June 2010

We had so many things to celebrate in the month of June. A biggie was the fact that we completed the sale of our house in Holland. We loved living in Holland and still very much miss all our friends, but it is such a relief to no longer own property there. I wish the new owners the very best. It was a very happy house for us.

We also had a fabulously time vacationing "back east." First we traveled to Chicago to see my family. Here my nieces are trying to teach Maria to ride their skateboard. She was eventually able to let go of their hands for a few seconds and now desperately wants to have one of her own.

Then we had a party to celebrate my sister Chris' graduation with her MBA degree. Here is my dad with another one of my nieces during the party. Another thing to celebrate, my dad's 70th birthday today!

We ended our Chicago visit by all spending the day together at the community pool in my parent's neighborhood. This is an amazing facility and definitely had something for everyone to enjoy! The tubes you see behind the girls are for use on the lazy river and the water slides.

Then it was on to camping in Michigan with Dwight's family. This is a long standing family tradition and we all look forward to it every year. Here is Colin with my nephew Liam and his family's new puppy Pippin.

We spent time enjoying the beach, swimming in the lake, and catching up with everyone. It was wonderfully relaxing and we had great weather.

Of course, there was no escaping the obligatory family photo.

This week is always like a family reunion as Dwight's aunts and uncles and their families are all camping too. It really is a lot of fun. We've never tried a group picture of everyone. This is just a picture of our little family group. Our family drove in from Iowa, Dwight's sister's family came in from Wisconsin, his one brother's family came in from Massachusetts, and the other brother's family lives in Michigan. Aren't we a good looking bunch!

Just the grand kids. Colin is the oldest grandchild and Liam is the youngest.

Dwight's parents with their children and their children's spouses. Can you tell that some of us had no idea we'd be posing for family pictures and had just spent the day at the beach?

Helping children learn to ride a bike without training wheels is a time honored camping activity. Jon Felipe and I gave it a good shot this year, but he isn't quite ready yet.

Hoping you all had lots to celebrate in the month of June as well!