Softball- A New Adventure

Kamryn has been playing soccer since she was four years old. She is quite a natural player and has been a lot of fun to watch out on the field. This year she announced to us that she would like to take a break from soccer to play softball. She has never played softball before, but we encouraged her to try it. After only one practice the Vipers had their first game yesterday. Kamryn and her teammates did great! They are actually playing in an older age group, but held their own quite well. The game ended in a tie. It looks like a great group of girls and some really good coaches. We're looking forward to a fun season!

Forensics

Katie has been involved in a group called Forensics this year. It actually has nothing to do with crime scene investigation and everything to do with dramatic speaking. She has been perfecting her speech for poetic monologue and has done very well. We attended an awards night at school the other evening where Katie received her letter and an award pin. Katie has been chosen to attend the state competition this weekend! Great job, Katie!

A Great Day For...Hockey!

The sport of choice for the neighborhood boys these days is hockey. You would tend to think that since winter is now over they would be moving on to baseball or another more spring-like sport, but they love to go at it with the sticks. Today the rink happened to be on our driveway. They decided how they would all pose for this shot.

A Major Award!

I'd like to congratulate my husband on winning two awards today at Seminary. He was presented with a Baker Book House award, and not surprisingly, was given...a book. The second award was The Preaching Award given by Calvin Seminary. He and one of his good friends were chosen to receive this award out of this year's graduating class. They each were rewarded with a nice check! Great job, Scott! God has blessed you!

P.S. We keep calling it "a major award" in honor of one of our family's favorite movies, "A Christmas Story." :)

Sunday Photo Shoot

We took some pictures after church yesterday on our back deck. Spring in Michigan is a beautiful time! (PS Troy was already out in the neighborhood playing with his friends.)

Troy's First Soccer Game

Today Troy played the first game of his soccer career. He's playing in the league run by our school. It's pretty low-key which is perfect for us right now. He was excited to get out there today and show his stuff. He has a nice team of 5 and 6 year olds which is always a fun age to watch. Troy scored the first goal for his team, which was a highlight.

Troy ready to go.Coach warming up the boys.

Kids waiting on sidelines-always fun to watch!

Scott and his big blanket-it was cold!

Troy ready for the drill.

Waiting for the ball. It's a wonder he could run in all those layers.

Moving down the field.

Author Visit

Kamryn and I got to take part in an author's presentation at Calvin's Festival of Faith and Writing on Friday. Several kids from our school attended along with many other students and parents from other schools. We got to hear Kate DiCamillo talk about some of her books and what it's like to be an author. She wrote Winn Dixey and The Tale of Despereaux among other books. Kate was very entertaining and has a great sense of humor. After the presentation, she signed books for the kids.

Kate reading from one of her books.

Kate signing Kamryn's book.

Soccer Time

We are now into the Spring soccer season. Katie is playing JV for her high school. We had a chance to watch a game yesterday and the team looked pretty good. It's always fun to see how much they improve over the season. They won 2-0 with Katie's friend Megan scoring both goals. Go Eagles!

Hanging Out With Friends

We enjoyed our last day relaxing in Florida. We all had enough of the beach so decided to stay close to home today. We were excited to have our friends, The Klavers, stop by on their way back to Michigan. We hung out by the pool and enjoyed pizza together for dinner. We have had a wonderful vacation this week and are very thankful for the chance to have some time away as a family. We will make the long drive home early tomorrow morning. Time to head back to reality (and chilly temps.)!

Pete and Scott catching up.

Alyssa and Kam

Troy boy (aka "fish")

Cutie-pie, Kelly

Katie giving me "the look".

Catchin' Some Waves

Today we spent some more time enjoying the beach. It was quite windy which made for some nice waves and boogie boarding. The high winds also brought out the aggressive seagulls. Troy got nailed in the head by one trying to steal some food out of his hands. We quickly put the food away and after some reassurance that Scott would hit any birds who came too close with the frisbee Troy was back at play.

A Beautiful Evening

Tonight after dinner we took a walk to the channel near our condo. There's a little beach where the kids enjoy hunting for shells and other treasures. It's fun to watch the boats coming in and the birds diving for fish. We also saw some flamingos flying today. Troy couldn't get the hang of the word and kept saying, "Look at the flingos!"

More Fun at the Beach

We had another fun day at the St. Petersburg beach. The "locals" tell us the weather has been "horrible" until this week. (Love their definition of horrible!) Wow, good timing, huh?! We are enjoying the time relaxing together as we know upon our return life will continue to pick up speed!...For the most part my "subjects" today were cooperative! They wanted to do a non-posed shot in the second one. Goofy girls. In the group shot Troy wanted to be in the back so he could be tallest this time.

A Day at the Beach

We are having a fabulous time in Florida! It always takes a couple days for us to settle in and relax. We headed out to St. Pete's beach for a little outing and it proved to be a beautiful spot to spend a few hours. Swimming, digging and lounging was how we spent the day!

Does he look relaxed, or what?!

Easter

Happy Easter from Florida! We hope you had a blessed day. We had a great day as a family. We continue to be amazed and thankful for the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

This is really an out-take, but I love the two sisters trying to keep the little brother in line! (This happens a lot.) Notice his look of absolute JOY!