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!

Library Rip-Off

Our family has frequented the library quite often this summer. We are usually found walking there about every other day since it is only a block from our house. Looking for things to keep them busy, I signed the kids up for some classes and there was also a summer reading program to challenge them. The reading program is set for different age levels and at each level they may earn three different prizes when they complete a certain amount of reading. Kamryn has especially taken this challenge to heart and got busy reading so she could get her hands on those prizes. After completing the first goal, she was allowed to choose a coupon from a variety of stores downtown. (She chose a coupon from the bakery to get a free donut.) The second prize she chose was a free hard cover book from a collection that they had at the library. It was a new book and pretty exciting for her. Well, she was determined to reach her final goal and get the grand prize. We went in yesterday with her completed sheet and she was presented with...A YARD SIGN! I'm not really sure what kid would be proud of this prize, but we thought it was hilarious. (The stake things are really sharp too.) All I can say is the children's librarian is quite young and I'm pretty sure does not have children of her own. Oh well! (Needless to say I gave Kam her own coupon for five bucks to the dollar store which she thought was pretty cool!)

Last night we were able to get together with the other two Seminarians and their families who are in Central Iowa for internships this summer. After getting aquainted and eating dinner, we sat out on the driveway of the parsonage of the First Christian Reformed Church of Prairie City, IA. What a peaceful setting! We had a wonderful time sharing our experiences so far, encouraging one another and eating great food! Here are the three Seminarians (sitting on hard church folding chairs! :)).