The last day of August!!

It's hard to believe summer is wrapping up. Seth, Megan, and Gabe are ready to go back to school. I'm thankful I have until October to get ready to go back!! Joy is 6 months old already. Here's a few pics from the last week.

A basket full of blessing!

A backpacking baby?? Tom might get his outdoorsy girl yet!

Tom and Gabe at the Hudsonville Fair.

Cran-Hill Ranch

We spent last weekend at Cran-Hill Ranch. We had nice weather (a little humid) and the nights were great for sleeping. Joy slept poorly the first night we were there, but slept normally the next night. The kids enjoyed looking for frogs and turtles, visiting the cats in the barn, and playing carpet ball in the game room. They made some cool tie dye shirts too. We had a potluck with six other families from our church on Saturday night and a campfire. It was a nice time of fellowship. Our last night there Joy woke up at 3 AM with a fever. I wasn't too worried because Megan and Gabe had a fever earlier in the week that went away after a day or so. She slept fitfully until morning when I gave her some Motrin and she was her old self again. We packed up early and headed home.

Gabe riding horse. I can't believe how big he is!

Tom and Joy by our campsite.

Joy loves to lick! I hope Gabe's knee was clean!

Megan and Joy at the beach.

Where's Seth??? That's what we asked all weekend. He was off with Tyler or Aaron DenBesten having a good ole time. I didn't get any pictures of it though!!

Baby Joy

Joy is growing up so fast! She rolled from her back to her stomach on August 8th and now she rolls all over the place! Yesterday we saw her army crawl towards a tempting tag on her blanket. She did it even more today! One of her destinations was our new cat Carly. Good thing I was there to rescue the cat . . . Joy's got quite a grip! (j/k!) She also enjoyed her new highchair this morning and gulped down some baby oatmeal.

Prayers for our friends

A couple of families who have brought children home recently from Ethiopia are in need of prayer. Please pray for Misgana: that she will begin eating and drinking well, be healed of any parasites, and running around with her three new siblings soon! Please pray for her loving parents to have strength. Also pray for Devin: that he recovers fully from head trauma incurred in Ethiopia, that his development continues to explode, and for peace for his parents. These children are such an amazing blessing. Praise God!