Family trip!

We are in the middle of an awesome trip to see family in Steinbach, MB and in Orange City, IA. It's been a lot of fun, a lot of visiting (and a lot of driving!)

The kids have had a great time, and they have enjoyed playing with cousins so much!

I'll post more later because I'm busy enjoying myself, but here is a little taste:













Thanks so much to everyone who made us feel so special! It meant a lot to me to be able to create such great memories with my children. It brought me a lot of joy to watch them enjoying some of the same activities I was doing 30 years ago!

Ohana's last day of kindergarten

We enjoyed a fun little ceremony at Ohana's school yesterday morning.

Here is a taste of it:



I missed them announcing her name - lots of parents with cameras in my way! :)



They did a few songs together as a class, but this one was the one Ohana was most proud of.

Church family camping trip

This weekend, the girls and I enjoyed our annual church camping trip held at Hurkey Creek. I could write many paragraphs about the things we did together, but I'll save it to a few highlights:

- We were able to invite our neighbor and his two kids to join us.
- Having "church" outside is always a special experience for me, and sharing it with the girls is even better.
- Playing in the creek is so much fun.
- Even though I thought I was prepared for the chilly evenings, I was definitely not prepared for 30 degrees!
- I love our church family (and our kids love our friends' kids!)
And...
- I'm glad Jenetta got a little bit of a break and a quiet house for a while.

Spring Concert at Heritage

A few evenings ago, we enjoyed the spring concert at Ohana's school. It was on a rare day where the temperatures reached the upper 90s. So the crowded gym was uncomfortably hot - especially for parents who had to arrive an hour early for practice.

Since the kindergarteners were only involved in a few songs at the beginning and again at the end, we went outside to cool off and play with Lynn. We know that we will be sitting through many, many more of these types of events! :)

We are very grateful for this school. It has provided exactly the kind of structure and discipline that Ohana needs, and it has been great to witness her development because of it.

One of the songs was a song we used to sing with my family when I was growing up :)

Ohana is not hard to spot...

Family Fun Day

Catch up day...

A few weeks ago, we enjoyed a fun afternoon at Ohana's school fund raising event. It is a lot of fun to watch her interact with her friends and to see Lynn get excited about starting kindergarten.

Each class put on a booth that featured a game or activity, so we went around the courtyard playing games and winning prizes.

The girls like getting their faces painted, so one highlight of this event is probably the best face painter we have ever seen. It was almost worth the 45 minutes we waited in line!