When Hello Means Good-Bye View RSS

Today marks 12 years since we said hello and goodbye to our little Brenham boy. 

It’s important to me that I share about his life in hopes of keeping his memory alive, and to validate the significant role he plays in our family’s lives. 

My wish is that even in death his life will impact others, and I carefully try to do that in a way that gives glory to his Maker, and brings hope and encouragement, not sadness, to those who may be facing loss or grief in some form. But the reality is that with such a devastating loss I sometimes, this year especially, find that difficult to do. 

Can I give God glory even when I’m mad, and disappointed in how He chose for this story to unfold?

Here’s what I know is true: God can handle my bitter disappointment. It’s human to struggle. It’s human to nurse a broken heart with Oreos. But the best, most redeeming, exciting thing I could ever imagine, from the smashed up, broken place that I’ve been, is for something beautiful to blossom out of that pain. 

And that beauty is Jesus! That hope is Jesus! He so graciously gives us the ultimate gift of Eternal Life and the promise of forever with Him in Heaven where we’ll be reunited again with our precious boy! 

Sorrow may last through the night but JOY comes in the morning!

To Him be all the glory!

Jovie, you are 6 years old! It's really unbelievable how fast you're growing up!

You are sweet and sensitive. 

You are kind and smart. 

You love to play with your dolls and do crafts. 

You love to help mom any chance you get. 

You love school and learning new things. 

You are very observant. 

You are very helpful.

You love fruit and crackers. 

You love meat and cheese.

You love yogurt and chocolate. 

Jovie, every day with you is a joy! We love you so much and are so blessed to have you in our family!

We celebrated our little Señorita with a Fiesta party!

I love any excuse to wear this awesome dress and eat tacos!

The invite:

Taco bar with all the fixings!

She received so many great presents including some AG accessories, art supplies, a caboodle, Scruff-a-luv, pool toys, jewelry holder, unicorn earmuffs and stuffy, slime toys, and more!

Jovie requested ice cream sundaes for dessert

Thanks to all our family who helped us celebrate her!

We had a super special few days celebrating Jovie's birthday. We had a Christmas party the night of her birthday, Robb and I took her out to her birthday dinner Thursday night, the 12th.

She chose Applebees, and ordered her long standing favorite, grilled chicken breast with A1!

On Friday I brought her McDonalds lunch to school. 

She opened her new American Girl doll, Blaire before heading off to the Christmas party. 

Saturday morning we took a girls trip with both Grandmas to Chicago to visit the American Girl store!

Having a December baby wouldn't have been my first choice, but it's actually pretty fitting that our littlest miracle was born at such a special time of year. 

The JOY and LOVE she has brought to our lives is a GIFT every day!

Praising God for her life and for sending His son so we can celebrate the many blessings He's given to us. 

Happy 6th Birthday Jovie!

"Every good and perfect gift is from above..."

[James 1:17]

We are so thankful for the awesome time we had cruising to the Bahamas on the Disney Dream with the Rietman family!

We flew into Orlando on Saturday, November 23 around 3:00pm and checked into our hotel, Holiday Inn Waterpark near Disney Springs. 

We LOVED the T-REX resturant on our Disney World trip last year and couldn't wait for the opportunity to eat there again! 

It was just as good as we remembered! We polished off our plates in no time!

After dinner we checked out the Christmas Tree Trail, I love this comparison of Jovie from last year to this year.

We finished off our night in Disney Springs with some cupcakes from Sprinkles where we ran into the Roelofs!

Sunday we were excited to hang out at the hotel pool and enjoy the fun activities there!

Gray and I won the water balloon toss contest, our lucky prize was getting a balloon filled with blue food coloring popped over our heads. Yay ;)

Later in the afternoon we left our hotel to head to Port Canaveral and meet up with the rest of the family at another hotel.

We had a fun experience at a nearby pizza place that had the kids make their own personal pizzas!

Monday was CRUISING day! 

We enjoyed the continental breakfast at the hotel, and then we were off to the port!

We boarded around 11:30 and our first stop was...the lunch buffet, quickly followed by the pool! 

 Sail away deck party!

Dinner time! 

Disney Cruise Line does a rotational dining plan with their 3 resturants. The first night we ate at Animator's Palate. 

Hot Chocolate station 

Mickey's Tree Lighting 

The nightly entertainment is one of my favorite parts of Disney Cruises, we wrapped up our first night watching The Golden Mickeys. 

