June in Photos

Elizabeth Joy enjoying the beach at Big Star Lake! We had a great time seeing everyone over Memorial Day weekend!

Celebrating Emily and Andrew's wedding in Findlay.

A HUGE thank you to Grandma and Papa Snyder for watching Ellie while I taught this last semester! This was on my last day.

Going out for our anniversary date. Catherine and Aaron watched Ellie for us!

We went back to Charley's Crab, where we went the night we got engaged!

Enjoying our patio! We got this set from Geoff and Katie and the hydrangea from my mom! Thank you!

Ellie LOVES to walk holding on to our hands. She also likes Aunt Laura's purse! She also just started to army crawl!

Out on a stroll downtown after a great dinner!

Our monster fruit salad at the Cottage. Patti is the chopping queen!

Hope everyone is having a great start to their summer! Hope to make a few more posts soon!

Going...to Chipotle!

Our favorite "fast food" restaurant is Chipotle. As a former QDoba fan, I first hesitated to believe our friend Mark Volle when he told us that Chipotle was "so much better!" See, Chipotle started in Mark's home state of Colorado, and when he came to GR, he told us about this Mexican burrito place (like QDoba, but "so much better"). He liked it so much that for his birthday, the guys of the Observatory house drove 40 miles for the closest Chipotle.

We wondered for a while why GR didn't have a Chipotle. Ann Arbor, Lansing, even Matt's parent's town of Findlay, OH. has one. We finally celebrated the Grand Opening of the Grand Rapids location last Winter. Included was a free burrito and tee-shirt (worth the 45 minute wait in the cold)! We were thrilled that there was now a Chipotle just two miles from our house!

It seems that in the past few years Chipotle has been getting more popular. It was featured on Oprah, and even some of Matt's co-workers have switched their loyalty from "Moe's" burrito for Chipotle's.

I appreciate that the company strives for good stewardship of resources, from their building materials to local produce to hormone free meats. It is encouraging to know that this "fast food" chain is showing our culture that we can have great food done well at good prices all with environmentally conscious motives: "Food with Integrity".

The best part of going to Chipotle is having a good time with friends. This last weekend, we went with Catherine and Aaron and had a laugh while Ellie was enjoying herself in her "big girl" high chair. She loved playing with the straws and napkins! What could be better than time with friends and a delicious chicken fajita burrito?

Going...to Celebrate!

February has been the month of celebrations! We celebrated Matt's Mom's 50th birthday, Matt's 24th birthday, and Elizabeth's Dedication. Also, Ellie just turned 6 months yesterday.  We have been fortunate to celebrate and spend some great time with our families and friends this month!

First, we headed down to Findlay, Ohio, to celebrate Matt's Mom's birthday.  We had fun giving her a basket of her "50 Favorite Things" and going to The Bistro for dinner.  We also watched the Calvin/Hope basketball game on the big screen at the local Buffalo Wild Wings.  The best part of the weekend (in my opinion!) was going to the tea house with the girls.  We enjoyed scrumptious treats, tea and had great "girl" conversation!

Last weekend we celebrated Matt's birthday and Ellie's Dedication.  After the Calvin basketball game (of course!), we got together with my family and Matt's family for dinner and then headed over to the VP's for dessert.  Catherine had an amazing trio of desserts: individual strawberry shortcakes, blueberry caramel cheesecake, and peanut butter truffle brownies!  Yum!  It was so nice of the VP's to have all of us over!

On Sunday, we all headed to our church, Ada Bible Church, and were delighted to hear Pastor Ed Dobson speak on "Do Not Worry".  It was a real treat to hear him, as some of us used to hear him at Calvary Church before he retired due to having Lou Gehrigs's disease.  After, we had lunch at our house before heading back to church for Ellie's Dedication service.  It was a very meaningful service filled with worship, a challenge to parents, and a time to gather with our family to read a blessing.

We were glad to have the opportunity to publicly dedicate ourselves as parents to raise Elizabeth Joy in Christ.  We hope that we may model for her and teach her how to follow Christ.  In our letter to Elizabeth, we told her...God loves you so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die so that you may have an abundant life in Him - both on Earth and in Heaven.  As believers in Him, we know that nothing else on Earth even compares to the JOY of knowing Jesus Christ as your Savior!  We were so thankful for our families and close friends to be there with us for that special day!

Elizabeth has truly been a joy to play with in the last month.  She is sitting, grabbing for ANYTHING in her sight, and she loves to giggle!  She likes her veggies (we will see how long that lasts)!  Our cell phones and the remote are more fun than her toys.  She is quickly growing out of her clothes (had to sadly retire her Trumpette socks). She sleeps through the night, but still needs her swaddle.  The activity center makes her laugh out loud every time she is in it.  It has been fun to watch her develop more each week!

We have been so blessed to have these special moments with our families and friends recently!  Time has gone by so fast in the past few months, and we cannot believe that it is already half-way to Ellie's 1st birthday!  We are trying everyday to enjoy each moment together, and are thankful to God for His good gifts each day in our lives, as we know that "Every good and perfect gift comes from Him" (James 1:17).

