Catch up

This post is actually a mix of about 5 events. Unfortunately, when I uploaded the pictures it put them all out of order and because it's 10:30 and I'm tired I've decided not to change them.

Bryan had his first ever Christmas program tonight. He is in 3 year old preschool this year and until tonight we had no idea he was anything other than the perfect student. This picture captures the essence of our child. What it doesn't capture is the many times when Bryan turned to the child on the other side of him and pinched his (the other child's) nose!!! He told us later it was because he kept saying honk, honk, and what else should you do when someone says "Honk, Honk?"

This picture was from Thanksgiving. Lauren and Bryan are enjoying their favorite spot with one of their favorite people.

Thanksgiving also brought a visit from our dear friends the Wiley's. Our children have come to look forward to their visits as much as the adults.

This past weekend brought a very special trip for me as my wonderful husband freed me to go spend some much anticipated time with my sister and brother-in-law and their wonderful family. My mom also did a lot to make it happen and lighten the load for Eric which was much appreciated. It was soooo much fun to just enjoy being an aunt for a weekend. Alivia, James, Josiah and I had a wonderful time together. We started the weekend with a visit to Build-A-Bear where they chose their Christmas presents from us.

James saw this frog and immediately said "Fwog." We knew it had to be the one.



Alivia is into all things pink and made a very wise choice!

Back to the Christmas program.... Thank you for coming Grandpa and Grandma Kregel.

Thanks for coming Grandpa and Grandma Tower. Here Grandpa is matching Bryan's silliness which was a bit out of control at this point. Just check out the next picture :-)

This was the best we were going to do for a family picture.

Back to Indy... Shari decided to set up a photo shoot with Josiah and ended up with some pretty amazing pictures. She bought a large piece of black muslin on Ebay which we used as the background.

I love this precious little boy.

Can you tell????

Shari and Stephen are such amazing parents. Their three beautiful children don't yet know how blessed they are but they will someday.

We were very busy with lots of crafts. Shari often tells me how much Alivia is like me but I got to see first hand how true it is. Her firstborn characteristics shine through. As I was getting ready to leave, she got a bit of a scowl as she announced her disdain that I had not yet helped her clean up the toys in the basement. When I assured her that I had indeed done it all by myself, she quietly slipped away as Shari and I were saying our goodbyes and came back to announce that I had been telling the truth. The little rascal had gone to check up on me. :-)

Baking Daddy's favorite sugar cookies.

What a precious, precious boy! He almost always has a smile or a giggle.

As part of the photo shoot, Shari had me bring our nativity costumes. The result was pretty amazing.

Need I say more.

Don't you just want to pick him up?

More crafts :-) This was an unforgettable weekend. I was excited to get home and hug my own little (or big when compared to these) ones, but it was fun to make some memories. I'm thankful that Shari is only 4 hours away as for a few years she was about 24! Thanks Shari and Stephen for a wonderful weekend. I love all of you!!!

Back to two weeks ago...Bryan got to go bowling on a field trip. Wow, taking 16 3 year olds bowling is a very looooong process, but they sure had fun.

Bryan's preschool class

A SURPRISE like no other!

Last weekend I was the recipient of the best surprise ever. On Friday night, as I was in the box office selling tickets for Eric's high school production of Shakespeare's As You Like It, I saw Stephen's head poking around the corner with my 2 week old nephew peeking out of his baby carrier! I almost passed out with the shock of it and spent the next 3 hours with him in my arms watching a fantastic show that his Uncle Eric directed. I can't even tell you how absolutely floored I was that they had come!!!! The rest of the weekend was awesome.

Of course, with all of us together, we had to squeeze in a family picture for the upcoming Christmas letters. We were pretty happy with the final result.

Six precious grandkids

All admiring their new brother and cousin.

On Saturday, we met up with the rest of Hudsonville to watch the Santa Claus parade. This is my precious nephew, James. He warmed right up this time and was in my arms minutes after seeing me for the first time. This boy has a smile and a giggle that can light up the worst of days.