 Tuesday we woke up in Nassau, Bahamas.

We caught a picture with Fancy Nancy, and had tickets for the Frozen Gathering. 

We got off the ship after breakfast and took a little walk to a nearby beach to spend some time snorkeling and playing in the sand. 

That night was formal night, we all got dressed up and enjoyed a delicious meal at The Enchanted Garden. 

 To wrap up the night we watched the Beauty and the Beast musical. 

Jovie received some "pixie dust" while we waited. 

Wednesday was our day at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. 

The kids LOVED the kids club on the ship, and even more so on the beach, so Robb and I were grateful to have some alone time and even got to relax in the adults only portion of the island, which was beautiful!

 We got back on the ship around 2:30, a crew member welcomed us back with cold towels, and ice cold water!

The ship was nearly empty so the kids used that time to swim and go on the slides

The theme of that night was Pirate night, the kids loved getting dressed up in their pirate attire!

We ate at The Royal Palace, and watched Frozen II for the nights entertainment!

We wrapped up the night with a pirate party and fireworks at sea!

Our last day, Thursday, was an at sea day. 

The kids spent ample time at the pool, and kids club, and also snuck in a round of mini golf with Grandpa and Grandma and the cousins. 

We ate Thanksgiving dinner at The Royal Palace, and then the kids hit up the pin trading event, which was a highlight of the trip for them! 

We watched the Believe musical and then went back to the room to pack up for our departure the next morning. 

 Friday morning we had one last breakfast on board and then said goodbye to the Disney Dream.

I had arranged for a 15 passenger van to pick up our group and take us to the airport so we were very surprised to see that we had been upgraded to a coach bus, all to ourselves!

We rode in style back to the Orlando airport to catch our flights back home 

Thanks Mom and Dad for such an amazing trip! 

Happy Halloween from Kylo Ren, who really makes me miss the days when I got to solely choose the costumes, Ninja Boy for the 2nd year in a row, and JoJo Siwa the kid YouTube sensation who likes bows even more than I do!

Last month we celebrated our 14th year of enjoying married life together; whether we’re overlooking the Smoky Mountains from the highest point in Tennessee, or watching Blacklist on Netflix with popcorn in bed and anything in between!

“Enjoying life and marriage, according to Ecclesiastes 9:9, is a decision, it’s not an outcome. It’s something you decide. It’s something you choose, not something you wait for, not waiting for a certain season in life. You make the decision: let’s enjoy life together” {Ted Cunningham}

The kids had a nice long weekend off of school for Fall Break, so we took advantage of that and took a beautiful trip with my parents to Gatlinburg, TN. 

They had a half day on Wednesday, so we headed right out from the school parking lot.

The drive went really good, we got to our cabin a little after 9pm

The kids couldn't wait to go in the hot tub!

We stayed in such a fun cabin, I took these screenshots from the website, we made ourselves right at home :)

Thursday was our first day in the Smoky Mountains!

Exploring Cade’s Cove (saw so many deer)  

Picnic lunch at Metcalf Bottoms (kids loved playing in the river) 

 Laurel Falls Hike (beautiful scenery)

 Treats from The Apple Barn (delicious donuts!)  

 

Dolly Parton’s Stampede (a Pigeon Forge must do!)

We packed a lot into Day 2 so it was another early start.

We kicked the day off with a super fun breakfast at the Frizzle Chicken Farmhouse, the kids LOVED it here. 

Next up we hit the Roaring Fork Motor Trail, where we were lucky enough to spot a bear cub!

Hiking to Grotto Falls. 

 

Clingman's Dome (highest point in Tennessee) 

Dinner at Bullfish Grill, we worked up a major appetite! 

We ended the day at the Paula Dean Lumberjack Feud. All the kids got to participate which was so fun! 

Saturday we had plans to drive into North Carolina and see if we could find some elk, and that's exactly what we did! 

We stopped for breakfast in Cherokee. NC

and then headed back to the park to explore the Mountain Farm Museum and Mingus Mill. 

We got back to our cabin in the early afternoon, the guys and kids hung out in the cabin while my mom and I did some shopping at the outlet mall. 

In the evening we met up with our friends, The DeWeerdts, who were also visiting Gatlinburg, for dinner at Bennett's BBQ. They came back to our cabin to visit for awhile and that wrapped up our 3rd day!

