Playing Downstairs

It has been yucky weather around here so we are getting out some of our energy by playing downstairs

Feeding the bears

Nathan and Ella love their stuffed bears. We do a lot of feeding them, combing them, and hauling them around the house.

We miss you Grandpa and Grandma Beckering

Camping in August

Nathan taking a look at the beach

Ella cashed out at the beach

Now Nathan taking a snooze at the beach

We love chips

Using our new camper for the first time

Ben and Nathan taking a tubby bath

Ella loved to be right with the boys. Not so sure Trenton likes her on his bike!

Anna just relaxing

Hayden loves camping

Ben, Trenton, and Luke had quite a bit of fun together

Nathan and Ella pushing Anna around the campground

Bath time for Ella

Ella showing us her "muscles"

Nathan liked the pool

What is going through their little minds!

Best photo of them before church

Ella giving us her cheesey smile

It has kind of been a whirlwind summer here. I see now I have not posted in awhile, so I will try and give some updates. After our Beckering vacation, we spent a little less than a month living by Tim's parents until we could move into our rental house. It was kind of nice to have built in babysitters, but I am sure Mom and Dad Stuive are enjoying the quiet and toy-free house. We moved into our rental in the last week of July. We feel pretty at home here and really enjoy their big backyard and having a park a couple houses down from us. The kids have adapted well to many new environments so we feel thankful for that. The first week of August, I went camping with my friends Rachel and Carissa for a week at the Christian Conference Grounds near Holland/Grand Haven. We had a great time. Oh yes, there were the few melt downs by the kids, but we felt better knowing we were all in it together. There were 7 kids to 3 moms at times. The husbands were up a lot which helped out. Nathan and Ella did good. They had to adjust to sleeping in a camper and we had one afternoon of crying it out, but after that they slept good in the pack n plays. We really enjoyed our using our camper for the first time and we hope to go on a fall trip in September. Now life is pretty back to normal. I am working my 2 shifts a week at work and Tim continues is hunt for a job. He has a couple more leads so we are praying for the right one. It has been a nice summer and cannot believe we are already in August. We have been looking on line for houses, but nothing specific yet. We will keep you informed. Hopefully my next post will be sooner than later. I'll try post some pictures of our rental house next week.

Nathan and Ella's first pool

Here is a short clip of Nathan and Ella in their first pool. They loved it, but I am sure there was more water outside the pool then in the pool by the end of their playing

Updates

Wow.......has it been awhile since I have blogged. So many things have happened, it is hard to know where to begin. I will try give some of the highlights without getting into too much detail, less this becomes a book.

-we sold our house in May and had to be out by June 22. We decided it was too quick to find a house in that short of time, so we are going to rent a house in Hudsonville. We spent much time packing (I highly suggest you only do this a few times in your life. Although it is a good way to declutter your junk). My mom came up and stayed with us for almost 2 weeks in June and it was an absolute blessing. She took the kids on almost two hour walks and helped pack, and much more. We are so thankful that she could help and spend quality time with the kids. We are able to move 90% of our stuff to the place we are going to rent and some of the stuff went to Tim's parents. Their garage has never looked so full. It was a very bittersweet time for me. Although we knew we wanted to sell and get closer to family, friends, and church, we also knew we would be leaving a great neighborhood and good friendships. I will truly miss all my great neighbors and pray God will bless us with another great neighborhood to raise kids in.

-we have temporarily moved into Tim's parent's house until we can get into our rental house on July 23. They have so gracious to let us move in and take over the basement. The house can be quite noisy at times, but I do think they enjoy having the twins around for entertainment.

-we just got back from our family vacation in Northern Minnesota. We went back to Elbow Lake Lodge. We had been their two years ago and it was fun to reminisce about then and now. We added 4 more grand children to the mix, so their was a lot of noise and kids everywhere. We really had a great time. Oh yes, there were the few meltdowns, but everyone took comfort in the fact that each family had their own meltdowns and no one was left out with having crabby, tired, or sick kids. We enjoyed the evenings when all the kids were sleeping and the adults could enjoy playing cards and games. We had a blast down and the beach and on boat rides. It was such a great bonding time for all of us, especially since we don't get to see each other that often. We hope to make this a tradition. We left on the 4th of July and spent some time in Duluth, MN and then the Stuive family headed home on Sunday night. I always go through a time of homesickness when I have been with my family that much, but I have tons of pictures and videos to keep reminding me of our good times.

-so the present........ we are spending time at Tim's parents and starting to look at a few houses. We promised our renters, that we would be in the house for 6-8 months, so we don't need to be in a rush to find a house.

So that is my update in a nutshell. I will try blog a little more regularly now that things have slowed down. All for now!

Elbow Lake Lodge 2009: "Beckering Family Vacation"

The Family Picture...not too bad for 8 kids and 8 adults

Nathan is not so into picture taking

Mom and Dad

Darin, Tricia, Brayden, and Breanna

Dan, Laura, Bennett, Caleb, Kylie, and Avery

Family picture with the lodge in the background

One night we had a water balloon toss and the little kids had fun popping their balloons

What a little man

Three of the four girl cousins playing in the sand

On a boat ride to check out the rest of Elbow Lake

Look at that cute body

Grandma on baby duty

Ella is quite the lover...giving Breanna a hug

Nathan has taken attachment to his blanket and sucking on his lower lip

Ella is stealilng the show

"hamming" it up for the camera

We decided to do a "cousin" birthday party to celebrate everyone's birthday. We had cake and lots of gifts.

The other boat that went out for a ride

This picture makes Tim look short

Plying together in the water

Look at Ella's cool sunglasses

Nathan is ready to go surfing

It was a little cold in at the beginning of the trip, but that didn't stop us from getting on the beach

Look at Avery's classic way to suck on her fingers. It is so cute now, but not for long right Laura!

Nathan and Ella got camp chairs for their birthday presents

This is Nathan and neigbor Bennet checking out the truck before we packed it up for our move

How much is that baby in the window?

Nathan and Ella in the back of G. Beckeirng truck ready to head up to Elbow Lake

Nathan loves his blankie

Taken on Father's Day. Love you Daddy!

Grandma came and stayed with us for 2 weeks to help with the move. Here she is entertaining Ella and Nathan by painting their toe nails

Saying goodbye to my Brees Way neighbors. Oh... I will miss them

I couldn't resist!!!!!!