Aunt Kelly Visits

Following the reunion, my sister Kelly came to stay with us in Kalamazoo! I was so excited to have her here and so was Ethan. My mom also stayed a couple days and since my brother lives right down the street from me, he hung out with us as well. We pretty much just played with Ethan, went for walks, went out to dinner one night. I was so lucky to have my brother Mark and Kelly cook a dinner - they each took a night! We played this new came that we are addicted to after Ethan went to bed and just had some good quality family time. We also heading to Grand Rapids to see my dad's side of the family. I was sad to see Kelly leave, but we will be seeing her at Christmas, so we have that to look forward to. Thanks for coming Aunt Kelly...we miss you!!!

Sisterly Love

Yes, my brother is wearing a bucket on his head!

Mom and Kel

Ethan wanted in the picture too!

Kel and Mark

We saw Leigh-Leigh too at my dad's for a pancake dinner.

Mark and Ethan....aren't they cute!

My dad's side of the family:)

Jim and Kel

Ethan reading the paper....one of his favorite things to do!

Mom and her kids (minus Jim, he was working).

Ethan with his favorite Uncle and one of his favorite Aunts!:)

Playing Settlers of Catan....a VERY addicting game that we played after Ethan went to bed.

Ethan got lots of swing time with everyone around...he loved it!

Family Photo

Family Reunion

Every third weekend in July my mom's side of the family has a big reunion in Warsaw, Indiana. It is so much fun seeing everyone and catching up on what has transpired over the last year. Ethan had so much fun swimming in the lake, playing in the sprinkler, and of course seeing his family. There was another addition to the family, my cousin had a little girl Maggy Eliza born on Mothers Day this year!

All 80 of us!

Ethan playing in the water!

Karen with new little girl Maggy

Grandma and Pappa Dick

Mom and Aunt Sue (Sisters!)

The sprinkler was lots of fun too!

Newlyweds to be! Going to get married August 16th 2008!

Kelly came to town!

Fun with the cousins!

Until next year....

Picking Bluberries!

Ethan and I picked blueberries at a farm the other day and we had so much fun!! We went with a big play group and Ethan played with the other kids and ate all the blueberries he wanted! At first Ethan was not interested in eating the blueberries but once he got a little taste, there was no stopping him! We picked a ton and after a full morning in the sun, he was exhausted! We found out that Ethan would eat blueberries until he turned blue:)Asleep before we even left the parking lot!

Only four years ago...

Today marks our four year anniversary and we could not be happier where we are in our life together. We were just talking yesterday about how different our life is now then it was when we married. We have lived in three different cities, we have a wonderful son who is not a baby anymore, Jim is a doctor and beginning his residency, I taught for three years in two different schools, we met so many new friends and still keep in touch with our friends from the past, and we bought our first home! WOW, time flies by! One thing has stayed the same, we are just as happy or happier now then the day we married- life could not be better!!

On our honeymoon to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Some Special Visitors...

This past weekend grandma Helms stayed with us and it was so much fun!! Ethan was spoiled and loved every minute that he spent with his grandma and so did she! They went on walks, played outside, read books, played with is all of his toys, she gave him baths, fed him bottles, and much more! She was such a big help to me when I came down with a stomach bug, I don't know what I would have done without her!! Thanks for coming mom, we had so much fun!! On Saturday grandpa Jastifer came for dinner and to hang out with Ethan. They had lots of fun together playing and reading books. Ethan missed his grandma Jastifer and hopefully we will see her soon! Thanks for coming!! (I didn't get any pictures darn it!)

Last weekend Jim's Aunt Mari and Uncle Fred stopped by for a visit to check out our new place and to see Ethan. It was great to see them and to catch up. Ethan enjoyed showing them all of his toys:) Thanks for coming out guys!

Ethan loved playing with their dogs!!

Uncle Mark

Since my brother lives right down the street from us, Ethan has the opportunity of getting to know his Uncle Mark and seeing him on a regular basis. They have so much fun together and it is fun watching them play together. Since Mark is Ethan's only uncle, he has a very important job and is doing great at it! Uncle Mark is so thoughtful and brings treats over for Ethan all the time such as strawberries, cookies, toys, a sandbox, and he even brought over a pool for Ethan to splash in! Thanks Uncle Mark!!

Ethan in the pool that Uncle Mark bought him!

Ethan's Fish Tank

Ethan LOVES visiting the fish at Meijer so much that we decided that we would put a fish tank in his room! He loves it! If you say, "Ethan do you want to go say hi to your fish?" , he will run in his room and start kissing the tank and waving to the fish, it is so cute. He even waves to the fish while getting his diaper changed!

July 4th Weekend

This weekend we headed up to my grandparents cabin in Baldwin for a pancake breakfast that they have put on every year since I can remember. Last year we didn't make it and were happy that we could this year. Ethan had fun exploring the cabin and playing with his great grandma and grandpa , grandpa Biener and of course Uncle Mark:) There is a height wall in the cabin that was started many many years ago and Ethan's height is now marked on it! We stuffed ourselves with pancakes and had a wonderful time!!My tired boys taking a nap on the way to the cabin.

Ethan and great-grandma Biener:) "Mmmm these pancakes are good!" I even got some fishing in--didn't catch anything! My cousin Leigh did though!

and we're off..........

Jim is officially a resident! He had his first day on the Orthopedic floor on Tuesday and was on call....talk about getting thrown into things! He did great, just like I knew he would. In his words, he kind of feels like "a fish out of water", but knows that it will pass once he gets the hang of things here in the next couple of weeks. I have to get used to him being on call as well and I am not just talking about him being gone (although that is weird for me right now because it is so fresh), I am talking about his pager going off all hours of the night!!:) I am so excited for Jim to begin this journey of his medical profession and know that he will do great and learn a ton. It will be worth all those long hours!!Jim pleased to have his diploma worth $200,000 in his hands!!

Ethan and I have been getting into a schedule ourselves. There is a playgroup that we join every Wednesday and I have met some really nice women and their children. The other day we were at the park and I tried to get Ethan to play on the playground so I could talk to the women more but all he wanted to do was play with the ducks in the pond on the other side of the park....what are you to do (except talk him out of jumping in the pond with the ducks!)?? I even met someone at the park non-resident related, and I plan on getting together with her and her 1 year old as well. Ethan loves playing in our backyard and with all his new toys from his birthday and the garage sale. He finally let us put his helmet on him so we can go bike riding and we also love going for walks. Next weekend grandma Helms is coming for the weekend and we are so excited!! We also spend a lot of time with my brother aka: Uncle Mark, who lives right down the street from us:) It has been great having him around.
Ethan helping mommy cook- he is such a big helper!

This is Ethan's new favorite thing to do....one day he did it for a half hour and screamed when I took it away - go figure!!:)

So far so good here in Kalamazoo!!

A finished bunkbed, a popsicle,a new friend,a tiger,and a horse...

These are just a few of the things that have spiked Ethan's attention this week:)

It is done and Ethan LOVES it!yummy!Ethan and our friends son Matthew came for a visit:)Ethan loves wrestling with his tiger!Ethan rode a big "dog" at Heather's open house this past weekend!