Gone Fishin'

We were invited by a family from the church to come fishing at their house. They have a beautiful home on a small fishing lake just outside of town. They had lots of poles for the kids to use and were patient teachers. The kids all did really well. Kamryn gets the prize for the biggest fish and the person who stuck with it the longest! We roasted hotdogs for dinner with many wonderful side dishes and made s'mores for dessert. The kids came home dirty and smelly. What a great evening!

Kamryn with her prize fish.

Troy gets some fishing tips from a friend.
Another shot of Kam's fish.

Roasting hotdogs for dinner. Everything tastes better cooked over an open fire, doesn't it?!

Scott with his first catch.

Kamryn with her first catch of the day.

A beautiful spot.

Kamryn surveys the lake.

Scott gives Troy some pointers.

Troy stuck with it pretty well. They only had to rescue his line from the weeds a couple of times!

More Time With Friends

It was so much fun to see so many friends during our stay in Grand Rapids recently. We did miss Scott being with us (He had to continue his duties for his internship in Pella.), but we had a great time and were able to see many people that we hadn't seen in a few weeks.

Troy and his buddies were able to swim at the pool together.
We went with the Klavers and Dawn E. to Millennium Park in Grand Rapids. It's basically a big lake with a nice man-made beach and splash pad for the kids. (I had to get a picture of cutie-pie Kelly and her mom, Deb.)

On our last night in GR I was able to attend a meeting for some college friends of ours who are working for Young Life in Costa Rica. It was fun to catch up with them all. Here I am with Kevin and Michelle Suwyn and Rhonda DeWaard.

Time With Friends

While we were in Michigan we were able to spend some time with our good friends, The Elsenbroeks. It was so great to see them again! Of course we missed Scott-our group did feel incomplete! Sadie and Kam instantly picked up their friendship right where they left off. They are such neat friends-different likes and personalities, but still best buds! On one of our outings, we hunted all over the mall and finally found them friendship rings. (It took awhile to find ones that they could both agree on!) We are blessed with great friends!

Katie Goes To Mexico!

Katie and her youth group from Cascade Fellowship CRC went on a mission trip to Mexico City. Katie was so excited to go and thankfully the trip went smoothly and they all had a great and safe time. Here are some pictures before the group left. It was a trip that I'm sure Katie will never forget!

Time at the Beach

One day I took the kids out to Lake Michigan. We had a great day enjoying beautiful weather at the beach!

Time in Grand Rapids

The kids and I drove back to Grand Rapids so Katie could go on her Mexico trip. We spent about a week and a half at my parent's house. Here are some activities the kids did with my parents.

Kamryn talked Boppa into making a wooden "treasure" chest together. It turned out really nice!

Not to be left out, Troy and Grandma made a helicopter together. Since Troy's attention span is limited it was completed in small increments of time over several days.

Nic work, Troy!

There were a couple of motorcycle rides around the neighborhood too.

They also tried out the croquet set in the side yard.

Odds and Ends From Pella

These are a group of pictures I took of some activities we did before our Grand Rapids trip. My computer is not cooperating, so they are not in the correct order. Oh well!

This is a tower we found outside of town that is open for people to climb up. The view from the top is incredible (I hear!). Scott and the kids climbed up and I took a picture from about one-third of the way up. There was a nice view of Lake Red Rock.


I included these pictures of Troy because he was brave enough this summer for his first (followed by hundreds more) jump off of the diving board. He is jumping into 13 feet deep water and has such a blast. He's becoming a good little swimmer.

This is my effort at keeping academics going over the summer. Kamryn and Troy have been working out of some workbooks and doing quite well. OK-there was some bribery involved!

Mom and Hank came for a visit a few weekends ago. It was nice to see them and of course we needed a picture by a Pella landmark.

Michigan Visit

The kids and I are enjoying our stay in Michigan. We drove from Iowa last Saturday to bring Katie here for her mission trip to Mexico City. Since our good friends, The Elsenbroeks, are also in GR right now we decided to stay until Katie returns next Tuesday. We are enjoying our time with family and friends back in more familiar surroundings. Katie and her group made it safely to Mexico and are having a wonderful trip so far. Please pray for a successful time there and a safe return on Tuesday. Scott says he is surviving on his own in Pella. It has been a busy week there for him and we are very anxious to see him again. I have lots of pictures to share, but unfortunately no way to get them on my parent's computer. They will have to wait!

Fourth Festivities

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July! We had a good time experiencing new traditions here in Pella. It was a full, fun-filled day, even though the weather was overcast and chilly. Scott had to finish some things at church in the morning, so the kids and I set out on our bikes to check out the happenings around town.

We stopped by the pond where there was supposed to be fishing, but because of the cold, there weren't many participants. We took a patriotic picture instead.

In the afternoon they had a town parade which was pretty good. The kids favorite part was collecting candy that was thrown out.

The kids lined up as close as possible to get a good jump on the sugar.
The fight begins.
More pouncing.

There were interesting old cars.

Dutch dancers surrounded by windmills-duh!

And what would a parade in Iowa be without...tractors! This parade was unique in that people also handed out flowers (Kam snagged one for me) and bottled water.

After the parade we went over to some people from the church's home for a cookout in their front yard. The kids enjoyed that favorite midwest game that has several different interesting names!
Troy standing guard.

After dinner we headed to the square for a patriotic band concert. Then we drove to the outskirts of town to get set up for fireworks. It was quite chilly and windy at this point, so the kids huddled together-didn't last too long!

Scott's mom and Hank joined us for the weekend, so were able to watch fireworks as well.

Mom and Hank enjoying the fireworks show.

Not a very spectacular picture, but proof that we did see some fireworks!