Summer+Water=Happiness

It was 87 degrees today in Michigan... which is INCREDIBLY AWESOME! Ruby played in the sprinkler with her friends Cash and Parker while My friend Breanne and I sat in the sun sipping diet cokes. It was a wonderful way to spend an hour this afternoon.

Ruby's clothes were soaked, so I put her in her car seat naked for the ride home... and she was lovin' every minute of it. We don't have AC in the car, so all the windows were down and she

laughed, squealed and kicked her legs around the whole way home. Ruby loves playing with her friends almost as much as she loves the wind blowing on her nakedness.

To Van, or Not To Van

I'd be lying if I told you that Ryan and I haven't had many conversations lately about mini-vans. It's a reality that we're staring in the face as I talk about wanting to have a whole pile of kids and as we watch the odometers on our current vehicles far exceeding the 100,000 mile mark. We both grew up in families that owned mini-vans. My mom drove a red Astro (lovingly nick-named "the brick") for decades... literally decades.

Our friends that drive mini-vans love them so much. They go nuts about their mini-vans. Their kids even seem to love their mini-vans. They say things like, "how did we ever manage before owning this awesome mini-van?"

What do you think? To van, or not to van?

Its Friday

It's Friday...

• In 12 days Ryan finds out where he matched for Fellowship! I'm so excited. Match Day is June 2!!
• Ryan's mom is taking me to see Beth Moore tonight! That was her gift to me for my first Mother's Day. I can't wait! So fun!
• I love summer weather. love love love it.
• Ruby disobeyed me this week for the first time. She has been dropping her food off the side of her highchair tray then looking at me. So that's something new to figure out how to deal with. She used to pull her hand back when I would say no, but now she drops the food anyway.
• Can Verizon get the iPhone soon... please?
• In other news, my brother Aaron and my cousin Josh fished the flats this morning and caught these beauts! Doesn't this picture make you want to go fishing?

The Point

Ruby has been pointing for the last few weeks, but she doesn't quite get the concept of looking at what anyone else is pointing at. I can emphatically point to something and she will look at my hand pointing, but not at what my hand is pointing at. The more I theatrically point with my entire arm from the shoulder the more she enjoys looking at my hand... pointing.

Really funny. She'll get it eventually.

'tude

In case you think she's always sweet as pie...

When she's mad she is FURIOUSLY RAGING MAD!

More Pics from Mother's Day Weekend

The Cox family drove down for the occasion. We loved having them there to celebrate Ruby's dedication with us!

Apparently we are in the stage of life where all of us look like sisters instead of mother and daughters. Isn't my mom a beauty? (she's the one in the middle)

Check out this AWESOME YELLOW RAINCOAT Ryan got me for Mother's Day! I love it! It's yellow. (It is so bright Ruby has to squint whenever she's near me.)

Dedication Service

My Grandpa GG dedicated me when I was a baby. I love that Ruby's Grandpa could dedicate her - it was really special.

I love Ryan's face. He is so handsome I can hardly handle it.

Granny and Papaw were there too!

The girls were pretty tired by this point... their faces crack me up in this picture.

Thanks to Jeff Myers for the great pictures!

Happy Mother's Day!!

I was reading my Uncle Andrew's blog and this picture was too good not to share. This is my beautiful Granny (my mom's mom) and her two sons John and Andrew on Easter Sunday evidently sometime in the 60's. So many things about this pic bring me joy. Happy Mother's Day!

Baby Dedication

Tomorrow is a big day. We are going to Granger's Child Dedication service so Ruby and her cousin Lydia can be dedicated together. Baby Dedication means that Ryan and I are making a public commitment to God, to ourselves and to Ruby that as her parents we will raise our daughter according to God's Word and God's ways. It's going to be a great day!

"As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." And he worshiped the LORD there. 1 Samuel 1:26-28

Tulip Time 2010

If you live anywhere within driving distance of West Michigan, you simply must attend Tulip Time in Holland. Maybe you remember me blogging about it last year, or the year before that. One reason we love it is because it's at Hope College... where our love began. Tonight we had a few hours before dinner, so we decided to put on Ruby's tulip-shaped hat and took her to her first Tulip Time. The best part about all of the following pictures is that she is either looking at or playing with the grass. I don't think she even noticed the tulips.

Family in the Woods

I'm feeling quite refreshed after spending the weekend with family that I haven't seen in awhile. Aunt Becky came up north to meet my niece Lydia, along with my Uncle Matt and Aunt Linda. I love spending time with my dad when he is with his brother and sister. I love having that same kind of great relationship with my brother and sister.

My parents are walkers. They walk and walk and walk then they turn around and walk some more. I walked with them a couple of times and now my legs feel like they are going to fall off. It's hilarious. My parents are both fast-walkers anyway, but during their daily walks together they try to go as fast as they can without breaking into a run. They are awesome. I'm glad they spend quality time together each day talking and walking.

My mom simply can't get enough of her two granddaughters. Here she is. Loving every minute with Ruby and Lydia. Ginger the dog seems to be happy too.

My dad is nature man. He sees things in the woods that no one else would notice if he hadn't pointed them out. Then, he grabs his camera and tries to get a great shot so he can share nature with all of us who don't live in the woods. Over the last couple of days we saw deer, turkeys, ton's of birds including an owl, and even a wild turtle. We were driving along the road on Saturday and he pulled the car over, got out and then we saw him taking pictures of this huge crazy-looking alligator snapping turtle.

Life is an adventure. I'm so thankful that Christ came so that we could live life to the fullest. He didn't have to, but He loves us enough that He gave us the capacity for relationship and put us on this incredibly beautiful planet.

Not your average walk in the park.

Ryan had a crazy weekend on call in the NICU, so Ruby and I decided to spend a couple of days in Granger. While we were there, Grammy and Grandpa Beeson took Ruby for a walk...

Here's the video. It's worth a watch.