July

Kai and Stephen- so cute

Nate did some backyard camping

We caught a bunny!

Zipline fun

Watching the fish

Bath Time

Cuddling with Uncle Mike

Movie time

Fun at the beach

Watch out for the 3 year old with a sparkler

Uncle Nate's breakfast crew

Captain Sundae

Celebrating Adoption Day at Culvers

Older brothers are so mean fun

Canoe ride- a Mom and 5 kids, what could go wrong?

Backyard campfire with Grandpa

She's using chopsticks!

Running down the Tunnel Park sand dune

Ferris Wheel at Dutch Village- Lexi did not enjoy the ride

Blueberry picking- Lexi picked them and stepped on them

Top of Mt. Pisgah

Grandpa love

Camping at Ionia Recreation Area

Hey look, a picture of me on the blog

Our flotilla

Grandpa found some granddaughters in the water

Water balloon on Isaac's head

Who doesn't love pigtails?

Wow, that is alot of pictures for July!  Maybe I should just leave it as a month of pictures and no words? We began July with a visit from Mike and Colleen's family.  We had a fun weekend with them! Jack slept with the older boys and Abby, Ashley and Kate slept with Julia.  We moved Lexi to our room and Stephen had his room to himself. He wanted to share his room with a cousin, but it didn't work out this time. The kids enjoyed being together and playing outside.  We spent an afternoon at Tunnel Park and had some pizza for supper.  We also did sparklers, bottle rockets and poppers to celebrate the 4th of July.  Our neighbors put on an impressive (and noisy) fireworks display too.  Nate, Caleb, Isaac, Mike and Colleen went to watch the fireworks on Lake Macatawa.  I stayed home with the 7 children who were in bed.  I was praying that the noisy fireworks in our neighborhood wouldn't wake any of the kids up- the ratio of children to adults was not in my favor! Thankfully no one woke up.  Nate made breakfast one morning and ended up at the table by himself with all the kids.  It's funny now, I don't think he found it funny at the time. Colleen's family went to Dutch Village to look at the shops. Our kids have experienced a lot of Dutch culture, so we went for a bike ride.  We ended the visit by walking to Captain Sundae of course.

The older 3 kids and Nate and I went thru a Compassion Experience at a local church.  You get to walk thru replicas of homes/Compassion centers in other countries and learn what life is like for a child in the Compassion program.  We have Compassion children for our older 3 kids and we found a new child for Stephen! His name is Cesar and he lives in El Salvador.  He and Stephen are 1 month apart in age.  Stephen is so excited that he has a friend Cesar and he prays for him every night.

Nate was gone the 9th-17th for the youth group's trip to Colorado.  They drove out, spent a couple days backpacking in the mountains and then some days in Denver with homeless youth.  They went with an organization called Dry Bones that serves homeless youth in Denver.  Nate learned and experienced many things.  And of course he loved backpacking.  His low point? When a bear walked past their camp and everyone saw the bear, except Nate.

While Nate was gone the kids and I kept busy.  I took the kids to Windmill Island for a water conservation event.  We went for a ride in a large canoe and learned about the French fur traders who used to live in this area.  There was a fishing area set up, but we didn't catch anything.

Then Grandpa DeMaster arrived! We spent the week taking kids to swimming lessons, picking blueberries, eating donuts, playing at the park, taking bike rides, eating ice cream, going to Dutch Village, climbing Mt. Pisgah and going to the beach. Anything I forgot? Oh right, and he painted more of our kitchen.  It was so nice to have him here while Nate was gone.

We finished out swimming lessons.  Apparently Caleb is too old for swimming lessons now, he was not happy about doing them again.  All three of the older kids are good swimmers.  The older 3 had playdates with the Gabrielse kids almost every week this summer.  Karin and I took turns hosting and it worked out well.

We went camping for the first time as a family of 7.  We went to Ionia Recreation Area, near Grand Rapids.  It was very hot, but we had a shady campsite.  We no longer all fit in the camper, so the older boys slept in a tent- which they thought was great.  We hiked one morning and spent the afternoon at the lake.  On Saturday morning we rented kayaks/canoes and paddled around the lake with Grandpa Jongsma.  We spent the afternoon back at the lake.  Around 9 pm that night I heard a fellow camper mention packing up because it was supposed to rain on Sunday. I mentioned it to Nate, but he thought it was too late to pack up.  It poured on Sunday.  As soon as the storm broke a little, we threw the younger kids in the car and had Caleb help us pack up in the rain.  Nate said, "you should have advocated more for packing up Saturday night." Ha!

