Been a while....

So it has definitely been a while since we have updated our blog. We haven't exactly been around to have acces to the internet and even good cell phone service in case any of you have been trying to get a hold of us. Rob headed off to Ottumwa, IA the end of June with a group of Jr highers on a sevice trip and when he did the girls and I headed off to the lake. It was so nice bc we drove up with Sarah and Leah, Megan came on Friday and had the whole next week off, Rob came to meet us on Tues, and Gma and Gpa came up Wed with "a different Megan". So there was a full house for the 4th of July and lots of ppl around at the lake. As the time drew nearer for Rob to leave the lake, it began to sink in how long it would be until I saw him again. I already was struggling with things...and yeah we decided to come back to Orange City for the week to spend some more time with him.

He leaves tomorrow evening for Bethel for two weeks as he begins the first of his intensives. Part of this program requires that ou go to campus two weeks in July and two weeks in Feb for intensive classes. It is hard stuff being apart. I think it is easier for me to leave the girls almost than to have him gone....I think that is ok isn't it? Anyway, I am working on trying to figure it out now...it is a 5 year program so this is going to happen 2x/year for the next 5 I better learn to deal. I think the hardest part of last week is that I control the environment I am in so much, I think just to try to keep things together-a coping mechanism maybe. And then when he comes back into that environment it shakes the way I do things and I don't cope as well. But the breakdown has happened....I reached a point where I didn't think I could do it. And yeah, we are pushing through now and I think I can. I don't want it to get so much easier I don't miss hime b/c yeah that would mean there are problems, but I am praying it does get easier and we figure out how to make it work.

Anyway, the lake has been our home away from home this summer and the girls are loving it. We found cat in the kitchen one evening when we left the door open, so they were able to adopt that and it came around a lot during our stay. They named him "Blues" and loved to play with him and feed him. He especially kept coming back after Grandma Lois gave him pork loin one night for supper! There was lots of encouragement from the fam for us to bring him home to OC at the end of the summer....but we later came to find out that he does have a home and owners who live a few cabins down! Sounds like Rob has agreed to a kitty though...told the girls they could get one this fall after Gracie starts school...I know you heard me right I said school!!!!!! Plz lets not talk about it right now.... ;)

Gracie's reaction to finding a kitty under the table.....

They thought it was the funniest thing ever....later when Meg came back from her run they just died laughing when the told her about it! Just kept saying "Oh my goodness, a kitty was in the house!" and covering thier little mouths with thier hands!

Here they are on our last day feeding the kitty dog food! Of course they couldn't let him be long enough to be able to eat it ;)

The water hasn't been the warmest so it has been hard to get the girls in swimming. We have loved the paddle boat, playing on the dock and for Karys riding the tube.Gracie was content helping daddy make sure his hair got clean and getting all the soap out, from up on the dock!Karys has really been learning this summer, she loves to sing her ABC's and is getting so good at her colors. She was practicing with the UNO cards!Both girls are such helpers....and one of thier FAV things is washing dishes....I know this would be thier father's genes. They made such a good team this night while Gracie washed and Karys rinsed everything off.Megan is working at the Bible camp just down the road from the cabin, so we were able to head over there for Friends and Family weekend. The weather wasn't the greatest so it was just nice to get out and go see where she is at for the summer. We also got some free meals too!

All of us in front of the fireplace in the Lodge...Me, Gracie, Grandma Lois, Megan, Leah, Sarah, and Karys.We had quite the walk trying to avoid mudpuddles! This was just too cute of a scene to pass up! Grandma and Megan even swang Karys a couple of times!The lake has been a great place for Karys to potty train. If she has an accident we are usually outside and can just rinse her in the lake. She has actually done amazingly well but is a little to used to being able to just pee in the grass! She loves Gma sally's potty seat though. You can usually always get her to go on the "handles"one.I may have never been a boy scout but I did make this fire myself! The girls loved eating and making the smores.Meg had a lot of marshmallow casualties into the fire but was so excited when she got the PERFECT one!

Gracie LOVES to color! One day she wouldn't even get the rest of her swimming suit on bc she was too busy with her picture! Oh well it is the lake right?

Rob picked these t-shirts up for the girls in ottumwa at a walgreens I think. THey are so cute! They have unbrella strollers on them and underneath the stroller it says, 'That's how I roll"

Love this pic of Sarah and Leah! Can't believe how fast she is growing and just loves to be outside and down by the water!

