meanwhile...

Hello!  Been a while since I've posted any photos!  Here are some highlights from the past month and a half. (Warning: This may get a tad long.)

 Nath the Greath.

 We got chicks!  Six Rhode Island Red pullets.

 B.J. took the ol' garden shed in the backyard down (part way down, that is - it was already falling down) and turned it into a coop for our baby hens.  It looked a little too much like the ol' shed...so Marie, Nath & I bought some pre-owned paint cans at a second-hand store and went to work!

All finished!  (Yes, Marie's in her swimsuit, mud-boots, and a gold-bead necklace...fairly typical apparel for our little fashionista.  ;-)

 Feeding the geese at North Lake Park with friends.

 School picnic games...

 ...including Tug of War!

 (Celebrating the girls' victory over the boys.  :-)

 Willem's Kindergarten class at graduation.

 Derrick, Willem and Caleb sang a special number.

 Da graduate.

(But don't let this sweet expression fool you...a frantic Marie just called me outside: "Mom!  Willem's playing on the roof!"  I go outside.  Willem is prancing along the ridgepole.

(Granted, our house is a ranch house, so the slope of the roof is not steep.  However, there's really no reason for anyone to be prancing around up there...especially Will.)

Me:  "Will, get down!"

Will:  "But, Mom, I like playing up here!  Why do you have to make me come down when I can see so many beautiful things that God made from up here?"

Me: (Sigh)

Will: Climbs down.)

 We went for a drive after the Memorial Day Breakfast at church.  If you want to drive into the mountains from our house, the closest routes follow the Thompson River to Estes or the Poudre River to...well, I'm not exactly sure where the Poudre route ends up yet.  Anyway, we just went for a drive.  And these first few photos are from a stop along the way.

 Willem and Leah hunting bugs. 

 

Insert a note here about Marie.  The sun in CO is very strong - we're a bit closer to it here than in Iowa.  And Marie didn't have a sun hat last year, so this year I was pretty excited when we found this one for 75 cents.  She's got a large noggin, so it's hard to find hats that fit her.  Well, Marie was pretty excited, too.  She wears this hat EVERYWHERE (and it's pretty hard to miss her when she's got it on!  ;-)

 If this photo looks rather bleak, that's because it is...this is some of the burn area from last summer's massive High Park Fire.

 I get pretty queasy on the curvy mountain roads...but by the time we're headed home I'm usually feeling well enough to lean out the window and snap a few photos as we drive.

 Memorial Day rafters.

 And....Eli Caleb is 9 months old!
Sweetie Pie's favorite thing is an open door -
closet door, refrigerator door, cupboard door, outside door...
Every mom knows open doors are great for:
peaking past
crawling through
rummaging about
and pinching you!

 We walked to the nearby sculpture garden to take Eli's 9 month picture, then headed back home.

(Whew! At least Mom gets a workout!  ;-)

 B.J. took the kids to Loveland's annual fishing derby - everyone caught at least one fish!

 (It was a little breezy that morning - see the sun hat on the ground?  :-)

 Learning to spin wool into yarn at the annual Estes' Wool Market.

 Vendors from all over the west were there...

 and so were all sorts of wool-producing animals.  Llamas, goats, rabbits...

 and sheep of all kinds...

 ...including some Jacob's sheep (this one had four horns - we were told they can have up to six!)

 The wool market reminded me a lot of a county fair, but it was in Estes, which means when you move from tent to tent you're treated to some incredible views:

 Watching the llama limbo.

I don't have photos to share of two big highlights from the past few weeks:
First, soon-to-be "Uncle" Joey & his family visited (we're headed to Iowa next week for his and Sherry's wedding!).  Also, we hosted Rev. Smit over the weekend.  Both were times of sweet Christian fellowship.

The day after Memorial Day marked the 1-year anniversary of our move here. B.J. started his summer job that morning, and I was up early with him to pack his lunch and make his breakfast.  I was feeling a little gloomy, but my thoughtful husband left a letter by my Bible, and, as I wrote to my sister, I decided to practice disciplining my emotions.  ;-)

It is beautiful here.  The climate is lovely.  We have met many fellow believers here that we never would have known had we not moved.  Our life is richer because of them.  We've learned how to live in town, and we've learned what it's like to be the "new family"...on the block, at church, in school...  We've learned that our loved ones are not all that far away - a click, a phone call, a memory...a prayer.  The Lord blessed us with our "Colorado baby" only a few months after we moved here.  What would we do without you, Eli Caleb!?  I've become better at using our home for hospitality, whether our guests stay over-night or just for a meal.  We've watched our children grow.  We've gotten a little larger glimpse of what it means to belong to the Church catholic, and we understand a little more of what it means to be Reformed.  We've had numerous opportunities to share our faith.

For all these things, we thank you, Lord.  Your will and Your way are always perfect.

I'll leave you with this photo of the kids playing in the kiddie pool,

and the garden growing in the background!

Happy Summer!

Love,

Sarah