Little Get-A-Way

We were blessed with a little get-a-way to one of our favorite places this spring break...Santa Barbara!  We met my family there and had a nice time hanging out, eating meals together, celebrating mom's birthday a little early, exploring the beach, playing full-contact three flies up, shopping, riding crazy tourist bike-things, coloring, playing tractors and lots of other activities.  Again, we missed Katie, but still had a great time. :)

Easter

It's almost hard to believe that Easter has come and gone already.  Since I was teaching yet, the week before   Easter was a busy one.  The last week of school was a short one, though and we were able to have a nice time with family and friends celebrating the death and resurrection of our Savior.  Scott had a busy week preparing for church services, but was able to squeeze in some time on a field trip with Kamryn and helping out with the Friendship Games at school.  On Easter we had a great church service, nice meal at home with my parents, dessert with friends, and a competitive egg hunt in the backyard.  All great things!  We missed Katie this year, but know that she had a fun time in Ohio with college friends.  Here are some highlights of the egg hunt. (Somehow I missed the picture of everyone all dressed up this year.  Bummer!)

Spring Sports

Baseball and Softball seasons continue here.  We just have a blast watching the kids play ball.  Kamryn and Troy both do very well on the ball fields.  Kam's been playing shortstop mostly, and also some third and first bases.  Her new bat is paying off and she's become quite a slugger.  She's not afraid to steal and loves to add to the excitement of the game by stealing home.  Troy's also having a great season.  We love cheering on all the Oakland A's players.  It's quite a fun little team.  Troy also plays short, first and pitches for his team.  He's gotten a couple home runs and just loves the game.  We love to see the kids excel athletically, but also watch them interact with their teammates and coaches.  So proud of them both! It was fun to have Boppa and Grandma here last weekend to experience a game or two.

Katie's Choir Tour

We just finished a pretty exciting week here.  We were blessed with a visit from the Calvin College Women's Chorale, of which Katie is a member.  Since Scott didn't have to preach last Sunday, we ventured to downtown LA to worship in a Korean CRC and listen to the choir which was performing there.  We were treated to a wonderful Korean meal after church and got to meet many of Katie's friends.  It was also fun to meet the CEO of Forever 21, who is a member of that church.  (He also blessed the girls with Forever 21 gift cards!) Although we didn't understand any of the Korean during the service, it was great to experience worship in another culture and see their appreciation for the choir being there.  The last pictures are of the choir at our church.  It was a great homecoming for Katie and so much fun!  We were also pleased that the new President of Calvin, Dr. LeRoy was along for a couple of days and our church was one of his stops.  I don't think President LeRoy will ever forget The River! :) The choir did a beautiful job and it was neat to finally get to experience what Katie has been a part of at Calvin.

The CEO of Forever 21 with his fan club!

Fun to see Redlands friends again.

Katie got to sing with her former choir from ACA

For Emma...

Dance!

Kamryn attended her first middle school dance this weekend!  She is on student council, so got to help plan, decorate and run it too.  The theme was "neon," but Kam had her heart set on wearing a dress we had bought a while ago.  She and all her friends had a blast and we are so thankful for great teachers who gave up a Friday night to hang out with rowdy middle school students! :)  (Bless you all!) Her are some pictures of Kam and her friends.

Spring Basketball!

For reasons I can't remember, our middle school basketball season is in the spring rather than winter.  We are crazy parents and let Kamryn play two sports at the same time this year.  I was really excited for her to play basketball under her coach, Mr. DeJong.  He is such a great coach and it looks like the RCS team will have a fun season this year.  We barely survived all the excitement of the first game the other day!  Who knew that middle school basketball could be so exciting?  Kam plays point guard and made some nice shots, including  a three pointer.  We are looking forward to much more excitement on the basketball courts.  Way to go, Kamryn!