So Karys loves riding on the tube....Gracie kind of had an incident when we were up the last time. The front of the tube dipped down in the water and she and I ended up falling off the back. It was even earlier in June then and the water was FREEZING! Since then she talks about it and laughs but is yet to get back on it....we finally got her in the paddle boat and to go in Papa's boat and she really likes both of those again (they both took a little convincing after the fall too) so hopefully the tube will come too and she won't be scared for long!

So in the mean time she has been practicing her casting. she loves to sit on the edge of the wall and cast her line (with a little rubber fish on the end) as far as she can out into the water. She is getting REALLY good at it! She loved doing this with the "different" Megan. My sister's best friend Megan came up and surprised her for the weekend! It was so fun to have her around. She just has such a positive energy and is so helpful! Both the girls love her! We do too......This will be my saving grace for the summer! Coloring calms everyone down and keeps us preoccupied for quite a while....when all else fails and even the iPOD songs (Hosanna, How Does she Know, Etc) aren't working....coloring will!

Texas Vacation

So I don't quite have all the pics yet, but here are a few from our time in Texas. We left on the 20th of May and just got home yesterday...the 28th. The weather was in the mid to high 90's the entire time we were there...a little better than the weather back home-to say the least. We had a great time! I got the chance to talk to and with Kris' Real Life Group of girls, which was so fun for me and I loved getting to know them a little. Rob got the chance to golf, not once, not twice but THREE times! And one of those times was on the course than runs around and in the back yard of Kris and Greg's house-Twin Creeks. He said to me one day--"Erin I will golf that course before I leave." I laughed b/c Greg doesn't have a membership and there is just no way to get on that course without one--it is pretty exclusive. However, the next day we had lunch at the club after the swim meet and Rob and Greg got talking with the new owner. Kris, the girls and I left to go home b/c we had two cars and when those boys came home we were informed that they were golfing on Monday...FOR FREE! You have got to be kidding me was all I could think!

So yeah, we did other things too...swam in the back yard a lot, and at the club one afternoon, went to one of John's swim meets, went to church with the fam and got to watch Matt play in the worship band, Kris and I got to go scrap Friday night at Archiver's ;), and shopped.....I would say the best times were just watching the girls get to know better and really bond with the Tolanders. Ever since we have been home Gracie has been talking constantly about Matt carrying her around in a blanket and tickling her, and swimming and coloring with John. They both loved playing with John and the bunnies--Minskers and Pippin.

It was a teary goodbye at the airport! How we all wish that there wasn't such a distance between us, but we are already talking about our next meeting and looking forward to that and GOD IS SO GOOD! It is a blessing to be able to share our faith and to encourage and spur one another on in that. We were able to all give support to each other and it was fun to see how God spoke though and in us when we share the different areas and seasons of life that we are in!

Thanks to the Tolanders for thier hospitality, generousity, and LOVE!!! We had a GREAT week!

Gracie Turns "3"

It was so fun to watch Gracie on her birthday! She is just starting to really grasp that it is a special day just for her. We woke up in the morning and I made caramel rolls for her and we opened a couple of gifts from Rob and I. She was all smiles from the minute she came out of her room that morning!
So yeah Gracie loved the candles and even blew them out, with a little help ;) But mommy didn't think about the fact that putting wax candles in fresh out of the oven cinnamon rolls might be a slight problem. Needless to say, she didn't eat that one!
I once again undertook making the cake myself...only this year I didn't really plan ahead much. not that I ever really do ;) I knew that Gracie wanted a Little Mermaid cake, so I pretty much went and got the stuff the day of the party, baked the cake, and freehand/traced Ariel and Flounder from a coloring page Gracie had. Gracie Loved it! That is what matters right? Not the fact that if you looked close enough you could see that Ariel was definitely cross eyed!

Gracie loved having all of her friends come and sit with her at a special table-even Auntie Meggie

Auntie Sarah came and surprised us! She was supposed to have to work but got put "on call"...I think I was more excited to see her than Gracie...I was definitely missing her ;)
The featured dessert, besides Ariel of course, was 'frost your own cupcake'Gracie and her cake...love it when three year old thinks all your art work is great! "Mom, you did such a great job!" LOVE IT!!!

We had everyone make one of Gracie's favorite things out of Play Doh and then tried to get her to pick her very favorite. Megan had the inside track b/c she sat by Gracie and made Ariel and her castle...so yeah, Gracie would hardly look at anyone else's!

