South Haven 2012

Sweet Cousins

Our family at the lighthouse

Trace on the pier

Sweet Sisters

Sand Castle Time

Kianna with the pirate ship

Trace getting buried

Burying Kianna

Burying Kaylee

Trace and his hole

Boo to the Sand Dunes at Saugatuck Dune State Park 

Mommy and girls jumping waves

Daddy and kids hiking at state park.

Daddy and girls playing in waves

Kaylee loving the beach

Kianna trying to surf

Bob and Becki resting in the shade

Kaylee surfing

Kaylee surfing

Aunt Sam and Bryker

Love Birds

Uncle Mike and Bryker enjoying Sherman's Ice Cream

The Cook's loving their ice cream!!!

Grandpa Bob and Grandma Becki

Cook Family

Langfald Family

Enjoying the wooden shoes at Nelis Dutch Village

Holding bunnies

Crazy kids

We just got back from a week long vacation in South Haven, MI. Trevor's parents rented a house for our family, themselves, and Sam's family. The house was just blocks from a beautiful, white sandy beach and a fun park. We spent our days mostly hanging out at the beach enjoying the nice weather and the sand. The kids LOVED playing in the sand. They also enjoyed trying to surf the waves on their boogie boards. Kianna's favorite movie is "Soul Surfer"and she currently wants to be a surfer when she grows up, so she was in heaven. Kaylee wants to have a "Soul Surfer" themed birthday party this year, so they were loving the large waves.

When we weren't at the beach we enjoyed visiting with family, playing games, catching up on a few movies, bike rides, running along the lake, playing at the park, good eats, and several day trips to Holland and Saugatuck. What a fun way to spend a week. Thanks Bob and Becki for such a nice vacation!!!!

I Got a PT Job Today!!!!

I had been praying for the past month that God would open the doors for me to find a PT job with flexible hours in the setting he wanted me to work in. I had been working on updating my resume and on contacting my references. In the meantime, I had asked one of my friends who works as a recreational therapist at a local nursing home about who to contact at her facility. She talked to the physical therapist for me and gave me her phone number. I called up Leann the PT and she told me that she was hired through a contract agency. I contacted Jen at the contract agency and was hired over the phone. I told her I only wanted to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays while Trace is in school and she said no problem. I told her I don't want to start until the Fall when the kids start school and she said no problem. I told her I didn't want to work weekends and she said no problem. I am so excited. I will be working at Lenawee County Medical Facility which is just a couple of minutes from the kids' school. It is an Eden Facility which means they want the nursing home to be a place where people come to live not die. To help create a nice setting they have pets that roam the hallways, share family style meals, and have a Head Start program located within the nursing home so the residents can interact regularly with kids. I toured the facility and was impressed. Now I just need to brush up on the things I have forgotten over the last 7 years...

Summer Goals

The kids and I sat down a made a list of what we want to accomplish this summer, so here it is:

1. Swim lots
2. Have lots of playdates
3. Visit an amusement park
4. Swim in Lake Michigan- (Goal Met)
5. Go back to Iowa to visit- (Goal Met)
6. Pick strawberries- (Goal Met)
7. Pick blueberries
8. Learn to rollerskate better
9. Run a 5k-Kaylee
10. Run a 1 miles race-Kianna
11. Run an 8k with Aunt Stacie-Mommy (Goal Met)
12. Find a PT job during the month of June to start in the Fall- Mommy (Goal Met)
13. Read 30 minutes a day-Kaylee
14. Complete reading lesson book- Kianna
15. Learn to tie shoelaces- Kianna (Goal Met)
16. Wash windows- Mommy (Goal Met)
17. Study PT books- Mommy
18. Visit Chicago's American Girl Store
19. Attend VBS
20. Go camping
21. Swim Lessons
22. Art Camp-Kaylee (Goal Met)

Sounds like a fun summer to me. Well other than washing the windows...

Summer Has Begun

Kaylee and her teacher, Mrs. Arnett

Kaylee had an awards ceremony during which she received a trophy for having memorized a bible verse every month during the school year. She was pretty excited about this honor. Way to go Kaylee!

Summer is now officially here as Kaylee stepped over the threshold of her classroom into the hallway and her teacher declared her a 2nd grader! What a big girl! To celebrate the start of summer we went out for lunch at Applebee's. Summer here we come...

