Saturday, July 13, 2013

Hawaii!

After arriving back in Michigan for a week we headed off to Kauai, Hawaii! My parents brought my sisters and our husbands on a 10 day vacation in paradise. It was AWESOME!
Here is the view from our hotel room...so lovely....
We did a lot of sight-seeing on the trip. One of the highlights was seeing Waimea Canyon. Below Zach and Dave are taking it in.
Dad and me.
 Wow...
 Jayne, Mari and I on the canyon.
 We stopped at a beautiful plantation to eat lunch. The trees on Kauai are too cool.
                            

We spent our mornings hanging out by the pool. We played a lot of volleyball, catch and keep-a-way. Below Justin and Zach are fighting for the ball.
The rest of us watched from the comfort of our lounge chairs...Where's Mari?
The gang (minus Jayne who was taking the picture) enjoying afternoon drinks in the pool.
 A highlight of the trip was going to a luau. Dave K and I even got called up on stage to dance..."Shake it!"
 Some of the guys just hanging out by the pool.
 The original Mallekoote Clan.
 Another highlight was going on a helicopter tour of the island. The views were spectacular. Zach and Justin are ready to lift off!
Zach and me after the tour.

 Last time we were in Kauai Zach played a trick on my mom and un-screwed the parmesan cheese so she dumped it all on her pizza. So this trip I asked the waitress to play a little trick on Zach and pour a mountain of cheese on his pizza...Pay Back!
The guys having fun on a zip-lining excursion.
  Sunday brunch at the St. Regis Hotel.
 A group shot after a delicious brunch.
 Is started to rain right as we were having our picture taken. Here we are running for shelter!
 A few of us spent an afternoon hanging out at a beach playing in the surf. It was so much fun. Below the guys are heading into the water.
 I love this picture...where's Zach?
 Zach and me on the beach.
 Mom and me posing before heading out for another night of food and fun!
 The view from yet another awesome dinner.
 The whole crew...
 Birds of Paradise flowers...they are so cool!
 Mari and Anne fooling around behind the Keurs.
 Zach went on a boat tour of the Napali coast one morning (I wasn't allowed because of the pregnancy). But he tool some great pictures...see the dolphin?
 Our fabulous and generous hosts on our last night.
 We rented a private room and enjoyed a wonderful dinner together. When we were young we used to always make up and perform routines for our parents so as a thank you to my parents we (kids) put together a routine and performed it to the Beach Boys song, "Hawaii." But the brothers wouldn't be too pleased if I posted it. Take my word for it....it was hilarious.
 On the way home the guys all had matching shirts...Justin was so pleased..."Seriously?!"
Wow...what an incredible trip. What wonderful memories. What awesome laughs. Thank you Mom and Dad for your generosity and treating us to this incredible vacation- what a gift!! We love you and are so very thankful for you and the examples you are to us. 

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Baby Pop Update!


Here I was at 13 weeks...
17 weeks... (Lydia thought the sign was pretty cool.)
 20 weeks...
23 weeks... (we were all packed and I couldn't make a sign)

Moving...

The time to move came so quickly. We are so thankful we were able to privately sell our house in just two weeks!! What an answered prayer! Our last month in Jarvis was packed with get togethers, farewell cookouts and lots of time with friends. Our friend, Renee, came over several times to get in lots of Lyddi time. I had to take a picture of Lydia in front of LYDIA street.
We had movers come and pack up our house this time around. Being that this is our 3rd move in 4 years, we were on board! They came early in the week to pack up a lot of the little stuff so we lived among many boxes for a few days. A bonus of this is that it created ample opportunities for peek-a-boo.
Lydia was pretty bummed when she couldn't empty the tupperware drawer anymore because it was all packed.
This picture has nothing to do with the move, it was just too cute not to post. 
Our last dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Montana's, with two of our favorite friends.
We took our buddy, Zane, out for breakfast on our last full day in Jarvis. 
The big moving truck showed up bright and early, with movers ready for a full day's work ahead.
This is how full it was pretty close to the end.
Me saying goodbye to the last bag of milk I'll use (YES!)...looking forward to gallons again.
Here is the stuff we set aside to pack in our van and live off of the next couple months.
After a long busy day of moving and cleaning, here is the empty house ready for the new owner.
Zach and I walked around each room and took pictures, and shared some of our favorite memories, and shed a few tears (me, not Zach).
We left a little gift for the new home-owner.
Our last picture together in our first home as a married couple.
We then moved in with some of our friends for the weekend. They have a dog who just had puppies so Lyddi was super excited to see all the dogs every day.
Wow...4 years come and gone. God has certainly blessed us during our time in Jarvis...with challenges that grew us closer to Him and many fun memories. It's definitely a bittersweet time of transition as we say goodbye to our friends and look forward to connecting with our family and friends in GR and making new friends there. Thank you to those of you who have been praying for us during this time. Please keep the prayers coming as we house hunt and get settled in our new life in Grand Rapids. 
Farewell Jarvis...until we meet again!