Backyard Baseball

Last night the hot humid weather broke and turned to a beautiful, cool evening. The kids took advantage of this and played a game of baseball on the back grass. Scott and I were laughing at them chasing each other around the "bases" and arguing about rules as they went along. Eventually the game ended with the ball being lost in the neighbor's garden. More good family times!

Game over!

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We had some interesting action at our house this morning. After church there was a knock at the door. A uniformed Pella Police officer had an arrest warrant for someone at our address. Scott quickly informed him that there was no one by that name at this address anymore. The church we were here working for had rented this house just recently, so the person he was looking for must live elsewhere. After he left, we had a good laugh. We wondered what kind of shananigans had been happening at our house before we got here. Not the kind of thing we expected on a quiet Sunday morning in Pella!

Father's Day and Pool

Scott had a busy Father's Day. It was his first Sunday preaching both morning and evening. Both went well. Happy Father's Day, Scott!

Here are some pictures from the pool (aquatic center) here in Pella. It is actually a beautiful facility with lots of different slides and a lazy river (the parent's favorite!). There's a nice kid's area where Troy likes to hang out. Most afternoons you can find us here.

Summer Odds and Ends

So, the end of week two...Not much to report. The weather has warmed up this week and we are enjoying outdoor activities as much as possible. Thursday night downtown Scott had to sit at the First CRC booth and run a craft. :) We stopped by later, but it was such a hot, muggy evening that we didn't stay too long. The theme was "service" opportunities around Pella, so there were all different booths you could check out. Our kids just went around collecting all the free stuff!

We had more California visitors-Mark and Connor Branderhorst. (Mark is from Pella and is here for his mom's 80th b-day.) Mark was Katie's 6th grade teacher and I taught at CVC with him and Connie for several years. Katie's wondering how many of her teachers she will see in Pella this summer!

This afternoon we decided to head to the town pool (which is actually more like a water park). As we were heading out we noticed that the sky was getting pretty dark. We decided to chance it. We got about 20 minutes of swimming in before the lifeguards called everyone out because of lightning. As we streamed out of the facility with 500 of our Pella friends, the rain started to fall.

We got home, changed clothes and decided to make a quick trip to the library for movies and books for the next couple of days. While we were in the library the storm picked up speed. The rain was blowing sideways and people were standing at the door hesitating to go out. Well, Scott being the good husband/father he is decided to brave the hurricane-like conditions and went out to pull up the van for us. He took a few extra minutes because he accidentally hopped in another green van that he thought was ours. (Most cars in Pella are unlocked.) He thought it was funny that the seat was scooted way up, but proceeded to try the key and then began to look around and realize this was not our van! He quickly got out and found our van. After we all piled in the van, he relayed the story and we laughed about how some poor mom is going to wonder why her seat is all wet!

Elgersma children in Iowa.


Thursday night at the square in downtown Pella. Scott running his craft.


Fred the elder.

Scott greeting the children.
I took this picture at the pool today because it always cracks me up how in small towns the kids can just leave their bikes and no one steals them! It literally looks like kids pedaled up, hopped off and ran into the pool. How fun!

Family Time

One thing we are having a lot of this summer is FAMILY TIME! The tv only getting 4 channels (only one of those being a major network), not having friends or family around, not having home projects to do because we are not living in our own home, no major shopping close by, no church activities to attend (not much going on at this church in the summer!) creates time for... FAMILY! I guess that is one of the positives about the Pella experience. Here are some of those bonding experiences that Scott and the kids had the other night while riding bikes around town.

Posed by the town welcome sign. They are very proud of their "dutchness" around here. All the buildings have to have a "dutch" looking facade on the front of them. The big talk right now is how the new Applebees out by the Walmart will be made to look Dutch!

Kamryn being herself!

Spinning...

One of the 11 windmills in town. I'm not sure that's an official count, but that's how many Scott has counted so far.

We bought a puzzle to help occupy us. Of course it had to be finished the first night!

