Hello mother...Hello father...

Well... the girls are off to camp for the week. Tate and Quinn are up at Cran-Hill Ranch. They will be there until Saturday morning. Haidyn is out at Camp Geneva day-camp. She is gone from 8am to 5pm everyday this week.

So...my house is clean, and I think it just might stay that way for more than...5minutes?!?!

What will I do with my new found "freedom"? I am in the process of stripping the wallpaper, and paint in Tate's room, and tomorrow, if I get all the prep work done, my mom is going to come and help me paint.

I'll post some photos when it's finished.

I have found that my brain finds it hard not to multi-task. Everywhere I go I get this sinking feeling that I'm missing something?

Oh well, before I know it, it will be back to life as usual...so I will enjoy this peaceful week while it lasts.

Define...Yankee

Last night one of the girls...I think it was Quinn asked what a Yankee was.
Well...you've got Yankee Doodle...

or...the New York Yankees

or... if you're Haidyn..."it's the doctor who yanks your teeth out."

Tatelynn had to have two of her teeth "yanked" yesterday, so I am pretty sure that her response was derived from the days events...but none-the-less it was met with much laughter!

Just thought I'd share the super cuteness that comes with a 6 year old!

"Are we there yet"?!

We "trolls" have just returned after spending a few days at Cedar Campus in the upper peninsula. (troll is what the yoopers call those of us from down below the bridge.) My brother works at the camp and his family is living there for the summer.

We left Sunday morning...and after just over 5 hours, and hearing "are we there yet?" one to many times...we arrived!

The camp in located just west of Cedarville on the shores of Lake Huron. It is beautiful!!

While we were there we...

• encountered a very large leech at the water front
• played in the pool
• visited tad-pole-topia(many times)
• hiked to Sandy Cove and played in the water on the big rocks(where grandma broke her toe!)
• hiked to Narnia and found the lamp-post
• went to the nature center located in a very old very cool house
• played at Mariners Cove
• kayaked in the bay
• did lots of swinging
• played carpet ball
• saw thousands of mayflies
• eat very good food at the lodge

but...most of all it was great spending time with our family because we miss them so much.

Thanks Eric, Ann, Cody, Taylor, and Jake for letting us stay with you and showing us all the cool things at camp. We had an amazing time, and can't wait to come back!!

I created a slide show of our time there...ENJOY!!

cedar campus

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thoughts for Fathers Day...

God took the strengh of a mountain,

The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ...
Dad

Happy Fathers Day...
to all the dads we love!!
We're everything we are
because you love us!

CONGRATULATIONS MIKE & TRACY!!!!

I became an "auntie" again yesterday.
My brothers best friend, Mike and his wife Tracy,
had a beautiful, and tiny baby boy.

Hunter Michael Rose
June 14, 2007
8:30 (ish) pm
4lbs. 11oz.

(Sorry about the glare...it is hard to take a good picture from the outside of an incubator!!)

He arrived about 4 weeks early due to some "minor"complications.

While Tracy was in labor at the hospital...
Hunters daddy was flying into Grand Rapids from Baghdad, Iraq,
he arrived at 3:15pm!!
Just in time to see his baby boy enter the world!

Please pray that Hunter will be able to maintain his own body temp. and continue to eat like a horse so he can come home with his mom and dad...hopefully by Sunday!!

on location...VK girls photo shoot...

I finally made work of taking the girls yearly photos today. We went to our favorite "locale", Spring Grove Park, and this is what we came up with...

Tatelynn turned 11 on March 1st
Quinn turned 9 on February 10th
Haidyn turned 6 on April 21st.

Like I said in my first post...they grow up WAY to fast!!