We also played another game where the three kiddos above tried to get as many skittles as they could out of whipped cream! Justin beat everyone by 1 skittle! They were great sports ;) And yeah Gracie opened alot of GREAT gifts! She had fun riding around with Gma Sally on the scooter b4 they had to scoot out!

All in all, a GREAT birthday party!!!! Fun was had by all ;)

Birthday in Pella

Rob and the girls headed down to Pella the Thursday of Tulip Time to spend the weekend with the Pella VL's. The girls had SO much fun being able to play with Nathan at his house. His Parents have made the coolest house for him to play in the the girls loved it!
Gracie plays so well with Nathan! over Easter break she had him sat down on a chair and was doing his hair for him. It looks like here she was holding him and he pulled up his shirt to let her blow on his belly!
The Aunties hit a home run with this cake! From what I here she was so enthralled with the cake she just got quiet once they put it in front of her ;)Daddy was a ROCKSTAR this weekend! Karys wasn't feeling the greatest and he had the duty of taking the girls all around to the festivities and helping Gracie open all her gifts. What a blessing he is as a DAD!!! I don't worry hardly at all when he has them by himself...I am blessed!
This little diva even got a gift from Grandma! What a cutie!

From Cali to Cornfields....

I headed out to Cali on the 2nd of may to pick up my little sister Meg from college. What a whirlwind that was! I got there Fri morning and left her to go visit dear friends...must say I was so enthralled with the VerWys family and how much we miss them I didn't even take one picture of thier dear boys! Who are getting huge and handsome! And yeah got to see my college roomie and her little sister too before the day ended!

All in all we made great time, had Great conversation, saw GREAT sites, and stayed with GREAT ppl, and survived it all with AWFUL colds!

Megan and I outside of her dorm, after an awesome breakfast with the Milhon's, after packing up her room, and before our road trip officially began!


So we decided at the last minute to take the route that would lead us through the Grand Canyon. B/c of our last minute planning we barely made it in time. I think we ended up catching like 40 minutes of daylight left! However, IT WAS AMAZING! You feel like you are standing on the edge of the world....how can you see this and not believe in GoD! It was like when you lean close to the edge you could feel the breath of God! So worth the $ for the time we got to spend here!

Lisa picked an AMAZING restaurant to meet at! We had so much fun catching up with her and Jordan and yeah we finally had an AMAZING meal that wasn't fast food!

What a blessing the trip was....one that we may never have the chance to do again. Wow! We shared so many laughs, stories, convos, naps, and songs....I couldn't have picked anyone better that I would have rather driven across the country with! Love my little sis so much!

Heaven

Gracie-- "My baby died..."
Mommy-- "Really? What does that mean?"
Gracie-- "She's not coming back."
Mommy-- "Where do people go when they die?"
Gracie-- "Mexico..."

We went on to talk about this and straighten her out! SO HILARIOUS THOUGH! Later at the end of the conversation she told me that we should tell everyone about Jesus so they can all go live in heaven. She also said that it would be silly not to live in houses in heaven...so we came to the agreement that we would all fit into God's house and there would be bed's for everyone, but she still wants to sleep with Meggie!

Last Month In Pics

Making cookies with mommy is always a treat! Especially when we both get to lick the dough! Gracie is quite the clean nut and was insistent on washing everything after making cookies and anything else that we used while eating lunch.
Putting the big girl bed in Karys' room to being getting her used to seeing it with the hopes of transitioning into it. Gracie and Karys enjoy it together on the 1st day in her room!
Chalk and more chalk! If it hasn't rained lately, you'll more than likely see plenty of artwork on our font sidewalk/cement pad. The girls just love to play with chalk.
Apple Jacks and smiles! Karys orders jacks with milk and a poon, i.e. spoon. Gracie takes her's dry as finger food.
Gracie makes a friend at the indoor pool and goes down the slide repeatedly with her. It was fun to watch her in that 1/2 hour grow up right before our very eyes!
Gracie loves to color! Working intently on her Pooh coloring book in the big chair.

Karys exhausted after lunch and falls asleep on the family room floor, fingers and blanky close by at all times!
A package from Auntie Heather with summer clothes including new dresses, and of course it was a no-brainer that they had to wear them to church that Sunday. Thank goodness it was warm enough.
Karys' interesting new favorite spot- under the kitchen table with yes, her fingers and blanky.
Going for a walk on a beautiful Saturday with babies and strollers. We walked completely around the block in what might have been the longest walk around the block in history, but it was too nice to mind!
Baby Leah comes to visit and help at the garage sale!