School's out!

Yesterday David had his last day of school. It seems every year goes by even faster than the last. What a blessing his school, teacher and class has been. He has done very well with his peers and in his school work. We have seen him grow and mature so much this year. He's a pretty neat kid with a great caring heart. I snapped the traditional last day of school photo with his teacher as I came to pick him up. We will miss her, but thankfully she will be just down the hall next year!

In May we had the privilege of a visit from my cousin Crystal. She lives in California and we haven't seen her since our visit to San Francisco over a year ago. She was a frequent visitor when we lived in Colton as she lived only an hour away. She got to stay almost a week with us here and we had fun showing her around our unique area. We went to Shipshewana and learned more about the Amish and Mennonite people and their history. We ate lots of chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes and pie, pie, pie! She toured the RV Hall of Fame museum with Mark and Luke and she drove to Ohio to visit some of her friends that live there. We made her earn her keep by working her my mom's garden (ok, she wanted to. We tried to tell her she didn't have to do any work!). She sweated and huffed trying to break up the hard ground with the cultivator. Here she is taking break with the kids.

The garden is coming along nicely. The plants are almost all planted and there are already strawberries growing on the kids strawberry plants!

While Crystal was in Chicago, she picked up these t-shirts for the kids from the Field Museum. They absolutely love them and want to wear them all the time. Here are my little fierce dinosaurs and their new favorite shirts. Thanks Cyrstal! They had a great time with her and just loved having her here.

Hannah got a bonnet from Yoder's Department Store in Shipshewana. I think she looks like Holly Hobby! She loves it! No outfit is complete without a pink satin purse and some sparkly pink flip flops.

We are finally getting some warm, sunny weather. Perfect weather for sprinklers! The kids had a great time! If you can believe it, we had to come inside about 1/2 hour after I took these photos. The dark clouds rolled in fast and we had a thunderstorm that lasted all evening.

I haven't figured out where Hannah learned to pose like this. She did this the second before I snapped the picture!

Probably the biggest change we have had this month is that my mom moved out of our house on the 26th. I was so sad to see her move out, but love that she has a place of her own now. She needed the space. Her remodels are coming along slowly, but she is getting settled and unpacked. Can't wait till everything is finished. It's going to be beautiful!

Time for a quick update

Life has been busy around here lately. Spring has finally sprung with no sign of snow in the forecast. We've been busy watching our bulbs grow, planting new plants, weeding, and enjoying the wonderful weather. David has started his first year in Little League with his first game last Saturday. The kids have less than one month of school left till summer vacation.

We've been enjoying our first spring here in Bristol. It is so amazing to watch the woods come back to life. The trees are just now getting their leaves back and the underbrush is getting thick. I went out to the woods to plant a few baby trees yesterday and got thoroughly scraped up by the black raspberry branches. Luckily the poison ivy has not returned yet. Our pink magnolia is in full bloom and the trees are a flush with white and pink blooms all over town. I am continually amazed at the changing landscape. You truly haven't experienced spring until you've lived in the midwest. We went from a barren, snow covered landscape to an alive, flowering and green one. It is like in the Chronicles of Narnia movie when the snow starts melting and spring appears, except it is taking a lot longer!

Change is in the air all around us. My mom has bought a house here in our subdivision and is in the process of moving her things in. She is planning on doing some remodel changes to the house like re-carpeting, painting, and landscaping. She will be moved completely in a few weeks when the carpet gets done. I'm happy for her that she finally has a place of her own, but we miss her already. She has been living with us since September and it has worked out really well. She has become a seamless part of our household. The kids are always asking where Grandma is. "She's at her house" I say. Luckily her house is in walking distance and the kids get to go over frequently to "help" her.

We've hosted several family get-togethers since my last post. Our house seems the perfect place to be for the 20+ gatherings. Just this past weekend we had the family over plus some old friends from Marion, IN for a surprise party the celebrate the 70th birthday of Mark's dad. He was pretty surprised! He was delighted to see some of their good friends from his old church family. It was a beautiful and special day.

Tomorrow is Luke's 5th birthday! I am bringing cupcakes to class today and Luke is so excited! As usual, I can't believe how old he is! I remember the day he was born. My tiny little peaceful baby with the white tipped blond hair. He is constantly talking and is nonstop action. He loves to play with David and Hannah and test all his boundaries with me. I can't wait to see what this next year with bring!