We finished out July with a church picnic that had water activities.  Nate then worked 4 night shifts, which we hadn't experienced in a long time.  July was a fun and busy month for our family!

June

Last day of school!

Julia loved Mrs. VanMeeteren

Isaac had a fantastic year with Mrs. Ritsema

Captain Sundae to celebrate the end of the school year

Grandpa and Isaac. Why is he dressed for winter?

Strawberry picking

Kitchen progress

Someone found lipstick

Grandpa teaching the game 'spoons'

Look at the cake she made!

Ready for backpacking

Beach days

And pool time

Happy Father's Day!

Lexi's first zoo trip

Have we mentioned she is a climber?

Korea camp at Heritage Camp

June 3 was the last day of school!  The second graders have a special send off at the last chapel as they will be moving on to Pine Ridge for 3rd-6th grade.  Isaac had some great years at South Side.  He is a little nervous about moving on to 3rd grade.  Julia is excited to be a 2nd grader next year, ruling the roost.  We are truly thankful for Holland Christian School.  The teachers are loving and passionate and our kids receive an excellent Christ-centered education.  We still struggle with the lack of diversity at HC.

Julia's Korean tutor, Hyeji went home for the summer.  We are also thankful for the time she spends with Julia and are hoping to have her return in the fall.

Grandpa DeMaster spent a week with us.  He spent time painting our kitchen cabinets and helping Nate install some pendant lights.  They may have tried to burn the house down while doing that. We went strawberry picking and Dad even helped make some jam.  He was able to see Isaac's last baseball game.  Isaac's coach was pitching and Isaac had a fantastic hit. It grazed the coach's hat and had him dropping to the ground. At first we thought he had been hit in the head, but thankfully he was fine.  Isaac enjoyed his first season of baseball.  We went to the beach, played at parks and just enjoyed having Grandpa around.

Nate took Isaac and Julia backpacking for a weekend with other Dads and kids.  This was Julia's first time.  The went to Nordhouse Dunes and had fantastic weather.  They did some hiking, but mostly played on the beach and in the water.  No one was hurt, no poison ivy and everyone was exhausted when they returned- a good trip!

Nate and the kids returned home on Father's Day. The kids filled out surveys about Nate- what he likes to do, things he says, etc.  The kids say they have a great Dad! I love how he takes time to do activities with them- backpacking, camping, teaching them piano and showing interest in what they enjoy.

Caleb did a week of basketball camp at Holland Christian. It was just 2 hours each day.  Julia went to a local church's VBS.  She chose the cake decorating class for the week, and she made an awesome cake! I haven't even used fondant on a cake yet.  Julia has no qualms about going to a church VBS where she may not know anyone, she just walks in confidently. However, my boys practically beg me to not send them to a place where they may not know anyone.  Julia also went to another local VBS the last week of June.

Isaac and Julia went to Heritage Camp for a week.  It is a week long day camp in Grand Rapids.  They participated in Korea Camp.  They learned Korean phrases, songs, games and cooked Korean food.  Julia loves Heritage Camp, being with other Korean adoptees and learning about her heritage.
While the middle two were at camp, Nate and I took Caleb, Stephen and Lexi to John Ball Zoo.  This was Lexi's first time at the zoo and she loved it.  We brought a stroller for her, but she wanted nothing to do with it.  She would rather walk/run.

May

July 2015 to May 2016- Lexi has grown so much! 

Tulip Time tulips

Tulip Time 5K

Some Mother's Day love

They call me Mom

Someone learned how to ride his bike 

Kinderparade

Whitecaps baseball game

Lacrosse tournament

Wooden shoe dancing

We began May with baseball and lacrosse games and practices- almost every night of the week.  Oy.  Nate, Caleb, Isaac and I ran the Tulip Time 5K!  After my last 5K a couple years ago I said I would never run one again.  And yet, there I was.  Caleb ran it in 27 minutes, Nate and Isaac 30 minutes and I think my time was around 35 minutes.  This was Isaac's first 5k and he did great.

Julia and Caleb had braces put on.  Julia only has some on her top two teeth.  They still have the expanders.  We enjoyed the tulips during Tulip Time.  Isaac and Julia walked in the kinderparade- and looked adorable.  The rain held off right until we got to the car.  Unfortunately there were still kids marching who got very wet.  We did not go to the final Tulip Time parade because it was freezing.  Michigan springs are so fickle.

