Cottage Vacation

We travelled to Grand Rapids to spend a week at my parent's cottage. It was a wonderful, fun-filled, relaxing vacation....the only bummer was that it ended too soon! The first morning as I was drinking my coffee, looking out over the peaceful lake, I saw a turtle come up on the lawn to lay some eggs!

My Aunt Helen was visiting from Arizona so she was able to come out and meet her great niece.

Jayne came out with her boys to meet Lydia too. Although Blake and Bryson enjoyed meeting Lydia, they were even more excited to break in her toys. :-) Bryson...

...and Blake.

My dad and me.

Grandma and Lyds. Lydia was excited to show Grandma her newest trick...sticking her fist into her mouth.

Auntie Jayne holding Lydia for the first time.

We went to visit Lydia's great-grandparents. Here we have four generations together.

Love this.

Lydia with Grandma O.

Lydia and her daddy, grandma, and great-grandparents.

We spent our days relaxing, playing games, weeding, reading, boating, journaling...all good stuff. Lydia got a bit bored watching Daddy and Mamma play Baggo.

Sweet pea...

Each morning I weeded for an hour. Here I am after I finally got out the big daddy in the garden...a full-blown tree! It was my Everest- I even pulled a muscle in my back working at those weeds!

Lydia and I are enjoying a putt-putt around the lake.

We had several friends and family members come out to visit. My friend, Heidi, and her son, Colton, came out for an afternoon.

Adri, Laura, Jodi and I all hung out with our kids. It was so wild to be together with our kids...it feels like yesterday when we were all out on the high school soccer field together, and now our kids play together- so sweet.

Aud, Siena, and Lydia.

My Aunt Cindy stopped by to meet Lydia. Unfortunately Lydia was a bit fussy. :-)

On the 4th we invited our families out for the day. It was a blissful zoo of family! Tracy made a lovely display of patriotic treats for everyone to enjoy.

Grandpa O and his little lady.

Lyds making eyes at her fam.

Thanks to Auntie Jayne, Lyds was all decked out for the day: Mamma's little sparkler!

My Uncle Casey and Aunt Marianne came out. We haven't seen them since our wedding so it was really great to see them again.

My cousins, Gary and Cindy, also made the trip out. So great to see you guys!

Sarah had fun holding her youngest cousin.

Daniel just had fun!

Grandma and Lyddi.

Lyds got some good time with Uncle Dave too.

Uncle Cal and his niece.

This boat was cruising around during the day. It is so nice to see that flag waving in the wind.

Zach pulled a little trick on Cal and Hannah. "Hey guys, let's take a nice picture together..."

"Wait...What?!"

SPLASH!

What a wonderful vacation! We wish we could have stayed longer, but we are so thankful for the time we had to rest, see and visit with family and friends, and have our own quality family time together. Thanks to everyone for coming out to visit and spend time with us. We love and miss you already!

The BIG 30- A day of favorites!

Wow...three decades old. It's so weird to be able to say, "I'm 30." I don't feel a day over 24. :-) I had a wonderful day celebrating. I go golfing with some girls every Thursday and the night before my birthday they arranged a little surprise party for me at the clubhouse. We sat around a table and chatted for a few hours- it was really nice. I came home to find Zach had cleaned the showers (my least favorite chore)! The morning of my big day Zach decorating the living room. He also got me Subway (my favorite) for lunch! Lydia was pretty excited about it.

Lyds and I went to a friend's house for a bit in the afternoon. She had fun trying out the pool.

My big gift was a home-made game of Baggo (my favorite outdoor game)!

Zach and I made pizza (another favorite) for dinner and he even got me a Dairy Queen ice-cream cake for dessert (my favorite)- Yummy!

My day was also filled with phone calls and e-mails from family and friends. Thank you to all who called to help celebrate. It isn't always fun to be away from family on your birthday, but your calls helped close the distance gap. Here's to the next 30!

Happy Independence Days!

We had our Independence Day Celebrations with our friends, the Zomermans, this week. Their little guy, Adrian, had fun exploring outside. Jeremiah was pretty pumped about his Canadian tie shirt. Adrian even learned to fly! Races in the backyard! We came inside for dinner and the kids all hung out together. You can't see it but Lydia wore a Maple leaf t-shirt with a USA flag bib...to show her dual citizenship. The ladies... The gentlemen... and Lyds Happy Canada Day and 4th of July!

Mamma and Lyddi

Zach wanted a picture of Lyds and me for his office so we took a few shots one afternoon.
 
Super Lydia!

Sweet girl...

What?...Get out!!

First Father's Day!

June 17 marked Zach's first Father's Day! It was a pretty typical Sunday, with the addition of opening a few gifts. Lydia wrote Zach a lovely card and we got him a few gifts to celebrate. Zach/Daddy, We feel blessed daily for the gift of having you in our lives. Thank you for being a wonderful, loving husband and father. We love you so much!

Mom M and Laur!

Mom and Laura came out for a weekend visit! Lydia was helping me paint in the garage while we waited for them to arrive. She is super excited as you can see. Laura holding Lydia for the first time. The first evening we played one of my all time favorite games, "Go to the Head of the Class." Playing it is a bit of a tradition- we missed you Dad! Saturday morning we relaxed and chatted the morning away. Then we moved outside and played games all afternoon. We we are playing quite a competitive game of Scattergories. Lyds woke up from her nap and joined us in the fun. Saturday night we headed to Port Dover and enjoyed a wonderful dinner. Lydia tried a little applesauce for the first time.

Thanks so much for coming out guys! We had a great, relaxing weekend with you and look forward to seeing you again soon!

3 Month Photo Shoot

I know it's cliche to say but, "Wow is the time going fast!" Three months has whizzed by. We thought we would have our own little photo shoot to celebrate the occasion! Look how big I am! I'm how old?! You are too cool! Give me a hug! Peace.

Lydia, you bring great joy and love into our lives. God has so richly blessed us with the gift of YOU...your smiles, your cries, your coos, your poos...We love you!

Bussis Visit

Our good friends, Steve, Julie, and Micah came out to visit for a long weekend. It was a fun-filled, Euchre-filled, laughter-filled good time! Below, Jules and Micah are meeting Lydia for the first time.
There was a big fund raiser golf tournament going on so Zach and Bus got to golf 18 holes together on a picture perfect Friday. Jules and I volunteered at one of the holes too. It was a relaxing, wonderful afternoon.
Here come the guys for a visit.
The next morning Micah had fun playing downstairs...what a killer smile!
The guys had fun playing outside.
Micah wanted to join in on the fun.
Steve helped Zach with some painting in the garage. Here they are after all the primer is up.
Micah and Lyds are big fans of each other.
Saturday night we drove to Port Dover for dinner. What a sweet family picture- all 5 of them.
Zach ordered the nachos for dinner. He got more than he bargained for!
After dinner we went for a walk on the pier.
On Sunday we invited some friends who were in the area for synod over for the day. Here we are playing our first Flimsy game of the summer. Jules and Buss skunked us all.

What a great visit! Thanks so much for coming out Jules, Bus, and Micah. It was so much fun! We miss you guys already and we look forward to our next get together. (Side note: This will always be remembered as the visit that the girls beat the guys in Euchre...Go Girls!)