Bryan

I know, lately it just seems I'm trying to catch up. Eric and I leave on a cruise in 6 days and with a birthday and end of the year stuff for everyone and lots of open houses, it's a bit crazy around here. Since Bryan has had the most happen to him lately, I thought I'd catch you up on him first.

A field trip to a local family farm gave Bryan the opportunity to ride a full-sized horse and a miniature donkey.

Enjoying a snack with his classmates.

On the last day of school, we met at the preschool before heading to the park for the morning.

Contemplating the best course of action to attack the park.

The last day happened to also be Bryan's 4th birthday. Perfect timing although it was very difficult for Mommy to deal with the last day at school, preschool graduation and her baby's birthday.

Enjoying every last drop.

The 3 year old Starfish AM class.

Mrs. Ann and Mrs. Jodi were such a blessing to us this year. We are so thankful for the loving instruction that they gave to Bryan.

Bryan handled graduation like a champ!!! He was one of very few children who actually sang and did the motions of the songs. We were so proud of our little boy.

The bear in the jungle says, "Thank you, Lord, Rarrrrrr"

The next night we celebrated Bryan's birthday with our family. Spiderman was the cake of choice.

As always, it was a blessing to have the great-grandparents join us.

The party was culminated with a sword/shield fight between Bryan and Grandma Tower and later, Grandpa Kregel. It was quite amusing. Thank goodness there was only one sword. :-)

You're next!!!!

Spring Break in Indianapolis

Have I mentioned lately how much I adore my sister and her family? :-) Once again we were all invited to spend a few days of Spring Break with them, and while it didn't quite go as planned, we had an awesome time reconnecting and relaxing for a few days. Unfortunately, Elizabeth came down with a second round of strep in the beginning of our stay, but once we found a doctor and the necessary antibiotic, she was feeling much better.

This precious little boy is all smiles and giggles. I grabbed any minute that I could get with him.

Ashlynn enjoyed loving on him as well.

The older kids are enjoying Shari's new Iphone.


These two could still pass for twins. At almost the exact same height and with that golden hair, I love watching them play together.

Taking advantage of the beautiful spring weather.

What better way to end a day than with a movie and popcorn!

Ashlynn using her newly developed skill to read a bedtime story to her cousin.

As always, it was difficult to say goodbye even though they would be coming to Michigan in less than a week. Every minute we get to spend together is precious and we try to enjoy each one to the fullest. Thanks, Shari and Stephen, for a wonderful visit!

Spring Break

We're back!! To those of you, including my mom and sister, who have faithfully checked for a new entry, I'm sorry for the many disappointing days and I will try to catch you up (over the next couple weeks) on what you've missed in the last couple of months at the Tower home.




Bryan has loved his first year of preschool and only has 5 days left. We have had field trips galore and this one was to Gymnastics Unlimited in Hudsonville. He had a lot of fun once he conquered his fear of heights. The highlight was watching Mommy jump into the foam pit and being able to throw pieces of foam at her with all of his friends.

Concentrating very hard on mastering the task at hand.

On the first day of Spring Break we had the privilege of having our niece and nephew for the day. We took advantage of a gorgeous day to go park hopping and have a picnic.

Elizabeth is now old enough that she chooses her own locations and poses for pictures. :-)



A beautiful Michigan spring day. We are thoroughly enjoying each one and hoping they are here to stay.

Washing sand out from between the toes with chilly hose water. I think Aunt Brenda had the most fun!

The circus came to town

Thanks to the generosity of Grandma, most of the Tower family headed to Muskegon to the circus on Saturday afternoon. Eric was away in Chicago for the weekend with some friends from Taylor, so Grandma decided to keep the rest of us from getting bored without him. This was Bryan's first experience at the circus since the last time we went I was about 7 months pregnant with him. Ashlynn and Elizabeth remembered so little from that time 4 years ago that it might as well have been their first time too. They were all so excited.

One of the girls' highlights was riding a full-sized elephant around one of the rings. Bryan wanted nothing to do with that...

