My Little Frog!

Well, over the weekend, Everett decided to sit up all on his own! He probably figured after 3 nights of self-soothing to get himself to sleep through the night, he might as well act like an even bigger boy! He is very strong. At his 6-month appt last week he weighed 17# 2oz (50%) and was 28 1/2 " (95%). He is a very healthy young man and still as good as can be! The happiness continues with this kid.
We made a visit to Portage Lake to see Sue's parents. Of course, Maverick had to drive the golf cart and he had a blast. Jesse, Greg, and I all went tubing behind the pontoon. I hadn't heard Jesse laugh like that in ages. It was a great time...until I almost lost my bottoms in the middle of the lake. But, all was recovered!

Maverick reading to Everett whether he wants to listen or not. Brothers.

Lexi and Maverick playing in the pool. This pool was the best $10 investment ever. Go Meijer!

Maverick looking a little "special" with his goggles on.

Precious Everett sleeping at the beach.

Maverick taking it all in.

A couple of weeks ago, I went on a spontaneous trip to Alabama to help move Ahna into her new place. While there, we got to enjoy the Gulf Shores. We were able to see a bit of the oil disaster, but I'm sure nothing like it is in some places. Greg and I made it back to MI in record time 15 1/2 hours. The GPS said his max speed was 87 MPH; I must have been sleeping during this time!

On a final note, my prayers have been answered. I recently started a new part time job at a small college called Grace Bible College. I will be their new accounting specialist. I will get to do all of the business things I love to do. So far, I have great coworkers and a great working environment. I will be working 15-20 hours/week. I've also found a great in-home daycare for the boys. Things are slowly starting to fall into place.

Jesse continues to stay busy with work. He's averaging 65-70 hours per week, but he is thoroughly enjoying it. And, he's learning a lot. Luckily, all of our family is close, so I am able to find time to spend with them so we don't have to be along.

Transitions

I didn't think a week could top graduation week, but this one has. Jesse's brother Seth and his wife Kari moved to Missouri today as Kari is starting medical school there. Jesse officially starts his residency tomorrow, and Ahna, Jesse's sister, moves to Alabama on Sunday to be near her boyfriend and start nursing school. Emotionally, it has been a roller coaster, but we are all getting through it. Since June slipped away, and I still didn't finish blogging from May, I'm just going to pick up here. Maybe I'll revisit those events at a later time. But, for now, I wanted to get recent pictures of the boys up!! Here's Maverick enjoying his sandbox! He loves playing in there. I don't even know how he fits in there with all those toys. We are really enjoying our fenced-in yard.
Seth, Kari, Maverick, and Jesse enjoying the fish.
We went to a Michigan Whitecaps game a few weeks back. Thrifty Thursday= $2 beer, $2 pop, and $1 hotdogs! Who could ask for anything more?

Soaking up the rays at the game.

Maverick feeding Everett his bottle. No one makes Everett smile or laugh like Maverick; it is too precious!

Although, Everett is pretty easy to please. And, he loves his exersaucer!

Maverick concentrating with his backhoe. He loves that thing.

Cheese!!

And, the most content baby on the block. Everett is just so dang happy, and it makes us so happy!

May Part I: Graduation!

May, what a busy month! I am going to work in parts to give everything proper coverage. We had graduation, baptism, and our move all scheduled within 3 days. It was crazy and fun all at the same time. As you know, Jesse and I are all-or-nothin kind of people so why wouldn't we schedule it all for one weekend?

First off, Congratulations to Jesse Van Heukelom, MD!! We are all so proud of you!Jesse had his picture taken in front of this very sign when he started med school 4 years ago. We can't believe how fast (and how slow at times) the time went. His head really should be much larger with all of the knowledge he's crammed in the past 4 years. Vermillion was a great place for us, but we are ready to go and explore new places!

The weekend started on Friday evening with the hooding ceremony in Sioux Falls. Most of our family was able to make it and the whole tribe came in from Michigan. Each student was recognized and a summary of their accomplishments and activities was read while being hooded. I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the accommodations, though. Apparently, the med school staff forgot to reserve the regular venue in advance, and we were left to enjoy this prestigious event in a blaw meeting room in the Holiday Inn. However, the cheese and desserts that followed were pretty tasty!

Here's Jesse with part of his Yankton crew. He will miss his carpool terribly!

