Blake's Baptism

We were excited to make a trip to Grand Rapids for our nephew, Blake's, baptism. We made the most of our time and spent it visiting family...always a treat. Friday we hung out at Mom and Dad Mallekoote's house. We celebrated Mom, Dad, Justin, and Zach's birthdays. There is never a dull moment with the four grandkids running around.
Blake is getting so big!

Three boys on a couch.

Uncle Dave and Daniel playing together...

Saturday Hannah had a soccer game. It was freezing outside so we bundled up to watch Hannah in action.

Look'n Good Zach :-)


Zach and Dad Olson spent some time in the garage fixing our brakes. Cal put a nut on Zach's head and called him a "Nut Head." Oh how I love his humor.

Thanks for a fun visit everyone!

Cookie Cravings...

We are rolling into the last month of the school year. Aaron has a large stack of sight words he has been working on. I told him that if he learned them all, he could earn a reward of his choice, within reason. Since I couldn't take him to Canada's Wonderland (his first choice), what's the next best thing?... making cookies of course! Apparently that was a great incentive for him. He learned all his sight words at break-neck speed to earn his reward. He was soooooo excited; it was super cute.
Stirring the pot....

Licking the spoon...

Monster Cookie!!

And he even got to play some Lego Star Wars with Pastor Zach while the cookies were cooling- Score!

Minute to Win It

Zach had a great year with his 12th grade catechism kids. We had a lot of fun getting to know them and having them over for dinners and game nights throughout the year. For the last meeting we invited them over for a cookout. Here is the gang.

Zach enjoyed grilling for everyone. He has been spending a lot of quality time with Webster since the weather has warmed up. Their bond is really heating up.

After the burgers were eaten, (man, can high schoolers eat a lot!) we announced we were going to play our own version of .....drum roll please.....A Minute to Win It! It is a game show where you use household items to make challenges and compete.

Below is a picture of Brad taking on the game, "Face the Cookie," where a player must move a cookie from their forehead to their mouth by scrunching and moving their face muscles.

Here are two videos of the other games, "Nose Dive" and "Candy Elevator."

Since we couldn't give out a million dollar cash prize, the winners of the game earned, in addition to the joy of winning, the first piece of dessert!

House Guests!

Dad, Tracy, Calvin and Hannah came to visit for the weekend (yeah!). Hannah and Cal were very excited for Zach to get home so they could play tickle monster and video games.



For Zach's birthday, the fam got us a new flag for our backyard.

On Saturday the girls had a "spa day." We painted nails and even did nail art designs. Hannah enjoyed her R&R.

Zach has been craving Olive Garden for a few months now, so we decided that was the destination for his birthday dinner. The closest Olive Garden is in Buffalo, NY so.....road trip! After an hour and a half drive to Buffalo, an hour wait for a table, and many trivia/word games to pass the time, we made it! Those bread sticks never tasted so good.


Thanks so much for coming guys. We had a great time and miss you already!

I can't find the Cook kids!

A few months ago I started tutoring two boys. They are from a family of seven so there are many little Cook kiddos running around. Generally, when I arrive, the younger kids will be hiding so we play a quick game of Hide and Seek. I absolutley love this game so I get into my seek mode and hunt them out. Last week I couldn't find the two youngest kids for the life of me. I was searching all around when I heard some giggles coming from the t.v. area. I opened two cupboards and look what I found!
Here is a picture of me with the two boys I tutor.

Any teacher knows, you have to do a silly picture after the nice one. :-)

Wedding Fairies, Sun Poisoning, and Grits...

I headed down to Florida with my mom and Aunt Linda for my cousin, Lindsey's, wedding. Linds and I grew up together so I was really excited to support her on her big day. When we arrived we found that she had several "last minute" tasks she needed help with. We were glad to help, and help we did! We ended up staying up until after midnight every night working to prepare for the big day. We put together gift bags, labeled name tents, assembled favor boxes, set up the rehearsal ...etc. We ran many errands, and given our poor sense of direction, we got lost many, many times. We became known as the "Wedding Fairies."



After the rehearsal we ate dinner on a catamaran sunset cruise.



The beautiful bride, Mrs. Ryan Read!


I got out in the sun one afternoon fully sun-screened up, and somehow got sun poisoning. I had itchy bumps on my arms, feet and stomach... (I'll spare you the pictures.)
We went out for breakfast after the big day and talked and laughed about the week. I ate grits for the first time and loved them. I think I feel a Southern twang coming on y'all.

GR visit

We headed to GR for a quick visit to see family and friends (and change our oil). Zach and Hannah had a great tickle battle- Hannah was fearless!
The next morning we went out for a family breakfast and then hung out together for a while.
It was super fun to see all the kids interacting..there's never a dull moment.
Jayne was in the center of all the action.




