always say,"I can't believe my child is this old!" But I really can't believe Troy is 5 already! He is ready to move on to kindergarten, showing interest in reading, and overall becoming more independent. He still plays the youngest child card and asks for help with some things he should be doing himself. This morning when we asked him to get dressed for church, he came back quietly and asked me if I would help him. I said, "Five year olds should get themselves dressed." He replied, "Yeah, I know." We'll see how long that works! Anyway, we are thankful for the gift of Troy!

We have a tradition of celebrating with a breakfast at Wolfgang's on birthdays. We went on Saturday morning with Grandma E. and Hank.

This morning Troy awoke to find presents on the kitchen table. He was quite excited!

He was careful to "read" the cards first. He was excited to get a card from our Chicago friends, Dean and Ruth.Troy got the Mario Cart game he was hoping for.
Checking out his new Star Wars guys from Uncle Dan and Aunt Nesha.

Troy's new toys being taken over by certain family members!

This afternoon we are headed out to Holland to spend the rest of the day by the lake.

The Prize

When we returned home this evening, we noticed there was a small package laying by the front door. Scott opened it and was excited to find his long awaited trophy-the Fantasy Football bobble head! Troy thought this was quite cool too. Scott took great joy in pulling out a win last winter in a tough group of competitors (mainly made up of Visalia friends from his small group). We'll see what this season brings...

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I had my own fun this evening... I bought one of those sticker phrases (not the correct term, but you get the idea) at a craft store a while ago and had not had the courage to stick it to the wall yet. Looking for a nice project tonight I decided to try it in our bedroom. It was so easy and I love the effect. Scott is predicting many other inspirational phrases being stuck up around our house. Hey, not a bad idea!

I have been enjoying time at home this week since I am finished with my subbing job that I've been doing for the last six weeks. It's been nice to be able to get caught up on things at home and spend extra time with Troy. Today after running errands this morning, we brought lunch to Scott at the Seminary. We also checked out the Sem pond which is really pretty right now. It was a gorgeous day too-70 degrees and sunny! Good times!

Scott and Troy at lunch in the student center. Many of the students know Troy and enjoy seeing him when he comes. He always enjoys seeing his friend Anna too!

Out by the Sem pond.
Standing tall.

A Night at the Ball Park

It is a tradition that each May the Ada Christian third grade classes sing the National Anthem at a local minor league baseball game. So Friday evening found us at the ball park. It was a beautiful night for a baseball game and the third graders did a great job! Many families from school came out to watch the kids and the game. (The White Caps didn't fare so well, but we had fun anyway.)Kam is in the center with the glasses.
Preparing to sing.

Troy's main concern was that he would catch a fly ball... Thankfully none came even close!