Andy, Maricris and Julia came for a visit July 3rd. It was so great to see them, and the girls loved playing with Julia (especially Savannah–she didn’t leave Julia’s side the whole night). Aaron, who always delights babies, definitely got some good Julia smiles. Here are some pictures from our evening together:
Here are some pictures of our new niece and cousin, Julia Elizabeth, born to my brother and his wife on April 14. Our family took a trip to Chicago to meet her when she was one week old.
I realized after we returned home that we never took a picture of Julia with her mom and dad! Maybe next time. :)
I spent a bit of time working on these photos tonight, so I’ll just have to let the captions tell the story. Maybe I will write more soon, but for now, enjoy!
Earlier this summer, Maricris, my brother’s fiancee, asked me to be the matron of honor in their October wedding. And yesterday, Rachel, Aaron’s sister, asked me to be the matron of honor in her December wedding. I feel so honored and blessed! Kayla and Madeline will be flower girls in both weddings, and they’re pretty excited about that! By the end of the year all our siblings will be married to wonderful spouses. Could we ask for anything more?
A couple weeks ago our good friend Erin invited Kayla to go on a special date with her to tonight’s gymnastics meet at CMU. I knew Kayla would love it, and it was fun watching her excitement build as we waited for tonight. Kayla enjoyed cheering for the “pretty girls,” having a special snack and getting to play on the gymnastics equipment once the meet was over. We’re so thankful for friends like Erin!
Grandma and Grandpa Grage flew from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Grand Rapids, Michigan to spend the week with us. Here’s Kayla with Great Grandma Grage.
Here’s Savannah with the twins, Ender (left) and Grey (middle). The smile on her face gives you a glimpse of her personality. Though our girls have differences, they really are quite similar–extremely happy and full of spunk!
When I Aaron and I used to drive to work together, we would often see wild turkeys near the expressway. I loved seeing them; for some reason they just made me smile. Well, this past week while we were on vacation, we made a new friend. Though we joked about having him for Christmas dinner, instead we watched this turkey several times throughout the week. You can tell how fond I am of turkeys because I labeled this post under “Family and Friends.”
This weekend my friend Kylee and I took our babies on a retreat. Life can be stressful for 9-month-olds, so we thought they needed to get away for some R & R. Just kidding. The retreat was for us, and yes, we had a fun time. We snapped a few photos—of the babies, of course.
Kayla is four today! We had a birthday party for her at Island Park last night, and today the girls and Aaron ran in the Highland Festival Races. Madeline ran 50 meters, and Kayla ran 100. Aaron’s race was a 5K. Everyone had fun and did a great job. Here are a few pictures:
Kayla with her Mickey Mouse cake
Madeline wearing Grandma’s Mickey Mouse shirt
After the Fun Run
On a much sadder note, Aaron and I drove to Lansing after the party last night to say good-bye to my grandma. She has been in the hospital since the end of April with numerous health problems. We thought she was going to make it, until yesterday when the medical staff discovered she developed pneumonia. My dad called yesterday saying they expected her to pass away that afternoon. Thankfully she was still alive when we arrived at the hospital after 10 p.m. last night. We stayed for a couple hours and arrived home around 1:30 a.m. She was still hanging on today but will probably pass away soon. I appreciate your prayers. This has been a hard season.