Basket rides!!

Black Jack Black Tac 352

We finally got new plates!! After several trips to the MTO, (Ministry of Transportation of Ontario), and many calls and faxes to get the right paper work, we did it! We said goodbye to my Michigan plates....

...and put on our Ontario plates! Taking this off our "to do" list was a small victory in our book. My memory trick to help remember the plate number for future border crossings is: Black Jack Black Tac 352.

KC's Klepto-Shopping Spree

I have always considered myself a law abiding citizen or resident wherever I have lived. But this last week I had a chance to briefly see what life is like on the other side...
Zach and I were invited to an anniversary party so we drove to Walmart to get a card for the couple. I found a card and decided to start writing a message on it in the store since we were short on time. I grabbed a near-by book so that I had something hard to write on. Zach gathered our other items while I began writing a message in the card, trailing behind him. In the checkout lane I still had the book and the card in my hands and I handed the card to the clerk so she could scan it. She did and then returned it to me and I kept on writing.
Zach and I walked out of the store and into the car. I continued writing and finished the card. I then handed both the card and the book to Zach so he could sign his name in the card. As he handed the card back to me he looked down in his hands and said, "We bought this?" (referring to the book I walked out of the store with).
I looked at the book, gasped and shrieked, "Oh my goodness!! What?!...Oh No!!...Go back to the store...Hurry hurry now!! I shoplifted that book!!" I couldn't believe I had shoplifted a book without even realizing it! Zach quickly dropped me off and I ran inside, with my face flushed and heart racing. In my mind I could see the greeter pulling out the cuffs on me and all the buzzers going off the second I re-entered.
Thankfully I returned the book quickly to where I found it and only had to endure the guilt and fear of being a shoplifter for a few minutes. But that event has only affirmed my desire to stay on the law abiding side of things.

Oh What a Night!

For Valentines Day Zach bought tickets to go see the show, Jersey Boys, in Toronto. I am a huge musical/Broadway fan so it was a real treat. It was so fun to be in a big city for a night. We went out to dinner and enjoyed a great show. While we were waiting to find our seats a man walked by us and dropped his playbill. I picked it up and caught up with him to return it to him. He smiled and kept walking. Later in the evening while we were in line that same man and his wife overheard me picking out words in the playbill that Canadians spell differently than we do (like cheque/check and councillor/counselor). He turned around and asked where we were from and struck up a conversation. Turns out he is a pastor and we had a nice chat with him and his wife. It was neat to see how out of all the people in that auditorium, God had us run into that couple twice and have a fun conversation.

After the show we headed to our car. As we were entering the elevator a teenage kid asked us if we wanted a parking pass. We happliy accepted it and thanked him since it would save us around $25 in parking costs. As we were walking to the car Zach started to look for our original parking ticket. It turns out he accidentally threw it away earlier in the evening! What an example of God's provision. Before we even realized we had a problem with the missing parking ticket, God brought that kid to save us frustration and extra costs. It reminded me of a quote: Coincidences are small miracles in which God prefers to remain anonymous."

It was Professor Plum in the Conservatory with the Rope!

Zach and I have had the privilege of helping out with youth group activities. We got to play a part in the super suspicious, quirky quagmire, murder mystery Clue evening. You should be able to figure out our roles based on the pictures (although Zach thought he looked more like an "unkempt Dutchman" than his character). :-) In case you didn't crack the case, we were Colonel Mustard and Miss Scarlet. What a pair of sly, scheming sleuths.

Oh No...Not Again!

I couldn't believe it! The day after our first dish broke, another one did! I was pulling a glass out of the cupboard, had butterfingers, and is slipped. Whoops! I hope this doesn't turn into a daily happening.

Endings and New Beginnings

Well, we knew this day would come. Today our first wedding gift broke. I opened our dishwasher and inside I found a glass that will never see another sip. Zach said a few words, and after six great months, it found it's final resting place, the trashcan.
But, on the positive side I am thrilled with a purchase we recently made! Ever since I moved out of my parents' house I have had a second hand vacuum. It worked, but didn't really suck. I always had to crawl around after I vacuumed to pick up all the left-overs the vacuum missed.
I am someone who greatly appreciates those nice vacuum streaks a powerful vacuum makes, and I hoped that one day I could make my own. Well...my day finally came!! Our old vacuum pooped out so we drove to Buffalo and bought a (drum roll please....) new vacuum! We happily welcomed our new friend, Sir Sucks a Lot, into our home.
Look at those awesome streaks! Go Sir Sucks a Lot!

We love him :-)