Pooped Out After a Busy Week

In the midst of all the sorting and packing we've been doing this week, we've tried to balance with some fun things as well. Anna spent a day with Grandma and Aunt Jo Jo, an afternoon with her cousins Justin and Amanda, some time with Mommy at the Children's Museum and at the library's story time, going to Grandma's and swimming in the lake, and spending some time with wonderful friends.
We spent some time this week with some friends from California who were in town for the afternoon. It was wonderful to do some catching up over ice cream at Jersey Junction.
We also had a blast spending the evening with our favorite friends! After a delicious dinner, the kids had such fun playing dress up, dancing, blowing bubbles, and hanging out together! It was such a great night!
Even after such a busy week, Anna woke up really early this morning and wasn't feeling very chipper today. It's about 6 pm as I'm writing this and I just took this picture! She's pooped!

Kids These Days

We got together with my sisters and their families last night. Before we left, I made the kids sit on the couch for a picture. They reluctantly agreed to sit for some photos...
...and then excitedly agreed to stay on the couch once I told them they could break out the phones!
This is the photo of how we normally see most of the kids!

Fashionista

We recently acquired some new dress up clothes. Anna decided to wear them all at the same time! Isn't she beautiful?

The Big News

I finally found time to video tape Anna announcing our big news.



After much prayer, many sleepless nights, and lots of conversations, we believe God has led Matt to accept a call to pastor Bellevue CRC. We're hoping to be in Washington before the middle of August. Matt's got his classical exam already set up for mid-October. We are very excited! Now on to sorting, packing, and cleaning--we're not so excited about that!

Borst Family Get-Together

This afternoon we spent time at the lake with Matt's extended family. There was lots of catching up, good food and plenty of swimming.

Anna has become a little fish in the water and would spend all day in the lake if she could. She rarely wants to be bothered with silly things like food! Some of the bigger kids (the 5 and near 7 year olds) got a tube ride behind the fishing boat with their grandpa. Anna really wanted to go along, but I knew once she got out there, she'd probably freak out. I told her the rule was that she couldn't do it until she was five. She was pretty ok with that. There were some kayaks around, so after she went out with the kids, she took off by herself. We were pretty impressed with her skill.
Later, she talked Daddy into hooking up the tube onto the kayak and getting a ride. Since there were three girls who wanted a ride, one rode in the kayak with Matt while Anna and the other rode in the tube. They had a blast!

A Little Blast From the Past

As I was cleaning out Anna's closet, I found this backpack that Matt used to use carrying Anna around as a baby. They walked all around town together. Anna decided it would be fun to give it a try now. The other photo is from just before her 1st birthday. My how she's grown!

Fourth of July Weekend

It was nice to have the 4th of July on the weekend. It seemed to make the holiday last a long time! After we celebrated Matt's birthday in the morning, we headed out to Grandma's house at the lake. We got to celebrate more of Matt's birthday, Aunt Jo-Jo's and Uncle David's anniversary, and Grandma's birthday (the 4th).

Anna was very excited to help Grandma put flags up in her yard by the lake. After lunch, she got ready to do some swimming.
After swimming out to the raft with her 2nd cousins, the boat parade started. They had a great view from there. Yes, that is the Easter bunny on that boat! Apparently the parade theme was holidays--we saw halloween, Easter, New Year's, and lots of 4th of July-decorated boats!
And what's 4th of July without a big turkey cooked on the grill! (We're trying to empty out our freezer/frig/pantry before we move.) Sitting in a fishing boat watching the fireworks over the lake was a nice way to end the evening.
On the fourth, we rode our bikes down to East Grand Rapids for their afternoon parade. It was a lot of fun. We were toward the beginning of the parade, so the participants were excited, had lots of energy, and were eager to pass out candy!
We came home with this bag full! It was better than halloween--we didn't have to dress up and the candy was brought to us! Even though we were all tired, we decided to head back to East Grand Rapids in the evening to watch the fireworks over Reed's Lake. What a fun weekend!

Happy Birthday, Matt!

Matt's birthday was sunny and beautiful, so we decided to start the morning with birthday breakfast outside.

Anna helped Matt open his cards. She dictated a special message for her daddy--it was very precious! (We've been postponing holiday/birthday gifts the past several months--less stuff to have to move!)
Happy Birthday, Matt!

Summer Fun

In between having tons of conversations about where we're moving and sorting and packing, we're trying to find some time each day to have some family fun. The other day we took advantage of our children's museum membership summer reciprocity program and went to the Gerald R. Ford Museum. Anna wasn't too excited, but Matt and I really enjoyed it. We spent some time at the public museum afterwards which was much more exciting for Anna. In July, we get to go to the art museum.

We also spent time at one of our favorite places--Meijer Garden! We met our good friends there and had a great time. These are the kids I've been babysitting for the past 2 years. We miss seeing them during the week!

It was a beautiful day and we spent most of our time in some of our favorite parts of the gardens--anything to do with water, the butterflies, and the sand.



Anna and I made a special gift for Grandma's (by the Lake) birthday on the 4th!