Dr. Jesse and Kathy Van Heukelom.
My Grandma K always said I should marry a doctor or a lawyer, so I did. Thanks for the great advice! Love this guy!As most know, Jesse's favorite part of a party is the cake. When we were at HyVee deciding on the cake, Jesse said, "What should it say?" Jokingly, I replied, "Don't Kill 'Em Jesse." We both laughed and thought it was perfect. I think the baker thought we were crazy. Jesse and his favorite Grandma Ruth! After her trip to SD, she flew straight to Anchorage, Alaska for another grand-daughters graduation.

Oh, how I will miss my bff Jennifer.

Jesse in the hood!

We just sank the Titanic

This weekend Cristian & Carlee are visiting us from Omaha. This morning we went Morel mushroom hunting with some success. We found about 7 mushrooms which we're going to eat for supper. I put some in the meatloaf, so we'll see how that tastes! Then, this afternoon after Maverick woke up from his nap, we headed to the local ice cream shop Scoops to conquer the Titanic Sundae. It was 5 scoops of ice cream, loads of toppings, & 5 eaters. It was amazing! I think Cristian & Maverick enjoyed it the most. Carlee was left to savor her vanilla ice cream. Silly girl!

The New Van Heukelom Residence

It's final; we have a new place to live in Grand Rapids! We are so excited about our new house and upcoming move. We thought we had found the perfect place, but we were disappointed to find out it probably wouldn't be available the entire 3 years we live there. However, God opened a window and I believe we found an even better place. It is listed as a 3 bedroom house, but has an additional bedroom in the basement. It has 2.5 bathrooms, and big kitchen, tons of space for the kids, a fenced in yard, AND this amazing tree house! I was sold when I say this. Our landlord has been great to work with so far. Can't wait to have you all over. We'll finally have room to host a party!! No, we will not be sleeping outdoors at night, but it is probably one of the best highlights of the house.
If you know me, you know I love the kitchen. It's my favorite place in the house. This one is nice and big.

The outside. You can see more pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/20789478@N04/page2/

Ready to Make the Move

This past week we took a road trip to explore our new home in Grand Rapids, MI. The kids did great in the car, and we were able to make it with only 3 stops. We thought we had found a house, but we were disappointed to find out the house probably wouldn't be available the entire 3 years. However, we found another great house, and it looks like we will be signing a lease this week! We are very excited. Once it's finalized, I'll post the pictures. Here's Everett getting a bath at Grandpa Greg's house. He likes his baths.
Everett and Aunt Ahna. While we were visiting, Ahna found out she got accepted to nursing school in Alabama!! We are so excited for her, but we sure will miss her. Luckily, she'll be sticking around til mid-June, so we have a few weeks to enjoy together.

Great-grandma Ruth and Everett.

At Greg's, we enjoyed the beautiful weather by playing some outdoor games. We were so sore the next day. I hadn't run in ages.

While we played, Maverick zoomed around in his Barbie car. He even off-roaded a few times, and we had to pull him out of the dirt.

At Carola's we had a Easter Egg hunt, and Maverick thoroughly enjoyed looking at and eating his candy.

The family after the hunt.

Oma Carola and Everett.

Everett and I enjoying bath time.

Best of buds! I love these kids!

Spring Has Sprung

That means Easter, baby calves and birds, and sheds. What a shed is I did not know until just this past weekend. My dad was telling Jesse about how buck deer shed their antlers (or do reindeer just have those, and I need to use another term?) each spring and you can walk through the tree strips to find them. This caught Jesse's attention because he's always looking for things to do outside at the farm. So, Jesse headed out to look and at first came up empty handed. Then, my dad went out too, and they not only found one but FOUR sheds! They were both very excited. There are pictures, but first, Maverick and his Easter basket. The Easter Bunny brought him lots of goodies and lots of tic tacs!
Not kidding when we say Maverick gets very close to the cows. Some are so tame, they eat right out of your hand. Maverick even got to see some new baby calves and pet them. He was pretty excited.
My buck.

Jesse, dad, and their collection of sheds. Jesse wants to use his sheds to make a cane or a walker. We had disagreeing ideas about where the horns would go. I thought they should be used at the top as handlebars; Jesse was thinking they'd go on the bottom more like claws. One of his patients apparently had a stellar cane with a bone handle, and Jesse just thought it was the coolest. For now, the sheds are being safely stored at the farm.

And, our baby hawk. If only it were a few years later, Jesse and I would have saved this baby bird. However, we don't think he would have thrived very well in the city. Many of you know, Jesse and I would like to take up falconry which is the raising of a big bird like a hawk. To raise the bird, you must be an apprentice to someone who already has a bird. Unfortunately, we couldn't save this little guy, and we were very sad. Our children are safe another day.