Holland State Park

Every year when spring starts to show,  Ryan heads down to the beach to see if it's warm enought to start going every week.  Here are pictures of the kids on the sand dunes and running around.  It was still alittle cold.  Mommy waited in the car.

Wonderful World of Botox Injections

Once again Joshua was a trooper for his outpatient procedure in February.  Ryan took him to have his tri-monthly botox injection.  He hates the needles, but he loves the breakfast he gets afterwards.  This time however, he had a hard time keeping the food down due to the anesthetics.  Poor guy.  Ryan rewarded him with a bottle of pop and he promptly showed it off to his brother and sisters.

Sledding

Earlier this year, Ryan took the kids sledding to a nearby hill.  It is a great sledding hill: very steep and very fun.  He was afraid he would be doing most of the work.  However, they helped pull the sleds up and everyone had a great time.  Here are some pictures.

Valentines, the Post office and Cookies

On Valentine's day, Jaxen and Gracie had a field trip.  They went to the Library for story time, then to the Post Office to deliver a special valentine to their special valentine, and finally to the local bakery for a heart shaped cookie with white and pink frosting.  They were in heaven.  Here are some pictures that were provided to us by their teachers.

Baptism, Swimming and Snow

Last weeked Ryan and I were able to take the family to his nephew Brady's baptism.  It was a short trip, but we had a great time.  The kids loved seeing their cousins and since Mariah (Ryan's sister) stayed in a Hotel, got to take them all swimming.  My kids love water and love to swim.  Here are some pictures from the pool.

Later in the day, we watch Brady blow out the candles on his cake and open his birthday presents.  Here is a picture of all the cousins that were visiting for the weekend and of Brady with his presents and cake.

This kids loved playing and spending time with family.  They were sad to see us go so soon.  We were also questioning our decision when it took 9 hours to get home (a trip that usually takes 5 1/2 when Ryan is driving).  We hit a wonderful ice/snow storm on our way home and had to drive very slowly.  You just gotta love Michigan/Ohio winters.  Right?

More school days

Here are some more school pictures.  Rachel had a field trip to Champion Gymnastics and here are a couple pictures of her.  The others are of Gracie and Jaxen with various activities.

Blizzard of 2011

Last week was the most awesome blizzard of 2011.  It was the worst storm here since the 1950's and we were privileged enough to be here for it.  In 2002,  I drove in a horrible blizzard that made a 1 hour trip last 4 hours, and I never thought I would make it home.  This time, I was glad to get to stay home and not have to go anywhere. 

As it turns out, no one could go anywhere.  Even drivers with four wheel drive had to wait for the plow trucks to come and dig us out.  Three or four were stuck in front of our house which kept the kiddos entertained for a couple of hours.  Here are pictures of the kiddos and the snow outside our garage when Ryan went outside to plow the driveway.  The snow drifts were 3 1/2 - 4 feet high.  In the back yard, the kids could step over our fence without having to climb it.  They had a blast playing on the hills and valleys the drifts made.  In the end, we ended up with 19-20 inches of snow and 2 snow days.