Saturday, August 9, 2008
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Summer in Colorado
Since we've been home from our trip, we've been enjoying summer in Colorado! However, to a very pregnant woman, consistent temperatures in the 90s and 100s is NOT FUN!!! We have had some cooling thunderstorms though, and below are a few photos I took after a big hailstorm came through one evening. We got pelted by pea- and marble-size hail (my poor vegetable garden!!!), but the clouds sure were beautiful!
This is after it had melted quite a bit!
What a picture of utter exhaustion! I think Silas was tired and wanted me to put him to bed, and I was too tired to stay awake....so he decided to fall asleep standing up with his head on my lap!
Jessa and Jack (and Nate, too) were in Denver for a wedding one weekend and were able to meet up with me and the boys in Loveland for a couple hours. The three cousins all were wearing Hawaiian shirts...not planned, but pretty cute!
Michelle Van Haitsma was also out here for the wedding that weekend and drove up with my sister...it was great seeing my freshman roommate from Calvin again (and hearing about life with triplets...yikes!).
One day I noticed that there were three butterflies and several bees among the flowers in front of Eli's bedroom window. I thought this picture was cool because I captured (quite accidentally!) a bee flying in mid-air (just to the right of the butterfly...if you click on the picture I think it gets bigger).
The boys' biggest passion lately has been spelling words. They are constantly sounding out letters to words and playing their word games, often on the drives back and forth from Fort Collins. Eli loves to read, and Silas sure does a good job of trying! You also might notice their haircuts...(sorry, Mom! she hates it when I butcher their hair) I cut their hair quite short (not really meaning to), but it probably feels way cooler in this hot weather, and hair grows, right?
In the month of July, Eli had Preschool I swimming lessons at a community pool. He loved them, and passed on to the next level! While Eli was in his class, Bryan and Silas would swim together. Silas is showing more of his daredevil personality--he jumps right into the water away from Bryan so that he goes under and then comes up laughing! We've got to keep our eyes on that one....
Eli with his class and teacher.
Showing off new skills.
This is after it had melted quite a bit!
What a picture of utter exhaustion! I think Silas was tired and wanted me to put him to bed, and I was too tired to stay awake....so he decided to fall asleep standing up with his head on my lap!
Jessa and Jack (and Nate, too) were in Denver for a wedding one weekend and were able to meet up with me and the boys in Loveland for a couple hours. The three cousins all were wearing Hawaiian shirts...not planned, but pretty cute!
Michelle Van Haitsma was also out here for the wedding that weekend and drove up with my sister...it was great seeing my freshman roommate from Calvin again (and hearing about life with triplets...yikes!).
One day I noticed that there were three butterflies and several bees among the flowers in front of Eli's bedroom window. I thought this picture was cool because I captured (quite accidentally!) a bee flying in mid-air (just to the right of the butterfly...if you click on the picture I think it gets bigger).
The boys' biggest passion lately has been spelling words. They are constantly sounding out letters to words and playing their word games, often on the drives back and forth from Fort Collins. Eli loves to read, and Silas sure does a good job of trying! You also might notice their haircuts...(sorry, Mom! she hates it when I butcher their hair) I cut their hair quite short (not really meaning to), but it probably feels way cooler in this hot weather, and hair grows, right?
In the month of July, Eli had Preschool I swimming lessons at a community pool. He loved them, and passed on to the next level! While Eli was in his class, Bryan and Silas would swim together. Silas is showing more of his daredevil personality--he jumps right into the water away from Bryan so that he goes under and then comes up laughing! We've got to keep our eyes on that one....
Eli with his class and teacher.
Showing off new skills.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Celebrating the 4th in the Twin Cities!
While we were in Michigan, we decided to drive home through Minnesota and stop for a couple of days to visit our "old" friends. The last time we were in the Twin Cities was 3 years ago before we moved out to Colorado!
Our friends, Matt and Katie Schaap, were so gracious to let us stay with them, even though Katie had to work the whole weekend!
We celebrated the 4th of July with our former neighbors, the Banats, from Como Student Community Cooperative, part of the University of Minnesota's family student housing. We went with them to a parade in Saint Anthony Park (where the Banats now live), which is very near our old apartment. It was so good visiting with them and also seeing places where we used to spend a lot of time--our local library, Luther Seminary, Speedy Mart, and various shops and restaurants.
Bryan and Silas in front of the Finnish Bistro (formerly Taste of Scandinavia--yummy food and Dunn Bros. freshly roasted coffee), a favorite hangout of ours.
