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!

Soccer and Tulips

Thursday was a fun-filled day. After school we headed over to watch Katie's soccer team take on Cedar Springs. They pulled out a tough win after a very physical game. Katie had some nice assists and played hard. It was beautiful soccer weather too! We then loaded up the van and drove out to Holland to experience a bit of Tulip Time and visit with Sharon and Emily (Visalia friends).

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After arriving in Holland and meeting up with Sharon and Emily, we took some pictures by the tulips in the park in the center of the town.

It was great to see Emily and Sharon again! Here's Emily all decked out in her Dutch costume.

Sharon's nephew, Brayden and Troy became fast friends and took the opportunity to chase each other in the park. (Brayden's running in wooden shoes!)

We decided to head down to watch some of the Dutch dancing. Here Sharon's mom and the kids are waiting for the dancing to begin.

Katie and Sharon sitting on the curb.

The dancing was fun to watch. These were the alumni dancers, which involved quite a few people. (Next time maybe Sharon will be back out there!)


We were amazed at how far down the street the line of dancers went!
Scott and Kamryn doing their own Dutch dancing.

Kamryn thought this was hilarious and intriguing. The stand was advertising, "Fat Balls."

Instead of fat balls we stopped for ice cream on the way home. It was great to see Sharon, Emily and the Mulders again. Thanks for showing us around Tulip Time!

Classic Quotes

Documenting these quotes is more for me to remember them, but you're welcome to read some of our gems too.

The other night at our BBQ Kamryn and Katie were soaking up lots of interesting tidbits from the conversations that were going on around them on the back deck between Seminary friends. At one point there was a discussion about the clothing choices of ministers when they preach. One of the guys said at his church he didn't even have to wear a tie with a dress shirt. Scott spoke up and mentioned that he usually wore a dress shirt and tie, but not the suit jacket. The professor who was over was surprised and said that he never preached without his suitcoat on. At this point Kamryn pipes up, "Yeah, but my dad sweats a lot when he preaches!" (Anyone who knows Scott realizes that this is totally true!) The whole group cracked up at her observation.

Our friend Gail helped out the other morning by taking Troy to preschool for us. She said that when they got to the school and parked Troy was hesitant about getting out of the car. When Gail asked why he wasn't hopping out he replied, "Oh, I've been going to preschool for like six years!" ... I think we've got a long road ahead of us!

FFM Friends

Last night we hosted a group of Seminary friends from Scott's FFM group at our house. Each Seminarian is placed in a small group when they enter Seminary. These groups are called Formation For Ministry Groups. The group that Scott was placed in has become a tight knit bunch of guys who help support each other through this Seminary journey. The group has changed a bit over the past two years with one student dropping out, one guy changing programs, Jason graduating this year and Brian marrying Mallory this summer....Anyway, since there was "leftover" money in their FFM budget, they had the bright idea to celebrate the end of the year with a grilling party. It was a great night of good food and laughter.

The group of guys and their Professor.

Scott in all his glory!

Hanging out on the deck-It was a beautiful evening.
The congratulations to everyone cake.

Another group shot. (Next year we'll have to take one with spouses and children too!)

Troy and Adam

Grandparent's Day 2009

We had the annual Grandparent's Day at school today. Kamryn was the sole grandchild this year. The day opened with a program and then the grandparents could visit classrooms. There were several music concerts to attend also. Kamryn sang in the third grade choir concert. I got to hang out with the fifth graders and guide them through a somewhat chaotic day. (As a teacher it's always a busy one!) Anyway, we are blessed to have two sets of grandparents living so close right now. Thanks for coming to school, Grandma and Boppa and Grandma and Hank!

Kamryn beating Boppa at some game.

Kamryn and G'ma E.

Kamryn and Boppa and Grandma R.
Mom and Kamryn in the hallway.


Lots of people in Kam's third grade classroom!

Visalia Visitors

Friday was a beautiful Spring day. We were able to celebrate this by getting some icecream Friday evening with our friends, The Borsts. Katie and Kamryn both had activities that night, so it was just Troy with us. We enjoyed our icecream (along with many others who had the same idea!) and then took a nice stroll down to Reed's Lake. Thankfully all the ice from a few weeks ago was melted and there were even boats out on the lake.Troy posing for the obligatory "blog picture" by some tulips.

Dads and kids at the lakeside park.

A great spot by the lake.

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Saturday evening we were able to host some highschool students from Visalia who were visiting Calvin. It was great to see these kids again. Scott had them all in youth group and I had most of them in the first grade at CVC! Wow! Time flies!

Again the wii was a favorite activity. Lance impressed us with his concentration abilities. It was fun to see the De Groot sibling competitiveness come out. Troy was the best boxer. Scott was again the best trash talker!

Sister against brother.

Lance trying not to get beat by a four year old!


A fun group!

Funny Quote

Nothing too exciting to post lately. We're trying to get through another busy school week with soccer practices and games sprinkled in. Meeting again around supper time after a day of activities this is the greeting Troy gave Katie yesterday: "Hi Katie. How was highschool today?" Katie: "Good, Troy. How was Preschool?"...We all got a good chuckle out of that one. The joys of family life (and a good spread between children)!