The older kids received free Whitecaps baseball tickets for a reading incentive.  We left Lexi with the Shoemakers and bundled up for the game.  It was chilly, but the sun made it pleasant.  We had a fun afternoon!

Stephen is now an expert training wheels bike rider.  We spent an afternoon learning the all important skill of braking.  And Lexi loved to run behind Stephen and give him a push when he got stuck.  Stephen was so excited to ride his own bike with me to the kids' school.  I could barely keep my bike upright he was going so slow, but he did it!

I had the fun experience of going to church with Enedina.  She attends a pentecostal, Spanish speaking church.  She failed to tell me about the dress code.  Most of the women were wearing black long sleeves and long skirts with a lace shawl on their heads.  I came in wearing capris and flip flops-ha!  The service was long, over 2 hours but very interesting.  I am glad Enedina has found this church, the people seem to love Jesus and care about her.

The following Sunday we attended the local Korean church's 5 year anniversary.  The church is really more of a small group, but the pastor and his wife have always been kind to our family when we visited over the years.  The best part was the Korean lunch after the service.

Lacrosse ended halfway thru the month- thank goodness.  Caleb's team won their last couple games, nice to end the season on a high note.  Overall Caleb seemed to enjoy his season.

Oh, Mother's Day.  The kids were very sweet.  They made me breakfast, but not in bed.  Nate convinced them that no one really enjoys being woken up so they can eat in bed. Mom would rather sleep in. They were so excited to share their gifts with me.  Julia decorated a coffee mug and Isaac painted a wooden tulip.  Caleb filled out an ABC's of Mom.  I was surprised with Caleb's list, it was very thoughtful.  He is beginning to see me as a person and not just mom who makes him cinnamon rolls (although he does appreciate that!).  He said things like; mom prays for orphans, keeps a blog, wishes she could do everything at once and gives her time to church.  I love watching my kids grow and mature.  I am blessed to be given the title Mom.  Some days I want to ban everyone from saying 'Mom' every other minute.  But, I am so grateful for each one of these kids that call me Mom.

Lexi is 2

Birthday cake from Mrs. March

A roller coaster toy! 

Adorable

Elmo

Spunky 2 year old

On April 25, Lexi turned 2 years old!  She is now 23 lbs and 31 1/2 inches tall.  And according to my Mom, if you double a child's height at 2 years old you get an estimate of their adult height. So she may be around 5 ft 3 inches?  I was surprised when the doctor said she is in the 3rd percentile for height.  She is our most petite child.  She is healthy and growing well.  She may be our pickiest eater. She doesn't eat vegetables, except sweet potato-sometimes.  For fruit, she only eats grapes, diced peaches, and banana-sometimes.  She does not really like milk. We stopped giving her formula in a bottle a couple months before her birthday.  She would drink whole milk out of a bottle, but once we got rid of the bottle she will only drink a little milk during the day. And she doesn't like most meat.  Ha!  But apparently, she is getting enough nutrition.

Lexi loves gross motor activities.  She loves to climb, run, jump and hang from things.  Her language is developing.  She still prefers to shriek when she wants something, but if we prompt her with "use your words" she will attempt to say what she wants.  She understands everything we say.  She seems very quiet compared to Stephen, but that may be because Stephen is in the 3 year old non-stop talking stage.  She can't get a word in! Lexi is desiring more independence and wants to do things herself.  She still enjoys shoes and hats and she can almost dress herself.  Lexi scratches anyone who upsets her.  But, after a little time out she says sorry and gives a hug.  She loves being outside!  She is a little bit of a wanderer, so we have to keep a close eye on her.  She is in the mischievous 2 year old stage of getting into things that are off limits.  I know if Lexi is too quiet, I better find her.  Lexi's laugh is contagious and we love to cuddle with her.

For Lexi's birthday we celebrated with a cake Mrs. March made.  Mrs. March is from church and sometimes watches Stephen/Lexi when I have appointments and so forth.  We gave Lexi a kiddie roller coaster.  She loved it, as did all the other kids.  Later in the week I made the 2 year old Elmo cake.  She wasn't sure how to blow out the candle, but she loved hearing us sing happy birthday to her. Last year we knew about Lexi on her 1st birthday, but we had to celebrate from afar.  We are so grateful to celebrate this birthday with her!  Lexi brings joy to our family and we look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with our sweet baby girl!