Happy 4th of July!

We continued our 8-year tradition of spending the 4th of July attending the Kentwood parade and having brunch with our friends.  It was HOT HOT HOT out there today, but we found a shady spot and enjoyed the parade.

Elizabeth, Esther, Anna and Peter

Miriam and our neighbor Riley:

All the cuties in their patriotic gear, ready for the parade to start!

It was really too hot to play outside, but the kids convinced the dads to get out the pop bottle water rocket for a few minutes.

It's hard to believe we started this tradition when Esther was just 1, and Peter and Anna were in their moms' bellies!  I think Anna said it best today:  "I just love this little tradition!"   :) 

Click HERE for a post from 2007 with some pictures from the first few years!

Since it was so hot, we watched a movie in the afternoon.  Then we had a few of our neighbors over for burgers.  We ended the night by allowing our kids to stay up and go to the Kentwood fireworks for the first time ever.   Yes, they are deprived children who are usually forced to go to bed on time so as to prevent crabbiness.  Hopefully we don't regret this decision tomorrow, but they definitely loved the fireworks!  I'm sure this will now be a part of our July 4th tradition for years to come!

Sandy Pines

This weekend we spent a long weekend at Sandy Pines Resort.  We have been there twice before and once again had a great time.  We rented a trailer, so we don't feel like we can really call it "camping" since we had a kitchen, beds, air conditioning and cable TV.  Basically this is what we did all weekend:

Rode around in the golf cart
Went fishing
Played in the pool
Went down the big waterslide LOTS of times
Got ice cream at the Dairy Dip
Played on the playground
Made s'mores
Played mini golf
Rode scooters
Had fun with glow bands
Relaxed

On Saturday night both sets of grandparents, Uncle Nick, and Aunt Elaine all came down to roast hot dogs over the fire for dinner and walk to the ice cream shop.  We enjoyed having them down to share in the fun.

Here are a few pictures from our fun weekend!

 

Esther is 8!

Today was Esther's birthday.  How can she be 8 already?  She started the day with breakfast at Real Food Cafe with Daddy, who took the day off work in honor of her birthday.  Then he dropped her off at church for the last day of Vacation Bible School.  All 3 kids and I have spent the week doing VBS and it's been a lot of fun!  After VBS we picked up Casey and headed to Olga's for lunch and even got to sit outside.  Then we went home and Esther opened her gifts:

A notepad and fun binder clips from Peter:

Foam letter stickers and neon gel pens from Miriam:

A CD player/radio with a remote (so she can control it from her loft bed!), the game Blokus, and a Bible case and devotional book from mom and dad:

Tonight she has a couple friends sleeping over.  They've done crafts, played games, eaten pizza and cupcakes and ice cream, and are now having popcorn and watching a movie.  Hopefully they get a bit of sleep tonight too!

Summer Fun

One side trip to Meijer on the way home from work + 5 new super soakers = 5 wet Kuperuses

Esther's First Piano Recital

She did awesome! We are so proud of her (Mommy did well on her duet as well).

Happy Father's Day!

We had a very nice Father's Day today.  We started by giving Casey cards and a gift and enjoying a nice breakfast together before church.  After church we went to my parents' house for dinner with them, Karen and Juan, Casey's parents and Nick.  The morning started out rainy, but it cleared up later so we spent most of the afternoon outside.  Well, Casey spent most of the afternoon watching the NASCAR race, which I think he would say was the perfect Father's Day gift.   :)

Here's the awesome Dad with his favorite kiddos!

Silly Faces!

Grumpy Faces??!!

We're thankful for Casey and also both of our Dads (Grandpas) who are all wonderful fathers!

Happy 8th Birthday Esther!

Today we celebrated Esther's birthday with our families.  Her birthday is actually this coming Friday, but it worked to celebrate it this weekend.  We had fun celebrating our amazing girl and can't believe that she is almost 8 already!

When she was going to turn 4, we got this cute birthday girl shirt on clearance with a gift card.  It was a bit small when she tried it on this year so she didn't want to wear it, but she did let me take a picture.  Here she is each year from age 4 until now!

4 years old

5 years old

6 years old

7 years old

8 years old

Esther received some really fun gifts including a big shelf organizer for her room, some nail polish, a really cool coloring/drawing book, a photo album, a game, a lava lamp, a cute dog shirt, and an online photography camp experience.  She also has outings with both of her Grandmas to look forward to in the coming weeks!

Triplets and a princess and a puppy! 



We had a great evening celebrating our awesome girl.  She is such an amazing daughter, sister, granddaughter and friend and we are very thankful for her and the gifts that God has given her.  We look forward to continuing to watch her grow!

Last Days of School!

Whew, we made it through the last few busy and fun weeks!  Peter had his last day of school yesterday, and Esther had a half day today.  They really loved their teachers and their classes this year, so it's been a week of mixed emotions.

Here are the kids with their bus stop buddies yesterday morning:

Peter's teacher invited parents to come and sing with them at the end of the day yesterday.  Since I had a staff meeting at school, Casey went.  It was really for the best since I would have been a blubbering mess.  I get sad at the end of things, and hearing those precious kids sing would have just put me over the edge!

Here is Peter with Mrs. VanSledright.  We are so thankful that both our kids have had her for kindergarten, and we look forward to Miriam hopefully having her in a couple years!

Peter with his good buddy Simon:

Here is Esther with Mrs. Malefyt.  She has been the perfect teacher for Esther and we are very thankful for her as well.  Esther is like me and gets emotional.  She was quite sad and shed a few tears after I picked her up at noon.

We are so thankful for our school and the blessing of teachers who help us teach our children about God and challenge them to grow academically, socially, emotionally, and most of all spiritually. 

It's hard to believe that all 3 kids will be in school this fall.  Miriam keeps asking when she gets to start preschool, so it could be a long summer for her! 

Second Grade Fun at the Park!

Today Esther and all the other second graders had their year-end field trip.  They spent the morning at Meijer Gardens and then went to GR Township Park for a picnic and games.  I was able to join her for the afternoon fun and we had a great time!  It was a beautiful day and they had many activities available for the kids.  It was a nice way to end the year.  Only 2-1/2 more days of school for her!