Greetings from GR!!

Hello all!! Kali and I made it to Grand Rapids!! We are having a wonderful time hanging out with an old College buddy, LP!! We flew in on the red eye and it has taken a few days to adjust. She is however getting back to her old self! Yesterday we spent the day at her parents house which happens to be on a lake...poor us!! It was a ton of fun, reading, talking, water activities and of course soaking in a little sun! Tomorrow we head out to Traverse City for the remainder of the trip and of course for the wedding!! Hope all it well....we miss you!! Here's a picture of the Q-T!!!

Relay for Life!!

Mom and her little super rockstar!! Ok...I know I just posted that we were headin' out, but I just got this picture in my email and had to post it! The Relay was a huge success...other then a little wind and rain!! I was very proud to be a part of it and look forward to next year!! That's it I promise...we really are leaving!!

Headin Out!!

Kali and I are heading out for the week. We are going to Michigan for my cousin Emily's wedding to her Mr. Right Ben!! We are excited for a fun time with both friends (LP) and family. I will try to post while I'm gone but if it doesn't happen....have a great week!!

Relay for life!

This weekend in Lynden I am participating in an incredible event called 'The Relay for Life'. It is a two day walk to fight cancer of all types! A couple of years ago I had a scare with melanoma and was blessed that it wasn't something more serious and that we caught it in time. However there are millions and millions of people battling this disease everyday and we are doing the Relay to make a difference. If you would like to help make a difference please click on the link on the right side of my blog and make a donation. Every little bit helps!! Thanks!!

Fun on Bellingham Bay!

Our good friends, Ron & Debbie invited us and the kids out on a little boating adventure around Bellingham Bay. The kids were sooo excited and I think Kali said boat about a 1000 times as we drove in to Bellingham. The ride was great and we experienced it all....fast....slow....bumpy....smooth! We were looking for seals and were lucky enough to see two, sunning themselves on the logs. Here are a couple of pictures from our adventure. Taiji, Kali & Jake
Cheesy queen!!
Handsome little devil!!
Cute as a bug in a rug!!
No boating adventure is complete without a nice meal at Anthony's!! The kids ate like pigs and so did the adults!!
Goof ball!!

Here's our cute seal!!

Just because she's cute!!

Early one April morning God blessed us with her,

a beautiful girl that we were sure.

Our hearts were filled with so much joy,

at the thought of bringing her home to our boys.

She makes us smile, she makes us laugh especially during a bubbly bath.

Weather it's dancing to her own beat or on her brothers feet,

we thank God everyday for this little miracle he gave us that one April day!!

Love you Kali!!

Happy 13th Truman!!

I can't believe it....we have a teenager!! Where does the time go! When I met Truman he had just turned 8!! I've seen this little boy grow and grow and now he is officially 13!! Truman is a great kid with lots and lots of energy. He loves sports passionately and it has been fun to see him improve each year. He has a love for the Lord and really tries very hard to make good choices! We are looking forward to what the teenage years will bring and I'm sure with a lot of prayer we will make it!! Happy Birthday Truman, we love you!!

Truman has been begging for an ipod...we decided that at 13 we'd give it a try!!
Truman loves his brothers in a 'I'm gonna beat you up and bug the heck out' of you kinda way...but he has a very soft spot for this little girl!!
Grandma knows the way to a sports minded boy...gift certificate to Dick's Sporting goods!!
Guela is known for her birthday shopping trips, and today was no different. The boys headed out at 11:00am and then we met up with them at Boston's for lunch. Grandma and Katie were able to join us...Good food and good people!! Now as I type Truman and Shane are off to a Father's day tourney on the other side of the state...let's see, new ipod, shopping with Guela, gift certificate to Dick's, road trip with Dad and a weekend filled with baseball...pretty good Birthday if you ask me!!

Our Graduates!!

We just wanted to tip our hats to our Graduates!! We are so proud of niece Chelsea and Stacey for their tremendous accomplishment!! Both of them are beautiful girls inside and out!! They have grown up together and now graduate from High School together!! We are sure that whatever they decide to do they will both do it with God by their side!! Chelsea will attend SPU in the fall and Stacey will be attending Whatcom to get her massage therapy licence!! You go girls!! We love you tons!! Chelsea with the kids
Stacey & the crew!!

Rainy day activities #1-Making Cookies

Oh the joy's of being out of school! 'Mom it's raining....I'm bored!!' Well this morning Jake and Taiji had practice out in the rain, (side bar-All three of the boys made the all-star team...more baseball!! Congrats boys!!) so Kali and Truman decided to make some cookies! They made a great team, Truman measured and put all the ingredients in and Kali ate the peanut butter and chocolate chips! Just getting underway, but already hard at work!
Nummy!! Notice the chocolate ring around the mouth.
Team VanDalen
Reaping some of the rewards of their hard work.
Truman did great, but of course both of them lost interest when the cookies went into the oven and there for the cleaning crew (me) had to step in and finish up! All in all it was a great morning and a great batch of cookies!

Are you ready for this???

When Jake and Taiji were in Kindergarten and Truman was in 3rd, we decided it would be a fun way to end the year if they all got Mohawks! It was a way to say, 'You worked hard and made it...now let's have a little fun!!' Well the tradition lives on and last night on Mohawk Monday each of the boys and friend Isaac received their very own new look!! Jake-Before
Jake-After
Truman- Before
Truman-After
Taiji- Before
Taiji- After

This Morning Kali woke to find her brothers looking familiar but oddly different, she quickly warmed up to the idea and received her own little blue Mohawk! My 'COOL' gang!
On the wall behind the boys is a picture of Abbey in the tub with a Mohawk. The boys thought it would be cool to have a picture with her!! One of those teary, what if moments!
We are defiantly a different group....but I wouldn't have it any other way!!
This is their attempt at looking mean...nice try boys!!
WOW, look at all that hair!!

Fun Stuff!!

We had a great weekend here at the VanDalen household. There was some baseball, yard work, splashing around in the creek, friends over, graduation parties, church, naps, deck swimming, and movie night. I'm sure I forgot some stuff, but I think you get the point...sometimes it really is the little things in life that make life worth it!! We had fun!! Kali at her cutest!
Gotta love the outside bath in a turtle no less!
Movie night-"Everyone's Hero" A baseball movie....of course!!

Field Day Fun!!

I'll be honest, it feels like yesterday that I was at field day for the boy's when they were in 2nd grade....now they are almost done with the 3rd grade, where did the year go!! This year they were on the white team, and they were disappointed, "The blue team always wins", they said. I responded with, "well it's time for a change, time for the white team to win!!" I was right, the white team stepped up and won Field Day!! I think it had something to do with the fact that I came with the white hair spray and white face paint.... Here is the white team I was in charge of...we rocked!!
My 9's!!
Jake's victory look after he threw the ball through all the rings and scored a perfect ten!!
Taiji and his buddy Nathan.
After the white team won, Taiji created a victory sign...this is it!!

Of course my competitive spirit came out and they will probably ask me not to come back next year....but it was a beautiful sunny day and we had a ton of fun!!

I'll let you know about next year!! =)