Sunday in Michigan

Sunday morning we got up bright and early and ALL of us headed to church. The service was really nice-the pastor integrated songs all throughout the message, so we were singing every few minutes. Eli loves music, so he was able to stay in the service with us.

After the service we went over and talked to Altena-aka 'Grandma Maxwell'. She used to baby sit me when I was a kid. I would go over there for a week when mom and dad went to youth camp, and she became 'grandma' to me-and all my brothers and sisters :) Eli went RIGHT to her! I was so surprised-he hadn't really 'gone' to anyone yet-not even my mom & dad. But he sat right on her lap for quite a while. It was pretty cute.

We went home and had lunch. Mom went up and got Grandpa Tuinstra from Autumwood, so he got to hold Eli for a little bit. Eli was a bit fussy, though, so he didn't stay long.

We had ham, carrots, & potatoes-Eli loved it. There really isn't a meat that he's tried that he hasn't loved :)

There's lots to do 'down on the farm'. Grandpa gives the grandkids 4-wheeler rides often. He has yet to take Eli...but I think that might be in the works pretty soon :)

Eli checkin' out his Aunt Kristi.

I think he likes her :)

Here are the babies that were here for the weekend.

Aren't they so cute?! There is Matthias, Eli, Maddie & Lauren.

Eli still lovin' the grass...
I think Matthias was about done with the photo shoot...

Aunt Linda with Matthias. It was so nice to see Aunt Linda and Uncle Terry. They are living in Colorado now, and we don't get to see them very often.

The guys got their guns out and were shooting skeet. My cousins are crazy hunters...they LOVE to go out hunting every chance they could get. We had talked about playing paintball, but we figured we would be at a distinct disadvantage when comparing their shooting skills to ours...

I was working on decorating some cookies-Adriana & Isaiah helped out.

Eli has really been enjoying the great outdoors. He loves sitting with daddy in the swing.

Grillin' some chicken for dinner. Rick was the 'master griller'. The chicken was amazing.

Getting a wagon ride from Grandma.

Don't take my picture!

Patty (my cousin's wife) and her baby Lauren.

Grandpa & Grandma came over for meals too. Grandma had some fun talking to Eli.

We tried to get a volleyball game going...but it never really got going very well. It was fun anyway, though :)

The game had some pretty cute spectators :)

The kids tried to get their own game going...

DIVE! Except it works better when you dive and hit the ball...

Aunt Randee

That evening Johnny led the family in some praise and worship. We sang a few songs and then had a testimony time. It was a very special time. It was very neat to hear what God is doing in the lives of our family, and a very good reminder of our heritage and what God has done. It is amazing to be a part of this family, and be surrounded by people that love the Lord so much.

That night we had a bonfire. This is Edgar with a sparkler-I set the shutter to a really long setting, and he drew a heart :)

We ended the night with fireworks :) Do you see the smiley face? It's upside down. Pretty fun. We sat around the campfire for a really long time and laughed SO hard at the stories from Mom's childhood. My Uncle Ron is hilarious, and has the funniest stories. I haven't laughed that hard in a very long time.

After the bonfire most people headed into bed. I stayed up with mom for a while and decorated cookies. It was pretty late, but it was really nice to have mom 'all to myself' :) We chatted and had a good time. We got to bed at about 12:30-exhausted, but glad to have had such a fun day!