Sunday morning we had a delicious and filling pancake breakfast in the cabin and the got packed up for home.

We had an amazing time, it was such a different kind of vacation for us and we loved exploring new things together as a family. We feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to travel to Tennessee and see more of God's beauty in the world! 

Celebrating 11 years post transplant today! 

I was thankful then, but I’m even more thankful today. 

The past 11 years have brought me so many sweet blessings and amazing opportunities that wouldn’t have been possible without my transplant.

Kidney donation not only changed my life, it saved my life! Words can never express how grateful I am. Thank you, Mindy!

{ I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds} Psalm 9:1

“I will sing of all You’ve done and I'll remember how far you carried me. 

From beginning until the end You are faithful, faithful to the end.

There wasn't a day that you weren't by my side. There wasn't a day that you let me fall.

All of my life your love has been true.

All of my life I will worship you.”

I turned 34 in September! I had a great day full of good food and fellowship! Grateful for another year!

Grayden!

I never would have guessed our first broken bone in the family would have come from him, yet here we are! Everyone learned a valuable lesson....no more wheelie attempts on a too-small bike!

He was a trooper and his arm was  good as new in 4 weeks time!

Just wouldn’t feel like Labor Day around here without the Truck Parade!

The kids started a new school year on August 21.

Grayden is off to 5th Grade, his first year at the the Middle School, Sadler started 3rd Grade and my baby is in full time Kindergarten. It's been a weird adjustment for me with all the kids in school all day, but I've been enjoying it and so have they! 

Lord, give them eyes to see the needs of others around them, hearts to know your deep love for them, courage to stand up for what’s right, minds to learn all that’s required of them, and the knowledge of Your presence always with them. Amen

Before I overload you with pictures of our seemingly amazing summer I want to be clear and honest and call this a HIGHLIGHT REEL. 

We did pack in a lot of fun this summer, and the following pictures will show that, but what I didn't show was the hours spent on tablets, or plopped in front of the TV. I don't have pictures of the sibling fights, and I don't have evidence of the bad attitudes and ungratefulness with struggled with this summer. But trust me when I say those things all happened. 

Something I've learned over the last few years is that we build real relationships when we are honest with our struggles and shortcomings, and not by appearing to have it all together or have the "perfect kids" so with that said here is the photo dump of our Summer. 

Jovie enjoying the bounce house water slide at her preschool friend, Brecken's, birthday party. 

Beach night with my crew

Gray doing what he does best!

patio dinners are a summer fave!

a bike ride to stop the bickering :)

enjoying a new favorite smoothie recipe with coconut water, spinach, frozen banana, frozen peaches, peanut butter and oats

so thrilled to be working on their Summer packets from school :)

watching a crazy wind storm!

After cancelling twice for misbehavior, we finally made it to the theater to watch Toy Story 4! Popcorn for everyone!

The crepe king!

nice catch Sadler

yay Gray!

our own Ninja warrior course!

another park to park bike ride!

we all worked up an appetite, including a stop for ice cream afterwards! :)

watching this made me sweaty :)

Grandma's baking buddy!

moments like these remind me how much they've grown up, I remember so well the days of dreading having to haul all the beach equipment myself- they've grown into such big helpers!

photo credit: the 5 year old :)

we were so excited to watch Indian in The Cupboard movie as soon as we finished the book, jus tour luck Netflix took it down the day before we finished, thankfully the local library came to the rescue!

followed by a trip to the ice cream shop!

catching fireflies!

a late night swim 

catching a sweet big brother moment, oh how my heart needed that!

A fun week at VBS!

We listened to the audio book of James and the Giant Peach on our way to Florida over Spring Break, so we had to go watch the play!

the actor kids did a great job and the kids loved it!

eat the rainbow! (and ice cream too!)

making all her dreams come true making slime!

day made!

I’d been brainstorming about some kid appropriate service projects that we could add to our summer activities, and this just fell right into my lap (funny how that happens! Sorting clothes at Closet of Hope, a clothing ministry for foster/adoptive families, was the perfect fit! Sadler is already asking when we can do it again. 

It melts my heart to see them using their gifts (like climbing) to serve God and the community.

someone's enjoying their Trader Joe's stickers :)

wii snowmobiling with friends!

