May 2017

May was a month to get outside and enjoy the really nice spring weather.   We did a LOT this month and really enjoyed ourselves.  R continued to grow and she got a couple of teeth.  She has loved being outside, hanging out with people, and being the center of attention everywhere she goes.  

Ministry at Gold Ave Church also went well.  God answered prayers by calling more people to help with Children's Worship this summer, and lots of people signed up to help with our upcoming Arts & Sports camp.  I have been busy planning for that, we are hoping for many children to be blessed by it.  We have lots of exciting things happening at the camp, please pray that many kids (we are shooting for 100) come and are blessed to know Jesus!  Please pray for me as I continue to work on planning, lots of details need to come together now as there are only two weeks to go.

We started the month of May by celebrating my birthday early with our friends Scott & Kayleen.  We went downtown and ate at our favorite place - San Chez - we tried out lots of new tapas and had some of our favorites.  We also had a new dessert which was amazing! (Flan de Naranja - blood orange flan, vanilla bean wafer, lemon basil mint sorbet, blood orange sauce)  We would go there way more often if it wasn't so pricy, it is a place to save up and splurge on.  It is always fun to go with friends!

It was a nice brisk night, and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the river.

We had brunch on my birthday with our friends Neil & Annah.  We had mini-quiches, cinnamon rolls, bacon, pineapple, and pancakes.  Afterwards we went to look at some houses with them as they are looking for a house in the neighborhood.  Later in the day we went to the park so I could fly my kite.  We met up with my Mom and Step Dad and then afterwards I went to dinner with some friends.  It was a really nice day!

The next weekend we did lots of different fun things too.  We started off by going to watch the Riverbank Run with our friends Andrew & Lindsay.  We went to cheer on Annah as she raced.  R really enjoyed waving at the runners and they smiled at her as they passed by.  On Mother's Day we went to have ice cream with my mom, step dad, brother, sister & brother in law.  We were amazed by the size of the scoops at Get The Scoop!  After that we went to celebrate Mother's day with some of Rebecca's extended family... a busy but fun day!

The next weekend we went to visit my Dad & Stepmom and then we went to the kite festival in Grand Haven.  It was so cool!  There were lots of kites in the air, I was inspired!

We watched some kite teams flying synchronized shows.  They were so good, we just wished that we could have been there for longer time.  The weather wasn't good for the first day of the festival so we waited until Sunday, when the clouds broke and it ended up being beautiful.

Memorial Day weekend we worked on planting our garden.  I so wish I could put pictures of R on here, she loved going to Fruitbasket Flowerland, she was smiling and sniffing everything with a big scrunched up face!  

We composted our fruit and vegetable waste in a bin that I made last year.  I was skeptical whether it would work, but it did!  We had lots of nice fresh compost to put under each plant to give them a boost of nutrients.  I was excited about that!

We planted lots of different veggies, here Rebecca is planting peas.  We also planted seeds for carrots, beans, beets, herbs, winter and summer squash and cucumber.  

We normally start plants inside from seed in the early spring, but it didn't work out so well last year.  Instead we bought plants - here you see broccoli, napa cabbage, eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes.  We just love fresh produce from the garden, especially tomatoes!

We also got together with our family on Memorial Day and then went to Grand Haven to fly the kite.  Yes, Grand Haven is the perfect place to fly and I am maybe a little obsessed with flying.  It is kind of my hobby at this point, now I am starting to learn some tricks with the kite, they take lots of practice.

  We always appreciate your prayers; our lives and ministry are really blessed by God's answers to prayers that he constantly provides.  Thanks for keeping up with us!