13 years ago
Monday, May 28, 2007
Memorial Day
A very nice Memorial Day - the men (Dad, Greg, me) painted the railing on our front porch, which badly needed it. Meanwhile, the women (Mom, Katelyn, Lisa) bathed, fed, and practiced wedding hair on the children. Later, Annika asked nicely and was allowed to use the digital camera. That led to the following collage of Abby, which I discovered on the computer later that night. Enjoy!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Baptism
Last Sunday Jake was baptized. Many friends and family joined us at church, and the baptism was highlighted by Annika singing "Jacob, Jacob, God Claims You" in front of the whole congregation. She did a great job, we all beamed with pride, and she caused more than a few tears to flow in the congregation. Greg kindly took a digital video of Annika singing and I hoped to put it on YouTube for all of you that are far away to see, but the video is sideways and huge in file size, and I don't have any video-editing software. Lisa's grandpa also took very nice analog video of the entire baptism, and we're glad to have that.
Afterwards, we had 33 people at our house for a party. I spent most of my time on the deck, where I grilled more meat that I ever have before - a dozen hot dogs, 16 hamburgers, and 18 brats. Dessert was a great cake from the DeBoer bakery, which we finally finished three days later. Just for fun, here's a couple pictures...
Meanwhile, Lisa has strep throat (yahoo!). Tee ball is done. Our thermometer read 92 degrees today, although the humidity isn't too bad. Jake is two months old. In a couple weeks, school will be done and it will really be summer. Our neighbors, whose house had a fire last fall (I think it was), had a fire in the dumpster that's in their driveway from the repairs.
An anecdote: Abby comes out of her room, a pacifier in each hand. Mike encounters her in the hallway. She hides them behind her back. "What do you have there?" says Mike. "Little People," Abby outrightly lies. She'll be 3 in July!
Afterwards, we had 33 people at our house for a party. I spent most of my time on the deck, where I grilled more meat that I ever have before - a dozen hot dogs, 16 hamburgers, and 18 brats. Dessert was a great cake from the DeBoer bakery, which we finally finished three days later. Just for fun, here's a couple pictures...
First, Greg displays the quality ale available at the gathering - Bell's Big Porch Ale, an amber ale brewed for the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island
Second, Mike grills the flesh of many animals:
Meanwhile, Lisa has strep throat (yahoo!). Tee ball is done. Our thermometer read 92 degrees today, although the humidity isn't too bad. Jake is two months old. In a couple weeks, school will be done and it will really be summer. Our neighbors, whose house had a fire last fall (I think it was), had a fire in the dumpster that's in their driveway from the repairs.An anecdote: Abby comes out of her room, a pacifier in each hand. Mike encounters her in the hallway. She hides them behind her back. "What do you have there?" says Mike.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Country Living
Life continues, out in the country:
Our old strawberry patch is coming along, even though we haven't done a thing for it this year. We're not planting a garden since we're hoping to move. The riding mower is frequently in use (although I had to jump start it with my car when I first got it out this year - I didn't even know that could be done). Between mows, the dandelions are blooming like mad, much to the delight of the girls (by the way, there's nothing cuter than a 2-year-old Abby in a ponytail running barefoot through the yard). I could make the huge list of birds that are around, but I'll spare you (the hummingbirds showed up, too (sorry about all the parenthetical comments (here's another!))).
Our super-gardening neighbors have added livestock to their life, too, with three goats and a baby cow. The goats are named Pam, Nicole and Rebecca, while the cow's name is Ground Round (guess what he's for!). However, with the livestock also comes a fully armed and operational electrified fence. Fortunately there's a buffer consisting of their garden and the road between our property and the fence, so the girls won't accidentally run into it - apparently it's a very unpleasant experience. Meanwhile, the dirty starlings built a nest under the cap of our propane tank, which I eventually had to clean out. They had laid eggs, and I broke one getting them out, but then the girls and neighbor Leo made off with them. Annika eventually dropped two of them and Abby simply squeezed hers too hard, but Leo still had his 30 minutes later. A different day we found and chased a two-foot snake along the edge of the house, and later Abby and I found one on the road while taking a walk with Jake.
