Babies, Babies everywhere

This past week has been a week full of new babies, 4 to be exact. My sister had Drew & Lauren on Monday, a very close friend had Elijah on Thursday and Kurtis's brother and wife, Jason & Karen, had Madelyn on Sunday. All babies are healthy and doing well, which is such a blessing from God.

Elijah Cole - son of Mark & Stacy

Madelyn Lee - daughter of Jason & Karen

Erica holding Drew & Bethany holding Lauren

Bethany holding Drew - she was very disappointed that she couldn't hold Madelyn because she wasn't old enough(hospital policy), so she took full advantage of holding Drew & Lauren.

Erica even joined in on the fun holding both babies. Here she is holding Lauren.

Sliding Fun!

This is just a very quick, fun video of Erica going down the slide. Her expression when she gets to the bottom is priceless.

Happy Father's Day! (a little late)

Okay, so I just realized that I forgot to do a post for Father's day. I guess it's better late than never. So, happy Father's Day to a wonderful Daddy! Thanks for being such a wonderful influence for our kids. Thanks for the memories you have provided and we look forward to the many more you have to come.

Daddy fishing for his cards. The kids got such a kick out of watching Daddy try and catch their fish.

We love you Daddy!

More camping pictures

Saturday night was our big family meal all together and wouldn't you know it...it rained for the 1 hour we wanted to eat. Most people were finished grilling their meat, all the food was spread out on tables and then without warning there was a torrential downpour. People were flying everywhere to grab their food and take cover. I'm sure it was quite a site if anyone was watching from a distance. As soon as we were done eating, we all emerged from our campers to see that God had placed 2 beautiful rainbows in the sky.

Joel & Sarah took the kids to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Despite the brief rainshower, it turned out to be a beautiful night. We all had to sit in wet chairs and looked like drowned rats, but at least we were all in the same boat. :)

Jaren & Reagan relaxing with some cold water and a snack.

Daddy starting a fire with his three best helpers.

Family Campout...Great Memories

This past weekend we had the annual VanMersbergen family campout. There is quite a large group of us by now including all my aunts, uncles & cousins. We had a wonderful time. Below are a few of the pictures I wanted to share with you. The next blog will include more as I can only seem to get a few pictures to upload at a time.

Playing on the slide - there was a slide next to our campsite that the kids loved to play on. You couldn't actually slide down it, you more or less had to push yourself down it. They did have fun racing cars & trucks though.

Bethany getting ready to slide at the playground.

Erica mellowing out on the swing. What you don't see is that shortly after the picture was taken she decided to let go and flipped off backwards. :) oops

Here our family is all swinging together. Kurtis & I were going to have a competition as to who could swing the highest, but I decided that there was no way I could beat his height.

The kids playing in the camper.

Twice the blessing

My sister Jennifer and her husband Ryan were blessed with a baby boy & girl yesterday afternoon. They now have Luke (4), Reagan (2) and Drew & Lauren (1 day). Yes, she will most certainly be busy, but there are plenty of us around to help her spoil them. I went up today to see Drew & Lauren. They are some of the most adorable babies I've ever seen! :)

Drew Henry ~ 6 lb 7 oz ~ He's doing great!

Lauren June ~ 5 lb 11 oz ~ She's doing great now.

She had a bit of a breathing problem at first so is in the NICU, but that has since healed itself.

This past Saturday night we got together with our group of friends to say goodby to Phillip, Michelle & Levi as they are moving to Grand Rapids so Phillip can attend seminary. It was a beautiful evening and the kids had a great time playing together and going to the park. We wish Phillip & Michelle the best as they begin this new journey.

The kids enjoying their hotdogs.

Bethany riding her princess bike to the park. She was not in any big rush to get there and just took her time, unlike the rest of the wild kids in the group.

Erica enjoying the sand.

Marshmallow Shooters

The kids played with a marshmallow shooter at a party a couple weeks ago and thought it would be fun to have their own. I found the directions on the Internet and we went to work making them. We've discovered that they also make great musical instruments.

Jaren busy putting his name and spiderman stickers on his.

Bethany choose to decorate hers with Dora stickers.

Showing off their finished products!

Jaren's Great Hit!!!

Here's a video clip of Jaren batting at t-ball. It was a great hit...a double!