Goodbye school -- Hello summer!

Isaac and Adam had a great school year. The end of this year is bittersweet as Isaac is moving from the elementary school over to the junior high. On the last day of school there was an awards ceremony and Isaac was busy getting his name called quite often! He was one of the 6th graders to have earned the Citizenship Award each year and was given a special honor. Adam has gotten it each year too! Isaac also got the Presidential Award for Academic Excellence. I was so proud of both boys!!! Here's Isaac with his best buddy Zack. They're such great kids!

Here is Adam and his amazing teacher Mrs. Behrendt. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect teacher for him -- what a lucky boy! I also loved volunteering in her class -- she and I always had so much fun together! Maybe too much fun! Those are tears in her eyes as she was having such a hard time saying goodbye to all the kids. What a blessing she is!

The last day of school. Every year on the first and last day of school I've taken the boy's picture on our front porch. In the fall we'll be taking the picture in our new home!

And now summer is here! On Saturday I picked up my nieces Cailin & Maren at the airport in Milwaukee. They're here for 2 weeks! Hooray! My brother Mark will fly in on Saturday to spend next week here too. The cousins have been having so much fun together. The weather has been yucky so we've been having indoor fun. We went shopping for fleece fabric and they all worked together making these blankets for each other. What a great keepsake to remember this fun time together.

Happy summer everyone!

Love, Joy

MidWinter Break

It's Sunday Evening which marks the end of an overall wonderful midwinter break. I am fortunate and still have an entire week's time off in February. Tim had Wed-Fri off and Carrie had Mon-Tuesday. But I had the entire glorious week. Thank you Lord.

I rested the first weekend and had fun with friends at a pizza party on Saturday evening and a Chili party for Sunday Night Dinners (a once a month event my friends and I partake in). I lead our church in musical worship on Sunday morning in which the message concentrated on God's Knowledge. He knows EVERYTHING - even the things we wish He didn't know - He knows. He still covers us in His grace. I am so thankful. This is one of the messages in our latest series called Your God Is Too Small. After church and before chili dinner, Flat Adam and I had a great time with my friend Alli exploring some of Detroit. We even took a ride through the tunnel to Canada. It was a lot of fun.

Monday through Wednesday I spent most of my time working on my taxes (still not done yet), preparing for my trip to Africa, and getting things in order at the house. Housework never seems to stay put. I also had the opportunity to see Tim's new house in Troy - he placed a bid on the house and it was accepted. Hopefully he will soon tell us all about it here at the blog!

On Thursday, Flat Adam and I took the train from Detroit to Chicago to visit Pete, Emily, and Alaina. It was so much fun. We relaxed and enjoyed each other's company the entire time. Alaina is growing so fast!! She is really starting to get all over the place. You should see that way that Alaina looks at Emily - it's precious - she knows that she loved - what a secure little girl. Pete made homemade baby food: carrots and apples. Pete told us how Alaina started crawling into their room to find him and that it just made his day! I had such a wonderful time and I can't wait to get back again.

I hope you are all well - Miss you lots - Tracy

Drumstick Dash!

Dad and I ran the Drumstick Dash on Thanksgiving Morning. The run was 4.5 miles long and it was a lot of fun! We ran it in 55:25. We probably could have done it a little bit faster but the course was PACKED with people. Dad and I probably ran at least a mile more zig zagging in between all of the slower runs (oh yes - we are so speedy :) )

A quick stretch before we hit the cold air. The temperature was 27 degrees when we started and was a balmy 37 degrees when we finished.

There we are in the crowd! There were so many people that it took us 5 minutes before we crossed the start line. Man it was frustrating but we eventually got some clear space to run free!

Here we are in the final mile. Mom and Lynne took pictures of us rounding the corner. Can you see their reflections on the pavement? Lynne grew up in the area of the race called Broad Ripple. She and mom had fun looking through the neighborhood.

38 Hours in Grand Haven

My friend Deedee invited me to join her for a quick trip to Grand Haven. I always enjoy going and spending a little time at the beach. We drove in VERY late Wednesday evening - really Thursday morning and I took a quick picture of the coast guard ships that were docked.

I love the bright red light house that is on the pier in Grand Haven. It is right across the street from where we stay - its a specatular scene.
We stayed on the beach all day on Thursday after we had blueberry pancakes in the morning. Mid afternoon we went to Bil Mar and sat by the water and had a bite to eat.

They've Made It!

Hi Everyone,
Just thought you might want to know that mom and dad made it to Japan safely. I heard from them early this morning.

Mom will be updating her blog regularly to tell about their adventures. Click here to see her first entry.