Ella's turn for a sleepover!

they made an impressive fort!

this is what happens when I watch too many yoga videos on YouTube ;)

working hard at mastering her headstand!

Adoption has brought us so many blessings, including great friends to share in this wonderful journey!! 8 little miracles enjoying the splash pad!

KFC on the channel, making all of Grayden's dreams come true!

a family favorite "Play Nine}

Lion King to celebrate our neighbors birthday!

Robb and I took advantage of a morning alone to go on a bike ride. 

I wonder who wore the backpack ;)

Everyone’s excited to hang out in Jovie’s classroom at church before the other preschoolers come!

I take hydration seriously!

sunscreen tic tac toe

nothing beats grilled fresh veggies in the summer!

Fun at the sandbar!

 “Elephant and Piggie” play with Grandpa and Grandma L! 

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Steadfast love. Fresh mercies. The faithfulness of God. 

These are the things we wake up to every single morning. What an incredible gift. 

thanks for the slurpee treat Grandma R!

"Hanging " at the Hall!

my bathing beauty!

Always the first one in the water!

Grayden was persistent in catching fish with his net!

We had a great day at Millennium Park with the Haights all thanks to Emily for saving the day with snacks :)

what a cute crew!

the boys had an awesome night with Uncle Ryan and Lauren at craigs cruisers for their birthday gift!

my berry cute blueberry pickers!

we all scream for ice cream!

Jovie's special date with Grandma and Grandpa to see Cinderella play!

What a lucky girl!

fro-yo to round off a fun afternoon!

brushing up on our EQ skills with Q's Race to the Top game!

Zeelmania foam pit!

pool party with cousins!

Grabbing some favorites from the farmer's market!

taste test fun!

record size "Balloon babies"

More wisdom from Lysa TerKeurst~

“I'm applying "give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day… or teach him to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime" to parenting. 

I don’t want to train my kids to only turn to me for solutions. I want to help them think in Biblically and emotionally healthy ways, so they can learn the fine art of becoming a solution finder. I want to help them learn to process life choices in grounded, mature ways.

If I only tell my kids what they can and can’t do, I’m establishing rules for them to follow. This is a part of parenting for sure- but it can’t be the whole part.

If I teach them how to think, I’m establishing healthy processing patterns that will serve them when they’re no longer under my immediate watch.”

s'more fun at the cottage!

lovin' that lake life!

she gave names to all the fish she caught!

best read of the summer!

An unforgettable tube ride; not because of any high speeds or crazy donuts, but because our topics of conversations ranged from how life would be different if Jesus wasn’t born to wondering if Brenham would have liked ketchup as much as Sadler does!

Getting more and more ready for them to start school with each passing grocery trip (they appear to be helping in the pic, but don’t be fooled!)

it's like having my own personal community CSA; tomatoes from my parents, green beans from Gracie's Garden, and cucumbers for the Zoet's!

Middle school orientation!

running errands with an empty back seat! Grandma L to the rescue!

Annual school playground scavenger hunt with Grandpa and Grandma Lubbers

Sadler went to a "messy party" thrown by his Sunday School teacher, he had a blast!

Happy birthday Peyton!

August Date: Beautiful night in Grand Haven; a delicious meal at Snug Harbor, and Worship on the Waterfront with Waters Edge Worship

Sadler has a look alike out there! Wow!

Slushee rewards for competing their summer work packets! They worked so hard on them!

Kindergarten Open House!

3rd Grade Open House!

Last day of summer break was spent doing the same thing we did at the start - beach day with friends!

"Twas The Night Before Kindergarten"

We had such a super fun time Up North with an overnight stay at the Meiste's Cabin in Luther, and tubing down the Pere Marquette River together.

We didn't have the nicest weather for tubing down the bitter cold river but that didn't stop us from having a blast!

One of my favorites summer traditions is the one on one dates I take with the kids before they head back to school. 

Jovie chose dinner at Brann’s and shopping at the craft store. 
She was on cloud nine and was so sweet. I often felt like I was talking to a teenager (other than when I tried to convince her that being an EMT might not be the best career path since she “might throw up if there’s blood or if someone falls in a tree” (someone’s been watching “Miracles from Heaven”)
With a lump in my throat, I told her that she was made for Kindergarten. Once my tears dry, I can’t wait to see her thrive!

