I GO POTTY!

It was the best of days. Even if it did take almost seven hours for that little stinker to actually go!! Wahoo!

July - Random Shots

We celebrated the birth of Raph and Jo's little Evan with a baby shower!

John will do this for hours. He shares it with Thomas who shuts his eyes while batting.

A pool party for the little people!

Also in Mid July

The good wife was bad and forgot the spatula!

Yay! I will see my house again!

Someone's mother needs to by him longer pants!

Note the crazy eyes...Dwight's in his element :)!

Dwight took us four-wheeling up two logging trails near Baker. It's a pretty incredible way to see the mountain from a new perspective. I am not, however, a convert, as I fear heights and falling off cliffs. Several times I was forced to shift the truck's center of gravity by diving onto Calvin's lap. Calvin was impressed by my fortitude. I was so happy when we ran into those trees and we could go DOWN the mountain :).

Mid July

Hey Lois here is that "spurge" I told you about. It is a euphorbia. What do you call it?

It got very big and billowy (white flowers on far right behind the nicotine plant)...

John did great this year in swim. He isn't scared at all. I really have to fatten him up tho,

he is such a stick and always freezing. Here he is waiting for the teacher to let him go...

Can we come with?

This is Thomas jamming to Raspberry Festival jazz - he's very uninhibited!

I have no idea what game the girls were playing, but it was very competitive!

Here Uncle "Ulvern" is making sure he remains in the boys' hearts forever -

these matchbox cars are now "Ulvern trucks" etc.

Finally Uncle Alvern and Aunt Fran came, yay! Aunt Fran had her De Young family reunion here in Lynden and apparently half of Holland came - they made the Tribune :)! They stayed with us on and off for about a week and we really enjoyed visiting with them / had Cal and Melinda over etc. Kara and four other girls from CA / the Netherlands hit us that week on a road trip also. They played with the boys in the backyard the first night they got here, and Thomas was so in love with the Feenstra girl he was mad when they she went away on Sunday and did not stay here to play with him :)! We also got to see Daniel and his buddy Jonathan (and their tiny friend) who came up for the Young Adults retreat. We were so inspired by Uncle Alvern's hiking stories we went and hiked the Grand Canyon ourselves in Sept...but not down and up in one day :)! More on that later, you know, when I get to it chronologically :) Hee hee!

July 7

John finally has saved up enuf dough for his bike light!

July 4

Per tradition, we spent July 4th evening at Uncle Jim and Aunt Jill's home next to the old farm. The view there is just great - all the farms around light fireworks too, and you can see all the way to Canada over the fields!

June 22-23

On Monday we went up north with Vic and Mom to check out a cool older cottage on a lake that Vic is renovating for a friend. I wanted it :) After that we swam one last time in Jason and Lois' pool. Tuesday we flew home and arrived in Lynden around mindnight. It is always so hard to leave Michigan!!!