Mississinewa Camping Trip

About a year ago, our friends the Daniel's started an email conversation about having a reunion this summer of the original "Young Marrieds group" from church. Some of the crew had moved away, all have added many children to the mix, and we felt it was time to reconnect. So, what better way then to go camping???? We decided on a somewhat central location as some were in IN, MI and MO. So off to Mississinewa, IN it was. After 6 hours of pulling a pop-up and Rachel crying and Morgan and Nicole getting along really well, we made it to the camp site. As we pull in, one of our friends notices that one of the tires on the pop-up has shredded it's tread. "A miracle we made it here" we say. We had no indication on our drive there was a problem. Our camp site was perfect, 8 sites around a cul-de-sac where the kids could ride bikes and play without danger of cars. We had a wash-out of a day on Friday and spent many hours in a Walmart and back at the camper trying to get everyone to take a nap. We had a fun day on Saturday on Lake Mississinewa swimming, BBQing and riding on the pontoon boat. The girls loved the freedom they had to run and play and get dirty without much concern from mom or dad. Bedtime came later than normal and usually after many smores and roasted marshmallows. Morgan loves to find bugs, Nicole loved riding her bike in the cul-de-sac and Rachel had another idea of what fun is. Friday morning the rain woke us up at about 5:30am. Rain on the top of a pop-up sounds like a large hail storm. So we had an awning on the camper and decided to go outside and watch the rain. Little did we know that Rae's friend Brooke had slipped over to our camper and as I look around I see Rachel and Brooke in the POURING rain riding their bikes around the cul-de-sac in the rain, in their pajama's. Not a care in the world just loving being up at 6 am riding bikes in the rain. Now that is classic Rachel Rae. We had a really nice time, and I (Kelly) loved being outside for 3 days straight. The pictures are of us with the camper(thank you Andy and Denise), Nicole and mom on the boat, Rachel and mom at the campsite table, Nicole and friend Julia sitting by the fire and Morgan and friend Kaelyn roasting marshmallows. Enjoy the pics. We will be in NY this week and back on the blog after 4th of July. Have a great holiday. Thanks for looking.

Kindergarten Graduation

Morgan graduated from Kindergarten last Wednesday.

Mom was able to take the morning off from work and attend. The gym was packed with parents and family members

so I am glad I took the time off of work. This was not an impromptu ceremony. Nicole didn't "graduate" from kindergarten so I guess I didn't realize how important this was. Morgan had a great year with a wonderful teacher Mrs. DeCarlo. She learned a lot and made some special friends. Morgan's favorite parts of kindergarten were art, recess and reading. Morgan also loved attending Kinderday care on Friday afternoons while mom worked. The pictures show her getting to her seat, with her teacher, with her big sister Nicole and the last one was a surprise that Morgan had been eluding to for a while. Morgan is not the best at keeping things a secret so mom and dad were surprised. Morgan got to be in the front row and hold the "QRS" sign for the alphabet song the kids sang. She was very cute and sang all of the words. She then got to stand right in the front row where mom and dad could see her perfectly. As dad said, "it pays to be short sometimes". So on to first grade for Morgan. Morgan and Nicole will be attending a different school next year, Beck Elementary. Thankfully they will be in the same school building and this school is 5 minutes from the house, Hooray for Mom! Stay tuned for a post on our camping trip we took this past weekend.

It Only Took Seven Years

It only took 8 1/2 months for God to form you.

It only took one minute for us to fall in love with you.

It only took 3 days for the hole in your heart to heal.

It only took 3 weeks for you to come from home the hospital.

It only took one year for you to learn to talk,

It only took mommy's tears and two years for you to walk.

It only took three years until you ran around.

It only took four years until you rode a bus.

It only took five years for you to shine in school.

It only took six years until all your friends thought you were cool.

It only took seven years until they all could say-

"The doctors were wrong, she is very strong and will no more be delayed"

Praise God for He is Nicole's Maker who formed her heart, hole and all, and knew all her strengths and weaknesses. Her Father knew that at seven years of age she would graduate from her "special educational and physical limitations" and prove them all wrong.

We were told at the end of this school year that Nicole no longer qualifies to recieve special educational help and physical therapy. She has met all her goals and is exceeding everyones expectations.

Nicole's 7th Birthday Party

We celebrated Nicole's 7th birthday on Sunday, June 8th. We invited her friends to an afternoon of swimming, cake and ice cream, playing in the gym and climbing on the indoor play structure. Nicole really enjoyed herself and I think the kids did too. We all got in the water, even Uncle Chris and Uncle Kenny. We played "spider web", volleyball and basketball in the gym and the kids loved climbing up the rock walls and jungle gym. Our party ended, most kids had left when those remaining were rushed into the women's locker room for safety from the horrible storm and possible tornado. No one really enjoyed that part, but as I told Nicole, "we'll never forget your 7th birthday". Enjoy the photos.

Morgan Starts Piano

Morgan's first day of piano was last Thursday. The top picture is Morgan with her piano teacher Ms. Carol at her first lesson. Morgan was all smiles throughout the lesson and really did an amazing job at listening and following Ms. Carol's directions. Ms. Carol has a very good reputation as a piano teacher who expects great things(and lots of practice) from her students. The bottom picture is of Morgan before her daily practice session at our piano at home. Great Granny Kelbert has graciously given us her piano, and after the piano technician repaired and tuned it, it sounds like new(4 hours of repair!!!). Morgan has been very faithful with her practice and is really catching on fast. Stay tuned for more updates on the piano lessons as we are committed as Morgan says "until she is an adult".

Our Favorite Hobby

Two weekends ago, Mike and I were able to get away for a day and go hiking.

We went to Pontiac Lake Recreation Area about 30 miles west of our house. Mike and I love to hike, but don't get to do it very often. This is something we did even when we were dating. Hiking combines two things I love, being outside and exercising. A friend recommended this hike and it was a great recommendation. We hiked for 6 miles and it was a good combination of uphill and down hill. The hike had some great views of the inland lake and some really beautiful trees. The rain held off until we were walking back to our car. The map above is the 13 mile loop. We did the first three then turned around. We have taken the girls on two hikes and hope this summer to add a few more.