Next up was Sadler’s turn and boy, did he tire me out! His mind and body move 100 miles an hour. He chose dinner at McDonald’s and then we went to Craig’s Cruisers for their ninja course and trampoline park. 
He had lots of questions about Heaven, lava and burps; most of which I couldn’t answer, but it was fun to have a little peak inside his mind. 
He’s off to 3rd grade, and he’s gonna rock it!

Grayden and I had an awesome time on our “back to school” date. He chose dinner at Panera Bread and fishing. Unfortunately, we didn’t catch a thing, but I love how persistent he is. He could have been out there for hours. It was fun to take part in something he enjoys so much. 
His perseverance will take him far in life, and I know he’s going to do great in his first year of middle school, even though he’s not excited about waking up early!

We had a full day of fun at Michigan's Adventure this summer! Robb's parents joined us for the day and we loved having them along!

We packed in a lot of fun!

We spent an amazing weekend camping at Dunes Harbor in Silver Lake August 7-11.

We were off to a rocky start with an awful car ride of misbehavior from these three, so they were ordered to spend the remainder of the evening in the camper with bread and butter for lunch. Thankfully things turned around and we had a great time enjoying delicious food, fellowship with friends and relaxing by the campfires!

morning snuggles, balm to my soul!

fun in the dunes!

 Sadler scored the winning touchdown in a campground football game!

morning fishing with dad 

 we took a beautiful kayak ride around the campground 

fresh veggies on the grill, nothing better!

 late night fried food is one of my favorite Dunes Harbor traditions!

 The next morning we worked off our fried food with a 4 mile bike ride

 Beautiful beach day

homemade donuts were a hit once again!

 a great week with great friends!

Robb's parents gifted us with a getaway in Chicago for the adults! 

We had a great time exploring, eating and relaxing together. 

ready to hit the road Saturday morning. 

after we settled into our hotel rooms and did a little shopping we had Mexican for lunch. 

After we got our fill of fajitas we walked it off with a stroll along the Riverwalk 

And we had to see the famous "bean" and grab a shake from The Shake Shack :)

All ready for dinner.

a delicious meal at Wildfire

hanging out at Navy Pier

We wrapped up the night with a dip in the hot tub to soak our tired feet (we put on 22,000 steps that day!)

The next morning Robb and I hit up the hotel gym and continental breakfast and then we all met up together to take a river cruise. 

We walked around a bit more, grabbed some lunch along the riverwalk and then headed for home!

We had so much fun! 

On July 7, as tradition goes, I documented in pictures, a day in our life as a way to honor Brenham on his due date. 

Our alarm goes off at 7:30 and it's off to the races to get ready for church! Robb is crucial in this process. He helps the kids pick out clothes, gets them breakfast and packs up for Jeep for the cottage.

From 9:00- 10:30 we are at church worshiping and learning. 

 From there we head right to Hutchins Lake

We had a great afternoon fishing, sea-dooing, playing at the sandbar, and eating lunch.  We also spend some time talking with some cottage friends/neighbors. 

We pack up around 5:00 and head home for dinner. 

After dinner we head out to the patio to read "Indian in the Cupboard" together. 

I workout downstairs while Robb cleans up dinner and gets the kids showered.

I chose a Tabata workout from Tone It Up. 

We walk a couple laps around "The Lane" together as we talk about the week ahead. It's one of our favorite ways to end the day.

Sadler and Robb have a quick Nerf War and it's off to bed for the kids.

Robb and I stay up and watch TV until we become aware that someone "didn't get tucked in, and if you don't you don't want to know" lol

We took that threat very seriously and both went to make sure Sadler got a proper tuck in!

In the past, whenever I've taken a "blogging break" it hasn't been intentional. 

This time it was. 

If I'm being honest, our summer wasn't the what I had hoped it would be. The kids were always arguing with me and each other, we struggled with being grateful, we had bad attitudes and unhappy hearts.  It left me disappointed, exhausted and emotionally depleted.  Sure we had TONS of fun too, and I'm so thankful for the great memories we made. In the grand scheme of things we are so fortunate to be able to spend that quality time together. Nonetheless, the blog got put on the back burner while I tried to discipline and correct bad behaviors. 

But ALL three kids are back in school, all FULL TIME now and I've been able to catch my breath and relax again. Blogging has always been therapeutic for me, so I've missed sharing real life and being able to release and process through things as I do. 

Bare with me as I backtrack and get caught back up over the next few weeks.

"The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm."

