Addy Grace is 3!

This is dating back a little bit, but I really wanted to share the pictures from Addyson's third birthday.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day! we had our LOVELY cousins in town visiting, and little miss ADDY was such a doll all day long!

The day started with wagon rides from uncle Rob...all the kids were smiling from ear to ear and eager to have a turn.

all the kiddos-minus Toby...LOVE LOVE LOVE Addy's face in this one!

She was having the time of her life leading the wagon ride down the sidewalk

After the wagon rides we made our way to the park.  We were hoping to grab some donuts-that was what Addy wanted for her birthday breakfast-but with it being Memorial Day the bakery was closed :(  The kids didn't seem to mind though!  They were thrilled to have the playground to themselves :)

We have a bunch of monkeys on our hands...the monkey bars are a favorite for moth Gracie and Karys

Soon they were hungry though, so Rob ran home and got a bucket of cookies left over from the Tulip Festival night show.  Again, the kids excited and happy :)

Yes!  Cookies always bring smiles :)

Toby also was able to get in on the fun--this little man LOVES to swing and was even happier to be swinging with Daddy.

Leah was working hard to pump higher and higher!

Seems to be the trend to swing with your tongue sticking out

Taking a break from the underdogs...excited to be wearing sunshine yellow on a very sunny day :)

Addy was such a joy to watch!  You could tell she felt so special and really felt the attention she was getting on her birthday 

Gracie also added to the excitement of the day-she lost her second tooth!  If you look closely you can see her tooth in the bottom left corner of the picture in her fingers and the new formed hole in her mouth in the bottom right of her mouth in the picture.

The excitement was too much for the birthday girl :)  She fell asleep like this around 5:30pm while we were making cupcakes...man, oh man our little lady might miss cupcakes and presents!

And the cupcakes were so fun!  Rainbow colored cake with frosting and sprinkles

Good new was she woke up...and her timing was perfect!  She missed supper but was just in time for cupcakes and presents :)

Happy Birthday Addy Grace!

Big Blow!!!

Time for PRESENTS!!!

But not until we all eat our cupcakes :)

Addy got a few coloring books of her own...

A CD of silly songs...

But all she really wanted, the only thing on her list...

was three packs--one green, one blue and one red-of....

GUMMMMMM!!!!!

Three packs of her very own gum and some extra candy as well makes for one very happy girlie!!!

And she was not the only one who was all smiles :)

With cupcakes eaten, presents open...it was time for some good ole wrestling!!!!!

The days events were coming to a close, I think this looks like one happy birthday girl...what do you think?

I love this girlie!!!  She is our JOY and brings laughter to us daily!!!  She is so carefree and easy going, yet feisty and spunky...she tells us all the time, "I am tough!"  And that she is!  The Lord has gifted our little lady to be a fighter, yet be so joyful and tender hearted.  May you continue to grow in your knowledge of him and be covered in his grace and surrounded by his love and goodness!!!

Grandma Great

One of our highlights of late May was having Grandma Great come and visit us for the weekend!  She arrived on Friday evening and stayed until Sunday after church.  It was such a lovely time!  She watched the kiddos just play and hang out in their own space and element.  They were thrilled to show her their tricks on the trampoline, how they climb the tree in the front yard, and tell her all about the final days of school and their summer plans.

Grandma also had some special plans...she took the three girlies to the Pizza Ranch for lunch, just the ladies :)  The girls were so excited they got to ride in Grandma's car and showed Gma the ropes at the Ranch buffet.  That evening, Jill came to babysit and Rob and I went out for dinner with Grandma to Blue Mountain.  We had such a nice evening! It was so great just to sit and talk with her without any interruption.  She shared with us different parts of she and grandpa's relationship, how she so misses him :( and then went on to share with us about how she came to know the Lord and different parts of her upbringing.

