Spunky Monkey

For those of you who know Erica, you know that she is full of spunk, hence her nickname Spunky Monkey. We're never quite sure what she's going to say or do next so we always have to be on our toes. Keeping up with Jaren & Bethany makes it all the more interesting. Last week Jaren & Bethany had Bible School in the evening so I took advantage of just having Erica around and brought her to the park. For an hour straight she was running, climbing, swinging & sliding and eating up the fact that she had all my attention. Here are some fun pictures I took of her that night.

Her favorite way to swing...run, jump, swing.

The only time she allowed me to help her...walking the balance beam

Hurry up and take the picture! I'm going to fall!!!

Showing me her muscles. :)

She loves slides. The faster & taller the better.

PJ Hoffmaster State Park

Last week Wednesday-Monday we went up to MI to camp with family at PJ Hoffmaster State Park. The trees up there are such a sight to see compared to the trees in Iowa campgrounds. The weather was beautiful, mid 70's, which made it great for being outdoors and sleeping with the windows open. We had a terrific time hanging out, going to the beach, playing frisbee golf up and down the dunes, but especially just being with family. I think to often we take our families for granted and it was such a great time just getting reaquainted. Bethany had it made with her two favorite Michigan boys being there...Uncle Howard and cousin Joel. By Friday I thought for sure we would need an emergency room before the weekend ended, but certain boys started calming down by then and the tree roots became more familiar. :)
Enjoy the slide show of our trip. I wish I had time to describe each picture in more detail but this will have to do for now.
Thanks Uncle Howard & Aunt Myra for hosting us again this year. We had a great time and Jaren's scheduling next years already...3 weeks long!!! :)

Make a Smilebox slideshow

WOW! What a week!

It's been quite the week with activities and lots of fun.

Our first highlight was getting the boat out for the first time in 2 years. This was Erica's first time on the boat and Bethany didn't remember the last time she had been on so it was a "first" time experience for both of them. I honestly did not think the girls would be okay on the boat and we'd have to turn around and end, but they all did amazingly well. Hopefully we'll be able to take the boat out a little more often now.
The smile says it all...he went tubing by himself and loved every minute of it.

The first time on the tube Kurtis rode with Jaren just in case he didn't like it. The constant laughter let us know that he was have a great time!

Jaren & Grandpa enjoying the ride.

Kurtis & Jaren were the first 2 in the water to check the temp...it was soon followed by the rest of us getting in and enjoying a little swim.

Grandma, Bethany & Erica getting ready for daddy to ski.

Second highlight of the week was the Cadet Counselor's Convention. Kurtis & I went as chaperones, Kurtis in the 10+ group and me in the 4-6 age group. It was a lot of fun and very exhausting. All the sweet hugs were definitely worth it. I had a group of 10 kids, 7 girls and 3 boys. Thanks so much to my helpers...Abby, Megan, Gloria & Helen. Kurtis had 3 boys in his group and 3 chaperones...they know how to work it out in their favor. :) We named our group the Little Green Martians which the kids thought was a great name.

Crossing the bridge at the zoo.

Riding the train at the zoo...definitely a highlight for lots of them and a great way to rest our tired little legs and backs for Megan & Abby. :)

Our transportation for the weekend.

Our little monkeys at the Rainbow play place. What a great way for them to burn their energy and have lots of fun.

Farmer Tony at Living History Farms talking about the sheep.

Playing games

Our animal masks that they made before heading to the zoo.

We are now home for a week before heading out to MI for a camping trip with some family. This summer is going way to fast and school is going to be starting before we know it. God is so good to our family and we truly enjoy the days He gives us together.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Sorry for the long amount of time between posts, but as the title states we have just been way to busy for blogging. Jaren has finished t-ball for the season and now he and Bethany have moved on to swimming lessons two mornings a week. On top of that we had a couple of birthday parties for 3 of our favorite one-year olds and a fun camping weekend along with all the mundane things that need to be done around the house. This coming week will be filled with final preparations for the Cadet Counselor's Convention where we are going as chaperons. It will be lots of fun I'm sure and I'll make sure to share pictures after the event. Now I'm going to leave you with a bunch of pictures for our past couple of weeks.

It was really hot this weekend camping so Kurtis filled this container up for the kids to splash in. I also bought water guns for them but unfortunately they didn't work at all. :(

Erica being her natural self...she's such a goofy girl!

Working on their tans

Bethany loves giving horsey rides. She can handle Erica, but found out later that week that Jaren was a bit much for her. :)

Madelyn's birthday party...can you see she swiped a cupcake while we sang to her. :)

The 5 cousins...Erica, Bethany, Joshua, Maddy & Jaren

Enjoying the pool & hose at Luke & Reagan's house

Drew & Lauren were not impressed with our singing. They were by far more impressed with all the fun things on the table.

Birthday girl Lauren

The ornery birthday boy...also known as Drew

Jaren & Erica had a good time in the pool the other day while Bethany was napping. Jaren was actually getting Erica back since she started the water fight.

This is the picture that should be first.

This past weekend we were able to go to Mi to enjoy Joel & Sarah's wedding. Bethany was asked to be the flower girl and did a fantastic job! She loved every moment of dressing up like a princess, wearing fancy jewelry, the sparkling tiara and having her hair done up like the bridesmaids. The smile of her face when she looked in the mirror was precious & priceless.
Jaren had 1 loose tooth when we left for MI. On the way home it fell out and now he has 2 more loose teeth all on the bottom. Biting on the seat belt helped the tooth along a bit...we're still not sure why he bit the seat belt but as parents we have learned no to question too many things our kids do. :)
We had a great weekend and wish Joel & Sarah many happy years together bless by God.

Love is in the Air!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Random pictures of our life

I know it's been awhile since I last updated. You'd think with it being summer vacation I'd have more time to blog, but the days are flying by and blogging is not one of my top priorities. :) I'll just let the pictures do most of the talking tonight as I have a lot of things that should get done before we head off to MI this weekend for a wedding. Look for pictures next week of a beautiful bride and the most adorable flower girl you've ever seen. :) Besides today is Kurtis & my 9 year anniversary so I'd rather be spending my evening with him once he gets home.

Taking a break from biking and getting ready to go into the woods to geo-cache. Thankfully we were successful this time since 4 out of the 5 attempts were failed. I guess Jaren & I have some challenges ahead of us this summer.

Bethany & Erica were having fun taking pictures while we were biking. I made sure to delete the half dozen or so that they took of my rear-end. :) I thought this picture was kind of unique and worth sharing.

Pistol Pete as we like to call her.

Jaren thought this was a fun tree to climb in and I saw it as the perfect picture opportunity.

This is a picture just to make any boaters out there jealous of the 100% perfect skiing conditions that we saw.

The kids love to throw rocks into the lake when we go camping. Thankfully no one has gotten hit in the head yet by flying rocks.

Erica was very persistent in trying to pick up rocks that weighed more than her or that were mostly buried under sand.

This is just a picture to remind me that Jaren & Bethany can be very sweet to each other even though they do their fair share of fighting. Notice he's even reading her a Barbie book. :)

The 2nd to last day of school the kids competed in fun field events with their chapel groups. Here's Jaren's group waiting for the games to begin.

The worm race

Tug-of-War...Go Navy Blue!!!