Twins!

We're an Auntie and Uncle again...and again! My sister, Anne, gave birth to two beautiful babies. I had the privilege of meeting them since I was in Grand Rapids babysitting Pieter and Sarah while Anne was in the hospital. Matthew and Rachel were born on June 24, healthy and beautiful. Congratulations Anne and Dave!


Pieter, Sarah, Mom, Dad, and I had a fun time playing together. We went to a playground one morning and had fun exploring.


I definitely didn't think this one all the way through...almost there!

Zach and I painted a chair for Sarah's birthday.

We spent most of our time splashing around in the pool together. Pieter swam on his own for the first time- Go Pieter!


Grandpa and Pieter relax'n it up in the pool.

We celebrated the birth of the twins with ice-cream cones by the pool.
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One of the things I look forward to when coming to town, is connecting with friends. My dear friend, Adri, and her daughter, Siena, were also in town from Missouri so we were very happy to see each together.

Another great friend, Jules, came over for some fun in the sun too.

Pieter, Sarah and I all slept at Grandpa and Grandma's house. We wore matching pajama shirts to bed. Here we are, bright and early, posing for a morning picture.

Golf Gals

Zach and I golfed in a tournament to help raise money for the school. It was a huge event with prizes, games, and a delicious dinner. Below is a picture of one of my teammates. She chipped her ball into the hole from where she is standing! It was amazing. We were screaming and jumping up and down after that shot! (We forgot to follow the "golf clap" etiquette).
It was a beautiful day with a lot of sunshine, which is wonderful if you are smart and prepared with sun-screen...not so wonderful if you are like Zach and me and you just figure you will be fine. We played on separate teams, so later in the afternoon I spotted my red-faced husband walking toward me (on the positive side, his teeth looked exceptionally white). We both got fried on our arms, legs, neck...basically all of our exposed skin. We were in some serious burn pain for a while afterward but hey, we now have fabulous farmers tans to show off. After 18 holes, many, many lost balls, and some fun cart driving, we were ready to call it a day. Well done ladies!

Green Thumb

We have a small patch of soil in the front of our house intended for a flower garden. When we moved in some ladies planted many beautiful flowers and it looked wonderful! Since then winter has come and gone, followed by a wet spring, which turned the garden into a jungle of weeds. A few weeks ago I gutted the entire thing. It was looking pretty bare so I thought it was time to test my green thumb and see what developed. I went to a nearby greenhouse, bought some marigolds, picked up my helper, and went to work.
Chris and I are deep in thought pondering the best way to arrange the flowers.
Are our thumbs green yet...?
Chris was a great help until he noticed my soccer ball in the yard. After that discovery, he was M.I.A.
The before shot....
...and after shot!! It is a bit puny, but it will do for this year. And I think I detect a greenish hue on my thumb...oh wait, it's just a weed.

Girls Night Out

Mom Mallekoote came for a visit (wahoo!) We spent our first night scrap-booking, playing Scrabble, and just chatting.
The next morning we headed to Stratford to see the musical, Evita. Our original plan was to drive there with plenty of time to check in to our Bed and Breakfast, go for a stroll, enjoy a nice laid back lunch, and then mosey to the theatre. Reality: We couldn't get the GPS to work so after getting lost for three hours and stopping for directions four times, we barely made it to the theater in time to hit the bathroom and catch the opening act! We aquired roughly 8 maps, some purchased and others hand drawn by kind townspeople.

After the play, we enjoyed the sights of Stratford. We couldn't believe how many swans there were, and how they nonchalantly rested right next to the sidewalks. I have a friend who was once attacked by a swan and remembered how territorial they can be. I played it safe and took pictures from the car.


We found a fun place called Tengo for dinner. It had a fun atmosphere, but we weren't too sure about the items on their menu...

Below is a picture of the Bed and Breakfast where we stayed.

Thanks so much for coming to visit Mom! We had a blast spending time with you, playing games, singing, and laughing.

Tutor Time

This year I tutored a six year old boy. It was exciting to see him make great growth, academically and socially. To celebrate the end of the school year I invited him and his sister over to play some games. They were very excited to come, and even more excited to play with Pastor Zach.

Retreats are such a treat

We had the privilege of attending the quad-classis retreat in Muskoka, which is a few hours north of where we live. We drove up with Trevor and Erin, some friends of ours who live in a nearby town. We had some great chats on the way up, stopped for delicious burgers and ice-cream (that's a tradition we're planning on keeping), and gazed out at the beautiful scenery. We arrived, checked in, and joined the group of about 40 other pastors and spouses in the Hub. It was a joy to meet all of these new friends. There was this insta-connection with them knowing we are all in the same boat. It was so encouraging and insightful to meet together and hear others' stories, gain wisdom, and share laughter. Our worship sessions together were awesome! There's nothing like hearing a group belt out praise and worship songs together. We were blessed to have a speaker, Dr. Tim Brown, from Holland, MI, who was incredible to listen to. On our last morning he recited the entire Sermon on the Mount to us in a way that made the Scripture come alive- it was inspiring!
Here are some shots of the beauty of the setting.




There was a shuffle board court which definitely was well used while we were there. It is such a fun game! It gets me excited for retirement age when I can play all day long.

The first morning we had the option of taking part in flower arranging or canoe racing. We, with our competitive nature, chose the canoe racing. Our team won our first heat (wahoo!) but then lost it in the finals because Zach and I accidentally sat on the wrong ends of the canoe, which, we learned, makes a big difference! Once we realized our mistake we turned our canoe around and paddled to the finish backwards. It was a hoot. We ended up with the bronze and earned the award for "the most comedic and original canoe team." Below is a picture of Ingrid and me, ready for the race.

Of course, a couple of canoes capsized- Brrrrrr!!!!

We had a lot of free time at the retreat. We spent it playing putt putt, tennis, volleyball, soccer, reading, and soaking in the beautiful weather. Below is a picture of Zach next to Goliath during putt putt. Every hole was themed around a Bible verse. I personally got my booty kicked by the Goliath hole. It took me five strokes just to get my ball through that little hole beneath Goliath's toe- Grrrrrr.

Our last night we played Survivor all together. There were a bunch of relay races and challenges to find out who could Outlast, Outwit and Outplay the competition. Below Zach is racing to help his team win.

The last challenge was one where you had to get untangled the fastest. Zach's group didn't uh...well...have a look for yourself.

What a treat to enjoy this time and meet new friends. We are very thankful that this is an annual retreat and we have it to look forward to every year. By the end we felt refreshed, re-energized, and ready to return home.

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!