Exodus 14:14

We stayed at the cottage for the night on the 3rd, we enjoyed taking a  kayak ride, taking a family paddle boat ride and making s'mores over the fire!

Our 4th of July festivities got off to an early start with 6am fishing!

and a quiet walk along the lake 

We had breakfast with my parents at the Blue Goose

and then had all sorts of fun on the lake, kayaking, tubing, skiing, fishing with friends!

We had such a great day, and we were all so exhausted after all the fun in the sun that we didn't even make it to the fireworks! 

We had a great week camping with friends once again! 

We had a little rain and a lot of heat! We spent lots of time at the pool, the kids loved the hammocks, hanging out around the camp fire, and going on scavenger hunts!

thi is not a great sight to see out the window :)

Fun Sunday hike at the Saugatuck Dunes

5 year old check up!

pedi time with my mini!

a quick lunch date!

'kite' making at the library 

a clean fridge can only mean one thing- VACATION is coming!

road trip snack prep- these were a hit!

Jovie and her friend Molly doing some yoga, so adorable!

the first thing she did when we got home from Florida was run to her room to play with her beloved toys!

ODC field trip!

little slugger all ready for his first baseball practice!

her dream come true- "BAKING"

Jensen's birthday party!

Kindergarten orientation!

Easter Egg Drop!

picking out his birthday meal!

she loves to give foot rubs!

genius mom hack- hide the candy in the veggie drawer!

April date- dinner and a movie!

my favorite workout buddy!

Non scale victory- buying heavier weights!

trying out the new Crepe place in town with a friend!

Manicures for these girls!

attempting to make a REAL cake!

our new chicks!

field trip day!

these days of preschool morning routines have come to a close!

they LOVE banking!

50 cent bags of blow pops, yes please!

some spring cleaning!

poor bud sick with a nasty fever bug

counting marathon laps at recess

tulip time!

we bundled up big time to brave the cold!

coffee date with my girl!

trying to keep up with six 10-year olds!

VIP day at school!

track and field day!

their class got 1st!

He had so much fun!

Mother's Day with Grandma!

CF walk 

I'm a lucky lady!

donuts at dawn!

My adventurous eater- he wanted to try an egg roll

helping with 4th grade math homework requires youtube! 

sometimes I say YES!

a love a good color coordination!

breaking into our own van bc the oil change tech locked the keys inside! 

school music Program

sleeping beauty 

S'mores on the back patio!

I adore these things!

she wants "adventure in the great wide somewhere"

Jovie is on 2 wheels!

Market Day!

hard at work!

He was so disciplined and worked so hard!

playing at the park!

enjoying my new patio furniture!

picnic time!

I was unsure about this jumpsuit until I saw her face, aw!

LOVE eating dinner outside!

Mother's Day pedicures!

Our May date got pushed to the back burner due to a hectic month, but we squeezed in a walk around the "lane"...

and a weight lifting workout together to make the most out of some time alone

a new do!

Grayden did so great at the Hope tennis clinic 

down with a nasty tummy bug the last week of school 

watching one of my childhood favorites, "Heidi" with my little lady!

4th Graders vs Teachers Kickball game 

Sadler had a blast during baseball this season!

My farmer's market buddy!

She comes up with some interesting moves!

they like to make up rules as they go along, but I'm in it to win it! ;)

4th Grade awards! Way to go Gray!

enjoying one last morning alone!

Last day of school lunch at CFA

a windy kayak ride!

watching Peyton's t-ball game

Father's Day with Grandpa L.

cottage with friends!

Nerf War!

skate park!

fro-yo date!

Sadler folded his hands, bowed his head, and said prayer to win the guessing game at the library! ha!

we've enforced a chore chart this summer :)

Gifting our Elementary Graduate with a special notebook that all his past teachers wrote a note to him in! 

His reaction was priceless!

enjoying some art time with Grandma (and Grandpa) in Saugatuck!

doesn't get much better than this!

a week at soccer camp!

a week at overnight camp!

mommy and me yoga on the front lawn!

doing what we do best!

craft time at the library!

I copied her this time ;)

Hooray for a pool day!

June date! We had a great time eating dinner on the patio at Stella's Lounge, and "Crazy Dash-ing" around GR

nothing like starting the day with a good dose of veggies!

Zucchini Egg Scramble

it was a long week with Gray gone! So happy to be reunited!