Phew! We'll miss all this if and when we move, but we won't miss being so far away from everything.
In non-country related news, we've been watching a lot more TV lately, since we're always trying to pass the time dealing with Jake before bed. It makes me pine for better cable, in order to get more sports, since you can watch that even with blaring static on, if that's what's necessary to calm Jake down. Besides that, I've seen more American Idol and Dancing with the Stars than ever before. Personally, I think DwtS is more entertaining, and Annika loves it. That said, here's a preview of coming attractions...
Annika's dance recital is June 2.
Our old strawberry patch is coming along, even though we haven't done a thing for it this year. We're not planting a garden since we're hoping to move. The riding mower is frequently in use (although I had to jump start it with my car when I first got it out this year - I didn't even know that could be done). Between mows, the dandelions are blooming like mad, much to the delight of the girls (by the way, there's nothing cuter than a 2-year-old Abby in a ponytail running barefoot through the yard). I could make the huge list of birds that are around, but I'll spare you (the hummingbirds showed up, too (sorry about all the parenthetical comments (here's another!))).
Our super-gardening neighbors have added livestock to their life, too, with three goats and a baby cow. The goats are named Pam, Nicole and Rebecca, while the cow's name is Ground Round (guess what he's for!). However, with the livestock also comes a fully armed and operational electrified fence. Fortunately there's a buffer consisting of their garden and the road between our property and the fence, so the girls won't accidentally run into it - apparently it's a very unpleasant experience. Meanwhile, the dirty starlings built a nest under the cap of our propane tank, which I eventually had to clean out. They had laid eggs, and I broke one getting them out, but then the girls and neighbor Leo made off with them. Annika eventually dropped two of them and Abby simply squeezed hers too hard, but Leo still had his 30 minutes later. A different day we found and chased a two-foot snake along the edge of the house, and later Abby and I found one on the road while taking a walk with Jake.
Phew! We'll miss all this if and when we move, but we won't miss being so far away from everything.
In non-country related news, we've been watching a lot more TV lately, since we're always trying to pass the time dealing with Jake before bed. It makes me pine for better cable, in order to get more sports, since you can watch that even with blaring static on, if that's what's necessary to calm Jake down. Besides that, I've seen more American Idol and Dancing with the Stars than ever before. Personally, I think DwtS is more entertaining, and Annika loves it. That said, here's a preview of coming attractions...
Annika's dance recital is June 2.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Six weeks down
Quickly, stuff that has happened:
Annika and I started tee-ball. My semester ended. I went to a math conference, heard some good speakers, and hob-nobbed. Meanwhile, Lisa bravely took the girls and Jake to Chicago for Lizzy's shower. Today Lisa went back to work and I had my first day alone with Abby and Jake. Jake is sleeping some longer chunks, but not anything we'd call "through the night" yet. When taking a calm, broad look at everything, we're mostly doing well. Catch me at the right moment, though, and I may eat you.
Pictures:
First oriole of the year!
Annika took the following two pictures. The first one highlights Jake's awesome complexion.
Truly, Abby does not always look like a ragamuffin. She actually cleans up quite nicely. Thanks for looking! Baptism is May 20, and you're all welcome to join us!
Annika and I started tee-ball. My semester ended. I went to a math conference, heard some good speakers, and hob-nobbed. Meanwhile, Lisa bravely took the girls and Jake to Chicago for Lizzy's shower. Today Lisa went back to work and I had my first day alone with Abby and Jake. Jake is sleeping some longer chunks, but not anything we'd call "through the night" yet. When taking a calm, broad look at everything, we're mostly doing well. Catch me at the right moment, though, and I may eat you.
Pictures:
First oriole of the year!
Annika took the following two pictures. The first one highlights Jake's awesome complexion.
Truly, Abby does not always look like a ragamuffin. She actually cleans up quite nicely. Thanks for looking! Baptism is May 20, and you're all welcome to join us!
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