Mackinac Island Vacation

After all the excitement last week, we decided it was time to get away for a little while. We'd been wanting to get to Mackinac Island before we move out of Michigan and this was a good time to do just that.

We took the ferry across to the island in the morning. It was a little chilly up top on the boat, but was pretty exciting, too.
We packed up some bikes we borrowed and the burley so we could ride around the island. The weather was gorgeous for our 8 mile trek.

We made plenty of stops along the way--to play on the rocky beaches, take lots of pictures, eat lunch....
...and do a little geocaching.
After our bike ride, we had a little snack, walked around to see some of the sights, and get some of their famous fudge. YUM!
After we got back from our trip to the island, we decided that as long as we were here, we'd better drive across the bridge, too.
Our next day was filled with more geocaching in the area before we headed to Petosky State Park.
Anna wanted to play on the playground equipment before heading for the beach.
She loved playing in the sand, throwing and collecting rocks, and studying bugs on the beach.
Matt spent most of his time at the beach doing his own rock collecting.
Here's the collection of (mostly) petosky stones he found. We feel relaxed and refreshed after a little time away.

Trail-a-bike

Anna (or should I say Matt) got a new toy the other day. They decided to try it out this afternoon.

The trail-a-bike is just a tad too big for Anna, but she'll grow into it very soon. She had a lot of fun riding behind Daddy and was pleased that she could decide whether or not she would pedal. We don't think she's ready for any long distance biking yet, but we were excited to get a sweet deal on this and look forward to having some good bike rides this summer.

GRADUATION!

Now that we've recovered a little bit, I better blog about this most important event in our lives! Saturday morning, Matt graduated from Calvin Theological Seminary with a Masters of Divinity degree! We are so proud of all the work he's done and how much he's grown in his preparation for ministry. It's been an amazing 3 years! We're so thankful for family and friends who've seen us through this challenging time. We are really looking forward to see where God will have us serve now. It's an exciting time.
Matt's ready for the graduation ceremony.

Matt and Scott have gone through this whole seminary experience together. We are so thankful for Scott and his family! We've had lots of laughs (especially elephant jokes), lots of support time, and lots of fun with the Elgersmas.

Matt with some of his good friends!
President Plantinga congratulated Matt after the ceremony.
Anna and I are so very proud of Matt!

We had a grand open house after graduation. Several seminary friends, neighbors, church members, and much of our family came to celebrate with us. It was a very exciting day!

CONGRATULATIONS, MATT!

Whirlwind Weekend

We got back from spending a very quick, very busy weekend in Colorado Springs this afternoon feeling very exhausted, but also very blessed.
We met some fantastic people, saw some beautiful mountains, and were overwhelmed with support, encouragement, and friendship!
After scrambling on some of the red rock in Garden of the Gods (which Anna thought maybe should be called God's Garden), Anna struck this Ariel pose.