One other thing Grandma shared with us is how she has been working to memorize scripture.  This was wonderful for me, inspiring...Grandma has such a heart for the Lord and truly seeks to live her life for him and honor him with her life.  She truly prays for our family...I am sure in ways and on levels we will never know and I am assuming with the size of the family, she has her work cut out for her.

Grandma is establishing a legacy...especially for the women of our family.  She has shown what it looks like to over come adversity, she never got to go to high school, yet she held a steady job and was very successful throughout her working career.  She has shown how when you seek the Lord, your ways and your heart can undergo change--change that molds our hearts to the Lord and makes us more like Him.  She has shown what it looks like to put the One who matters most on the front lines...in the drivers seat.  She has continued and in many ways established a legacy of love, faith, and family.

Thanks for coming, Grandma!  You are wonderful, precious, and treasured...we LOVE you!

The beginning of the end...

As I began to look at the blog, I felt overwhelmed with where to start in regards to updating!  So many things have happened in the past month and a half...so many "lasts" and final pages of the chapter of our lives that we have spent in Orange City.  There have been so many memories though and great things, so one of the things I am hoping to do is catch you up to speed and do a little recording of the things that we have been doing :)  

One of the most fun things for the kids, and really us as a family, has been living kiddie corner from the Hummel family.  Julie and I really got to know each other this past fall when the Hummel's moved into the neighborhood and we began to talk about doing some child sharing.  We were able to maximize our babysitter usage and in return Addy and Isaac really became the best of friends :)  Man, I do get choked up thinking about their friendship coming to a close.  If you ask Addy who her best friend is she would not hesitate or skip a beat to tell you that it is Isaac; however, she would go on to inform you that Isaac is actually her boyfriend.  And that she loves him.  And that she has kissed him!  (I think this was the result of some peer pressure from both of their older siblings ;)  they were talked to right away!).  

The rest of our kids from there have also grown closer, especially with school ending and having longer days to play together.  They yell at each other from across the street, call each other on the phone, knock on each others doors, all to set up whatever play date they can.  

We love the Hummel's and got as much time in with them as we could before we left!

Having the Hummel kiddos over for supper...french toast and eggs :)

One of the not so easy things that we had to do pretty early on was get rid of our furniture.  We had sold it all to a college girl who used to babysit for us and is living off camp next year.  Because she was from down by Lincoln and the timeframe of our travels and closing date, she ended up coming to pick up the furniture about 2 weeks before we moved out.

Having our furniture be moved was definitely one of those things that made our situation seem so much more real.  I think for Karys it was especially hard.  She loved our big over sized chair!  Watched TV in it, napped in it, cuddled in it....everything!  When they came to take the chair away she got her stack of books and she was not moving!  I finally had to lift her out of the chair so they could move it.  "No, Mommy!  Don't let them take my chair."  Oh, man...didn't really see that one coming

The girls watching the furniture be loaded up

Gracie watching front he front window

A pile of the furniture sitting out on the frown lawn

Showing the Hummel kiddos our empty kitchen

The girls (and their good friend, Mia) sitting at the kitchen table eating ice cream

The Schwann's man knew that it was our last day, so he brought us a going away gift!  SCHWANNS Confetti Cake ice cream :)  It was fantastic!

 One night after supper, Addy put on a pair of the girls soccer cleats, this leotard and tutu, and just took off running around and up and down the sidewalk.

 It was HILARIOUS!  All of you who know Addy know that she did it in true Addy form!

 With multiple facial expressions...

 The entire time!!!  And then...

As quickly as she came, she was back off and running again :)

One of our first going away presents has been HEADBANDS!!!  This was one thing that I really thought we would need in Haiti--not wanting to use hair product and wanting our hair up and off our necks and out of our faces.  

 Polka dots, flowers, and bright colors for everyone!

 Our dear friend Brittany made them for all of us!  She did a lovely job and we were so excited and so blessed to be the recipients of her beautiful handiwork.  We love her and her husband Dustin and are so blessed to walk with them, play Ticket to Ride with them (often) and to call them friends!!!