The boys watching the parade.
The Banats had us over for a BBQ lunch after the parade. Here are Eli and Silas snacking with Sami and Pia after running through the sprinkler.
Me and Andrea, both due the end of the summer with baby #3!
Bryan and Nael
We took the opportunity to drive through both the Minneapolis and St. Paul U of MN campuses and stop by our old apartment, which was home for our first 5 years of marriage. Since this was also Eli's first home, we took pictures of him outside the entryway and also outside our old apartment door. We have a lot of fond memories from 1007 C!!
A special part of our visit included some time spent with our dear friend, Bonnie Oberloh. When we lived in Minnesota, Bonnie and her husband Larry led our church small group and also became very close friends, mentors, and honorary parents/grandparents to us and Eli. Sadly, Larry passed away a year ago from a long struggle with colon cancer, and we were able to reminisce with Bonnie about our times with Larry and how the past 3 years had gone for them. It was a blessing for us to hear of Larry's legacy and to see how God is working now in Bonnie's life!
Bonnie (ever the teacher!) reading to our boys.
Bonnie's daughter Heather and her family were able to stop by for a short time to see us. Here is Silas playing with Ferdinand and Dominic.
We were also blessed by spending some time with our good friends, Elizabeth and Daniel Thompson, and their adorable baby Grace. It was a testimony to God's grace and power to hear of how He's been working in their lives as well.We also saw many other good friends from church at a 4th of July party we were invited to. I sadly have no pictures as Eli got sick all over the Lings' couch (it was pretty awful), so we decided to forget the fireworks and leave to put him to bed.
The next morning I was able to have a nice breakfast (minus Bryan and our boys since Eli was sick) with our friends, Steven and Robin Lee, their son Sammy and new baby Melina.
Before we left for home, we also had the opportunity to attend worship at Faith CRC, our former church, and saw many more friends and friendly faces. :) It was a whirlwind of a trip--only 2 days--and with Eli getting sick it put a bit of a damper on our ability to see everyone we wanted to see, but despite that (and the astronomical cost of gasoline!), we were glad to be back in a place very special to us!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Fun times in Holland
After our visit in Charlevoix, we drove down to Holland to spend some time with Bryan's family. We got to see a lot of family and friends and do some fun things!
Because we drove out to Michigan, we spent A LOT of time in the car. The boys loved watching movies on their DVD players. They also took naps, ate snacks, listened to music, and played with little toys. Silas liked playing his alphabet game. Eli mastered his travel Sudoku.
Here are Silas, Sawyer, Eli, Braden, and Grandpa playing a game together. The boys had so much fun playing with their cousins, and they all laughed hysterically playing this game! It was very cute.
Eli and Silas with Auntie Rachel, all wearing yellow! We didn't get to see much of her because she was working on a movie, but we are so excited to see her in a couple weeks when she comes out to Colorado for a visit!
Mommy reading a bedtime story to her three boys.
Eli, enjoying Holland (actually right after I took this picture he tripped and fell, scraped up his knees and got mud all over him!)
Silas also got a little muddy playing at the park (it had rained a lot earlier and there were big puddles everywhere!)
Grandpa and Grandma with their 4 grandsons...Sawyer, Silas, Braden, and Eli.
Bryan's Grandpa Dik and his lovely wife, Donna, came for a nice visit. It was fun looking at pictures from these world travelers!
We also had a good time visiting with Bryan's other Grandparents, the Longstreets, who in this photo are enjoying the amazing chocolate kitty-cat cake Kerrie made for Sawyer's 2nd birthday.
Family photo of Summer 2008 at Windmill Island in Holland. We spent a fun day there with Grandpa and Grandma and the Vanden Boschs learning about the history of Dutch immigrants to Holland.
Cousin photo!
Silly cousin photo!
Bryan's sister Kerrie, with her husband Eric, and Sawyer and Braden (and also little Vanden Bosch on the way--February '09!!!! Will it be another boy or the first granddaughter??)
This was so cute, they were holding hands of their own accord, and I couldn't resist taking about a bazillion pictures!
Eli and his Daddy
Sweet Silas
At the Windmill they had Dutch clothes (complete with wooden shoes!) for kids to try on. Here is little Dutch boy, Eli Dik.
And another little Dutch boy, Silas Dik.
One day we spent the afternoon at the beach with Grandpa and Grandma. The boys loved the big Lake Michigan waves! And Mom loved cooling off in the water!