Kianna's New Trick

Kianna flipping

Bryce flipping

Trace pushing Braedon on the swing

Kianna and Trace had their friends, Bryce and Braedon, over for a playdate today. We went outside and Bryce began doing front flips on the trampoline, which caught Kianna's attention. She looked at me and said "Mom, can I do a flip?" Being a physical therapist, neck injuries freak me out, so I told her to go practice her somersaults on the trampoline. She did and I couldn't help but hear Bryce coaching her to go a little higher. Pretty soon, I look over and my little girl is doing front flips and couldn't be prouder. Bryce was super proud too for having taught her how to do it. Of course, Kianna couldn't wait for Kaylee to get home from school, so she could teach her how to flip. Kaylee, however, wasn't quite as excited to learn. Way to go Kianna, you are getting to be such a big girl!!!!

Kianna Can Tie her Shoelaces

Kianna was eager to learn how to tie her shoelaces before starting Kindergarten this Fall and so she did. Way to go Kianna!

Memorial Day Weekend 2012

Thankfully God answered our prayers and no one else got the stomach flu! Instead of the dealing with the stomach flu we had an action packed weekend filled with lots of family, a few friends, and yummy food. Here are the highlights of our fun filled weekend:

Thursday-

We made it safely to Iowa at 10:30 pm. The highlight of our trip was definitely our pit stop at The Wenzel's house along the way. We like to stop there to change the kids into their PJs, let them run around for awhile with their friends, and catch up with ours. They had some yummy popcorn waiting for us to snack on. What good friends we have!!!

Friday-

My mom and sisters

The Shannons

Matthew's Party

One of the highlights of the trip for me was running with my sisters, Stacie and Shelli. I have recently gotten back into running and so thought it would be fun to workout with them. We had a great time catching up while getting a workout.

The kids spent the morning and afternoon with Grandma Becki doing some shopping, going to the park, and eating lunch together. Trevor and I had fun doing some shopping while the kids were occupied. We have both been participating in a weight loss challenge since Valentine's Day and were in need of some smaller clothes. What a fun problem to have!!!

Our reason for coming back to Iowa was to honor Matthew's graduation from high school. We missed the actual graduation ceremony on Thursday evening, but spent tonight celebrating with our family at his party. Dinner was catered by Chick-fil-A. Yummy!!! He plans to attend The University of Iowa in the Fall with a major in Business. Way to go Matthew!!!

After the kids went to bed, Trevor snuck off to a movie with his good friend, Anthony.

Saturday-

Trace surfing

Check out our little Bethany Hamilton. Our kids love the movie "Soul Surfer". 

Trace

Kianna

Kaylee

Sweet Cousins

We spent the morning at Thomas Park with Grandma Becki, Aunt Sam and Bryker. The kids had fun playing on the new playground and running through the splash pad, although it was a bit chilly for that. We had a nice picnic and then headed to the much talked about "Orange Leaf" frozen yogurt shop. It was delicious and deserved all the talk it has received.

Becki cooked a yummy dinner in honor of Sam's upcoming birthday. They graciously invited my Dad and Sue to join us, so we could visit with them.

After the kids went to bed, I snuck off to visit with my good friend, Tammi. We stayed up late chatting. It was another great day!

Sunday-

We celebrated an early Father's Day with my dad.

Grandpa Wayne at the splash pad.

Uncle Rod at the splash pad.

Kaylee with Grandpa John's tortoise, Bennie the Jet.

Trace with Bennie

We had fun visiting our old church and seeing our friends there. After church, we headed to my dad and Sue's house for a nice lunch and a relaxing afternoon. My Uncle Rod and cousin, Jada, joined us for an entertaining trip to the splash pad. My dad can be such a kid. He and Rod ended up as wet as our kids by the time they were done. 

We headed to my mom's house for dinner where my grandma had prepared her famous chimichangas. What a treat they were. I got to see my family again and visit with my youngest niece, Rylan, which was fun.

Monday-

Our pool is officially open for the summer!!!

We headed back to Michigan this morning and had an almost uneventful trip. Unfortunately, right before our exit off of I-80 we hit a blown tire in the middle of the road. Thankfully we are all fine, but our car was damaged in the process. We have yet to find out how badly...

The rest of our evening was spent enjoying the warm weather and swimming in our pool. It feels like summer is here, if only Kaylee were done with school. She just has a few more days to go...