Best birthday ever!

Today is Dan's birthday and we spent it by taking a walk down memory lane (literally!) with John and Jessie.  We spent several hours on Hope's campus and even ate lunch at the Kletz!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids begged for dessert after lunch and we indulged their requests with a trip to Orange Leaf. 

 

 

We spent a bit of time at the house allowing the kids (and some of the adults) to nap before heading out for Dan's birthday dinner. 

 

 





It was a beautiful evening to eat outside and John and Jessie made the evening even more festive by telling the staff it was Dan's birthday!

Despite the delicious carrot cake Dan received for his birthday, John and Jessie's visit to Holland would not have been complete without a trip to Captain Sundae!

 

After all that fun (and food!) Dan still had presents to open!  The kids were very excited to give him their homemade gifts!

What a fun and fantastic way to celebrate Dan's birthday!  We love you!















Father's Day

I am thankful to call Dan my husband and the father to our three beautiful children.  Dan helps keep me balanced by being fun when I am stressed and keeping things silly with our kids.  They love him so much and are thankful to call him "Daddy!"  This afternoon we celebrated him!

 

 

We also stopped to see my own dad after church and wished him a happy Father's Day.  I love you, Dad!

We spent the rest of the day having fun with our friends, John and Jessie, who are visiting from Tennessee.  We had a ton of fun on a boat together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids had a great time tubing - okay, except for the part where the tube tipped forward and they all fell off... other than that they had a great time!

 

















Tunnel Park reunion

Our friends John and Jessie are visiting from Tennessee this weekend for the first time in years.  As a result, many of our college friends gathered at Tunnel Park to spend time together. 

My how our group has changed since graduation!

 

Jeff and Lindsey's twins even made an appearance!



 

The kids had blast playing and the adults enjoyed some time to talk and laugh together!

 



Moving day

No, I have not been keeping some giant secret.  We are not moving.  However, today I did start the process of moving out of my two music classrooms and into a new one.  There was a lot to do but we got more than half of the job done today.  As you can see, the kids found ways to stay entertained!

 



Street Performers

I've said it before, but we really love living in Holland!  Tonight we headed downtown for the Street Performer Series!  We made it there right at the start before it got too busy and the kids were able to get neat thumbprint buttons made!

  

We also enjoyed some live music and hula hooping!

 

 

 

 

 







Two by two

My sister had twins back in April and today we finally got to meet Lydia and Malachi!  My sister-in-law Megan was also in town so it was all around a great time with family!

 

 

 

Liam's new friend

Liam has a new friend these days (thanks, Bada and Poppy)!



Saturday fun

After a busy and emotional week, today was just the day our family needed!

 

 



Saying goodbye

I didn't mention it in my last blog post but it has been an emotional few weeks for our family and church family.  There have been a few good things like the official start to summer vacation as of noon today.  Also, yesterday I officially accepted a part-time position for next year teaching kindergarten music.  This is a huge blessing as I have been wanting to be home more but still continue teaching in Coopersville.  It was sad to say goodbye to the first through fifth grade students and teachers, however, whom I've worked with for the last three years.  Most of all, however, it has been an emotional few weeks as our dear pastor Dave Breen passed away last weekend.  As I posted previously, he had been battling a rare form of Carcinoid cancer for eight years but it spread rapidly in the past few months.  He was a devoted husband, dad, papa, pastor, and friend and will be greatly missed by many people.  Tonight we attended his funeral along with hundreds of others who were impacted by his life and the way God was displayed so evidently through it.  We will miss you Pastor Dave.  We are thankful for the comfort we receive from God and especially in this picture of Heaven from the book of Revelation:

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Photo courtesy of Liz Kladder

Last day of kindergarten!

It's hard to believe but today is Lillian's last day of kindergarten. Dan took a couple of pictures when he dropped her off this morning.

 

For the sake of comparison, here is her picture from the first day of school.

Lillian has had a great year of kindergarten.  She is reading so much better now, she made new friends, and she had a lot of fun.  I am thankful for a great school year but also looking forward to a summer with lots of time together!  





Planting day

This morning we spent some time at the farmer's market and picked out some plants for our garden.

Dan went to work cleaning up the garden and planting our new purchases. 

Lillian was a great sidekick!