Uptown on a Thursday Night

We decided to try out the much publicized "Thursday Nights" in downtown (or uptown as the locals say) Pella. Every Thursday evening many people crowd the "square" basically to see and be seen. There is food and music and this Thursday there were many animals as that was the theme for this week. Not many people spoke to us (we must look like outsiders yet!) But the fun thing was that we met up with the Snook family! Kendra was Katie's kindergarten teacher (just a few years ago!). I taught at CVC with Kendra for a couple of years. Scott also married Mark and Kendra seven years ago! Kendra grew up in the Pella area and was visiting family here. Now they are an adorable family of four and live in So. California. It was so fun to hang out and catch up and chat and laugh together at new Pella things we were discovering.

Katie and "Miss Iburg".

Kam and Troy checking out the animals they brought into town.

Troy and balloon.

Kamryn watching the impromptu dog show.

Scott checking things out.

The "tulip tower" stage.

Our group watching the band play. Between the dogs behind us and the kids running around it got a little noisy in our area. People kind of glanced over at us every once in awhile.

Elgersma and Snook kids. Dog pile on Kamryn!


Emma loved Katie.The band concert.
The tag game that broke out toward the end of the concert. Wyatt didn't really know how to play and was so hilarious to watch.

Pictures From Pella

We made it to Pella! We left our house Saturday morning and had a smooth ride to Chicago where we stopped to have lunch with Dean and Ruth. It was great to see them again and share food (Pop's) and conversation on their back patio just like old times. We arrived in Pella just after supper time tired and curious. Our house looked good and is adequately furnished. Scott was installed as summer intern on Sunday morning. People were very welcoming and friendly. Sunday evening Scott preached and it went well. I overheard two older gentlemen sitting in the back of church at the end saying quite loudly, "That guy can preach!" Anyway, the kids have already made some good friends and are loving the fact that they are a little more free to run around and ride bikes everywhere since we're in a small town. This morning the kids trucked off to VBS which is put on by a group of area churches. Each grade level is at a different church. It's kind of an interesting set up. I'm glad I only have two kids to pick up because they end at the same time. I would think that would get tricky if you had more. Kamryn and Troy were very brave going by themselves and not knowing anyone! I felt a little anxious for them, but they made friends just fine. I asked Troy what he had for snack and he said ham and water. (I'll have to check that out with the teacher tomorrow!) The kids spent the afternoon playing outside with friends. This afternoon we walked to town and got some brats from the butcher and fresh buns (and some cookies) from the bakery for supper. Scott has a council meeting tonight. The kids have VBS again tomorrow and then we hope to check out the pool and the library.

A popular bakery downtown.
One of the many windmills in Pella.

Our summer home.

First CRC of Pella (aka "Pella One") Interesting Fact: This church is the oldest CRC west of the Mississippi.

A couple from the church spent a lot of time preparing our house and getting bikes fixed up for all of us. Troy loves his bike!

Kamryn's Third Grade Field Trip

At the end of third grade the classes all celebrate with picnic at a huge park. This park has a really pretty creek that runs through it. The kids eat their lunches and then are allowed to go crazy in the water. Since it was pretty chilly (Kam said the water was like 26 degrees!) the kids did less playing in the water and more hunting for critters. Kamryn caught a little turtle who was imprisoned in a bucket for about an hour and then happily let free. The kids had a great time!

One of the captured critters.
The classes receiving instructions.

Third graders on the hunt.

Kamryn and her buddies.

Success!

Soccer Wrap-Up

Kamryn's 2009 Spring AYSO season is over. Scott enjoyed coaching her team (most days!). The season was a little frustrating because their team was made up of only third graders and other teams they played were a third/fourth mix. Oh well! Kamryn continued to improve and it was fun watching her again this year.

Scott and the girls with their trophies.


In action.

Scott giving a half time pep talk.After the game Scott handed out the trophies and said a bit about each girl. (These were mostly goofy things which caused a lot of giggling from the girls.)

For their last practice the parents played the team. Kamryn had just scored a goal and was walking away (in the red shorts). In these soccer pictures it is really striking me how green Michigan is!

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The report from Pella is, "I think it will be a different experience than last summer!" Scott is getting acclamated and we continue finishing things up in GR. Your prayers are appreciated as we make another transition!