10 Months!

Our little princess is 10 months old already. It is so hard to believe! She is such a little go getter and a lot of fun! Nothing gets past this girl! As her proud parents we think (of course) that all her "tricks" are wonderful, like pulling up to stand against the wall....or often the stove (yep send my Mother of the Year award now), barking at the dogs, telling Andrew "no" and just being cute! Its hard to believe she's changing so fast!

More Pics

On top of Thief Creek.
Marianne totally crashed on the way down the Mountain from Deerhead Lake.
CHEEEEEEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZZEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We saw this moose from across Deerhead lake. It was fun to watch him feed from the bottom of the lake. This was a very nice day spent in God's creation! One of our favorite places to go. About a 2 mile hike to get to it is all and worth it all.

Montana

Here are my lovely children, ready for bed. Andrew loves that Annie has jams just like his.
Locked in the jail at Bannack. The first territorial capital of Montana. Usually a ghost town, the weekend we were there was Bannack Days. We watched a poorly acted out shoot out in front of the saloon, saw people dressed as if the town were still hoppin', mined for gold (and garnets) and dipped candles.
Andrew LOVED the waterslide at camp. Camp was an amazing week with 40 campers from 7-12th grades. At least 5 kids came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and many made other decisions regarding their walk with Him!
This will always be one of my favorite pictures. Andrew fishing with Papa makes my heart smile. Thanks Daddy for taking the time!

So, I'm very sorry these pictures are so late in coming. Hopefully I'll be posting more over the next few weeks. Life around here has been hectic at best as Marianne has discovered how to crawl and Andrew now opens doors....bad combination. Our first week back to reality was a hard one (read previous post) but we made it through...now maybe we'll have a week to get back to "normal" whatever that is!!

Sweet Memories

Oh, Sweet Sweet Hannah girl. What a special blessing. Now held tight in the arms of your precious and wonderful Mommy and her sweet savior, Jesus. Your short four weeks in my life will forever change me. Your Mommy was my dear sweet friend who loved you and your sister so very much. She would snuggle you both close and sing you pretty songs. She loved you both more than life its self. Jordyn loved you too. Just the day before your tiny life was taken to be with Jesus, she was running through our house calling you her Nanny. Your Mommy is gonna be missed just as much as you are, so on days when she looks down and sees your Daddy and Sister being sad, give her an extra hug that day. She'll need it and so will you.

North Carolina and Virginia

Maymont Park in Richmond, Va. Papa tried to feed Marianne to the goats. Andrew actually touched one, but only one!
Rockin' it out with Uncle Brian. My sister and her hubby were such great hosts. They complied with most of Andrew's requests and thankfully left the air conditioning on since it was quite hot!
Treysen's graduation was what spurred this 8 day trip to the South. It was very fun to watch my oldest nephew graduate from High School. He's going to college and will soon have out his very own video game I'm sure! We are so proud of you, Trey!!
At the mall near my sisters house there was this great fountain area where kids could play. Andrew had a cup and wanted it filled up so he could dump the water on Nana's feet. Had so much fun and wanted to go every day. Good thing there's one similar her in Holland!
More water fun!
This was such a great trip. I enjoyed all of it except the part where we had to leave Daddy at home. I missed Paul and the kids did too, but I am so thankful he was willing to let us go. Also, a big thank you to Nana and Papa, who, without their help...I'd never had been able to go. 15 hours of driving with 2 little kids would have been impossible!

Happy Father's Day

I contemplated long and hard on who I should honor in my post today. . . My Daddy or my kids Daddy. I chose both. So here goes.

Dear Daddy,
Thank you for being my Dad. Thanks for choosing me. (He really did.) Thanks for taking such good care of my Mom. Thanks for loving her rotten children enough to call us your own. Also, you are the worlds greatest Papa. Thanks for loving my kids the way that you do!

To my baby Daddy:
You are an amazing husband and father...here's the top ten reasons why.
10. You taught Andrew to pee standing up.
9. You tolerate Marianne's big bows.
8. You love me first, always Mommy first.
7. You like to be with us.
6. You taught Andrew to smash spiders.
5. You like to snuggle...with all of us.
4. You understand when I've had a long day.
3. You play.
2. You desire for our kids to have a godly example of what a real man is, and strive to be that real man!
1. You change diapers, feed kids, dress kids, read to kids, and love Andrew, Marianne and me unconditionally.

Thanks for being you!

Family update

Hi everyone. So its been a while since I posted, but I've been on vacation. North Carolina and Virginia were wonderful, but more on that later this week. For now I've got an update to share with you about Lisa (our sister in law). A round of testing has been done and the results are not positive. We are not giving up hope, we refuse, but her cancer is back and growing. She has new tumors on her brain which are causing symptoms. She also has cancer on her bones in several spots. Please pray for the family. Jon, Lisa, Elizabeth and Katie. Appointments are made to discuss treatment options, but every time cancer returns, the options grow smaller in number. Thanks for your prayers.
Specific requests:
Jon-Work, that they would be understanding and supportive
Lisa-Little effects from steroid treatment (racing mind and extreme sleepiness)
Lizzy and Kate-Being shuffled during appointments ect. Understanding when Mom's not on her game
The rest of us-Doing whatever we can to help out while leaning on HIM not ourselves.