...but he did get to go on the Screamer slide. That was much more up his alley.

Silly boy.

A few not so quality pictures, as our camera doesn't handle large, dark places very well.

Mom and I both had sweaty palms for this one. The boy on the top was 13 years old and he was the only one with a rope attached to him.

Lastly, the elephants. We had a wonderful, exciting time. Thanks, Grandma, for the great memories!!!

We're back!

I know it's been a long hiatus from the blog. I think I got a bit tired of taking pictures over Christmas and my stack to be scrapbooked is now about 8 inches high which is way beyond my comfort zone. :-) A scrapbooking weekend needs to happen soon.

As always, winter in Michigan is a time to feel a bit cooped up but compared to past years we have been amazingly healthy. Thank you, Lord. We have enjoyed several special activities, mostly over the past week or so.



When Grandma Kregel took a short trip in January, Grandpa was able to join us for dinner one evening. This is what joining us for dinner means for Grandpa. I'm sure he slept well that night!

Helping the children release all of their energy before bed. Thanks, Grandpa!!!!! :-)

What would winter in Michigan be without the snow family? They ran out of time before Elizabeth's likeness was created.

This is a snow caterpiller. A great alternative to tradition when the snow is not packing well.

I had the privilege of planning 3 Valentine parties this year. It's really a fun way to revisit teaching without all of the pressure. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend Ashlynn's party as both hers and Elizabeth's parties were at the same time and first grade has been blessed with many more available mothers willing to help. She had a great time as well. Here is Bryan running to say hello during his Valentine party.

My boy.

Playing the candy heart sort game with his friends.

The bean bag throw.

Elizabeth's table enjoying their snack.

Playing the heart matching game.

Valentine party day ended with a special night for all of us. Daddy and the girls attended the annual Daddy/Daughter dance (Sock hop) and Bryan and Mommy had a date at home playing Lego Batman on the Wii.

Daddy and his girls. At 6 and 8 they are growing up way too quickly.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Tower family. We hope your Christmas was as special as ours and that you were surrounded by those who love you. The celebration of Christmas is always a balancing act for our family as there are so many wonderful things vying for our time. This year our celebrations stretched from December 25th through December 29th. It was wonderful to be able to spend time with most of the family God has blessed us with.

When Elizabeth came along 8 years ago, we decided to carry on the tradition my parents started when we were young of staying home as a family on Christmas Day. It's important to us that we have one day that's devoted to celebrating with our children in our home. The highlight of that day for our children is having their grandparents over for part of the day. This year all of the grandparents joined us for brunch and a few rounds of Beatles Rock Band.


The girls picked out gifts for each other and Bryan this year at their school Christmas shop. It was fun to see their choices.



"Thanks, Elizabeth, I think." :-)

So much love. :-)

Introducing the grandparents to Rock Band. They did very well for beginners. :-)

The day after Christmas we celebrated with Eric's family.

Sunday was Eric's mom's family and then Monday was spent with Brenda's family.

Tuesday, we were able to spend a gorgeous sunny day out sledding with Brenda's sister's family and dad. It was so nice out we were peeling off some of our winter gear. Alivia and James had never been on a "dedicated" sledding hill before, so it was fun to be able to experience their excitement. By the end, Alivia and Bryan were going down together and on their own.

Grandpa was the daredevil of the group and is probably very fortunate to be all in one piece.

It's a long way up that hill, isn't it, Ashlynn?

We definately got our exercise.

Almost the whole group.

Because our times together are so few, it makes them so valuable. We had an awesome weekend and can't wait for the next time we can get together. Thanks for making the trip, Shari, Stephen, Alivia, James and Josiah. We love you.

We finished our party spree on Tuesday night with Brenda's dad's family. We've had a two day break and then we will celebrate with Eric's dad's family today. Elizabeth was put to bed at 8:30 last night with her books, but was told if she was still awake at midnight she could join us for the ball dropping. She was determined and got her wish. I'm not sure if it was as exciting as she hoped it would be. :-)