Easter Weekend

What a fun weekend it was, in fact, we're still recovering which is why this is just now getting up on the blog.

The Saturday before Easter, Ashlynn, Bryan and I, along with a niece and nephew, went to an Easter event at a local church. We had a great time and enjoyed some sunshine and fun.

While we were busy with this, Elizabeth was participating in her second REAL drama event. On Monday, she auditioned for the Missoula Theater Company and was chosen to be one of the Pleasure Isle Kids in the play Pinocchio. She then had practice Tuesday through Friday and on Saturday, the cast had two performances.



She had a ball and in our opinion was one of the best up there :-). She definately has some of her father's dramatic flare.

Sunday had the children up so early that they had time to do their Easter egg hunt BEFORE church (you have to understand that we never have time to do ANYTHING before church, so this was a rare event).

After Easter breakfast, we enjoyed a wonderful service and then headed to Grandma and Grandpa's for a delicious dinner...

...followed by ANOTHER Easter egg hunt!

Grandpa hid those eggs REALLY well.

Thanks Grandpa for hiding all those eggs! He even had to chase the neighbor kids away. :-)

Picture time with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa...

and Great Grandma....

and Uncle Mark and soon to be Aunt Christine (we can't wait!).

Followed by a rousing round of rough-housing with Uncle Mark. :-)

It was a great week/weekend with a lot of special things. We were especially grateful for the time we were able to spend with family celebrating the amazing gift of the resurrection! We hope your weekend was blessed and memorable as well.

Spring Break at Kairos

One of the questions I've heard over and over again this winter has been "when can we go to Kairos again?" Bryan even went so far as to say, "We haven't been there in so long, I forgot where the stairs are!" Oh, brother. You can definately prove this family has a flare for the dramatic :-) For those of you who don't know, Kairos is the name given to my parents' place up north that they built 12 years ago. It is also a favorite place for our family to relax and play together. Mom and Dad generously invited us up for a couple of days over Spring Break and helped us create lots of special memories.

Reading bedtime stories with Grandma

Always looking for a tree to climb.

Enjoying the first sight of the lake.



The whole family up in a tree. Bryan wasn't too sure about this.

A walk down to a nearby park.

Who doesn't enjoy a walk on the beach, even in 40-50 degree weather?

Grandpa and Grandma

The girls found another tree.

Bryan, still not a fan of the tree climbing gang.

A valiant attempt by Grandma to teeter totter with a 7 year old.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for a wonderful time. We had a blast!

Maple Syrup in the Making

It's a cold, almost spring day in Michigan and the maple sap is flowing (or at least dripping) from the trees. Grandma Kregel picked us all up and took us out to Holland to see how maple sugar and syrup are made. It was fascinating to watch and although it was cold, we had a great time and just stayed a little longer at each of the fires we came by.

The VanRaalte Farm

Checking to see how full the buckets are getting.

The kids decided that it would be a fun place to play even without the maple syrup attraction.

Showing us the way the Indians used to make maple syrup. It's definately a more tedious process than the machines that they use at the farm today.

Placing hot rocks from the fire into the sap to steam out the water.

A fun afternoon together.

We actually started our morning with a little bit of basketball for Ashlynn. She's attending a Saturday camp for a few weeks and is enjoying learning the basics of the game.

Have a great week!

Trip to Indianapolis

A much anticipated event for us this winter was going to spend the weekend with Aunt Shari and Uncle Stephen, Alivia, James and Josiah during mid-winter break. We left Friday at noon and made it down in 4 hours. The kids did great in the car and for once we didn't question our decision to drive to Florida later this year.

We started our visit with a trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum which is always a special treat. They were having a special "members only" night which meant there was a lot smaller crowd than there usually is.

First stop, digging for dinosaur bones.

Our future executives hard at work in the Barbie exhibit. This was a new exhibit and one that we've never had the chance to see. The girls were especially fascinated by the fun activities.

Josiah, trying his hand at fashion designing. :-)

What a little doll! He had fun exploring with curiosity as his guide.

Our little diva showing off her moves on the runway.

It won't be long and Elizabeth WILL be chauffering her brother and sister.

I think we all feel safer with Daddy in the driver's seat.

Two little buddies who enjoyed every minute they had together.

It's not a visit to the museum without a ride on the carousel.

Stephen and James. This was James' first ride on a "moving" animal.

Josiah enjoying his mommy time.

The boys' way of relaxing.

and the girls'.

I think your baby needs some ice cream, Mommy.

On Saturday we were able to relax and play at Stephen and Shari's home. On Saturday night, the Gray's cousin came to babysit and Stephen and Shari treated Eric and I to a wonderful dinner out. It was fun to visit without hearing the word "Mommy" once, because we hear it a lot with 6 children running around. :-)

Our return home was unexpectantly delayed by a snowstorm in Michigan so we enjoyed having an extra night together. Unfortunately Bryan woke up Monday morning with a case of the stomach flu which made our trip home long and interesting to say the least. :-) We're home and on the road to recovery and enjoying all the wonderful memories of the past weekend.