Hope Wins!

Hope beat Calvin in an exciting game today!

After the kids are in bed we...

fix the refrigerator!!!
Yes, it's true... Brian and I became appliance repairmen this evening and successfully removed the floor from the freezer, took out the back panel, and thawed a frozen drain tube. Our hope is that this will eliminate the need for towels in the bottom of the refrigerator. So far... it looks like we succeeded! I thought you might enjoy a photo with Brian's fake "I'm having fun" smile! :-)

Brownie...

The kids were pleasantly surprised to find that a new friend has decided to "nest" in our planting area. As I watched the little four-legged wonder eat my brand new lily, I had to admit, she's really quite adorable. I guess it is worth it to have such fun entertainment right outside the kitchen window. All three kids were nearly silent all through breakfast. What fun!

Mother's Day...

I really couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day...
It came this year, perfectly placed, at the end of an amazingly busy week, but one that I will treasure forever.

Joel had four performances this week for his Tulip Time show, "Puttin' on the Hitz" (with the Holland Chorale). He worked SO hard on the music and choreography for the show, that is was incredible to see it all come together so professionally.


And Grace... we've made special trips to Grand Rapids to get her skates sharpened and had extra practices at the rink in preparation for the Lake Effect Skating Competition yesterday. All her hard work paid off, and she won her first two gold medals, and one bronze. It was such an exciting day for her! We continue to feel so blessed that she has such an amazing coach.


And then there's Ana... Though she is definitely expressing more and more independence (and opinions :-), I feel SO blessed to have her home with us. I just learned this week that there are approximately 500 children who are waiting for their adoptions to be finalized in Guatemala. Many of those adoptions were in process the same time or before our was. We thank God every day that He brought her home in His perfect timing.



And finally, there is Brian...
I was telling the kids at dinner tonight that I've never loved their daddy more. He continues to be such an amazing husband and father. We definitely could not do the things that we do without his loving support.
Thank you, Honey, for all you do for our family.

And on Mother's Day...we obviously think of our own mothers... who continue to bless our family with their love and have gone through many trials and joys with us over the years. We feel so thankful that they take such an interest in the kids activities, and support them in so many ways.
Happy Mother's Day!

Tulips are blooming!

It's Tulip Time! (Well, almost...)

The tulips are definitely blooming in Holland! Unfortunately, they peaked about a week early (Tulip Time starts May 1st). We locals are sure enjoying them, though!

Princess for a day...

Grace attended a special princess birthday party this past weekend and the girls were treated to having their nails and hair done. She had such a fun time! (Mom and Dad had a bit of a hard time seeing her all "dressed up" - she looked WAY too old for our liking! :-) But it was definitely fun to see all the little girls pretending to be pricesses!

Uncle Frank...

It has been nearly 9 months since we moved Uncle Frank from Belleville to Holland, and I would say he has adjusted as well as we could have hoped. He is very involved in the daily activities at his assisted living center, and for the most part, he seems quite happy there. He helps in the kitchen, makes crafts, plays Bingo, and even plays Wii Bowling. Every so often, he has a few days where he is behaving in a rather irrational, sort of ornery way, but that is usually short-lived, and is definitely not the norm. He has absolutely no short-term memory at all. We have the same conversation multiple times in a single visit, but he can still tell all kinds of stories about things that happened 50 years ago.

We try to go out to dinner with him every other weekend, but his favorite thing to do is to go downtown to the local candy store, "Peanuts". He has a ball filling his bag with bulk hard candy! And boy does go through the candy! A large bag will be gone in a week's time.... thus the repeated trips to the dentist! :-)

This past week he was fascinated by the outdoor fireplace, so he asked me to take a picture of him with his bag of candy to send to a friend back in Belleville!