September 2018

Stephen and Kai mastering the sand dune

The tallest and smallest

Refinished floors

Nintendo Switch was the present this year

Happy 14th Birthday Caleb!

Celebrating the mid-autumn festival

Pumpkin patch

New toys

Nate's happy place

Cheerleader cuteness

-On Labor Day weekend we went camping with the Petersons at Nordhouse Dunes.  We had one great night and then the rain. So much rain with 10 kids and nowhere to go. We packed up and headed home early, disappointing.  But, the Petersons came to Holland for a beach afternoon on Labor Day and a campfire at our house.  Thankful for friends to do the ups and downs of life with.
-We had water damage on our kitchen floor from our dishwasher, so we had our kitchen/dining room and master bedroom wood floors refinished.  We had to move out of our house for about 4 days and we couldn't use our kitchen for 1 week total. Surprisingly, kids do get tired of eating McDonald's every morning! One morning I was picking up 6 oatmeals from McDonalds for the kids to eat before school. The cashier said to me, "you know it would be cheaper if you just bought a container of oatmeal." I about lost it on her. I said, "I would if I had a kitchen." It was a stressful week but the wood floors look amazing!
-Nate has been wanting waverunners for a long time and he finally found 2 used ones for a good price. We were able to take the new toys out a couple times in September, very fun. 
-We celebrated Caleb's 14 birthday! Our house was torn up from the wood floors, so his birthday felt a little chaotic.  We ate McDonalds oatmeal and bday donuts on the TV room floor for breakfast.  We did his cake/presents around a little table shoved into the toy room. Memories. Caleb wanted a Nintendo Switch for his present, which he contributed towards. Caleb is now 5'11" and 150 lbs. He grew 4 inches this past year. Caleb is doing well in all subjects, but he was recently moved into an accelerated Spanish program. He may start high school next year in Spanish 3! Caleb is responsible, has a subtle sense of humor, athletic, caring and a joy to be around. We love you Caleb!
-We also celebrated Nate's 39th birthday. We didn't get any good pictures from his actual birthday. The waverunners were Nate's present this year. We are thankful for another year to celebrate Nate. He is loving, loyal, fun, hard-working and invested in all of us. We love you!
-I went on Lexi's field trip to Post Family Farms- my last Post Farm preschool field trip. Hard to believe this is our last year of all things preschool.

August 2018

Backpacking trip to Nordhouse Dunes

Boys spent most of their time in the lake

Boulder Ridge Animal Park

She had no fear, loved feeding the birds

Fun with Grandma

Who needs swimsuits for a splash pad?

She fell asleep coloring 

New hairstyle!

17th Anniversary 

Bearded Dragon- Harley

Happy 11th Birthday Isaac! 

Harley just sits there the whole time he reads

Thanks so much Aunt Steph for the slurpee obsession

Visiting Jee in Indiana

First day of school!

Forest Kindergarten, in their oakiwear suits 

First time playing soccer 

-Nate, Caleb and Isaac went backpacking with the Gabrielse up to Nordhouse Dunes. This may be Nate's favorite spot in Michigan.  The weather was great and the boys enjoyed Lake MI.
-While they were away, Stacy and the other 3 kids spent some time at the grandparent's house.  We went to Boulder Ridge for the first time and saw interesting animals.
-For our anniversary we went out to eat at Seventy Six, a new restaurant in Holland. We then caught some of the outdoor orchestra concert at Kollen Park and got dessert from Pereddies- our favorite dessert spot.
-Isaac turned 11 years old! He has been asking for a pet- a bearded dragon was his gift this year. He named her Harley and she is about 1 year old.  Apparently they can live about 10 years- hope he can take her to college! She is very calm, doesn't smell, make noise or shed- bonus. Isaac is athletic, smart, tender hearted, loves Jesus, and brings laughter wherever he goes. We love him very much.
-Kids began school on Aug 21.  Caleb-8th, Isaac-5th, Julia-4th, Stephen-kindergarten, Lexi- 4 yr old preschool. 
-Stephen is attending Forest Kindergarten at Holland Christian.  This is a new program at the school and they hope to add a grade every year.  Stephen's teacher, Mr. Harig, is an experienced, high energy, nature enthusiast. Stephen attends all day/every day.  The class is inside about 2 hours each day and the rest of the time they are outside. We are excited to see how the year goes, Stephen is excited too!
-Lexi attends school 3 full days/week.  She enjoys everything about school.  And Stacy now has 3 full days/week without any kids at home, what?
-Holland Recreation soccer began.  Isaac is on a 5th/6th grade team and Stephen is playing soccer for the first time.  Nate is coaching Stephen's team which makes Stephen very happy. (And Lexi wants to play soccer now!) 
-Julia is doing Holland Rec cheerleading this fall.  She cheers for the 5th/6th grade football games. So we have 2 soccer games and 1 football game to watch every Saturday morning this fall- divide and conquer.
-Caleb is playing on the school soccer team and his games are during the week, thankfully.

July 2018

Little pyros 

Sparkler fun

Enjoying some 4th of July dessert

Adorable

I spy

Reminds me of someone else

Blueberry season

Hammocks at Kollen Park

Summer evening with friends

Jee visited- we hiked Sanctuary Woods

Evening at South Haven beach

Cuddles in the hammock

Wrestling partners, I mean brothers

Michigan's Adventure!

-A majority of us were feeling jet lagged in early July. The return trip was much worse than the jet lag we experienced in Korea. The 4th of July was laid back. We did some little fireworks at home, ate dessert and went to bed on time. We were all exhausted, no fireworks for us this year.
-Isaac and Julia did swimming lessons for 2 weeks.
-Nate had thyroid surgery mid July
-Stacy continues to do trainings about every month
-Caleb and Isaac did soccer camp thru school for a week
-Stacy and her neighbor, Amie decided to be fun moms. We packed a picnic lunch and hammocks and took the kids to Kollen Park.  Except it was ridiculously windy and cold. Took forever to get hammocks up and then kids used them for 5 minutes before they were cold and frustrated.  Took hammocks down, forced kids to eat picnic lunch because we were there and we are having fun! Winning
-We went to Michigan's Adventure for the first time. It is an amusement park and water park.  Stephen loved the roller coasters for smaller kids. Julia enjoyed the smaller coasters and water rides. The older boys rocked the thrill rides. Stacy went on a couple rides with them and almost got sick. Both Nate and Stacy almost got sick on the tilt a whirl and any other spin-in-circles rides that Lexi loved.  We are getting old. 

Korea

Julia's foster parents

Women's Home where Julia's birthmom lived while pregnant

The kids on our tour

New hanbok

The blue bunny! 

Jee and Julia

Palace

Fantastic food

Drumming class

-Nate, Stacy, Caleb, Isaac and Julia went to Korea June 23- July 3.  We traveled with the Ties program- an adoptive family tour group.  There were 80 people in our tour group. It was a great experience for our family and for Julia to be with other Korean adoptees of various ages and their families.  The trip was part tourism and part discovering Julia's history.  We made a photo album of this trip, ask us if you want to see it!  So I won't put many pictures here on the blog. 
-We spent time in Seoul and Busan. 
-Some interesting highlights- kids get airsick, kimchi making class, connecting with Julia's foster parents and seeing where she was born, visiting a single mother's home and hearing their stories, having a Korean family host us for dinner in their home, a traditional drumming class, taking the bullet train to Busan, the fish market, Haeundae beach, good food and making new friends!