And a few more cute pics from Ludington

Clear Spring...

This weekend was so gorgeous. I, unfortunately, spent most of Saturday inside at the Ada Elementary craft show (which was a success), so we decided to head up to Whitehall for the day on Sunday. We went hiking at Clear Springs and it was perfect.

TREES...

We (James especially) love to plant trees. We got our early Christmas present from James' Mom and Bruce.....TWO TREES. We got a maple tree (autumn blaze) for the front yard and a ginko for the back yard. James planted them and they look great. We can't wait to watch them grow.

Ludington 2007

We had a great weekend camping at Ludington. The weather was amazine, Simon even went swimming twice. We borrowed a pop-up and loved it as well.

Don't Get Too Excited...

OK, we moved into our new house and love it! We have already changed so many things, I'm sure the first owners wouldn't even recognize it if they walked in today. It is looking and feeling more and more like ours every day! We spent Labor day at the Grooters' Cottage in Whitehall

It is becoming a tradition to go the the RODEO at the Double JJ Ranch every August. The kids love it. My kids need to catch up a bit to those Johnson cowboys and cowgirl (cousins) though. Next year we are going to have to be searching for boots, hats, and guns : )

James turned 33 years old this past September. We went out with my parents to Logans. We all had a good time......James got a "YEE-HAW" from the crowd. And my dad found Sierra's first tooth. (I had been feeling her gums for months and finally gave up as no teeth ever came through. My dad was letting her chew on his finger and was like "Kel, did you know she has a tooth in there". Figures!)

Teusink's Pony farm with the Grandma O. and the Johnson family was a blast. Simon absolutely loved all the animals. He was great at feeding the goats and riding the ponies. He also went on a hay ride and got to hold teeny tiny baby bunnies (while mommy was trying to help him not squish it) and went through the barn and a hay maze. It was a perfect time to take him there because he is really catching on to saying so many animal sounds, it was fun to show him the real animals up close

Aunt EB came to visit for a bit in August. She had fun with the kiddos again!

We said good-bye to our old house in Allendale

Simon went tubing for the first time at the Grooters' cottage this summer. He LOVED it. He also did a lot of swimming and playing in the water and on the boats. On a side note, we did have to say good-bye to Stewart this September. He always had been quite healthy for how old he was (13-14 years) but he declined rapidly right before we moved into the new house. He had a huge tumor, and several problems with his eyes, etc.....and it was time for James to let him go. They had a good last walk. I had quite a few successful PETUNIAS shows this summer and more to come this fall. It's still fun so we are still going stong and growing!

I just tapped into someone else's internet so this may be temporary but I am going to try to do an overall update with pics of our super busy summer and early fall......

Finally....

I'm going to update our blog. We still don't have internet hook-up (maybe someday soon). Anyway, we are pretty settled into the new house. We have a few boxes here and there to go through yet but overall it went way quicker and easier than I thought it would. We are onto the fun stuff of picking out decor : ) In other new of the kids Sierra: Sat up at around 7 months (good balance), got her first tooth (which her Grandpa DeVries found) on September 7 and her second bottom one shortly after. She also has been crawling since the beginning of September and once she learned that she immediately learned how to pull herself up onto things and then stand by things. She also tries to crawl up stairs (oh my). She is too little for all that yet : ) Simon: He is really picking up on talking since this summer we have been working hard at it. He tries to repeat everything you say and has a million animal sounds down pat which is his favorite (lion, donkey, bird, sheep, cow, duck, frog, owl, dog, cat.....) and he knows what a train says and his age (two, I taught him a little early). He also moved into a "big boy" bed shortly after we moved to the new house. The transition went fine although it took a few weeks. Now he can't sleep anywhere else, and his sister finally has a crib : ) James is in school again and it is going to be a good but busy year for him. I am REALLY BUSY with Petunias, plus all the regular day to day stuff.