Little Miss Ive Mae Arrives

Here she is. The first grandaughter for Kris' parents. The first great-grandaughter for his grandparents (they have 9 great-grandsons). Katie and Sean's first daughter and our second niece!
Here are her brothers, (plus Cai and Gramma & Grampa) getting ready to meet her for the first time.

Oh, they LOVED her right from the start!

Our boys meeting her for the first time.

Our Thirteenth Anniversary!!!

We went out to dinner on our actual Anniversary to a fun restaurant in Ghent. Here we are getting ready to leave.

The weekend before our anniversary we were able to get away for three nights. We went to DC. This is the view from our floor. The hotel was amazing! We were right in DC and walked everywhere we went.

Getting ready for dinner at Capital City Brewing Co.

The White House

My Birthday Weekend

My wonderful husband bought tickets for me to fly to Atlanta on my birthday. Some of my sweet friends took me out to dinner. It was great to see them and to have time to talk with each of them. Such dear friends the Lord blessed me with during my short life in Georgia! I LOVE YOU LADIES!!!

The main reason for my trip to Atlanta. . . Maegan's 30th Birthday Party!!!! I love this girl!!

Her party was AMAZING!!! It was a black and white dance party - - all guests wore these colors only. There were tons of yummy desserts and this is the table where they were displayed. SO CREATIVE AND BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Added bonus was being able to chat with Aaron and Sara and kiss on my sweet nephews and niece. I miss them so much!!

May

Anderson, Trevor and Ryan with Gramma and Grampa. This picture was taken after dinner. Grampa had just given Ryan a fly fishing video and a new net. (These were suppose to be his birthday presents, but spur of the moment, he got them early - - perhaps because Ryan has been SO into fishing!) Sweet moments like these are precious.


My little servant. Trevor is constantly asking what he can do to help me!

As we were walking out of Target one day, Cai said, "Take my picture on this ball!"

Anderson's class did a Young Authors presentation for parents and grandparents. Each student was asked to write a story about anything they wanted. Most of them were the same, by that I mean including a bike, loose teeth, money or a snake. There were a handful of students that wrote about something unique. Anderson was one of them! At first, his teacher wasn't sure his topic was "appropriate for their school". But considering the fact that Anderson had picked this topic on his own and it was his initiative toward God, not provoked by us. . . we talked with his teacher. We were so proud of him and listening to him read it in front of all those people, proclaiming God's love for His people, brought tears to my eyes!

Calming down before bedtime with a little leapster time.

After school snack. One of Ryan's favorites is hummus with Pretzel Chips.

Final April Pictures!

Trevor has been patiently waiting his turn for my visit to his school for lunch with him. He volunteered to be the last one! He is a thoughtful young boy. Cai and I brought him the "Speedy Gonzalez" and chips with white sauce. Once again, the lunch lady approached me to specifically say how much she enjoys Trevor and hadn't realized he and Ryan were brothers, but that she should have known by the way they were both so polite:) Makes me proud to hear this, as they are not around me when she observes them - - what a practical way they are being lights in their world!
So, I watched Ben and Liam while Katie went and had a pedicure and some time out alone. (our b-day gift to her) When asking Katie what I should make them for lunch, she had said that she hadn't yet given them scrambled eggs. What? My kids lived on these at this age - good protein, soft, easy to make. So, we agreed I would make them eggs. Well, what you may not know is that Ben is allergic to A LOT of things. I began feeding the boys. They loved the eggs. After 3 bites Ben started gagging. I thought he was choking. Oh, No, he was puking. All over me, the floor, himself it continued. Thank God, Sally had stopped in to pick something up from me! Because poor Liam was sitting there like, "hey! I am still hungry!" Then I noticed hives ALL over Ben. My phone call to Katie went something like this, "Umm. . . I think Ben may be allergic to eggs.. ." Thank God for protecting this little boy and for whoever invented benadryl! Withing a couple hours his skin was back to normal and his Auntie's nerves were calmed.

There has been construction going on in our backyard for a couple of months. Cai found it very interesting to watch the big trucks pouring cement!

My dear, sweet friend, Lauren came to Chesapeake for the day. We were able to meet at our favorite restaurant, Baker's Crust, and have a wonderful visit. Through the years we have gone there many times to celebrate birthdays and to just have a quiet talk over a delicious crepe.

Cai and Grampa playing Sequence for Kids. This and Sorry are the games they play the most together. Cai loves spending time with grampa.

Dinner with friends! The Bouchers, Bizzells, and both Johns Families

All 8 of our crazy boys!! They had so much fun dressing up.

Uncle Lou Comes to Visit! (April)

(I am WAY behind!)

Lou came to visit and we had a great time!!! He and I went to the gym every morning - it was nice to have an accoutability partner. We had lots of talks and laughs. Ate yummy food. He taught me how to make artichokes, we went to Rudee's for fresh seafood and I made him tuna steaks. We watched his favorite movie of all time, Joe vs the Volcano. Oh! I love my baby brother!!! Thanks for coming to visit Lou!!!

Here he is at the pond behind our house, fishing with the boys.
Cai and Uncle Lou, so sweet!

Ryan's FAVORITE thing to do!! He'd go everyday, if he could!

At the beach.

Rudee's

Wishing he didn't have to leave!!

Our trees are blooming! So pretty! I love Spring!

More Spring Break (April)

One thing that I forgot to mention: Kris did not make the trip with us. But, Sally and Jaden came with us. We drove through the night, while the kids were in theory going to be sleeping. She and I had lots of great laughs and good talks.

Here's the gang down at the Riverwalk.


Aunt Bunny invited us over for her delicious homemade meatballs, an Easter Egg Hunt and egg coloring. The boys came home with over $5 each! We had a great time. Here are my boys with my cousin Tracy's children.

Easter morning

Visiting Kris' Family

The boys and I were able to drive over to Cadillac one afternoon and see their Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Host. The boys love to ask Grandpa about things he did as a little boy and young man and they LOVE Grandma's candy dish. We had a great visit with them!

We were also able to drive up to Traverse City to join Aunt Mary's family for their family dinner one evening. It is always such a beautiful drive out to their house, as they live on Penninsula Drive. The boys played football in the front yard and had lots of fun with their little "cousins".

The boys with Aunt Mary and Uncle Buzz

Aunt Jeannie and the boys

Caius playing with Aiden (Adam's son)