Splash! Some of the waves were so big, they would knock Silas over! So we had to always hold onto him.
Silas, all tuckered out from braving the waves...
We had the pleasure of going to a reunion of sorts of Bryan's RA staff ('96-'97) from Calvin. It was so great seeing those who could make it (some we hadn't seen in quite a while!) and their kids. I'll try to tell you the families, from left to right: Jay and Kristin (Stimac) Wise, with their daughter Zoe and baby boy due in August; Kim (Quist) and Dave Gilmore; Jen (Vanden Bosch) and Mike Hoekstra, with their kids, Allison, Caleb, and Benjamin; Tera (Klaasen, my RA freshman year!) and Brad Wiechertjes, with their kids, Noah and Emma; Chris and Cindy (Bryce) Kuipers, with their daughter Claire, and us.
Our last day in Michigan we spent in Grand Rapids visiting with friends and family in the area. Here are my Uncle Steve and Aunt Denise who had us over (in the middle of a terrible thunderstorm!) for supper.
And here are our boys with their kids (my dear cousins), Aaron, Anders, Andrew, Alyssa, and Aidan!
Because we drove out to Michigan, we spent A LOT of time in the car. The boys loved watching movies on their DVD players. They also took naps, ate snacks, listened to music, and played with little toys. Silas liked playing his alphabet game. Eli mastered his travel Sudoku.
Here are Silas, Sawyer, Eli, Braden, and Grandpa playing a game together. The boys had so much fun playing with their cousins, and they all laughed hysterically playing this game! It was very cute.
Eli and Silas with Auntie Rachel, all wearing yellow! We didn't get to see much of her because she was working on a movie, but we are so excited to see her in a couple weeks when she comes out to Colorado for a visit!
Mommy reading a bedtime story to her three boys.
Eli, enjoying Holland (actually right after I took this picture he tripped and fell, scraped up his knees and got mud all over him!)
Silas also got a little muddy playing at the park (it had rained a lot earlier and there were big puddles everywhere!)
Grandpa and Grandma with their 4 grandsons...Sawyer, Silas, Braden, and Eli.
Bryan's Grandpa Dik and his lovely wife, Donna, came for a nice visit. It was fun looking at pictures from these world travelers!
We also had a good time visiting with Bryan's other Grandparents, the Longstreets, who in this photo are enjoying the amazing chocolate kitty-cat cake Kerrie made for Sawyer's 2nd birthday.
Family photo of Summer 2008 at Windmill Island in Holland. We spent a fun day there with Grandpa and Grandma and the Vanden Boschs learning about the history of Dutch immigrants to Holland.
Cousin photo!
Silly cousin photo!
Bryan's sister Kerrie, with her husband Eric, and Sawyer and Braden (and also little Vanden Bosch on the way--February '09!!!! Will it be another boy or the first granddaughter??)
This was so cute, they were holding hands of their own accord, and I couldn't resist taking about a bazillion pictures!
Eli and his Daddy
Sweet Silas
At the Windmill they had Dutch clothes (complete with wooden shoes!) for kids to try on. Here is little Dutch boy, Eli Dik.
And another little Dutch boy, Silas Dik.
One day we spent the afternoon at the beach with Grandpa and Grandma. The boys loved the big Lake Michigan waves! And Mom loved cooling off in the water!
Splash! Some of the waves were so big, they would knock Silas over! So we had to always hold onto him.
Silas, all tuckered out from braving the waves...
We had the pleasure of going to a reunion of sorts of Bryan's RA staff ('96-'97) from Calvin. It was so great seeing those who could make it (some we hadn't seen in quite a while!) and their kids. I'll try to tell you the families, from left to right: Jay and Kristin (Stimac) Wise, with their daughter Zoe and baby boy due in August; Kim (Quist) and Dave Gilmore; Jen (Vanden Bosch) and Mike Hoekstra, with their kids, Allison, Caleb, and Benjamin; Tera (Klaasen, my RA freshman year!) and Brad Wiechertjes, with their kids, Noah and Emma; Chris and Cindy (Bryce) Kuipers, with their daughter Claire, and us.
Our last day in Michigan we spent in Grand Rapids visiting with friends and family in the area. Here are my Uncle Steve and Aunt Denise who had us over (in the middle of a terrible thunderstorm!) for supper.
And here are our boys with their kids (my dear cousins), Aaron, Anders, Andrew, Alyssa, and Aidan!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)