These children are all focused on....... a worm :-)

What a rare and special surprise to be able to share a weekend with my sister and her family! Even more exciting is I leave on Thursday for another special weekend in Indianapolis which made it MUCH easier to say goodbye. I am so thankful for this woman for the influence she has in my life and for the constant source of encouragement she is to me. I can't imagine life without her. If only I had known that years ago when I could be such a brat. :-)

My sweet niece, Alivia, wanted to be in the picture.

Five children eager for the Santa Claus parade to begin.

This is James "cheese" stantz. He absolutely loves having his picture taken and knows just what to do!

My dad enjoying a morning out with his wife, both daughters, and almost all of the grandkids-a rare occasion indeed. :-)

A very blessed and happy aunt!

James enjoying exploring God's creation of worms.

Alivia and Bryan making REAL lemonade with Grandma.

What a precious little nephew. I got to enjoy him through a play, a church service and a morning spent with Shari and just couldn't seem to get enough. This is not a sign of things to come. :-)

Could anyone ever get enough of this????

Happy Halloween

Meet Abraham Lincoln, our attempt at winning the school Pumpkin Decorating Contest which turned out to not be a contest at all as there were no winners declared :-) We think we had a pretty good chance, were it actually a contest.

It took Bryan a while to stick his hand in the pumpkin, but after that no help was wanted.

He even got to help carve with the help of his sister. Don't worry, it was a safety knife.

Our Indian princess, Red dinosaur and Fairy Princess.

A view of the dinosaurs back. It was Soooo cute :-)



We all had the opportunity to visit Eric's Grandma and pass out candy to the residents at Sunset. The kids love to do it and the residents love that they do.

The 5 grandkids with Eric's parents and grandma.

Happy Halloween!!!

Picking Pumpkins

My little helper ladling applesauce into jars.

Bryan's class took a field trip to a local farm. It was fun to see how 3 year olds seem to avoid interacting with each other. :-)


A hayride on a chilly day. We were fortunate to have the sun come out. We've rarely seen it over the past few weeks so when we do, it's definately a blessing.

Bryan with his chosen pumpkin.

and every child's favorite activity at the farm - the pumpkin train.

Preschool, Apples and Art Prize

We did it! All three kids are in school and loving it. Bryan loves being just like his sisters and is excited on Tuesday and Thursday to go to his school after Mommy drops them off at theirs. He's had a great first couple of weeks and keeps assuring me that he will make friends "next time." Oh, the social skills of a 3 year old. :-)

My baby and I before his first day. He does get quite offended at being called my baby but he is, and he's a wonderful note to end on. We enjoy our days together but it's nice that he has something special that he gets to do with other children.

This past week was a very busy canning week at our house. Bryan was thrilled to turn the crank on the Sauce Master which is an awesome contraption if you do a lot of applesauce. We ended up with about 80 quart jars and I was so thrilled to pack up my canner for the year. God blessed us with a hugely productive garden this year and our freezer is packed full. It's a lot of work, but very worth the effort in December when fresh veggies and fruit are rare.

On the day before leaving on their Mediterranean cruise, Grandma decided to make HER Grandma's recipe of chili sauce, so off to the orchard for tomatoes, peaches and pears. Bryan spent his time traipsing between us and the baskets carrying tomatoes, apples and peaches.

An apple fresh off the tree has to be one of the best snacks there is.




It was a fun day with Grandma.

Friday night, we had a picnic on the way downtown to visit the Art Prize exhibit. This is Nessie, the Lochness Monster. It was fun to see all the different ideas that so many artists had and incorporated into the city landscape.

The table and chairs on top of the bridge was definately a favorite.

Bryan's legs got a little bit tired, truthfully, so did Mommy and Daddy's. :-)

Elizabeth in a maze/house built out of recyclable materials.

The girls with their names on the Grand Rapids Tree. Some of GR Public Schools' art teachers collaborated on creating this tree with thousands of ribbons for the community to sign. It was also a very cool exhibit. This afternoon we're off to watch as thousands of paper airplanes are launched off the top of some the buildings in the city. Have a great week!