Going...to the Symphony

Last week we had a Christmas celebration with the VP's.  It was the most fun we've had in a long time.  First of all, we got to dress up, which we never do anymore.  Also, it was just our second time out on our own without Ellie.  It was really nice to go out and know that she was in safe hands with her Aunt Laura!   Instead of doing Christmas presents with Catherine and Aaron, we have the tradition of going out for a Christmas dinner.  This year was extra-special as we found half-off tickets to the Christmas Pops concert with the GR Symphony.  It was Catherine's idea, as she has always wanted to go.  Then, it was my idea to make it a surprise for Matt.  Knowing me that didn't last too long.  That was ok.  He was just as excited when he found out!

Any chance that we get to go downtown is special.  We just don't do it often.  Catherine works downtown so it is no big deal for her, but for us, we want to make the most of it when we go.  So, as I learned from Catherine, I searched our coupons for a good deal.  We ended up going to the Louis Benton steakhouse half-off.  It was delicious.  Too bad we had to skip out on dessert so that we were not late!  We jumped in the car and scooted across town in the first snowfall of the year to the concert.  It finally felt like Christmas.  Especially since Catherine and I stood out in bright red and green!

The Pops concert was amazing.  After years of playing flute, I have a deep appreciation for good music.  The soloist Leon Williams sang beautifully.  We loved every part of it.  Santa even came out and directed a song (yes, a bit cheesy)!  I was a bit hesitant when they asked the audience to "sing-along" to the final song.  Matt wasn't.  He got complimented for his singing by a lady down the aisle!  We all laughed.

I still smile at the many funny moments of the night.  I can't wait to continue our tradition in future years.  This definitely is at the top of our Christmas celebrations!

Going...to get over the Tiger's loss and get ready for Calvin Basketball!

Last night was a sad night in our household.  For those of you who know Matt, you would understand.   Ever since he went to the old Tiger's Stadium when he was young, he has been a faithful fan of the team through the  good years and the bad (more of the bad).  When we started dating, I quickly realized that Matt has a passion for sports, especially Tiger's baseball.   I adjusted to the fact that on 162 days of the year, there would be a game at 7:05 or 1:05 (DVR is a necessity!).   As a result, I have grown to enjoy baseball and we have fun watching it together.

So, back to last night.  The Tiger's lost in the 12th inning against the Twins, losing their first place division standing.  For the entire season, we were confident that the Tiger's would make it to the playoffs, and last night, they lost it all. I won't go into the details - Matt and Zac have that covered in their blog (mittensportsreport.com).  I am sad for the Tiger's and for Matt, but we have hope.  Matt's next favorite team, the Calvin Knights, are hitting the court later this fall.  And soon we will have our Saturdays scheduled for the VanNoord Arena (and perhaps a few exciting road trips).  Matt, this is my ode to you:  We have hope, and not that kind of Hope, as in the Flying Dutchmen, but hope in that we have a new team to follow starting on November 10.  And, of course, spring training will be here again in no time.

Going...bargain shopping

Continuing in our "Walktober" festivities, we headed to the mall for a fun night of walking.  In our usual mall walking trips, we never hit the stores but limit ourselves to window shopping.  During this outing, we definitely broke the rules.  The first stop was Dunhams, where Matt was all too excited about his bargain $7 Lions hat on clearance due to its "old" logo.  Men need more hats just like women need more shoes.  I figured that one extra hat couldn't hurt anyone and we made the purchase.  Next, we ventured into TJ-maxx.  Why?  I have no idea.  Maybe because we were bored of being limited to the drab hallways of Centerpointe Mall.  Or maybe because we felt that it was the night for bargain hunting.  We were quickly separated as I found the kid's clothes and Matt found the sports gear.  We joined up excited about our new bargain finds.  I found a $5 pumpkin Halloween costume for Ellie (which I have been searching for but was just not willing to spend $20 on one), and Matt found an Ernie Sims Lions jersey for $13.  We probably would have continued the disastrous night of spending (this is big for us!) but thankfully our friends called and we headed out.  Now the question is:  Will we be able to resist the urge and stick to just window shopping on our next Walktober outing?  Or will we give in to the dangerous thrill of bargain hunting?  You never know, Matt may just need another hat (a Tiger's 2009 AL Central Division Championship one would be nice).

Going... for a walk and getting caught in the rain

Well, it is officially "Walktober" now, so that means that everyday my hubby has to get at least 10,000 steps on his pedometer for a program at work.  We wanted to beat our record of a nine mile day from last year, so on a sunny Saturday morning we headed out for walk to EGR.  We had a very enjoyable walk and were able to catch up about our lives while Ellie slept soundly in her stroller.  We were hungry by the time we made it to our destination so we grabbed a quick bite to eat (our first time at a sit-down place with Ellie!).  Just as we were about to leave the sky darkened and a heavy downpour came down around us.  We questioned our options...do we walk the four miles back to our house in the rain, or call one of our dear friends or sister to pick us up?  Just as we were trying to make up our mind, the rain stopped and the sun came out.  OK, let's do it!  We headed home at a brisk pace.  Just as we were in our last stretch, about a half-mile to go, it started to rain. And no, this wasn't just a light drizzle, it was coming down in sheets.  This was the same rain that later came through East Lansing while Forcier managed to tie it up with MSU (still bummed of the loss).  Even though we had Ellie covered with the brim of her stroller, her loving Dad gave up his fleece for added protection on top.  It must have been quite a sight to see us dash through mini rivers in the pavement to get to our warm and dry home. We finally made it, drenched and freezing, with a crying baby that finally woke up in the commotion (thank goodness she was dry!). Our lesson for next Walktober...ALWAYS check the weather.  You can never know when you are in Michigan!